Unbelievable!

Yesterday I took Hannah to see the 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars at the TD Banknorth Garden. I had received a pair of free tickets and thought that she would really enjoy it since she enjoyed watching the Olympics this summer. The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars is basically the men and women's Olympic teams as well as the Hamm brothers, Shannon Miller (from the 1996 Atlanta games) and a few others.

This is what I have to say about the show....UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I didn't really know what to expect. I figured it would be all of them coming out one by one and doing their routines on the beam, floor, bars, etc. That would have been cool too but they actually put on a really neat show. It's like the circus but with people that are way more physically fit.

Something that you can't see on TV (or maybe those of you with fancy HD televisions can) but these athletes are in peak physical condition. You can literally see the outline of every muscle, joint, and tendon - I swear to God. There is not an ounce of fat on these people. On a side note, Shawn Johnson, the Olympic star from Des Moines, IA, is surprisingly thick. She's not fat. There is not a drop of fat on her. But she's thick. She's very short but with a LOT of muscle and therefore looks like a really, physically fit tree trunk. She's a compact little powerhouse, that's for sure.

All of these athletes are in their prime and this is where I wish I had the ability to write really moving pieces of prose. There is no way to describe watching them live. They are like tightly controlled little balls of energy and physical perfection. As they move you can see every muscle ripple through their body. They bounce and fly through the air as easily as you and I walk. They can be walking across the floor and all of sudden will throw themselves though the air and effortlessly do a few flips and land perfectly. It is amazing.

Normally when I watch gymnastics on TV I prefer watching the women's team. I enjoy the beam and the uneven bars. They seem a little more difficult than the high bar and rings to me. Or not necessarily more difficult but at least a little more entertaining.

Watching it live actually changed my opinion a little bit. While I still enjoyed watching the girls yesterday (they did the floor, beam, and uneven bars only) it was the guys that truly impressed me. The girls did a great job. Watching them fly around on the floor mat was insane. They literally launch themselves in the air and look like they're floating until they land perfectly on the mat. They seemed a little more jaded though. They came out and performed but it was like they have "been there/done that". They didn't "play" around a lot. The routines done by the women that I enjoyed the most were actually the rhythm gymnasts. I don't normally watch them on TV either but they were cool. They would toss all sorts of stuff in the air, perform a few flips and twirls, and catch it. Pretty amazing. And there were two women that performed a routine hanging from these silky "sheets" coming down from the ceiling. They had no safety wires on them and often times would be hanging upside down with just their feet wrapped in the sheet. INSANE!

The guys were a different story. Every time they were out on the floor they looked like they were having a blast. They came out and did a gymnastic routine and added some break dancing. They would get multiple guys on the same piece of equipment and start playing off each other like they were just having a blast on the playground. And once again, I can't explain how fit they are. Watching them was literally like watching perfection in motion. And they would perform in whatever they happened to be wearing. Sometimes they would be wearing gym shorts and no shirt. Other times they would come out and be in jeans, a shirt, and a blazer and they'd still fly around like it was just another regular day.

I would love to say that the show was worth every penny but as I admitted at the beginning of this story I didn't pay for my tickets. I definitely would though. If they came back around I would definitely buy tickets and attend. It was that awesome. If they're coming to your neck of the woods you should definitely get tickets.