The Final Free

So the men skate this afternoon and I must say this is what I've been looking forward to the most.

Let me start out with the thought that we should keep a very close eye on not only the final group of skaters, but the penultimate group as well. There are 4 guys in that group that I've seen bring it before. We all know Rippon (12th) is capable. Shaun Rogers (10th) can be great...especially if he gets the quad. Carriere (8th) can be sensational, again we all know this. Weir (7th) if he skates well, he'll go flying up the standings.

As for the top six, you've got two of our young'ens in Oi (6th) and Mroz (4th), the performer, Bradley (5th), hometown hero Pennington (3rd), and then experience vs. newly found confidence (Lysacek 2nd) vs. Abbott (1st)). This is going to be fun!

I've learned long ago to never make predictions about Nationals unless it's that Michelle Kwan will win, so no predictions here! I hope these guys are as great as the ladies were last night. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised! However, in respect for fair media reporting, I must tell you I'm certainly biased and wouldn't be at all upset if Jeremy Abbott was to take this thing.

Also, someone e-mailed about my Twitter post about Rusty and wanted to know who he was...see picture below.