August 2, 2002

Hi everyone!
I'm currently on the comeback trail. My shoulder surgery seems as though it was successful. Unfortunately, these things take time. I still have some new skills to learn and that is exciting. This will actually be the first nationals in 10 years that I have not competed. I am looking forward to watching the competition.

I think the all-around is going to be very close this year. A lot of gymnasts are closing the gap between first and sixth. I am personally excited to see Blaine Wilson compete again. In my opinion, he still has a legitimate chance of winning, and I'm sure he is hungry for the title. I think it is going to be a tight competition between Blaine Wilson, Sean Townsend, Paul Hamm and Brett McClure. A lot of the routines these guys will be throwing are still new. The FIG changed some of the code this year and it has affected everyone. It's simply going to come down to hitting routines. There is going to be some serious world class gymnastics being performed. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

-Steve McCain

August 5, 2002

I'm watching the first day of podium training and the first thing I notice is that, when I look around, I wonder who half of the people here are! There are so many new faces. Looking around the arena, I think it's down to a four horse race between Brett (McClure), Blaine (Wilson), Sean (Townsend), and Paul (Hamm). I think some people are overlooking Brett. I think he looks as good as I've ever seen him and he's an amazing gymnast. I think he has what it takes.

Blaine looks to be in really good shape. His pommel horse set looks a little off to me, but I think that was the last event he was able to come back on. Other than that, I think he looks great on all of the other events. For him, it may just come down to pommels. Can he hit and stay on the horse?

The change in the Code really affected a lot of people – almost everyone actually has had to revamp routines, learn a few new skills and re-work sets, especially on p-bars, high bar, and pommel horse. Todd Thornton actually looks really great as well. He's had a good year, and he's looking focused out there.

For me, the first day of training at Nationals was all about getting comfortable with the equipment and letting your body adjust from the travel and time change. The younger guys are probably like, ‘Wow, look at this arena.’ They are probably on the floor with some of their role models, gymnasts they've looked up to, so that can be a little intimidating. For the most part, though, day one is just adjusting. There are always some distractions, too. People come up to you and ask the same questions: ‘How’s training? Are you healthy? How’s the body feeling? Are you hitting your routines?’ Whether it's your friends, people you see at events, or whatever, it can actually get a little irritating. You want to keep focused and not get distracted thinking about those things or starting to second guess yourself. You want to go out there, put together everything you've been working on in the gym and hit your sets. I really liked to just avoid that whole thing, kind of hide out in my room, watching TV or reading. And even on the floor you have to kind of protect yourself [from outside influences], just to stay in the moment and not get distracted. That's why so many of the guys where headphones in between routines.

I think the US has a great shot at medals at this year's individual worlds. I think it should be Paul on high bar, Sean on p-bars and rings, Brett on pommels and Todd and Morgan on floor. Things are looking bright for the US!

-Steve McCain

August 6, 2002

Well, my second day here and I have to say it's really hard watching from the sidelines and not being out there competing with these guys. A lot tougher than I thought, actually. This is my first nationals in something like ten years where I didn't compete, so it's a very unusual feeling. It just motivates me all the more though to come back from this surgery and get out there and compete. It looks like my first competition back will be the 2003 Winter Cup.

Last night I had a chance to sit down and catch up with Jay (Thornton), which was great. It's been too long since we've seen each other in person. He's here coaching his brother Andy so he'll be on the floor during the competition. He said that Andy looked really good in training this morning and is ready for the competition. He still has to work on his rings strength, but overall he's looking really good according to Jay.

I'm looking forward to seeing the competition. Again, I think it's going to be one of the most competitive nationals in years. In between the competitions, I hope to see a little of Cleveland and I'm also going to take a look at the Congress exhibition hall. I've gotta find a got sushi restaurant here as well!

-Steve McCain

August 7, 2002

Well, overall I saw a lot of impressive things but the men’s competition had a few more falls than I expected. Still, these guys are doing amazing skills--world class tricks and for a lot of people, this is the first time they've competed their revamped routines.

The amount of difficulty the sport requires at this level is a big challenge. I've been saying for years that gymnastics has just gotten so difficult that it's almost impossible now. Like, all the strength on rings, it's insane. I think that's why we are seeing so many shoulder injuries. You have to do a lot of stuff [to get a good score].

I was really impressed with Paul (Hamm). He's showing some incredible stuff and he absolutely deserves to be on top right now. Blaine competed with a little pain, but as always, he's a fighter. Saturday should be a very interesting competition but I see Paul taking the title. I've admired him for a long while now and I think this is his time.

-Steve McCain


Editor's Note:
Congrats Paul! He was the National Champion. Have a great year ruling as king of the rings!