The 2009 Stanford Open Must be Televised
Posted on 10 November 2008 by admin
Imagine if, alongside dressage, bowling, and BMX racing, a major sports network would spotlight men’s gymnastics. Imagine a major men’s invitational on your HDTV, with not only some of the best college athletes in the country showing off their routines, but also some of the best high school club gymnasts competing for medals as well. Imagine American sports fans finally seeing just what it really takes to get to the top of a sport they usually only see at the Olympic level. Seeing the years of hard work and dedication in action will wow the public.
The 2009 Stanford Open will be held January 23-25. 41 men’s club gymnastics teams have confirmed their participation, along with Cal, Stanford and Nebraska. The three-day meet will be dominated by club competition, but the highlight of the weekend will be the Saturday night NCAA, elite and Level 10 competition. The Level 10s will square off in Friday night’s qualifying round, with the evening’s qualifiers advancing as an all-star team to compete against the collegiate teams.
Wouldn’t it be great if this event were to be televised? This event would be a natural for either ESPNU or CBS College Sports Network. Viewers would get to see an early glimpse of two of the top Division I teams in the country (Stanford and Cal) and they would see some great club gymnasts who will undoubtedly end up competing at the collegiate level and possibly beyond.
Some of the nation’s top club gymnasts who will be competing at the Stanford Open include Christopher Turner (WCOGA), Donothan Bailey (Azarian) and Jake Dalton (Gym Nevada). Black Hills will be sending a very strong contingent featuring Konner Ackerman, Dominic Morris and Alex Powarzynski. Black Hills won the J.O. Nationals Level 9 team championship the past two seasons. SCATS will be well represented by Jordan Gaarenstroom and Adrian de Los Angeles.
Men’s gymnastics received wide media coverage just a few months ago at the Beijing Olympics. Televising the 2009 Stanford Open would be a great way to keep the sport in the public’s eyes. Viewers would get to see some of America’s top male collegiate gymnasts and they would also get a great glimpse of the sport’s future. There is no other sport that offers a joint competition between collegiate and high school gymnasts. This unique competition deserves nationally televised coverage. ESPNU or CBS College Sports Network need to be challenged to step up to the plate.
Click on the links below to issue the challenge. Please ask these networks to televise the 2009 Stanford Open.
If you like this post, then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS . You can also subscribe by e-mail and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:31 am
I wrote to ESPN. This is a great thing you are doing here. Another competition that should be televised as well is the Pacific Coast Classic. Also a huge meet.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:49 am
This is an amazing idea.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am
MGymnast - According to the PCC website, the PCC will be televised by Comcast Sports Net. Unfortunately, the broadcast won’t be available to all cable/satellite subscribers. Still, it’s a great meet and at least it will receive some sizable coverage.
http://usa-sports.org/schedule1.htm
November 11th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
5 of the top 8 ranked Division I teams will be competing at the 2009 PCC — Stanford, Cal, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota, including a Japanese collegiate all-star team.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
The Pacific Coast Collegiate Classic television broadcast will be available locally on Comcast Sports Net and nationwide via satellite.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Another meet that should be televised is the MIGS/University of Minnesota meet, March 6-8, 2009, which will feature club competition and NCAA teams, Minnesota vs. Oklahmoa and Stanford. The top three club teams from Friday will compete with the college teams on Saturday. We need more men’s gymnastic’s exposure and meets like the Stanford Open and MIGS should draw interest from both the collegiate and club team crowds.