Friday, March 21, 2008

Arizona State Gymnast Wants to Trade Places with Obama



As a college gymnastics fan and political enthusiast, I was quite intrigued to see that there is an Arizona State gymnast who is interested in politics, or that she would at least like to trade places with Barack Obama for a day.
That gymnast is Carrie Finley, who is a 5'2 junior from Doylestown, Pa.
Finley is majoring in communications, and her specialties in gymnastics are the vault and the floor.
Among the other personal information that Finley mentioned on the Arizona State gymnastics team's web-site is that she likes to dance in the locker room before each meet. Her favorite book is "Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss, and her favorite tv show is the politically-minded  "Colbert Report."
Finley must also be a Will Ferrell fan as her favorite movie is "Talladega Nights" (yes, it does rank right up there with "The Seventh Seal"-nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
The Arizona State Sun-Devils lost in a road meet at the University of Missouri on Friday night, but they did score a season-high 195.5 (for road meets) and Finley's teammate Tiana Jean came in second in the all-around competition with a 39.050



All of this begs the question: Did Finley vote in the Arizona Primary on Super Tuesday or does she have the vote in the Pennsylvania primary which is next up on the slate?
I never had this dilemma when I voted against Oliver North in a Virginia Senate election in the 1990s because I was a resident of the state, and went to Radford University in Radford, Va. (and, thankfully Sen. Chuck Robb was reelected). Though I had never voted in Radford, and hence I had to ask patrons at a funeral home for directions to the elementary school/polling station.

As for Barack Obama, he was in Fayetville, NC and Charlotte this week, where large crowds apparently gathered once again. "The Charlotte Observer" warned of traffic congestion in the Queen City  for his rally there. Bill Clinton was scheduled to campaign for his wife Hillary in Charlotte today. The North Carolina Primary is May 6 (yes, we are like the last state to decide!).
Perhaps it is not too surprising that Obama has become popular with young people like Finley, who will turn 21 in June, as he is the candidate of change and the ASU gymnast said that she 'wants to make a difference in the world.'

The Sun-Devils next compete at the PAC-10 Championships in Seattle on March 29.
Currently three PAC-10 teams are in the top 10, including Stanford, UCLA and Oregon State.
I wish the Finley and her Sun-Devil teammates well in Washington state.

Useful Links:

http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym


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