Posted in Drawing Crowds
Last updated 01/17/2012 at 10:18 p.m. PST

Are You Ready to Tumble?

The Cal and UCLA women's gymnastics teams battle it out on the mats to Guns N' Roses

By Words by Laura Beck, Illustrations by Jonas Madden-Connor on January 17, 2012 - 2:07 p.m. PST
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For this week's Drawing Crowds, we sent a comic-creating duo —writer Laura Beck and artist Jonas Madden-Connor —to the gym to see the UC Berkeley women's team compete with UCLA. The competition was predictably intense.

When we got an email from our friend Ben inviting us to attend the Cal vs. UCLA women’s gymnastics meet, we jumped (tumbled? flipped?) at the chance. After all, I had gone as a convincing Kerri Strug for Halloween one year, a surprisingly easy costume -- just a Paul Reubens’ wig, a thrifted bedazzled leotard, and a lot of walking around on my knees.

Ben told us if we made it to one Cal gymnastics meet, it should be with the women of UCLA. Every year, as he understood it, they incorporated some kind of common element in all their floor exercise routines, whether it be revving a car one year, or doing The Snake another. They were also widely acknowledged as having the most sensational choreography in college gymnastics, and for their love of sporting stilettos while waiting in the wings. We were officially sold.

The event started at 1:30 p.m. with UCLA on uneven bars and Cal on vault. Girls caught major air while their teammates either cheered them on or texted. Mainly texted.

At one point, a member of the Cal team, Madisyn O'Brien (Junior, 5’4”), was spotted standing on the high beam. Texting.

It wasn’t that the CAL girls weren’t engaged and cheering on their teammates—they were. But UCLA is a hard-to-beat powerhouse team with members that have been on the Worlds Team and gone to the Olympics. The CAL women still gave it their all.

The crowd was small (the stands were only about 1/6 full) but they were colorful. There was a man and his kids in the audience eating chow fun and Sour Patch Kids. This little boy was fond of saying, “Her bun is falling out.”

Apparently points are deducted for picking wedgies.

While most fans were there to cheer on Cal, there was a small but vocal contingency for UCLA, including an enthusiastic gentlemen who lead his section in cheer.

Young gymnasts from around the Bay Area came to cheer on the older girls and practice their own moves in the stands. Sparkly boots and tutus appeared mandatory.

One lesson from seeing the competition live was that the gymnasts have to work low on the beam, but lose points if their crotches touch it, which seems unfair. And although it’s really fun to watch them pantomime along with "Freaks of the Industry" and "Welcome to the Jungle" during floor routines, it’s not right that women have to incorporate dance choreography into their floor routines, and men don’t.

Even with the thin crowds, there was an official event photographer on the scene to capture the action: he had a miniature chair strapped to his back, so he could plop down just about everywhere and have sufficient upper lumbar support. He also chewed a lot of gum.

After the meet – which, unsurprisingly, UCLA easily won -- the voice on the loudspeaker announced the opportunity to come down to the floor and meet the women. Not everyone greeted this news with joy. “I’ll take a blow to the head before I ask an 18 year-old for an autograph,” said one woman to her friend.

And while the outcome of the competition was pretty clear from the first somersault, it was still thrilling to see the action close. Attending the meet was like having front row seats at the Olympics: amazing athletics, fabulous floor routines, and the constant fear that someone might take a beam to the crotch.

There are many more meets in the season so we'll definitely be back for more backflips. It doesn't hurt, either, an afternoon with Cal gymnastics costs exactly nothing. As the announcer is prone to saying, “Let’s all thank God for the beautiful sport of gymnastics."

Amen.

Jonas Madden-Connor and Laura Beck are what you might call a "power couple." "Kind-of." They live in Berkeley with their two dogs and piles and piles of bills. Hire them to write, draw, or vacuum naked.

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