Skater of the Decade: Evgeny Plushenko

This decade saw a tranisition from 6.0 scoring to the International Judging System. It was also defined by an on going debate in men's skating, "To Quad or Not To Quad." Evgeny Plushenko was able to dominate under both judging systems and always answered with a quad. Sometimes he would put an exclamation mark on his quad-toe statements with a quad-Salchow.

He entered the decade the young challenger to Alexei Yagudin and heir to the Russian skating dynasty. The rivalry between Yagudin and Plushenko became fierce. Plushenko was the only one to beat Yagudin in a few years by winning his first World Championship in 2001. They were co-favorites going into the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Plushenko had a rare fall in the short, and Yagudin went on to some of the highest scores in the 6.0 system history securing his gold medal.

After those Olympics, Plushenko went full steam ahead to win two more World titles, 5 European titles and the 2006 Olympics. He even became the first skater to land two different quads in a program, and quadruple toe-loop and quad Salchow during a Grand Prix event.

His off-ice life has kept in the spotlight as well. He's a Russian superstar, he's been elected to city councils, has had two weddings covered extensively by Russian media and even took time to help Dima Bilan win the Eurovision Song Contest. This is like being on American Idol here, he's a Russian Ellen Degeneres, he's everywhere. I'm sure Oprah was thinking about having him a cover of some magazine...

He's coming back this season to resurrect Russian skating. He's still hitting the quads and even attempting triple axels-quad toes. His knees will probably need to be replaced next year, but he's pushing through anyways. He returned to competitive skating after four years away with a win at Cup of Russia and then got a crazy 100.09 points for a short program that featured a turn out on triple lutz. Craziness! All the points, all the quads, all the chest-thumping leads to a lot of noise about being a medal contender and wild card in Vancouver. How you can you not consider Plushenko a Skater of the Decade?

Skater of the Decade: Haydenettes

Consider the Haydenettes of Lexington, Massachusettes. When a synchro team wins Nationals and is selected to represent the country at Worlds, they become USA Team 1. The Haydenettes have done that eight times this decade. Eight top five finishes at the Synchro World Championships to match.  The Haydenettes are US Synchronized Skating.

They're the team that gets on the Today Show to squeeze their programs onto the Rink at Rockefeller Center for the nation to see synchro. They're the team showcased on ESPN when it takes a stab at sports that don't involve a ball.

They attract the top coaches - Saga Krantz could have stayed with championship teams in Finland. Instead she choose to grow the sport in the US by continuing the tradition of excellence on the team.

While they didn't end the decade as US Champions in 2009, they've started this season strong with solid programs and massive scores at the Porter Classic. Expect the Haydenettes to continue to dominate in the US and start to attack the podium on the international stage in the new decade. Synchro will eventually be in the Olympics and you'll see the Haydenettes take the mantel of USA Team 1 on Olympic ice!

Skater of the Decade: Irina Slutskaya

Irina could possibly skate away with a title of "Comeback Kid" of the skating world. She'd been near hanging up her skates at the turn of the century, took time of to take care of her mom, then had to take care of herself after a bout of vasculitis. Through it all she skated those change-foot Biellmans, smiling between her rosy cheeks.

She began the decade with a friendly rivalry with Michelle Kwan. She nearly beat Kwan at the 2001 Worlds which led to media hyping a showdown between Kwan and Slutskaya at the Salt Lake City Olympics. They both made mistakes and neither won. Slutskaya skated away with the silver at those Games and won the World Championships the following month, beating Michelle both times.

Setbacks followed her the next few seasons. She choose not to compete at the 2003 Worlds due her mother taking ill. The next season, she had recurring issues that involved fatigue and swelling in the legs. She pushed through and continued to compete but did not skate well. She ended up hospitalized but came back to win her second World Championship in her hometown of Moscow in 2005.

She again went to the following Olympics as a heavy favorite with another American challenger, Sasha Cohen. She came armed with a new record behind her name, the only female skater to win seven European Championships. Again, both she and Sasha made mistakes while another captured gold. It was a bronze medal for her this time.

In the fall of 2007, she gave birth to a son, Artem. Still there were whispers that she would be back for the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Just as Irina is as sure as the triples she lands with ease, Irina was sure she was not going to making a comeback to the competitive, Olympic-eligible ranks. She still skates and wows crowds, but she doesn't need to prove herself anymore.

Irina Slutskaya earned 7 European titles, 2 World titles, and 2 Olympic medals. That's more than most skaters will ever acheive, but the whispers and desire for her to comeback once more show how much influence she had over skating in this decade.

Skater of the Decade: Johnny Weir

As we say good night to the decade without a name, I thought it would be fun to review some of the skaters that have been prominent players on the competitive landscape over the past 10 years. Let's start with Johnny Weir.

Why start with Johnny? Well, has any other skater had both a movie made about them and inspired a character in a hit movie? Johnny Weir has done both with the documentary, "Pop Star On Ice" and the figure skating spoof starring John Heder and Will Ferrell, "Blades of Glory."

Johnny also personally inspired me while I was working my first job and still coaching group lessons on the weekends. I had figured that since I was out of college my skating days were numbered. Then I watched this teenager on the Nationals broadcast at the beginning of the century who mesmerized me with his spins. Whilst sitting the in Kiss'N'Cry after his skate, Terry Gannon and Dick Button chatted about how he started skating when he was 12 and now just fa few years later he was skating a Nationals. Not Junior Nationals, not skating in the novice or junior level, but at the senior level on friggin' TV!

My 22 year-old self decided to get off the couch. I went to the last hour of the public ice that evening and taught myself the variation on the sit spin he did. That involved placing the free foot over the bent skating knee while in the sit position and then stretching the arms down to the skating foot. My bottom ended up getting a bit icy before I figured it out and got the balance over my skating foot correctly.

After debuting on the senior level, he won the first of three National titles in 2004. In each victory he showed his individuality, culminating in skating to The Swan AS a swan with a glove named Camille after the composer, Camille Saint-Saens in Torino. His comments kept the press interested, especially comparing his performance to a shot of coke and vodka... and not the bubbly type of coke.

He changed coaches a year after the Olympics. His seasons have been up and down since Torino, but he managed a bronze medal at worlds in 2008 giving the US 3 slots to compete at Worlds the following year. He's had a successful run during the Grand Prix this fall making him a strong player in the upcoming US Nationals and Vancouver Games.

Johnny Weir, definitely one of the skaters who defined this decade of competitive elite skating.

DC Edge Skate at Kaleidoscope On Ice

A while back, I blogged about adult synchro and Kaleidoscope On Ice. DC Edge did make it into the FOX broadcast! It helps to skate to an American Idol live performance and open for Ashley Wagner! Enjoy a tiny bit of adult synchronized skating and have a Merry Christmas!

Ice Skating at the Rockefeller Rink

Over the weekend, I got the opportunity to skate on the famous Rink at the Rockefeller Center! We got there for the first sessionin the morning, but it was still packed with the holiday crowd. It was still fun weaving in and out of the mass of people on the ice.

It's a tiny little rink with choppy ice from the elements and throngs of skaters. Choppy is manageable when you get to spin and see holiday lights blurring around you.

I did OK in the rental skates too! I managed doing the outside junior moves rockers, spread eagles, half-flip waltz jump combos when there was a gap in the crowd. After I did some power 3s one of the skate guards approached. I thought, "Oh great, I'm going to be told to not do freestyle as more people get on the ice." Instead the guard said, "Wow, hardly anyone attempts real figure skating out here unless they bring their own skates. That was awesome." I suppose that's the best praise you can get when you're skating in your 30s and you're not Nancy Kerrigan. Rockefeller skate guards think you're cool.

I'm now incredibly impressed with skaters who show up on NBC's Today and skate their programs. The rink is small and I'm sure even the best zamboni can't smooth the surface enough. Here are Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto skating today on TODAY:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dancing At Dawn - Senior Grand Prix Final - Ice Dancing

I hit snooze on my alarm to instead of watching the ladies short. Apparently, Miki Ando won the short by a few points. I heard she was the only one landing triple lutz-triple toes in practice.

Now I'm watching the dance final:

Crone & Poirier - beautiful skate to Queen instrumentals. I've never got her look for this season. Is is supposed to be a Goth ballerina missing part of her top? Anyway back to the beautiful skate, love their edges and expression.

Cappallini & Lanotte - good skate, excellent flowing rockers throughout. They skate to "Requiem For A Dream" which I personally feel is better as a selected piece during a program instead of an entire program. It just creates an angst-filled skate. European judges like angsty which equaled good scores for them.

Kerr & Kerr - Who would have thought "Krwling" by Linkin Park would make a great free dance? Their awesome and creative coach, Evengy Platov did! I love the originality and concept for the brother and sister team. The lifts were strong. I always watch her twizzles, she gets a little wobbly and converts to running 3s especially when her free leg is out. She had that here. However, they just earned a new season's best! Krwling is just angsty enough yet powerful and creative for both European and North American tastes.

Pechalat & Bourzat - They also skate to "Requiem For A Dream" but I thought they looked a little slow this time compared to the powerful music. The lift at the end is interesting, but it doesn't involve skating, he stands still on the ice. However, I like their theme of time throughout. Interestingly enough, they're French and they speak English with their Russian coach as I just heard in the Kiss'n'Cry.

Virtue & Moir - deep edges, soft skater's knees, creative spins, and then there's the lift where she's on one foot balancing on his back and then twirls off.... and then the lift where her tuille gets all in his face... ;) Oh, this program just floats from element to element. It's so enjoyable to watch. New season's best  - above 100 points for the free!

Davis & White - Did they get a standing O? I didn't notice the audience as much in Virtue & Moir's skate, I guess the shot of Davis & White showed more audience at the end... so where they the only ones with a standing O? Oh well, loved the skate. Much more powerful than Virtue & Moir's but then the music is more powerful. I'm biased, I like Davis & White better, but Virtue & Moir definitely outskated them in with their free dance. However, Davis & White are the Grand Prix Champions coming off their lead in the original dance! Woo hoo! I hope they take the feedback from the break down of the scores to become invincible for the rest of the season. I wonder what this will mean for Nationals... they beat the reigning World bronze medalists here and they have consistently scored higher than Belbin & Agosto this season.

OK, must finish getting ready for work and get some Starbucks in me!

Grand Prix Original Dance Quickies

Finished breakfast and getting ready for work. Catching the end of the Original Dance in Tokyo:

64.01 for Viture & Moir, new season's best! Still love the flamenco music and program, but I think Tessa dress hides a few flaws in twizzles. The dress length also adds a layer of intrigue to their already exciting program; I'm always wondering if it will get caught in a blade and down they go. The back-flip entrance into their lift continues to amaze me. Good job!

Davis & White... 65.80!!!!!!!!! Another new season's best and first place! Rock out! Their Bollywood inspired skate has been my favorite all season. The music is great and the moves are so authentic. It's also just a great DANCE. So much of ice dancing has become pairs without triple jumps. Davis & White dance with intricate footwork and difficult holds through out. Clearly, the are the class of the field. Awesome.

A New Storyline Begins, But Is It Wise?

Monday I read several "tweets" from some of the competitive skaters I follow that involved either packing for Tokyo or traveling to Tokyo for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Tweets from Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Joannie Rochette, Johnny Weir, Jeremy Abbott and Ashley Wagner. I liked Meryl's tweet, "It seems fitting that we're leaving for the land of the rising sun around dawn..."

The Grand Prix Series consists of 6 competitions across 3 continents that take place October through November for senior level skaters. Competitors earn points for their placements in the series. Winners of the event earn 12 points and go home with a snazzy gold medal, second place finishers earn 9 points and so on. The top six in the point standings after the 6 competitions end go on to the Grand Prix Final.

Skaters are selected to compete at the various competitions by their national governing body of the sport. (e.g., the USFSA in the States, Skate Canada in Canada, etc.). Competitors are allowed to compete in 2 of the six events where they earn points. Typically, winning a Grand Prix event gets you into the Final. The other competitors who make it are consistent in placing in the top three in their events.
 
The Final is the cream of the crop in the fall skating season. Performances and placements here are generally a good precursor to the World Championship standings. In an Olympic season, it's an excellent chance to make a statement that you're medal worthy. Plus, by reviewing the judges' marks and how skaters stack up against the narrow field, gives each skater exceptional feedback on what needs to be tweaked before the big championships later in the winter. Especially for those Olympics.
 
It would seem that all skaters would be honored to make it to the Grand Prix Final and want to skate their best. Recent seasons have shown a lot of skaters skipping the stay home and practice.Well, those skaters aren't completely "skipping" there is usually an injury involved. However, several blogs and message boards have been lit up this past week if the injuries are for real. Regardless, the big story leading into the Final is who's not here.

Brian Joubert experienced an awkward landing on a triple lutz last week. He ended up cutting his right foot with this blade. It so bad, he needed surgery to repair a ligament! According to his coach, the surgery went well and a good prognosis is expected. Difficult set back not only effecting the Final, but going into the French nationals and possibly Europeans. 

The ice dancing event would have been a great match up of North American ice dancers, Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto and Meryl Davis & Charlie White represent the US. While Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir sing "O Canada." Ice dance has been a sport dominated by former Soviet countries. Over the past decade that domination is swinging to North America in part by former Soviet coaches who have relocated to the North America. Amazingly, all three of the teams making the Final have been coached by Igor Sphilband at one point in their careers. Each team won all of their Grand Prix events. None of the teams actually had a head to head match up through out the season.

Belbin & Agosto had to withdraw due to Tanith having an impacted wisdom tooth that got infected. I had once of those...ouch! My whole right side of my head from my temple to just below the jaw would throb in the days leading up to the extraction. I feel for her, but I wonder a little about the doctor's orders to stay off the ice for a week. Hopefully, she'll get the time to rejuvenate and then take advantage of not having to travel and compete in Tokyo. Belbin & Agosto's scores were lower in both their Grand Prix wins to the scores of both Virture & Moir and Davis & White.

Finally, there are several players not attending the Final simply because they didn't either didn't compete in more than one event or simply skipped the Grand Prix. Evgeny Plushenko only competed in Rostelecom Cup and neither Sasha Cohen or Stephane Lambiel competed. They may be a factor in Olympic placements.

The streaming times for the Final start Thursday, I think I'll be able to watch a bit over coffee.

Miami RedHawks Synchro Exhibition

Last Saturday I had to trek to West Chester, OH to return some items to IKEA. Oxford, OH and Goggin Ice Arena are just up the road about 20 minutes away. This gave me the opportunity to see the Miami University RedHawk Synchronized Skating teams perform in an exhibition to kick off the 2009-2010 season.

All three teams, Collegiate, Junior, and Senior, showed off their skills by running through some team drills and moves-in-the-field together. Then each team performed their programs as a bit of a tune up prior the Dr. Richard Porter Classic the first weekend in December.

The five-time defending National champions at the Collegiate level are skating to music from "Sex and the City" this season. I thought it was a fun and well-paced program.

Miami Collegiate Synchro

Next, the defending National Champion Senior team debuted their short program with a Romeo & Juliet theme. The music selections came from Prokofiev's "Montagues and Capulets" and both Nino Rota's and Baz Luhrman's movie scores.

Miami Senior Synchro - Short

This was a strong senior program. I enjoyed watching their intensity and think this will be a great short for them for this season.

The Juniors came out for their short program debut to music from Moulin Rouge. I think their program will grow over the year. They opened with an excellent circle footwork sequence.

Miami Junior Synchro - Short

The senior team then treated the audience to a warm up of their lifts. While interesting to see them practice their lifts, it made me realize how much these varsity teams have to learn in practice in a short amount of time.

Miami Senior Warming Up Lifts

Since Miami is a varsity team, their practices start in the fall as the academic year begins. They hold their tryouts and assign teams in August and September. Most of the internationally competitive teams start the process of organizing the team and new programs in April and May! These teams are learning new routines and lifts just a few months away from competitions.

I think this is a reason why the Junior team is still searching for its first National title. The Junior team follows the ISU age levels, so the skaters are 18 and under. At a college level, this generally creates a freshman only team. (There may be a sophomore here and there who has a late fall birthday and turn 19 as the season starts.) The team only gets one season to gel. The Senior and Collegiate teams consist of skaters who skate together for at least two seasons.

I also wondered if the Senior team has several new faces on the team. Lifts are only allowed at the senior level, so maybe they needed some extra warm up with several skaters making the team after being on the Junior and Collegiate teams.

The Senior long is a medley of 1940s music from Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Cole Porter. The choreography reflected the upbeat tunes. The skaters seemed a little slow at times and the program wasn't polished yet. I'm looking forward to seeing this program grow as the skaters get familiar with the routine with time and really begin to perform and skate with the music.

Miami Senior Synchro - Long

The Juniors wrapped up the evening with their long to "Bohemian Rhapsody." Again, I thought the skaters had just learned all the choreography, but the program will be competitive throughout the season.

Miami Junior Synchro - Long

Synchro vs. Figure Skating

I loved this video posted on YouTube from Audrey in Hungary. The title is "Synchro Skating at the Olympics?"

While synchronized skating is often referred to as one of the fastest growing winter sports along with snowboarding, it's not an Olympic event like snowboarding. I believe synchronized skating will be included in the Olympics in the next decade, probably by 2018.

It takes a little bit of time and politicking to get a newish sport on the Olympic roster. Consider another International Skating Union governed sport: short-track speedskating. It became organized and officially sanctioned in the 1970s. It became an Olympic sport in 1992.

It will be fun to add synchro to the Olympics Figure skating fans will find it enjoyable to see their favorite skating moves completed by 16 skaters together. The average viewer who only pays attention to skating during Olympic years will find even more action in synchro.

Here's a preview of what to look forward to for skating fans:

Smells Like Synchro Season....

I've been noticing more postings across the "Internets" related to synchronized skating. Yeah!

Here are some of my favorite discoveries:

DC edge performed with Scott Hamilton and Dorothy Hamill in Kaleidoscope On Ice. They performed in the same costumes they skated to Van Halen and medaled at Nationals. Kaleidoscope On Ice will be broadcast on Thanksgiving on Fox at like 4 or 5. I wonder if the world will get a glimpse of synchro-fun before dropping into a Turkey-induced doze.

Another fun find, the Haydenettes new programs debuting at Bryant Park! (For some reason, I can't get the vids embedded, but they should be hyperlinked).

Short Program - Skating to What a Wonderful World

Long Program - Skating to West Side Story

Hearing the first strands of Maria was a bit of a bummer since West Side Story themes are used so often in skating. However, this is an excellent program. I love the no hold footwork block. They threw some difficult intersections into that block too.

I also found some predictions for the adult teams at the Dr. Richard Porter Memorial next month in Ann Arbor, MI. Apparently, the posters think Louisville will be last. There is a history of last places finishes in Louisville synchro, however they don't know Louisville is fielding a coaches team at the Masters level this year. Since no one reads this blog, they'll be in for a surprise! Go Louisville RiverStars!

Skate America

Ugh, I've not been able to shake an upper respiratory thing... I missed all my skating practices this week due to this pesky cough. I set my alarm and got up at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday as I had been feeling better, and having a scheduled lesson instead of one that was snuck in due to people not showing was motivating. However, as I started to get dressed I could tell my congestion was going to get worse if I exercised in cold air. Oh well. I decided to work from home and spent some break time watching Skate America on IceNetwork. Here are some of my faves from the competition in Lake Placid:

Yu-Na Kim's short program. Love the James Bond-girl theme. She plays it well. Love how the James Bond music isn't overbearing and selections throughout the movies are used. Yu-Na built a large lead coming into the free program. Which she needed as Rachel Flatt rocked her free skate.

Rachel Flatt winning the free skate despite her last two spins not even counting. She did a combination spin, but the steps between her change of foot were too wide. This made the combo spin count as two separate spins. However, since she already completed individual spins she maxed out on spin elements. So her last 10 seconds basically didn't count. She could have just stood there and would have won the free skate. She's solid, but she still doesn't have great pizzazz and panache in her skating. Still I was excited for her.

I also enjoyed Evan Lysacek's dominating performances. The feather-hands in the Firebird short program are growing on me. I've heard they look much better in person. He seems to be focused and building a strong collection of performances in route to the Olympics.

I felt fortunate to be able to experience Belbin & Agosto's Golden Waltz in the compulsory dance. Wow! That is how waltzes on ice are to be done. I hope NBC spends time broadcasting some of the compulsories during the Olympics. The compulsories really separate the skaters, you can truly break down the skill level of the couples.

I also must say I enjoyed Adrian Schultheiss from Sweden skating in a straight jacket to Insane in the Membrane and Pac-Man. Ryan Bradley medaling after landing two quads whilst channeling Scott Hamilton was fun too.

Romping through the Far East and Midwest

A couple of weekends ago, I got up early and let the dog out. Then I plopped in front of my laptop to watch bits of the men's and pairs' competition at Cup of China. Crazy time differences, I was seeing their evening performances in my slippers over the live feed.

Cup of China was a "comeback" comp for Shen & Zhao and comeback they did. I enjoyed the free program, it was easy to watch. The side-by-side jumps were probably a bit too far apart, but overall an excellent skate.

Cup of China was the debut of some of North America's Olympic medal contenders. Belbin & Agosto won the ice dance event, Evan Lysacek medaled in the men's event, and Mirai Nagasu & Rachel Flatt had nice outings in the front of the judges and their international competition. Joannie Rochette of Canada had a disappointing short but bounced back with her superior freeskate to Saint-Saens "Sampson & Delilah."

I must say I was a tad disappointed in the Americans. Evan Lysacek skated well, he was downgraded on a jump in each program, but the programs looked good. While the music was new, his programs have come to have a predictable pattern. I was slightly distracted from that pattern watching the short. He's skating to "Firebird" and has a black outfit, with long black feathers at the end of the sleeves. It kept giving me an image of Edward Scissorhands... all in black with these big, dangling, useless hands... except with feathers. Lose the feathers Evan!

I caught the ladies short and was thrilled that Mirai Nagasu had a good skate. She managed first which was a big improvement over everything last season. I expected more from Rachel Flatt with her "Sing, Sing, Sing" short. The YouTube clip of her performance at a summer competition gave me hope that she added some pizzazz to her consistency. However, the program just didn't seem to fill the big arena their in Beijing. She somehow appeared to be skating on ice twice as big as her competitors.

Belbin & Agosto chose a Moldovian theme for their original folk dance. Then they skated to a version of Ava Maria. The Ava Maria program is beautiful and features interesting lifts, however, I thought it was an odd choice for them. Since changing coaches prior to last season, I feel they have become more confident in their technical skill which especially has helped them in the compulsory portion of the competition. However, I their programs seem like they are coming straight out the Soviet School of Ice Dancing. I don't feel they are really offering anything new to the sport. Of course, skating passionately to Ava Maria is rite of passage in skating and Soviet/Russian ice dancers have demonstrated a winning formula of angst-ridden performances. I just Belbin & Agosto could be legendary with their talent by creating something entirely new. They're playing it conservative to win, while I think if they went outside of the box, not only would they win, they would blow everyone away.

I really think Meryl Davis and Charlie White are skating outside of the box this year with their Bollywood-inspired original dance. Watching Belbin & Agosto and then Davis & White in back to back competitions proves really brings that home to me. Davis and White have excellent technique and speed and I think their originality in their programs demonstrates those skills.

Davis and White completely left their competitors in the dust at the NHK Trophy. I was in Chicago over the weekend. I got to enjoy the weather for a weekend holiday shopping spree but the hotel didn't have free wifi so I missed my morning ritual of watching the live feed from Asia.

So glad to catch up on the NHK Trophy mid-week after work. Brian Joubert is back! He looked Yagudin-like out there. There was such command of the ice and energy in his performances. I haven't really seen that from him for awhile.

Johnny Weir actually put together two solid skates in the same competition. He earned a silver souvenir for that accomplishment. Jeremy Abbott debuted his programs for the season. Love the short, "Day in a Life" awesomeness. Jeremy, note to self, ice shavings are very apparent on black outfits so don't fall on every jump in the long! Daisuke Takahashi was back after injury last season. Wow, I missed him, he's programs fill the arena. Hope those jumps make a complete recovery after injury too.

Enjoyed the Kerrs free dance to Krwling too.

I've been getting the hang of choctaws and my rockers are back to what I could do well 10 years ago. I think I may pass my junior MITF by February!

From Russia to China

In just a few hours the Cup of China will begin in Beijing. I think the Compulsory Dance begins at 2:45 a.m. here, so it probably starts mid-afternoon there.

The Cup of China will mark the Grand Prix debut of Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto, Evan Lysacek and Joannie Rochette. They all medaled at worlds and expectations are high for them this season. High enough that Vancouver medals are expected.

This stop in the GP Series will also showcase the comeback kids in pairs: Shen & Zhao. I'm looking forward to seeing their skates. The started out as stronger technical skaters but their artistry grew over the years. They've spent the past two years touring with Stars on Ice, that only helps in growing their skills along with consistency.

Will their performances in front of their a home audience be anything like Evengy Plushenko's in Moscow this past weekend? Talk about a comeback. Since winning the Olympic gold in Torino, he's divorced, toured all over eastern Europe, gained 20 pounds, got involved in Russian politics, got married again, lost 20 pounds. He came out and landed quad combinations as naturally as walking. I never was a big fan of his before, but I respect that he truly put in the effort to comeback and be competitive for another Olympic win. He seemed to not be rushing through his footwork and covering the sloppiness with wild arm movements. He seemed to really be taking his time to make sure he was completed all the various turns to maximize the level. I hope that continues.

Trophee Eric Bompard

The Grand Prix season kicked off this week in Paris. As I described to my husband, the Grand Prix Series is a bit like getting into conference play. The smaller, opening competitions such as Nebelhorn and Finlandia are over. Now's the time to play with the big guys and face the serious competition.

Wow Yuna Kim! Second time breaking the 200 point mark in a year. She did it with a wobbly spiral sequence in the short and skipping her triple flip in free. The James Bond themed short is classic, another great program by David Wilson.

Loved the break out by Adam Rippon too. The 'Tano Lutz is back!

How about Nobunari Oda as Charlie Chaplin? Classic program as well. He ticked off the elements while giving an entertaining skate.

Anticipation for the 2009-2010 season

With the Nebelhorn Trophy under way, here are the people and events I'm most looking forward too this season:

Who will have the most Micheal Jordan-like comeback ala coming back to play basketball for Bulls comeback after playing baseball versus coming back to play for the Wizards after a first retirement.

The 2006 Olympic men's champ, Evengy Plushenko, will be competing again after four years of touring in Russia, dabbling in Russian politics, getting divorced and married again. Will he still have the jumps, especially the quad? Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov worked with him on his programs.

Stephane Lambiel, the silver medalist in 2006, is also coming back. He is coming out of his 2nd retirement since the last Olympics. Plushy's last competition was the Olympics. Lambiel followed his silver by winning the world title after the games. He was entered in a few Grand Prix events the following season. Mid-season he said his heart wasn't in it anymore and retired. He found some passion later and ended up with a couple more medals at worlds, but no titles. Last year, he retired after some injuries were not healing as quickly as he would of liked. His biggest obstacle comes this week in working to gain Switzerland a spot for a man in the Olympic competition at the Nebelhorn. If he assists in earning that spot, I'll be interested to see if he keeps his interest in competing.

Sasha Cohen, the ladies silver medalist in 2006, has decided to return to competition as well after attempting an acting career in between touring with Stars on Ice. Looking forward to seeing the spins and spirals she's known for in competitive programs. I hope see found some consistency and focus through having to perform almost nightly on tour for stretches at a time.

Isabel Delobel and her partner Olivier Schoenfelder will have a comeback of sorts. Isabel is due to deliver her first child soon. This working mom will be a skater, I love it!

Beyond comebacks I'm looking forward too:

Watching and comparing the seasons of Belbin & Agosto and Davis & White before the US Nationals. Then seeing the battle for first at Nationals. I have a feeling Davis & White could overtake Belbin & Agosto this year in a head to head match up.

Johnny Weir's programs choreographed by David Wilson.

The ladies competition at Nationals with two spots to the O's and worlds.

Seeing how skaters who changed coaches in the off season fare:

Mirai Nagasu and Carolina Kostner to Frank Carroll, should give them some confidence and better preparation.

Jeremy Abbott with Yuka Sato after parting with his coach of many years, Tom Zakarasjc.

Caroline Zhang after swtiching coaches and then going back.

Brian Joubert made a change over the summer in his quest for Olympic gold and gaining 2nd last year at worlds.

Finally, I'll be interested to see the continuing saga/answer of that burning question, "to quad or not to quad?" Particulary in the case of Brian Joubert.

The season begins: Nebelhorn Trophy this week!

The first major senior event of the season gets underway this week in Oberstdorf, Germany at the Nebelhorn Trophy. The Nebelhorn serves as an official Olympic qualifier for countries to fill the remaining slots available for the Olympics. There are a few countries who were unable to qualify skaters in certain disciplines due to their skaters' low placements at the 2009 World Championships.

The remaining slots are generally filled by some of the smaller countries such as Azerbijan, Luxembourg, or New Zealand. Generally there are bigger countries that traditionally supports skaters that just missed qualifying in a discipline. Switzerland falls into this category. Their current champion, Jamal Othman, finished 26th at Worlds. I don't believe he even qualified to continue the freeskate after his short. Switzerland is without a spot for the Olympics in the men's competition from his 26th place finish. What makes this pursuit interesting this year is the return of a two-time World champion and Olympic silver medalist: Stephane Lambiel.

Lambiel is the Swiss Brett Favre, perpetually going in and out of retirement. I'm anxious to see if this Favre can still prove himself. (He would instantly lose the Favre-title if he doesn't succeed, right?) I'm looking forward to catching his skate on YouTube... come on European fans, get your camera phones ready, it's Stephane Lambiel making a comeback (for the 2nd time!)

Ah, catching skating on YouTube. There was a stir on a message board that NBC's Universal Sports would be televising Nebelhorn. Alas, they just posted upcoming skating competitions on the calendar on their figure skating site. Hopefully, some info on the event will show up there. I've heard the US Olympic Committee has something in their bylaws that anything deemed an "Olympic Trials" comes under their jurisdiction which I think usually extends to broadcasting rights. NBC is so big into promoting Olympic Trials they usually will cover and promote those events. It would make sense to have some coverage of an international Olympic Trial, even if it's just a webcast or posting updates. Online coverage counts these days.

Beyond searching for Stephane Lambiel's skates, I'll also be searching for the six American skaters competing. The US can't qualify anymore slots for the games, they were set at Worlds (3 men, 3 dance teams, 2 pair teams, and 2 ladies). This is an international competition debut to test drive programs before the Grand Prix season. Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Brooke Casitle & Ben Okolski and Meryl Davis & Charlie White will be there. I'll be searching for Davis & White's new programs for sure. I've heard the original dance is a mix of Bollywood music. Ryan Bradley and Alissa Czisny always do well early in the season and I hope that trend continues and gives them confidence for the rest of the season. I've not seen Castile & Okolski too much, but I think the last time they competed here, they did well and ended up winning the US Champs later that year. Here's hoping to a great competition for all!

USFS announces the international synchro assignments

US Figure Skating posted the international assignments for the senior synchronized skating teams. The US will be well represented this spring in synchro-crazed Europe:

The Haydenettes and Evolution will kick off the international season at the Cup of Berlin, January 14-17.

The Crystallettes will get a chance to shine outside of the long shadow from the Haydenettes and Miami Synchro (is it five times in a row the Crystallettes have been 3rd while those teams battle for gold?) The Crystallates skate at the Prague Cup, the following week.

Then it's on the Rouen, France the first weekend of February. One of my favs, California Gold, will be there along with the Starlights. The Starlights just moved up to the senior level this year, causing a minor stir on synchro boards. The team never had an international assignment at the junior, so why the sudden assignment in the move up? Shouldn't they be a reserve team? Maybe it points to the growth and strenght of US Synchro... I don't know. Oooh, the gossip!

Western Michigan University will be the first to represent senior college teams when the Spring Cup goes to Sesto San Giovanni, Italy. That's a nice reward for winning the Midwestern Sectionals this year and coming onto the scene.

Finally, closing out the final international before the national and world championships is the original college team, and first varsity synchro team. The Miami RedHawks will be skating at the Neuchatal Trophy in Swtizerland.

Searching for music selections this evening. Not much is posted anywhere. I'll keep snooping.

The Great 8 by Scott Hamilton

I've been picking over Scott Hamilton's autobiography/self-help book released earlier this year. It's a good little read. It can be a bit corny at times, but I've really enjoyed a few sections about his career decisions and learning to "fall, get up and land your first jumps" as the 1st chapter is named.

The intro is a great metaphor about learning fundamentals and how to focus and practice to attain goals through learning figure eights. Every time I read this section, I have come away with a renewed focus in my personal and professional life. To be good at figures takes repetition and practice. It takes clearing your mind of distractions while finding a rhythm to the repetition and focus on each step to create and then trace the figure in the ice.

Figures could be frustrating and even boring at times, going over and over the same spot trying to cut clean edges into the ice without flats, wobbles or skids. I spent an hour on figures in my patch of ice starting with a basic eight on outside edges a progressing through serpentines, double threes, brackets and loops. It was all a great warm up for the freestyle session that would come next. Over time that daily hour of figures build greater strength, posture and speed in my skating. Figures allows skaters to practice the body positions needed for jump entry and footwork at a slow and methodical pace. By doing serpentines and rockers, I was perfecting take off for a double lutz over and over again without even realizing it. I was forced to spend an hour each day practicing fundamental positions in the sport.

Life can bring its own frustrations and sometimes boring tasks, but success comes from thoughtful and dedicated practice of fundamentals.

Skate Mag

My digital edition of International Figure Skating arrived in my inbox this morning. Big section on the countdown to Vancouver! Made me check out tickets for the Vancouver Olympics. Could watching the OD in the ice dance event be in my future?

Alissa Czisny's New Short Program

I'm sitting at Java on 4th, enjoying the free wi-fi. My connection keeps going out at home and I'm supposed to be packing to move into a new home. The new house is by the ice rink, so I've really got skating on the brain. I'm trying to figure out how to balance my day job demands and organize a coaching schedule. It would be good to get back into it during an Olympic year.

I was searching figure skating on YouTube - the second largest search engine in the world in case you didn't know. I searched by newest and found Alissa Czisny debuting her new short program to Zorro music at Skate Detroit.



Her jumps looked solid - triple Lutz + double toe, triple flip, double Axel. She's one of the best spinners around now. Her spins are so fast and centered, especially the ending combo spin of camel, sit, into the "Czisny" position. I always wonder why great spinners have some jump troubles like she tends to have. Being able to hold a spin position is much more strenuous and the back scratch spin is the jumping position in the air. That should be a topic for another blog... since I'm so good at blogging. ;)

The footwork sequence didn't sing yet, it was slow and there was a stumble. Overally, I think it has the potential for a great program. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the Grand Prix schedule.

My Staples Center Memories

So the Staples Center has been in the news, here are my favs from being there for Worlds in March:

I said Hi to Scott Hamilton and he said Hi to me! Really he did, he looked me in the eye even though this photo taken by my husband looks like I'm stalking him.


Alissa Czisny skated a lovely and strong free program to Dr. Zhivago. She's one of my favs and I was glad to see her live. She had all the pressure on her to represent as the American champion, I hope this was a good learning experience for performing under pressure - you can do it Alissa, don't write her off yet.

I met Brian Boitano! I complimented him on Alissa's skating, got a photo and we parted ways. But how cool was that?

Yu-Na Kim: Her performance was amazing, she changed the temperature of the arena. I didn't take a picture, I was so caught up in the performance with the rest of the audience, Korean fans and photographers. Here she is just getting her first look at her record breaking scores.

The champions: Yu-Na, Joannie Rochette & Miki Ando. Great performances all around.

Michael Jackson on Ice

With all the Michael Jackson coverage, I keep getting his songs stuck in my head. It's bringing to mind some skating routines:

Katarina Witt - Bad 1988

I remember this one from when I was 9 and first fell in love with skating. Katarina Witt was the coolest and she had just won the Olympics. Plus, there was the whole East German thing and I was just becoming aware of the "Iron Curtain" so I thought it was really cool that this East German chick could do the moonwalk!

Bourne & Kraatz - 2002 Olympic Free Dance

They came into the Olympics the Grand Prix winners, but the podium was not to be for Canadian's Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz. As the Salt Lake City games became know more for the judging scandal than the performances, they probably didn't have a podium chance. The slip at the end sealed that fate. They were coached by Tatiana Tarasova at the time.... theme coming on.

Evgeni Plushenko - 2002 Olympic Short Program

Another skater from eastern Europe with a Michael Jackson thing.

Evan Lysacek - Billie Jean 2009

This is Evan's exhibition piece for the 2008-2009 season. Also choreographed by Tatiana Tarasoa.

Denver Sectionals Photos

So I'm terrible about blogging. I enjoy reading others' blogs more than writing my own. Here are some photos from Midwestern Synchro Sectionals.

No surprises, we came in last - but last here equalled a pewter medal and a trip to Nationals!

All of our practices are over, both on-ice and off. Just chillin' at the hotel waiting to do hair and makeup in a couple of hours.

We're skating in a real arena! A small arena, but a minor league hockey team plays there and an NBA development team of some sort. The temperature is comfortable along with cushy seats. There is a jumbotron in the center and a screen that loops around the seats. Oooh, then there are the locker rooms.

The locker rooms were clean and didn't smell like hockey equipment. They had regular bathrooms - that actually had doors on the stalls. Basically, they are professional rooms - clubhouse locker rooms - not the typical hole in the wall under the bleachers room for hockey. It had carpet in areas plus rubber matting for skates. There was some workout equipment around too.

I have been downing water as my skin is so dry, but I think I'm handling the altitude well. Several of my teammates have had some difficulty or have had asthma problems. I noticed WARNING sign about the altitude leaving the locker room after our official practice.

Our practices have been OK. I think our best was this morning at the practice rink a suburb over. We actually moved our moving circle for the first time in awhile. It seems to be coming together. We have already qualified for Nationals as all four masters teams move on. I hope we skate like deserve to go. I'll try my best.

Taquitos

Pretty much chilled with the team and skating moms for the juvenile team at the hotel for the rest of the day.

We had an off ice practice above the bar and then discovered the hospitality room. There was an assortment of festive beverages, chips and veggies, plus TAQUITOS! My favorite snack.

I just spent 30 mins on the elliptical to lose some of the taquitos. I'm very tired from the mix of travel and disruptive weather over the past few days. I'm off to a quick shower and then I'm hitting the sack.

We made it

I'm in Broomfield, CO for the 2009 Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectionals.

It was a treacherous journey... our team's flight was scheduled to leave Louisville at 7:00 a.m. Instead, the plane had a mechanical error and Northwest booked us on later flight at 8:45.... in Cincinnati two days after a winter storm coated the region with ice.

They gave us vouchers for cabs so we packed in 4 to a cab to make it to Cincy. Our driver drove with his emergency blinkers on at about 35 mph most of the way. Two other cabs stopped for gas and potty breaks which were cutting it close and they arrived at the airport just as we did. The driver finally said, "It danger, I scare." He also said he wasn't driving back home any time soon. Poor guy.

The check in crew was great and got us through as fast a possible, especially since we all had to check our skates. We ran to security and then to the gate. Fortunately, the plane waited for all of us.

It was a direct flight too which was nice. I got to sit next to Beverly Duburow who skates in Lexington and remembered me skating there as a teenager when her kids skated. It was enjoyable catching up with her finding out about how her kids are doing and any other skaters that were from Lexington. She is skating on the adult team.

With over 20 people with the Masters and Adult teams combined, we booked a limo to take us the hotel. Goofy limo pics coming soon...

US Nationals

I followed US Nationals on icenetwork last week and watch the men's final on NBC.

As expected, Meryl Davis and Charlie White captured their first championship minus the injured Belbin & Agosto. I think they could have won competing against them anyways. They've come on strong this season. Really enjoyed watching the Hubbells, they had some creative moves. I got to see them at the PSA conference in May in a demonstration and I believe they will continue to be interesting to watch develop.

I was pulling for Alissa Czisny to come out on top and she cam through. I know she has worked on being a stronger competitor and her jump technique so I'm glad she was rewarded. I'm looking to forward to seeing her skate at Worlds and I'll root for her to medal... at least a bronze against Mao Asada and Yuna Kim is possible!

Also glad to see Melissa Telecky skate respectably in her first trip to Nationals after seeing her compete in the Louisville regionals and barely miss the cut. Go Girl!

Surprising men's final.... where did Brandon Mroz come from? As I secretly hoped, Johnny and Evan didn't have their best Nationals. Jeremy Abbott won capping off his stellar GP season. Too bad Ryan Bradley couldn't pull it off as well. You have to concentrate during the short program Ryan! I made dinner during Brandon Mroz's skate...whoops. He was in first until Jeremy skated, apparently had the skate of his life.

I also played on a website today that allows you make you own Obama "Hope" poster ala Shepard Fairey. Since US figure skating is going through it's own change in champs with skaters progressing and great hopes for the World Champs I threw in the new champs. Dorky, I know, but what else can you do in the midst of an ice storm in Kentucky?