4th Annual Loop Axel Awards

Okay...part two! Big, Bang, Boom...I figured for the 4th of July I'd finish off my Loop Axels...sorry for the delay and without further delay...

The Nominations For Most Awesome Skating Move of the Season please...

• "The Lift that Lasts Forever" - Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch
  
• "Throw Quad Salchow" - Wenjing Sui and Cong Han
  
• "Quad Toe - Triple Toe Combo" - Patrick Chan
  
• "Basically any dance lift they've done this season" - Meryl Davis and Charlie White
  
• "Throw Triple Salchow with 10 seconds left" - Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy
  

And the Winner is...that throw Quad Salchow Sui and Han was performing all season was a beast. I think he launched 1000 ft (not really but it seemed as so) across the ice and more often than not she was standing up on it. It was always clean but I give them tons of credit for always getting after it and making it standard in their repertoire of technical elements.

The Nominations for Hottest Skater please...

• + Brian Joubert
  
• + Kiira Korpi
  
• + Daisuke Takahashi
  
• + Maxim Trankov
  
• + Tatiana Volosozhar
  

And the winner is...be still my heart, Brian Joubert. Brian didn't have the best season and with next season perhaps being his final as an eligible skater (he only committed to training through Worlds in Nice) I thought it was high time this perennial hottie got his turn at the award. He flirted with some new choreography this past season that he never quite got comfortable with but somehow brought something out in Brian that I liked...I hope more is still to come.

The Nominations for the Twitterholic please...

• Jeremy Abbott
  
• Sarah Hughes
  
• Alex Shibutani
  
• Fumie Suguri
  
• Johnny Weir
  

And the winner is...Johnny. Johnny Weir is tweeting non-stop! In his last tweet he thanked his mom for birthing him. Why not. Johnny, of course one of the most outspoken skaters out there, is just as witty and energetic online as he is on screen. Follow him @JohnnyGWeir

The Nominations for Best Coach please...

• + Kristy Krall
  
• + Nobuo Sato
  
• + Yuka Sato
  
• + Igor Shpilband
  
• + Ingo Steuer
  

And the winner is...Igor Shpilband. No brainer. Let's review the World Championship Dance Podium...all North American...all his teams...enough said.

The Nominations for Most Improved Skater please...

• Florent Amodio
  
• Alissa Czisny
  
• Richard Dornbush
  
• Takahiko Kozuka
  
• Armin Mahbanoozadeh
  

And the winner is...No brainer #2 Alissa Czisny. Alissa 2.0 as I call her got her act together this season. Still some things around the edges to be smoothed but gone are the days when one mistake would lead to disaster. Now, one mistakes leads to steely determination to get done what's left. I like the new attitude!

The Nominations for Best New Face please...

• + Richard Dornbush
  
• + Kanako Murakami
  
• + Andrei Rogozine
  
• + Adelina Sotnikova
  
• + Sui Wenjing and Han Cong
  

And the winner is...When you look at Kanako Murakami you just smile! This bubbly star from Japan turned heads all season by landing herself onto multiple international podiums this past season. She's simply infectious and you can't help but love her.

The Nominations for Memorable Moment of the Season please...

• Florent Amodio, in a fit of joy, hugs Brian Joubert at Europeans
  
• Kevin Reynolds did how may quads in that Short Program?
  
• Maia Shibutani's "OMG" face at Worlds
  
• Standing ovation after Ryan Bradley's Nationals Short Program
  
• Standing ovation after Volosozhar and Trankov's Worlds Free Skate
  

And the winner is...Florent's leap to Brian! It was too much! Florent was like a kid who just got the thing he wanted most for Christmas. He hugged his coach...giddied a bit more...lept into Brian's arms and the two of them did this bouncing bear-hug thing. I mean, at this point, Brian couldn't even be mad he lost! And even when the hug is "supposed" to be over...Florent does the secondary hug "re-reach."



The Nominations for Reader's Choice: Skater of the Year please...

• Florent Amodio
  
• Patrick Chan
  
• Alissa Czisny
  
• Meryl Davis and Charlie White
  
• Carolina Kostner
  

And the winner is...This was so much closer than I thought it would be and at one point the lead switched and I thought, "wow." But the world righted itself and by a thin margin over Patrick Chan, Davis and White won the Axels, Loops, and Spins Readers Choice Award. Completely undefeated, they were in a word, astounding, this season. Much deserved.

Coaching Shuffle Recap

Just to recap...

4/1/11 - Adam Rippon goes from Brian Orser to Ghislain Briand

5/17/11 - Caydee Denney leaves John Zimmerman and joins John Coughlin with Dalilah Sappenfield

6/3/11 - Agnes Zawadzki leaves Tom Zakrajsek and heads back to David Santee via Christy Krall

6/14/11 - Javier Fernandez announces he will begin training with Brian Orser, leaving Nikolai Morozov

6/14/11 - Ashley Wagner announces she'll head west and train with John Nicks, leaving Priscilla Hill

6/15/11 - Adam Rippon announces he'll train with Jason Dungjen, leaving temporary coach Ghislain Briand

So who's next...

@arlewis1 Tweeted:

Skating on Air

I always think when when Figure Skating "Blogosphere" peers actually publish something it's so awesome, specially when it's about skating.

So one of the most unique voices in figure skating, Kelli Lawrence, has penned an new book Skating on Air: The Broadcast History of an Olympic Marquee Sport.

Kelli Lawrence: What I’ve done is trace figure skating’s story in terms of the way it has emerged as a top spectator sport—touching briefly on the skating carnivals, ballets, etc. of yesteryear, as well as the efforts of Sonja Henie pre and post-WWII, before digging into its televised history. The primary goals were to show the way TV/media has shaped the sport through the years, and vice versa… and, of course, to take a closer look at all the things that have transpired from the ’94 Winter Olympics, through the pro skating boom, the 2002 pairs judging scandal, the CoP judging system, etc. to bring skating to the place it is (or isn’t) on the TV map today.

Over 30 interviews with 30 broadcasters, skaters-turned-commentators, producers, programmers, executives, etc. representing most of the major networks (and a few of the "minor" ones) and a foreword by CBS’ Verne Lundquist, I can imagine the book will be a stellar read. Her musings on figure skating are some of my favorite. You can read her over at State of the Skate and you can get your hands on a copy of the book by clicking this link.

I also suggest Ice Charades by Jenny Hall.

Unexpected Hiatus

Sometimes life throws you a curveball!

Sorry I've been absent [again] as of late. I'm currently in the middle of a job reorganization thingy! New office, new location, new city, new boss, new! It's a great thing but it's consuming my full attention currently.

When things settle I will definitely be back with the second half of the Loop Axel Awards and my usual Skate Banter.

Stay Tuned...