Pic of the Week

I love a good comeback! There is nothing more exciting than when a skater who has been down on their luck, somehow, rises to the occasion and wows all...again! I'm reminded of Irina Slutskaya at the 2005 World Championships (or 2000 Grand Prix Final for that fact) or Lu Chen at the 1998 Olympics. What about Maria Butyrskaya at the 1999 World Championships or Todd Eldredge at the 1995 U.S. National Championships. We all have our favorite comeback performance...

The past few days the buzz has most definitely been about Grand Prix Assignments and who is going where. Sasha Cohen gets two head-to-head events against Kim Yu-Na (please notice I've switched how I type her name...I was getting lots of e-mail telling me I was doing it wrong), Evgeny Plushenko will compete at Cup of Russia (now actually the Rostelecom Cup), Shen and Zhao are back! Who's going where?

Quietly, Kimmie Meissner was given two Grand Prix events, Rostelecom Cup and NHK Trophy. Jumping Clapping Man, on the previous post, commented that she was lucky, quite true. The past two season's haven't been exactly sunshine for her.

Kimmie Meissner, remember her? She's that cute little thing that hit a triple axel at the 2005 U.S. National Championships. She's the other U.S. lady that earned a top six finish at the Torino Olympics in 2006. A month later she killed it with her 'Queen of Sheeba' free skate and upset to win the World Championships. 2007 U.S. National Champion...ring any bells?

I find myself always rooting for the underdog (isn't it always easy to root for the underdog?) because when they pull it off it seems that much more exciting. When I saw her Grand Prix Assignments I sent a Tweet to @kimmiemeissner...I told her good luck. To my absolute delight @kimmiemeissner tweeted back..."Thanks! I can't wait!" She had me hooked...firmly in her corner this season. I sent another Tweet, "We're all behind you...go get em!" And she tweeted back again..."I will!" Fighting spirit...love that too!

So my comeback wish this season is for Kimmie Meissner! This season will not be easy. The good money is probably against her but my hope of all hopes is that she can again find some success this season.