Bear Witness ... With Karissa chock

The only thing cooler than leprechauns is eating the pot of painkillers at the end of the rainbow.

Or at least, that's what my last two guests have been saying.

A week removed from Conor Niland, Guinness and Vicodin, the Cal gymnastics team's Karissa Chock told me all about why she stays away from Vicodin-because morphine is where it's at for a broken elbow.

Chock told me all about what it was like when she saw her career flash before her eyes on the way down to the mat and also about the way over to the hospital.

Grant Marek: Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Karissa Chock: Oh, thank you, you too.

GM: I was just telling someone about how a leprechaun would be good gymnast-small, compact, you know.

KC: I think they'd be excellent gymnasts ... but then you can't really say that. We have Lauren Shipp and she's 5-foot-8 and bomb at gymnastics.

GM: How's the elbow?

KC: Definitely hurts, I find out today if I have to get surgery.

GM: Ever had any surgery before?

KC: Yeah, I got eye surgery because I have double vision.

GM: Which would you be more scared of, the eye surgery or the elbow?

KC: Definitely the eye surgery. I was scared they might cut my eyeball or something.

GM: How do you deal with the pain right now?

KC: I love painkillers.

GM: Funny, so does Cal men's tennis' Conor Niland. He's a big Vicodin fan.

KC: I've become immune to Vicodin, it doesn't really work on me anymore, and it's not doing much right now.

GM: With enough Vicodin, is there any chance of you coming back?

KC: Definitely my gymnastics career is over, but I'll still practice with the team. Well, not practice, but cheer them on.

GM: So does the elbow limit your spring break locale choices?

KC: The gymnastics team still has to be here training, so I'll be here cheering them on. We'll probably watch a bunch of movies and be bored out of our minds in Berkeley.

GM: Do you always get royally screwed out of spring break because of gymnastics?

KC: My sophomore year we didn't make it to regionals so we got a normal spring break-but then we didn't make regionals though.

GM: Any Girls Gone Wild moments on this team?

KC: I better keep my mouth shut on that one.

GM: What! I'll assume that means there's too many to pick a good one.

KC: We're a pretty good team, but we have our moments.

GM: All right, back to gym. What was it like missing that meet, what were you thinking when you fell?

KC: When I fell, the first thing that went through my head was my career is over. The paramedics were pretty funny though, they had good personalities. When they were giving me the morphine, they were like "I take one, you take one." I asked who was going to take care of me and they told me it would be alright.

GM: Ever wear the leotard around the house?

KC: Oh no, that thing is way too tight. I don't like wearing it any longer than I have to.

GM: Ruining all of my daytime fantasies, and on St. Patrick's Day no less.

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