Blogging in 3.5 Minutes or Less....The Six Largest Cities in Alabama (Our 1,500th entry)

Today, we are starting a series which includes entries on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com in which we go over the six largest cities in all 50 states.

Greetings to our blog readers in Belgium, Hungary and Italy.

Here we begin with Alabama. As a college gymnastics fan, I've been impressed with the University of Alabama's women's gymnastics team, which is a perennial power.Ashley Priess, a fifth year senior who just graduated, was named the school's female scholar-athlete of the year. Priess, who has two surgically repaired ankles, helped guide the two-time national champion Crimson Tide to a third place finish this year.

The state flower of Alabama is the Cameila, pictured top.

Here are the state's six largest cities; we gather Birmingham has a very nice zoo. Their web site reports that two red pandas were recently born at the zoo. Yesterday, the National Zoo in Washington, DC, was in panic mode as Rusty, one of their red pandas, had escaped, but he was found unharmed yesterday afternoon :

1) Birmingham 212, 237

2) Montgomery (the capital) 205, 764

3) Mobile 195, 111

4) Huntsville 180,105

5) Tuscaloosa 90, 468

6) Hoover 81, 619


SIDEBAR: We are delighted to hear that one of our favorite movie theatres in the world, the Lale Sinema in Buyukada, Turkey, (Buyukada is an island that is part of the Istanbul metro area) is showing "The Impossible" with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Lale Sinema is one of the very few remaining outdoor cinemas in Turkey.


http://www.birminghamzoo.com


http://www.buyukada.org

http://www.alabamatravel.org

http://www.rolltide.com

Friday Night Tweets, Contd_ The Bard is Back

Yes, it's a snowy night here in Coffin Gulch, Nebraska.....well, that is a fictional town in the tv version of Lucky Luke aka the French cowboy and we are pretty far from the Cornhusker State, but it is snowing here in the Mid-Atlantic part of America.

So, we thought it was a good time to post some new entries and look at tweets from the college gymnastics world, pro hockey and PBS, which we imagine Mitt Romney is watching right now with his grandchildren (forgive the political humor); here are the tweets:

1) Alabama Gymnastics @BamaGymnastics: Sophomore Kayla Williams just tied her career best on the balance beam with a a score of 9.9

2) IlliniGymnastics @IlliniGym: #Illini women vs. #spartans tomorrow at 4. #PinkMeet RT @ MSUGymnastics: We have arrived in Champaign.

3) Washington Capitals @WasCaps: Ilya Kovalchuk scores Devils goal in overtime: Final score: Devils 3 Caps 2 OT

4) AngelicaAlvarez_WTVD @Alvarez_wtvd: Car having trouble getting up a hill on Wade Ave in Raleigh.

5) UK Gymnastics @UK Gymnastics_ Kentucky is facing Alabama tonight on the road: Kenzie Hedges and Shannon Mitchell post solid scores for UK both earning 9.85

6) Pete Cashmore @mashable: Exxon Mobil Passes Apple to Become World's Most Valuable Company.

7) PBS @PBS: If you're watching Shakespeare Uncovered tonight let us know what you think please use hashtags #PBS


http://www.womenslacrosse.com

http://www.unc.edu

http://www.ncat.edu

http://www.wdbj7.com

http://www.gopack.com

http://www.cornellsun.com

Congratulations to Alabama for Winning 2012 NCAAs in Gymnastics

Hmmmm.......yes, a lot has happened in the world since the University of Alabama won its seventh team title in women's gymnastics in Duluth, Ga., back on April 21. In fact, the horse I'll Have Another upset Bodemeiser at the Kentucky, Michelle Obama gave the commencement at Virginia Tech and Kim Spradling became the latest person to win it all on the reality tv show "Survivor."

But, nonetheless, we have been saluting the NCAA winners in women's gymnastics for several years now, and we wanted to continue that tradition even though the finals have aired on various ESPN networks.

For the Crimson Tide, seniors Geralen Stack-Eaton (pictured here) and Ashley Priess came though on balance beam on the final rotation to seal the deal, and help Alabama win its first back-to-back NCAA title in the sport.

Alabama edged out top-ranked Florida, which once again came very, very close to winning the Gators' first title; the team has been second or third on numerous occasions.

UCLA, a team that along with Utah and Georgia has also won several NCAA titles, finished in a narrow third.

The Standings thus finished: 1) Alabama 197.85; 2) Florida 197.775; and UCLA 197.75. Finishing out the order in the Super Six were Stanford in 4th, Utah in 5th and Arkansas in 6th. Each of the schools in Super Six were from either the Southeastern Conference or the PAC-12, which Utah just joined this year.

For the Gators, there is some great news though as Freshman Kyra Hunter of Frederick, Md., became the first freshman to win the Honda Sports Award in women's gymnastics since 1991.

Image to Feel Space- Burn Out Notice

Yes, in case you haven't noticed, we are a bit far behind. But, we are fully aware that folks from Anchorage, Alaska, to Sofia, Bulgaria, to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, rely solely on this blog as their manin source for everything that is going on in the world, so we fully intend to 'get back to work.'

Among the items, we are working on: 1) The last ten films we've seen which will likely now not include the film version of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" (1968) 2) A virtual postcard from Colorado 3) A now-dated update on the passage of the controversial Amendment One measure which will effectively stop gay marriage in the legal sense and 4) An even-more dated entry congratulating the University of Alabama for winning a national championship in women's collegiate gymnastics, late last month.

SIDEBAR: Though we have yet to see "The Avengers," which has apparently broken all box office records in Nigeria (that is a joke, though it might be true), we loved this tweet from "The New Yorker:"

'(Our film critic) Anthony Lane said watching 'The Avengers' felt like being mugged by a gang of rowdy sociopaths.'

Road Trip USA (10 of 10)_ Tuscaloosa to Champaign

Well, hopefully, the images below of University of Alabama gymnast Kayla Hoffman and University of Illinois gymnast Melissa Fernandez, both of whom recently graduated from their respective schools (we presume) will hold up. The image we had of Borat at a rodeo in Salem, Va., my hometown, alas ran into technical difficulties.

Hoffman was named SEC Female Athlete of the year. Along with her teammates Geralen Stack-Eaton and Ashley Priess, she help the Crimson Tide win yet another NCAA title in women's gymnastics.

Fernandez was named the female athelete of the year for the University of Illinois; her counterpart for male athlete of the year for the school was NCAA track champion Andrew Riley.

Today, we are going to focus on the distance between Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Champaign, Illinois, where these two school are located.

For this, we chose two random places in both towns. For Tuscaloosa, we went with the Handstooth Sports Bar, which states on its web site that "Sports Illustrated" named it as the best sports bar in the country.

For Champaign, we are going with The Art Theatre, a cinema downtown that is now showing "Tree of Life" and the killer-tire movie "Rubber." (Having seen them both, I would definitely recommend "Tree of Life," but I think that is an obvious choice).

The school's also have two happening college radio stations. WVUA (90.7-FM/Tuscaloosa) is featuring the local band Calooh Callay in their spotlight. As we were working on this blog entry at 5:30 p.m., Connecticut time, DJ Natalie Wontorczyk was presumably playing a band like Arcade Fire for WPGU (107.1-FM/Champaign-Urbana).

So, is the distance between these two college towns:

A) 9 hours 15 minutes

B) 9 hours 45 minutes

C) 10 hrs 15 mins

D) 10 hrs 45 mins

For bonus points, you can guess which one of these two schools is the alma mater for my cousin Kurt Gokbudak (it's the one in the Big 10, which now has 12 schools?!).

SIDEBAR: We gave up on getting out of her on time about an hour and a half ago, but before we leave the office here in Bridgeport, Conn. (not really where I am at), I thought I would mention Crested Butte, Colo. A relative of mine went there last week for the annual Wild Flowers Festival that ended yesterday. But, one can still visit western Colorado and see wild flowers, such as the elephant flowers, columbine, blue flax flowers and Canadian thistle flowers. Alas, according to MapQuest, Crested Butte is a 31-hour-drive from where I am at the moment, and the commute would probably even more arduous if it started in Bridgeport, Conn.

PS: In the Whoops Department, this entry was meant for our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time." But, as it is, we will be 'taking a day off' here to go hiking in Zion National Park (yes, that is a joke!) The Borat image we mentioned was supposed to go with an entry on that blog about Kazakhstan.

Congrats to the Alabama Crimson Tide

Even though we were sort of rooting for Utah or UCLA, we want to congrdaulate the University of Alabama's women's gymnastics team on their fifth NCAA title. The NCAA championships were held over the weekend in Cleveland. Alabama won the title with a 197.65 score over UCLA (197.375) and the University of Oklahoma (197.25).

Nebraska, Utah and Michigan rounded out the Super Six. Surprisingly, the University of Florida which had been ranked number one at times this year did not make the Super 6 Finals. Shockingly, another strong gymnastics contender Stanford did not even get past regionals!

Crimson Tide coach Sarah Patterson said she was proud of her team for coming together as a team in Cleveland.

We will post all-around and individual results on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time." Geralen Stack-Eaton (pictured here) from Alabama was one of the event winners.

SIDEBAR: Kudos also to Caroline Kilel of Kenya who won the Boston Marathon earlier today. She beat out second-place finisher American Desiree Davila and her fellow Kenyan and third-place finisher Sharon Cherop.

NCAA Gymnastics Championships Underway in Florida

The NCAA Gymnastics Championships are underway at the University of Florida with UCLA, Utah and Oklahoma advancing to the Super Six. Three more teams competing right now will join them tomorrow night for the second and deciding round. According to reports, The University of Alabama is off to a stellar start tonight in the second round.

Alas, I could not be in Gainesville, Fla., for the finals which should be televised nationally sometime in May (traditionally CBS airs the championships though the coverage has been better some years than others).

I was deliberating what would be the best way to post an entry about the finals and for right now I will simply list my 24 favorite NCAA gymnasts who are competing in Gainesville in alphabetical order.

It should be pointed out that Nebraska, Oregon State and LSU's teams did not advance because those teams did not finish in the top three, but some gymnasts from those teams will likely compete in individual events which will be held on Saturday, the final day of the three-day meet with 12 teams.

The six teams competing tonight are the host Florida, Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas and Stanford.

Here is the first part of my 24-gymnast list. The second part will be posted on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time." The asteriks will denote gymnasts who competing individually without their teams.

The two pictured gymnasts here are Annie DiLuziou of Utah and Morgan Dennis of Alabama.

My four favorite overall gymnasts are Daria Bijak (Utah), Amanda Castillo (Florida), Sarah Shire (Missouri) and Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA).

The first 12 gymnasts are:

Daria Bijak-Utah (senior)

Amanda Castillo-Florida (senior)

Jamie Deetscreek-Utah (senior)

Morgan Dennis- Alabama (senior)

Ashanee Dickerson- Florida (freshman)

Annie DiLuziou- Utah (senior)

Sabrina Franceschelli- LSU (senior)

Susan Jackson- LSU (senior)

Carly Janiga- Stanford (senior)

Jacquelyn Johnson- Utah (junior)

Kelly Knutson- Michigan (senior)

NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regionals Surprise...?!

The NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional Meets were held across the country on Saturday at six different campuses. The astonighing result came from Columbia, Mo., on the University of Missouri's floor where five-time defending national Georgia failed to qualify for the NCAA championships to be held in two weeks in Gainesville, Fla.

The home-team Tigers (mascot pictured here) pulled off the upset and won the meet thanks to a very impressive performance from their standout gymnast Sarah Shire who scored a 39.625 and won the all around competition. Oregon State won a tie-breaker over Georgia to join Missouri at nationals.

In Morgantown, WVa, Stanford won the regionals with a score of 196.775 thanks to Carly Juniga (pictured here on beam) who was the team's top scorer. Kylee Botterman from the University of Michigan won the all-around in West Virginia with a 39.55 and she helped the Wolverines advance as well.

Taylor Seaman of North Carolina State qualified as an all-around gymnast for Gainesville at the West Virginia meet even though her team will not advance with her.

In Lexington, Ky., Alabama edged out Nebraska with a score of 197.4-195.975. Both teams advance. Geralen Stack-Eaton won the all-around for the Crimson Tide and her teammate Ashley Priess finished second.

The other six teams to advance to Florida were first-place finishers University of Florida, University of Oklahoma and UCLA as well as second-place finishers Utah, LSU and Arkansas.

Alabama Wins Big Gym Meet Over Florida

Whew! We almost had a "Dewey Beats Truman" moment, as I came close to stating in the header that Florida won the meet. I'm sure Alabama women's gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson would have been quite upset with me if that had happened! I must also tell Florida Gators fans (shh! I am one of them) that I could find any decent images of their gymnasts on the net so we have to go with the mascot who was probably not in attendance since the meet was in a surprisingly snowy Tuscaloosa, Ala., last night.

The Gators-Tide meet will be broadcast on ESPN 2 at 11:30 a.m. on Sun., Feb. 21.

The Tide won the meet by a 197.425-196.600 score. Before the night's meet, Alabama was ranked #2, and Florida was # 6. New national rankings will be announced on Monday.

In other gym meets last night, West Virginia won over Ohio State, Auburn won over Kentucky and Utah defeated Utah State. Despite two inches of snow in Athens, Ga., the host GymDawgs won over visiting Arkansas.

Sophomore Geralen Stack-Eaton tied her career best score on all four events, and she posted a career high in the all-around competition according to the official web site of Alabama gymnastics.

In spite of the inclement weather, 12,446 fans showed up to the delight of coach Patterson:

"I can't say enough about the 12,000 people that came tonight, even when everything is closed and they are being told to stay home."

Stack-Eaton also expressed delight that she was able to perform exceptionally well Friday night:

"I was trying not to think about it too much all night. But, when I got on floor and I stuck my first pass, I really started feeling good about my chances."

For the Tide, senior Ricki Lebegerm won vault. Stack-Eaton, junior Kayla Hoffman and senior Kassi Price tied for top honors on the uneven bars.

Sophomore Ashley Priess (pictured here) won the balance beam event, while senior Morgan Dennis came in first on the floor exercise.

But, the Gators put in an impressive effort as well in spite of coming up short on the road.

Florida coach Rhonda Faehn told the Florida Gators athletic department that her team performed well in their rivals' home gym:

"I was really proud of our team tonight. They competed aggressively, and did not hold back in this environment."

For the Gators, gymnasts Amanda Castillo and Maranda Smith scored a 9.825 on the uneven bars, and Liz Green scored a 9.875 on the beam.

Both teams are likely contenders for the NCAA Championships which be held on the Gators' home floor in Gainesville, Fla., this April.