gymnastics

I am sitting here watching men's gymnastics on the television, and a few thoughts spring to mind.

First and foremost, only during the Olympics would I bother watching gymnastics or admit to it. I have never cared about gymnastics. Even if I did, though, it is an unwritten rule for most straight guys that they don't confess to watching gymnastics or figure skating with enjoyment. Men's gymnastics or figure skating are especially taboo.

Second, I would like to better understand how the men who make the Olympic team originally got interested in gymnastics. Performing at this level obviously takes excessive skill and training. Who are the boys who grow up driven to be a gymnast rather than a football, baseball, or soccer player? I'm not trying to disrespect the dream, but I am trying to understand it. Had I been blessed with the athleticism necessary to be a gymnast there are countless reasons that I would have probably used it to play a sport like football rather than use it to swing around on a pommel horse.

Finally, who created these events? For the life of me, I cannot imagine a rational scenario where the pommel horse was decided upon as an event. I still haven't figured out how specifically it is judged. I also do not understand why do the men have the high bar and the women have the uneven bars. The rings do make sense to me, but they don't appear like they would be a fun event in which to compete. By that measure, the vault is the only appealing men's event. I could get into the vault.

Even if I have more points to make I'm not going to blather on about gymnastics any more. I have probably already lost enough cred as it is.