Figure Skating: He's Here, He's Weir, Get Over It

[proper stranger]

YAY!!! A skating thread!

I love "Uncle Dick" Button, too. He was the only commentator that called Plushenko on his "bamboozling" arm flailings at the 2006 Olympics. IIRC, he also was one of the people trying to create a new skating federation after the world learned about the ISU's shadiness in '02. Too bad that didn't work, 'cause the ISU sucks ass.

Ugh--don't get me started on the new scoring system. I mean, the old one was crap, but this isn't any better. All of the programs look alike, regardless of the music.

dwanollah said:

I used to have boxes of stuff I'd taped (including my favorite ones EVAH, 1) Chris Bowman doing "I'm Just a Bad Boy!"

I loved me some Bowman the Showman back in the day. Talk about naturally gifted skaters. There used to be a video on YouTube of him performing a Nationals exhibition to "Maria" from West Side Story...gorgeous. It was so frustrating as a fan to never see him fully realize that potential (see also: Bobek, Nicole).

Can't wait to see the TV schedules, Swan! Skate America should be coming up soon, yes?

[swanflake]

Yep, proper stranger, Skate America is in two weeks! There will be two hours of coverage on Sunday, October 28th starting at 4:00 Eastern on NBC. The second hour will be Live coverage of the ladies' free skate, but I'm not sure if the first hour will be the first half of the ladies event, or if it'll be pre-recorded coverage from a different event.

Here are the links for the two best US TV schedules: HeatherW's TV schedule[/color] and the USFSA's TV schedule[/color].

Here is the page for Skate Canada's TV schedule[/color], but it's currently empty. I can't find updated schedules from TSN or CBC either.

A new era will begin with this season because for the first time in history the US National Figure Skating Championships won't be televised on ABC. ABC chose not to renew their contract with USFSA, so NBC picked it up. NBC is only contracted for two events this year--Skate America and Nationals--no open events this year like ABC used to air. And in the past ABC had ESPN showing supplementary coverage of the short programs, whereas NBC has yet to sign on any NBC Universal cable network to air the portions of the competition that NBC won't. But Oxygen has aired figure skating and gymnastics in the past, and with NBC Universal having just purchased Oxygen, I hope that they will partner up with NBC on the figure skating deal.

This is the last year that ESPN is contracted with the ISU. I don't know what's going to happen after this year. 2009 Worlds will be in Los Angeles, and the people at NBC showed enough enthusiasm when signing the deal with USFSA that it seems they're probably ready to grab onto 2009 Worlds, but I don't know if they're interested in a full contract with the ISU for all six Grand Prixs, the GP final, and Euros and Four Continents.

Ottavio Cinquanta, ISU President, is being a total bitch about the TV contracts though. Earlier this year he hinted at removing 2009 Worlds from LA if the organizers couldn't hurry up and get an expensive US TV deal, and apparently he was giving a lot of shit to the Canadian television networks too for not agreeing to as much money as he wants. I forget most of the details of that story, though. I can't remember what he was trying to threaten them with.

There's also The Ice Network[/color] to watch skating online, but you have to subscribe for a fee of $30, and it's just USFSA events. I'm not a subscriber, but I go to the site because it's good for news and photos.

Now I need to go look up the latest news on the scoring system to see if any changes have been made recently!

[Deleted]

Hey, Dwan, are you gonna say "SHUT UP, DICK BUTTON!" first or am I?

[dwanollah]

dukeofurl said:

Hey, Dwan, are you gonna say "SHUT UP, DICK BUTTON!" first or am I?

You beat me to it, dear!

Although I really think it would be awesome to have a Greecie Skating Watching Gathering, with everyone in Pro- and Anti-Dick camps. There's gotta be a drinking game in there somewhere, too....

I've never seen it in full, but that was 1974 Worlds, not the Olympics.

Thank you! I'm ashamed I can no longer rattle off facts like that, dammit.

But last season I didn't pay too much attention to figure skating. I was mourning the end of the Kwan era and wasn't quite up for this new generation, but it's time for me to cut that out and get back in the game. So I'm glad this thread is here so all of you fine people can help me get right back into the thick of things where I left off.

That's kinda how I felt after Sergei Grinkov died, actually. That's when I stopped watching and attending a lot of the skating events. It was like there was a huge empty space, and the newcomers just weren't fillin' it for me.

[carrier76]

He was the only commentator that called Plushenko on his "bamboozling" arm flailings at the 2006 Olympics.

"He bamboozled us with his hands!"

Slutskaya is the one that drove the Beilman into the ground. Holy shit. She drove me nuts.

However.

I do miss the Kwan/Slutskaya years. That was a great rivalry, and some damn fine skating. These girls now? Don't measure up. I find myself enjoying the men's competition more.

YAY FOR THIS THREAD!!!!!

John Baldwin = Squick.

[dwanollah]

I know! This thread is making me remember so much fun stuff! Like how much I HATED Phillippe Candeloro! And how I once plotzed at the feet of Christopher Dean. *dreamy sigh*

[bitterntwisted]

Josee Chouinard was known as the queen of the short programme. She was amazing at the short, managing to get top 5, but would fall apart in the long. Funny thing about her though, when she turned pro, she performed better in competition. She seems to suit the pro format better than amateur.

I wish Canada would produce mentally tougher female solo skaters. The last time we had a medal was in Calgary and the last world champ was Karen Magnussen back in 1973 for crissakes!

[swanflake]

deaconblue said:

Sasha Cohen may be the most naturally talented skater I have ever seen. That does not make her the best. I think I've seen her skate a clean program maybe twice. Nicks is a good coach, but the only coach who got her to jump correctly was Tersaova. Unfortunately Sasha's mother had a huge fight with her and that was the end of that. To go from Terasova to Robin Wagner was a joke and it didn't last long.

Ooh, DeaconBlue, what did you hear about Sasha's mother and Tatiana Tarasova? I remember a few rumors floating around, but I never knew what to believe. I usually don't care to get too into skating gossip because I'd rather just abstain from it than believe a false rumor, but I trust you. Gosh I wish Sasha could go back to Tarasova and make it work.

The skater/coach fit is so important. Zmievskaya made Oksana Bauil a magnificent, balletic skater. Once she came to the USA, got ideas and dropped her as a coach, she never skated well again.

What do y'all think about Johnny Weir's switch to Galina Zmievskaya? And what do y'all think about Johnny in general? I'm really not a fan of his at all, but if he'll finally cut the crap and focus on his skating then I'll give him another chance. I saw a video of his short program from the USA vs. Japan competition, and his spins and footwork look a lot better than they did last year. I couldn't believe how bad his spins and steps were last year, and it was all because of his own laziness. He flat out admitted that he didn't like to do spins. He'd rather go do photo shoots and go shopping than practice his spins. If he hasn't gotten over that attitude by now then I hope he doesn't even medal at Nationals this season.

[Sunnyhorse]

I'm hunting for a particular clip of Scott Hamilton that I've always loved -- it's a novelty piece, set to a rock tune that I can't remember, in which he starts out costumed as a total hippie and by the end is a buttoned-up businessman. Anyone else remember this? I'm pretty sure I saw it as part of the exhibition phase of a competition.

[Deleted]

I have loved some of Johnny's programs in the past and think he has great potential. I agree that Johnny has been too lazy and that his laziness has adversely affected (effected?? sorry I can never remember the difference) his skating. I think that if he can be made to work harder that he has the ability to medal at Worlds. Sadly, however, I think that his motivation has to come from outside because I don't think that he has adequate self-motivation to work that hard. He has to be pushed. So I hope that Johnny's move to Galina Z. (because I can't even begin to spell her last name) will be good for him if for no other reason than she will be in a position to kick his ass to make him work harder. Priscilla Hill, his former coach, was too much of a friend to him. This isn't meant to be a knock on Priscilla as a coach, it is a comment on Johnny's (non) motivation.

Anyway, I hope Johnny can come back because I don't particularly like Evan Lysacek's skating. He is a good jumper, but as someone pointed out upthread, skating is much more than jumping ability. Actually, my favorite male skater the last several years has been Stephen Lambiel.

I like Dick Button as a commentator. He can be so snarky and funny and the next minute he will be the biggest fan ever. One of my all time favorite figure skating moments is Rudy Galindo's 1996 National's win. The skating was supurb and Rudy's reaction to his scores is priceless. But what I also love about it is Dick Button's reactions to Rudy's skate. I think the other announcer summed it up best when as he was cutting to the commercial said that the arena had just exploded and Dick Button along with it.

I'm loving that we can talk about figure skating on this board. I've spent the last couple days since this thread has opened over at You Tube rewatching some of my favorites.

Also, kind of late, but for whoever asked, the 2006 Olympics in Torino were scored under COP.