Already named:
- Paul Hamm
- Jonathan Horton
Perfect 10s Remaining 4 spots + 1 alternate:
- Justin Spring
- Sean Golden
- Joseph Hagerty
- Raj Bhavsar
- Kevin Tan
I admit that it pains me to leave Morgan Hamm off this list. He certainly has the clout and reputation. It pains me to leave Durante, Townsend, Alvarez & Artemev off as well. What a tough call. What do you think? Who are your picks for those remaining spots?
June 21st, 2008 at 9:09 pm
[...] Perfect 10: [...]
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
How can you leave David Sender off of this list, and without consideration. Clearly you guys are not the gymnastics gurus I thought you were. Sender when healthy beat EVERYONE in the all-around, and couldn’t compete this time because of a minor ankle injury that occured the day before.
Also, I am ashamed at the selection committee for putting Morgan Hamm on the team. He clearly does not deserve a spot after his brutal performances, and the only reason he is on there is because of the media attention the “Hamm Brothers” will recieve.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Your picks were very close. Not sure if Morgan Hamm deserved to be there, based on meet performances, but he certainly does have experience competing at the highest level, and having him on the team will probably benefit in an intangible way, by helping Paul. Seems like a good pick to me. I think you have Paul, Jonathon…and the other 4 are very debatable. I think Durante or Sender could easily replace Hagerty, Spring or Morgan Hamm and you would have about the same team. I guess in order to make the team now, you probably need to focus more on dominating 2 events rather than being an all-around gymnast.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Frankly I’m glad Raj was made an alternate. He doesn’t really help the team all that much. I’m tickled pink to see that Jon made it. I’ve been a huge fan of his forever. I just wish Sean Townsend had done better
June 26th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
sasha artemev really deserved to be on the team
a lot of ppl say ‘oh so and so deserved to be on it like raj and sean and durante’
but unless you have actually done the calculations, you cant say that. i have calculated about 50,000 scenarios and the best team was hamm, hamm (yes! he adds 5-6 tenths on floor and is good for the lead off guy on pommels), jon, joe, sasha, tan. even with a fall, sasha contributes about the same as spring without a fall, and if sasha hits, he contributes more than a point in the team total
July 5th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Artemev is just way too risky. I was rooting for him to perform well, but he clearly just didn’t. USA has a slim chance at gold, but not a substantial one, so it might just be better to go for consistency and try to make the podium. No one wants a repeat of worlds where they came in 13th and didnt make the final. Thats why I think Haggerty was a smart choice. Unfortuanate for Sender, but its just too risky to take two injured gymnasts (the other being Paul).