Friday Night Tweets: Sports, Sports, Sports...........well, mostly women's college gymnastics

Here are our sports-related tweets on a rainy Friday night which has been overshadowed by surreal, harrowing developments in the Boston Marathon bombing suspect. But, today was also the day of the first round of the NCAA women's gymnastics championships on the campus of UCLA; the home mat Bruins are in the second session, which is going on at this hour. These tweets are in reference to the first session.

The three teams that advanced are 1) Florida, 2) LSU and 3) Georgia. The other three teams were 4)Minnesota, 5) Illinois and 6) Stanford. Minnesota and Illinois were competing in their first NCAA championships.

Here are the tweets:

1. Ivana Hong @IvanaHong (She is a Stanford gymnast, pictured top): "Thank you everyone for such love and support! In the end, competing with this team is the best part of gymnastics."

2. Bridget Sloan Fans @TeamBridgetS (Bridget Sloan is an American Olympic gymnast who competes for Florida): "Yay! Congrat to the #gators on being in the #supersix! And congrats to @bridgetsloan on being the AA winner thus far!"

3. Jamie Christian @JamieAllOver: "So along with manhunt and other things about the terrorists, #supersix is trending. This is why I love America."

4. Between the Hedges @UGAHedgesBlog: "Congrats to the @UGAGymnastics for reaching the #supersix for the first time in 2009."

5. Kytra Hunter @KytraHunter Kytra Hunter is a Florida gymnast from Frederick, Md.): "Started out slow, but ended strong! Way to fight Gators! So excited for tomorrow!"

6. FSU Baseball @FSU_Baseball: "First pitch has been moved back to approximately 8:30 p.m. Stay tuned for more updates from Charlottesville."

7. Boston College @BostonCollege: "Thankful for a peaceful resolution; remember all affected by this week. #BostonStrong

NOTE: Neither Florida State nor Boston College have women's college gymnastics programs, but their tweets helped fill a gap we had!

UPDATE: Alabama, the two-time defending NCAA champion, won the second session with a 197.35; host UCLA and Oklahoma tied for second with a score of 197.200. The three schools that did not qualify for the Super Six are: 4) Michigan 196.85 5) Utah 196.200 and 6) Arkansas 196.150

Saturday Tweets_ Mary Lou Retton is Still One of America's Girls

Here are some tweets gathered from the 3:00-4:00 p.m. hour, New York time, when it was 7:00 p.m. in Akureyri, Iceland and 10:00 p.m. in Tel Aviv, Israel:

1) @WNYC (WNYC-New York): "Judge Nixes NYC's 5-Borough Taxi Overhaul."

2) @Sports_Greats: "Be cocky. Walk into the Georgia Dome like you own it_ Mary Lou Retton" (The 1984 American Olympic gymnast from West Virginia is pictured top).

3) @ColoradoRapids: "We are too @DenverZoo: #Rapids very excited for 2nd annual Wildlife Education Night and match today versus Chivas USA!" (The soccer team from Denver, Colo., tied Chivas USA of Los Angeles 1-1 tonight; one of their star players Conor Casey is pictured bottom).

4) @TheRealNimoy (Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock on "Star Trek," pictured center): "They're saying many people won't care enough to vote in November. I hope they're wrong. Let's not slide backward to old policies."

5) @UGAGymnastics (University of Georgia Gymnastics): "A BIG thanks to all the fans who came out to picture day today. We couldn't do what we do without you all! It's Great to be a Bulldog!"

http://www.wnyc.,org

http://www.coloradrapids.com

http://www.denverzoo.org

http://www.marylouretton.com

http;//www.georgiadogs.com

Congratulations to the University of Alabama for Winning Gymnastics Title

Yes, college gymnastics fans will undoubtedly notice that the headline and the photo of Georgia gymnast Kat Ding, a senior from Sparks, Nev., may not seem to go well, but please read the entry first!

And, before we get to that, I forgot to thank blog readers from Belgium, Portugal and Australia on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire,' in addition to them, I want to thank those of you from Bulgaria and Indonesia who have stopped by here in the last 24 hours.

The University of Alabama did indeed win its seventh NCAA championship in women's gymnastics on April 21, and this was the first time that the Crimson Tide had successfully defended its title.

For Tide senior Geralen Stack-Eaton, it must have been a particularly rewarding weekend for she also won an individual title on the balance beam.

Meanwhile, Ding defender her national title on bars with a 9.875 and she had a 9.995 on floor, which gave her a title on that apparatus as well; Ding edged out Stack-Eaton, the defending floor champ, and Ellyse Hopfner-Hobbs of UCLA, who is perhaps the top Canadian gymnast in the world at the moment.

Kyra Hunter of Florida won both the coveted all-around title as well as an apparatus title on vault. The Gators finished a very close second to the Tide in the team competition with the Bruins of UCLA coming in a close third.

Next year, UCLA hosts the NCAA championships in the sport.

NCAA Gymnastics Preview_ Kat Ding of Georgia

The University of Georgia Gym Dawgs team is back in contender mode this year thanks in large part to Kat Ding, a senior from Sparks, Nev.

Ding was named SEC Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 14 for her 39.550 performance in a win over Arkansas. In that meet, Ding finished first on bars with a 9.95 and she tied for first on vault with a 9.9 during the meet with the Razorbacks.

Ding was also featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of "Sports Illustrated" (Feb. 27th issue). Ding also scored another 39.550 in a win over Kentucky.

Other gymnasts for the fifth-ranked Gym Dawgs, which will be vital as the team hosts the NCAAs in Gwinnett, Ga., (an Atlanta suburb some 45 miles from the UGA campus in Athens), are Gino Nuccio, Shayla Worley and Noel Couch.

NCAA Gymnastics Preview_ Corrie Lothrop of Utah

The NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships will be underway starting Friday from Gwinnett, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, and though the seventh-ranked Utah Utes may seem like a slight long-shot, the team has been known to perform well under pressure thanks to the guidance of co-coach Greg Marsden.

One of the gymnasts to watch from the Utes squad is Corrie Lothrop, a sophomore from Donvers, Mass., who was named PAC-12 Gymnast of the week on Feb. 7 for her outstanding 39.475 all-around score, which included a 9.9 on the balance beam, in a win over Georgia.

Lothrop was also named to the first team all-around team for the PAC-12 Conference, along with her teammate Stephanie McAllister. Lothrop was also named Honorable Mention for the PAC-12 All-Academic Team.

Casulaties of Modern Technology_ Board Games

By no means is Monopoly a thing of the past, as one might infer from my heading. However, it is a safe assumption that most children of today prefer to play advanced video games with their friends as opposed to board games. Monopoly board games are still made today as our the likes of Trivial Pursuit and Clue.

According to Wikipedia, Monopoly was first played in 1904, and it was originally called The Landlord's Game. In 1934, Charles Darrow presented his own version of The Landlord's Game to various executives, and by the Christmas of 1935, Monopoly games were being sold throughout the United States.

Monopoly consists of three Chance spaces, four railroads, including the Reading Railroad, and a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card.

Traditional American versions of Monopoly are based on streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Since the '30s, the names of several streets have changed including Illinois Avenue which became Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the 1980s.

There are also popular college versions of Monopoly, including ones for the University of Alabama (pictured), Virginia Tech and the University of North Carolina.

In addition, there are international versions in many countries including South Korea, Japan and Russia. In the Australian version of Monopoly, a koala bear is one of the silver pieces.

There is also a periodic World Championship of Monopoly, which was last played in Las Vegas in 2009. The tournament was won by Bjorn Halvard Knappska from Norway.

Many parodies, including some that are unauthorized by Hasboro, the company which now makes Monopoly games, have surfaced over the years. Of these, the most recognized and infamous is perhaps Ghettopoly, which was released in 2003.

In Ghettopoly, railroads are replaced by liquor stores and a handgun is among the silver pieces. Hasbro successfully sued to prevent the game from being sold on the open market on the grounds of copyright infringement. The NAACP also found the game to be highly offensive.

As a result, the limited editions of Ghettopoly fetch between $120-300 on the Internet.

SIDEBAR: One of my favorite sports, women's college gymnastics, will be starting again soon. The University of Alabama, which was mentioned earlier in this piece, has the reigning NCAA title-winning team this year. They open their 2012 season at home on January 13th against their arch rivals from the University of Georgia at 7:30 p.m local time (8:30 p.m., eastern time).

The University of Georgia's team, which are also known as the Gym Dawgs (Georgia's athletic teams are officially called Bulldogs), has also won numerous NCAA titles in women's gymnastics, and the meets between the two schools frequently sell out.

Among the standout gymnasts for the Alabama Crimson Tide are junior Marissa Guiterrez and senior Geralen Stack-Eaton, who were key components of the team's national championship effort. For the Gym Dawgs, top gymnasts include senior standouts Kat Ding and Gina Nuccio.

The preseason national rankings have Alabama ranked second behind UCLA; Georgia is ranked ninth. The other SEC team in the top ten is the University of Florida; the Gators are ranked third.

Tweet of the Day- Courtney Kupets (Former Georgia Gymnast)

Well, the college gymnastics season has been over and Courtney Kupets ended her impressive career at the University of Georgia two years ago. But, we found this tweet from Kupets, who was also a member of the national Olympic team to be very intriguing:

"I'm learning how to keep my car lookin new! Car wash, vacuum, and buffer! Now, I just need to touch up paint. Thanks dad."

SIDEBAR: I know given that name is (mr) Tilly Gokbudak, I often feel like my long name causes me needless problems whether it is at the pharmacy or the bowling alley, but I found these five last names on the Internet which made me realize I really can't complain. Here they are:

1. Dzhamgerchinov (Russian)

2. Niratpattanasai (Thailand)

3. Kocakthugagullarindan (Turkey)

4. MacGhilleseathanich (Welsh)

5. Featherstonehaughwolfeschlegelsteinhausenerdorff (German)

Whew!

Road Trips USA (4 of 20) West Virginia and Georgia

Well, for starters, we hope our image of West Virginia University gymnast Hope Sloanhoffer, a freshman from Cornwall, NY, was posted correctly. Secondly, we hope our friends in Portland, Oregon, are enjoying their lunch hour and telling everyone they know about our blog.

Today, we look at the distance between Black Bear Burritos in Morgantown, WVa, and the very famous/hip/greasy diner The Varsity in Athens, Ga., since WVU will be traveling to the University of Georgia this weekend for a regional meet along with UCLA, Maryland, North Carolina State, LSU and the host Gymdawgs.

Is the distance:

A) 9 hours even

B) 9 hours, 20 minutes

C) 9 hours, 40 minutes

D) 10 hours, 5 minutes

Alas, both towns have had problems with their historic old movie cinemas. The Warner Theatre in Morgantown closed in September, and the Georgia Theatre in Athens had a fire in 2009, but we gather they are in the process of renovating that building.

Congrats to 2010 NCAA Gymnastics Champ UCLA

Gazooks! I have spent almost six and a half hours on the Internet, which is about the amount of time it would take to get to Athens, Ga. The Georgia Bulldogs, the five-time defending NCAA women's gymnastics champions, were surprisingly eliminated at regionals at the University of Missouri thanks to an amazing performance from Tigers' gymnast Sarah Shire.

So, that opened the proverbial door for a new team this year which turned out to be the UCLA Bruins who edged out Oklahoma and third place finisher Alabama. Bruins gymnast Vanessa Zamarripa (pictured here) gave another stellar all-around performance to help capture UCLA's sixth NCAA title in women's gymnastics.

Here are the complete results from the Super Six Finals which were held at the University of Florida:

1. UCLA-197.725
2. Oklahoma-197.250
3. Alabama-197.225
4. Stanford-197.100
5. Florida-197.000
6. Utah- 196.225

In the all-around competition, Susan Jackson of LSU won with a 39. 625 followed by Casey Jo Magee of Arkansas who scored a 39.550 and third-place finisher Carly Janiga of Stanford who scored a 39.525.

Daria Bijak, a German national team gymnast for Utah, who is a personal favorite of mine came in seventh in the all-around with a 39.425.

SIDEBAR: My alma mater Radford University from Radford, Va., bounced back from a loss to Virginia Tech in men's baseball with a 15-9 win over Winthrop University from Rock Hill, SC, which means a lot to me since my cousin Mike went to Winthrop (note to self: call Mike to gloat tomorrow!).

And, our beloved Louisville Bats (see earlier entry) fell to the Indianapolis Indians 6-1 tonight, but we know they will come back swinging when the team play each other tomorrow night. We're not sure if the game is in Lousiville or Indy, but it's getting too late to bother checking that!

Women's College Gym Shakeup (Take Two)

Ouch! My whole first attempt at posting this entry went up in smoke and it was quite a long one too!

Let's get to the chase. Last week, Auburn University (pictured here) pulled off a major upset by beating five-time NCAA champion the University of Georgia.

Some of the major college gym meets for this weekend, most of which are scheduled for Friday, include Georgia's home meet with Kentucky, a team which is having a banner year.

I was hoping to see third-ranked Florida come to Raleigh, NC, for a meet with North Carolina State and George Washington University. But, a nasty winter storm is going to affect virtually every place in Virginia and North Carolina, except those lucky Wolfpack fans in Raleigh (but they do get rain!). The NC ST team features two outstanding gymnasts in sophomore Brooke Barr and freshman Jess Panza this year. Hopefully, we will get to see them some time soon (I hope!).

Top-ranked Alabama heads to snow-free Baton Rouge, La., to face 12th ranked LSU. UNC heads to Maryland, but College Park, Md., is in the storm zone! Out west, Denver goes to Provo, Utah, to face Brigham Young U, Utah visits the Arizona State and UCLA heads to the University of Arizona.

Lastly, the Illinois State RedBirds host Ball State. Emily Matko, from my hometown of Roanoke, Va., is a gymnast for the RedBirds and her mom is a friend of mine. I guess everyone knows who I'm pulling for in this one!

Here is a run-down of the Top Ten teams this week. NC St is ranked 22nd.

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Florida
4. Utah
5. Oregon State
6. UCLA
7. Arkansas
8. Stanford
9. Georgia
10. Nebraska

UPDATE_ A few minutes after posting this, we learned that George Washington University was not going to compete in Raleigh. For the info on that meet which was between Florida and North Carolina State tonight and other weekend gym meets, go to collegegymfans.com

I'll be there myself after I check out my Twitter page!

SEC Gymnastics Meets for this Weekend

In terms of college gymnastics, the Southesatern Conference is the premiere conference for the sport. This week, all seven SEC teams (five SEC schools do not gymnastics programs) are nationally ranked including Alabama (#4), Arkansas (#7), Florida (#8), Auburn (#9), Georgia (#10), Kentucky (#14) and LSU (#16).

Georgia's ranking is a little surprising because they are the four-time defending national champion, but they will get to prove themselves when they face Alabama in Tuscaloosa for a 7 p.m. meet that will be televised (on tape) on ESPN-2 on Sun., Jan 24. I think the Tide will win this one, but it will be very close!

Georgia's Courtney McCool (pictured) was named SEC Gymnast of the Week. She is a fomrmer national team member who is a senior.

Alabama's Ashley Sledge (pictured) was named SEC Freshman of the Week.

There are a full slate of SEC teams in action tonight, including Kentucky and LSU's participation in the Lady Luck Invitanational in Las Vegas which will also include Arizona State and Missouri.

Here are the other SEC meets, all of which are scheduled for tonight @ 7 p.m. (depending on the time zone of each meet). The Oklahoma Sooners, currently ranked number two, are not in the SEC:

Arkansas @ Florida- 7 p.m.

Oklahoma @ Auburn- 7 p.m.

Other major meets this evening include top-ranked UCLA at Washington as well as traditional powerhouse Utah's home meet with Iowa State. For live updates, check out www.collegegymfans.com

Kudos to the Georgia GymDawgs

Congratulations to the University of Georgia Bulldogs' women's gymnastics team, also known as the GymDawgs for winning their fifth consecutive NCAA title in Loncoln, Neb., over the weekend.

The team was lead by standout gymnast and former Olympian Courtney Kupets, pictured here.

The order of finish was as follows:

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Utah
4. Florida
5. Arkansas
6.LSU

The meet will be televised on CBS on May 9 at 2 pm, EDT.

My Super Six Predictions

The NCAAs women's gymnastics championships will be held at the University of Nebraska next week.

Unless the last two years, I will not be in attendance this year, but like every college gymnastics fan, I thought I'd give my Super six predictions.

Utah gymnast Kristina Baskett, pictured here, will be among the showcase gymnasts in Nebraska.


Here they are, in order of where they might stand at the end of competition:


1. Georgia
2. Utah
3. Stanford
4. Florida
5. Arkansas
6. UCLA

Alabama or LSU also might make into the Super Six.

Surprisingly enough, the host school Nebraska, usually a national power, did not qualify for nationals nor did Michigan, which is also known for its outstanding program.