[quote]SAN JOSE

Seriously, He really just needs to stay retired. He needs to face the fact that he's getting old. It's kinda sad. Does he not know what else to do with his life.

I don't think he's too old. He should go for it if he wants to. He really isn't that old either - he's 33. Oksana Chusovitina is 32 and she's winning medals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksana_Chusovitina , competes for Germany, previously for Soviet Union before 1993 and Uzbekistan 1993-2006). This is even more prevalent in men's gymnastics. Jordan Jovtchev is 34 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Jovtchev , competes for Bulgaria) and winning medals too. There are others too. It is becoming more and more common, especially with the rule change that you have to be 16 to compete in the Olympics. Blaine Wilson is a really strong competitor. He can do it. And he can win. Go for it Blaine! Plus, he could help out the US team a lot, along with Paul and Morgan Hamm.

You're right. Jordan is really good. But Blaine didn't even do that great in the 2004 Olympics. And Morgan, come on, the only reason he was put on that team was because of Paul. There were several other guys that beat him in the Olympic Trials. Gymnastics is to political. They already have the team selected anyway. If they judged fairly and put people on team that deserve to be there then we might have a chance of winning the gold.

There is a lot of politics, even too much politics in gymnastics. On the Hamm twins Olympics, you also have to consider that having Morgan on the team with him helps Paul too, mentally and emotionally - he even said something like that - maybe that's why Morgan got on the team?! Or at least helped get him on the team?! It's not like Morgan sucked though.

Yup, Jordan Jovtchev is really good. It's like people are like wow when they watch him - remember when Bart Conner - I think it was him doing the broadcast commentating - was saying how Jordan does maybe like a couple of vaults on the podium or hard floor landing a month - or something like that. He did a good vault too. And also that he doesn't do those long practices like the younger ones - efficiency does count a lot. Blaine Wilson was on top in the world for a while. Anyways, he was still on top in USA. With some practice and studying of the code, he could be in the mix - USA didn't even qualify at last year's Worlds. He has good experience. And he's coached by Paul and Morgan Hamm's coach - so you would expect he knows what's he doing. Plus, his coach lets his gymnasts pick the path that works for him - which is really great - different things work for different people - Blaine wants to do and work on all 6 events together, like the guy that likes to dive into the pool and get wet, not just tip toe, splash water gently onto yourself first, etc.

A nice montage on Blaine Wilson from the 2002 U.S. Gymnastics National Championships: Blaine Wilson montage Heart of a Champion [youtube]LlfjUMR2Dko[/youtube] Yay Blaine! He gets a lot of massages, and chews a lot of gum, and he goes for it when he competes.

38 year old gymnast the best in Norway, at the 2007 Worlds: [quote]Espen Jansen no longer listens to all those folks who tell him he's too old for the kiddie sport of gymnastics. And no, it's not because he's losing his hearing. Three months shy of his 39th birthday, Norway's best gymnast competed in his 13th world championships Monday. Though he had mistakes on his first three events - high bar, floor exercise and pommel horse - his overall score of 82.875 was still more than a point better than last year. Higher than his two teen-aged teammates, too. "I've said I'll do it as long as it's fun and as long as it's going the right way," said Jansen, the oldest gymnast at worlds. [/quote] Got back into the sport after retiring after 1997 World Championsips, [quote]But the 1999 world championships were in China, where his old coach was from. Why don't you come back, his coach said, do a few events. "I said, 'OK, I'll do some events,"' Jansen said. "And I did all six." He stuck around for a few more years to help another teammate train for the Athens Olympics. He considered quitting after that, but just couldn't after seeing the new scoring system the International Gymnastics Federation adopted last year. [/quote] "Nearly 39, Norwegian gymnast can still hang with the kids" http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070903/sports/gym_world_notebook_tab_1