By Paul
Martinez
WSPW Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, MO. – Two separate post-Athens gymnastics
tours are criss-crossing the country, and their co-existence so far is anything
but peaceful.
Both tours competed for fans and performers, with the
TJ Maxx Tour, which is backed by the USA Gymnastics, having the edge. After
the dust settled, the TJ Maxx tour got the entire Athens women's team, while
the Rock & Roll Gymnastics Tour got most of the Athens men, including
Paul and Morgan Hamm, and Blaine Wilson, and several former Olympians including
Shannon Miller, Tasha Schwikert and Hollie Vise.
The gymnastic infighting boiled over Sept. 21 in Kansas
City, Athens medalist Courtney McCool's hometown, when McCool crossed over
to perform with the rival tour.
In
a column
in The Independence Missouri Examiner, Courtneys' mother Linda McCool,
said USA Gymnastics told her Courtney would be fired from the TJ Maxx tour
if she performed for the Rock & Roll tour. At the time the McCools signed
on to the Rock & Roll Tour, the TJ Maxx Tour had no Kansas City stop.
However, the TJ Maxx Tour tour now passes through Oct. 13.
USA Gymnastics was as good as its word, and McCool was
fired the following day.
Beside the infighting, the Tours also had to deal with
scheduling problems. The first three dates of the TJ Maxx Tour were in Florida
-- right in the middle of the September hurricanes. Those dates were grafted
onto the end of the tour, making for more overlap between the tours.
The TJ Maxx Tour now finishes up in Tallahassee Nov.
28, while the Rock & Roll Tour ends Oct. 3 in Dallas.
|
