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?

Best of the 2011 Worlds

Just decided to throw up my fave performances from last week.

What were your faves?

Ladies Finale in Moscow

First off, that short program was damn unusual. The Russian skaters are skating their butts off this week and wow Alena and Ksenia! Where did that come from...I had written them off long ago and here they were saying yohoo! Alissa getting through a World's SP without major mistake...unusual...lovely...but unusual. On the flip side Rachael doubling a lutz, what? Mao Asada in 7th...huh? About the most unsurprising thing in that short program was Kim Yu-Na winning it even after stepping out of her lutz...hush, I'll leave it alone.

I almost fell asleep through the first 18 skaters, what a snoozefest! About the only performance I really liked out of those first 18 skaters was Mao Asada's. It wasn't perfect but I loved seeing the soft Mao back...good things to come I think for her. And what's up with Rachael? All the singling of jumps, way out of character: "Paging Mirai Nagasu...paging Mirai Nagasu please." Wow. Two-fer for the U.S. again next year.

The final group was interesting if not for the unusual sense of drama that was created by Kim being the slim leader and both Russian ladies in the final group. Miki Ando...she did what she has done all season; she jumps her butt off and figuratively (get it?) says "try to do better..." Well on this night, no one could. And she was crowned World Champion...much to the delight of Japan I'm sure which could really use a Champion right now!

I have to take a moment to talk about Kim Yu-Na's free skate. Seeing it in competition full-out, I wasn't that impressed. It pails in comparison to the magnificent free skates she has had the past three seasons. I don't know if it was that it didn't have enough mileage (that's the risk you run by not competing until World's), that weird middle music where it sounds like someone is moaning (or in fact someone is moaning...), or just that she didn't have the spark she had last season but I found myself half disinterested the whole way through that program. I totally think she deserved the silver cause even on her worst days she's better than most the field but the music and program didn't work for me (loved the choreo to Giselle though!).

As per usual, Carolina finds her way to a bronze medal...I liked that she added the Flip back in...now we just need the Lutz. I also liked that Alissa 2.0 was again present. Remember Alissa 1.0...the one that would fall on a jump and the whole program would go "kaput?" Not Alissa 2.0, after falling on that opening lutz she pulled it together to finish strong. 5th place, not to bad and a big step up from her previous World's appearance. And what about Alena Leonova! I had forgot that she even existed and she shows up in Moscow all bewitched out and hits her programs as if she were channeling Irina Slutskaya (who was clenching fists during her program). It was like the bubbly Alena from 2009 that everyone loved decided to come back back. And how about this, Alena and Ksenia together will earn three Russian spots at next years World's...who saw that coming?!?!

The Nagano Rundown

My Deep Dive continues this week with a rehash of what went down at Japanese Nationals.

Let's start with the ladies and the fairly triumphant return of Mao Asada. She won the short program in Nagano and posted her best free skate this season by far. While she only captured the silver, it was the perfect medal at the perfect time for her. She seemed content...solid skate under her belt but not forced to be the perfectionist...having come to Nagano and completed her goal, two solid skates,; something she had yet accomplished this season. Kanako Murakami has been turning heads all season and she continued to do so by turning in a near perfect free skate to nab the bronze. That effort bumped her ahead of Akiko Suzuki...and likely bumped her on to the World Team. Top honors, however, went to Miki Ando who, if you ask me, turned in her finest performance ever. There was a definite sense of sophistication in that program that has been absent all season. Everything seemed under perfect control and she paid great attention to detail. If she turns in a program like that in Tokyo in March, she'll be tough to beat. Trivia: When did Miki Ando last win the World Title? Answer: 2007 in Tokyo. They do say "What goes around comes around..."



For the men, going in most people would have put the good money on a Nobunari Oda/Daisuke Takahashi showdown for gold...I would have. Instead, Takahashi had to get scrappy and fight his way back onto the podium. He pulled off a barn-burner, opening with that "almost trademarked" quad flip and never looking back. He was so in tune with the choreography it was ridiculous. His effort paid off with a bronze medal. The other co-favorite coming in, Nobunari Oda, did not skate his best. Despite taking the polar plunge on his opening quad and second axel, he managed to keep ahead of Takahashi and grab the silver. In the end, it was Kozuka who stepped away from the dust with a gold medal around his neck. Like Oda, he wasn't perfect, taking a spill on a quad and a salchow, but what he did do was delivered so well it made up for the other mistakes. Takahiko has shown a tendency to skate better in the front half of the season as opposed to the back half. Perhaps this win at Japanese Nationals will propel him forward to success in the upcoming ISU Championships.



Tomorrow: A rundown of the upcoming European Championships

Bland Weekend in Moscow

In General, I was very BLAH about Rostelecom Cup this past weekend. Very little actually got my blood pumping. I felt the ladies competition was boring. Miki Ando skated a clean but safe program to win. Akiko skated a pretty program peppered with little errors for the silver, and Ashley Wagner nabbed the bronze after a better but still not amazing free. Half the dancers didn't even compete leaving a field of medalists nobody would have predicted. The men failed to excite with Tomas winning with his less than spectacular MJ Medley (The choreo Hugo...the choreo!). We learned that Chan is beatable, he just has to fall like 3 or more times. And Jeremy may have missed his shot at Beijing with just a bronze.

The only thing that DID excite me about Rostelecom Cup was Kavaguti and Smirnov's Free Skate. GUSH! It's a thing of beauty and they skated it brilliantly. Tamara Moskvina has really put something special together there. Not sure on the outfits (Sasha's in particular) but the skating gets an A+.

How did I do fantasy wise...don't ask. The Men's and Dance events killed me! But somehow I keep moving up the overall standings...156th overall...meh!

Later this week a Grand Prix Final Crunch pre Trophy Eric Bompard.

Also, bare with me...my work schedule has become haphazard so blogging and working has become...interesting. But...I'm still committed!

Cup of China Wrap

A very fast wrap-up of Cup of China. I'm on limited blogging time!

Ice Dance was a runaway for Pechalat and Bourzat of France. They had a nice lead out of the Short Dance and just extended it in the free. Bobrova and Soloviev of Russia surprised many by taking the silver. Faiella and Scali had to settle for the bronze after a nasty slip in the free dance. Three bland programs at this point for the top three teams but I think Faiella and Scali's Flamenco has potential.

Pang and Tong put experience to good use in Beijing besting their Chinese teammates Sui and Han for the win. It was as unusual meeting of experience vs youthfulness as the senior most competing Chinese team took on the youngest. Sui and Han provided some fireworks with a very solid throw quad salchow attempt and a flair for performance rarely seen in Chinese competitors. Americans Yankowskas and Coughlin improved their 4th place finish at NHK to a bronze in Beijing and have a slim shot at making the Grand Prix Final, also in Beijing. Pang and Tong are the first skaters to earn a trip to the Grand Prix Final.

It was Japan full steam ahead in the ladies competition. Miki Ando showed a jumping clinic to take the ladies title. Akiko Suzuki was in tow in second with a solid effort and a beautifully choreographed program. Russia's Alena Leonova backed into the bronze medal after Mirai Nagasu, leader after the short, tanked in the free to finish 4th overall.

Japan again was on top in the men's division as Takahiko cruised to an easy victory with two programs chock full of strong components. American Brand Mroz surged in the free skate with a tremendous skate that included a clean quad to take the silver.
Tomas Verner managed to hang on for the bronze with an entertaining (but somewhat lacking) skate to Michael Jackson. The big story in the men's field was Brian Joubert, with a decent performance, dropping down to 4th due in major part to only receiving level 1's for his spins.

My Fantasy picks weren't horrible...I tied for 222nd for Cup of China which doesn't sound great...but I moved up to being ranked 139th overall. I'm just going to stick with it...

You can see the full Cup of China Results here.

Skate America starts tomorrow.

XXI Olympic Winter Games Figure Skating Ladies Preview

Last but certainly not least, the ladies event in Vancouver promises to be one of the most heavily covered by the media because of some international super-stars in the event. 10 Ladies to keep a lookout for:

Mao Asada (JPN) - After a super bumpy start to her season where she failed to medal at Rostelecom Cup and make the Grand Prix Final, she seems to have put the train back on the tracks with solid performances at both the recent Japanese Nationals and Four Continents Cup. In the free skate at Four Continents Cup she was credited with landing two triple axels in the free skate, making the 2008 World Champ a clear technical threat. The big problems for Asada this season, aside from some technical issues, have been the fact that her programs this season (her free skate in particular) leave many people cold. She skating to the very heavy Bells of Moscow which doesn't give her a chance to show off the usual lightness in her skating. Instead we are treated to what feels like a stage-tragedy on ice. If she can find a way to draw the audience in with the heavy dramatics and hit the technical content, she'll be formidable.

Miki Ando (JPN) - Miki is the only member of the Japanese ladies team that has Olympic experience, albeit a disastrous outing in Torino. She says she has learned her lessons from that experience and is prepared for this event:

This time I know what I have to do; I know what the goal is, so of course it's different.

Miki was one of two Japanese ladies to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where she took the Silver Medal in a close contest between herself and reigning World Champ Kim Yu-Na. However, she was just 4th at Japanese Nationals. She made the team on the strength of her Grand Prix outings. Miki is a solid technician but like Asada, her Cleopatra free skate leaves many cold. In this packed field of women it will take more than a series of triple jumps for the 2007 World Champ to strike Gold. If she can excite with her choreography (something she has yet to do this season) and hit the jumps, then she'll have a shot.

Rachael Flatt (USA) - The newly crowned U.S. Champion enters her first Olympics and is seen by many (if not most) to be a longshot for the podium. However, while many write her off, I think she is in a great position to be a factor in Vancouver. She will not be dealing with all the expectations and pressures of many of the top contenders and will be free to cut loose and just go for it. Rachael is extremely consistent technically and recently has managed to get a triple-triple combo back into her short and long programs. I think she can be a factor here and I would love to see her defy her many detractors.

Kim Yu-Na (KOR) - Kim Yu-Na will be one of (if not the most) talked about athletes at these games. The reigning World Champ is the biggest sensation in her native Korea and enters these Olympics as the heavy (HEAVY!) favorite for Olympic Gold. She turned heads at the Grand Prix opener in Paris where she beat her own record score and set a new high benchmark. Her short program, set to music from James Bond, is one of the sassiest and sexiest things ever put to ice and her free skate is a quiet clinic in elegance. Kim Yu-Na's biggest competitor will be herself. She will have media in her face constantly, heavy expectations from her fans, and I think personal expectations she's likely put on herself. If she can manage all of that and skate clean she will have accomplished a great deal (including a likely Gold Medal).

Carolina Kostner (ITA) - Until the European Championships, Carolina's season had been a disaster. When she lost the Italian National Championships, it became a question if she would even qualify for the Olympics. At Europeans, she not only managed to claim Italy's lone ladies Olympic berth, but she did so with a win. However, her win was unimpressive with a free skate marred with mistakes (in fact, almost all the women at Europeans had unimpressive free skates). But, it at least stopped the momentum hemorrhage that was happening and put her on the path of recovery. Now, the question is if the win has put her confidence back in place? Carolina Kostner, while I've never been a big fan, has always been good at constructing programs that are point getters. If she can be confident and land her jumps she'll be in the mix in Vancouver. If she falters...well...she'd be out (How very Heidi Klum of me).

Alena Leonova (RUS) - Recently I'm scratching my head going "What happened?" At World's last season she was this bubbly, effervescent breath of fresh air that simply reveled performing on the ice. She continued that trend this season with big Grand Prix performances that earned her a ticket to the Grand Prix Final. There, however, things came unglued and the troubles began. She bombed that competition, lost Russian Nationals, and was member of the splat fest that was Europeans. She seems to have lost her spark. I suspect with her success came the pressure of expectation, something she had skated free from up until this season. If she can find a way to enjoy what she is doing and use the electricity of the crowd to her advantage, she'll be far better off than if she worries about placement.

Laura Lepisto (FIN) - The 2009 European Champ hasn't had quite the season she had last year, but she still remains one to keep an eye on. This season she has tackled more challenging technical content in her free skate. Like Kostner, Laura didn't have a great skate at the European Championships in Tallinn despite taking the Silver Medal. Laura has very strong component scores but will need to hit the harder jumps to be competitive with the top ladies in Vancouver. Like Rachael Flatt, she may benefit from having fewer expectations and less pressure placed upon her. Laura is one of those skaters that just seems to grab points from nowhere and if she can keep her cool she may find herself in the running for an Olympic medal.

Mirai Nagasu (USA) - She skated up a storm in Spokane on her way to taking the Silver Medal. She kept insisting that she just wanted to skate great and was looking to the future for greater opportunities. Apparently the future is now! She's a gifted skater with the ability to draw audiences in but her main trouble this season has been pesky downgrades. They plagued her at Samsung Anycall Cup of China, HomeSense Skate Canada, and at U.S. Nationals. With a chance to win at all three events, she received downgrades in the free skate killing her chances. If Mirai can get those jumps 'around the corner' as I say she'll be a tough little competitor.

Joannie Rochette (CAN) - The reigning World Silver Medalist was not looking great in the early part of this season. Two scrappy performances in her Grand Prix events and then a botched Grand Prix Final left many questioning her chances this season. She shut everyone up at Canadian Nationals with a brilliant skate that brought the house down and set herself up for success in Vancouver. Joannie, like Kim Yu-Na, will have tremendous pressure and expectations upon her. The media will no doubt be following her every step. If she can keep herself grounded, shut everything out mentally, and reproduce what she did in London, she could find herself on a Wheaties Box. They do have Wheaties in Canada...right?

Akiko Suzuki (JPN) - All season long you just got the sense that she really wanted to go to Vancouver...she really wanted it! She came out smokin' hot at Samsung Anycall Cup of China with a big unexpected win. She qualified for the Grand Prix Final and took the Bronze Medal with another sassy performance. She was finally able to stamp her ticket to Vancouver by besting Yukari Nakano at Japanese Nationals. She doesn't have the same kind of abilities as Kim, Asada, or Rochette but she has heart and guts and a competitive tenacity that's so fun to see on the ice. She's the only Japanese skater to get my blood really pumping this season and I know many others feel the same. I think she is the sentimental favorite here in Vancouver...Miss Congeniality if you will...and hopefully she can use that support to her advantage.

Showdown in Osaka

My title sounds like a Quentin Tarantino movie!

So this week brings about one of the most highly anticipated National Championships of the season. Of course I'm talking about Japanese Nationals.

I predict that Reed and Reed will win the Ice Dance competition and Takahashi and Tran will win the Pairs competition. But that's the easy part...

What isn't easy to predict is arguably the deepest singles fields in the world. A Clash of Titans, if you will, are set to do battle in Osaka. Here's who to look out for:

Fumie Suguri - She hasn't had the best season this far but she is a veteran and she's won this event before. Also, aside from Ando, she's the only other competitor in the field that has Olympic experience. It's worth noting that she has a track record of skating very well at the Olympics; 5th in Salt Lake City and 4th in Torino. I think to make the Olympic Team she'll assuredly HAVE to win and even then she may yet have to prove herself at the Four Continents Cup. Don't count her out...her experience may serve her well.

Yukari Nakano - She's kind of been the ugly step child of Japanese women's skating (figuratively...not literally). She tends to be consistent enough to always place decently in competition but never seems to breakthrough and be the shining star (except at the 2008 Worlds where I feel she was positively robbed!). Her jump technique gets her in trouble often. Last season at this competition she won the short program only to fall apart in the free. Like Suguri, I think a win is a MUST in order to even be considered for the Olympic Team.

Akiko Suzuki - She's been the surprise this season. A win in Beijing put her on the map. She squeaked into the Grand Prix Final and then did it again with a show stopping performance at the Grand Prix Final landing her on the podium there with the bronze medal. She's proven this season she can be a contender but we are all still wondering if she can keep this up? She seems to be the sentimental favorite this season and most people are pulling for her. I think if she hits the podium at Japanese Nationals she will have made a strong case for herself.

Mao Asada - The other surprise this season...but unfortunately the exact opposite of Suzuki. By her standards, a disastrous finish in Moscow coupled with a failure to make the Grand Prix Final all have us scratching our heads. She's had an extended period of time to train and get her head together. I have a sneaky suspicion she's is going to come out like gang-buster's at National's and be back on form. If she falters, however, her disastrous season may continue. She needs to prove that this fall was a fluke and it's all behind her.

Miki Ando - She doesn't have the Olympic pressure the other ladies have as she already has a guaranteed ticket to Vancouver but she does have the pressure of expectation as the top Japanese woman this season. Miki, I think mostly for herself, needs to win this competition to bolster her self confidence in being the top Japanese woman this season. If she gets beat here, especially a bad beat, it might crumble her confidence and we could see a Torino repeat where she went to pieces. She has the goods...she's a World Champion, she was very close to Kim at the Grand Prix Final, she beat Asada at the World Championships to make the podium. She needs to own this and I think the sky is the limit...a failure could prove costly.

The men seem less dramatic with most believing that Kozuka, Oda, and Takahashi will assuredly make up the Olympic Team. But the order of their finish at Nationals seems up for grabs...

Nobunari Oda - He needs to just keep doing what he's been doing. His program is charming and it works. If he manages to get that tricky 3-jump Quad Combo in and skates clean, I get the feeling he wins. If he struggles at all, the others will have an opportunity to capitalize.

Takahiko Kozuka - He hasn't had the season like he had last year but he's still a threat. He has those solid basics that make him formidabble. "A skater's skater" as Scott Hamilton would say. Quad has eluded him to this point but he often gives it a valiant try. If he can just stay steady and consistent he'll be just fine. I love his music choice this season, it's one of the most imaginative and original picks.

Daisuke Takahashi - Hot and cold this season. He was cold at NHK Trophy, hot at Skate Canada, and both at the Grand Prix Final (won the short...lost the free). Stamina would appear to be an issue this season. Coming back from an entire season off due to injury can't be easy and the rust has shown. But, he is one of the most gifted skaters on the scene and has every ability to lay down stunning performances. If his conditioning is good I believe Takahashi is the one to beat. May come down to the quad...if he hits it he's in good shape. Missing it could be the deal breaker.

I'm not as up on the Japanese 'B-Listers' but I'm sure, as with any national championship, there is the opportunity for a spoiler or two.

NHK Trophy Afterthoughts

I know it feels like some time has passed since this event ended but I did want to post some thoughts.

First, the underwhelming ladies field. Miki Ando won with an uninspiring performance to Cleopatra (although I felt the character was a bit improved). Also, surprisingly, Miki was the only Japanese competitor to win a medal at the event. For me, the only two bright spots in that event was Ashley Wagner's win of the short program and Alena Leonova's charming free skate (silver medalist), the rest, for me, was a bathroom break.

Second, the Ice Dance competition. I only watched the top three (again, given my hectic week thus far a detailed watch simply wasn't possible) but no surprises here. I will say I don't think that Crone and Poirier have that something special they had last season. And the winners, Davis and White, posting their personal best and again the highest dance total this season. Are they the ones to beat this year? The gap between them and the rest of the field in Japan was...cavernous!

In Pairs, Pang and Tong did it again with a lovely free skate. Kavaguti and Smirnov went for that quad salchow (which they always try with no speed?) and had that nasty fall. I thought they were going to withdraw when they went over to the referee. They said she suffered injury and had three minutes, I suspect she just needed to get her wind back (and perhaps pop a shoulder back in place?). Even still, they were only about six points back. I think this team, if they can get a clean competition together, will be formidable. Inoue and Baldwin nabbed the bronze ahead of Denney and Barrett who made unusual mistakes.

And the men, who by all accounts, were stunning in the short program, all but fizzled in the free skate. Joubert's win was unimpressive...he smartly played it safe because the rest of the field wasn't up to par and a win would more than likely get him to the final. Abbott, who was brilliant in the short, went to pieces in the free...as did Takahashi and Kozuka. The huge bright spot for me was Michal Brezina who put down, for me, the best performance of the night and moved up to capture the bronze. Johnny Weir's silver medal performance was much better than what he did in Russia.

So you check out all the results here.

Rostelecom Cup Surprises

Rostelecom Cup surprised me a bit. There were many unexpected moments.

Surprise #1: Pang and Tong. I thought their free skate was awesome. Maybe I’m a sucker for Man of La Mancha but I just loved this program. I feel they are in their comfort zone this season with their programs and I suspect they’ll be able to keep up with their Chinese counterparts. I thought they might get bested by the Russians here but they prevailed.

Surprise #2: Evgeny Plushenko. While I always thought he had a decent shot at winning this competition, I expected there to be a little rust after not competing at this level for so long. Well, he showed no rust at all and after his performance he has to be considered the early favorite for Olympic Gold. I was simply astounded by his performance level (see video below).

Surprise #3: Johnny Weir. On the flip side from Plushenko was Johnny Weir who didn’t look nearly as prepared as I expected him to be. While his programs are solid, I don’t think they have what it takes to be competitive with many of the other men this season. I was expecting a brand new Johnny this season and I feel I got more of the same. I’m feeling a bit short-changed here. He said he was mad in a post-event interview with David Pelletier…let’s see how mad he really is.

Surprise #4: Davis and White. Whoa! We had some stellar dancing last week in Paris from Virtue and Moir and people were already talking about them being shoe-in’s for Olympic Gold. Then, Davis and White bump it up a notch and hardcore bring it in Moscow. The lifts these teams are doing this season are crazy and I just love the competition that is being set up for Vancouver. Outstanding!

Surprise #5: Mao Asada. I just am sad for her. She probably is blessed with the most natural ability of any skater ever but something has gone terribly wrong for her the last year-an-a-half. There’s conflicting reports rather she will switch her SP or not (it would be a wise decision), she’s more than likely not going to make the Grand Prix Final after that 5th place finish, and even her spot on the Olympic Team looks iffy given that the Japanese Federation is doling out Olympic berths based upon the Grand Prix (Although I can’t imagine a scenario where she doesn’t make that team. Even at her worst she is capable of competing with the best.). Suguri and Suzuki all of a sudden are contenders here. Something has to give. I had her pegged as the easy winner here without Kim in the field and Miki Ando and four other skaters just waltzed over her like there was nothing to it.

Surprise #6: Ashley Wagner. Why she didn’t pull out the victory (Miki Ando did that with a rather bland performance to Cleopatra), she did put herself as a serious contender for one of the two Olympic berths the U.S. has for the women. She put down two great programs (work on those edge deductions) and not only earned some international props in the process but sub-planted the reigning National Champ Alissa Czisny (finished off the podium in 4th) in the process.

You can take a look at the full results here. This week the Grand Prix pit stops in Beijing, China.

An Unnecessary Distraction

The last thing any reigning World Bronze medalist who is trying to get herself in shape for the most important season of her career needs is media poking around fueling rumors you're in a relationship with your coach.

Unfortunately, that is what Miki Ando is dealing with. Now when I say 'media,' think the Asian equivalent to TMZ.

Whether Miki has hooked up with Coach Nikolai Morozov is inconsequential. One, it's none of our business. Two, she's an adult and can make her own choices. Finally, none of this is confirmed...it's all rumor and back room buzz.

So I say we focus on her skating and not her personal life.

Around the World

Who knew the off season would be so busy!

We start in Japan where Daisuke Takahashi made a public appearance at an ice show on Sunday. He didn't skate as he's just returned to training after sitting out all of last season with a knee injury. His plan...win Gold in Vancouver. Also, don't mess with Miki Ando! Last Friday she spent the day as the police chief advocating for delinquency prevention for school children.

Here in the U.S., Champs Camp concluded. It's a chance for all the best figure skaters in the country to get together in Colorado Springs and 'strut their stuff.' Actually, it's, according to U.S. Figure Skating, "to prepare elite U.S. athletes and coaches for the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games, assist with planning and setting goals, improve communication skills, implement programs to enhance training, clarify U.S. Figure Skating policies and procedures, give media training, and highlight the organization's marketing efforts." The biggest story here was the fact that many of the attendees were late getting there due to the terrible weather in the mid-section of the country during the event. Many of the attendees experienced the same troubles going home as the weather again was inclement. Dancing with the Stars news to report...Fashion Designer (and former figure skater) Vera Wang is reportedly going to be on the cast of this fall's DWTS. Although Wang is keeping mum, it's all but confirmed.

Finally, some news from Russia. First, Russian Pairs World Champions Petrova and Tikhonov (Again, I had no clue they were even together! I need to do a better job on keeping up with my Russian couples news) are soon expecting the birth of their first child. They've built a house near St. Petersburg and will Wed after the baby's birth. How many former competitive Russian skaters does that make now having babies? The Russian Figure Skating Team in Vancouver will train prior to the Olympics in Abbotsford, BC. Abbotsford is a small town about 35 minutes from Vancouver, just on the Canadian side of the Canadian-U.S. Border. The Russian team (except the women who will train elsewhere) will have access to the ice from Feb. 3rd - February 17th).

2nd Annual Loop Axel Awards

Part Two...time for some of the more interesting awards. Lots of these are new awards that weren't amongst the ranks of awards last season. It's just so much fun to hand out awards (which is interesting since I'm 'really' not handing any awards out!). Categories include:

*Best Jump (NEW)
*Best New Face
*Hottest Skater
*Best Fall
*Best Coach
*Most Improved Skater (NEW)
*Best Outfit (NEW)
*The OMG Moment of the Season (NEW)
*Best Comeback (NEW)
*Blog of the Year (NEW)

*Best Jump award goes to Canadian Vaughn Chipeur for his Triple Axel in the short program at Cup of China that just took us all by surprise. If you've never seen his Axel...it's huge! Other great jumps that were taken into consideration include Evan Lysacek's Quad at the Four Continents Cup, Mao Asada's Triple Axel at the Grand Prix Final, and every jump Miki Ando attempted in the Free Skate at Worlds. ;-)

*Best New Face goes to Denney and Barrett. They really have been remarkable this season. Being a team for such a short period of time and in their two first international competitions, to put down clean free skates...impressive. It was the year of Ten as well, as I considered both Jeremy (the Canadian version) and Denis (the version from Kazakhstan) as well as Russian newbie Alena Leonova.

*Hottest Skater is always tricky for me. Like last year, I had to confer with others. I actually put together a panel of six individuals (close friends) and put 4 skaters in front of them. It was a tie so I broke the tie with my vote and named Aliona Savchenko the winner. She is a stunner, so much so, that at the Public Pairs Medal Ceremony in L.A. Peter Carruthers looked at her, stepped back, looked at her again and proclaims, "She's looking good, huh? Very L.A." Before my tie breaker, Keauna McLaughlin was right up there with her, but as she is only 16 it felt a little wierd. Also in the mix was Alexander Smirnov (last year's winner!) and Rockne Brubaker (although he had tamed the curls at Worlds...and that made me sad).

*Best Fall award absolutely goes to Candice Didier for that frightening fall she had on an easy triple toe in the free skate at Worlds. I thought no way can she comeback from that, not only did she, but earned a standing ovation for the heroics she displayed. Two other Worlds falls made the nominee list, Yuko Kavaguti's spill on her throw quad salchow and Jenna McCorkell's fall in the free skate. Also on the list, Emily Hughes for her crash and burn Triple Flip at Eric Bompard Trophy.

*Best Coach I decided to give to Nikolai Morozov. At almost any competition, he is the coach for like a third of the competitors...no joke. I always wonder how he has the time to teach so many but he must be doing something right as he has so many high level athletes. Almost gave it to the dup of Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karpanossov for getting both Domnina and Shabalin and Belbin and Agosto in such amazing shape for worlds with little prep time. Brian Orser made the list for his amazing work with Yu-Na Kim and recently Adam Rippon, and Tatiana Tarasova for her work with both Lysacek (she worked with him to perfect and work out his program a bit) and Asada.

*The Most Improved Award goes to Samuel Contesti who really put himself on the map this season with an unexpected Silver at Europeans and a really solid 5th place finish at Worlds. Previously (and as Frenchman) , not even close to being in the mix at major international competitions, suddenly he's a big time competitor! I considered Caroline Zhang for the remarkable progress she has made this season, Adam Rippon for the same, and Kavaguti and Smirnov for really beginning to gel as a team.

*The Best Outfit Award is highly subjective and I'm sure plenty will completely disagree with me but I went with Kerr and Kerr's Free Dance Outfit. There is a story behind the program, brother and sister that survive a natural disaster, and I think the costumes tell that story beautifully without being over the top. I was a big fan of Samuelson and Bates Original Dance Outfit, especially Evan in his Popeye bits. Although some thought it a bit 'nude' I liked Ashley Wagner's 'Spartacus' digs. I'm also a sucker for gloves, and loved Nobunari Oda's 'Warsaw Concerto' get-up.

*The OMG (Oh My God!) Moment of the Season for me was definitely when I was looking at the scoreboard inside Quicken Loans arena and said "Did Alissa Czisny just win National's?" I had several OMG moments this season, thus the award, including "Did Craig Buntin just slice his hand in half on Megan Duhamel's blade?" Also, "Did Patrick Chan just bitch-slap Brian Joubert in the L.A. Times over a Quad jump?" Don't forget, "Jeffrey Buttle just retired! Did he get the memo that the Olympics were in Canada next year?"

*Best Comeback award goes to Miki Ando for after a rocky season, getting it together to have a...well at the least...technically proficient skate at Worlds to claim the Bronze medal. Belbin and Agosto nearly got it for getting it together to fast and narrowly missing the World Title. Tomas Verner for finishing 4th this season at Worlds after the disaster and meltdown that was Goteborg, Sweden. And Alissa Czisny for almost keeping it together the entire season.

*The last award is a fun one. Our online skating community is growing and I'd like to take a little time to give some credit where I think some credit is due. I give the best figure skating blog award to myself...just kidding! Actually, after some long thought I really decided to give it to Lifeskate! Susan over there is a genius and I look at Lifeskate as more than a blog, but rather a resource for all things skating. She not only keeps tabs on competitive figure skating, but also professional skating, adult skating, synchronized skating, leisure skating, Ice Theatre, special events, basically everything. Her Journalism skills are crazy...she got interviews with Lu Chen and Denis Petrov...in Shenzhen, China! Exclusives with Nikolai Morozov, Johnny Weir, etc. etc. etc...Lifeskate...we are not worthy! If you have not bookmarked this site...who am I kidding...of course you already have it bookmarked!

That does it for the 2009 edition of the Loop Axel Awards.

If you missed part one...they're right here.

You can revisit the class of 2008 here.