Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Meet Recap

So…yea…umm…you know…I, uhh

I swear I can talk. In fact, I thought I was pretty good at it. So good at it that I’ve been toying around with the idea of incorporating it into my next profession. But after watching the following video, I’m just not so sure. Whatever the case, I’m sharing it with you because there have been plenty of times when my friends and family have been by my side when things didn’t turn out so well. They’ve experienced the sour side of Bri not too many people want to get next to, talk to, or even look at. So I figured they might appreciate seeing this…a whole bunch of smiling and excited babble. And I’m just going to come out and say it…my teeth look enormously big. Are they really that big in real life?! I never thought so but now I’m a bit worried. Mr. Ed and I might be cousins.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack



Anyway, I hope it’s obvious that I am really happy with how things turned out this past weekend. The competition was not an easy one. I was jumping pretty decent but not hitting the board early on, I fell out of one good jump, I had a couple jumps where I just flat out didn’t land…there were a lot of things that could have shook my confidence or made me start to doubt that I could really pull it off. There came a point when I knew I’d have to jump farther than I ever had before if I was going to be on the team and that didn’t rattle me at all. I believed in myself the whole competition and when I stood at the back of the runway on my 5th jump, I was the perfect mixture of calmness and confidence. Most jumpers will tell you that they know a good jump as soon as they land it, and I was no different. So when the judge initially put up a jump of 20’10”, I fought like my future depended on it. Actually, it kind of did. Somehow they had made a mistake with the measuring (it’s this fancy electronic thing—no tape measure) and put up the wrong mark but they had also already raked the pit. But I knew it was wrong, and after a bit of forcefulness on my part, they realized they’d made an error and corrected it. It’s a crazy thing if you think about it…I was that close to not having the mark that put me in 2nd place and if I hadn’t known without a shadow of a doubt that jump was a big one and forced them to find their mistake, the outcome would have been a lot different.

Well that’s my meet recap for you. I know it’s not too in depth because I’d hate to bore anyone to tears and I’m of the mindset that too much technical talk is not interesting. But I gave you the meat and potatoes of it, and I showed you my not so flattering video clip, so even if you weren’t able to be in Eugene, perhaps you can feel like you were there in spirit. And of course, if you have any questions about something competition related that you’re dying to know, feel free to ask!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I MET YOU ONCE AND I DIDN'T THINK YOU HAD BIG TEETH AS MUCH AS I THOUGHT YOU HAD A BIG SMILE BACKED UP WITH WHITE TEETH(VERY IMPORTANT) AND A KICK ASS TAN--WITH GORGEOUS HAIR--THE REAL STUFF--KILLER HEELS--AND A GREAT BUTT--TMI-SORRY--WELL --AS YOU KNOW IM HAPPY 4 YOU AND CONGRATS ONCE AGAIN--JOEP. VEGAS/DC

Unknown said...

Take out a few umms and that was actually a very good interview. Plus you look very cute when you're all giddy like a kid on Christmas :). It made me happy seeing you like that, biting your bottom lip and everything.

Congratulations again Bri, someday you're going to have to explain that judging error to me, I'm curious about how that could happen and glad you were forceful enough to get them to fix it.

Jon Lustig said...

You are so wrong, that was really good! And I am not saying that because it's you, believe me, I've got to listen to pretty much all of these since there's nothing for me to look at, and that was good. You were firing off complete sentences, Only 1 minor sports cliche, the word like only showed up 1 or 2 times where it didn't belong. I lost count of the y'knows though. I won't deduct points for all the umms and uhhs, I know how bad people think that half second of dead air sounds while you're coming up with an answer. I'll give it an 8.

Daniel said...

Brianna (wow! Huge departure there, lol),
You just go ahead babble, smile like ya just got your teeth cleaned and act like you are SO happy to be there! Because, it was a REAL take. Hang around any sport long enough and you get so sick of the flat, canned, prepared responses. You were just, You. Which is how it should be.
Don’t worry about how you sounded and any future career choices. Prepared public presentations are supposed to be different than an athlete who has tried their heart out … and made it!
Now, please, Please, do some ‘coaching’ for Ms. Reese, on how to, maybe at least ACT like you are pretty happy to be, like 1st! Her FloTrack was, uh, Horrible, LOL! Get Tianna Madison to, like, teach her how to flip her hair, smile, prance around, Somethin’! Wow, hers was so dry MY throat cracked, lol.
(And, Yes, I DO think Ms. Madison IS all that … I wanta pass out every time I see her, lol)

Diandra Ann said...

YAY!!! I LOVE the video :) You don't look silly or big-toothed... just really happy! How exciting!!! I can't wait for whats next!

T.R.E.N.T. said...

"you know"... lol. congrats

Marissa B said...

Awesome!! Congrats you looked great!!

Mike Bowers said...

The interview was very cool. Could see and hear how excited and happy you were to be on the team. If you didn't like the interview you better practice because you'll be doing another one in Berlin. Great Job!

anonymousnupe said...

First, just let me say, with the utmost affection, neeeeiiigggghhhhhh! LOL!

Man, please. You had me expectin' the worst. That was a great interview, all things considered (the wind, your excited state, the melancholy interviewer, etc.). It was genuine, upbeat, candid, and rather revealing. If you act like that on dates the dudes can't help but be completely smitten!

You sure spelled out the drama that took place in a matter-of-fact fashion. I mean, that was HUGE, getting them to correct your distance the way you did. Please expound on that. That's heavy! I mean, refs NEVER change a call! And how’d they confirm it after the pit had already been raked?! Jesus is WHAT?! REAL!

melsbrothernick said...

Bri,

As a rocket scientist, I am fully authorized to declare you the human rocket ship. Scratch that, superhuman rocket ship. So declared. The board is your launch pad and your legs are solid rocket fuel boosters. I don't know if you bear any relation to former Ohio Senator John Glenn, but I assume you do based on your name and your revolutionary ability to escape the earth's gravitational threshold. In an effort to increase my coolness factor, I am spreading the word that you and I ran track together when I was much younger and more spright. I'm proud of you. I'm sure Andy Gupton is proud of you. Praise the Lord!

N

brit brat said...

I saw the topic mentioned your teeth so I just had to snatch up the opportunity to first of all...laugh (I was chuckling before the video even started) and secondly further push the fact that the money that went to YOU getting braces instead of ME was WASTED!! instead of braces they should have just shaved them down. I think it looks bigger than normal because of your small head!! but you know how you can tell we're half white? because when we smile our top lip disappears!!! haha makes sense right?
Odd thing is, I notice similarities with how we talk. Our mouths go to the side sometimes like Moms....weird.
Anywho...just wanted to share my 2 cents on the subject and to let you know that I've personally been calling you Chris Rock for years!!!(behind your back of course...I do love you!)

Daniel said...

@Jon Lustig,
Whoa, Dude! You like coach public speaking or something? Because I too gave her a pass on the “uuu’s” and “yaknow’s”, because the honesty is more important, in THIS situation.
But, yes, 99% of people have this bad habit of trying to fill in that short dead-air gap with some kind of sound, lol. It’s the opposite, really; if you take that second or two, each time, make no sound, look right at them (camera/interviewer/whatever), put the thoughts in order, THEN give a fluent answer, you come across much more composed (and intelligent, lol. Whether you are or not). They are called “word whiskers”, fill-in’s that detract.
Ms. Glenn, consider this free public speaking coaching, lol. Really though, people pay for that!

Mark Pryor said...

Congrats Brianna!!!!....I have always been a fan of the underdog and it was great to see you achieve your goals Sunday. I have followed you throughout this outdoor season since I have a vested interest in your event and so happy to see such a come-thru performance. I will be in Berlin and hope you have a similar success on Aug. 23rd.

Unknown said...

Congrats Bri! And I'm with Marcus, please explain what happened and how you were able to fix it! I know how stubborn officials can be!

Anonymous said...

brianna
i when i was younger and getting noticed i began practicing my speech's before a meet knowing there was a great possability i was going to get interviewed. I found that some of the best interview's i ever had were real close to what i had practiced. try that and see how it works. truthfully i wouldn't worry about it though, unless your applying for a job at espn we all fall victum to the occasional "uhm" and "you now". those of us that have been around you and know you love you and respect your intellect and we know that the emotions of the moment will cause any one to misspeak. As long as you don't go Lester Hayes or Pat Ewing in the national spot light nobody cares.

Slim Jackson said...

I'm a tad bit late, but congrats on the meet and all that good stuff. You've actually inspired me to go out on a track and do something...when it stops raining where I live.lol.

Bianca said...

Bri, you're so dramatic! It was bad at all!!!!

I'm so proud of you <3

Brianna said...

Well thanks for thinking it wasn't so bad. I figured I'd make fun of myself first and not let anyone else beat me to it. That way it takes the air out of the sails a bit! :) Although I knew Brit would get a kick out of it...as was obvious! Silly...I can picture you just laughing out loud just waiting to watch it.

I actually AM very good at public speaking, this just happens to fall under a whole other kind of category. And the "like" comes out involuntarily based on where I grew up. :) But I appreciate all the "experts" and their two cents.

So as far as the measuring snafu... the way they tend to measure at big competitions these days is that they put a stick thingy in the sand where you land and then use some sort of laser device that is on the side that has been calibrated to measure the distance. That distance then shows up on this handheld device held by the judge over by the board, who then records it on the paper, and then it is passed down to the guy who is operating the big display in the middle of the field and he puts it up for everyone to see. I have no idea how it happened, but the guy had a mark up of 6.37 and when I went to the judge, he showed me the handheld device with that mark showing. I don't know if it came from a previous jumper or it was a glitch in the system or what. When he showed it to me, he presented it as if it was no disputing what the readout was, but after some insistence on my part, he scrolls up on the device and sees some other mark that he now determines is my mark. I have NO idea how that mistake could have been made or how the numbers got confused. My mark was in there, thank God, but that other mark was too. Who knows how often that happens, it's a scary thing if you think about it.

brit brat said...

because the picture thats on the video while just posted but not playing is you like...mid-sentence....teeth showing and all. thats why I was already laughing.