Chock and Bates Team Up

Madison Chock (who formerly skated with Greg Zuerlein) and Evan Bates (who formerly skated with Emily Samuelson) have teamed up to form the newest U.S. Ice Dance Team.

I Need A Logo!

Axels, Loops, and Spins needs an Iconic Logo!

While I'm good at aesthetics I'm terrible with art/computer design/drawing/graphics stuff.

Here's what I'm proposing...a contest of sorts. If someone out there thinks they can create an Axels, Loops, and Spins logo, I'll:

*Give that person a $30 Amazon.com Certificate
*Send that person a t-shirt featuring the logo
*Forever acknowledge that person as the creator of the logo
*Thank them profusely

The logo should embody the name and feel of my website and somehow encompass figure skating. It should be a high resolution image and can be sent to my blog e-mail at skateblog102@gmail.com. I'll accept submissions NOW THRU AUGUST 30th.

Anyone up to the task? To get you started, I've posted some of my favorite logo's below...inspiration perhaps...all instantly recognizable.

The Sushi is Good

What's Happening?

Can some explain to me what's happening in this video? Compulsory steps?

Staying Power?

"I can't say anything right now. I'm really excited. It will be very good to compete in my own country."

That quote yesterday from Kim Yu-Na on PyeongChang's successful Olympic bid is now sending shockwaves through the figure skating community.

Did "The Queen" just commit herself through two more Olympics for the chance to compete at home? You must admit...it's tempting, and certainly not unheard of.

2006 Olympic Champ Evgeny Plushenko is extending his career for another go on home soil. In 2006, Fusar-Poli and Margalio and Silvia Fontana did the same. Todd Eldredge in 2002...it's a familiar story.

So does Kim Yu-Na have staying power?

I think yes. When the Olympics roll around in 2018 she'll be 27 years old. Sure, she'd certainly be one of the most "seasoned" skaters on the ice but with age comes experience. And while 27 isn't exactly the norm, it's certainly not unheard of. Maria Butyrskaya won a World Championship at 26. Irina Slutskaya was an Olympic Medalist at 27.

In short...it's doable.

I think she has to take a measured approach to skating and training. I don't think she can press full steam ahead for the next seven years, she'd kill herself. She has to know when to take it easy and know when to train hard. I believe we may be seeing the early beginning's of this with her limited competition schedule last season and a similar plan for next season.

I think Kim Yu-Na has an opportunity here. I don't think figure skating has had an icon like Kim since Michelle Kwan and she can mold the next, well...decade, into the Kim era. This could be big.

What are your thoughts? Does she have staying power?

3rd Times the Charm

Third time as an Olympic Bid City did the trick as PyeongChang, South Korea has been awarded the 2018 Olympic Games.

The bid effort, spearheaded by 2010 Olympic Champ Kim Yu-Na, was met by thunderous applause across Korea with the new theme, New Horizons, leading the way.

PyeongChang has one of the strongest public backings for an Olympic Games in recent history.

As the announcement came, the cheers in the room was counterbalanced by the respectful sullenness of those delegations not being awarded [I recall the pit in my stomach when Chicago missed out].

"I am lost for words about now," Kim Yu-Na told the Associated Press. "I can't say anything right now. I'm really excited. It will be very good to compete in my own country." A clue that, with this announcement, Kim may remain eligible for some time to come?

Kim, a pivotal part of the Pyeongchang candidacy, gave a final emotional pitch to the IOC en route to the first round win for the city.

President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea put it most elegantly and simply, "We worked hard, we'll make you proud."

2018 Olympics Awarded Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will know the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Below is a rundown of the proceedings tomorrow in Durban:



Which city do you think will win the bid? Vote in the poll now ----->

Twitter Tops

Last October I looked at the who was the Top Figure Skating Tweeps out there. With a season now behind us...I decided to take another look to see where things currently stand in the skating "Twitterverse."

Here is the current Top 10 Figure Skating Tweeps:

#10 Daisuke Takahashi (14,405)

#9 Mirai Nagasu (15,568)

#8 Fumie Suguri (18,046)

#7 Miki Ando (22,363)

#6 Evgeny Plushenko (22,841)

#5 Kristi Yamaguchi (25,464)

#4 Joannie Rochette (26,868)

#3 Evan Lysacek (63,752)

#2 Johnny Weir (95,794)

#1 Kim Yu-Na (356,355)

There have been some change in the results. Japanese skaters are showing up on Twitter and they have big followings. Miki Ando, Daisuke Takahashi, and Fumie Suguri have all made the top 10. Only Nagasu held her ground to stay in the top 10 with Belbin, Chan, and Abbott all getting the boot! Past Ando the placements are unchanged. Women have taken over with 6 in the top 10. Kristi remains the only "Pro" skater to be in the field. Now, all the skaters are single skaters (with Belbin's exit). And the Queen (Kim) is still queen...in a huge way.

I decided to look at the numbers in a different way. Rather than looking at # of followers, I looked at % increase in followers which painted a different story. How do they rank (excpet Ando, Suguri, and Takahashi who I didn't have info on last Oct.) by percent increase of followers?

#9 Evan Lysacek + 8%

#8 Patrick Chan + 31% (No Longer in Top 10)

#7 Kim Yu-Na + 34%

#6 Mirai Nagasu + 34.5%

#5 Johnny Weir + 37%

#4 Jeremy Abbott + 41% (No Longer in Top 10)

#3 Joannie Rochette + 44%

#2 Kristi Yamaguchi + 66%

#1 Evgeny Plushenko + 91%

Wow! The Olympic Champ is struggling! In a more and more socially connected world he was only able to increase his Twitter following by 8%...yikes. The bright-lights of Vancouver are fading...might explain his recent indication that he may be returning to competition. I feel like that was a poor quarterly earnings report.

The rest of the field has made nice gains...but one crushes them all...Plushenko! He's almost doubled his Twitter following. This shows he has a dedicated social core and with his subsequent return to competition I suspect this number will continue to rise as well.

Why has Kristi Yamaguchi gained so many followers? Does someone know something I don't?

Really?

Figure Skater Tessa Virtue gets a chance to chat with Prince William about her Olympic Win...but he'd rather talk about American Lindsey Vonn.

Awkward...