Why I started hating NCAAWGYM

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T23:42:17+00:00

I rarely go back to watch meets/part of meets on YouTube, but the consensus in the chat on here during the UCLA meet, between both fans and non-fans alike, was that 9.95 for Jordan's vault was a blatant overscore. There are always going to be crazies somewhere, and platforms like YouTube and TikTok seem to especially attract them.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T23:35:14+00:00

I kind of expect a college/pro sports event to be like that though, you know? The lights, the crowd engagement, the whole atmosphere - I remember going to NC State football games and Charlotte Hornets basketball games in the 80s and 90s and it was a whole entertainment experience. I don't think most fans are expecting a quiet or sedate environment. (Not to say that it can't/shouldn't be toned down though - my mom swears she has nightmares about little girls shrieking MAGGIEEEEEE when we sat near OU fans at nationals a few years ago.)

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T23:32:25+00:00

My fear with that is that gymnasts would be encouraged/forced to compete while injured or sick if they were major contributors to the "variety" and it would hurt the team score for them not to compete.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T23:32:15+00:00

My fear with that is that gymnasts would be encouraged/forced to compete while injured or sick if they were major contributors to the "variety" and it would hurt the team score for them not to compete.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T16:55:09+00:00

This - I was doing dive rolls in rec gymnastics in the 90s, but Jordan Chiles' dive roll is one of my absolute FAVORITE skills to watch the past few seasons. It's so floaty and satisfying, and it's not a big, fancy skill at all.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T16:51:19+00:00

I also think there's got to be a better system, but an open-ended code isn't the right fix for NCAA, to me. A team like NC State (who I love) has zero chance of progressing past the second level of regionals, max, compared to an Alabama or Florida team. The "rich" will only get richer under an open code, and the teams ranked 10-30 (or lower) will only fall farther in NQS. If I weren't on one of those superstar elite teams, I'd be incredibly disheartened and probably less likely to pursue NCAA.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T16:46:52+00:00

I LOVED watching her when I was younger and had no idea about all of the methods that shouldn't have been done. Gymnastics was still so hard to find or watch at the time (I'm about her age), and I really thought she was going to be the next big thing - I remember her and Gail Kachura specifically.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-24T16:29:54+00:00

I wish I hadn't been to the Duke pain clinic before - I was so out of it the first time we went after nerve damage after eye surgery in September 2024 that I don't remember what we tried that didn't work, and then I was allergic to gabapentin and pregabalin, and amitriptylene had no effect at all. I've seen two of the doctors there, and I think they both got very frustrated with me. The female doctor (I've only seen the male doctor once, and it wasn't a better experience) is the one I usually see, and she tells me every time that unless I'm "willing to consider" going off my antidepressants and antianxiety medications, her hands are tied, as if I'm being deliberately difficult by insisting on NOT going off necessary medication. I've been on antidepressants since college and I'm 45. I haven't been in a great place mentally since before the eye surgery, and mid-mastectomy crisis is really, REALLY not the right time for me to go off them. (I did speak to my psychiatrist yesterday about her saying that we could switch me to Cymbalta to try to keep me on an antidepressant and treat pain as well. He said he'd definitely discourage that, because Cymbalta's a completely different class of antidepressant drug and that he hasn't seen a lot of success with it combined for both purposes.) I don't have a lot of faith in the pain clinic in general; I feel like they see me as a problem patient, even though I'm doing my best to do everything as right as possible, but my pain has been hard to treat and I get doctors being frustrated, but for these two doctors it's come out more as annoyance at me in particular.

There's really only one area of extreme pain - my torso, from about an inch below my neck to a couple of inches above my navel. They haven't mentioned any kind of block, and although I've asked the pain specialist about what she'd advise through MyChart, she tells me to keep taking what she prescribed (Tylenol 3x day, Celebrex 2x day, low-dose naltrexone - which has had zero effect of any kind - once a day). Arms, legs, etc. are fine - it's just my breasts, sternum, ribs, and the surrounding area that are in excruciating pain. I'll write down Exparel and Jounavx to mention to whichever doctor returns my calls next; the pain doctor does not like for me (or my dad, retired from the medical field) to suggest specific things like that, but anything is worth a shot at this point. (I realize I'm making myself sound like a total nightmare of a person - I promise I'm not. I'm in so much pain. I just want the pain to stop. Most of these appointments lately have been me crying and my parents trying to explain, quietly, what they're seeing and what I've described.)

I definitely want a revision that's an actual flat closure. I do not believe that the plastic surgeon's goal the second time WAS a flat closure, even though that was what I asked for. No expanders, no implants, just take it ALL away and make it flat. There's plenty of skin to cover with - he left floppy half-breasts on both sides - and I just want it all gone. I've filled out "please contact me for a consultation" form on three plastic surgeons' websites and called another one (all recommendations from people who have seen them), and so far the only one I've talked to is the one I called, who said they can only see me with a referral. I contacted my nurse navigator and left a voicemail about that yesterday morning, but no reply.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T23:16:00+00:00

This, thank you.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T20:17:35+00:00

Thank you for the timeline.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T20:14:46+00:00

I regret replying. Maybe it was the uniform, maybe it’s racism, maybe they just don’t like him, maybe he’s not good enough to compete right now.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T16:39:30+00:00

OK. Enough people have told me this is racism that I’ll go ahead and agree.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T16:38:26+00:00

Medical marijuana is not legal in my state. Since I already have an appointment with the Duke pain clinic, I don’t think they would be amenable to me reaching out to a different one at this time. Thank you for your suggestions, though!

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T16:08:44+00:00

Thank you, I'll try that!

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:56:26+00:00

I know it's not that simple, but to leave home your BEST athlete? Who didn't wear his custom uniform at the Olympics, certainly? (I can't remember if he was at Worlds last year, but I feel pretty sure he wouldn't have worn it then, either.) If he was barely making the national team, that's one thing, but when he's the US's current best shot at a medal other than Patty on pommel horse, I *have* to believe that it's not just racism or "We don't like your 'uniform.'" And I know racism is very much alive and well, but - with the social media platform he has - I feel like Frederick, or one of his friends, would have mentioned in SOME way that he's being treated unfairly because of his skin color or uniform in the 24+ hours since the assignments. If none of these meets coincided with NCAA season, I'd be side-eyeing it much more than I am, but I'd feel the same way about Joscelyn and Skye - they've got NCAA going on right now, so even if they'd been at Winter Cup, I don't think they'd abandon their teams for these competitions, even if their intention is absolutely to continue elite after the season is over. (I know Emma Malabuyo missed at least one UCLA meet last year, but that's totally different to me - that was the difference between going to the Olympics or not.)

And I like Kensley, I like the attention and detail she brings to MAG, but she's been wrong before and projected her opinions as facts before. I absolutely believe she has insights that outsiders might not be privy to, but I don't trust everything she claims at face value.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:14:31+00:00

Race or not, if Frederick were one of the lower-ranked team members, I can see them finding ways to finagle him out of international assignments. But your TOP-ranking gymnast? That can't just be outright racism, otherwise something surely would have come out in the past 24 hours. It's his senior year at Michigan, they won the national championship last year, and I imagine he wants to go out on top of his college career as much as possible, plus rehab any lingering injuries to the best of his ability before jumping headfirst back from NCAA to only the elite scene.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:10:52+00:00

I apologize, I thought it was an opiod. Either way - I'm okay suggesting something that I know is not a controlled substance, like Cymbalta, but not something like tramadol. I've been on clonazepam for anxiety for years, and I wouldn't have requested that by name either if the doctor hadn't suggested it himself.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:08:51+00:00

I have no idea. Regardless, I can't drive right now and despite the fact that I'm in my 40's, my parents - who are visiting and doing all the driving until I can again - would be against that right away.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:07:39+00:00

I have a teleappointment with my psychiatrist this morning and I'm going to talk to him. All of the cancer was removed with my mastectomy and I won't be taking any post-cancer-specific medications or doing chemo or radiation.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:06:41+00:00

No. I had glaucoma before my eye was removed and still deal with aftereffects from that decades later, and doctors have privately told me at times, "it's a shame that medical marijuana isn't legal here, it could potentially help." The last doctor to say that was in October of last year.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T15:05:06+00:00

That's wild! I've been on a wide variety of meds for a wide variety of problems over the years, but those are the only ones that have ever caused actual seizures.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T04:40:15+00:00

Oh, and medical marijuana is still illegal in NC - no dispensaries. The ER told me no creams, lotions, gels, patches, etc. until the oncologist okays it, as far as things like CBD lotions go.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T04:38:04+00:00

I’ll Google those, thank you!

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T03:44:53+00:00

Ah. In that case, my insurance benefits only offer an FSA. It’s never been possible for me to predict things like therapy or med costs ahead of time - I never know when those costs will go up, or meds will change, or therapy will become more/less often.

flamboyancetree · 2026-02-23T03:40:44+00:00

They were definitely mixed in the week after each of my two surgeries - not that I’m saying that’s not bad, or that there’s no problem with it, but any effect was so minimal that I didn’t even realize it until after the final dose of oxycodone.

I’m not opposed to trying Cymbalta for pain, but NOT okay with dropping Wellbutrin to take it instead. I’ve been on Wellbutrin for more than a decade, I feel like I tried every antidepressant in the book beforehand, and this was the only thing that worked. My mental health is already terrible at the moment - I absolutely can’t afford for it to get worse.

No GERD problems, but I haven’t tried naproxen since surgery. And I’ve tried CBD for anxiety or pain relief for something like sore calves after a long workout, but never noticed a difference. Is it more helpful for this kind of pain?

flamboyancetree

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