Missed all of this discussion. Series went significantly downhill after game 1 for us Thunder folks.

That said, it appears we've done well in the draft picking up Perry who could have landed top-5 last year (let's just hope the knees hold up), we just resigned Coach Brooks to a 4-year deal. Now if we can keep Harden and Sefalosha, 2012-2013 could go very well.

^^^The 10.0 system didn't reward for creativity either. In other words they didn't give one girl an 8.9 and one a 9.8 because they thought the latter was more creative than the former (at least they weren't supposed to). Every routine (well, there were a few differences in vault start values) under the old system started at a 10 assuming the gymnast performed all the required elements and then they deducted for "mistakes" or execution errors.

That led to gymnasts or their coaches "playing" the code of points (which are the elements a gymnast has to perform to value it at a 10.0) and often having them do several easy things that added up to a 10 but would get them fewer deductions rather than risking difficult elements that wouldn't/couldn't increase the value but would probably lead to higher deductions (this is still an issue at the lower levels which still use a 10 scoring value).

The new system does reward for trying riskier and more difficult moves. What happens however (and this is the creative element) is that in order to pack in that difficulty and get the first score up as high as possible, the artistry element often suffers. That shows up on the beam and floor.

Unless something changes dramatically, you will be disappointed when you see the Romanians. They've suffered a huge fall from grace, and aren't even close to their glory days, but they have returned to their old coach, so I'll be anxious to see how much that's helped. The Russians have improved since the last Olympics actually...the Chinese will be good. They' also probably be 8. :)

^^^They are amazing on bars and literally a joy to watch on floor, but they struggle with vault. It's hard to get much "spring" off a spring board when you way 48 lbs soaking wet. LOL.

While gymnastics rank nowhere near my favorite in terms of sports, it did deliver the single most courageous thing I think I have ever seen in sports.

1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. Kerri Scrug? had broken her ankle but the team's gold medal chances were somewhat in doubt (if I recall correctly?) Anyway, she took her final run and vault, on a broken ankle, to ensure her team got the gold (or whatever team medal they were in contention for).

Single most courageous thing I think I've ever seen in sports.

^^^ Yeah, I agree, and I think Nastia Liukin (last time around) was an example of adding the difficulty and maintaining the artistry. The Chineese manage it on floor.

TonyB06 - The Kerri Strug moment was cool...but we did have the gold in hand and didn't need it. Still, it made for a great moment and I'm not sure SHE knew that when she vaulted.

That's why it stands out for me, 16 years later. I don't think she knew the gold was already in hand, so, in her mind, she was risking her ankle for her teammates. That's good stuff!

Thank you for the scoring explanation. That does help. I miss the artistry of the "olden" days too though. I know it is because they do much more difficult moves, but the pauses while they set up to do the tumbling runs on the floor or the big moves on the beam make it choppy. There used to be more elegance to it. I have the same complaint with figure skating. Big pause... big jump/turn/tumble. It used to look more like dancing. Some girls still get that element in there, but some are just all business/athletics.

Ultimately, I'd rather see a clean routine than a super difficult one with lots of bobbles in it too. But, I know they wouldn't get the difficulty points then.

Steve Nash to the Lakers. Is it enough to overcome the Thunder in the west?

I didn't watch the game Wednesday, but my Twins were up 2 games to 0 against the Tigers. Woohoo! :p

Only 3 more months to go. :|

What a collapse. On one hand we did FARRRR better than we were expected to do. On the other, it sucks getting your hopes up. Glad the Tigers finally put us out of our misery yesterday.

I'm comforted by the fact that Cubs have lost 100 games this year LOL