Man, there was some good figure skating today! When I have more time, I intend to verify it (yet another item on my expanding to-research list), but I suspect that most skaters this week have made their personal bests. Like I said yesterday, there must be something in the water here in Spokane. It’s like this little town has spurred the skaters onto excellence. I know this sounds hokey, but I’m honored to have helped out in just a little way.
10am: Arrived at the Arena for the junior men’s free skate. To be honest, I wasn’t as impressed with these guys. Perhaps my expectation of the skating is higher now than it was earlier in the week. I’ll look up their scores later, probably after I get home.
12:50pm: Things were pushed together this week, and the arena is starting to get really crowded. I was barely even able to grab lunch! The pairs free skate was worth the price of admission for the entire week. I’m still amazed at the outcome—these skaters from Michigan that no one has heard of, Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, actually won the whole thing, by the slimmest of margins (.25 of a point). They competed in sectionals this season, and didn’t even win them. And they came in eighth at last year’s Nationals. Absolutely amazing.
I feel bad for Inoue and Baldwin. They fell twice; I thought that one of the falls was during one of their attempted throw quads (which they missed in their short program), but the newspaper stories (“The Spokesman Review”) I read this morning didn’t report that. They did report on something I missed, though, because we hadn’t gotten back in time for it. Vise and Trent, during their warm-up earlier in the evening, successfully accomplished a quad throw Salchow, something that’s never been done before in competition. They attempted it during their long program, but unfortunately wasn’t able to do it. Something in the water!
In between groups, we were treated to the induction of Charles Schultz to the Figure Skating Hall of Fame. (He was a huge supporter of the sport.) Scott Hamilton gave the award to Schultz’s widow. The audience gave him a standing ovation. Man, I love that guy. He’s so brave, and talented, and still cute as heck.
5:30pm: Dinner at the Sawtooth Grille in the mall in downtown Spokane. Adequate food; their calamari was a little rubbery. The fun part about out break was the shuttle trip to and from. We were lucky enough to sit next to a novice pair skater, Casey Sullivan, from Oregon. I think I’ll write it up as an interview at a later time. It was like sitting through a mini-lecture on what it’s like to be a young skater, given by a very articulate young man. On the shuttle trip back, we were entertained by the bus driver. Here’s the joke she told over the intercom:
“If ya get thirsty over there at the Arena, you should be fine; I hear there’s lots of ice.” The entire shuttle groaned, and then, in the spirit of Johnny Carson, she made us laugh, anyway.
7:50pm: Well, that’s not entirely true. For some reason, they started late. But it was worth the wait, and we have some really fun seatmates.
Ice dancing! Great, great skating. Of course, there was no question who’d end up winning. Belbin and Agosto changed their long program! I’m glad, because the long program they’ve been performing all season just wasn’t doing it for them. They got it together in mere weeks, and it was great. I laughed as the scores were read, they were so high. At any rate, I think this program will suit them well as they go into World’s.
As I end, I have a request to ask my readers, if there are any out there. The phrase I heard for the first time on Thursday was used again yesterday. Is it “Dang, you’re hot!” or “Damn, you’re hot!” or “Yeah, you’re hot!” I must know!
I can’t believe that today’s the last two competitions, men and women’s long programs. Man, it should be good!
Showing posts with label Inoue and Baldwin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inoue and Baldwin. Show all posts
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Day Two
8am: Arrived at the Spokane Arena with my mother-in-law. Watched the senior pairs teams practice. Inoue and Baldwin and Vise and Trent were among the final group, so it was a thrill to watch them. John and Rena’s characteristic intensity was in full force. At first, I thought they might be mad at each other, because during their warm-up they didn’t skate together like the other couples. During their practice, they didn’t go through their entire program, and seemed to do a lot of talking about it.
Someone later on in the day asked me what my favorite part of our long day was. I answered the practice session we watched, because it was the first practice session I’ve seen and it was really interesting. Some couples went through their entire program; others, like Inoue and Baldwin, did not. Some were dressed in warm-up clothes; some wore skating one-piece outfits. It was interesting to get a little glimpse into what might be part of their daily routine. When we got there, I thought that four hours before lunch was going to be a long time, but the time went by quickly.
11:30am: Broke for lunch. We tried to find the shuttle to go downtown, but grew impatient and walked across the street to a sports bar called the “Ticket.” Good food, and we’ll probably go back, since it’s convenient. Met some more old women and had a nice chat with them.
12:30pm: Went back to Spokane Arena. During the practices, seating is open, so after lunch, we decided to “steal” better seats. We picked seats lower and closer to the rink, and when the seat owners came, they kicked us out, made a lame joke about “warming” their seats for them, and moved. It worked out quite well, and everyone was very nice about it. In the afternoon, we moved four times; after dinner, we only moved twice.Watched novice competitions the rest of the day. It was the first time I had seen any novice skate, since ABC/ESPN doesn’t broadcast them. There were some very impressive skaters at this level. That made me, along with some of the people I sat next to, wonder how a skater goes from one level to another. We thought it might be age, but there the ages of the novice skaters ranged from ten to twenty.
The answer was in the souvenir program I had bought. Here’s what it says on page 89:
Within ladies singes, men’s singles, pairs and ice dancing, there are five different competitive skill levels that are based on proficiency tests. Each level draws on similar techniques but adheres to increasingly more difficult skills as well as different rules and guidelines.
There were other questions that came up for me that when I have more time and a better internet connection, I want to research. One of them is about a novice pairs skater named Kurt Weiss. (His partner is Emily Glassberg.) I wonder if Kurt is related to Michael Weiss, one of my favorite male singles skaters. The other question I want to research is about re-surfacing the ice, but that’s another article to write when I have more time.
The friendliness of the town of Spokane continued into the afternoon. We had to move for a woman and her little boy, and ten minutes later, she apologized to us for “inconveniencing” us and told us that she wanted to move next to some relatives she had seen. We ran into this woman and her son as we were leaving for dinner, and when we told her we wanted to find sushi downtown, she offered to drive us there.
6pm: Yummy sushi at a wonderful place in downtown Spokane called “Sushi.com.” I’ve wanted good sushi for about four years, since there’s no decent sushi in Moscow, Idaho. If you’re even in Spokane, I highly recommend Sushi.com.
7:20pm: Back at the Arena for ladies free skate and free dance. The things that struck me have to do with the dancers. For the novices at this competition, they had two compulsory dances, no original dance, and like the juniors and seniors, a free dance. I wonder why that is. (Another thing on my research list.)
The other issue that came up for me surrounds the judging. Every couple last night had at least a one-point deduction. One couple lost five points, and probably would’ve medaled otherwise. I found myself explaining ice dancing to the women sitting next to us, so they asked my opinion. The only explanation I could think of is the time limit on lifts and spirals. I suspect that the judges were cracking down on everyone who went over the time limit. I also suspect that it will occur competition-wide. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the juniors and seniors later on in the week.
11:20pm: After watching the ladies awards ceremony, we decided to call it a night. When we got to the shuttle, though, we were told that the city busses had stopped running. Yikes! We got more Spokanian hospitality, though; the bus supervisor drove us back to our hotel. Tonight, things won’t go as long, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
The day was long, but again, it was loads of fun. When I told people back home in Moscow my plans for this week, some made the statement, “Boy, you’re gonna be sick of figure skating.” My answer was that I doubted it, and it’s turning out to be true!
Someone later on in the day asked me what my favorite part of our long day was. I answered the practice session we watched, because it was the first practice session I’ve seen and it was really interesting. Some couples went through their entire program; others, like Inoue and Baldwin, did not. Some were dressed in warm-up clothes; some wore skating one-piece outfits. It was interesting to get a little glimpse into what might be part of their daily routine. When we got there, I thought that four hours before lunch was going to be a long time, but the time went by quickly.
11:30am: Broke for lunch. We tried to find the shuttle to go downtown, but grew impatient and walked across the street to a sports bar called the “Ticket.” Good food, and we’ll probably go back, since it’s convenient. Met some more old women and had a nice chat with them.
12:30pm: Went back to Spokane Arena. During the practices, seating is open, so after lunch, we decided to “steal” better seats. We picked seats lower and closer to the rink, and when the seat owners came, they kicked us out, made a lame joke about “warming” their seats for them, and moved. It worked out quite well, and everyone was very nice about it. In the afternoon, we moved four times; after dinner, we only moved twice.Watched novice competitions the rest of the day. It was the first time I had seen any novice skate, since ABC/ESPN doesn’t broadcast them. There were some very impressive skaters at this level. That made me, along with some of the people I sat next to, wonder how a skater goes from one level to another. We thought it might be age, but there the ages of the novice skaters ranged from ten to twenty.
The answer was in the souvenir program I had bought. Here’s what it says on page 89:
Within ladies singes, men’s singles, pairs and ice dancing, there are five different competitive skill levels that are based on proficiency tests. Each level draws on similar techniques but adheres to increasingly more difficult skills as well as different rules and guidelines.
There were other questions that came up for me that when I have more time and a better internet connection, I want to research. One of them is about a novice pairs skater named Kurt Weiss. (His partner is Emily Glassberg.) I wonder if Kurt is related to Michael Weiss, one of my favorite male singles skaters. The other question I want to research is about re-surfacing the ice, but that’s another article to write when I have more time.
The friendliness of the town of Spokane continued into the afternoon. We had to move for a woman and her little boy, and ten minutes later, she apologized to us for “inconveniencing” us and told us that she wanted to move next to some relatives she had seen. We ran into this woman and her son as we were leaving for dinner, and when we told her we wanted to find sushi downtown, she offered to drive us there.
6pm: Yummy sushi at a wonderful place in downtown Spokane called “Sushi.com.” I’ve wanted good sushi for about four years, since there’s no decent sushi in Moscow, Idaho. If you’re even in Spokane, I highly recommend Sushi.com.
7:20pm: Back at the Arena for ladies free skate and free dance. The things that struck me have to do with the dancers. For the novices at this competition, they had two compulsory dances, no original dance, and like the juniors and seniors, a free dance. I wonder why that is. (Another thing on my research list.)
The other issue that came up for me surrounds the judging. Every couple last night had at least a one-point deduction. One couple lost five points, and probably would’ve medaled otherwise. I found myself explaining ice dancing to the women sitting next to us, so they asked my opinion. The only explanation I could think of is the time limit on lifts and spirals. I suspect that the judges were cracking down on everyone who went over the time limit. I also suspect that it will occur competition-wide. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the juniors and seniors later on in the week.
11:20pm: After watching the ladies awards ceremony, we decided to call it a night. When we got to the shuttle, though, we were told that the city busses had stopped running. Yikes! We got more Spokanian hospitality, though; the bus supervisor drove us back to our hotel. Tonight, things won’t go as long, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
The day was long, but again, it was loads of fun. When I told people back home in Moscow my plans for this week, some made the statement, “Boy, you’re gonna be sick of figure skating.” My answer was that I doubted it, and it’s turning out to be true!
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