Sometimes the Show CAN't Go on

So it looks like on second thought, with the problems of the nuclear reactor and travel not recommended to Japan, the World Championships are being postponed or possibly canceled.  It would be quite a feat to try to pull such an event off somewhere else with so little notice.  I know in the enormity of such loss to Japan, a skating championship is a small thing.  And yet I'm sure they were looking forward to hosting it and hoping they could go on despite the difficulties and I'm sorry for the Japanese skating community.

And I still think Phil Hersch is an idiot and his column insensitive.  They hoped it could go on and then realized it couldn't.  They don't  his need paternalistic second guessing.

Speaking of  the show, my daughter and I saw Stars on Ice in St. Paul yesterday.  It was their 25th anniversary show.  We've seen 12 of them together.  It was a great show.  It was nice to see the large cast numbers that were missing last year back.  And nice to see some real fast, centered scratch spins.   You don't see those in competition anymore because people are too busy trying to wrack up points  by changing edges and getting into weird positions.

Let the Show Go On!

Mao Asada 2010 World Champion

For the last several years my opinion of Phil Hersh has gone further and further down everytime he pontificates about what figure skaters and Figure Skating in general should do.  Now he opines  that its  Too soon for figure skating worlds in ravaged Japan. 

The World Figure Skating Championships is set to begin in Japan next week.  He thinks they should be moved, postponed or even canceled.  CANCELED?  Really Phil?  You think  THAT is the sensitive thing to do for the Japanese skaters who have been looking forward to competing in their own country?  Yea he's worried about the "emotional impact" on the Japanese skaters.  HELLO?  How long has this guy been writing about sports to say such a STUPID thing about athletes?  Did he forget about Joannie Rochette's  stunning and courageous performance at the Olympics after her mother's death?  Does he not see how this would be an opportunity for the skaters to show how they can rise above adversity and use their skating to deal with the tragedy?

What does the Japanese Federation want?  Maybe we should listen to them.  They say they are prepared to go ahead with the Championships.  But Papa Hirsch wants to protect them and take it away with them.  

I say let's trust the Japanese and go on with Worlds.  And let's all cheer extra loud for the Japanese skaters

Not really skating with the Stars

I don't really like this show as much as you think I would.   I remember when Fox had their version and it annoyed me for two reasons.  First of all, Lloyd Eisner, who I used to be a big fan of back when he competed in the 90s with Isabell Brasseur, goes and knocks up his "celebrity" partner  when his wife just had a baby.   Kind of spoiled the whole show for me.

The other thing that bothered me is that I've skated for more than ten years and these people get out there and make it look like all you need is a couple of weeks and skating's really not that hard and why can't I skate like that?

But if you take a good look --these celebrities are not actually skating much at all.  Obviously some have more of a knack at it than others - like the star of my favorite Soap "All My Children" Rebecca Budig.  She looks really good.  But really what she is good at is holding a pose.  And her partner was very good at pulling her around and choreographing a program that makes her look good without having to actually skate much.

Because skating IS harder than dancing.

But Johnny Weir is a judge and he skated and that alone makes it worth tuning in.

A Movie All Figure Skating Fans are Looking Forward to

On February 15, 1961 a plane crashed on route to landing in Brussels, Belgium and burst into flames.  Everyone on board was killed instantly, including the entire US World Figure Skating team, consisting of 18 athletes and 16 family members, coaches, and officials on their way to the World Championships.  The loss was so devastating to the entire sport that the World Championships were canceled that year.


To commemorate the 50th anniversary of that loss and to celebrate Figure Skating, a movie RISE, will premier February 17, 2011.  Get out your tissues

Monday Morning Skating Video

Nicole Bobek got  5 years probation for her role in a meth ring.  She was damned lucky.  I have a soft spot for Nicole.  She was always my favorite skater.  She always broke my heart.  Here she is skating to one of my favorite programs.  It's her tribute to Carlo Fassi, the coach that helped her get back on track and then died during the 1997 World Championships.

It says she did this in 1995 but I believe this is from a 1998 Tribute.

The end of Compulsory Ice Dance

It wasn't the most exciting TV and even the most diehard fan could get tired of hearing the same music over and over but the compulsory dance is the foundation of the ice dance competition.  The compulsories let the judges compare apples to apples and see the basic skating skills of the dancers aside from the emotion and entertainment value of the free dance.

Here's a great example of the two top contestants doing the Golden Waltz



My daughter and I went to the US Nationals in St. Paul and got to see the compuslory competition live- that's really where you see the wheat separate from the chaff --as couples do the exact same dance but the more skilled and experienced dancers would make you disbelieve it was the same dance.



Now in their infinite wisdom (read that stupidity) the Internatinal Skating Union (which includes hockey and speed skating and his headed by a speed skater) has decided compulsory dance is a waste of time.  ISU Abolishes Dance Compulsories

A compulsory dance is a dance on ice based on ball room dances - Waltzes, Tangos, Foxtrots, Blues, even the Paso Doble!  If you want to learn to ice dance, you learn a compulsory dance.  You don't learn a free dance.  You learn the difficult task of doing precise steps, on an edge, with pointed toes, straight back, exactly to the beat of the music.    Lots and lots of recreational adult skaters do nothing but the compulsory dances and I fear this move may be detrimental to social ice dancing.

I say that because of what happened to Figures.  Figures were the foundation of ice skating.  You used to have to pass figure tests before you could to on to free skating.  You used to have to compete in figures and if you couldn't master the figures --you wouldn't win, no matter how exciting a skater you were.  Well that made for bad television.  So first they took figures out of competition and made it a separate competition.  Then they took figures out of Nationals.  Then they no longer made testing them a requirement.  Now very few people do figures.  There is a whole new generation of coaches who learned figures and are not able to teach figures.  And a lot of people would say, and I agree, that skating has suffered for that lack of foundational skills.

It would be a terrible thing if the compulsory ice dance met the same fate.

I can't take it anymore!

First Al & Tipper announced they were divorcing...

Now 2002 Canadian Olympic Pair figure skating gold medalists Jaimie Sale & David Pelletier are getting divorced!

It was the controversy over their perfect program coming second to the flawed Russian's program that led to an uncovering of judge collusion at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and eventually a whole new judging system (which I personally hate and still don't understand why we just couldn't get rid of the corrupt judges [who are STILL judging BTW] but that is another story)

This is just gonna kill my daughter.  Ya just want the happy ever after.  Ya know?

Stars on Ice 2010 - St. Paul Review

Photos thanks to © Adam & Devon Stein

I've been taking my daughter to Stars on Ice shows since she was four and she just turned twenty.  We haven't gone for a couple of years but this was an Olympic year so we thought we'd go.   Unfortunately, a lot of the Olympians we wanted to see were not at this show - Evan Lysacek was not there - off dancing at Dancing with the stars...I wanted to see Gold Pairs Shen & Zhao but they were not there.   In fact, the only pairs in the show was a guest appearance by National silver medalists, Mark Ladwig & Amanda Evora

All in all, it was a good show.  Not great but good.  Worth the three and half hour trip there.  (Gone are the days of the Stars on Ice Tour when you could find a show within an hour of anywhere you lived.)  I just don't think I will ever get over the glory days of Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Paul Wyle,  Katarina Witt, Rosalynn Sumners, Kurt Browning, Gordeeva and Grinkov ...sigh...those days are gone forever.

Also gone are the days of the amazing ensemble numbers that really made Stars on Ice stand out from the other skating shows.  This show resembled more the old Champions on Ice tour, where you never were sure which skater would be at your venue and they would pretty much just do a scaled back version of their competition program and exhibition program.

So here's a rundown of the numbers - Opening number with the entire cast to "The Best of Times by Dream Theater.  Great costumes.   Stars on Ice has always had the best costumes. Jef Billings has been doing that forever and he's great.  He used to design all of Scott Hamilton's wonderful costumes.

Then a special guest appearance by 2010 US bronze ice dancers Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates.  They did their original dance to a Dixie Chick's medley.  I didn't care for their OD so much when I saw it on TV - partly because I was SO tired of all the cowboy music but to see it live - it's a very good dance - and it was entertaining.

Jeremy Abbott skated to his freestyle program "Symphony #3" (Camille Saint-Saens)  - He's a beautiful skater but he really struggled with his jumps--like at the Olympics and the Worlds.  I suppose he needs to go for the jumps on the tour but really if I come to a skating show and you can't land a triple axel I would prefer that you not even try.  As my daughter said, he really doesn't need to jump to perform a beautiful program.

Alissa Cizney "You'll Never Walk Alone" Barbra Streisand.  We used to call these kinds of numbers GFBs - Generic Female Ballads.  She could be a lovely skater but she really needs to hold her positions longer.  There was kind of a juniorish skating quality to this number.

Todd Eldridge "I Want you to Want Me" Cheap trick --very high energy --good program, solid skating.  He's come a long way in being an entertaining skater and moving past skating to opera.


Sasha skated her Carmen number which she used this year to try to make the Olympic team.  I suppose if anybody is going to skate to Carmen Sasha can pull it off - but I got Carmened out this season.

Meryl Davis & Charlie White did their WONDERFUL and enchanting Original Dance to Indian Folk Music.  This is a wonderful dance, very creative, takes authentic Indian dance moves to the ice.  I was very happy to be able to see this live.


Micheal Weiss - I never cared much for Micheal Weiss as a skater.  I thought his skating was too minimalist and he mugged too much as a pro.  HOWEVER...he has grown on me. I really liked him in this show.  He skated with a lot of energy and was very much a crowd pleaser. I think he realized that as the least decorated man in the cast he needed to protect his spot by being entertaining and he has succeeded.  He skated a number he created at Ice Improv and liked it so well he kept it.


"It Don't Mean a Thing" - Cute jazzy number by Yuka Sato.  She won the world championships in 1994 and is still skating well.

Flower Duet with Sasha and Alissna...both lovely skaters but this just wasn't a very creative use of them.  I blame the choreography.  And between the Y spirals and Charlottes - just WAY too much crotch...


There was a cast ensemble number to a variety of hip-hop music that was pretty good...but  a little long.  Could be I'm just getting too old for that music.

Act II - Jeremy, Todd, Yuka and Micheal did a little bit of "add on" - which delighted my daughter since she's done this in Moves and Power classes --one person does a move, the next person does that move and then adds something - then the next person does the two moves and adds on and so forth...


"If it Kills Me' Jason Miraz - cute number by Belbin & Agosto that involved  a lot of creative costume changes on ice.

Beautiful Number to "Claire de Lune" which was a tribute to just pure skating by Yuka Sato.  She is called the "Skater's skater" because she does things only someone who skates can appreciate.


Jeremy Abbott skated to "At this Moment" by Michael Buble - great number for him ...I don't know if he has nerve problems or needs a jump coach..but he has got to get his jumps more consistent.


Alissa then breaks out of her pretty mold with "I like the Way" by bodyrockers.  


Another high energy program by Micheal Weiss to "Keep your hands to yourself"

At some point, I can't remember-- there was this adorable short yodeling number by the girl skaters with these elaborate costumes that seemed to just introduce another skater.  I liked it.  Would have liked to have seen more.


"Brave" - an ensemble with the four dancers - Tanith, Meryl, Ben, and Charlie.  Again I was disappointed with the choreography.  I think they could have done so much more creatively with these wonderful dancers.  


Todd Eldridge "Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me" by Elton John.  Sorry. I still think of Kurt Browning's number to this.  

Sasha closed the how with Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" that was just gorgeous.  Really beautiful.

And a closing number to "I've Got the Music in Me"


All in all, not the Stars on Ice I remember but I must accept those days are over.  I wish they would get some more creative choreographers.  Maybe persuade Christopher Dean to come back.  Gone are the days when I would make the annual trek to see Stars on Ice, but I'll be back.

Friday Five- On the Road Again

The folks at RevGalBlogPals are talking about Road trips.  My husband was a big Willie Nelson fan so I have to include their video

1. When was your last, or will be your next, out of town travel?

Eight hour road trip to Indianapolis to compete at the Adult Midwestern Sectional Figure Skating Championships.  My daughter came along as my coach.  I had a great time.  I won a gold medal in Interpretive - Comedy - skating as an old lady to "When I'm 64" - It was the end of the competition and I made the judges laugh.

2. Long car trips: love or loathe?   I don't mind them.  Some of my best memories are the road trip vacations I took with my husband-even though my daughter always got car sick and we had a saying "The vacation is not over until Sarah pukes!"

3. Do you prefer to be driver or passenger?  My husband always used to drive.  Now I drive.  I guess I like to be in control.

4. If passenger, would you rather pass the time with handwork, conversing, reading, listening to music, or ???  If someone else is driving on a long road trip--like when I shared driving duty on our youth mission trip to Louisiana I like to stay awake and talk to the driver to keep them awake.  Otherwise I'm more likely to sleep.

5. Are you going, or have you ever gone, on a RevGals BE? Happiest memories of the former, and/or most anticipated pleasures of the latter?  Got no money for that.

6. Bonus: a favorite piece of road trip music.
Actually I like listening to my Teaching Company Lectures when I drive.  I also like to listen to Brandi Carlile.

Pastor Joelle's Weekend Off

Okay so people want me to blog.  I'm gonna blog about my weekend off.

I went to a skating competition in Omaha, Nebraska - Winterfest.  This was the very first competition my daughter and I ever skated at back in 2002.  I was terrified and did terrible.  She finished in second place and was hooked on competing every since.  We went every year after that.   I stayed in the same hotel we stayed in.  I got through hotwire, just like  eight years ago.  Holiday Inn, 48 bucks a night.  Only now they have a water park.  But you aren't allowed to swim before a skating competition anyway.  I'm not sure but most coaches have that rule. My coach wasn't able to come but I still follow the rules.


Funny what you remember.  I remember walking through the parking lot at 5:30 am to get to Sarah's 6 am practice.  This time my practice wasn't until 7 am.    I had a good practice.  

One of the things I like about this competition is that there are usually a lot of adult skaters and there were quite a few this year but nobody at my level.  I was the only one in my two events.  But it's a good warm up for the big adult competition I'm going to in Indianapolis in two weeks. 


So I had a good practice and a good warm up and then my nerves got the best of me and did not do my freestyle as well as I would have liked.  I actually left out two jumps- half flips which are very easy jumps for me to do.   I don't know - what can I say?  I get nervous when I skate in front people and judges.


Then a couple of hours later I did an event I've never done before and will be doing in Indianapolis as well - Improv.  You get a  minute to warm up with no music, then you hear your music for the first time...you get to hear it twice on the ice, then you get off and  you get to hear the music one more time off the ice. Then you do a program that you make up yourself with no help.   I had NO idea what to expect.  I practiced to slow pretty music, country music, fast music and dramatic music.  I was hoping for slow, pretty.  What I got was "Dancing  Cheek to Cheek"  which is kind of fast tempo but it was perfect for me.   Had a great warm up - people were clapping for me in the warm up!  Then I tried a bunny hop and went down and went down hard on my knee.  Ouch.  My knee is still black and blue and sore.  Fortunately it was toward the end of the warm up.


I felt pretty good about what I did - I did not jump, still being shaky from the fall, but I did dance moves and hammed it up with arm movements and facial expressions.   I felt really good.  Lots of people said they thought it was great.  Should have left it at that.


But no I had this bright idea since I was the only one skating to ask if I could get a judges critique after words.  Now I meant that I wanted a critique about the IMPROV and musical interpretation.   This is what I got--  I need to work on my carriage, bending my knees more, too many two foot turns - I need to turn on one foot.  And she didn't like my dress.  If I hadn't been so devastated by the criticism I would have asked "um, did you have some suggestions about the improvisation - choreography--musical interpretation?"  But I just "Thank you"   


I should have never asked for the critique.  I should have gone home feeling good about how the people in the audience liked the performance...instead the last thing I heard was how I'm still pretty much a crappy skater.  But I did learn something.  No more judges critiques.   Because I know I need to work on carriage and soft knees and yes I do know the ideal is to turn on one foot, not two.  You get nervous and you do the best you can.  I do think I will have to add some jumps next time.


Sunday I went to a ELCA church in Omaha that has right on their masthead "Progressive Christian thinking"  - can you imagine -being PROUD of being a progressive Christian and advertising it???  I had to go to that church.


So any of you ever heard of Kennon Callahan's Twelve Keys for and Effective Church?  Of all the church growth stuff that was so popular in the 90s I was pretty impressed by his stuff and I did his Twelve Keys thing in two different churches.  Well where I am going with all this is that his point is that there are some attributes of a church that will not get you any points if you have them, but they will hurt you if you DON'T have them.  Like PARKING.  Nobody says "Oh that church has plenty of parking spots I'm going back"  but if there is no parking, that's gonna hurt you.  Yea.  This church needs to read that about parking.  I could not find a place to park.  Perhaps they should save some parking spaces for visitors.  That used to be the thing to do when everyone was gung ho on church growth.   

But I was motivated.  And I thought..."wow - they must have a lot of people if there is no place to park!"  So I drove around the block a couple of times and finally parked down the street on the street and hoped it was okay and I didn't get towed.  And remember I have a bum knee by this time!


The church sanctuary must be very large and the parking lot very small because it looked pretty sparse.  And I know the worship is for the members and I guess everybody has to get up and point out the announcements that are already written in the bulletin cuz nobody reads the bulletin, except visitors who are BORED TO DEATH with your ten minutes of announcements.


But it was  very nice service, good message from the preacher.  They have communion every week so I was fed.  And I snuck in and went out, shook the pastor's hand, complimented her on her message and left and nobody ever even asked my name.  Which is okay with me but you would have thought someone might have been a little curious. 


When I used to take my kids to churches on vacation, people would be on us like white on rice.  You want those families you know.  When I go as a single women, they don't seem to be so interested.  Or it could be that it was the 90s when we visited a lot of churches as a family on vacation and the 90s it was all church grow-hospitality all the time.  I am kind of glad we've gotten over the church growth marketing craze, but you there were some very simple lessons in hospitality that we learned back then that I think we should still be practicing.  Like introducing yourself to visitors.  And making sure there is somewhere for people to park.


But it's back to the grindstone tomorrow.  I'm doing a sermon series on the Seven Deadly Temptations (which is what they were before a pope declared them sins) for Lent.  Maybe I'll post them.  


Oh and no pictures from my competition because I HATE the way I look in all my dresses and have two weeks to figure out how to solve that dilemma.

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!

'

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.

Getting in the Harness

I'm kind of in a theological dry spell right now - I will write about what is going on sometime when I'm not in the thick of it.  But I need to write.  So my next love - skating

I drove through blowing snow at 5 am this morning to get to my lesson. My coach is moving to California the end of March and I have two competitions coming up so I cannot miss ANY lessons.

So me and the waltz jump.  A waltz jump takes off from a left forward outside edge and you land on a backward right outside edge. It's what an axel is based on but  for an axel you take off forward, rotate one and half times and land backward...double axel two and half, triple, 3 and a half.  For any jump you must get up on you toe and vault off your toe pick.  For me this is not a problem with jumps that you take off going back going backward - half flip - you put your toe pick in behind you vault up and land foward, same with a half lutz.  But there is something about going up on my toe gong forward that I just can't get myself to do.  So I have really pansy itsy bitzy waltz jumps.

So today my coach Mandy suggests I get in the harness.  Which in itself terrified me.  Because it works by a pulley system and so I have to trust her to hold me up.   Yea I got trust issues--so?  

"I HATE THIS I HATE THIS I HATE THIS" she caught me mumbling under my breath "Okay Joelle that is not the mantra I want to hear from you.  You have change that mind set or this is never going to work"  Okay we have to do the little engine that could.  I can do this.

I did it.  I jumped off my toe pick. Several times.  In the harness.   Didn't try without the harness.  But I got in the harness.

I'm gonna really miss her.  Who else will put up with my whining?

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!

Don't Listen to me I'm always wrong when it comes to skating

Back in the 90s I thought Synde Vogel was going to do better than Tara Lipinski. What do I know?

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett are the new Pairs Champions.  Poor  Keauna McLaughlin,  and Rockne Brubaker were just not able to pull up enough to assure themselves of one of two spots on the Olympic team.  Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig came in second but they are not assured a spot on the team.  A USFS committee will take other events into account and it's possible third place Rene Inoue & old fart John Baldwin (who some believe were undermarked and deserved second place) may be named to the team.

Of course all the sponsors who made deals with McLaughlin and Brubaker and plastered their picture everywhere are not happy with the results.

Reminds me of 1994 when Campbell s made a deal with Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and Nicole Bobeck and there was some question as to whether or not Bobeck would make the team but she managed to pull it off at Nationals, although she fell apart at the Olympics.

Tomorrow night it's the men and I made it out like this was all between Johnny and Evan but did not take into account last year's champion and current leader after the short  program, Jeremy Abbott.  I will not make any predictions.  Don't want to jinx it.

Figure Skating Championships this Week

The US National Figure Skating Championships are being held this week in Spokane, Washington.  There is more interest than usual because this is where we will find out who will probably go to the Olympics.  A lot of people are Olympic Figure Skating fans only.

The first event will be Pairs....a weak area for US skaters.  That's because our pairs do not stick togther long enough to learn how to skate as one.  As soon as the girl is no longer about a fourth of the size of her partner she's dumped for a smaller girl.  And why is it always the girl's fault for being "too big" (over 90 lb is considered "too big" for a typical female pairs skater) --why isn't it the guy's fault for not working out to be strong enough to hurl her around?

So the Pairs short program was this afternoon and favorites  Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker had a disappointing skate and are currently in 5th place but I think they can pull up to win or at least place second to make the Olympic team.  I almost feel like I know these two.  They Broadmore Skating Club in Colorado Springs and my daughter used to skate at a compete there --so we cheer for their skaters.  Also my daughter's former coach is friends with their former coach. 


Old fart John Baldwin and his partner Rena Inou are still in contention in fourth place.  They wowed crowds at the last Olympics four years ago with the first throw triple axel ...but I don't think we are going to see that again.  I think that second spot is wide open.


Men - we can send three men this year and it is going to be a fierce fight between Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir, both of whom are strong contenders for gold at the Olympics My favorite is Johnny but he's such a head case.  I hope he finishes second so he will go into the Olympics with a little less pressure as the underdog.  Be prepared to see lots of references to Evan's girlfriend Ice Dance Champion Tanith Belbin so you will all know that *he* is the straight one.  Not sure I believe it...but this is figure skating ... I don't care who you sleep with!


That third spot is wide open to a lot of also-rans who will not likely make the top ten at the Olympics.  


Ladies (that's right they are called "Ladies" not "women" in Figure Skating)  Astounding that after dominating Ladies Figure Skating for generations, this Olympics we can only send  two women.  The number of people a country can send to the Olympics is based on how well the skaters did at last years World Championships.  And our ladies did not do well last year.


There's a lot of talk about 2006 Silver Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen coming back.  I predict she will pull out of Nationals, but even if she makes it, she will not be on the Olympic team this year.  I predict Alissa Czisny will have a bad short program, but redeem herself with a beautiful free skate and win the title...but will not even finish in the top ten at the Olympics.  She has never skated two clean programs.   I'm gonna go with Rachael Flatt being number 2 and she will make it to the top ten at the Olympics.  Maybe even be in the final group.  That girl doesn't know what pressure is.

Dance - thanks to five-time champions and 2006 Olympic Silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto we get to send three dance teams to the Olympics.  Number two will be Meryl Davis and Charlie White  I haven't followed dance enough to say who will be number three.  But both our top two dance teams will be in the top ten at the Olympics.  Maybe another medal for Belbin and Agosto.

Let the games begin! 

US Nationals TV Schedule (my time- Central)

Sat.  Jan 16   3:30-5pm      NBC    Pairs Freeskate

Sun.  Jan 17   3:30-5pm     NBC    Mens Free Skate

Sat.  Jan. 23  3-5 pm         NBC    Free Dance

Sat.  Jan. 23  8-10 pm        NBC    Ladies Free Skate

Sun.  Jan. 24 3-5 pm          NBC   Exhibitions

Figure Skaters Cookbook

The Glen Falls Figure Skating Club came up with a great fund-raising idea. They put together a cookbook and they got a LOT of famous skaters to contribute recipes. What's really funny is I even have a recipe for my vegetarian lasagna in there. So you can order it here "Figure Skater's Favarites" $20 - what deal.