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.
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Day Four
We drove into the Arena today, but didn’t get back any later tonight because, true to form, I got lost coming back to the hotel. No trip can be perfect, I suppose.
What is perfect, or nearly so, is the figure skating. It’s been good so far, but as we get further on in the week, it’s getting better and better. Here’s the schedule:
9am: Arrived at the Arena to watch practices. I had unfortunately missed most of the senior women, so I missed Emily Hughes. We did, however, get to watch the senior men practice their long program. Evan Lysacek gave me quite a scare. He was in the first group, and arrived late, so I was afraid the injury that took him out of the Grand Prix finals was going to take him out of the Nationals. I was happy when he showed up.
Watching his practice, I have some real concerns about his chances here. He didn’t have a disastrous practice, but he did miss some of his triples and didn’t have his normal stamina. He’s definitely off his top game, probably because of all the time he missed on the ice healing from his injury.
I also got the pleasure of watching Johnny Weir practice. I’ve heard that most of his skating is about his mental discipline, and that was obvious from his practice this morning. He barely went through his program; instead, he skated around the rink, obviously thinking about his moves. Towards the end of the practice, though, he started practicing his triples (everyone out there was), and I believe he attempted a quad, at least once, but popped it. At any rate, it was very interesting to witness it.
12pm: Lunch. We had plenty of time, so we took the shuttle downtown. I wanted at least one of our meals to be at a nice place, so we stopped at the restaurant at the Davenport Hotel. A little pricy, but excellent food and service. My mother-in-law Audrey and I both had the tomato basil soup, the best soup I’ve had in a long time. I recommend it.
2:45pm: After walking around downtown for a while, we went back to the Arena for the junior women’s short program at 3:30pm. Again, I continue to be impressed by the caliber of the skating at the junior level. It was great fun, mostly because the scores were so close after the short program. Mirai Nagaso won the gold; the top two girls both had scores in the 150s, which is comparable to the scores that many seniors get. I predict that Mirai (and Caroline Zhang, who came in third) will be seniors next year, and I look forward to following their careers.
7:30pm: Opening ceremonies. They kicked us out of our seats between events, so I bought some almonds and wandered around for a while. I’m too short to be able to see the fireworks outside the windows, so I wandered over to the ESPN area. They were broadcasting a short show about the Nationals right there, with Terry Gannon, Peggy Fleming, and Kurt Browning. It was so cool to actually see them in person! And Peggy is so beautiful. I think she’s more beautiful than she was when she was skating.
The opening ceremonies were cutesy, of course, with skaters from Spokane performing and the appropriate politicians giving welcome speeches. The youth orchestra that performed was excellent. A nice touch: the conductor wore ice skates as he performed. I just love those little touches.
8:15pm: Senior pairs short program. What a privilege to witness such exceptional skating. The stars of the show, Inoue and Baldwin and Trent and Vise were off their game a little. Of course, I feel a little ridiculous saying that, since John and Rena came in first. They attempted their famous quad throw, but Rena two-footed it as she landed. I’ve seen them do better.
Vise and Trent had this bizarre fall, so they were way down in fourth by the end of the evening. They also weren’t as good as they’ve been in the past. The scores are tight, though, with only four points separating them from first. The exciting thing is that Nam and Leftheris, who have had an uneven season this year, is barely 0.2 points behind Inoue and Baldwin. I can’t wait until we see how things shake out on Friday night.
What is perfect, or nearly so, is the figure skating. It’s been good so far, but as we get further on in the week, it’s getting better and better. Here’s the schedule:
9am: Arrived at the Arena to watch practices. I had unfortunately missed most of the senior women, so I missed Emily Hughes. We did, however, get to watch the senior men practice their long program. Evan Lysacek gave me quite a scare. He was in the first group, and arrived late, so I was afraid the injury that took him out of the Grand Prix finals was going to take him out of the Nationals. I was happy when he showed up.
Watching his practice, I have some real concerns about his chances here. He didn’t have a disastrous practice, but he did miss some of his triples and didn’t have his normal stamina. He’s definitely off his top game, probably because of all the time he missed on the ice healing from his injury.
I also got the pleasure of watching Johnny Weir practice. I’ve heard that most of his skating is about his mental discipline, and that was obvious from his practice this morning. He barely went through his program; instead, he skated around the rink, obviously thinking about his moves. Towards the end of the practice, though, he started practicing his triples (everyone out there was), and I believe he attempted a quad, at least once, but popped it. At any rate, it was very interesting to witness it.
12pm: Lunch. We had plenty of time, so we took the shuttle downtown. I wanted at least one of our meals to be at a nice place, so we stopped at the restaurant at the Davenport Hotel. A little pricy, but excellent food and service. My mother-in-law Audrey and I both had the tomato basil soup, the best soup I’ve had in a long time. I recommend it.
2:45pm: After walking around downtown for a while, we went back to the Arena for the junior women’s short program at 3:30pm. Again, I continue to be impressed by the caliber of the skating at the junior level. It was great fun, mostly because the scores were so close after the short program. Mirai Nagaso won the gold; the top two girls both had scores in the 150s, which is comparable to the scores that many seniors get. I predict that Mirai (and Caroline Zhang, who came in third) will be seniors next year, and I look forward to following their careers.
7:30pm: Opening ceremonies. They kicked us out of our seats between events, so I bought some almonds and wandered around for a while. I’m too short to be able to see the fireworks outside the windows, so I wandered over to the ESPN area. They were broadcasting a short show about the Nationals right there, with Terry Gannon, Peggy Fleming, and Kurt Browning. It was so cool to actually see them in person! And Peggy is so beautiful. I think she’s more beautiful than she was when she was skating.
The opening ceremonies were cutesy, of course, with skaters from Spokane performing and the appropriate politicians giving welcome speeches. The youth orchestra that performed was excellent. A nice touch: the conductor wore ice skates as he performed. I just love those little touches.
8:15pm: Senior pairs short program. What a privilege to witness such exceptional skating. The stars of the show, Inoue and Baldwin and Trent and Vise were off their game a little. Of course, I feel a little ridiculous saying that, since John and Rena came in first. They attempted their famous quad throw, but Rena two-footed it as she landed. I’ve seen them do better.
Vise and Trent had this bizarre fall, so they were way down in fourth by the end of the evening. They also weren’t as good as they’ve been in the past. The scores are tight, though, with only four points separating them from first. The exciting thing is that Nam and Leftheris, who have had an uneven season this year, is barely 0.2 points behind Inoue and Baldwin. I can’t wait until we see how things shake out on Friday night.
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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