Women's Gymnastics

On the 27 I attended a Women's Gymnastics match against Illinois.
This is one of those odd events where I did not know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that there were four standard events: vault, beam, uneven bars, and the floor. The next was the crowd. Sadly, there was no student section. Why was that? Additionally, the demographic breakdown was a lot more even for both gender and age than I expected. I've come to expect women's sports to be frequented by little girls. I guess this is where gymnastics enthusiasts get there fix
What I find as odd with women's gymnastics is that it is the one sport I can name where the college people are at or beyond their peak. It seems strange that if they had not made it by the time they enter, then they never will. I did not see an Olympic worthy performance or anyone who is gunning for bigger things, which is something I usually see at all Michigan sports. Still it was very entertaining.
At the match, Michigan took an early lead after the first two events and manager to hang on for the win despite some pretty rough performances on the beam. However, Illinois lost a bit on the beam as well. I appreciated how the team and event was simply "I Beam" on the scoreboard. (I would not want to fall on one of those.) In the end, it wasn't the fact that we didn't mess up as much as Illinois that lead to our victory. We actually messed up more, including a heart breaker during our last routine where the girl suffered a season ending ankle injury and had to be carried off the floor. It was the fact that what we tried was technically harder and we looked a lot more natural in the execution, except when we fell. I tended to appreciate our aggression more than anything. That and our shiny uniforms. I just have two complaints. The first is that black is not a school color. The second is that tight warm-up pants are a bit distracting. OK, I'm not really complaining about that.

Tomorrow, I will discuss Women's tennis against Maryland.