Roses are red, Gym Dogs are too, I scored a 9.9 and I’m better than you.

Georgia gymnastics already has its “All in for 10″ slogan for its 2009 season, but, with as many flowers as the Gym Dogs rake in on a weekly basis, the above might as well be their mantra.

When collegiate gymnasts score 9.9 or better on a given event, or finish in the top three of an individual event, they’re given a rose in a short ceremony. If the old saying that you reap what you sow is true, the Gym Dogs must be planting a whole lot of rose bushes in their spare time.

“Home or away, they carry those things on the bus, on the plane, in the gym bags until we get home,” coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “They value those roses.”

This year, the Gym Dogs have averaged between five and six 9.9s per meet, and up to 10 Georgia gymnasts, with some repeat offenders, typically are honored for finishing high in their events. Emily Deitz, the Athletic Association’s Director of Promotions, estimates that between 24 and 32 roses are ordered for each home meet, and about 160 per season. Yoculan said they’ve been giving out roses at Georgia since the 1992 season. Do the math, and that’s almost 210 dozen roses over the last 16-plus years.

So what happens to all those flowers?

Said junior Grace Taylor: “My mom drives home with them. When I get them at away meets, I feel like an idiot. I feel like I’m the only one that brings flowers with me on the plane. It’s not that I’m conceited and bring them like a trophy, I just give them to my mom. Like, ‘This one traveled across the country, I hope you appreciate it.’”

Sophomore Cassidy McComb: “I actually keep mine. My mom taught me to hang them upside down so they dry out. They’re hanging from a jewelry rack right now.”

Senior Courtney Kupets: “It depends. Sometimes we’ll just take them back to our room and put them in a little vase.

“I think one time I gave it to our massage therapist Stacia [Fuller] because she had to help me before the meet. Or I give them to my mom.”

The Gym Dogs’ (and their opponents’) roses now come from Kroger, a corporate sponsor, but until this season, they came from Brent’s Florist in Dalton.

With so many opportunities to win roses, do the Gym Dogs ever tire of them? Will they try to steer their beaus away from giving them come Saturday?

“Never,” McComb said. “No girl can get sick of roses.”