All-Star American Grand Las Vegas

[AndrewSky]

I didnt see smoex perform. Does that team not believe they will get a pd bid?

Well, it will be harder for them than SSX.
Their raw score put them in 5th.

 

[mstealtoyou]

I am curious to know how cheer extreme liked the competition from travel to the city, venue, amount of competition, success of teams, and so forth. Did they enjoy it enough to possibly come again in the future? I personally love seeing the east coast teams travel to grand or spirit sports in Palm Springs for bids. It makes it so much more exciting and entertaining and makes the west coast teams work so much harder! I would love to see them back and hopefully a few other programs that travel making other arrangements and switching their competition schedules a bit to come a bit further west!

As a parent I loved it. My girl loved it. Everyone I talked to loved it. (The coaches I talked to loved it too.) LOL Because of the distance and the fact that our teams had practice late Friday afternoon all of us flew out on Thursday. I thought this actually helped us to get there....get situated.....let our kids get a good night's sleep on Thurs and Fri night and I think that helped with the time difference/altitude situation. My CP didn't seem to be affected by either of those things and I won't lie and say I wasn't worried about it a little bit. Venue...I would prefer a raised floor. I hate watching routines sitting on the ground. Although I was thankful for a parent area. I didn't like that there were no concession's area at the venue. You had to walk to the MGM food court and wait in ridiculous lines if your child was hungry/thirsty. I had no idea that I wouldn't be able to buy my kid a drink after she competed and was thirsty........I was better prepared on Sunday so that was a lesson learned. Little bit's team's didn't have anyone in either of her division's. But Jr's were going for Jr High Score (congrats to Mafia by the way!!) and Sr's were going for a bid and they certainly had plenty of teams to compete against for that so I was happy with the level of competition. I felt like our team's did very well and was happy with that part of the trip! Just from talking to various parents from various teams I feel like we did like it enough to go back. It won't surprise me at all to see American Grand on our schedule for next season.

With the rodeo happening at the MGM during that same week I was actually glad of the cover up rule......good ole boy's in boots, belt buckles and Stetson's crossed with girls in big bows, half tops and glitter everywhere was a definite culture clash to see. On Friday night while our teams were practicing one of our staff picked up my CP's backpack to take it back to the rooms because they thought she had left it by mistake. She had on our practice sports bra and spanks and while in the connector hallway between the convention center and the food/shop area I saw a couple walking behind her giving her the "You're nekkid look" (Nekkid is southern if you were wondering) Since she thought someone had stolen her bag and was sobbing over this and I was trying to console her that she had her cheer shoes on her feet and her uniforms were in the room and everything else was replaceable I didn't think about her not being covered up. (Her team jacket was in her bag) I smiled at the them and said...."We think someone stole her bag and it had her jacket in it. She's usually covered." While talking to them I took my jacket off and she put it on. So, I definitely did see if from both sides of the fence this weekend. (Even though I still believe that it should be up to the gym owner's to police their own kids if they think it's warranted) I will also say I only saw 2 programs in Vegas this weekend that apparently didn't get the cover-up memo or were just ignoring it because I didn't see any of their teams covering up and I noticed it right away.


On a personal note, anybody who knows me well, know's that I'm a night owl. Usually in the bed between 2 and 3 am. On Thursday night when I was barely keeping my eyes open at 11:30 pm I realized something. There's nothing wrong with me!!!! I just live in the wrong time zone!!!! LMAO

 

[debbie]

As a parent I loved it. My girl loved it. Everyone I talked to loved it. (The coaches I talked to loved it too.) LOL Because of the distance and the fact that our teams had practice late Friday afternoon all of us flew out on Thursday. I thought this actually helped us to get there....get situated.....let our kids get a good night's sleep on Thurs and Fri night and I think that helped with the time difference/altitude situation. My CP didn't seem to be affected by either of those things and I won't lie and say I wasn't worried about it a little bit. Venue...I would prefer a raised floor. I hate watching routines sitting on the ground. Although I was thankful for a parent area. I didn't like that there were no concession's area at the venue. You had to walk to the MGM food court and wait in ridiculous lines if your child was hungry/thirsty. I had no idea that I wouldn't be able to buy my kid a drink after she competed and was thirsty........I was better prepared on Sunday so that was a lesson learned. Little bit's team's didn't have anyone in either of her division's. But Jr's were going for Jr High Score (congrats to Mafia by the way!!) and Sr's were going for a bid and they certainly had plenty of teams to compete against for that so I was happy with the level of competition. I felt like our team's did very well and was happy with that part of the trip! Just from talking to various parents from various teams I feel like we did like it enough to go back. It won't surprise me at all to see American Grand on our schedule for next season.

With the rodeo happening at the MGM during that same week I was actually glad of the cover up rule......good ole boy's in boots, belt buckles and Stetson's crossed with girls in big bows, half tops and glitter everywhere was a definite culture clash to see. On Friday night while our teams were practicing one of our staff picked up my CP's backpack to take it back to the rooms because they thought she had left it by mistake. She had on our practice sports bra and spanks and while in the connector hallway between the convention center and the food/shop area I saw a couple walking behind her giving her the "You're nekkid look" (Nekkid is southern if you were wondering) Since she thought someone had stolen her bag and was sobbing over this and I was trying to console her that she had her cheer shoes on her feet and her uniforms were in the room and everything else was replaceable I didn't think about her not being covered up. (Her team jacket was in her bag) I smiled at the them and said...."We think someone stole her bag and it had her jacket in it. She's usually covered." While talking to them I took my jacket off and she put it on. So, I definitely did see if from both sides of the fence this weekend. (Even though I still believe that it should be up to the gym owner's to police their own kids if they think it's warranted) I will also say I only saw 2 programs in Vegas this weekend that apparently didn't get the cover-up memo or were just ignoring it because I didn't see any of their teams covering up and I noticed it right away.


On a personal note, anybody who knows me well, know's that I'm a night owl. Usually in the bed between 2 and 3 am. On Thursday night when I was barely keeping my eyes open at 11:30 pm I realized something. There's nothing wrong with me!!!! I just live in the wrong time zone!!!! LMAO

I enjoyed watching Cali and CEA go head to head so early in the season. Congratulations on yor paid bid.

 

[AndrewSky]

Everyone who I spoke to from CEA throughly enjoyed it!

 

[StarshipTrooper]

The thing I noticed was everyone was gracious, nice, hospitable and good sports. We met a lot of nice kids and parents from teams and gyms that I thought were really, really good that we had never seen. There is definitely a refreshing difference in style between the East and West coasts that made the competition all the more enjoyable. I have decided that if it were just up to the athletes, cheer would have very little drama and animosity and good sportmanship would prevail. I do believe the fact our fan bases are so far removed and rarely interact at competitions and on media has a big impact on the atmosphere.

 

[mstealtoyou]

I wanted to say this and forgot. Thank you so much to the 2 sweet girls from Desert Storm who brought Teal roses for SE right before they went to Bid Awards. They were just adorable!!!!

 

[MissCongeniality]

Intoxicated cheer moms and mechanical bulls under one roof....Priceless!

An exhausting but fun weekend! It was great to see so many different teams from many different states. I thought most everyone seemed very respectful of each other and the priority seating. Also many wonderful examples of sportsmanship!

 

[AZCheerMom]

The thing I noticed was everyone was gracious, nice, hospitable and good sports. We met a lot of nice kids and parents from teams and gyms that I thought were really, really good that we had never seen. There is definitely a refreshing difference in style between the East and West coasts that made the competition all the more enjoyable. I have decided that if it were just up to the athletes, cheer would have very little drama and animosity and good sportmanship would prevail. I do believe the fact our fan bases are so far removed and rarely interact at competitions and on media has a big impact on the atmosphere.

I couldn't agree more. I met some great people over the weekend and at one point had 16 Worlds division athletes from 4? maybe 5 different gyms in our hotel room hanging out Saturday night. I just loved seeing all the kids having a great time making friends!! It was great having CE attend and hope they return in the future! Cheers to a fantastic weekend!!

 

[AZCheerMom]

Intoxicated cheer moms and mechanical bulls under one roof....Priceless!


Priceless is correct! I think we need to check out the confessions thread and see how many "I rode the Bull in Vegas" confessions popped up!!

 

[mstealtoyou]

I begged my baby to ride the bull that was set up outside the convention center and she wouldn't do it. LMAO Maybe I'll work her up to it for next year.

Or, better yet, maybe a team bonding activity......hmmmmmm......I like that idea better!!!

 

[SharkDad]

Wait Im I missing something, I went back and re read but I thought only one team declined their at large bid, ssx and it went to their small coed.

I also thought that CA and CEA do not take teams to Worlds on an at large bid, so why would they accept it?

CEA has taken teams with at larges before. SSX has never gone on one that I know of.

 

[SharkDad]

I may have given you the completely wrong impression , but, the scores as a whole in a particular division I wouldnt necessarily say incorrect, just strange how a raw score can increase and decrease so much overnight .

It is very common for raw scores to increase if the skills changes in any way, any part of the routine changed, or the judging panel changed. I don't find it strange at all and have seen it happen a few times.

 

[NoOneSpecial]

It is very common for raw scores to increase if the skills changes in any way, any part of the routine changed, or the judging panel changed. I don't find it strange at all and have seen it happen a few times.

If there is going to be a variance in raw between the 2 days because of different judging panels - then should the judging panel be changed at all?
Doesn't it put teams at a disadvantage whether to increase/decrease difficulty to make it a better day 2?

 

[azcheermum]

About the thumb nails, What company do I call to purchase? Thanks!!

 

[ASCheerMan]

If there is going to be a variance in raw between the 2 days because of different judging panels - then should the judging panel be changed at all?
Doesn't it put teams at a disadvantage whether to increase/decrease difficulty to make it a better day 2?

Judging panel, at most events, but specifically this one, don't change at all between Day 1 and Day 2.

One of the main reason raw scores go up is because coaches get back their score sheets and discover areas that they could earn more credit. Often, minor tweaks to the choreography drastically improve point ranges. For example, some teams only got credit for 3 jumps on Day 1. By doing 4 jumps on Day 2, their difficulty changed from Medium to High.