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

[dwanollah]

Sunny, I know exactly which one you mean, but damned if I remember the name of it. We'll have to depend on SwanFlake! (My personal fave is Cuban Pete, though.

Oh, Rudy! I LOVED his Big Win! That was one of the biggest tears-of-joy moments in figure skating ever! (So suck it, Nancy Kerrigan!)

It may be time, speaking of Kerrigan, for me to compile a list of Skaters I Hate. I hated Tonya, but hated Nancy, too, so SkateGate was such an annoying mess of drama. One of my friends and I used to do battle over Artur Dimetriev (she looooved him, I haaaated him!), too. And I used to hate Jill Trenery until I met her, and she was so awesome. I still think her skating is bland and passionless, though.

[kostgard]

Ah, the Hate list!

SkateGate - I hated Tonya (and felt the shame of sharing a hometown with her) and started out liking Nancy okay (mostly for dumb reasons - the fact that she was taller for a figure skater and not 13), but ended up not liking her. Of the Americans I sure wished they would have let cute little alternative Michelle Kwan skate. But I also liked little drama queen Oksana - before she moved to The States and started boozing it up and crashing her Mercedes.

Phillippe Candeloro looks like he bathes in bacon grease. And I spent a lot of time wishing that Surya Bonaly would stop doing backflips and learn a little grace and elegance.

Rudy Galindo's win was totally awesome. I felt strangely proud of him. And also strangely happy that he showed up in the movie Amelie for about 10 seconds.

Who was the gal who lost some toes to a lawn mower or something like that? I want to say Rosalyn Sumners, but I don't know if that is correct. Who ever it was, I remember reading an interview with her in Muppet Magazine(!) and my pre-teen self thinking she was kinda cool (I wish I could remember which Muppet interviewed her. I want to say Janice, but the only "celeb" I know for sure was interviewed by Janice was Moon Unit Zappa. They made cookies. I can't believe that takes up valuable real estate in my brain).

[dwanollah]

That was Elaine Zayak. She was one of the former Olympians who reinstated when the new rules were passed.

[kostgard]

That's right!

Thanks!

[The Brunette]

sunnyhorse said:

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.

It's "Hair"! It's not on YouTube, but I remember he did it in the Grinkov tribute.

[Sunnyhorse]

The haaate list:

Nancy Kerrigan -- I wanted to like her, but she's a whiny entitled princess.
Tonya Harding -- I wanted to root for her, but, much like her sister in trashiness Britney Spears, she's insisted on pissing on every shred of goodwill extended to her.
Surya Bonaly -- I really liked her spunkiness and athleticism, but her mother is a freak and she's a bad sport.
Sasha Cohen -- Annoys the crap out of me and comes off as incredibly entitled.
Johnny Weir -- See Sasha Cohen.

Lurve:
Scott Hamilton
Kristi Yamaguchi
Brian Boitano
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
Kimmy Meissner
Yuka Sato
Midori Ito
Kurt Browning
Elvis Stojko
Tim Goebel
Debi Thomas
Elizabeth Manley
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov
Rudy Galindo
Oksana Baiul (before the booze got the best of her)

ETA: Thanks, Brunette. (Also: Crap!)

[kostgard]

Surya Bonaly -- I really liked her spunkiness and athleticism, but her mother is a freak and she's a bad sport.

I remember reading somewhere that her mother tried to put voodoo curses on Surya's competitors - is there any truth to that or was that just a wild rumor?

[carrier76]

I like Kimmie Meissner, but I wish she'd be more graceful; unfortunately I don't think you can learn that. I feel like she's always going to look awkward on the ice but will be a great athlete/competitor.

I also wish Alissa Czisny would get her shit together.

[Sunnyhorse]

carrier76 said:

I like Kimmie Meissner, but I wish she'd be more graceful; unfortunately I don't think you can learn that. I feel like she's always going to look awkward on the ice but will be a great athlete/competitor.

Oh yeah -- I'll be the first to admit that the people I lurve aren't all the best skaters. Many of them I just like because of their seemingly great attitudes or the "try" that they exhibit when they step onto the ice. Kimmie Meissner's one of those.

[carrier76]

Exactly. And she seems like a genuine person, and a smart, down-to-earth kid.

Something about Emily Hughes bugs....this is going to sound WAY mean but there's something very ox-like about her skating. She like, lumbers down the rink. And I hate that "ATCHA!!!!" look on her face every time she does a jump. Ugh.