I can't let it go - at least, not yet. Before all the excitement of the incoming freshmen class and the first day of official practice for the 2004 season, I just have to take one more look back at the accomplishments of last year's team. The 2003 edition of the GymTide added yet another honor-filled chapter to Bama's rich gymnastics tradition. And like most of the Tide faithful, I just love to reminisce. That reminds me of a joke: How many Bama fans does it take to change a lightbulb?¹

Bama started off the 2003 season in familiar haunts, Athens, Georgia, for the Super Six Challenge. In the run-up to the meet, we learned that freshman Mari-Christine Bayer had broken her 'pinkie-finger' in practice and would not be able to compete on uneven bars for some weeks. First meet jitters showed up as the Tide took a 48.200 on the balance beam. Bama's team total of 196.000 was good enough only for fourth place behind Florida, Nebraska, and meet champion Georgia. Jeana Rice won her first of several All-Around victories for the year with a sterling 39.700. The Super Six Challenge also kicked off the Tide's season-beginning four meet road trip.

The next weekend it was back to Athens for the first half of the traditional, but - sadly - now-defunct Tide/Dawg yearly 'home-and-home' series. It was a classic tilt, a real 'heavy-weight' battle, with the Tide coming out on the losing end by just 0.025 (197.075-197.050). This meet featured a rarity, two perfect 10.0's on the balance beam. UGA's bellwether, Cory Fritzinger, posted a virtually perfect beam routine in the third rotation for 10.0. This left the judges with no alternative but to award a 10.0 for Jeana Rice's absolutely perfect beam routine in the last rotation.

By all reports, Arkansas' biggest crowd of the year gave the GymTide a friendly and enthusiastic welcome to Fayetteville the following Friday. Bama responded by putting on a great show, winning the meet 197.200-194.475. Despite the lop-sided score, the hosts remained cordial and seemed to be thrilled just to be able to compete with the defending National Champions. I have to admit, I was every bit as excited to have a new conference foe on the schedule as the Razorback fans were. ²

Two days later, the Tide concluded it's 'mini-road trip weekend' in Lincoln, Nebraska. The 'Huskers used a senior-laden team to prevail over the Tide, 197.475-197.175. A couple of points of interest: Tiffany Byrd, a vital member of the Tide's 2002 National Championship team who had transferred to Nebraska in the off-season, put up a fine All-Around score of 49.350. Also, Jeana Rice, who looked to be on her way to yet another outstanding performance, 'rolled' her ankle and had to cut short her floor routine for an 8.450. Naturally, this meant that she couldn't compete in the last rotation. It also put in doubt her appearance the next weekend in the season's first home meet; an inter-sectional battle against Michigan in Coleman Coliseum.

Michigan limped into town only to find Alabama, itself, on crutches. The great former Olympic performer, Elise Ray, was being held out by the Wolverine coaching staff due to an injury. On the other side of the coliseum, Tide fans were surprised and shocked to see Jeana Rice warming up as if nothing had ever happened to her ankle, but freshman phenom Ashley Miles following the team around with her knee in a brace.³ In the meet, as the Tide topped the Wolverines 197.200-196.525, Michigan's outstanding Calli Ryals and Bama's super-senior Kristin Sterner battled to a 49.550-49.550 tie in the All-Around. Both were overshadowed, however, by Jeana's gritty, inspiring, 'sore ankle ignoring' performance for her best All-Around score of the year - a well-deserved 39.750. Sometimes you go to the coliseum and you just see a gym meet, sometimes you find yourself in the middle of that old 'Wide World of Sports' intro, ". . . the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat . . . the human drama of athletic competition. . ."

Bama 'schussed' into Colorado's 'Mile-high' city the next weekend for a tilt with the University of Denver and the Air Force Academy. The PBA's reported that the meet was a bit of an 'old-home week' for the Tide, with many parents, family-members, former gymnasts and ski-loving Bama fans in attendance. Notwithstanding the rarified air and some depth-building/gymnast-resting by the coaches, the Tide still managed a victory over the Pioneers, with an out-matched, but game, Air Force Falcons team in third place(196.875-196.125-188.650).

Bama returned home the following weekend to face conference foe LSU amidst some pretty good news. Not only had we learned that Ashley Miles was on the mend and was expected to return to the line-up well before the season's end, but also that Mari-Christine Bayer's little finger was 'all better' and she was expected to 'go All-Around' against the Fighting Tigers. Best laid plans. . . During the pre-meet vault warm-up Mari had a scary landing, sprained her knee, and ended up missing the next few meets.⁴ These injuries, along with Jeana Rice's well-deserved rest on floor exercise, meant that the rest of the team had to 'pick up the slack'. Kristen Sterner and Shannon Hrozek responded with fabulous All-Around scores of 39.675 and 39.400, respectively. Another feature of this meet was Michele Reeser's outstanding floor routine, for which she received a career high 9.95.

The home-standing Florida Gators were lying in wait for Bama the next weekend. The combination of a bunch of road-weary GymTiders, a lot of fired-up GymGators, and some quirky floor exercise equipment allowed Florida to lunge past the Tide for a 197.125-196.600 victory. I wasn't able to go the meet, but those who were there told me that the best thing about it was that the Florida meet meant the 'end of the road' for Alabama. When the team got back from Gainesville, they didn't have to leave the state again until the National Championship Finals.⁵

Against Alabama in Coleman Coliseum the next weekend, the Auburn GymTigers scored their third highest all-time score of 196.600. However, the Tide proved that they were glad to be home, at long last, by posting a season-high 197.975. This was one meet were everything seemed to go just right for the Tide, as typified by Bama's outstanding 49.675 floor score (which included Kristin's super 9.975 routine). In my mind, however, this meet will be forever associated with Ashley Miles' first-ever home score, a perfect 10.0 on vault.

Gremlins attacked the Tide during the next meet. In fact, they've shown up so often when the Wildcats come to town that I've begun to think that gremlins are fond of 'Kentucky blue'. The gremlins did just enough mischief to make the meet interesting. Their first trick was to keep moving Ashley Miles' mark during the three-minute touch for vault. Ashley never could get comfortable with her timing and had to be scratched. However, Bama turned the tables on the impish jokesters by substituting Alexis Brion in the anchor position. All she managed to do was to power up a huge 9.925. This just served to egg on the gremlins, however, who soon turned their attention to the uneven bars. Weirdness ensued, the upshot of which was that the Tide had to count a fall for the first time since the Super Six Challenge. In a meet that was much closer than the final score indicted, Bama 'eked out' a 196.475-195.125 victory - a total which was helped along by a couple of 9.975 routines, one by Jeana and one by Ashley, on the vault and floor, respectively.

The Georgia GymDogs trotted into Coleman Coliseum next, always a spectacle. An added dimension for the meet was that it was 'Senior Night' for Bama's lone senior, Kristin Sterner. I intended to add a few words here about Kristin. However, her mother and father have contributed to GymTide.com two very fine articles concerning Kristin and her experiences at the Capstone. To borrow from Lincoln, these articles go "far above [my] poor power to add or detract." Meanwhile, back at the meet, Georgia would not let themselves be distracted. They stuck to their knitting and trotted back out of 'our house' with a 197.625-197.250 decision. This was largely on the strength of four strong rotations, compared to only three strong events for the Tide. Be that as it may, Jeana Rice was completely on fire for this meet, starting the whole evening off with a perfect vault for a 10.0 and 'never looking back', as they say. She went on to far out-distance all the other All-Arounders with her awesome 39.750 total.

The regular season ended as it had begun, with a road trip. This time the Tide traveled to Auburn to take on the GymTigers. As is the case with Georgia, this year marks the last scheduled yearly 'home-and-home' meets with Auburn. Next year the Tide will meet Georgia and Auburn but once each in the regular season, with the GymDogs coming to T'town and Bama visiting down on the 'Plains'. Auburn scored a fine 196.600, the same score they had posted earlier in the season in Tuscaloosa. And, once again, it was not enough - even though the Tide had to count a low score on balance beam and 'only' scored a 197.300.

As the championship season approached it was time for the Tide to take stock. It had been a truly odd season, in many ways. Firstly, although the coaches constantly had to reconfigure the lineup as the Tide suffered through more than its fair share of injuries and illnesses, the team scores remained remarkably consistent. Secondly, due to circumstances mostly beyond the coaches control, the schedule was very demanding, at least in the beginning. The GymTiders racked up a bunch of 'frequent flyer miles' in the first two months of the season. On the other hand, from February 22nd through April 12th the Tide competed in 6 gym meets and never left the state. Thirdly, despite the fact that Bama posted, what had to be, a record number of 197+ team scores, they had actually produced only one well-rounded, hitting-on-all-cylinders performance - their 197.975 against Auburn on March 1st. So, on the eve of the SEC Championship - in hindsight - all the factors seemed to be in place for the Tide to take the next step.

And with UAB's Bartow Arena as a backdrop, that's exactly what the GymTide did. For what seemed to be the first time in living memory, Bama competed in 'Olympic order'. The meet quickly resolved into a Bama/UGA slugfest. Florida kept its head above water for a while (oops! sorry for the 'gator' imagery, there), but - surprisingly for one of the nation's top teams on the uneven bars - suffered through a 48.700 on that apparatus in the fourth rotation to fall far behind the leaders. In the sixth rotation, which was the last rotation for Bama and Georgia since they both had byes in the last rotation, the two old rivals traded punch and counterpunch. The drama of the rotation was further enhanced by each team being on its best apparatus (Georgia on vault and Bama on floor). It may have been just my imagination, but it seemed to me that Coach Yoculan - ever the crafty tactician - tried to put a little extra pressure on the Tide by delaying to the last possible moment getting started with Georgia's vaults. Even so, by the time Ashley Miles stepped onto the floor for the rotation's last routine, my wife and chief number cruncher, Salsa, had figured out that Ashley needed a 9.925 to tie the GymDogs. I was 'scared spitless', but Ashley seemed to be enjoying the moment. When she finished her routine with a booming piked double back, everyone in the arena knew that the Tide would be the new SEC Champions.

I think that the importance of Bama's 2003 SEC Championship can scarcely be over-emphasized. It gave the team a big dose of confidence right when they needed it most. The Tide then went on to cruise to another Regional Championship during which, although there were a few anxious moments, the team never lost its composure. And that same composure carried them right through to their, I think it's fair to say, unexpected 2nd place finish at the National Finals. Or, as Coach Patterson said on the 'Hey, Coach' radio program shortly after the 2003 edition of the GymTide won the SEC, " I think the best thing about this [winning the 2003 SEC Championship] is that they can now put the 2002 team, the shadow that has followed them all year, behind them. And it's not a bad thing, it's just that they're such a different group of individuals - because we have seven freshmen - that no matter what they did, they were not the 2002 team - they had not won a championship. Now this group of ladies, they've won their own championship. They're part of history, the rich tradition of Alabama athletics, I think now they can relax; I think this will motivate them."

Now, gymnastics fans, I know it's football season, but it's also getting very close to that great time of year when the freshmen gymnasts report and the team reassembles to begin preparations for the upcoming season. You can be sure that you will find reports on their progress throughout the fall, not only in this column, but, more importantly on the 'front page' of this website and in the PBA's practice reports. All this coverage, plus the receptions, the t-shirts, the Post-Graduate Scholarship Grand Gala, the PBA's fantastic live-scoring and play-by-play meet coverage, and so much more is provided to you by the Medalist Club. The club is working hard right now getting ready for the fall membership drive, the annual 'meet-the-team' barbeque, and the preparation of various newsletters and membership publications for mailing and distribution. If you've never been a Medalist Club member, I encourage you to join us and see what all the fun is about. Follow the links on the front page of this website to find out how. If you're a already a member, why not 'move up' a notch or two in your membership level? We've tried to make it worth your while to 'go the extra mile'. And, just because it's a cliche doesn't mean it isn't true - it's all for a good cause, supporting your reigning SEC and 4-time National Champion University of Alabama Gymnastics team. Roll Tide!!!

¹ Answer: Five - one to change the lightbulb and four to sit around and talk about how great the old lightbulb was!

² In fact, I wish every conference school fielded a women's gymnastics team. I know, the issue - as always - is money. And, under the constraints of Title IX, a certain 'cold' calculation goes into selecting the 'mix' of sports a school decides to sponsor. How much will the equipment cost? How many women's scholarships will it mean? Will it really help offset all those football scholarships? Will the sport appeal to the fans? What are the prospects for revenue? That's why almost every school is likely to have a women's soccer team, but you'll probably never see a college without a 'competition swimming pool' build one for a women's swim team. Of course, only football and, in some cases, men's basketball are 'net' revenue producers. The other sports can only hope, at best, to break even. Still, to the extent that I understand what college athletics is supposed to be about, gymnastics is an ideal sport - and college gymnasts are, almost without exception, ideal student-athletes. I know, enough with the soapbox, already!

³ At the time, I think it is fair to say that there was a great deal of concern about the nature and extent of Ashley's injury. Her relatively speedy return to the Tide line-up is a real tribute to the diligent efforts of the doctors, trainers, coaches, and, of course, Ashley, herself.

⁴ I just happened to be sitting four or five rows up in the stands, and about half-way down the vault runway, talking to some gym-buddies and watching warm-ups that evening. We were all excited about the prospect of seeing Mari's first All-Around - always a big moment for a freshman. Naturally, Mari's injury was quite a shock - as I reported (OK, with some mild exaggeration) at the time.

⁵ In a way, I actually hated to miss the meet in Gainesville. I've always enjoyed visiting the quirky Stephen C. O'Connell Center, the 'O'Dome'. At one time, I considered the O'Dome to be the oddest, most ill-conceived arena I had ever seen. That was before I visited Lincoln, Nebraska. Now I realize that the O'Dome is merely odd. The Bob Devaney Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska, now that is an ill-conceived coliseum. The seating area of the Devaney Center is divided into upper and lower levels by a walkway which completely encircles the inside of the arena, about halfway up. So far, not that unusual. However, a stroll around this walkway wouldn't be on a nice, flat, circular 'sidewalk'. Instead, you would find your trip interrupted - about every twenty or thirty feet or so - by a staircase of five or six steps up, a small 'landing' roughly even with lowest row of upper level seats, followed by a staircase down of five or six steps. So, if you wanted to move around to the other side of the coliseum, but you didn't want to miss any of the action by walking around on the 'outer concourse' (also an oddly designed area), you were forced to 'goathill' up and down the stairs. It would be difficult to imagine a more dangerous design. Needless to say, we saw several nasty spills and near-spills during our stay in Huskerland! Now, to prove that I am an equal opportunity whiner, let me hasten to add that our beloved Coleman Coliseum has some design quirks of it's own. I don't know whose idea it was to come up with three or four different step designs, each unique in size and shape, and then to distribute them in some obscure, counter-intuitive pattern throughout the coliseum. It's a rare gym meet when I don't experience that awkward, 'first-step-onto-the-escalator' feeling, just going to and from our seats.