Flashbacks to the early '90s...funny stuff

Every time I watch Olympic gymnastics I inevitably have flashbacks to my youth, when I spent about 20-25 hours a week at Acros Gymnastics in Evansville, IN. Tonight I was kind of bored with the beach volleyball and swimming prelims, so I started looking through some old computer files and found a few old photos and videos of myself around age 11 or 12 and thought I'd share a few of them for your comedic relief:

Those glasses are pretty hot if you ask me! ;)

Level 7 state meet - I got 2nd place on floor and I was so mad that I didn't get first. I still remember my score, 9.1. How I remember this stuff, I have no clue. It was 16 years ago...

Watch this video and I guarantee you'll recognize someone talking with a scary Southern Indiana accent...and that's also me in the little box to the right of the news anchor's shoulder:

Here is a pretty decent floor routine when I was 12 or 13. The man with the blue warm-up pants and green polo shirt was my coach, Peter Zhao, who now coaches U.S. Olympian Samatha Peszek. Interesting fact...the girl in the stone-washed jeans with long blond hair in the back corner is Danielle McAdams, who ended up as an All-American gymnast for the University of Georgia:




And I leave you with my all-time favorite blooper of myself (funny, I think all of my bloopers happened on vault)...I was 9 or 10 here:




Now I have just a few awards to hand out for the 2008 Olympics so far:

1) Quirkiest commentor/TV journalist - Mary Carillo. If NBC had anyone less quirky than her doing these "special interest" stories on panda bear mating and the strange foods of the Chinese (duck foot, anyone?) I definitely wouldn't be able to pay attention to the whole five minute segment.

2) Best name - Pieter van den Hoogenband, the swimmer from the Netherlands. It's just so fun to say...PIETER VAN DEN HOOGENBAND!!!

3) Most precise announcer - Cynthia Potter, diving. I have read some very harsh criticisms of her on Olympic message boards, but I've got to say that I dont see how anyone can bash her. Apparently these people think she is too critical of the divers. In my eyes she knows her stuff and does a fantastic job of explaining the sport to those of us who would otherwise watch the divers and wonder why some scored higher than others. In my mind, she's phenomenal. She points out all of the aspects of diving that only an expert would notice.

I am sure I'll come up with more "awards" before these Olympics are over, but that's all for now! :)