Worlds - Day 5

I couldn't have asked for a better end to the competition. It was really exciting!

I attended public medal ceremony for the Ice Dance Medalists. Tanith Belbin talked at length about the short prep time she and Ben had for this competition. She was thankful to have earned the silver. She lavished praise on all her competitors and thanked the crowd for pushing she and Ben.

The ladies final...what a competition! First, France's Candice Didier gave us a scare early. She stumbled out of a triple jump and ended up hitting the ice hard belly and face first. She then slammed into the boards out of control. She lay on the ice for about 20 seconds rolling around in complete agony. Medical personnel were quick to respond and she did manage to leave the ice under her own power. She took about 2 minutes to gather herself off the ice and stepped back onto the ice while receiving a rousing ovation. Somehow, she managed to finish her program. At the end of her skate, she doubled over in certain pain, took a quick bow, and listlessly skated off the ice. By completing her program, she managed to earn France an Olympic Berth in Vancouver...a berth likely to be hers!

Alissa Czisny had an amazing comeback after her meltdown in the short program. Her free skate was judged one of the best on the night and she pulled up to 11th after being in 14th. Two other skaters had amazing nights, Alena Leonova of Russia and Elene Gedevanishvili of Georgia both put down personal bests and earned their countries two Olympic berths. Sarah Meier did the same for Switzerland. The final skater in the Penultimate group was Rachael Flatt. She had a solid skate and got a great ovation from the crowd, but I feel like she is still lacking some connection with the audience...it wasn't easy for us to leap out of our seats like we did for Czisny. Still, a solid score and 5th place overall finish...not shabby for her first senior worlds.

The final group was interesting to say the least. Mao Asada kicked things off. She opened with a gorgeous triple axel combo but then fell on her second attempt. After that point the program lacked spark. It was if she knew she had to do everything in order to win and that mistake meant it was over. Despite a solid program, not the score she was looking for. Only a 4th place finish for Asada. Rochette was next and while not as technically proficient as asada, she skated a beautiful program and that was the difference. She squeaked past Asada and took the silver overall, an amazing achievement for her. Miki Ando was next and put on a jumping clinic, landing seven triple jumps. Her program received high marks and she pulled ahead of Asada, much to her shock! Ando won the bronze and, unexpectedly, was the highest placing Japanese woman. Kim was next to skate and she was mesmerizing. She did have a botched salchow but nobody cared because she was just so beautiful to watch. The crowd cheered for what seemed like an eternity and when the score went up she shattered the previous record (held by Asada) for the highest total ever, becoming the first woman to crack the 200 mark. Her performance gave Michelle Kwan something to think about in contemplating her own possible return. She eluded to the fact during the NBC telecast that before she makes a decision she'll have to make sure she can competitive with these girls. The final two skaters of the night had a tough job to follow the previous programs. Carolina Kostner was clearly affected, she failed to complete a single clean triple and dropped all the way to 12th place. Laura Lepisto managed to hang on to 6th place after a pretty program that lacked the technical content of the top women.

So much to take in this week...but it's been a blast. Tomorrow is the exhibition and then I'm on the red-eye back to Chicago Sunday night. I've had a blast here in L.A. and I'm psyched now for the run-up to Vancouver...it's going to be something!

Worlds - Day 4

Wow. This has simply been an exciting competition. I cannot tell you how thrilling it has been here in L.A.

Before the top ladies competed in the short program, they did another public medal ceremony for the men. This time, I watched from my perch at a cafe outside the second level of the Staples Center. Evan Lysacek was absolutely gracious towards his fans and their support the previous night. He also revealed he had a stress fracture on his left foot. He didn't mention it before the event because he didn't want the focus to be on his injury...what a competitor! All the skaters were asked who their inspiration was and all gave interesting answers. For Joubert, it was Alexei Yagudin, Chan named Kurt Browning, and Evan named Michelle Kwan. A member in the crowd asked Joubert about his quad and if he feels he needs to continue to attempt because he keeps getting beat by people not doing it. His answer was straight forward..."Yes I will do the quad. In Vancouver my goal is to do three. We have the Olympics next year. It will be a good fight. I will be ready." Ummm...them sound like fighting words to me!

The ladies short program was great! First, trouble for American Champ Alissa Czisny. After a gorgeous lutz combo she went on to crash and burn on the triple flip, sliding right into the boards. If that wasn't disaster enough, she fell on her double axel as well. She's in 14th place and that all but seals the deal on the U.S. Olympic fate.

The top two groups of ladies put out some solid skating. Switzerland's Sarah Meier is 10th, Suguri of Japan 9th, and Georgia's Gedavanishvili 8th after strong programs. American Rachael Flatt is 7th. She had just a tiny little jilt on the landing of her triple flip, otherwise fine. She was just .36 from making the final group of skaters. That top group will include Finland's Laura Lepisto who barely edged Flatt. Carolina Kostner is in 5th after a clunky program that, as per usual, somehow gets the points from the judges! I think she could just stand on the ice and medal! Miki Ando is in 4th after a beautiful short program. She put a mini spell on the audience with her 'Memoirs of a Geisha' short program. She went for the big triple lutz/triple loop but cheated the loop just a bit. She'd be higher had that combo been perfect. Mao Asada is 3rd despite doubling her triple lutz. Her footwork, to be fair however, is brilliant. Joannie Rochette was the first skater to get the crowd to their feet. She put on quite a show for the Staples Center which has a huge Canadian cheering contengent! She earned a new Season Best score with her effort.

But the class of the field was Korea's Yu-Na Kim! She had a solid warm-up. Speaking of warm-ups...Mao Asada was meticulously steering clear of Kim during the warm-up. You could tell because I have never seen so many cameras rolling on a warm up, they were watching! But back to Kim's program. The crowd went crazy for her...CRAZY!!! Every single element she performed; jump, spin, footwork, the ovation just kept getting louder and louder. Every element was performed with absolute perfection. At the end of her program, she was elated as was her coach Brian Orser who was jumping up and down madly near the Kiss n' Cry! She soaked it all in as the crowd poured accolades on her. Korean flags seemed to appear out of nowhere as the crowd amplified it's applause. When the score went up there was a huge sound of shock as Yu-Na shattered the record for a short program score by a female skater. She has almost a 10 point lead over Rochette and I can't see how she can lose this event!

The night concluded with the Free Dance and the excitement continued! Samuelson and Bates were the first American Team to skate earleir in the night and skated very well. They finished 11th but made up ground and was able to get back ahead of Crone and Poirier of Canada and Zaretski and Zaretski of Israel who they had fallen behind earlier in the competition. They also were knocking on the door of the top ten.

Cappellini and Lanotte of Italy finished 10th with a dance that looked awfully copycat to Sale and Pelletier's 'Love Story.' Same cut of music, same outfits, similar choreography, same hair even! Carron and Jost of France finished 9th. That 9th place finish, however, cost France three Olympic spots in Dance...they needed to finish 8th (Delobel and Schoenfelder's withdrawal was felt there). 8th place, in fact, went to the other Italian Team of Faiella and Scali who came back after a terrible fall in the OD with a strong skate. In my opinion, one of the most undermarked teams, Kerr and Kerr of Great Britain placed 7th after a gorgeous Free Dance that brought the crowd to their feet. Wherever the Kerr's go, the crowd loves them!

The top six all skated well. Khoklova and Novitski finished 6th (I had pegged them to win...shows what I know!) after an interesting program. They received a deduction for something, not sure what, but that deduction cost them dearly in the final standings. Moving ahead of the Russians was the French team of Pechalat and Bourzat, their circus themed program was one of the crowd favorites.

Then there were two distinct battles...one for the Gold...the other for the Bronze. Davis and White lost the bronze battle to Canadians Virtue and Moir, however it was desparately close! Davis and White's 'Samson and Delilah' program was gorgeous and they showed tremendous skating. Their twizzles are amazing! They actually beat the Canadian's in the Free Dance but Tessa and Scott had just enough of their lead from the Compulsory Dance to hang on. To be fair, they're Pink Floyd 'Gig' program was excellent as well. In the end, the difference was .04...talk about razor thin! The Gold Battle was tense. Belbin and Agosto were first to skate. They looked more polished than in previous competition and skated well. They skated a little safe, however, I think feeling the pressure of being in a position to well as well as truncated training time due to the injury. Nonetheless they hit a huge score and took the lead. Domnina and Shabalin skated after Belbin and Agosto and looked polished as well. Natalia Linninchuk really got these teams together in a hurry! The difference was the freedom and abandonment the Russians skated with...they just let it go and skated from the heart. When the scores went up, they narrowly eclipsed Belbin and Agosto and got a good ovation from the crowd, the judging was fair.

What a day...tonight the event concludes with the ladies free skate!

Worlds - Day 3

By far the most exciting day I've had here yet!

It all started with the Public Pairs Medal Ceremoney. They presented the pairs medalists outside of the Staples Center. Peter Carruthers lead the ceremony. During the ceremoney I chatted with Ingo Steuer, Savchenko and Szolkowy's coach. I reminded him it had been 12 years since he won and he rolled his eyes, laughed, and then leaned down and showed me a gray hair on his head. I also learned the mystery about the Kawaguchi to Kavaguti name change. Apparently, there is no translation for Kawaguchi in Russian! So when she gained Russian citizenship, the certificate changed the name from Kawaguchi to Kavaguti. She, however, still prefers Kawaguchi.

The OD was exciting. Domnina and Shabalin lead after, what I thought, was a boring and slow dance. Belbin and Agosto won the free Original Dance and closed the gap between them and Domnina and Shabalin. They look as if they were never injured this season and right on form. Virtue and Moir are currently third but lost a lot of ground after placing 6th in the OD. The are less than a point ahead of Davis and White who also were on form. Khoklova and Novitski are 5th and Pechalat and Bourzat are 6th.

The men's event came to a conclusion and in a stunning climax American Evan Lysacek clenched the Gold Medal after a perfect performance that brought everyone in the Staples Center out of their seats. Evan Lysacek becomes the first U.S. man in 13 years to win the World Title. The last American to win was Todd Eldredge in 1996. The first of the medalist to skate was Canadian Patrick Chan. He was cruising along until he singled the second jump on his triple axel combination. Even still, he put down a solid performance and earned a standing ovation. Lysacek skated near the end of the group. He made the decision to not attempt a quad and to instead focus on skating a clean program and the strategy worked. He landed 8 triples and all his spins and footwork were graded level 3 and 4, the most difficult. After his performance he stood on the ice for about a minute just soaking in all the accolades in complete disbelief. The final skater on the evening was France's Brian Joubert who lead after the short program. After a solid opening that included a quad, he struggled on a triple axel landing and fell on a double axel at the end of his program. At the conclusion of his program he skated around the ice clearly upset with his effort. When the scores went up, he was only able to get the Bronze, giving Lysacek the Gold and Chan the Silver.

Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic, Samuel Contesti of Italy, and Takahiko Kozuka of Japan rounded out the top six. Americans Brandon Mroz and Jeremy Abbott struggled to finish 9th and 11th respectively. With Lysacek's win and Mroz's placement, the U.S. earned three Olympic Berths in Vancouver as did Japan.

The ladies short program is early tomorrow and the Free Dance is tomorrow night!

Weekly Op-Ed: Asada vs Kim!

I'm here in L.A. and you can't walk very far without seeing the Korean or Japanese Press. They are on these skaters like nothing I've seen before!

You would find very little disagreement that Mao Asada and Yu-Na Kim are the clear headliners here. They've traded wins this season back and forth and look poised to have a Showdown Royale beginning tomorrow.

The press hype of these two have created a fan rivalry rare in figure skating. I'm reminded of Brian vs Brian and Lipinski vs Kwan when I think about these two. I did a pre World's post where I put some words in Yu-Na Kim's mouth and her fans responded...big time! Aside from the l;arge number of Blog Comments, I had to respond to about 17 emails that I received as well. Talk about fan support. I get the idea that if I did something similar with Asada, her fans would react similarly.

But I think there is a superficial veil to this rivalry. I think the media would like us to believe that when these two wake up in the morning, they add war paint under their eyes, tatoo she's going down on her arm, and then attends a press conference where she looks right into the camera and says "Bring it!"

But this simply isn't the case. I rather think these two are more interested in performing well not to beat the other, but to impress their fans. I think that's why these two have such a dedicated fan base. So dedicated to the point I think they feel their weight on their shoulders. Really, if these two both skate clean I think they should flip a coin to decide the winner because both are worthy of it...hell, give two golds!

Looking a bit further, while Asada and Kim are the two top skaters coming in...there are a slew of compeitors that might just get in their way. If another skater squeezes past these guys will that spark a new rivalry? Somehow I think not.

2009 Worlds - Day 2

Another really long day! But it's worth it...there was some great skating.

First the men's short program. I watched 50 of them! What an experience. Let me begin with the largest Christmas present under the tree...that would be Brian Joubert's placement. He leads the field despite a flawed program. He created all this pre event press about men not attempting quads. Four men out of the fifty that skated attempted a quad in the short. Of those four (Ponsero, Voronov, Verner, and Joubert), three landed the quad cleanly...Joubert was the one that didn't, putting his hand down on the landing. Even so, he is in the lead after a lot of meaningless hip shaking and arm flailing. But, I digress...

Evan Lysacek is in second after a stellar program that, again, was better than Joubert's. Evan's 'more free' footwork is impressive and definitely improves the program. Patrick Chan is just behind Evan in third and his placement confused me as well. Not that I don't think he deserved...he deserved the lead...but why didn't it get the points he received earlier in the season, this was his best performance? Czech frontman Tomas Verner is in 4th after a program that included a gorgeous quad combo. Japan's Kozuka is in 5th after a cool, calm, and collected short program. The surprise of the top group is perhaps Italy's Samuel Contesti who sits 6th. He's proving his European Silver was not a fluke.

Other points to note: Nobunari Oda (7th place) went into the boards on his jump combination (I can just hear Dick Button). Brandon Mroz (8th) had a fantastic short program. Jeremy Abbott (10th) did not.

In Pairs, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany successfully defended their World Title. The Germans had an almost entirely clean free skate except for a silly slip by Robin as he completed part of a footwork sequence. Nonetheless, they were the clear class of the field on their way to their second consecutive win. You could hear a pin drop in the Staples Center as they skated to the 'Schindler's List' soundtrack. Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China took the Silver Medal for the second year in a row. They pushed through some problems on the individual jumps and spins with powerful throw jumps and lifts to hang on to second place. Russians Yuko Kavaguti (formerly Kawaguchi...she received her Russian Citizenship in February and changed the spelling of her name) and Alexander Smirnov nabbed the bronze. They were in second after the short program and skated after the Germans. In an attempt to win the title, they tried a throw quad salchow. The quad attempt, however, didn't go as planned as Yuko landed face first on the ice. They were able to regain composure and go onto to skate fairly well from that point with solid unison and dynamic lifts.

While nowhere near the podium, the loudest ovation of the night was for Americans Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett. Despite finishing 9th, they had a completely clean program, upset their teammates McLaughlin and Brubaker (11th) who were expected to contend for a medal, and brought the crowd inside the Staples Center to their feet. Speaking of McLauglin and Brubaker, they struggled throughout their program, especially on the jump elements. Bit of an upset for them to finish behind their teammates.

Pang and Tong of China, Mukhortova and Trankov of Russia, and Volosozhar and Morozov of Ukraine rounded out the top six. Canadians Dube and Davison and Duhamel and Buntin were 7th and 8th respectively.

Original Dance and Mens Free tomorrow.

2009 Worlds - Day 1

What a day...for many of you...it's the wee hours of the morning...it is for me too! I know I had promised a new Weekly Op-Ed but that will wait until perhaps tomorrow...I'm simply exhausted. From Illinois to Colorado to Nevada to California will take it's toll on you! Add in a time change and that equals "must get sleep!"

I can't tell you much about the Compulsory Dance except the results. My plane landed an hour later than planned and I found myself in L.A. Rush Hour Traffic at 5 p.m. so I didn't get to the CD. I am shocked to see Russian's Domnina and Shabalin in the lead...I didn't think they had it in them. Belbin and Agosto seem back on track in second place and Canadians Virtue and Moir are holding off the other American Team of Davis and White...however, that is a similar gap that these teams had at the Four Continents Cup and Davis and White managed to catch them in the Free Dance. Shockingly, the team I had pegged to win this, Russians Khoklova and Novitski sit 5th with the French Team of Pechalat and Bourzat rounding out the top 6...interesting to say the least.

I did make it to the Staples Center in time for the entire Pairs short program. What a short program it was. The top 8 teams all had great performances. No shock, Germans Savchenko and Szolkowy lead after an energized short set to the music from the 'Lost in Space' soundtrack. I've hated this program all season but there was something 'better' about it here. The posted a big score to win the night. Just a little behind are Russians Kavaguti (apparently she's changed the name...not sure why? However, the announcer in the arena is still calling her Kawaguchi????) and Smirnov had a breathtaking skate and sit second. The Chinese duo Zhang and Zhang were very solid and are a very close third, Russians Mukhortova and Trankov are a very close fourth, Pang and Tong are a very close 5th, and Ukranians Volosozhar and Morozov are a very close sixth. The top six teams all had nearly clean skates ...I can't remember seeing such a solid group of pairs. I was just in constant shock as each team hit their programs! The Candians sit seventh and eigth...Dube and Davison lead Duhamel and Buntin. I think Duhamel and Buntin should be higher...but that's just me I guess. Like the top teams they were entirely clean. And the Americans are in ninth and tenth with McLaughlin and Brubaker leading Denney and Barrett. Denney and Barrett had a pretty good skate while Keauna and McLaughlin had some problems...tough to medal from that far back.

Day two starts in 6 hours so I'll sign off. If anyone is planning on attending the competion...wear layers...it's freezing in there!

Goodnight!

Êtes-vous un tweeter?

That is...do you tweet?

Twitter give us bloggers an amazing way of reaching out to large numbers of people at once. Just so happens that a few of your favorite figure skating bloggers are twits! I, for one, will be 'tweeting' updates and off the cuff thoughts from the World Figure Skating Championships (I just got the zipper shut on the suitcase!).

If you are so emboldened, you can choose to have those 'tweets' delivered directly to your cell phone, pda, iPod touch, or other portable device. More traditional type? You can see the tweets of those your following on your profile page at twitter.com. Either way, it's a lot of figure skating info at your finger tips!

Check the list below to see who is tweeting and click to follow them!

Lifeskate

Jumping Clapping Man

Ice Mom's Adventures in Figure Skating

and of course...Axels, Loops, and Spins

Any other tweeters out there?

UPDATE: Required Elements is in too!

World's!

The time has come!

I posted some predictions over at Jumping Clapping Man...if you want to see how I think it will turn it out you can check it out there. Other than Ice Dance, no big shocks.

I'm currently at work, expecting to put in a 40 hour day (seriously!) to make sure my desk is clear before hopping on the plane to L.A.

Looks like NBC, who loves good drama, will have just that when broadcasting Mao Asada and Yu-Na Kim. Kim recently made remarks that the Japanese skaters, Asada especially, have been "obstructing" her warm-ups in competition this season. Let the mind games begin!

Some of you have found me...but if you didn't know I've recently become a figure skating contributor at the Gay Sports Blog...you can check it out here.

I need a good topic for my Weekly Op-Ed...I've been completely run out of ideas recently...have any?

UPDATE: So this post, understandably ruffled some feathers. Not my intention at all. In the post I mentioned Yu-Na's remarks about being obstructed in the warm-up. She in fact has never named a skater in particular and I would like to thank those who did a good job of keeping me honest. There have been other media outlets that have named a 'certain' skater but she never did. I received, via this blog and via e-mail, lots of chatter about this post. I'm posting below one of the video that I feel does a good job explaining this situation.

The results are in...

The results of my recent poll are in. The question, does Czisny and Flatt have what it takes to get the U.S. three Olympic berths at the upcoming World Championships, was answered and overwhelmingly people are not convinced they can pull it off.

Nearly half of all respondents didn't think they have what it takes. A quarter thought maybe they could pull it off and about a fifth said they absolutely could. Seven percent were even less optimistic, stating they thought Czisny and Flatt might only earn the U.S. one spot...eeek!

Now Rachael has gone back to last season's free skate that served her well at U.S. Nationals where she won the silver and the Junior World Championships where she won gold. There have been rumbles that Alissa has up'd the technical difficulty of her free skate to get every point possible.

While we can predict all we want the question remains, how will it all play out?

Pic of the Week: Destination L.A.

Just a few days left! This time next week I'll be snug as a bug at the Staples Center. I have so much work to get done before I go...but I'm on top of it!

So this pic of the week features someone who most definitely will not be in the picture in Los Angeles, Jeffrey Buttle. He wowed us with a big win last year in Goteborg last season and then...retired from competitive skating! I still don't know what he was thinking but I guess he got everything out of the sport he needed (but the Olympics are in Canada next year...oh well).

But this is perhaps one of the most open men's competitions in recent years because their is a lot of last season's competitors not in the mix. Lambiel also retired from competitive skating because of injury, Takahashi had knee surgery and is currently recovering, Weir simply failed to make the U.S. Team.

That is not to say there aren't any big names competing. I bill this Worlds as: Technicals vs Artisticals (heh?)! You have the guys that jump...Joubert, Verner, Van der Perren, and Schultheiss against the super artsy guys like Chan, Kozuka, and Abbott.

But there is a third group...I'll call them the Technartists (...), and these are the guys that are fairly artsy that jump fairly well too. Guys like Lysacek, Voronov, Mroz, Oda, and Ponsero.

Of course of course...some of the techs can be artistic, some of the arts can jump...I'm just talking strong points here!

To be sure...I have no idea how all of this will pan out!

One more thing...I need my Canadian peeps to help me out...Fedor Andreev has been added to the list of competitors for Worlds...for Azerbaijan? Anyone know anything about this?

Pic of the Week: Destination L.A.

Double header pic this week and we begin with some doubt. The rumors have been swirling that last season's World Champs, Delobel and Schoenfelder, may not make it to Los Angeles due to injury. They are still listed as one of three teams competing and there has been no official announcement, but again, the rumors are there. They may not factor in to the equation at all in L.A. This news comes during a season where the International Ice Dance field has been put in a Zip-Loc Bag and shook! There's no telling what will happen in L.A.

Last season's silver medalists, Virtue and Moir of Canada, recently lost to recently crowned U.S. Champs Davis and White at the Four Continents Cup in Vancouver. Davis and White were just 6th at last season's Worlds. There are the Russian Champs Khoklova and Novitski who won the recent European Championships and have seemed to take the skating world by storm, but they withdrew from the Grand Prix Final and didn't pit themselves against the best in the world. The other Russian Team of Domnina and Shabalin has lost ground this season as they have been plagued by injury. They did manage a silver at the Grand Prix Final before withdrawing from both Russian Nationals and Europeans. Americans Belbin and Agosto are in the mix, but they are coming off an injury that forced them out of both the Grand Prix Final and U.S. National Championships. Three other teams to keep a close eye on, French team of Pechalat and Bourzat (4th at Europeans) who have been surging recently, Italians Faiella and Scali (2nd at Europeans) who have moved into the top tier of ice dancers this season, and the Brits Kerr and Kerr (3rd at Europeans) who have made steady improvements this season. All of these teams are so evenly matched it's basically a crapshoot in L.A. as to who will win!

Last season's Pairs Champs at Worlds, Savchenko and Szolkowy, have been given a run for their money this season. After winning both their Grand Prix Events this season, they were upstaged at the Grand Prix Final by two powerful Chinese teams. Dan and Hao Zhang took the silver medal at the Grand Prix Final after also winning both their Grand Prix Events. They also won the bronze at the recent Four Continents Cup. It was Pang and Tong that took top honors at the Grand Prix Final, a feat they repeated at the Four Continents Cup. In fairness, Savchenko and Szolkowy refound their swagger at the European Championships with a win there. These three teams will likely dominate the competition in L.A.

However, there are plenty of challengers to the aforementioned triple threat. Two teams from Canada have been skating well: Dube and Davison as well as Duhamel and Buntin. Both teams have been skating well this season, Dube and Davison recently nabbing the silver medal at the Four Continents Cup. We must also consider two of the teams from Russia: Kawaguchi and Smirnov and Mukhortova and Trankov. Both of these teams were right behind the Germans at Europeans and can challenge if they skate well. The Ukranians Volosozhar and Morozov have looked strong this season. We must also mention the home crowd favorites, Americans McLaughlin and Brubaker, who if they can skate well, should also contend.

Refresher course? Take a look at both the winning programs from last season's World Championships.

Hamilton for Hire

Oh I didn't want to write this post. I put it off until Tuesday...that's how much I didn't want to write it!

So this week, the task is to create a comic book book character that shows off Zappos.com's dedication to customer service. The women pick Khloe Kardashian as their project manager and the men pick...Scott Hamilton!

Off to the war room and chaos ensues. Nobody can come up with an idea save Denis Rodman who suggests it be a flamboyant gay man...couture and all, Tom Green is running around the room like an idiot performing, and Clint Black is snapping at everyone. Worst part is that Scott cannot get a handle on things.

After hours of wasted time, the team finally comes up with a workable concept, time for a name...Scott decides on EEE...Everything, Everyone, Everytime. Oh my goodness, I about fainted! EEE!

I have to interject here, all through this episode I'm screaming at the television the best idea ever and none of them listened, men or women. As soon as I knew the task I had the perfect idea. I would have made it a guy named Zap! And Zap would 'shock' you with his customer services. But anyway...

To the boardroom and of course the women win again because while their concept was basically the same as the guys, their characters name was Mizz Z...see how they used the Z?

So of course Scott is in the hot seat...he brings Tom Green back with him who was a disaster during the task and Hershel Walker to back him up. In the end it really comes down between Tom and Scott and Donald Trump couldn't get over the name of the character and fired...Scott :-(

I was so sad...so with only the second show, our boy is gone! I don't care who wins now...so long as it isn't Tom Green!

Remembering Better Days

Skaters fall on bad times, and no skater has fell into a bigger slump recently than Kimmie Meissner. Beginning with the 2007 Grand Prix Final she just slid down the standings.

This season, after a disastrous Grand Prix season, she had to withdraw from Nationals with injury...turning her slump into a certifiable "trench."

But Kimmie has had good days, and a friend sent me an e-mail (thanks Oscar!) to remind me. So a quick rewind to the 2007 Four Continents Cup where Kimmie had a solid skate and win.

Earth Hour 2009

Every year I like to mention and make my blog readers aware of one of my favorite Global Events, Earth Hour. This year, Earth Hour will be March 28th, 8:30 P.M. local time.

Earth Hour is one of the many ways the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) brings attention to climate change. You can read up on Climate Change at the Earth Hour Website.

Last year I was in Millennium Park in Chicago as the city went "lights out." It was very cool watching Mayor Daley "power down" Chicago!

This year, as fate would have it, I'll be in Los Angeles at the World Figure Skating Championships during Earth Hour. Los Angeles is one of nine Key U.S. Cities participating. Also, as fate would have it, the event begins 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Ladies Free Skate. Fate hit one more time as the L.A. Headquarters for Earth Hour is L.A. Live, which is directly across the street from the Staples Center (where of course the skating competition is being held). I'll have the unique fortune of being at Earth Hour, L.A. as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pulls the plug on downtown L.A. in support of climate change awareness.

I'll remind everyone again as the date approaches, but even in your home you can participate...just remember it's lights out March 28th from 8:30 - 9:30.

Weekly Op-Ed: Cost Cutters

No, I'm not talking about a haircut.

I'm talking about saving money. That's been the name of the game this season for the ISU. They've lost a good portion of their lucrative contract deals with the U.S. (oh the days of "mucho skating" on ABC/ESPN), a little bit from Canada and Europe too. They've downsized the judging panel at ISU Championships to 9 (which means only 5 judges scores are deciding events...no I will not let this go!) because it's cheaper to food and lodge 9 judges instead of 12. As the economy sours, so too does the ISU's budget...

So I have an idea that I think will save them a substantial amount of money and I think reap positive benefits for the sport of figure skating...stick with me here...

Every year (well...most years) I watch the Junior World's in slight horror as I look into the stands and see the other competitors, maybe mom and dad...a coach, and about 4 spectators watching. The stands are empty!

I thought to myself, how do you attract people to Junior World's? You can't drop the price much more...An All-Event Pass and a ticket to the Exhibition...all of 35 Euro's. That's about $45.00 U.S., $57.00 Canadian, £31.00 British, basically damn cheap for an ISU Championship! I racked my brain on this all last night. The answer hit me this morning!

Actually, the ISU tried this already this season and it worked brilliantly. Rewind to the Grand Prix Final...the ISU hosted both the Junior and Senior skaters in Goyang City, Korea and pulled off an amazing combined event.

Why not do the same for Junior and Senior Worlds?

Keep the All-vent Pass for Juniors only fairly cheap...also still offer just an All-Event Pass for just Seniors...but, also do an All-Event Pass for both that is about $50.00 more and bam...instantly they'll sell more tickets! I'm also not suggesting you're gonna sell out the Junior event...that's just not likely. But you can generate a little more buzz for it while absorbing some of the costs into the Senior event. Sure they'll have to run a tight schedule, but it can be done. You can get the Juniors started on Sunday and have a fun filled week of skating.

I know what you're saying now...don't a lot of the competitors that skate at Junior World's also compete at Senior World's? The answer is yes. By combining the two events, I think the ISU would have to make a rule stating you can't compete at both. That move, however, would help create depth of talent within skating federations. If a country couldn't count on skater x to compete at all their competitions, they'd have to develop a team to compete on the various levels. The bigger the team, the greater the competition, the greater the competition, the better the talent of skating. See Exhibit A...Japan!

Another cost cutting measure. In addition to holding a big 'ole World Championships...why not hold the annual congress (you know...when they make all those rule changes to make skating harder to understand!) at the same time rather than some week in June. You'll already have the who's who of figure skating in town...take care of business already!

The nice part is that all this doesn't have to be permanent. Should (When!) the sport become hugely popular again...they can split the events again...but for now, this seems like a resonable approach. I really wonder how much money I just saved there? Global recessions call for fiscal responsibility!

Okay, I know this will fuel some discussion and thoughts...anyone?

2011 U.S. Nationals...Off and running!

The website is up and tickets go on sale Saturday! Greensboro 2011 certainly wasted no time in jumping into this event!

The last time I remember a city so excited to host a Nationals was Spokane in 2007 and they were amazing...I get the sense that Greensboro will pull out all the stops in an attempt to make this a memorable event!

Also, I noticed on the U.S. Figure Skating site, the banner has changed to reflect the new National Champions!

Hamilton for Hire

First Edition of what I hope is many, many editions. Each week I'll keep track of Scott Hamilton's progress on The Celebrity Apprentice.

First off...I think of both teams, those were the grossest looking cupcakes ever! Who would eat those, let alone pay thousands for one. I mean, they could of took care to make them at least taste good...but I digress.

I thought Scott did a great job this first week. He worked hard, didn't ruffle any feathers. They all proclaimed how big a name Dennis Rodman is but I dare say that Scott Hamilton is a household name as well. I think they shouldn't be so quick to call Rodman the biggest star (perhaps, the most noticeable).

The boardroom, when Andrew Dice Clay said he would fire Scott Hamilton (after he had basically quit), I almost died. I thought, "oh no...he's gonna get Scott in the hot seat and then something terrible might happen!" Luckily Trump, nor Project Manager Hershel Walker were having any of it and Walker, Rodman, and Clay ended up in the hot seat with Clay (thankfully!) being fired. Scott lives to take on another challenge!

On the ladies side...I'm already done with Annie Duke...ugh! Next Round Sunday!

Pic of the Week

I'm bypassing my Destination L.A. Series for this week...or maybe I'll get in this weekend, but anyway...

This Pic of the Week for me had to be done! If you read the post below, you get that I was excited about Rippon's Free Skate at Junior Worlds. But it's not Adam whom I making Pic of the Week...it's his coach!

I'm going to start calling Brian Orser Mr. Magic Touch! We have all been blessed to see the skater he has shaped Yu-Na Kim into. But I'm simply amazed with what he's done with Rippon...just since Christmas! I mean, at the top of the season Adam's programs were lack luster, he was struggling with jumps, seemed a bit out of his league in the senior division. Even at Nationals he wasn't on his total A Game.

But give Brian Orser a skater willing to work hard and few weeks wiggle room and a champion skater he'll make! I mean, it's rare to see this kind of turnaround from a skater and I feel Brian Orser deserves some big props here!

Junior Worlds Wrap-Up

I know, I know...I'm a day late (or like five) and a dollar short but I have to put in my two-cents worth!

I'll gloss over the pairs competition because I thought it rather bland and uneventful. Nice job by the Americans Castelli and Shnapir for getting to the podium with the bronze. It is a not everyday that an American team accomplishes that, it seems to be the discipline where we struggle the most. Russians Martiusheva and Rogonov had one of those come from behind performances to win the free skate from 11th place and get the silver. Gold went to last season's silver medalists Iliushechkina and Maisuradze.

I was quite impressed with the mens event. Artem Grigoriev of Russia nabbed the bronze medal after a pretty good free skate (lacked a triple axel) but more importantly showed that Russia while down a bit (as far as international competitors go), is certainly not out. Seems that Russian skating will survive sans Plushenko. Michael Brezina took the silver after a program that slinked across the ice with great speed and great jumps. I thought he was channeling Jeffrey Buttle as he moved across the ice (the haircut was shockingly similar as well!). The Czech Republic seems on the up and up with mens skaters. But the day belonged to Adam Rippon who really shocked me actually. I wasn't surprised that he won...but rather how he won. All season long I've thought the whole package Rippon had was too heavy. The music, the choreography, just a little thick. But he was amazing in Sofia! He moved across the ice beautifully, the choreography amazing, and the jumps...my goodness where were those triple axels earlier in the season? The last few moments of his program where he does the sliding camel into his final spin...you can just feel the emotion and power in the music! I just loved his program here and I think if Adam skates like that next season he'll be a top contender in every competition he enters.

The Ice Dance competition was all over the map. The Hubbell's just lost more steam with each section of the competition and found themselves in fourth. I was surprised they failed to medal given their solid debut as Seniors at Nationals. Russians Riazanova and Gurreiro slipped in for the bronze medal while Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani slipped in for the silver! There was a lot of slipping as the difference between 2nd and 4th was desperately close. But the clear class of the field was American's Chock and Zuerlein who dominated and never looked back. This competition makes me think...what if? Imagine had both Chock and Zuerlein and the Shibutani's competed as Seniors at National's in Cleveland? Imagine the standings...just think on that...

And the ladies competition was a bit of a tumultuous ride as well. I thought, finally, Elene Gedevanishvili was going to get it together and show she can really be one of the best...wrong. Talk about self-destruct! Ashley Wagner showed one of her weaker performances of the season. That fall on the triple salchow, however, was perfectly timed to the music! Still good enough for the bronze though. Carolize Zhang had another comeback performance, 10th after the short and completely unphased, she delivered another gorgeous, clean free skate (now three in a row...Nationals, 4CC, Jr. Worlds) to get all the way to the silver medal. And Gold went to Alena Leonova of Russia. Interesting how, in the current judging system, you can win no part of the competition and win a gold...sometimes consistency pays off and it did just that for Leonova. Alena is starting to put herself on the map...if you recall, she had an amazing free skate at European's to finish 4th...has Russia found their next female skating star?

Full results (and video if you are so fortunate) can be found here.

But back to my gushing about Adam Rippon! Check his amazing free skate below!

Life Happens...

Such a busy week in Figure Skating and I've been surprisingly mum.

Believe it or not, I do have a full time job, and unknown to me (more like...surprise!), they decided to send me to Baltimore for a business trip (this is what I get for taking a whole week off for World's...they're cramming all my work in now!). I was on the road all weekend and the first part of the week and have been dreadfully behind on skating.

I got home yesterday afternoon and despite my fatigue caught up on all that I had missed (Apprentice, Jr. Worlds, Blog Reading) and am back in the saddle and ready to blog.

Please forgive the absence :-(