Friday Five - Olympics

 It's been a while since I've participated in a RevGalBlogPals's "Friday Five".   This week's is such a no brainer for me, it's a good way for me to get back in the game.

1) Which of the Winter Olympic sports is your favorite to watch? HAHAHAHAHA.... FIGURE SKATING...Of course!  Second favorite~short track racing. But I watch it all. 

Who do you think had the best-looking uniforms?  Don't remember.  I fell asleep during the opening ceremonies.


3) And Curling. Really? What's up with that?  My late husband used to love to watch curling.  If they showed it, I'd watch it.  I remember the year the US curling team had the oldest Olympic athlete (he was in his 50s) and the youngest (don't remember) on their team. 

4) Define Nordic Combined. Don't look it up. Take a guess if you must.   Ski jumping and cross countryskiing.   But I like the biathlon that combines SHOOTING and cross country skiing.

   You do the work - GUESS

  5) If you could be a Winter Olympics Champion just by wishing for it, which sport would you choose for winning your Gold Medal?

(There will be a prize for the best answer, but be aware, this is a judged sport.)

Bonus - Last night was the BEST skating I have seen in any figure skating competition in years, maybe ever.  Usually SOMEONE in the last group makes a heartbreaking mistake and other years they all seem to be saying "no you take the champtionship, no YOU take it"  Sasha Cohen got the silver medal 4 years ago simply because she made fewer mistakes.  But EVERYONE in the last group had the skate of a lifetime and that's what you want.

Who I felt bad for - Racheal Flatt got hosed!   Even with downgraded jumps (and come on that was pretty nit-picking) she should NOT have been placed so low and certainly not below Miki Ando. Miki Ando had cheated landings and take offs.  She takes off on the wrong edge on her lutz which is also supposed to be a deduction.  Her layback is horrible, she was slooooow and her posture is awful.   Hey but that's figure skating.  Part of the fun is to be pissed off at the judges.  And Rachael skated about as best as she could and to do that at the Olympics, well she has to be happy about that.

I felt badly for both Yu Na Kim and Mau Asada and the incredible pressure their country's put on them to win.  They are just teenagers!  I remember back with Midori Ito had to publicly apologize to Japan for bringing home a silver rather a gold.  Wonder if they will require that of Mau.  

Now it's over.   It's always so sad when the skating is over at the Olympics.  Oh well...Apolo skates in short track tonight...I'm competing myself tomorrow.  And the World Championships are coming up.   And there's always EASTER!

Skating Through Grief

Well if you are paying any attention to the Olympics at all, you know the heart wrenching story.  Canadian Figure Skating Champion Joannie Rochette's mother died suddenly of a heart attack shortly after arriving at Vancouver

to watch her daughter compete.  Tuesday night, just days after the loss, Joanie went out and skated her heart out, ending up in third place overall.

I have to admit I am finding it impossible to stay up late enough to watch skating to the end.  I think I might have to take a nap today so I don't miss the live ending of the Ladies Final tonight.  But I only watched the short program on DVR yesterday.

Yea um, no way should Miki Ando be ahead of Racheal Flatt with her cheated landings but whatever.

I think I also resisted watching Joannie's performance because I knew it was going to make me cry.  What really got me was the shot of her father sitting in the stands, alone when he should have been sitting there with his wife.  The painful combination of grief and pride etched into his face was just about too much to see.

People say "how could she go out and skate like that - I could never do that"  Well you don't know how  you will respond in grief until you actually go through it yourself.  Part of the answer is that elite athletes are not like you and I.  They have an ability to focus and shut out everything else that is beyond our abilities.  

But there is another answer and it is not that Joanie is so different than the rest of us.  First there is the shock and numbness from a sudden loss.  I had sprained my ankle a week before my husband died and was still using crutches.  The days following his death I literally "forgot" about the pain and walked around on it until a couple of days later I woke up and my ankle was the size of a football.  So it was probably actually easier for her to do this now than it would be a few weeks or months from now.   That's the thing about grief.  About the time everyone else thinks you should be "getting over it" is about the time it sinks in and is the most painful.

Also in grief you have choice.  You can withdraw into your grief and yourself and begin a descent into hell.  Or you can own the pain, but look forward and do what you have to do.  Honestly some days I think it took as much strength and courage for me to get out of bed and cook my children breakfast as it did for Joanie to take the ice the other night.   And so I admire and applaud her choice to skate.  Tonight whatever she does, whether or not she takes home a medal, she has taken an important step, she has refused to go down into the pit and decided to live.  The days, weeks and months ahead are going to be painful and difficult for her, but the strength she showed on the ice will get her through. 

Women Ice Dancers are Strong!

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Sinead & John Kerr, British Ice Dancing champions, they finished 8th over all

Free Dance Tonight

 Going into the the free dance the standings are:

1.  Virtue & Mohr - Canada

2.  Davis & White - USA

3.  Domnina & Shabalin - Russia

4.  Belbin  & Agosto - USA

Just a couple of thoughts.  My favorites are Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto.  He's a magnificent  skater.  A judge I respect says their Original Dance last night was more difficult than Davis & White's.  But I liked Davis & White's OD much better.  It was different and interesting to watch.  I just didn't get the bird thing.  And  I liked Davis and White's free dance better at Nationals so we'll see tonight.  I liked Belbin & Agosto's tango interpretation the best but can live with Davis and White being ahead.  

They are both better than the Russians who were not only offensive last night, 

they just were not that good.  They get points for being Russian.   Also I think anybody wearing a cowboy costume last night should have received a .2 deduction, that's how tired I was of that.

In a perfect world I'd say it would be a fight beween the top two Americans for 1 & 2.  But it does look like the Eastern Bloc judging is at work again and so don't be surprised to see the Russians on the podium with a subpar performance.    

And don't even get me started on that whiney baby poor sport, out of shape, should shut up because the silver medal was a gift Plushenko.

A Quick Lesson on Spirals

Okay - kids - the Winter Olympics are coming up 

and I know a lot of you folks are big figure skating fans every four years.  I thought I'd help you occasional skating fans by explaining some things so that you might understand the results a little more.

Today we will discuss spirals.   

Most people think of spirals as the arabesque position - although in skating your back is flat - one leg the ice (knee slightly bent) and free leg extended straight behind you.  

In order to pass a test with a spiral or have it count in a competition your free leg must be at least hip level but of course nowadays most girls and ladies hold their leg much higher.

However what makes a spiral a spiral is NOT the body position but the edge and pattern on the ice.  

When done on a correct edge, the tracings on the ice will make a "spiral".   It is important to skate on the EDGE of your skate, not the flat.  So when you watch the skaters do not be distracted by gumby-like flexibility - first look at their FEET.  Are they on an edge?  Are they skating on a curve rather than a straight line?  Skating is not gymnastics on ice!

Nicole Bobek in the 90s was the first to hold her free leg so high as to nearly be doing the splits.  However, her spiral was spectacular not just for the position, but her edge and the speed and  length she held the spiral - clear around the rink.

 All skating is either done on an outside edge- where you lean to the outside of  your skates or on an inside edge where you lean to the inside of your skate.  

It is VERY important in skating to learn this inside/outside edge concept right away because it is one of the basics of skating.

In this picture of Nicole she is on the outside edge - look how much she is leaning.  That is the kind of lean you want to see in a spiral

In this picture of Michelle Kwan,  she is doing an inside-edge spiral.  Again, see how much she is leaning.


To compete with Nicole, Michelle Kwan worked on her flexibility and soon she was holding her leg just as high and upped the anti with her "change-edge" spiral.   She would start on an inside edge and then switch to an outside edge.  Now all skaters are expected to have the flexibilty to hold their leg that high and to do change edge spirals.

This is Emily Hughs' spiral.  She has a very bad position, she is leaning way too far down and forward.  This is a common mistake of beginners, because you will try to lean forward to get your leg up higher instead of working your butt and back muscles.  

This move is VERY hard on the back.  I'm really surprised no one has corrected on this.

Here is a picture of Sasha Cohen showing a very good back position although when she started she would lean very far forward.  

She also does not always have the best edges but she has such good body position nobody notices, which annoys the heck out of me.

But because a spiral is about the edge, not the position you will see other positions in a spiral sequence --like this "Y spiral"  by 2006 Olympic Champion Shizuka Arakawa of Japan.  

Again while you maybe amazed by her flexibility - look at the lean and edge - that is what make that a good spiral sequence.  Very often you will see all sorts of contortionists 
on flats or wobbly edges.  That is NOT skating.

And speaking of contortionists - you will see this position - called a Biellmann after Denise Biellmann who would spin in this position.  

She did not invent the position, show skaters had been doing it for years but she was the one that introduced it to competition in the 80s.  So now every little girl has to learn to grab her skate while doing a spiral.  
It's not pretty at the lower levels let me tell you!

My lovely daughter competing at Intermediate at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Competition in 2007.  She has a lovely spiral.  

You will also see this position - called a "fan spiral" done skating backwards where the leg is lifed and held in front.  This is an excellent position by Sasha Cohen.  

Done well, it's spectacular, done by most skaters looks like, well I'll just say it-- a dog taking a pee.

And this what a 52 year old woman who doesn't do much off ice stretching looks like doing a spiral.  You laugh but I worked really hard to get it that good and I'm pretty darn proud of it!

More on Nicole Bobek

Very good, long article at ESPN about the rise and fall of former national figure skating champion, Nicole Bobek.

Why do some people rise above their upbringing and circumstances and some don't? And why do I care so much and feel so much compassion for Nicole Bobek when all I want to do is slap Tonya Harding?

Nelson: Sour times for America's ex-sweetheart

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The Fairy Tale Ending Every Figure Skating Fan Wants

An Olympic Gold Medal for Michelle Kwan. She's considering the dream herself. Michelle Kwan dominated the figure skating scene from about 1995 until three years ago when an injury forced her to pull out of the 2006 Winter Olympics. She had the total package. She's known now for her grace and presentation skills but she started out at the jumper and a strong athlete. But while other jumpers came and went, she consistently held her own, winning NINE national championships and five world championships, a silver Olympic medal and a bronze Olympic medal.

And those last two medals are what still give her fans pain. She "should" have won an Olympic gold medal. In 1998 the devil Tara Lipinksi "stole" it from her. Or so it seemed the way some of Kwan's more rabid fans would talk. The viciousness of some the attacks against Lipinski actually turned me into a Lipinski defender in internet skating discussions.

My daughter was eight at the time and had just begun to skate and she was enchanted by Lipinski. When Lipinski won the gold medal, my daughter said "Everyone said she couldn't win the gold medal but she didn't believe them and she went out and skated her best and won" and you have to be thankful for a role model like that. But Kwan fans never forgave her. Lipinski went pro at 16 --never giving Kwan a chance to beat her again --another unforgivable sin. But she paid a heavy price for that triple-loop/triple loop that wowed the judges and had to have hip surgery at age 18.

I have my own theory was to why Lipinski won - which will only make sense to rabid fans who followed the scoring system. If anyone was overscored - it was Chen Lu of China whose presentation scores were too high. She skated before Lipinski. Having given such high scores to Chen Lu, the judges had to give higher presentation scores to Lipinski - and THAT's why Lipinski beat Kwan. People who are so gung-ho to bring back the 6.0 scoring system forget about it's strange quirks that often confused the casual fan.

Anyway I really really would love to see Kwan back at the Olympics. Figure Skating just hasn't been the same since she left. And everyone loves a fairy tale ending.

Update - I posted this link on my facebook with a comment about this being the fairy tale "nearly" every fan wants and was chided because there are fans that don't remember Michelle Kwan and there are fans who would be disappointed if their favorite were shut out. Yea yea yea. I guess Michelle Kwan still can spark a debate but I deleted the discussion because I dont' care enough to argue about it on facebook.

I still say everybody loves a fairy tale ending.

1994 Winter Olympics - 15 Years Later

I can't believe it's been 15 years since the infamous 1994 Winter Olympics and the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding saga. And don't forget the little Ukrainian orphan Oksana Baiul who stole the show and the gold Medal.

It began when Nancy was attacked after a practice at Nationals; rival Tonya Harding's husband Jeff Gillooly was involved in the conspiracy to take Kerrigan out of Olympic contention. Tonya maintained her innocence in the whole affair and boy I wanted so badly to believe her. I bought the whole "poor figure skater – never accepted by the figure skating community because I was born on the wrong side of the tracks" persona she portrayed. But as time went on it became more and more clear that she was a master manipulator and in fact, not as innocent as I wanted to believe.

But Tonya held on to her spot on the Olympic team, as did Nancy. Tanya ever the drama queen had the broken shoe lace incident—and was allowed more time to find another shoe lace and start her program over. My daughter and I have both skated in little competitions – and we don't go ANYWHERE without extra laces. Who shows up at the OLYMPICS without an extra set of laces? But this was nothing new for Tanya – in the past she had wardrobe malfunctions, skate blade problems…supposed death threats….

Another competitor that suffered from her drama was Canada's Jose Chouinard who had to go on early when Tonya got her extra time. She did not skate her best and later admitted (when asked not in a whiney way) that having to go on early did throw her off a bit.

Nancy skated probably the best she ever did but it wasn't enough andit was the World Champion Oksana Baiul who won the day in a controversial tiny margin. Nancy didn't follow the prescribed "always gracious always smiling" script for lady figure skaters and suddenly all the support and sympathy she had from the attack disappeared and she was never very popular after that.

Oksana at the ripe old age of 16 went pro and went on a downward spiral of alcoholism and never skated very well after that either.

But Figure Skating as a sport benefited from the whole affair. That and the fact that CBS lost the rights to Sunday afternoon NFL football and so started showing Figure Skating instead. Thus began about an 8 year "Golden Era" of figure skating…with all kinds of silly pro events that some purists hated but I loved because they featured my favorites – Scott Hamilton, Paul Wylie, Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt, Rosalynn Sumners, Kurt Browning….

But nothing lasts forever and all we get these days is a few days of Nationals and Worlds. And a new crop of little girls who jump jump jump…which to me was never what figure skating was about.