Figure Skating

[Jennasis]

Did anyone watch the US Nationals this weekend? Lots of great skating going on. LOVED the skating showcase last night for the ones who made the Olympic Team. I think the girls are adorable and the guys are awesome!! Does anyone know why we send three guys and only two girls for individual skating?

 

[mantysk8coach]

Me!!! Loved Johnny Weir's performance of "Poker Face" during the exhibition last night! I love him!

About the assignment of the number of men vs. women to the Olympic team. It has something to do with how well the US skaters placed at Worlds the previous year. I should be able to explain it better, since I coach figure skating, but I only coach at the local level. The better the US skaters place at worlds determine how many spots they earn on the olympic team. The male US skaters have been better than the females in recent years, so they earned more spots.

Looking forward to the Olympics!

 

[1stluvispooh]

We get births for Olympic and Worlds based on the previous years results at Worlds.

 

[Jennasis]

Thanks for the info!

I loved Rachel Flatt'ss skate to "Fame". very appropriate.

And Jeremy Abbot is just amazing to watch skate. He's so fluid and effortless!

 

[PatsMom]

I watched this weekend and am really looking forward to watching the skating during the Olympics. I've loved watching figure skating since I was a little kid!

 

[missypie]

I gave a printout of the weekend's televised figure skating events to D and asked her to set the DVR to record them and she didn't. If you want something done....

It's really a pity that Jeremy Abbott is an utter goofball.

My D's are obsessed with Evan.

 

[Jennasis]

I gave a printout of the weekend's televised figure skating events to D and asked her to set the DVR to record them and she didn't. If you want something done....

It's really a pity that Jeremy Abbott is an utter goofball.

My D's are obsessed with Evan.

How so?

 

[wdwgirl03]

I was watching it. Can't wait for the Olympics to start! Less than 3 weeks to go!

That little 10-year old who they said was the US Novice champion was so cute!

 

[LJC1861]

I love it too, and really enjoyed NBC's coverage of the US Nationals.

I believe that in order to send 3 skaters in any discipline to the Olympic Games that 2 members in that discipline must place in the top 10 at the World Championships the year before. I also believe that the host country gets 3 skaters regardless of how they placed at Worlds.

As to Jeremy Abbott being a goofball, I would also like to know how so?

I used to attend a figure skating camp in Aspen CO where Jeremy is from. I shared ice time with him when he was just 10-13. Even then he was an amazing skater, training hard in both singles and dance. He would travel to Colorado Springs each week for lessons and ice time with his dance partner. Even then, there was something special and very dedicated about him. Now that being said, he was a 10 year old boy and VERY silly...but when it came to his skating he was very focused and dedicated.

Linda

 

[olena]

I've been watching the Grand Prix events leading up to the national last night. Sasha Coen didn't skate in any of them, so I wasn't surprised by her outcome. Another thing I noticed was that the American women did not fare very well at all against their international competitors. I'm not thrilled about Johnny Weir. He's a great skater with lots of artistic merit, but if you've been watching the lead-up events, maybe you also noticed that he can be knocked off his game way too easily. Plushenko skated in the Russian Grand Prix and he hadn't seemed to miss a beat and will be tough to beat in Vancouver. And Kim Yuna? Wow.

I'm ready for Vancouver 2010!

 

[DebbieB]

The Phantom of the Opera ice dancing was so good! I was happy they won.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

The Phantom of the Opera ice dancing was so good! I was happy they won.

I agree.
I was disappointed for Sasha Cohen even though I kind of expected it.

 

[missypie]

We went to an ice show a couple of years ago - probably Smuckers Stars on Ice. The skaters never do anything really hard at those shows. The only one who fell was Sasha - twice. She just can't not fall.

This time around Jeremy was acting a bit less like an 11 year old. Maybe after last year, someone told him not to make idiodic goofy faces in the kiss and cry and to talk about something other than Kung Foo Panda. It's just so disillusioning when someone with remarkable talent acts like my D's male middle school classmates.

 

[krcit]

A girl from my town was in Spokane. She wasn't expected to place but was thrilled to even be there. So exciting!

 

[Jennasis]

We went to an ice show a couple of years ago - probably Smuckers Stars on Ice. The skaters never do anything really hard at those shows. The only one who fell was Sasha - twice. She just can't not fall.

This time around Jeremy was acting a bit less like an 11 year old. Maybe after last year, someone told him not to make idiodic goofy faces in the kiss and cry and to talk about something other than Kung Foo Panda. It's just so disillusioning when someone with remarkable talent acts like my D's male middle school classmates.

Ah. I didn't see that last year. I LIKE goofballs. Ref'ing Kung Foo Panda just endears him to me even more. Good on him!

 

[SandiH]

I was there for both weekends and attended all the major competition as well as the exhibition yesterday. It was an awesome two weekends of skating. I think we will be represented well in Vancouver. The ladies do have a lot of competition at the International level and will be hard pressed to to medal. The men should place at at least one of them if not two. Jeremy Abbott rocked the house, incredible performances every time he hit the ice. I'm not a huge Evan fan but he technically skated very well also. I love Johnny's line and his skating, he just needs to be a bit more assertive and attack the ice and he'd be there. The pairs were amazing but they are young so we'll see. Dance was great as well.

Can't wait until the Olympics.

 

[yoopermom]

I've been watching and enjoying it since the 80s, but DH catches it only once a decade or so (when forced to). He watched the ladies' programs with me this weekend and asked me a question I didn't know the answer to: is it just a coincidence that so many of the ladies are of Asian ancestry? And, if not, what makes them better at skating? He's NOT a racist, believe me, just really wanted to know! (My only thought was that maybe it's a height issue, because so many of the top skaters are so tiny? I think even the top men are usually quite short, isn't that correct? Or is it a matter of proportion rather than just height?)

I really enjoyed it, especially that darling little boy looking forward to the 2018 Olympics!

Terri

 

[teacherforhi]

I watched this year's on TV, but next year I get to see them live in Greensboro! My sister and I bought our all-event tickets last March. When the one-year ticker went active on the 2011 website, I was more excited than a trip to Disney.

For the record, I like Evan. For some reason, his skating has always appealed to me more than Johnny Weir's.

 

[C.Ann]

Figure skating is the only "sport" that I watch on television.. Absolutely love it!!!

Have to confess though that every time I watch it, the whole Nancy Kerrigan/Tanya whatever-her-name was thing comes back to me - as well as Nancy's little hissy fit at the Olympics years ago..

I used to figure skate for fun when I was a tween/teen.. Nothing compares to that feeling of gliding across the ice..

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Nancy Kerrigan's family has been in the news here in Boston. Sad.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/01/brother_of_nanc.html