Chellsie Memmel's Petition and the Unprofessional USA Gymnastics Organization

After finally watching the U.S. Classic and giving myself a couple of days for the two phases of the Memmel petition being denied debacle to marinate, I just wanted to post my thoughts on the matter. The gymnastics world is buzzing about this situation. This is not really going to sound different from what others have already said, but I figure the more attention brought to this, the better. Chellsie Memmel is a 2011 U.S. national team member, original 2011 Pan Am team member, 2005 world champion, and 2008 Olympian among other achievements. I am sure she would have preferred to not have been injured at the end of 2011 Nationals. I am sure she would have preferred to not have to had a surgery after world team camp. She probably would have preferred to qualify to Nationals without reducing things to doing one event at U.S. Classic and leaving the rest up to the mercy of the women's national team committee.

My position is that I think USA Gymnastics could have let Chellsie through to Nationals – NOT asking for her to be named to the national team, allowed to advance to Olympic Trials, or named directly to the Olympic team on the basis of who she is. Just another chance to go to Nationals. She seemed to be near the end of her career, anyway, and it would have been nice for her, the fans, and USAG for her to compete. It would have been nice for her to advance just a bit further. She was an original Pan Am team member – one of the ways you could petition to Nationals (although it was apparently revised to having had competed in that competition). She was injured and couldn't compete, but she was good enough to have been named. So she didn't go to camp after getting injured – Chellsie is one of the earliest girls who was ushered in with the camp system when it started. She's gone by the book so many years – she shouldn't have to be babied all the way with this camp system. She is older now and is injury prone, so I understand her and her coach-father's decision not to go each month. She fell twice on her required one event she had to do in order to meet another way to petition to Nationals. Well, once again, she is coming back from injury. It was tough luck after all of her years of typically hitting her routines. She did show pretty strong tumbling passes on floor during podium training, and she even swung a little on bars. Maybe she was not completely ready here, but would have been with the extra week. I feel on the basis of her being a current national team member, having been named to the Pan Am team, and having accomplished as much as she had - especially with her being the strong, scrappy hero for a few world/Olympic teams for the U.S. - she could have been given the benefit of the doubt here.

To make things worse, it seems unclear if the selection committee did or did not beforehand set a standard that one event gymnasts were required to hit. After the competition, according the Examiner article done by Blythe Lawrence (http://www.examiner.com/article/martha-karolyi-on-the-secret-classic-there-were-no-major-surprises ), Martha Karolyi said, “Even before the meet started, we discussed and agreed that we were expecting at least a 14.0 for anybody who's doing one event, because we have an official 28.0 qualifying score from the people doing two events. So then, if you do one, it at least has to be half of that.” Who is this “we?” The athletes discussing it with the committee, or the committee discussing it among themselves? How far in advance before the meet was this standard set? According to The Couch Gymnast blog (http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/?p=6523 ), there was not a written score for one event in the rules. In her Inside Gymnastics interview, Chellsie said, “I knew there was going to be, obviously, some criteria that I had to hit, but it wasn’t like anybody came up to me and said, ‘You have to have this or we will not …’ But, also, that’s not their job.” So even though Chellsie is not putting blame on them for not telling her, her answer makes it sound like there possibly was not a set score communicated to her. The elite qualifier chart on USA Gymnastics has set scores for four, three, and two events, but not one. You would think they would have learned from the Dominique Moceanu situation in 2006 to have the rules specifically stated all the way through.

The worst thing concerning this controversy, however, in my opinion, is the way USAG handled this. According to an article done by JS Online (http://www.jsonline.com/sports/etc/memmel-fans-flipping-mad-at-usa-gymnastics-is5kc9t-156105115.html), Andy Memmel revealed that USAG president Steve Penny tried to get Chellsie to retire after an online petition was started by fans to try to get Chellsie to compete at Nationals! Not only that, he told them Chellsie's fans aren't very nice. Then after the JS Online article came out, Steve Penny proceeds to put out a press release (http://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=10192&prog=) in which every quote contradicts what Andy Memmel claims he told them. Um, too little too late Mr. Penny! The damage's been done! This part of the situation really disgusted me and got me really riled up. I haven't been too much of a conspiracy theorist regarding USAG, but I believe this situation with the Memmels has really exposed some of the flaws of USAG. I hope this doesn't go down quietly. Mr. Penny handled the situation very unprofessionally and it wasn't fair for Chellsie to have to deal with what is possibly the end of her career happening like this. Nevertheless, she has been classy with her responses to everything. Chellsie Memmel is legendary and the fans (you know, those who support the sport and pay for tickets to USAG events that help pay your salary, Mr. Penny) will not forget her. Thank you Chellsie Memmel for all the years of great performances and all that you've done to help USA Gymnastics go for the gold. We will not forget you.

2011 American Cup

96 Olympian John Macready (center) interviews Jonathan Horton (l) and Jordyn Wieber (r)

So it has been a week since this competition took place in Jacksonville. I was lucky to be in attendance at the Jacksonville Veterans Arena to see what went down. It was exciting to be there to see a great field of world class gymnastics. Overall, though, the meet was filled with several mistakes. Still had a good time - I hadn't seen a live meet in nine years.

Men's competition:

Jonathan Horton had a very solid competition. Upon watching the internet/TV broadcast a day after the competition, I was surprised to find out that Jon had been away from major training for a while due to his thumb injury. He looked very prepared. I think he may be hitting a consistency streak now, and I surely hope it continues. He was very fun to watch and the crowd seemed to show him the most love out of everyone, male and female competitors. Philipp Boy was charming and appeared to me as confident in the first event of the night (floor), but mistakes on pommel horse - a rough event for many - put a damper on things. He also faltered on high bar, suffering two falls, but it didn't stop the crowd from enjoying him. I was excited to see Koji Uematsu because of his exciting high bar routine, though his best event of the night ended up being parallel bars. He wasn't completely sharp in the earlier rotations. Mykola Kusenkov did a great job and I was overjoyed for his placement. Almost thought he'd win, and I would have been happy for him because Ukraine could have really used a victory. He is one of my favorites. Jake Dalton came on strong on floor (one of the meet's highlights), then had a rough pommel horse rotation, but he didn't let it affect him and he had a strong showing for third (and for being a last minute replacement). Cyril Tommasone of France did one of two decent pommel horse routines. The British gymnasts - Samuel Hunter and Daniel Purvis - really suffered and had a rough competition. It was sad because they are so much better than what they showed. Hopefully they will bounce back soon for European Championships.

The women:

I wasn't really sure who I thought should have won between Jordyn Wieber (1st place) and Aliya Mustafina (2nd). Both had a fall on one event and had a shaky moment on another event. Mustafina's mistake ended up being more costly, though. Despite the mistakes, I felt Mustafina had a special spark, a special quality about her. Yes, she has her flaws, but there is a star power to her gymnastics, on uneven bars in particular. Her bar routine was the highlight of the meet for me. I also did not see any "diva" behavior from her on the competition floor (though NBC was working hard to get a glimpse of something). Jordyn was super certain of herself on beam and did a great Amanar vault. It is good to see her back in competition. Huang Qiushuang - oh, I wanted her to hit all events so much! Oye! She did a strong bar routine (exquisite lines) and a decent vault, only to fall on beam. Her floor was nice to see in person. Lauren Mitchell just didn't seem to be herself at this competition - perhaps she just was not ready for the meet. She didn't seem down on herself, however, so perhaps this competition just allowed her to get her feet wet for the rest of the year. Aly Raisman was one of two female gymnasts to have a good all around meet. This gymnast is not the classical artistic type of gymnast, nor the most stylish. But she is pretty consistent and just goes out there and does what she is supposed to do. She is cool and calm, and the way she is makes me appreciate her. I wish to see her continue to do well. Ariella Kaeslin - the other gymnast who hit all four events - was nice to watch. Lacking in difficulty on some of the events caused her to finish out of the top four. I have liked this gymnast since 2005. Hannah Whelan, much like her British male counterparts, had a rough meet. She still delivered a lively floor routine (though she fell). Jessica Lopez is another athlete who struggled, but she finished well on beam and floor.

Other things:

Chellsie Memmel and David Durante did in house commentary - they did a great job calling the skills and answering questions from the audience. Everything flowed very well. I wonder why NBC did not show those two like they showed Alicia and Nastia (both of whom were also in attendance)? Just a quick pan of the camera to them and a sentence about them would have sufficed.

The Mag 7 (minus Dominique Dawes) and Svetlana Boguinskaia were also in attendance. It was great to have them there - the Mag 7 were an instrumental part of my involvement with gymnastics. I just wish I could have gotten a better view of them! Svetlana Boguinskaia signed autographs at the International Gymnastics Camp booth. She is a legend in the sport and I felt kind of sad that some of the fans (who weren't kids) did not recognize her, but perhaps some of them were casual fans at best. It was great to get to meet her.

I was surprised Martha was not on the prowl on the competition floor, instead opting to watch seated on the sidelines.

MTV's The (RW/RR) Challenge: Cutthroat

Time for another installment in this series. I've been thinking I'm about done with it for the last couple of seasons, but then I hear of a favorite or someone interesting from the past coming back, and it draws me back in. This time it was Abram and Derrick. Initially I had not heard they were a part of the cast, and I was scrapping to round up the people I really liked on the challenge (Katie and Brad). So, as an old school fan specifically, I was super excited when the other two were added. Abram is very well suited for these challenges, with a mostly fearless and willing to do anything attitude. He's also one of the more interesting cast members to me because he has different sides to him, and you never know what side is going to come out. He's intense with a bit of temper, but also peaceful at times. Kind of stir-crazy, but intelligent, philosophical, and talented (published a book for children, built a house, art).

So, the first episode was Wednesday, October 6 at 10 PM. Very excited about this season being in Europe (Prague, Czech Republic). I love that there are three teams and that the teams were done by the old schoolyard method of picking (each team had an appointed captain, and each captain took turns selecting cast members). I also love the secret voting. If you remember The Gauntlet (the original) challenge, the Road Rules team employed a secret ballot system which caused a bit of drama. I think it will provide drama for this season as well, so can't wait to see how that plays out. The mission was interesting. Tear gas and codes and puzzles? I wonder if Shauvon was less affected by the tear gas because she was wearing glasses? I don't think anyone else wore glasses. Glad the gray team won. Not sure if I will continue to keep rooting for the gray team, though, because my favorites (Brad, Katie, Derrick, and Abram) are spread out among the teams. The other people I kind of care for are as well, so it's kind of hard to pick. I probably should go for the red team more because Brad has yet to win a challenge.

On to the action. I don't blame Shauvon for not wanting to wrestle Laurel. Plenty of girls aren't into play wrestling like boys are. Laurel once again seems to lack the social grace and awareness to know when to start, how to start, and when to stop with people (not just the wrestling thing, but some of her past comments). She realizes the girls didn't like her last season and has seemed to take an “I don't care” approach to it all. Shauvon was obviously sloppy drunk and probably did overreact to it a bit, but I see her side. I think I kind of feel sorry for her on these shows because she is totally seen as a joke. She does not help that perception of her go anywhere, but she seems like she could be nice enough, and I don't think she deserves as much flak as she gets.

Poor Camila. OK, so I was thinking there was no need to add a person from Spring Break Challenge into the mix. It's already an issue that they put people on the show who have never been on The Real World or Road Rules (the Fresh Meat people). But I think a lot of fans were under the impression that it was just a fun activity for some of MTV's spring break participants to do. But surprise, she is added to the challenge. Now after watching the first episode of Cutthroat, I think they did her a disservice by making her the only one cast from SBC. I could not believe how some of the other girls behaved towards her – girls who just came off of a challenge as Fresh Meaters themselves (Theresa). It's one thing if they decided to vote for her or weren't interested in hanging with her, but they drunkenly accused her of stealing other cast members' belongings just because they saw them under her bed. That Theresa made herself look like a total fool last challenge, and once again she's doing the same. Only this time, she's a lot ruder. And it's not an entertaining rudeness mixed – something that makes us laugh or rudeness that seems warranted on some level. It's just ridiculous drama and she does not come across as charming or clever or entertaining by it whatsoever. She just comes across as really sad every time she is featured. I just don't understand how she is still that unaware of herself after last season, in which she played herself IMO. I think I'll stop paying attention to her – hopefully she stays out of the major drama and storylines this season (or gets eliminated soon). But she made Camila sympathetic, and I think a lot of viewers didn't even know who she was or didn't even want her there.

So I'm glad Camila won the elimination over Cancun Emilee (we really need some diversity in names, BMP). Brandon was also one of the FM people from last season that I sort of ended up finding interesting or likeable, so I was glad for his win as well over Cancun Derek (who may have been the most tolerable person of that season). The previews for the season have made me quite excited and interested - CT and Tina back?!! Some people are saying that Tina is not menacing or tough, so they should have brought someone else back, but I'm glad it's her. She not a favorite of mine, but I feel she has been on some of the best challenges, she is a pretty good competitor, she's an old school vet, and she has a loud (though often obnoxious) personality. She's made me laugh a couple of times as well (remember her silly fight with Tonya on Battle of the Sexes II?). Let's see how long this season is entertaining for me.

Pan Pacific Championships - Swimming

This was Ryan Lochte's meet. Amazing performances - six gold medals. I'm surprised by how good he looks this year, even though he's had to recover from injuries. His dolphin turn under water is looking so powerful and I think it will be as much of an advantage to Ryan as Michael Phelps's dolphin turn is to Michael. I was shocked by how much longer he stayed under water compared to the other competitors. I think his healthier diet and his focus on upper body strength due to his lower body injuries have also greatly benefited him. Michael Phelps, though not in his typical tip top competitive shape, did well in his events, outside of the 400 IM, even though he was not happy with his times. I am ready to see him buckle down and get back to the standard he's set for himself, and I'm sure he is motivated to get back there after Nationals and PanPacs. He will need to get back there to hold off Lochte. I look forward to seeing amazing matchups between Phelps and Lochte. I think Lochte is getting even better than before and I think things will be tighter between him and Michael. Tyler Clary is doing well, too. While I expect Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte to be the ones to edge him out for the U.S. spots in the major meets, if one of them should flub up, Tyler will probably be there to take advantage. He already bested an admittedly out of tip-top competitive shape Phelps in the 400 IM, a race which Michael hadn't done since the Olympics (and he planned on not doing it after Beijing). I was surprised to hear of Michael doing the 400 IM, but he can still be very competitive in it, and if he doesn't mind doing it, why not go for it? I'm thinking he will probably end up swimming around the same amount of events in 2012 as he did in 2008 if he keeps the 400 IM, though. I'm sure he and his coach will figure out what will work the best for him. I'm thinking he will end up in the same events as 2008 at this point, maybe dropping one of them, but not adding on new events.

I was also impressed with Natalie Coughlin. She's taken a lot of time off as well since the Olympics and has come back to swimming this year after getting married and doing Dancing With The Stars. I look forward to seeing just how great she can do with more training time under her belt. Rebecca Soni continues to do a great job in the breaststroke events. She's been holding it down for the U.S. women this quad. I hope she will get a little more attention in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics. I'm hoping Rebecca and Natalie does, actually. The U.S. men are so successful and either have interesting personalities or achieve such amazing feats and deserve the spotlight, but these two ladies are really doing a great job as well. Amanda Beard having a comeback, and a competitive one at that, is really surprising to me. I think it would be awesome for her to be a five time Olympian. It's really impressive that she's been able to get back into shape so quickly after time off and having a baby. Hope she keeps improving.

Other thoughts: I was really happy to see Jason Lezak compete again. I really hope he receives some sponsorship, because I'd love to see him continue. Good to see Kitajima back as well. I was surprised the Australians were not as competitive against the U.S., in terms of winning medals, at this meet. I do realize they were hurt by Stephanie Rice having to pull out of the meet, though. There was a guy on the team that was out of shape and just getting back in shape. And it seems they had a few up and comers. I expect them to be more competitive next year.

U.S. Gymnastics Nationals

U.S. Gymnastics National Championships

The Men:

I'm more excited about our men this quad than last. I think there is great talent, and more than that, I just feel better about how they compete. I feel they can really accomplish even more than the last group did. I am proud of what the last group did at 07 Worlds and the Olympics, and I liked some of them and rooted for them, but they definitely struggled and were inconsistent. This group seems to be a bit more together somehow. Congrats to Jonathan Horton for defending his national title. I was really happy with how he competed in finals. Finally put together a really consistent day in the all-around. Must have been a relief for him. I think Danell Leyva really pushed him, and I think he liked it and kind of needed it. I think he works best that way. It was good for the both of them. Leyva did an amazing job. I am so excited about how quickly he has come along. I thought he would win. He did an awesome layout Kovacs in which he flared his arms out to the side while doing the skill - I was so impressed by it and it was a competition highlight for me. It was huge, and he really flies on it. It's nice to see some creativity from the U.S. men, as well as the ability to handle that creativity and compete it well. Kevin Tan on rings, Glen Ishino on high bar, Brandon Wynn's arabian looking skill between the parallel bars (yeah, I'm not good with naming skills), and Bryan Del Castillo's overall presence (very aesthetically pleasing) when competing were the other highlights for me. I think the group U.S. men overall have a better swing on high bar as well.

The Women:

Very happy that Rebecca Bross hit eight for eight and won her first senior national all-around. She looked very determined to hit all of her events - sometimes I think she was a tad bit too determined when it came to sticking her landings. I think she seemed to be a bit tightly wound, and I think it caused her to take a step here or there. I was even more excited for Mattie Larson's performance, which garnered her second place. I am so happy to have this gymnast back competing. I hope she (and teammate Samantha Shapiro) stays healthy. She is great to watch, particularly on floor - my favorite performance of the competition. Vanessa Zamarippa surprised everyone with a well done difficult vault in prelims - unfortunately she didn't hit it in finals, when NBC finally decided to show her on vault. Still, she established herself as a contender for the world team, yet she and her coaches decided not to focus on the world team this year, apparently. I'm very pleased she made the national team. I was a bit worried about Bridget Sloan. At U.S. Classic, I knew it was just a tune up for her, but seeing her fall on beam in prelims at Nationals felt a bit scary. No one's perfect all the time, but I was concerned with her chances for making the team. I think the U.S. needs consistent beam workers, and I felt that was one place Bridget could deliver (along with bars), though she is just a good all-around gymnast period. She seems very determined to get in gear, and with that determination, I believe she can do it. Hopefully she does, because I think the team really needs her ability. Still impressed by Alicia Sacramone, and I think she should easily make the team. I felt bad for Mackenzie Caquatto for falling so easily on UB, before really doing anything . That event will be the key for her making the world team, so I hope she does a great job at camp. I don't think she looks like Shawn Johnson (Al Trautwig said he thinks they could be sisters). I think the world team will be Bross, Larson, Sloan, Sacramone, Raisman OR Hunter, and Caquatto OR Whitcomb. I think camp will probably decide between those last four I mentioned. I think Caquatto has a lead over Whitcomb at this point. Not completely sure about Raisman and Hunter, but Raisman has that Amanar. If she can hit it in camp, I think she will make the team.

U.S. (CoverGirl) Classic - Gymnastics

Finally finished watching (and rewatching) the U.S. Classic yesterday. At least, the senior portion of the competition. Still need to go to YouTube and gymnastike to see routines I missed (as well as the juniors), but I watched all of the Universal Sports coverage. I can't remember getting so scared watching a gymnastics competition. So many falls and not just falls, but scary falls/landings. And I hope our gymnasts get the confidence to really rock a beam routine. It's lacking right now, and it kind of feels like I took Shawn and Nastia for granted a little bit. I'm sure Martha is very disappointed with balance beam, since she was the BB coach during her and Bela's gym coaching days. And of course, uneven bars is not a strong point overall for the U.S. at this point. It's really sad because for decades, UB was the standout event for the U.S (and it's one of my favorites).

Aly Raisman's fall was the worst. I am so glad she is OK, because that fall could have caused a serious injury. She was said to have been overrotating the Amanar in training/camp, and I would prefer for her to do it the Shawn Johnson way (take a small step forward) than to try and go too hard for the stick and not overrotating. At least at this point. She bounced back well enough on UB, which is kind of impressive since it's her weaker event. Loved her sky high opening double arabian on floor! Very impressive, and my favorite thing I saw from her that night. And I give her credit for hitting her BB routine as well. In terms of hitting the routine and confidence, one of the best of the night.

Sami Shapiro was another big scare, of course. Universal Sports just didn't show her vault in motion. But it was still scary to see Shapiro sitting on the vault mat and not getting up. One of the biggest scares of the night. I was so afraid she'd come back from injury only to injury again in her comeback competition. I wish she could have finished and made the podium. Thankfully it was just hyperextension, but that's still painful, and I hope she will be just fine and able to compete to her full ability at Nationals in a few weeks. I thought she was great on BB as a jr. but paid more attention to Larson and her wonderful floor presentation - think I like her as much as Larson now. GORGEOUS style. I wish she could have finished and made the podium.

Alicia Sacramone - very pleased with how she did! USA Today agrees. Very happy she's back, and I hope things go very well for her at Nationals. Thank you Alicia for providing the exclamation point to this meet! Love the football boyfriend, Brady Quinn, coming to a gymnastics meet. I want her on the world team. She looks to be in fantastic shape (and she really rocked the purple)! The U.S. needs someone who seems confident enough to rock a routine. It was lacking in this competition. She is a spark plug for the team. I just hope we don't have to keep hearing about her screw ups from 2008. We know what happened, let,s move on. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Enjoyed her commentary as well.

Mattie Larson - extremely happy she won! I anticipated her coming to the senior ranks when I saw her floor in 2007. She and Rebecca Bross were my favorite juniors then. So happy she is back. I guess Saturday was a night in which I felt like making comparisons in the looks department, because I thought she looked like a mixture of Hollie Vise, April Burkholder, and Ashley Postell . Would like to see her floor choreography change up - liked the routine, but it looked like her old floor too much, like, "let's take the dance from the old and put it to new music." The turn on her stomach is a trademark Mattie move, though, so I don't mind that part. Hope she has a top three finish at Nationals to hopefully increase her chances at the world team. She really needs to pull out all the stops on floor and hit her vault as well as she can.

Rebecca Bross - still love her on UB, and I love her on BB, but I am hoping (and I bet she is, too!) that she gets over this "one big mistake a competition" phase she's going through. At least this was a smaller competition. Nastia went through the same thing for a while, and everything worked out for her at the end. She won silver at her first worlds, which was the first one of the quad, and the same happened for Rebecca. Both Nastia and Rebecca also finished second to their U.S. teammate who won the gold (2005 - Chellsie Memmel, 2009 -Bridget Sloan). Carly also only won a world silver AA medal (thought it was the world championships before the Olympics).

Mackenzie Caquatto - girl looks like a cross between Wendy Bruce and Michelle Campi. Takes me back to the early 90s, with a touch of late 90s (Vanessa Atler - who I think slightly resembled Campi at times, and I told her so). At first I thought she looked more like Michelle Campi, but now I think Mackenzie is much more Wendy Bruce looking. Has Tasha Schwikert/Chellsie Memmel type of UB routine - love it.

Kytra Hunter - LOVE the tumbling. It just looks so effortless and smooth to me. Often powerful tumbling/difficult tumbling does not look that smooth (i.e. Dos Santos), but she does it. Love that Kelli Hill has another great top gymnast. Kytra and Mackenzie are going to rock at Florida!

Vanessa Zamarippa - Favorite in NCAA and I love that she's doing elite since she's so talented. Didn't pop as much for me on FX in this competition, but as I understand it she had to change her routine around. Looking forward to her development in elite and NCAA. What did pop is her personality! I love her spirit. I hope to see more of her in elite gymnastics. I'd love for her to make the national team and get an international assignment. She is certainly at the right college for deciding to go back elite, with Miss Val and Chris Waller behind her. She could be even more of an inspiration for Sam Peszek to continue elite when she gets to UCLA.

Bridget Sloan - scared me when she did her UB dismount. I haven't seen her BB routine yet. I hope she is ready to go for Nationals. If she wasn't ready for this competition, then I don't blame Bridget and Marvin for not having her do all the events. She is already qualified to Nationals. Plus she's the world champion and a veteran. I am going to give Team Bridget the benefit of the doubt and think they are doing what's best for her.

CGA girls: Cassie Whitcomb - nice to see she is still in the running for a world team based on her UB and FX. Amanda Jetter - another Amanda for Mary Lee Tracy. Hadn't seen her before. MLT's comments about her BB routine were interesting (the words "garbage" and "you look like an idiot" were throw out when talking about how her skills went) - I'm sure they were in good fun and humor, but it was kind of surprising for me to hear them.

Who had Shawn Johnson's old music?

Without thinking much about scoring potential and who would compete what events, my spur of the moment dream world team was Sloan, Bross, Larson, Sacramone, and Whitcomb or Shapiro. That was with me thinking only five gymnasts were going to this world championships, too. But with there actually being six going, and with me paying attention to scoring now, it's down to Whitcomb, Hunter, Caquatto, and maybe Shapiro for who will be the fifth and sixth gymnast. I will be very happy as long as Sloan, Bross, Sacramone, and Larson make the team. I'm not really getting into analyzing what's the best and most realistic team right now.

Sally Girl Cosmetics

Sally Girl's mini baked eyeshadow is my favorite eyeshadow of the moment! It's very affordable ($0.99 at the moment - $0.94 with a Sally Beauty Club Card), it is well pigmented, it has a metallic finish, and it has a nice variety of colors. So far there are 12 overall. I am hoping they expand the line and include new colors eventually, but the variety in the selection right now is pretty decent. I own all of the colors. The only drawback of this baked eyeshadow is it is easy to break the eyeshadow from its compact. All it takes is dropping it or plopping it down too roughly. But I haven't had any completely shatter on me.

The regular Sally Girl eyeshadow is also really great. I first used those. There are 48 colors available. I have a handful of these, and most of them are pretty well pigmented, too. There are matte, glitter, and frost/shimmery types in a variety of colors. These are the same price as the baked eyeshadow. What's also cool about these is that they connect together as well.

Sally Girl also has eyeshadow quad palettes. The colors in the quads look like some of the singular eyeshadow shades to me, so I bought a number of the quads to try out a bunch of colors I didn't already have. The quads are also $0.99.

I tried the mini liquid eyeliner as well (in black). It goes on just fine (if you are used to applying liquid eyeliner, which can be tricky). However, it does peel off. I had something dropping down in my eyelashes and didn't know what was bothering them, and I soon figured out it was the eyeliner. It's convenient for me because it easily fits in my purse (I sometimes finish my makeup in the car while being driven to work). It works and can stay on long enough, but it's not the smoothest looking and not my favorite. I'd probably only buy it again if I needed something cheap and was in a Sally Beauty Supply and crunched for time.

The mini lip glosses are cool. Once again, the size makes it very convenient to carry in your purse. There are a lot of pinks, there are a couple of neutral shades, and there are a couple of wine/burgundy shades. There is also a clear one. It is pretty smooth and comfortable to wear. Really tiny, but it's also cheap at $0.99. I've tried about three of them and liked them all. I'd say the lasting power of the glosses were about moderate for me.

You can find these and other Sally Girl mini makeup products at Sally Beauty Supply. If you don't have one near you, you can order them at http://www.sallybeauty.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-SA-Site/default/Search-Show?prefn1=brand&prefv1=SALGRL&brandLandingPage=true

Sally Girl Eyeshadow Connecting Compacts
Top row (l to r): Navy, Turquoise, Aqua, Teal, Onyx

Middle row (l to r): Cranberry, Rose, Beige, Chocolate, Snow

Bottom row (l to r): Sally Girl Quad Eyeshadow in Miss Behaving, Gum Drops, Dream Boat, and Envy




Sally Girl Mini Baked Eyeshadow
Top row (l to r): Dark Green (388120), Dark Aqua (388129), Dark Purple (388127), Grey Purple (388128), Shadow Rose (388125), Light Pink (388126)

Bottom row (l to r): Gold (388122), Sage (388121), Bronze (388124), Silver (388130), Gunmetal Grey (388131), Pearl White (388123)