Ultimate Frisbee champion and real-time fact-checker Jody Avirgan ponders the veracity of a contestant’s IDK. (Photo: Lucy Sutton)
You might already know that men’s and women’s gymnastics are not the same sport. They only share two events: floor exercise and the vault. Women also compete in the balance beam and the uneven bars, and the men compete on parallel bars, high bar, rings and the pommel horse. Maybe you noticed that the women’s competition is almost exclusively lower body (with the exception of the uneven bars) and the men place a premium on the upper body. But why?
When the sport of gymnastics first went pro, the powers that be stressed grace for women’s gymnastics and acrobatics for men’s. Simply put, women were supposed to be ladies, on the streets and on the balance beam.
For our sports-themed episode, we left out all the tired cliches and instead jammed it full of odd trophies, hidden advantages, surprising innovations and… Trouble with a capital T.
Katie Nolan, host of Garbage Time on Fox Sports 1, has a gold medal in [Junior] Olympic [Rhythmic] Gymnastics!
DeMaurice Smith, director of the NFL Player’s Association, was almost a minister but decided that dealing with “deflategate” is more exciting than salvation.
Tami Sagher, comedian and writer for shows like 30 Rock and Inside Amy Schumer, is related to a soccer star, but can’t ride a bike.
Our real-time fact-checker is Jody Avirgan, head of ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcasts and championship level Ultimate Frisbee, who thinks we should digitize our podcast’s name.
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