For those who do not know, UGA is one of the premier bastions of Gymnastics in the NCAA ranks.
On top of being incredibly good at their sport, the Georgia Gym Dawgs tend to be really cute, and this year at the "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" we were lucky enough to tailgate next to the Gym Dawgs and the Diamond Dawgs. There was enough hotness to go around for both genders. I even got to flirt with one gym dawg. Granted she was really drunk, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes.
I digress, Courtney Kupets is one of the stars at UGA for the gymnastics team. A few days before Valentine's Day 2007, UGA faced #3 Alabama in the Stegasaurus. I had never been a huge Gym Dawgs fan. In fact, throughout undergrad I would buy season tickets to the Gym Dawgs and then go to one match the entire season.
However, once I got into law school, one of my friends, whose father would go to every Gym Dawg event with her, took me to a few matches every now and then. I had no idea what I was missing. If you are lucky enough to be at UGA right now, I suggest going to one of these competetions. They are beyond exciting and, quite often, can leave you slack jawed at how these young women can pull off some of these maneuvers.
I was fortunate enough to attend this gymnastics meet earlier this year, and it cracks my list at #10 because of the sheer brilliance of Courtney Kupets performance on the bars that night. To write about it does not do it justice. Kupets, whose sister was also on the team, won bronze on the bars in Athens in 2004. Alabama actually had a gymnast who had won silver on bars in Athens. It was already going to be an impressive night, just knowing that.
First, to reflect on the atmosphere. The Stegasaurus was sold out and rowdy. Try doing that during a basketball game these days. As Kupets took the bars she flew through the routine, nailing a beautiful handstand and flying in such perfect form half the arena was staring shell shocked that such perfection could be reached. When she hit the dismount the entire place erupted with chants of "TEN! TEN! TEN!" bouncing off the walls. It was an amazing sight. When the score came out a minute later, the place erupted again. It was the first perfect ten for UGA in three seasons, and the first perfect ten on bars in five seasons. More importantly, it helped UGA defeat the Crimson Tide and move down the path to claim what would become the team's eighth national championship.
Although UGA did not gain the #1 ranking that night, a spot reserved for the University of Florida, the Gym Dawgs would come back down the home stretch to defeat Utah, UCLA, and Florida to win the National Championship and become repeat champions for the third year in a row.
What a team.
