The Stanford...Blackberries?

We trotted down to Maples Pavillion to watch the much-lauded Stanford Women's Gymnastic team host a meet against San Jose State, Sacramento State, and U.C. Davis. Despite being a young team of mostly freshmen and sophomores, the women did not disappoint. Tabitha Yim was a clear standout, but all the women were impressive. Sacramento State had some excellent women on the beam, but they were less confident on the bars.

Taking a kindergardener to a gymnastics meet is bound to be filled with five-year-old questions and comments. Wini plunged right in, naming the teams and declaring the "Blackberries" to be her favorite. The leotards spoke volumes about these schools. San Jose was in pedantic sky blue and yellow, with a juvenile-looking wave design on the chest. Sacramento State wore glittery greenish-gold, and we deduced from the two cheerleaders in the stands that green and gold are their school colors - colors that haven't looked good on any athlete, playing for any team. Ever.

U.C. Davis wore expensive-looking velvet leotards in midnight blue, but overall they looked overdesigned and oddly modest with long sleeves and some sort of fussy, strappy neckline. Stanford went the posh route, ditching any attempt to wear ye olde Stanford red and opting for sleek, shiny black. From the front, they looked like a simple black leotard, but from the back, yowza! Held together by one strap at the shoulder, the back of their leotards plunged in a big way. It made for easy back muscle spotting, but I was perpetually worried that a load-bearing seam would give at a critical moment.

But enough of being superficial! We had a great day watching some fine gymnasts, and we hollered crazily when the big screen demanded it. We shouted for a shirt, and got none (although a kid a few rows down did). Nick and I exchanged incredulous glances when they announced it was "pizza time" and ushers made their way through the stands with sliced pies. Luckily, they didn't start chucking slices at the crowd, they picked one person and placed the whole box in his lap. Whew! No splattered cheese to ruin the day.