Winter Cup Men’s Discussion

[OnoNoKomachi]

I went to every Winter Cup starting in 2007 up until the one in Feb 2020.
It was part of a family vacation. A lot of the original crew from those is no longer with us.
R.I.P. BlackJack + Winter Cup.

 

[RAFIKI]

Someone I know emailed USAG to ask if WC was ever coming back to Vegas, and the answer was no.
The reason given was TV. There was something about NBC allotting TV spots for gymnastics events.

I don’t understand what TV has to do with winter cup being in Vegas or not. What’s to stop winter cup being a different venue each year? Is it a timezone thing?

 

[MAGfan]

I think the belief is that there has to be a women’s meet for it to get on TV. So, really, it had to move, because in Vegas (Blackjack) it was a MAG meet.

As for a different time zone or venue each year, so far it has been in 2 since they left Vegas and added women.

As stated above, in the past, this meet was PACKED. Standing room only. YOu didn’t leave your seat as it would be gone when you returned. Now, it is anemic in attendance, for all the levels from what i can see.

I am a little bitter that they made this a women’s meet too. This was it for the men, and now it is a shadow of what it was before.

 

[choclatechip45]

Yul said in interviews he hasn’t been able to upgrade because of Worlds & Olympics and getting funding he had to attend Winter Cup.

For those who know more about Men’s Gymnastics why couldn’t he try to upgrade after Worlds and just and do his safe routines at winter cup?

 

[MensGym]

He’s got to compete his harder routines before he goes onto the big stage. He can hit them in his home gym but it’s different on the competition floor. Now, he can go back home and work on the hiccups.

 

[choclatechip45]

Thanks I was a bit confused why funding was preventing all of this.

 

[MensGym]

Winter Cup is where they compete for national team spots. US Championships is the other National Team meet. He needs to compete and get on the national team so he can get funding. It’s literally his job for a paycheck.

 

[blake]

I know USAG wants to get this on TV, but I miss the BlackJack days when the WC finals were packed with the biggest fans of men’s gymnastics - male gymnasts. All the little guys who competed at Black Jack got to come and see their idols. The stands in Frisco looked pretty empty.

I never competed at blackjack since the one year my gym went I wasn’t competing that year to deal with mental health issues. I always regret that cause I heard so many exciting stories from my coach and others who’d been back in the 90s/early 00s.

 

[choclatechip45]

He was saying he had one week off because of funding. I don’t understand why funding would be the reason why he has only one week off since Worlds especially if he is doing the same routines from Worlds.

Is WOGA classic or the Houston National Invitational worth going to? I know he attended both of those meets recently.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

I think the belief is that there has to be a women’s meet for it to get on TV. So, really, it had to move, because in Vegas (Blackjack) it was a MAG meet.

I’m 99 % sure this is the reason.

 

[Rich]

I am so excited my friend’s son won Floor Ian Lasic-Ellis. His mom has made so much sacrifices.

 

[MensGym]

I think he has upgraded since Worlds. I think what he meant was, or how I took it was, he’s only had 1 week off since to work on upgrades. Then, funding was a separate thought mixed in. Because it’s his job, it’s important for him to get a fully funded roster spot.

 

[choclatechip45]

Thanks for explaining it. Jessica went on a huge rant about it on Gymcastic BTS so that added to my confusion.

 

[MensGym]

Jessica… :roll_eyes:
Whether you are an Elite or an NCAA or even a JO gymnast, you rarely get time off. Jessica should know this by now. Seriously…
I heard him say it and saw a few posts about it somewhere from either Mark or Yul about taking only 1 week off for Allan Bower’s wedding. I think it was more about all of his hard work and less about the money. He wanted to do well to retain his National Team spot. He said himself that he did not do well on Night 1 and wanted to do better Night 2, which he did. He raised his score by almost 3 points and won the night.

 

[choclatechip45]

Yeah that is why I was confused because elite gymnasts rarely get time off.

Do you know how funding works for the NCAA Men’s gymnastics? Obviously, they aren’t paying their coach. so it is just a stipend?

 

[choclatechip45]

Yeah that is why I was confused because elite gymnasts rarely get time off.

Do you know how funding works for the NCAA Men’s gymnastics? Obviously, they aren’t paying their coach. so it is just a stipend?

 

[MensGym]

To my knowledge, they get a paycheck. They also get is travel expenses, uniforms, per diem when assigned to meets.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

What was the gist of it.
I don’t get BTS and haven’t listened to the show in a while.

 

[choclatechip45]

That the male funding system is all messed because Yul only had one week off since Worlds and wasn’t able to practice his difficulty and had to compete at winter cup to get said funding.

 

[MAGfan]

I really think it was taken out of context. I think his point was that this is now his job, and he works at it to retain funding. He took one week off to attend a wedding.

Yes, he needed to compete at winter cup, although one could argue that he could be petitioned onto the team. He has competed many times in 2022 already, so I am not sure that he has not had time to practice difficulty.