Back Porch Gymnastics

A University of Florida gymnast has been arrested after authorities found a small arms depot in her apartment.

Good news: Melanie Sinclair, a senior and nine-time All-America, didn't steal the the nine guns, two computers and a safe listed on the police report. Bad news: her boyfriend Bud Leonard Williams, a convicted felon, did, and he ratted her out to the fuzz as knowing the goods were hot.

Sinclair now faces two felony counts of larceny and one felony count of burglary of a dwelling unarmed, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

There's a small but determined faction of fans who refuse to concede that certain "activities" are sports. Golf is a favorite, presumably because it doesn't involve much in the way of physical activity, and a typical round can involve a pony keg and a pack of Reds.

Cheerleading is another example. Perhaps the zealots have an argument here since there aren't typically winners and losers, just a group of people in fancy polyester get-ups who clap, dance and chant for another group of people who are actually competing.

Whatever, I am much more liberal in my "what's a sport and what isn't" views, and I'll happily include just about anything: golf, cheerleading, poker, horseshoes ... you get the point. But no matter what you call it -- a sport, a hobby, something the guys who couldn't make the JV basketball team do -- cheerleading is extremely dangerous.

The above video, courtesy of The Onion, is an obviously satirical news report about gymnast Shawn Johnson, comparing her to a racehorse and saying that her parents decided to put her down after she suffered a knee injury. Just so we're clear, Shawn Johnson is not dead.

Shawn Johnson, 17-year-old Olympic gold medalist and Dancing With the Stars cast member, learned that sometimes fame can have scary and unfortunate side effects. That's because Robert O'Ryan, an alleged Johnson stalker, was arrested after attempting to break into the Dancing With the Stars lot at CBS Studios.

When you're just 13 years old and your name is already mentioned among the likes of Mary Lou Retton and Nastia Liukin, there's no doubt you're a rising star. On Saturday, Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich., became the second-youngest Tyson American Cup women's champion, scoring 60.2 to beat fellow American Bridget Sloan.

Wieber, who will turn 14 in July, is the reigning junior national all-around champion, but won't be eligible for her first world championships until 2011. And while the road to the London Games will be a long one, her nationally televised performance drew some tremendous praise from other gymnasts.