Late Night Host Smackdown... On Ice (Viva Coco!)

Coco

Jilted late-night host, Conan O'Brien, said farewell to "The Tonight Show" Friday. On March 1st, Jay Leno is coming back to host the show. It's been a debacle of ratings, egos and Jeff Zucker's management. (Amazingly, the network associated with the tagline, "You're Fired" as said by Donald Trump hasn't delivered that line to Zucker after seeing their ratings over the past few years. I guess Comcast will get the pleasure.)

Finger Pointing

Back Story:

NBC has three shows that make their late night comedy lineup, The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and a show that has gone through various names and hosts, currently called Last Call with Carson Daly. The network made a plan over five years ago to build a younger audience into Jay Leno's Tonight Show by replacing him with Conan O'Brien, host of the Late Show. As the transition took place in 2009, Jay Leno was a ratings king at 11:30, so NBC decided they wanted to keep him and try new and cheaper programming with him at 10:00. Meanwhile Jimmy Fallon entered the picture as host of Late Night. Got it? Ratings started going downhill at 10:00, kept plummeting during the news at 11:00, and went further south at 11:30. By 12:30, seventeen people were watching Jimmy Fallon, mostly because they are fans of The Roots. Somehow, Carson Daly stayed on the air, continuing to have five viewers at 1:30. NBC had a problem, and various shuffles in hosts and programming have been discussed and debated in the NBC boardroom, blogs, and competitive late night shows. Conan's now out and Jay's back at 11:30, Jimmy and Carson still have their shows.

OK, this relates to skating because.....

The Peacock network being the home of the Olympics, I think NBC could have had more fun with their late night shuffle. They should have had a competition held during the Olympics to prove who can spin comedy gold, captivate an audience and make a great host. They could totally give Tom Hammond, Sandra Bezic and Scott Hamilton a break every now and then by providing color commentary during the figure skating events.

Wouldn't it be great for Conan O'Brien to sit with Triumph, the Insult Comedy Dog, in the broadcast booth and cover the men's skating event? How about a look into the judging scandals of the future with a little 'In the Year 3000'? Jay Leno can replicate his Jaywalking bits during the ladies event asking the homeschooled girls about current events. Jimmy Fallon can impersonate a conversation between Dick Button and Scott Hamilton to make skating fans feel at home. I'm sure they would all have great fun with skating lingo, from Axels, haircutters, twizzles and Zambonis. Whoever gets the most laughs and buzz wins the coveted hosting gig of The Tonight Show when it's back after the Olympics!

Am I crazy? When CBS had the Olympics in 1994, David Letterman used it to his advantage coming on later with Olympic bits. He even sent his mom to Lillehammer. He dominated the ratings then.

Who do you think would be the best in covering skating? I'd love to hear your ideas for Conan, Jay, Jimmy or Carson to do in the NBC broadcast booth.

Oh yes, Viva Coco!

Things That Make You Go Hmm...

Following tweets today, it seems that Evgeny Plushenko had a good short and captured a record score. Multiple tweets that the score was inflated too.

Sasha Cohen took to the ice for a practice and ran through her short. She fell on a flip but otherwise the reports were good that she could be in contention.

Searching YouTube for evidence...

UPDATE
Found Plushy's Short - he did a triple Lutz for the first time this season, plus the usual triple Axel and a quad toe-triple toe combo. Spins a bit slower than the competition, good footwork.


Sasha's Short Run-thru - Nice to watch, worried about the fall on the flip, it was nasty.

Around the World of Figure Skating - European Championships

The Canadian Championship has wrapped up and the US Nationals are at the half way point. Over in Tallinn, Estonia the European Championships are beginning.

The compulsory dance took place today with Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin winning that portion of the event. I'll be watching if they keep the lead and checking in our their scores. This is the first international competition for the reigning world champs due to Maxim's knee troubles. North American teams have dominated this season, but I keep hearing skating fans chatter that podium predictions for ice dance can not be made until the Russians have skated. Russians skating are the equivalent to a fat lady singing in the world of figure skating.

Articles and Blogs on European Ice Dancing Championship:
Domnina-Shabalin Open Strong in Dance


Required Elements by Laura

Beyond ice dancing, the most anticipated event gets under way tomorrow with the men's short program. It's billed as a match up between several past European winners who are either coming back from retirement or from an injury. Tomorrow we'll see if the hype is justified as Evgeny Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel, and Brian Joubert take the ice.

The much hyped trio of former champs have had various injuries whether retired or not. Plushenko has been working on a quad-triple combo, seven revolutions in a second, wow! However, I heard some rumors the training has been rough on his knees and his Lutz was doubled at both Rostelecom Cup and the Russian Champs. Lambiel only competed at Nebelhorn in early fall and Joubert is coming off a foot injury that kept him out of the Grand Prix Final and the French Nationals. He was said today that his foot feels better skating than walking because it's locked in his skating boot.

I suspect there will be some surprises from Samuel Contesti, Tomas Verner and Michael Brezina if any of the hyped trio falters.

Articles on European Men's Championship:
Plushenko, Lambiel, both on comeback trail, feature at European Championships

Plushenko, Lambiel in focus at European Championships

Getting Closer to Vancouver

Sign that the Winter Olympic Games are closer, the "Ice Meisters" are making ice. There's a bit of twist in making the ice for Vancouver as it has a milder and wet climate unlike those dry climates found the Alps where the Winter Games are often held. Check out this NBC Olympics article: Vancouver Venues On Track; Ice Makers Weary of Rain. It reminds me of skating in humid Kentucky.

While the US spread the National Championships over two weekends, our northern neighbors wrapped up their championship this weekend and have named their Olympic Team. No real surprises there with Patrick Chan, Joannie Rochette and Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir leading the way.

Senior Men's Championship in Spokane

Evan Lysacek 2nd, Jeremy Abbott 1st, Johnny Weir 3rd, Ryan Bradley 4th

 After yesterday's championship free skate, I'm so pumped for the US team heading to Vancouver. We're sending the reigning World Champion, and three men who have each won two National titles. They've also shown they can deliver under pressure.

I'm especially proud of Jeremy Abbott. I'm going to bring brownies into work tomorrow so my colleagues can experience the joy of watching that free skate. He did a quad toe as if it took no effort, and then completed 8 triples. Each move just flowed into into each the other seamlessly. No long and thought out set ups into the jump elements, just strong edgework and flow through out. Watching it was like a warm, chewy brownie that makes you go "mmm...." It was that good! Total beat down on the other skaters. The crowd got on their feet while he was still in his last spin. Go Jeremy!

Evan Lysacek shed his basic black and feathers for a steel-gray tone. He threw in his quad toe for good measure and was bit short on the rotation and went down. Otherwise, he skated like the World Champ he is, with increased difficulty from the Grand Prix events. He shrugged off missing gaining the National title back with peaking in Vancouver in mind. He was glad to get some practice of doing a quad in a pressure-filled competition.

Johnny Weir skated around in a new costume that included fur and that was the highlight of his skate. His short program kept him on the Olympic team and got him a bronze medal. He skated this program better at the NHK Trophy, but I think he's never capitalized on COP in this freeskate. It doesn't help when he skates tentatively with this program.

I felt a little debate would have been deserved during the selection committee meeting making the Olympic and World Team picks between Johnny and Ryan Bradley. Ryan laid down a challenge with his free skate and two quad program at the beginning of the last group. He's been inconsistent in the short all season, and often does a quad but then botches his triples. Johnny always seems a bit more interested in Johnny which leads to some inconsistency as well. I think the committee could have debated who might be challenged to give the skate of their life by getting the honor of skating in Vancouver. I think Ryan would have, but Johnny's got the Olympic experience to begin with. OpEd off.

NBC did an OK job with the broadcast. Both Icenetwork and NBC had been promoting the same schedule that Icenetwork would show the first few groups and that NBC would show the final two. Unfortunately, NBC only showed the last group and also requested a moratorium on tweets and other reports during the penultimate group. So no one saw that group which is kinda silly. I'm sure people would easily switch from Icenetwork to TV and perhaps a bit more excitement would be brought into the broadcast.

News and Blogs:

Jeremy Abbott Wins Second Straight Skating Title - Los Angeles Times

Abbott Defends Skating Title with a Flourish - New York Times

Aspen's Abbott Leads US Men's Figure Skating Squad - Denver Post

Aaron's Blog

Eric's Blog - Minnesota Ice

Mr. Zamboni Man

Senior Pair's Championship in Spokane

I did not watch any of the pair skating on Icenetwork, it was on when I was working or commuting Friday and due to the Kentucky-Auburn game it wasn't broadcasted here in Louisville. I really don't blame the local NBC affliate on showing a UK game over this event, you gotta satisfy Big Blue citizens in the heart of Big Blue Nation. US Pair Skating has not been as competitive over the past decade either, so I don't think there's a huge face base anywhere in the US clamoring to see a certain pair team skate.

Despite the lack of household name teams, there has been one team much touted by US Figure Skating over the past two years: Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker. They came into the event as the two-time reigning champs. They participated in all the media days for potential Olympians in the past year and recently picked up several endorsements leading into the Games. Despite their record over the past year couple of years they bombed the short program and didn't have a perfect long, placing them in fifth. They were not named to the Olympic team. While McLaughlin and Brubaker scratch their heads, I'm sure there are some executives at Proctor & Gamble scratching their heads too.

Instead, the new team of Denney and Barrett swept the short and long and earned a ticket to Vancouver, as the skaters of the moment.

Senior Men's Short in Spokane

Stayed up late Friday to watch Icenetwork's broadcast of the senior men's short at the U.S. National Champs in Spokane. After a little aggravation that the event didn't actually start at 9:45 as listed, I was treated to some great skates by Johnny Weir and Jeremy Abbot. (The Opening Ceremony started at 9:45 with "Thank You Spokane!" speeches from half of US Figure Skating, and then some kids skated as the flag, then they cut the ice again. All while I could have finished watching an episode of The Tudors with my husband. Argh!)

Johnny Weir skated second and gave a first rate performance. I haven't seen him skate with such command since his "Swan" short in the last Olympic season. Jeremy Abbott ended the first group of five with his "Day in the Life" short. It's an Abbott classic and garnished him an impressive score. I was eager to see Ryan Bradley do well, and he landed a soaring quad toe-triple toe combo but then doubled his Axel and Lutz. I'd never seen Keegan Messing or Johnathan Cassar before and wow, sorry I've missed them before. (OMG, the spread eagle Cassar does could be shown to cancer patients. It would raise endorphin levels and assist with defeating cancer. It's that wicked-good.)

My late night skating spectatoring ended a bit after Grant Hochstein. I had the pleasure of watching Grant skate in person at the 2007 Eastern Great Lakes Regionals in the novice division. Glad to see he's still going at it and impressing the judges at the senior championship. After Grant, Icenetwork really started cutting in and out. As it approached 1:00 a.m. Eastern, I finally logged out and hit the sack. I missed Evan Lysacek and Adam Rippon. I did see a bit of Evan's warm up in between blackouts. He was minus the feather gloves, I guess he ditched the "Evan Featherhands" look for Nats. Despite the new look, he apparently stepped out of his triple Axel.

It's Jeremy in first, Evan in second, Johnny in third.

I'm boring - here's what the journalists and other bloggers had to say about the event:
Jeremy Abbott Looks Ahead With Confidence - Detroit Free Press

Abbott Prevails at US Skating Championship - New York Times

Abbott, Lysacek, Weir Dominate - Los Angeles Times

Abbott's 'Day in the Life' Finds Him In First - USA Today

Lysacek's Brilliant Performance Doesn't Impress US Judges - USA Today

Aaron's Blog: Axels, Loops, and Spins

Laura's Blog: Required Elements 

Skater of the Decade Winner - Johnny Weir

Based on the poll, the winner of Skater of the Decade is Johnny Weir!

He even got to ring in the next decade in style with a blow out in New York. Check out Susan's blog at lifeskate.com for photos and video of the event.

I'll give his sit spin variation a whirl at the rink tomorrow to see if I've still got it.

Good luck at Nationals this week Johnny!

Skater of the Decade - Michelle Kwan

I saw a credit card commercial around the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics that showed clips of great American Olympic Champions from both the Summer and Winter Games. The commercials showed a figure skater spinning and receiving a medal. Interestingly, the skater in the clips was neither the 2002 champ, Sarah Hughes, or the 1998 champ, Tara Lipinski. The skater stood next to them on the podium in those Games and the medal shown in the clip was bronze. The skater was Michelle Kwan.

She won nine Nationals titles, 5 World titles, and two Olympic medals. Three of her World titles and six of the Nationals titles came this past decade. Perhaps this is why she was the skater in the showcase of great American Olympic champions. She's the skater most associated with success and championships. She's the most decorated American skater.

Despite her record of success and golden moments, she often entered competitions written off while the media was hyping one of Dick Button's "baby ballerinas" or a mighty jumper from Russia. She shifted some of her focus to college at the dawn of the decade. She quit competing in the fall during the Grand Prix Series. Yet, she loved being the underdog and she relished being able to put those prematurely writing her retirement to shame. She took the time off from competion in the fall to seriously train while she pursued her education goals and come to the competitions that matter healthy and hungry.

She never quite mastered the shift in scoring to IJS by missing the Grand Prix events. She received the last 6.0 ever at the 2004 Worlds, but she didn't immediately set record scores under IJS.

There were coaching shifts for her as well, most controversial before the 2002 Salt Lake City Games when she left Frank Carroll. She worked with Scott Williams and then Rafael Artunian to ramp up her technical content. By 2005, she won her ninth US Championship. She tied Maribel Vinson Owen's record of titles, the legend who had coached Frank Carroll in a bit of cosmic connection in the small world of figure skating.

Despite the changes in skating, coaches and life, Michelle entered 2006 season as an Olympic medal favorite for the third time. As usual she missed the GP events but this time there were reports of a hip injury. Then came an abdominal injury that pushed her out of Nationals and filing a petition to receive a medical waiver. She was named to the Olympic team and set off for Torino after successful monitoring session from US Figure Skating. She walked in the Opening Ceremonies and then went to practice on the Olympic ice the next day... and skating into a new injury, this time a pulled groin. She graciously withdrew instead of hiding her pain or fighting on. She know she wouldn't skate well and allowed another skater to take her place.

She continued school, earning a degree at the University of Denver and then acceptance to Tufts University's, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She even became an American Public Diplomacy Envoy during the Bush Administration. Even though the public hadn't seen her skate since 2005, as she completed her undergraduate degree there was buzz she would be coming back ala Cohen, Plushenko, and Lambiel. NBC invited her to provide color commentary during the 2009 Worlds in which she seriously scoped out the competition. The USFSA kept a spot open for her at Skate America. Once again, she graciously stepped aside so others could focus on their training and goals.

Always graceful. Always a champion. Michelle Kwan, a skater of the decade.

Skater of the Decade: Sasha Cohen

Sasha, you helped push the IJS towards rewarding bendy-girls like you. You could capture the gold during the Grand Prix season and maximize your points with your Gumby-like limbs. You were also proclaimed as the next great American skater, but when Nationals and Worlds came around it didn't quite pan out. Despite racking up the points for those spirals and spins, the jumps didn't also seem stable or focused on while entering the jump.

You hit the senior stage with a fabulous 2nd place finish at the 2000 U.S. Nationals when Dick Button was touting "baby ballerinas." You were too young for worlds that year and injuries held back your international senior debut until the 2002 Olympics. It takes a certain amount of gusto to debut at the Olympics, and you came in fourth!

Then came 2006 and the next Olympics in Torino. You battled the flu and won the U.S. title, wearing a gold dress and skated to Nino Rota's Romeo & Juliet beautifully. Shaun White, snowboarding's Flying Tomato, said he wanted to leave the Games with a medal and date with you. You crushed the competition in the short program. Then came the long.... a fall on the opening jump and hands down on the next. You battled through the rest of the program and skated away with a silver.

You toured and gave acting a whirl. (The jock-strap scene in Blades of Glory, what range you demonstrated!) Without ever winning many major titles, you were still the most recognizable name on the remaining professional champions' tours. However, you always said you planned to be back competing for 2010.

Finally, this season you entered Grand Prix events and then withdrew before each one. Your silver medal from Torino provides a bye to Nationals every year. Will we see you in Spokane?