Jordan Chiles gets another 10, judging oversight updates, and Jay Clark had a lot of tired old feeling about judging oversight and he's not alone.

Headlines

• Collegiate judges received an email from the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) that there will be no judging feedback shared for the first year of the SCORE Board pilot program
  • The target for this year is on data collection and analysis
• Jay Clark (LSU) had A LOT to say about the SCORE Board, we have thoughts (see full quote at bottom of notes page)

Gymternet News

• Everyone is rightfully obsessed with Isla Gie's musical theater floor routine
• Kyrstin Johnson (Temple) plays tribute to hip-hop culture in her badass floor routine
• Betty Okino was named the Developmental Lead for the U.S. women's artistic program
• A Tale of Three Cities: USAG narrows its options down to three cities for the USA Gymnastics facility of the future
• Injury updates: Tyler Turner, Trinity Brown, Sam Phillips, Sasha Fujisaka
• Because of Elon Musks' double nazi salute, going forward, GymCastic will no longer link  to Twitter. We encourage listeners to follow #Ncaagym and other gymnastics starter packs on Bluesky 
  • Opinion: Sports leagues, athletes put their reputations at risk by staying on toxic X by Nancy Armour

NCAA

Corrupt or Correct

• Beam credit: Layouts for E  Keanna Abraham (UC Davis) vs. Layout Pike or back pike

NCAA Week 5 Highlights

• Jordan Chiles clenched her second 10.0 of the season, this time on FX
• Is Michigan State the best vault team in the country?
• Kara Eaker is back, this time at Georgia and she hasn't missed a beat
• Opportunity for comedy: friends don't let friends do squat-ons in NCAA

Feedback

• What does it mean to be a Brevet judge and what does each FIG judging category mean?
• What is the appropriate way to address gymnasts? Hint it's not by calling them "girls"
• Our British listeners are wondering what is the culture like at Oklahoma?

UP NEXT: 

• College & Cocktails live Q&A podcast: Friday, February 7th
  • Immediately following the Meet of the Week: LSU at Alabama
  • Full NCAA schedule and links here
  • Never miss a live episode! Import the entire College & Cocktails schedule into your Google and iCal calendar here
• Fantasy Lineups Lock: Friday, Feb. 7 - 3:30pm PT

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!):

• • Weekly Q&A  Behind The Scenes podcast, dedications, mini-commissions , group commissions, exclusive extended interviews, and College & Cocktails episodes. Plus discounts and first dibs on Live Show tickets and merch.
  • Exclusive VIP section on the message board Forum
• Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF + a FREE Gift at https://huel.com/GymCastic

Join Our Fantasy League

MERCH

• GymCastic Store: clothing and gifts to let your gym nerd flag fly and even “tapestries” (banners, the perfect to display in an arena) to support your favorite gymnast!
  • Baseball hats available now in the GymCastic store

NEWSLETTERS

• Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters 

FANTASY GAME:

• GymCastic 2025 College Fantasy Game now open. Never too late to join!

THE LATEST 

• College & Cocktails: MSU at UCLA
• Fantasy News: 2025 NCAA Season, Week 4
• The 5th Rotation: January 28, 2025
• Bronze Debacle: GymCastic Has Entered the Chat
• College & Cocktails: Oregon State. vs Auburn

RELATED

• Opinion: Sports leagues, athletes put their reputations at risk by staying on toxic X by Nancy Armour
• GymCastic Interview: Three World Champion coaches share their experience 
• Sexism in Ski Jumping
• Spencer’s Clickable Code of Points
• Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
• Men’s Gymnastics coverage from Kensley Neutral Deductions

LSU Head Coach Jay Clark quotes from Jan 31 press conference

Question “I hear there might be a mid-season change [re Scoreboard/judging oversight] in the way they do scoring is that is that possible do you want to see?”

“It that just adds to the Ridiculousness right so what so the the the issue it is not that I think scores should remain unduly high the issue is that this thing we've put in place either intentionally or unintentionally has only attacked one part of scoring and it is tamped down the ceiling and done very little about anything else and so it's not Equitable across the board I'm all for credibility and scorting I'm all for uh you know increased um accuracy understanding that we are a subjective Sport and you will never remove the subjectivity I just don't think that this thing has been rolled out in a manner and it's supposed to be a pilot program and yet we're getting newsletters and we're getting we're getting told you know what the deductions are that are being missed most says who judging in venue is a different deal than sitting somewhere who knows where in a living room on a video screen and then that's that level of subjectivity is supposed to add more credibility and so I think what we have created is that with a with a targeted part of the scoring Spectrum we have judges looking over their shoulder and there's better ways to do this I I am not about like everything should get a 10 that's not it at all but there there has to be it's got to be whatever we do to increase uh credibility or or or Tamp down or whatever like no one has I've never had anyone present to me that on a consistent basis the wrong team wins or the wrong gymnast wins or whatever now you could say the score might have been too high but was it ranked correctly on that night that's the that's the real question right was it the best routine on that night and you know to the point where people SC scream and clamor enough that that you know at some point Trinity Thomas issued a public apology for getting a 10 for crying out loud here's the thing when you go to a sporting event Scott when you go to a baseball game what's one of the things you hope you see a home run what when you go to a when you go to a football game you you want to see an explosive play a long touchdown pass or things like that you hope to see those things that's sport controversy is also sport and there's nothing wrong with there's never going to be a time when we're when we're all happy with all the scores we see because all of us have biased all of us coaches fans everyone the point is is it ranked correctly is it consistent across the board and by any real objective measure we haven't created a more consistent situation this year we've created a more erratic situation here and and and I'm don't blame the judges one bit because they're doing the best they can to do the job that that that we've asked them to do there are easier ways to correct wrongs in venue and it should be in my opinion given the meat referee authority to convene a conference right now our meat referees have no authority to do much of anything um and and so in tennis the chair umpire can overrule the line judge in in uh the the home plate umpire in baseball can can walk out and call a conference if they thought something was missed at second base these are things that are common in other sports our meat refs are to sit on their hands they judge every routine and many most in almost every venue we we were required to have them but yet they really can't do anything except be a liason to deliver papers from a coach to to the panel to me if I'm if I'm an official I'm going to feel a whole lot better about somebody who's in venue with me as part of the official panel in the meet to be able if something egregious happens to be able to have the authority to walk over and say hey guys let's talk this over and and let's make sure we get this right um that's a simpler solution than than having to use technology from different angles not in venue it's a whole different ball game when you're not judging in venue and so I you know I don't want anything I say or anything live tweeted by the way I had nothing to do with that she just knows how I feel about it and and uh but she's right and and we're we're in a time where where Collegiate athletics's Olympic sports programs many are in Peril for funding and revenue share is is is coming in and scholarships are going to be moved from sport to sport all this everybody got an increase in scholarship no they didn't they got an increased limit and not every school is going to be able to do that and so at a time when when that uncertainty exists for at least 50 or 60% of our programs in our sport we drop this little poison pill into our scoring so that the fans sit there and wonder what the heck's going on so it's ill-timed it's incomplete it's illc conceived and and and it it just is and we keep having to make adjustments and now we're not going to put suggested uh deductions in the in the newsletter anymore I hear and we're not going to put those things out there we're just data collecting that's what we were supposed to be doing in the first place but and then but but there's all this information leaking about what's being looked for and what's not being taken and so it it's just been in my opinion an abject disaster and uh it was fairly predictable that it would be and I hope uh there's growing sentiment that we need to go about this a different way let's examine what we do in scoring let's try to create more accuracy yes but in a time like this we cannot be some kind of purist we can be marketable or we can be purist we're probably not going to be both and and and if we're going to be purist then let's look at the run the gamut let's look at the routine that goes 975 that should go 96 as well you know let's let's let's look at all of it not just the the the higher end scores because these kids work hard and then you see things like this you know where where kids they know they just did the best Vault their life it goes 9925 the next kid's like man what do you got to do to get a 995 I'm not even talking about a 10 Helen Hu should have got a 10 Helen that beam set is the best beam set in the country and she did it flawlessly I dare anybody to tell me where the real deduction was now I was standing I wasn't sitting where the judges were and I'm not questioning their credibility I'm questioning our judgment as a coaches group for for doing this thing that has just created some pendulum swing back and forth where the judges keep trying to find themselves and it's it's just unfortunate so thanks for putting me on my soap box I mean it's not affecting the rankings if you look year to year over the last several years I mean the rankings and the teams that are in the top 15 or what ever you know it's it's The Usual Suspects but if you look at where the uh at the at the higher end scores on each team and where they're capped there's where the change is and so the fans don't get to see their home run they see them and they clear the fence we just don't call them home runs anymore I said that on the air um but it's that was kind of what I meant anyway...” - Jay Clark