10am: Arrived at the Arena. Late morning, but continuing difficulties with the internet connection in our hotel.
10:40am: Watched the women’s long program. Good for Kimmie Meissner! Too bad for Emily Hughes. Things were so close, there was less than one point separating them. And if it weren’t for Emily’s fall, she would’ve won by the slightest of margins. I guess it’s true what they say—skating a clean program often is what makes a difference. I’m happy for Kimmie, though; she needed this win after a so-so year after winning the World’s last year.
Oh, I found out my pressing question from this week. Peter Carruthers interviewed Kimmie after it was over, and she explained that it was her teammates from Delaware who were yelling it out. She said it was “our thing.” And it’s “Yeah, you’re hot!”
2pm: Late lunch at a trendy place called Twigs at the River Park Square. I was craving tuna, so I had their sashimi appetizer. Yum-o, as Rachael Ray would say.
7pm: Or there-abouts, since they started late. Watched the men’s long program. Man!
One of the best things about being here is that we’ve seen some amazing skating, live and in person. It’s been such an honor to be here for it. I can say that I saw history being made, and not just once. It’s been an incredible experience. Watching Evan Lysacek skate the program of his life was beyond description. Being so far away, I didn’t know until his interview that he had made a quad-triple combination! But the audience erupted afterwards, and was with him the entire time he was on the ice. I stood up with everyone else, and I’m sure that if I were alone, the tears in my eyes would’ve become weeping. Man!
And poor Johnny Weir, coming in mere third after three National titles. He fell once, and popped two jumps. I hate to say this, but I feel somewhat vindicated. All season, I’ve complained that Johnny hasn’t been true to himself. I believe that, along with the fact that he hasn’t trained like he should this season, is the reason he lost so badly. He even changed his costume to continue the change in his image he tried this season. It didn’t work. I continue to maintain that Johnny needs to be true to himself. This season, not being true to himself has been disastrous.
Yeah Ryan Bradley! He was over the top in his excitement about beating Weir, the National Champion, and coming in second. The audience loved it, though, and so did I. His program was very well choreographed, and loads of fun. He was sexy and charismatic and full of energy. It was a pleasure to watch him explode like he did. We’ve tended to ditch out before the awards, and Ryan was so fun, I felt that we had to stay for it.
I’m really glad we did, because Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano participated in the ceremony. It was great seeing them. I’m sure that there was a great party going on last night at the Davenport. We’re old ladies, so we went back to the hotel for bed.
So it’s over. All that’s left is the Exhibition. Part of me is sad about that, but I miss my kids and I’m looking forward to seeing them.
I was able to answer another pressing question that came up this week. Figure skating does have a patron saint—Saint Ludwina, who lived in Holland in the fourteenth century.
Showing posts with label Saint Ludwina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saint Ludwina. Show all posts
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Day Five
If I were to summarize this day, it would be with two phrases: “Dang, you’re hot!” and “There’s something in the water.”
The first phrase is a quote from some girls watching the competitions; when a skater (usually male) would take the ice, one of them would yell out, “Dang, you’re hot!” I’m old, so I never heard it before. I assume it’s an adolescent-thing I know nothing about.
The second phrase is something I came up with on my own. I intend to some research to back up my claim, but I suspect that several personal bests were made.
Anyway, here’s our schedule. I’m writing it on Friday, the sixth day, because we have a late morning today and I have more time. We spent the entire day at the Spokane Arena.
9am: Arrived at the Arena. We drove in, parked, and as we walked in, I found a large copy of the full skating schedule right there. Someone must have dropped it just a few minutes before because it wasn’t even wet or dirty. My mother-in-law Audrey commented that “God must be with us.” That inspired a discussion about the saints, and I decided that I would research if there was a “patron saint of figure skating.” We weren’t sure there was even one, and I wondered how to name one. Hmm, another thing to research.
The real reason we were there, instead of Catholic theology, however, was skating. We caught some of the senior women’s warm-up. I learned something new: skaters at competitions basically have two types of “practice” sessions. The first, one for each program, is called “practice,” and each skater gets to hear his or her music and run through their programs. The second is called the “warm-up,” and it consists of groups of skaters practicing without their music. It looked like the skaters went through their elements and skills.
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to have the opportunity to catch Emily Hughes and miss out on my assignment to interview her. Fortunately, she was there and after her warm-up, asked if I could talk to her. She told me, “I have to take off my skates,” directed me up to her father sitting in the stands, and said that she’d try to join us later.
So instead of interviewing Emily, I got to interview her dad! What a nice man he is. (I’ll write up the interview this morning and send it to Ron Porter for Emily’s webpage.) I got a nice interview with him, and waited for Emily, who never came, probably because she got caught up doing something else. I gave Mr. Hughes my cell phone number, and left to get ready for the next competition. I probably should’ve waited a little longer, but there’s still time to talk with Emily. I’m happy with the interview I got, though.
11:00: Took my seats for the junior pairs free skate. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see their short program. The winners, Keanna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker (named for Knute Rockne, I believe), won handily, by almost twenty points over second place. I suspected that it meant that they had an outstanding short program. At any rate, I continue to be awed and impressed by the quality of skating at this level.
I think the week finally caught up with me, because I had a headache and had to go seek out some aspirin from first aid. Lunch, which we caught there at the Arena, also didn’t set well with me. Fortunately, the meds kicked in and I perked up for the afternoon competitions.
2pm: Senior men’s short program. This is when I started thinking that there must be something in water at the Nationals here in Spokane. The audience was great, and it was great to be in a place where the fans and the athletes fed off each other. Lysacek and Weir are basically in a tie after the short program, with less a point separating them.
4:30pm: Dinner across the street at The Ticket. It was packed, so we sat sit with two ladies from Spokane who had tickets for the evening’s competitions. I continue to be impressed with the friendliness of this town.
5:50pm: Women’s short program. More great skating. Again, personal bests….
The scores are close here, too, making the gold anyone’s game. Kimmie Meissner was amazingly good. And there’s less than half a point separating BeBe Liang and my girl, Emily Hughes.
So I’m looking forward to seeing how things turn out. There’s been talk about the lack of “drama” here this year, but that’s fine with me. The skating is dramatic enough. I like that we have no distractions and tire irons this year, because we can focus on the exceptional skating.
The first phrase is a quote from some girls watching the competitions; when a skater (usually male) would take the ice, one of them would yell out, “Dang, you’re hot!” I’m old, so I never heard it before. I assume it’s an adolescent-thing I know nothing about.
The second phrase is something I came up with on my own. I intend to some research to back up my claim, but I suspect that several personal bests were made.
Anyway, here’s our schedule. I’m writing it on Friday, the sixth day, because we have a late morning today and I have more time. We spent the entire day at the Spokane Arena.
9am: Arrived at the Arena. We drove in, parked, and as we walked in, I found a large copy of the full skating schedule right there. Someone must have dropped it just a few minutes before because it wasn’t even wet or dirty. My mother-in-law Audrey commented that “God must be with us.” That inspired a discussion about the saints, and I decided that I would research if there was a “patron saint of figure skating.” We weren’t sure there was even one, and I wondered how to name one. Hmm, another thing to research.
The real reason we were there, instead of Catholic theology, however, was skating. We caught some of the senior women’s warm-up. I learned something new: skaters at competitions basically have two types of “practice” sessions. The first, one for each program, is called “practice,” and each skater gets to hear his or her music and run through their programs. The second is called the “warm-up,” and it consists of groups of skaters practicing without their music. It looked like the skaters went through their elements and skills.
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to have the opportunity to catch Emily Hughes and miss out on my assignment to interview her. Fortunately, she was there and after her warm-up, asked if I could talk to her. She told me, “I have to take off my skates,” directed me up to her father sitting in the stands, and said that she’d try to join us later.
So instead of interviewing Emily, I got to interview her dad! What a nice man he is. (I’ll write up the interview this morning and send it to Ron Porter for Emily’s webpage.) I got a nice interview with him, and waited for Emily, who never came, probably because she got caught up doing something else. I gave Mr. Hughes my cell phone number, and left to get ready for the next competition. I probably should’ve waited a little longer, but there’s still time to talk with Emily. I’m happy with the interview I got, though.
11:00: Took my seats for the junior pairs free skate. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see their short program. The winners, Keanna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker (named for Knute Rockne, I believe), won handily, by almost twenty points over second place. I suspected that it meant that they had an outstanding short program. At any rate, I continue to be awed and impressed by the quality of skating at this level.
I think the week finally caught up with me, because I had a headache and had to go seek out some aspirin from first aid. Lunch, which we caught there at the Arena, also didn’t set well with me. Fortunately, the meds kicked in and I perked up for the afternoon competitions.
2pm: Senior men’s short program. This is when I started thinking that there must be something in water at the Nationals here in Spokane. The audience was great, and it was great to be in a place where the fans and the athletes fed off each other. Lysacek and Weir are basically in a tie after the short program, with less a point separating them.
4:30pm: Dinner across the street at The Ticket. It was packed, so we sat sit with two ladies from Spokane who had tickets for the evening’s competitions. I continue to be impressed with the friendliness of this town.
5:50pm: Women’s short program. More great skating. Again, personal bests….
The scores are close here, too, making the gold anyone’s game. Kimmie Meissner was amazingly good. And there’s less than half a point separating BeBe Liang and my girl, Emily Hughes.
So I’m looking forward to seeing how things turn out. There’s been talk about the lack of “drama” here this year, but that’s fine with me. The skating is dramatic enough. I like that we have no distractions and tire irons this year, because we can focus on the exceptional skating.
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