Photography by Ann Jensen

Editorials and Commentary

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My Skating Progress: 6-15-99

Back crossovers in both directions have been achieved. I have an o.k. inside spiral now too. And an Ina Bauer. And, as of Tuesday, I have a little teeny, slow, hesitant waltz jump. And I can do the jump in either direction. Go figure. Another skater taught it to me (Thanks Carol!!). We'll see what my coach thinks when he sees it!

Champions On Ice - 6-5-99 - Los Angeles

Well, reviews have been posted all over the net & 1/2 of the skaters have quit the tour by the time it gets to me. So, I will talk very little about this tour.

Pros:

• Seeing Trifun & Angela were two real highlights of the evening for me. They both did good skating technically and Trifun showed great flair. Angela was more reserved, but the quality of her skating is so lovely to watch.

• It was nice to see Todd skate this number live. While the lyrics and singing are over the top for some people I think it is a fine ballad from the Mandy Patinkin school of overemoting. I enjoyed the number very much.

• The Russian pairs were another HUGE highlight. Just amazing. Beautiful and fast and stylisticly amazing.

• The dance teams were all a great treat to watch. Even with the gimmick of the Sonny and Cher get-ups, Punsalan & Swallow threw a ton of content into the program.

Cons:

• Disco died for a reason. Many of us are old enough to remember that reason. In case you may have forgotten why it died, it is because it is AWFUL. I hated every number done to disco. Without exception. I thank everyone who didn't fall into this horrible trap this year.

• I want Victor punished for his Michael Jackson number. Ugh. What on earth is everyone thinking????

• Laurent Tobel was very amusing and sweet at the party after the show. I did not want him to be, because I wish to continue to loathe him. I will have to content myself with loathing the skating. The baby number is even more hideous than last year's atrocity. I have seen this man stand up straight. He is capable of it. And I thought when I looked up at the baby number I saw a nice big tuck axel. I want to see this guy skate for real. With extension and posture and all that. All this self mockery is fine if it is within real skating.

Mixed Bag:

• The Steiglers' number was weird. Kind of hip-hop country with a lot of "dramatic repetition" of footwork. I do not know what to make of it. I will need to see it a few more times. Looks like they are skating it a little hesitantly, so I assume it is brand new.

• Naomi Nari Nam was pleasant to watch, but "Getting to Know You" is just not a song I enjoy. And it was a little cutesy for someone who has already skated Sr. level programs.

• I love Michelle's spiral filled number, but the ballad was dull and I do not care for the costume.

My Skating Saga - March 10, 1999

I skate myself. I took it up about 3 years ago. I took almost all of that time to learn forward crossovers! I lost 105 lbs and suddenly skating became much easier. Currently I can do inside 3 turns, inside forward mohawks, outside 3 turns (sometimes) and forward cross overs. I can do all of these in either direction. I can do several back crossovers in a row on my left foot and one at a time on my right foot (the problem is my free hip).
After Nationals I was inspired to try to work on my posture (so I wouldn't be in "somewhat almost atrocious" positions). I had read a post on the skating mailing group about trying to open up both your chest and back. So I tried it. Three coaches (including my own) noticed immediately & were very pleased by the change. Note: standing up straight for any length of time will come as quite a shock to the muscles in your back. I recommend a chiropractor. So, I do know and understand how difficult it is to work on line and posture and your hips and your edges and all that other stuff as well. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for ANY skater who makes it to the national championship level. That said, I have noticed a few things over the last few nationals that I would like to comment on. P.S. - I also noticed again during the Michelle Kwan special that Ilia Kulik is picking up (or not overcoming) quite a few bad habits (looking down at the ice while skating being the most egregious). He needs a coach.

What I noticed at this year's Nationals - March 10, 1999

• The short program has turned into the artistic program. The long program is so crammed with attempts at jumps there is no time for choreography. The limitations on the short keep the good stuff in. This was particularly evident in the Junior Ladies competition.
• Matt Savoie has discovered he has arms. He even usually remembered to do something with them. He has obviously been working very hard on this element. Good for him. This may sound mean - but I really am looking forward to watching this skater grow and was pleased to see he IS growing.
• On that note, Tim Goebel has decided he doesn't need arms. His positions and expression and line have deteriorated since last year, and they were pretty bad then. No Bueno.
• Our Pairs are in trouble. We need Russian coaches to get these kids up to speed. Literally. And we need to glue the pairs (that aren't brother and sister) together so they can't keep breaking up. Same with our dance teams.
• Angela Nikodinov has a lot more soul than people are giving her credit for. Her exhibition to that Titanic song was VERY expressive and heartfelt. The song is not my favorite, but she clearly loved it and it showed. I hope she can find more pieces of music that suit her so well.
• Sasha Cohen has enough personality for 8 or ten skaters. Good luck to Mr. Nicks with this one!
• Gloves fly a tremendous distance when you need them to.
• Dee's Diner in Salt Lake City has the worst food I have ever had. The laundry water they are serving as coffee is an insult. Not even half as good as a Denny's. This was not something I had previously considered possible.
• There are no Starbucks in Salt Lake City. None. Nada. The arena didn't sell coffee. There was one espresso stand in it. I want the man running it knighted.The lack of decent coffee in this town is why a religious group should NEVER get political power.

Salt Lake - An analysis after the fact. March 9, 1999

So, row 9 turned out to be the second row of the arena. But the first row of the arena was 15-20 feet above the ice. The view was awful. This arena (the Delta Center) should NEVER be considered for Olympic sized ice. The E arena was much nicer. I wish the Senior events had been held there. Even from 3 or 4 rows back the view was better than row two of the evil Delta Center.

Now for the official hotel: The Hilton was fine as a hotel, but the food situation was awful. The restaurant had recently been bought by the Daily Grill. They had relocated the kitchen and weren't really open yet. The first meal we tried to eat there took 45 minutes to get to our table & my food was cold. We wound up getting that meal free. I tried room service. It took an hour to get to me and was cold and not what I had ordered. Another free meal. I complained to the manager who expressed surprise at the weird schedule everyone was keeping. I asked if he had a schedule of the competitions. No; he didn't know there was one. This was, mind you, on WEDNESDAY. I showed him the schedule and he was thrilled to be able to judge when people would be wanting food and coming back to the bar. He allowed as to how he should have talked to me earlier and it would have helped him with staffing. He also admitted he was not surprised that the food was cold as that was an ongoing problem. ARGH. If you were the manager of a restaraunt at a Hotel that had an event booked YEARS in advance, wouldn't you have researched the event to see what the effect of the schedule would be??? What incompetence. All in all a very unhappy experience.

The transportation was almost OK. The main problem was that the Acord center and the E center were about 10 minutes away from each other. but they were both about 1/2 hour from the Delta Center. To get from the Acord to the E you had to take the bus BACK to the Delta Center. This turned a 10 minute trip into an hour trip. I was told it was because the LOC didn't want to spend the money on the extra buses. I guess they shot their budget on hookers and scholarships. Yes, I am bitter. Through no fault of the jillions of volunteers who were very nice and very dedicated and gave their all for this event, this was the worst organized Nationals I have seen in a long time.

The gifts to the skaters were shabby. The last figures champions we'll ever have weren't allowed on the ice in the exhibition to save a few bucks. The draw party featured the most annoying "comics" I have seen in ages. Although I must say ,the competitors party was very fun & very well done! The seats were awful. The official Hotel was awful. The main arena still had the "no camera" fiasco early in the event (anyone who's been to Skate America in Detriot knows this one - the arena staff thinks there is a no camera policy, but the USFSA overrides that policy. So the arena staff tries to confiscate all the camera and you have to miss a bunch of skating to complain to higher and higher levels of staff til they get it straightened out). Doesn't one LOC learn from the last one??? How many time must skaters, coaches, parents and fans suffer throught the same idiocy before they get this stuff straightened out?

The Salt Lake fiasco - 1/25/99

I bet you thought I was talking about the Olympic bribery. Nope. I am referring to the nightmare that has been foisted upon us in the organizing of this year's Nationals. We paid our deposits in October of 1996. We gave them the full price of the tickets in December of 1997. We got a letter around the holidays last year telling us that our view (and everyone else's) would be obstructed. We received our tickets on 1/22/99. They have had thousands of dollars of my money for over a year. I ordered by fax the day the tickets went on sale. I am in the 9th row, a section off center ice.

I want to understand what exactly I would have to have done to get in the first 5 rows of the arena (where I have been the last two Nationals). I also am very curious to see what will happen in Los Angeles in 2001. I sent them my credit card number for the entire ticket price a few weeks ago. They have not even established a banking relationship that allows them to charge my card yet. Boston and Cleveland have had my money for ages. Will any of this ensure that I have good seats? That my view will be unobstructed? Why are these events handled in this manner? Would any other group of sports fans tolerate it?

Stars on Ice thoughts - 1/21/99:

I thought this show was very disappointing this year.

The clown number is a waste of talented skaters.

Ilia needs to get back to a coach. Not only did he fail to land his triple axel, he is getting even more sloppy. He has such potential to be so exciting. He has passion for the music and a flair for choreography. But he is just so coltish on ice. It is very frustrating to watch. I want him to stand up straight and extend. He needs to commit to the positions rather than flailing through them.

Bechke and Petrov were my favorite of the rest of the show.

Tara looked like a real champion by comparison to the other skaters in the show. She also looks like she is working harder than the rest of them put together.

I want all Santana music banned forever - that whole section of the show is annoying. I love Chen Lu and Meno & Sand & I usually enjoy Roca & Sur, but this whole segment is slow as molasses. It didn't seem like the audience was that thrilled either.

All in all this show needs some serious re-working.

More thinking - 10/27/98:

My thoughts on the latest turn of events (today's re-removal of sanctioning for the pro series) are that the inevitable effect of this sport's growth in popularity has once and for all come home to roost. We have been seeing signs of the troubles for a few years now (increased ticket prices & competition for good seats were the first portents). Some of the results were nice; skaters who wouldn't have had a job a few years back are having relatively decent careers. Some of the results are not so nice. The ISU bowing to pressure from all and sundry to bestow or decline sanctioning is an unsettling vignette for fans, what it must be like to be a skater being tossed around like this is really unimaginable. It seems an ungracious way to treat your resources to me, but I suppose they feel there are dozens of skaters & only a few major networks or countries to please. I feel very bad for any skater trying to navigate this season.

Thoughts as of 9/20/98:

The season is not really begun, so all we have had to discuss are the various machinations of the training season. Who's moved where. Who's broken up with who. Who's reforming as a new pair/team. To me (someone who hates change) the post Olympic season is always rough. Even the "non-eligible" shows get all shaken up about now. So, in spite of some unflattering commentary on the newsgroups about the "old-timers" like Shepherd Clark and Michael Chack, I would personally like to thank anyone who is going to stick around one more season. It just wouldn't be Nationals for me without some of the folks I have watched work for so many years. I need more time to warm up to the "up and comers" (especially in the men's division, where things tend to move a little glacially). And I definitely need more time to get used to people retaining eligibility but skipping Nationals. I understand the logic. I really do. But it seems odd for me, for whom the high point of the year is Nationals, to know so many who could come have chosen to save their strength for other competitions.

Stephanie Stiegler & John Zimmerman 1997 Nationals
Sorceror's Apprentice Program Opening Pose
One of my favorite programs, photos and pairs of all time.

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Last updated: 06/19/99 05:18 PM