AN Gossip Thread [Archive] - skatingforums.com

NoVa Sk8r

04-11-2005, 09:32 PM

MSF,
I shall try my best. Loops and I had a few uneven program runthroughs this morning. Dropping her on the death spiral (or more accurately, the "life spiral") as our coach watched from a distance was definitely not the way we wanted to end the session. Oh, well, I'll try to redeem that move tomorrow afternoon in KC.
She scared me at one point, too, because while skating backward out of a lift, she turned her head suddenly as if she saw something--or someone. :?? It was very eerie. It's bad enough that I hear voices in my head, and now it appears that she's seeing those creatures who invade my head. Hear no evil, see no evil, I guess? :P

I shall try to earn a gold medal in rumor, insinuation, speculation, scuttlebutt, inuendo, and gossip. Nah, I'll just try to not have a mental breakdown (how many was it this morning, Loops? ... not to mention my hysteria after I got off the ice :roll: ) and post some of the highlights. I'm hoping it will be lots of fun.

MSF, keep up the good work on those jump combos: They sound awesome and I definitely want to see them. Maybe you can give ME some pointers!
And when is your competition debut going to occur? The Peach Classic in early September seems like a good entry into the crazy, wacky adult skating world!

mr7740

04-12-2005, 12:44 AM

I heard Larry Holliday was injured just recently....AN will be missing out an a great performance if he in fact cannot compete.

skaternum

04-12-2005, 05:28 AM

Repeat after me: What happens in Kansas City stays in Kansas City! :twisted:

Terri C

04-12-2005, 06:58 AM

MSF,
The Peach Classic in early September seems like a good entry into the crazy, wacky adult skating world!

I've suggested Peach to MSF once and will do so again, again, and again! :)

MusicSkateFan

04-12-2005, 07:59 AM

:) Peach might happen...I really want to pass the Bronze Moves by then. Hopefully I can do it on the July test date. I actually had a freestyle lesson with my coach last night. He checked all my jumps and we worked on upright spin...got much better. I worked on all my move drills that he has taught me so those are feeling pretty good. Now if I can put them in the field ! Friday I am going to start the power edge class at my main rink...hopefully this will help too!

Peach is a good goal......non-stop summer ice sessions! ;)

nja

04-12-2005, 08:43 AM

Unfortunately, I can confirm the Larry Halliday rumor. He hurt his knee in practice last week and had to have surgery. He showed up at the rink Saturday morning to coach on crutches. He says he won't be out of the cast until June so that means Germany is out of the question for him as well. Bummer for all of us!!

As of Saturday, he is still planning on coming to AN, though. He has at least one skater competing so I assume he is coming for her. You'll probably see him floating around towards the end of the week.

coskater64

04-12-2005, 09:14 AM

Oh that's a bummer about Larry, I love watching him skate. I finally got here, the 1-70 closure until 2 pm yesterday was a speed bump but we got in around midnight.

Practice ice around 2.

Can I just make things up?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

skatingatty

04-12-2005, 02:18 PM

Hi, Loops and NoVA-
Good luck to you as well as all the others enjoying Kansas City. As for myself, I'm just sitting here at work in Durham with a view of the overcast sky. Wish I could be there! I'm having my metal plate and screws removed from my ankle in 1.5 weeks, and had a pre-op appt. this morning. Have a great time you guys, and fill us in on the gossip!

:)

jazzpants

04-12-2005, 05:19 PM

Re: Larry Holliday! :( Hope he recovers quickly...

Jay isn't competing this year either and he's going, so Larry will probably have company... (Masters level skaters who aren't competing this year but are here for their students who are competing, that is...) There's actually not that many people I know who are competing from my skating club this year for one reason or another. So, we'll see...

skatingatty: Metal plates and screws? *cringe*

I have no clue what evil plans (if any) NoVa and "the other woman" have planned. I'm dying to find out though. :twisted:

NoVa Sk8r

04-12-2005, 06:04 PM

I have no clue what evil plans (if any) NoVa and "the other woman" have planned. I'm dying to find out though. :twisted:You shall find out soon enough. He he he ... :twisted:

Terri C

04-12-2005, 06:06 PM

That, my friends, is the reason for this thread!!! :twisted:

NoVa Sk8r

04-12-2005, 11:02 PM

So before I head out to Hooters (ha!), which is a 5-minute walk away, I thought I'd post. :)

Flew out of National Airport this morning without incident. Was not allowed to bring skates onboard. Got to the hotel at noon, had 2 practice sessions 1:30-2:30, where Loops and I skated with a bronze, a gold, and a master pair team (who were incredibly rude beyond measure! :evil: )
There weren't many people at the rink.

I was insanely nervous on the practice session: I couldn't stop shaking. But after skating a bit and doing a few spins (at Loops' suggestion), I settled down.

Went back to the rink in the evening to coach Loops on her singles runthrough, and then we helped a fellow DC skater on her practice session. The sessions were not crowded at all.
Then I watched some more practice sessions including gold ladies, gold men, and master ladies, and a pair session at 9pm (that I didn't skate on). Again, not a lot of folks are here yet.
Met lots of new and wonderful people.
One pair skater even said, "Oh, I've seen your website." That was kind of neat.

So the list of all the events was posted. I present now the events and number of entrants:
Bronze Men II: 5
Bronze Men III: 2
Bronze Men IV: 4
Bronze Ladies I: 18
Bronze Ladies II: 32
Bronze Ladies III: 21
Bronze Ladies IV: 8
Bronze Pairs: 2

Silver Ladies II: 40
Silver Ladies III: 23
Silver Ladies IV: 6
Silver Men I: 3 (yes, my event only has 3 entrants! :))
Silver Men II: 12
Silver Men III: 7
Silver Men IV: 5
Silver Pairs: 5 (but I think one team might withdraw)

Gold Ladies I: 6
Gold Ladies II: 16
Gold Ladies III: 4
Gold Ladies IV: 2
Gold Men II: 9
Gold Men III: 5
Gold Pairs: 7 (but I think a masters team might be included here since the other master team is withdrawing?)

Master Pairs: 2

Interp Ladies I: 23
Interp Ladies II: 37
Interp Ladies III: 31
Interp Ladies IV: 13

Interp Men II: 9
Interp Men III: 4
Interp Men IV: 5

Master Jr. Ladies I: 3
Master Jr. Ladies II: 5
Master Jr. Ladies III: 2
Master Jr. Ladies IV: 2

Master Novice Ladies I: 7
Master Novice Ladies II: 8

Master Sr. Ladies II: 4
Master Sr. Ladies III: 2

Master Ladies Interp I: 16
Master Ladies Interp II: 27
Master Ladies Interp III: 12
Master Ladies Interp IV: 4

Master Men Interp II: 7
Master Men Interp III: 9

(I didn't list the Championship Events, as those all have 12 entrants. I didn't copy down any of the dance events.)

A short while ago, I met up with flo and got my forums flag. 8-)

Hey, where are you skateryum? :P

Silver men I has 3 competitors, and silver pairs (the alst I've heard) has 4 teams. So I will get 2 national medals on my first try. 8-)

jazzpants

04-13-2005, 12:20 AM

Playing statistician on NoVa Sk8r's number of entrants... ;)

The number one thing I noticed is that across the board the Group II's outnumbered the other age groups at practically all the levels. Hmmmm? I wonder now whether it's now a financial thing.

My hypothesis on this: When you start out, you don't make a lot of money in the business and as you get more experience in the workplace you earn more money, so you are more likely to be able to afford go traveling and compete. There is drop off in Group III's b/c of the physical constraints of "getting old."

Of course, this is a general assumption. Especially given that my salary has DROPPED since 2002 :evil: ... and I just became a Class II less than 1.5 years ago.

If you guys see my primary coach and he says that I'm doing well on my Bronze moves, he's lying! (Either that or he probably got to Becca's vodka's nips already!!!) :twisted: :P :lol:

skaternum

04-13-2005, 05:39 AM

Playing statistician on NoVa Sk8r's number of entrants... ;)

The number one thing I noticed is that across the board the Group II's outnumbered the other age groups at practically all the levels. Hmmmm? I wonder now whether it's now a financial thing.

My hypothesis on this: When you start out, you don't make a lot of money in the business and as you get more experience in the workplace you earn more money, so you are more likely to be able to afford go traveling and compete. There is drop off in Group III's b/c of the physical constraints of "getting old."

Not necessarily. There was a "bubble" of Class I skaters when I first started skating. Those were the years of 4 QRs for Bronze I, for example. They've obviously all gotten older (even me 8O ) and aged into class II. My theory is that, as they've aged up, they simply haven't been replaced by others in that age bracket entering the sport and competing. Just wait -- in another 5 years or so, we'll see the bubble move up to class III.

As to why there aren't people competing in class I, I still think the Moves have a lot to do with it.

Who knows? It's almost impossible to determine for sure.

skaternum

04-13-2005, 05:40 AM

Hey, where are you skateryum? :PI'm coming, Baby! I'll be there tonight, and we can hook up Thursday. Can't wait!

PattyP

04-13-2005, 08:14 AM

I arrived Monday afternoon, flight was on time! First practice ice was yesterday at 10 & 10:30. I love the ice here! The rink is quite warm too. I'm used to skating in a meat locker so it's a nice change. I felt really good, almost too good for my first day. I hope it holds through the week.

Then I took my coach's son to a public session at another rink so that he could practice. Funny thing happened there... This rink looks to be 100% hockey. This guy comes out while we were putting our skates on and asks us if we were going to jump. I gave him a dumb look and said "well...yeah". My coach's son is doing triples so there was going to be a lot of jumping. This guy looks irritated and said we would have to fill our holes and hands us a water bottle 8O . I have never had to do this before. Has anyone here heard of that? I felt like I was on the golf course filling my divots! After 45 minutes of filling my lutz holes and his triple flip holes we decided to call it quits.

If anyone can't find ice time, this 12-2 session is virtually empty. I think it's called Sports Ice or something like that, about 15 miles from our rink.

I practiced at 6:30 this morning and still feel really good. Axels are there!! :D

I will be a spectator most of today and look forward to meeting up with some of you!

PattyP

skaternum

04-13-2005, 08:42 AM

I practiced at 6:30 this morning and still feel really good. Axels are there!!Awesome! Fingers crossed that they hold out until your freeskate is over.

I will be a spectator most of today and look forward to meeting up with some of you!Looking forward to seeing you again. (We were in the same interp group last year. You did "Piggy." I did "Crazy." Will we recognize each other without the pig nose and straightjacket??) :lol:

PattyP

04-13-2005, 09:20 AM

Awesome! Fingers crossed that they hold out until your freeskate is over.

Looking forward to seeing you again. (We were in the same interp group last year. You did "Piggy." I did "Crazy." Will we recognize each other without the pig nose and straightjacket??) :lol:

Thanks!

LOL! Probably not! It was kinda fun to hide behind that wig and nose.
BTW I loved your "Crazy" program.

manleywoman

04-13-2005, 10:08 AM

Not necessarily. There was a "bubble" of Class I skaters when I first started skating. Those were the years of 4 QRs for Bronze I, for example. They've obviously all gotten older (even me 8O ) and aged into class II. My theory is that, as they've aged up, they simply haven't been replaced by others in that age bracket entering the sport and competing.

This is exactly why I'm surprised by the other thread where posters are upset that they might lower the age limit, and therefore include more skaters. We need to encourage more younger skaters to join if anything!

We have to replenish the supply, if you will, to keep Adult Skating going.

Yeesh . . . only 3 in my group (Junior 1). The last 2 years there were only 4, but they were 2 of them were different people. I guess the people who qualified for Masters aren't doing Open this year.

Terri C

04-13-2005, 10:19 AM

If there is going to be a Adult Skating Committee meeting this week at AN's, can someone please post what is discussed? Thanks! :)

mikawendy

04-13-2005, 01:04 PM

If anyone at AN sees flo, will you let her know that an extra copy of her music may be on its way to her via another competitor? She'll know what I mean. I sent her an e-mail but I don't know if she has computer access in KC.

Thanks, and I hope much fun is had by all!!!

dcden

04-13-2005, 01:16 PM

Silver Ladies II: 40
Silver Ladies III: 23
Silver Ladies IV: 6
Silver Men I: 3 (yes, my event only has 3 entrants! :))
Silver Men II: 12
Silver Men III: 7
Silver Men IV: 5
Silver Pairs: 5 (but I think one team might withdraw)

Are there no Silver Ladies I competitors?

Beccapoo2003

04-13-2005, 01:20 PM

CoolbugSuz

04-13-2005, 01:59 PM

How many are in Silver Dance? I think that's what my skating instructor is supposed to be competing in.....

Suz

dcden

04-13-2005, 02:31 PM

Are there no Silver Ladies I competitors?

Never mind, found the schedule and there are apparently two groups of Silver I Ladies.

PattyP

04-13-2005, 02:38 PM

OMG!! There is a liquer store behind our hotel(Springhill Suites) that is as big as a Wal Mart!!! 8O 8O 8O We went and looked at all the pretty and unique bottles and wines there.
You wanted gossip! ;) Tee hee!

Too funny! They don't sell wine in the grocery store, the beer is 3.2 and yet they have Wal Mart sized liquor stores! Gotta love Kansas.

I'll have to check that place out! ;)

climbsk8

04-13-2005, 03:30 PM

You won't find any posts about the whereabouts of liquor stores on any of the kiddie skating threads!!!!! 8-)

Can't wait to get there ... I'm amazed that the Gold II ladies out number the Gold I by so many ... oh well.

As for the earlier comments about lowering age limits ... I think it's a fantastic idea. I went all through college without any competitive outlet for skating. And while I do get grumpy when they lump the young adults in with Class I and I get whipped by a 19-year-old, it feels REALLY REALLY good when the results go the other way.

Disclaimer: I'm on the "older" side of I ... only two years left. And if you don't roll out the welcome mat, you can't turn around and gripe when nobody shows up to the party.

Debbie S

04-13-2005, 03:31 PM

Some results from today are up at the USFSA site

http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_details.asp?id=20428

Big congrats to Heather Hilgar on not only qualifying for Silver I finals, but winning her qual group!! She is an awesome skater, and I know she really wanted to make finals this year. (Go kick some ice butts in the finals, Heather!) Does anyone know how many make finals if there are 2 qual groups? Another Silver I skater I know finished 7th in her group, pretty good for her first time at AN and first year at Silver.

Debbie S

04-13-2005, 03:37 PM

Disclaimer: I'm on the "older" side of I ... only two years left. And if you don't roll out the welcome mat, you can't turn around and gripe when nobody shows up to the party.

Me, too. If the new age classes go through at Governing Council, I'll be in class II, and then in 2 more years, class III! 8O

I think opening up adult competition to younger skaters is a good idea, but I'm concerned if the numbers for class I are so low now (esp in Bronze), what would happen if they further divide the age group? If the reasons for not competing at AN or other comps are really financial or place-in-life, then the opportunities for skaters 35 and under might diminish even more b/c there would be even less of a critical mass needed to offer competition to each group, and then the levels might need to be combined anyway. I think more study is needed on why younger adult skaters (current Young Adult and Class I) aren't competing in the numbers they used to.

mdvask8r

04-13-2005, 05:10 PM

[QUOTE=Debbie S]Some results from today are up at the USFSA site

http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_details.asp?id=20428

/QUOTE]
WOW! This is awesome! They are even posting results of the non-qualifying preliminary rounds. Don't we usually only get the Championship events? This is just first rate!!!

Good Luck, Good Luck to all. :D :D :D

LoopLoop

04-13-2005, 05:45 PM

Hi everybody,
It's late afternoon on Wednesday and my head is spinning. Mostly due to a certain travel companion/pairs partner... ;)

As he posted yesterday, we got in without incident and skated decently. This afternoon I skated in silver II, group A, and miracle of miracles, skated a clean program. Clean, not perfect, but I was pretty happy. And qualified for the final by the skin of my teeth.

So far I've run into Becca, Flo, FrankR, starskate, doubletoe (who skated awesomely and placed second in our group), icecatepairs and her partner, and I'm sure others whom I've not connected with their screen names. The rink is nice (very warm :) ) and things seem to be well-organized. Jazzpants, I saw your coach make his typical grand entrance. :bow:

In the morning I'll meet up with skaternum and Mrs. Redboots... which I'm sure will be fun too. And our pairs event is tomorrow night!

More to come later...

Terri C

04-13-2005, 05:49 PM

Hi everybody,
It's late afternoon on Wednesday and my head is spinning. Mostly due to a certain travel companion/pairs partner... ;)

CONGRATULATIONS!!! On both making final round and The Week with NoVa. Shall I call Rome and pursue the canonization process???

Terri C

04-13-2005, 05:55 PM

OMG!! There is a liquer store behind our hotel(Springhill Suites) that is as big as a Wal Mart!!! 8O 8O 8O We went and looked at all the pretty and unique bottles and wines there.
You wanted gossip! ;) Tee hee!

Good! Now I know who to ask about where the liquor store is when I go to Peach later this year!!

NoVa Sk8r

04-13-2005, 06:12 PM

CONGRATULATIONS!!! On both making final round and The Week with NoVa. Shall I call Rome and pursue the canonization process???Oh, but the week is still young. :twisted:

Loops skated very well. And she played smartie pants with her program elements, taking out one element that she was unsure of and replacing it with a kick-a$$ variation. Bravo!
The weird part was that I was more nervous than she was as I was putting her on the ice. What's up with that? :roll:

But she got out there and exuded calmness and sold the program, and what more can you ask for?
She didn't let the "axel-ers" throw her off her game plan. And she actually watched some of the competitors before her, too. Anyway, we celebrated by going to ... JACK STACK! :yum:
I've even approved her to have ice cream tonight (it's a tradition the night before our pairs comeptition).

On a sad note, there were 2 bronze pair teams, but one had to withdraw due to injury. So the other team is left without a competitive event. :cry:
And they are SO nice. My heart goes out to them.

So the first day's event went well--the ones that I was able to see when I wasn't talking everyone else's ears off (sorry, Loops!).

There weren't a lot of axels landed in the silver ladies events. Again, you don't need an axel to do well in silver. (FWIW, just thought I'd throw that out there.)

Interp events start tomorrow. (Please God, no Wizard of Oz themes <<crosses fingers>>)

NoVa Sk8r

04-13-2005, 06:17 PM

Are there no Silver Ladies I competitors?Oops, I was speeding thru my reporter's notebook and forgot to post. :oops:

jazzpants

04-13-2005, 06:21 PM

First, congrats to LoopLoop for making the final round! YAAAAAY!!! You SOLD it, girlfriend!!! :bow: Enjoy your ice cream! :yum: And congrats to doubletoe too!!! WOO HOO!!! Go skatingforums skaters!!! :mrgreen:

Jazzpants, I saw your coach make his typical grand entrance. :bow: It figures!!! It figures!!! :roll: :P :lol:

coskater64

04-13-2005, 09:54 PM

I think the top 6 of silver ladies 1 go onto qualifying rounds. Generally a group of 12 for final round. It could be the top 5, they had it posted but I wasn't paying attention. Heather H did skate very well, congrats to her.

la :lol: :lol:

Debbie S

04-13-2005, 10:20 PM

Congrats to Loops and doubletoe!! Good luck in finals.

Good luck to Loops and NoVa in the pairs tomorrow! My coach will be competing tomorrow night in Champ Gold Ladies (with coskater64, I do believe). Good luck to all!

flo, how did your skate go? Did the boots hold up?

Edited to add that I just saw the updated results page. Congrats, flo! (at least, it looks like you made the finals, but if not, I'm sure it was still an awesome skate - no small feat in the "slipper skates"!) Good luck in finals (if applicable)!

flo

04-13-2005, 11:41 PM

Hi all - I thought I posted earlier, but it must have gone into space???
I skate this morning and thought it went ok. I slipped on the loop landing which was really strange - I saw the photos later and it was actually a high jump! Could be the boots or other wierdness. Outside of that I thought it went pretty well. Ididn't make finals, but it was pretty close (TOM for 4,5,and 6!) One day I'll understand those better. Loops had a beautiful program, and will be great in finals!
Special thanks to Starskate and Nove for all their encouragement. It was great to see Michigan back on the ice!!!!
I'm back in Baltimore now - I'm hoping to take care of some work issues ;) .
Thanks to all again and good luck and enjoy!

sk8pics

04-14-2005, 05:44 AM

Congrats to everybody! And especially Heather! Does anyone know if she landed both her axels? (I'm thinking she has two axels in her program, but I could be wrong.)

Have fun everyone, and keep on posting!

Pat

Moto Guzzi

04-14-2005, 07:50 AM

Too funny! They don't sell wine in the grocery store, the beer is 3.2 and yet they have Wal Mart sized liquor stores! Gotta love Kansas. PattyP, they have Wal Mart sized liquor stores because they don't sell wine in the grocery store and the beer is 3.2. :lol: I was at a family reunion in Kansas about ten years ago, and the bars in the town where we were staying closed up at midnight except for those that were considered to be private clubs. In order to buy anything stronger than 3.2 beer, you had to belong to a private club. And that is how my entire extended family ended up at a biker bar at 2:00 a.m. dressed in our party clothes and dancing with tattooed bikers wearing leather and chains.

Marna, congrats on making the finals!

Good luck to all!

coskater64

04-14-2005, 07:56 AM

Heather landed her first axel combo w/ ease, her second one she waited a little to long and got about 90% of the rotation but tapped down a foot. She skated very nicely, she has the most lovely sit and back sit positionl :lol: :lol:

PattyP

04-14-2005, 02:34 PM

I saw Heather skate too, that first axel was gorgeous! :bow: She will do well in final round.

Congrats to Loops and doubletoe on making final round!

I'll have you all know that my walking stick-interp prop problem is solved. I found a worthy stick in the woods behind my hotel. I took a piece of 60 grit sand paper to it and it's going to be perfect! A little heavier than my last one so I will have to eat my Wheaties tomorrow morning. Unfortuanately the first time I will be able to use it is in my actual competition. No props allowed on the warm-up per my coach.

You should have seen the looks on peoples faces as they watched me sand my stick and practice with it on the grass outside my hotel. They must have thought I was completely nuts! 8O

Between stick searching, the trip to Home Depot and the time spent sanding my stick, I haven't had the opportunity to check out that huge liquor store. I will need to make that a priority later ;) .

I'm going to head back to the rink and watch Daisies compete..

PattyP

Sylvia

04-14-2005, 02:49 PM

I'll have you all know that my walking stick-interp prop problem is solved. I found a worthy stick in the woods behind my hotel. I took a piece of 60 grit sand paper to it and it's going to be perfect! A little heavier than my last one so I will have to eat my Wheaties tomorrow morning. Unfortuanately the first time I will be able to use it is in my actual competition. No props allowed on the warm-up per my coach.

You should have seen the looks on peoples faces as they watched me sand my stick and practice with it on the grass outside my hotel. They must have thought I was completely nuts! 8O

Hi PattyP!

Good luck with your interp. "stick" number! :) I have a friend competing in Masters Interp. II on Friday afternoon who will be skating with a long wooden pole -- check her out if you can!

NoVa Sk8r

04-14-2005, 05:28 PM

Good luck to Loops and NoVa in the pairs tomorrow!Arghhh ... we compete at 8pm. I'm less of a wreck today -- just had some Tension Tamer tea, so I'm feeling pretty blase. 8-)

Skaternum acted as the surrogate coach for Loops and myself at our 3:15 practice session. It was nice to have a familiar face by the boards.

The gold pairs events was just amazing. Icecatepairs and her partner kicked major butt. I've not seen the results (because Loops and I had to get to our practice session in another rink), but I'm sure they easily won.

In fact there were so many good gold teams that Loops and I decided then and there to stay at the silver level! 8O We have A LOT to work on. Not just high-level elements, but stroking, transitions, footwork, etc.

Alright, off to eat a light snack before hitting the ice!!!

Terri C

04-14-2005, 05:34 PM

Just saw the Gold Pair ords- icecate pairs (Tara) and partner (Jason) basically held court and swept the panel!
Tonight, I will hold my breath and say major prayers for NoVa and Loops!

jazzpants

04-14-2005, 06:15 PM

Just saw the Gold Pair ords- icecate pairs (Tara) and partner (Jason) basically held court and swept the panel!
Tonight, I will hold my breath and say major prayers for NoVa and Loops!DRATS!!! I'm not getting the link to that event (or any of the events from today.) Something must have happened on the USFSA site. :(

Debbie S

04-14-2005, 06:22 PM

Maybe you could try using another browser, jazzpants? That might help.

Congrats to Mel on Ice for getting through her first event at AN! Hope you had fun, Mel. Good luck tomorrow!

Congrats to icecatepairs and her partner! And I'm thrilled to see that the 2nd place pair did so well - I've seen them practice and perform in shows and they are awesome. And it's their first AN, too.

jazzpants

04-14-2005, 06:33 PM

Okay, I got it back, well sorta... Now YESTERDAY'S events links goes to nowhere and I can see today's events. :roll: (It has something to do with the browser's file cache... Geez, and I do software testing for a living! DUH...) :P

Go "Mel On Ice!!!" Same to icecatepairs and her partner!!! YAAAAY!!! (Enjoy the experience of being at your first AN, Mel!!! You worked hard for this! ENJOY IT!!!) :mrgreen:

jenlyon60

04-14-2005, 07:41 PM

methinks someone hosed up their URLs up at the USFSA's fearless webmeister shop.

I was getting the generic "events" page when I clicked on some of the individual results. As if they edited the master page with all the links before they uploaded the destination pages.

jazzpants

04-14-2005, 08:22 PM

TimDavidSkate

04-14-2005, 10:07 PM

I arrived last night and practiced this morning. The ice is just right. Not too hard or soft. I saw Loops & Nova, Tara and Jason and Jeremy B. Met new skaters. Plus Ye Bin Mok. She is so friendly and sweet.

Tomorrow, I practice around 7 and rest up the whole day until Angelo's competition in the evening.

Mrs Redboots

04-14-2005, 10:13 PM

I'm coming, Baby! I'll be there tonight, and we can hook up Thursday. Can't wait!WHERE WERE YOU????? Still haven't managed to meet you!

Debbie S

04-14-2005, 10:15 PM

Any reports on Champ Gold Ladies? :)

coskater64

04-14-2005, 10:23 PM

I saw Cindy skate and Resa, Resa got 2nd and Cindy got 3rd, Paula got 4th and Gail got 5th. I came in 10th, basically leaving my doubles on the practice ice and missed my spread eagle axel so it wasn't my best day but, such is life, I tried and that's all I can do my spins were fine and so was the footwork. Deseriee from Eastern Section came in 8th.

The winner was the 5th place skater from pacifics who replaced Kelly lawerence, she skated very softly and very well.

The marks in general were all over the place so it's hard to say what was wanted from the skaters, but hey we did it, and it's over.

I'm movin on regardless. :lol: :lol:

Mrs Redboots

04-14-2005, 10:23 PM

It is being great fun, the skating is superb, people are really friendly, Husband is snoring really loudly.... he's asleep as I type! (Well, duh!). Everybody is embarrassing me by saying "Oh, I've heard about you!" to him - mind you, NickiT did that on Tuesday, so it's obviously this week's theme....

Elsy2, thank you so much for the little gift you sent me, I love him! And thank you for signing it with your screen name.... there are one or two out there who have introduced themselves to me by their real names, without reminding me of their screen names, and I'm a bit blank....

We were very amused to open a promotional leaflet for adult skating issued by the USFSA, to find a photograph of a British ice dancer! :lol:

Jazzpants, met your coach, who was doing Daisies' hair at the time (oh, she did skate so well!!!), and said "Oh, you teach my friend Jazzpants! [using your real name, of course]", and he admitted he did, so I said I'd met him before & where.....

Anyway, I'm having a lovely time, but am very sleepy, so am going to bed soon!

Skaternum, do come & find me tomorrow, please!

Has anybody seen my blue inflatable cushion I was sitting on? I must have dropped it somewhere.

pennybeagle

04-14-2005, 10:30 PM

Hi all,

I just discovered that my hotel has wifi in the lobby. :)

I skated OK in my silver I (group B) event Wednesday...landed a decent axel (first one in competition--yay!), but my spins were non-existent, and I fell on a...right forward outside three turn. Yep, to start the program, too. :frus: Way to make an impression. I finished 9th out of 11, but with two 6th place ordinals, so I figure that's a fine place to start for my first nationals and my first year at silver.

My interp this morning was also pretty good, in a very strong field (I thought). I ended up 6th of 10, with one first place ordinal (WTF, but I'll certainly take it).

This has been so much fun...especially after about, oh, 10:35 Wednesday morning when I was done with my free skate!! I've seen so many great skaters and I'm so inspired. I was such a complete nervous wreck last week, but now I'm so glad to be here, and I can't wait until next year!!!

Debbie S

04-14-2005, 10:39 PM

I'm movin on regardless. :lol: :lol:

Meaning Masters? Wow!

Congrats on a good performance. Maybe it wasn't your best, but it sounds like a good effort. I'm in awe of anyone who skates at that level. What a tough field.

You didn't happen to see Claudia skate, did you?

Congrats on your axel, pennybeagle!

jazzpants

04-14-2005, 11:48 PM

We were very amused to open a promotional leaflet for adult skating issued by the USFSA, to find a photograph of a British ice dancer! :lol: *roaring laughter* Too funny!!! :lol:

Jazzpants, met your coach, who was doing Daisies' hair at the time (oh, she did skate so well!!!), and said "Oh, you teach my friend Jazzpants! [using your real name, of course]", and he admitted he did, so I said I'd met him before & where.....Well, I did warn him just before he left that he's gonna have a lot of people come up to him and say hello to him!!! (He just did this :roll: and said "Yeah, yeah! I know that (you have a fan club)..." :P And I would LOVE to see my coach's handy work on daisies' hair. (The word is that he's REALLY good with hair too... for a hairdresser, I mean...) If I ever become eligible, I'm definitely using him as my traveling hairstylist. :P

pennybeagle: Congrats on your axel! Congrats to coskater64 for your skate! Even though it wasn't your best skate, you still got out there to kick some ice butts!!! YAAAAY for Gail and Resa (our home team!!! YEAAAH!!!)

jazzpants

04-15-2005, 02:02 AM

Just want to add in my congrats to starskate6.0 (I hope you're the right alias) for winning your Masters Men Interp II event. (Man! Chris Williams came up with a good one this year too!!! GO ROCKY!!!) http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/blob_box.gif

Last but not least.... NoVa Sk8r and Loops WON their Silver Pairs event!!! WOO HOO!!! (See, NoVa Sk8r!!! Told 'ya, you two will do JUST fine!!!) :P

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pmikkogirl-parapara.gif

You could see the two (along with skarskate6.0) here:
http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/backstagepics3.htm

Loops: Get yourself another ice cream!!! You earned it! :yum: :P
NoVa Sk8r: I know you haven't been the perfect Catholic boy... WATCH IT!!! *stern look* :lol: (At least until AFTER your FS event...) ;)

jenlyon60

04-15-2005, 04:50 AM

Not me. I get the generic Events page instead of either photos page 3 or photos page 4.
1
Geez.....someone needs to go back to Webmaster 101 training. This isn't rocket science.

Terri C

04-15-2005, 04:59 AM

[QUOTE=jazzpants]

Last but not least.... NoVa Sk8r and Loops WON their Silver Pairs event!!! WOO HOO!!! (See, NoVa Sk8r!!! Told 'ya, you two will do JUST fine!!!) :P

[IMG]http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pmikkogirl-parapara.gif[/[/url]

Loops: Get yourself another ice cream!!! You earned it! :yum: :P
NoVa Sk8r: I know you haven't been the perfect Catholic boy... WATCH IT!!! *stern look* :lol: (At least until AFTER your FS event...) ;)[/QUOT

Loops and NoVa,
Please check your home e-mail addys- I sent you something! Good luck to Loops today in Silver II finals. NoVa, there are only three men in your group, so you will get a medal, the color is up to you!!!

Figureskates

04-15-2005, 06:10 AM

This thread is a lot of fun!!

I wanted to be out there for this event (as a spectator, not a competitor) but couldn't get the time from work. (My boss thinks all this figure skating stuff is foolishness anyway...figures I can better serve my time here rather than at some ice rink in the heartland....good thing I wasn't competing or I would really be irritated!!). This is the same guy who wanted to send me to Atlanta, but nixed that idea when he found out Nationals was there and sent someone else instead.

I am sorry that they don't broadcast parts of this on TV, like Comcast did for some skating competitions that would not make regular TV, like Eastern from Lake Placid a couple of years back. I wish they had gone ahead with the Ice Channel because that would have been a perfect venue for this competition.

You guys are having such a great time and I am just pea green with jealousy!

Good job to fellow club members Barbara Kelly and Karen Guenette!!

coskater64

04-15-2005, 08:52 AM

I saw part of claudia's program, it's very hard to skate last especially in a champ round but someone always has to do it. I have seen her skate better, she seemed nervous, I don't recall any falls but she may not have attempted her doubles. She seemed to move nicely...

W/ regards to moving up... I will skate gold at M Cup and ISU then I will take my Intermediate FS until I pass it...were talking years possibly.

la

flo

04-15-2005, 09:17 AM

Loops and Nova - Congrats!!!!!!

skatingatty

04-15-2005, 09:51 AM

Congrats to everyone out there at AN! PattyP, that would've been fun to see you practicing with the stick outside the hotel. What're you doing w/it in your interp. program? Wish I could be there too! Good luck, everyone! :)

NoVa Sk8r

04-15-2005, 09:55 AM

Thanx everyone for your well wishes and vibes!
Loops and I skated a clean and nearly perfect program last night. We had skated earlier in the day, and I had worn myself out. Then we had a 20-minute official warmup, then some dead time, then a 6-minute warmup. Some spectators even screamed out, "Go NOVA!" during the 6-minute W/U.

We skated third. I was very tired and was trying to motivate myself. I was also freaking out because I was scared I was gonna forget the program (it's happened a few times before). Not here. We went out there, took our time setting our opening position; I let out a sigh of relief a second before the music started and everything fell into place. Surprising to both Loops and mself was that we did a huge split twist (and right before this element, Loops whispered, "Split twist.." to remind me. Haha.) We both looked at each other with wide eyes when I caught her and put her down (and I think she may have uttered an expletive ;)) since it was the best we've eve r done; we also had good speed coming out. After that, my body went into automatic mode, and it was smooth sailing. The crowd was very nice and very appreciative of all the pairs skaters.
After our performance, many stuffed animals and bubble-wrapped nips were thrown onto the ice. :D (luv ya, Becca!!!) I think I ended up with 20+ nips. I drank 4 immediately after the event, then 2 more later, then had another 2 in the dressing room, then we went out to an eatery/bar to celebrate, where I had a shot of tequila--and then I ended up singing karaoke! 8O I believe Loops said at one point, with her head in her hands, "I don't know you."

Got home by midnight, got to bed by 1AM, then had to get up at 6:45am for my 2 practice sessiosnthis morning. No hangover, thank God. Had a decent practice, and did 2 OK program runthroughs. I skate tomorrow at ~11am, so I should be ready to go.
Loops has her final round skate this afternoon, so I get to relax and put her on the ice.

More to come later ........

MusicSkateFan

04-15-2005, 10:11 AM

:) :bow: Super Job NoVa and Loop!! I have been sending you vibes from DC since Tuesday! I can't wait to see the marks and ordinals...the sites are behind!!

Go get em both of you in Singles!! Sounds like the Kristy and Rudy pair team.....both Champions in singles as well!!!

I know you compete during the Bronze men....but if you meet any....tell em there is a jumping fool back in DC who will be ready to pounce next year!!!

skatergirlva

04-15-2005, 10:46 AM

Congrats to both Loops and NoVa. You guys must be on cloud nine. Keep up the good work and have fun with your singles!

dcden

04-15-2005, 10:53 AM

NoVa Sk8r and Loops WON their Silver Pairs event!!!

So proud of you guys! Well done! (And keep the gossip coming...)

jazzpants

04-15-2005, 11:04 AM

Not me. I get the generic Events page instead of either photos page 3 or photos page 4.
1
Geez.....someone needs to go back to Webmaster 101 training. This isn't rocket science.Now it's like I'm not getting the pictures for page 3 but I get the page. And there was another case where I get to page 4 and I don't get the page. After closing the browser and opening another one, I was able to open page 4.

Very, VERY strange!!! :frus:

Sylvia

04-15-2005, 11:27 AM

Now it's like I'm not getting the pictures for page 3 but I get the page. And there was another case where I get to page 4 and I don't get the page. After closing the browser and opening another one, I was able to open page 4.

Very, VERY strange!!! :frus:

Just so you all know -- the USFSA webmaster (who is at AN) is trying to figure out why the "problem" links work sometimes and sometimes not, and she is looking into solving the problem.

jazzpants

04-15-2005, 12:27 PM

Just so you all know -- the USFSA webmaster (who is at AN) is trying to figure out why the "problem" links work sometimes and sometimes not, and she is looking into solving the problem.So I've read. Oh, dear! Poor woman!!! ACK!!! (I'll be patient.)

[Edited to add: It's fixed now!!! Thank you, Laura!!!] :mrgreen:

Sylvia

04-15-2005, 12:35 PM

AN results/photo page latest update: It's apparently a server problem and it's being worked on.

jazzpants

04-15-2005, 12:43 PM

...bubble-wrapped nips were thrown onto the ice. :D (luv ya, Becca!!!) I think I ended up with 20+ nips. I drank 4 immediately after the event, then 2 more later, then had another 2 in the dressing room, then we went out to an eatery/bar to celebrate, where I had a shot of tequila--and then I ended up singing karaoke! 8O I believe Loops said at one point, with her head in her hands, "I don't know you."Becca, just out of curiousity, what kind of vodka did you throw him? You throw him some Absolut???

Admittedly, it would be quite interesting to see how NoVa would skate in his FS program when he's stinkin' drunk, yes? :twisted:

jazzpants

04-15-2005, 03:51 PM

http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/champgoldladies.htm

Want to say congrats to those of you on skatingforums.com that are on the list. You know who you are...

Oh, yes, daisies got the silver in Masters Junior Ladies II!!! Same medal as manleywoman in Masters Junior Ladies I!!! WHOO HOO!!!

And it seems the anonymous Adult Gold II guy had reconsidered and let SkateGuard's partner skate after all with the rest of the Gold II men!!! Whoever you are, bless your heart!!!

Oh, and SkateGuard didn't do so bad either (5th) in the "Interpretive Ladies Class I Group A" event either! YAAAAY!!!!

And I agree with one poster on another board saying "Larry Holliday not skating? I want my $25 admission refund!!!" :twisted:

PattyP

04-15-2005, 04:21 PM

jazzpants

04-15-2005, 06:07 PM

Second....I came in 4th!!!! :D :D :D I'm still in shock! I expected to place double digits. The stick worked just fine.YAAAAY, Patty!!! I knew you'd do well!!! (I've seen the beginnings of that program back at Skate SF. I liked it! I thought it was interesting...) Good luck (and sk8er1964 too!) in Gold II tomorrow!!!

Speaking of which, how did sk8er1964 do in her interp?

Anyone have the results for the Bronze Ladies II final round? I'm dying to find out!!! (Well, that and the Championship Adult Gold Men too, please...) :mrgreen:

Debbie S

04-15-2005, 09:14 PM

Congrats to Patty, starskate 6.0 (Interp), daisies, manleywoman, and Loops and NoVa (and anyone else I missed)! But NoVa, that drinking binge is really going to hurt your chances of being elected pope! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for the info, coskater. Good luck with your testing. Having seen you skate, I don't think you'll have a problem moving up. :)

Mrs Redboots

04-15-2005, 10:19 PM

I need to be quick...gotta get back to the rink.

Most important...I got a vodka nip after my skate! Thanks Becca!

Second....I came in 4th!!!! :D :D :D I'm still in shock! I expected to place double digits. The stick worked just fine.

More later....It was utterly brilliant! I totally loved it.

And how Nova can drink 20 of those vodka nips - I had 3/4 of one (Husband had the other quarter) and am still reeling.... but then, I'm mostly on the wagon these days 'cos of the weight loss. But oh dear, I need to sleep....

Sad the Great Skatingforums Reunion didn't come off (no flags, so nobody knew where to meet).... but at least I got the vodka out of it. I hope Michigansk8er eventually found Sk8er1964, who'd got lost (rumour said a beer or six later). And, sadly, her bootcovers don't fit my boots :( I shall have to go on knitting mine, or else make them...Falling asleep... see you tomorrow....

flo

04-15-2005, 11:19 PM

What, no flags? I left Nova in charge of the flags. I know that one of them is in one of the photos. :giveup:

starskate6.0

04-15-2005, 11:31 PM

PattyP

04-15-2005, 11:43 PM

Congrats Starskate6.0! I watch the event (Ch. Gold) and I really liked your program! You deserved a medal! I'm sorry I missed your interp :cry:

starskate6.0

04-15-2005, 11:45 PM

starskate6.0

04-15-2005, 11:47 PM

Congrats Starskate6.0! I watch the event (Ch. Gold) and I really liked your program! You deserved a medal! I'm sorry I missed your interp :cry:
Thanks Patty.. :D

jazzpants

04-16-2005, 02:39 AM

For those who need to know.
Championship Gold Mens.
1. Burton Powley
2. Nicholas Chou ( great skater)
3. Jason Spicer ( good positions in the air )
4. Ross Luxton..that's me got lucky. :lol:

Sorry I don't have any other places you will have to check out the web site.
Where having a blast , I won my interpretive. :D Ill have another go at the golld mens II tomorrow. Loops did great with a win with Nova in the pairs :bow: and did really well to make the finals in her solo event. Congrates to all . I still have not caught up with some of the other events. See web site. If your on the forums and still not had a chance to say hello please do so tomorrow at the gold mens II event Ill be glade to meet you. :DWHOO HOO!!! Congrats to Lives to Skate, starskate6.0 and InsideAxel. (And my buddy Nick Chou too!!! YEAH, BOOOOOOY!!!!) Shout out to Andy Schell and my fellow Jay's "classmate" Gary too!!!

http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/champgoldmen.htm

http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/backstagepics7.htm

And yes, Mel On Ice's first AN and she's already famous!!!
http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/backstagepics6.htm

Congrats to PattyP on her Survivor's number! Glad to hear the stick brought you good luck!!! :mrgreen:

http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/backstagepics5.htm

(Yeap! You're famous too!!!) :mrgreen:

Here's Loop's event! (I know at least two of the skaters and I could tell 'ya that she was up against some really tough skaters out there.)

http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/silverladies2.htm

Figureskates

04-16-2005, 03:11 AM

Hey Patty, after your costume last year I never thought you would out do yourself this year, but you did!! Sorry i wasn't there to watch it live.

Terri C

04-16-2005, 08:09 AM

What was discussed at the Adult Skating Committee meeting?
Also, the Silver Pairs ordinals are still not up on USFS website- I'd like to see Loops and NoVa's ords!
Now it's NoVa's time to hold court in Silver Men I- Go Nova!!!

Debbie S

04-16-2005, 11:34 AM

Congrats to Mel on your newfound stardom! And hooray for you in FS, too! You'll have to tell us about your experience when you get back! After all, you are a mentor to the "2006 AN or Bust!"-ers. :)

I'm glad that the pics the USFSA is putting up are reflective of all the competitors, and not just the champs in each division. AN looks like a blast. I don't know if I'll ever make it there, but I'm enjoying hearing all the tidbits about it here.

Congrats, livestoskate and starskate! I think you get featured in Skating magazine. :)

Go NoVa!! (hopefully, he's not hung over this morning) ;)

jazzpants

04-16-2005, 12:06 PM

Go NoVa!! (hopefully, he's not hung over this morning) ;) It'd be interesting to see how he skates when he's stinkin' drunk... :twisted: :lol:

GO NOVA!!! GO CHAMP!!! http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/blob_box.gif

Debbie S

04-16-2005, 06:14 PM

It'd be interesting to see how he skates when he's stinkin' drunk... :twisted: :lol:

Apparently, quite well. :D

http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usadultchamps/silvermen1.htm

Congrats, NoVa!! And congrats to Frank R as well!

Terri C

04-16-2005, 06:47 PM

CONGRATULATIONS NOVA!!! :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :D :D :D

Now does this mean you'll go after your Gold test???
Think about it over a few nips and tequila shots tonight and sing all the damn Karaoke you want!! I'm sooo proud of you!!

Mrs Redboots

04-16-2005, 10:13 PM

Patty was awesome in "Survivor" - I loved it! And Coskater won Gold Ladies' 2 by a country mile, she absolutely blew the rest of them out of the water.

But oh, I am still panting with envy of the Championship dance couples, they were fantastic! I would kill to be able to dance 1/10 as well as they can. And tomorrow, I get to dance with the men.... yeah.....

By the way, if I didn't give you any soap (which is what I throw on the ice for people), it wasn't because I was snubbing you, but I bought very little with me, and it sort of got used up rather fast..... Anybody going to the Mountain Cup or O'Dorf will get some there, it's easier to take in the car than on a 'plane!

Thank you to everybody who gave me a bear or some other gift - I had as many as if I'd skated myself!

It's been fantastic. A wonderful few days. Everybody has been terrific, whether you skated great or were disappointed with how it went.

LoopLoop

04-16-2005, 10:23 PM

First off, congratulations to Nova for winning silver I, and to FrankR for placing second with not one but two axels in his program, and also to doubletoe for winning silver II ladies.

There have been too many good performances and moments to list them all, but I've had such a good time and met so many great people...

More to come tomorrow...

PattyP

04-16-2005, 11:18 PM

Coskater was amazing tonight in Gold II, the only clean program of the night. Sk8r1964 had a good skate too. Congrats to both of you.

My skate, however, was a mess! I did manage to land an axel but had a really bad fall in my flying camel...and then it got worse from there. My second axel didn't even go at all then I forgot my program. I then yelled "s*^t" and remembered what I was supposed to do next. I left out a bit of choreography. :roll: At this point I was totally exhausted, my legs were gone. I fell out of my final camel spin and attempted to finish my combination and fell flat on by butt again! I wanted to crawl off the ice in shame. :giveup: :giveup: My coach wanted to kill me. Oh well.

The vodka nip that I had received the day before came in handy. I downed it before my skates came off!

I ended up 10th out of 15, which was a gift. My coach and I killed a bottle of wine in the parking lot, which Sk8r1964 helped us with and all was good after that! It was great talking with you!

All in all it was a great event, there were highs and lows but never a dull moment. I'm looking forward to next year!

It was great meeting all the people from this forum, hope you all will be returning next year in Dallas along with a few more....you know who you are! ;)

Congratulations to everyone!

(Can you tell I had too much wine, I'm feeling a little sentemental ;) )

PattyP

TimDavidSkate

04-16-2005, 11:57 PM

I want to begin to congratulate my bestfriend Angelo for his fierce program, even though the placements were questionable, you're fierce! :bow:
It will only get better from here, I promise.

Congratulations to Loop and Nova for winning the pairs event, and Nova for winning Silver Men. You pulled it through kid. 8-)

Ross and Nicholas C. congrats to you both. :D

I am so extatic from this morning. From the very beginning of the warmup, I was already so terrified and numb. It is the most difficult thing ever to do. Trying to pull myself together while I was numb with fear. My warmup went well and I left the ice 1 minute early. I was 4th from the warmup.
It was so hard for me to tell how was I going to do. I can't say that I was confident, but I was in a zone that I couldn't tell what I was feeling.
I landed Lutz/Loop/Loop, then I changed my second jumping pass to a flip loop, then changed at the last second I put in a camel/attitude (since it was hard for me to do it at the end of the program), then a simple straight line footwork into a salchow/toe loop combination. Going into my last eliment I was doubting myself and at the last second when I was pulling back for that lutz, I realized that the entrance was not in correct tempo. My head, arms, and legs were totally in a different place. It forced the jump into a half instead. Then instead of a back scratch, I just did a forward scratch instead.

I was so pissed for not doing that last jump. I thought that it jeopardized my chances for gold. After 20 minutes, I went to the lobby and saw the results for my event and I ended up sweeping all first places. I was shocked. I hurried to see the score sheet, and I was pleased with my technical and presentation marks. I had the medal ceremony which was sweet. But throughout the day I was kind of cringing on that mistake on the last jump.

I just got home not too long ago and I instantly watched my performance and it 'aint that bad. (Especially for only a 5 days old program)
I am very proud of myself for today's accomplishment.

For all of you who said kind words after my performance, thank you so much. :bow:

jazzpants

04-17-2005, 01:34 AM

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 02:54 AM

coskater64, Tim, and NoVa: Congrats to you guys on your GOLD!!! WOO HOO!!! :bow:

NoVA: Maybe we should let you skate drunk more often? :twisted: :lol: (Hey, if it's any consolation, it worked for me when I tested pre-Bronze FS at 8am in the morning with NyQuil and maybe 4 hours of sleep the night before? (The Nyquil was to get me to sleep!!!)
Thanks, jazz and everyone else for your kind words. I was a little shocked that I won my singles event. I had thought that Frank had outskated me (2 axels in his program, one done as a lutz/axel sequence! 8O ), but I'm happy with the way I skated. I had a calm, steady 6-minute warmup, and mostly everything in the program went off without a hitch. In true form, I changed a few elements midstream in the program because I thought I needed to add a few extra harder items to be more competitive. I also had been watching a lot of the other events and noticed that a few skaters (men and women) had put in the "Sasha-esque" spiral--basically grabbing the skte and lifting the leg near the head. I thought it looked really impressive in others' program, so I decided on my warmup to add it. It worked, and it felt cool. The audience responded in kind. I was also happy to end my program with a hydroblade/lutz and then the final grab-foot sit spin/catch-foot camel/scratch spin. I ended on time and I never felt rushed.

I hadn't thought much about my singles event because Loops and I had won the silver pairs event on Thursday night and then I, er, got hammered. Because of the competition schedule, I had a late night on Friday and didn't go to bed till 2AM. I had a 9AM practice session on which I skated my heart out. My event began at around 11AM.

And to set the record straight, I've never skated drunk. I may act like I'm drunk, but really, Nova Is no lightweight and can hold his liquor.
In fact, I'm such a spaz, that the alcohol probably helps keep me focused.

At tonight's competitor's party, I must have had 10 drinks and ended the night with me doing press and platter lifts with Loops in the ballroom. 8-)
Thanx skaternum for suggesting the amaretto and orange juice. Yum!

Anyway, AN was a blast; I met tons of folks and many skatingforums members. You guys rock (and send me those photos!).

I had 2 great skates, won 2 gold medals (and 2 title plates) so I can't ask for more. I'm considering moving up to gold level in singles and then subsequently in pairs, but that's a complicated decision. I have no axel so I cannot pass the gold test and I can't do basic forward crossovers, so I'm guessing it will take me years to pass the gold MIF. I'll work on 'em, but I have little hope of passing them this decade. As for gold pairs, hmmm, don't think I'm ready for that just yet. Only been doing the pairs thang for a little over a year, but I cannot rule out anything.

Ugh ... off to bed and back to DC in a few hours.
<<snore>>

Beccapoo2003

04-17-2005, 08:46 AM

Nova, After the party, HOW are you even able to get on the computer!!!! (I got to the room and just crashed) The party rocked! Adult skaters RULE!
The Masters Women last night were the BEST EVER!! So many and they all looked so gorgeous (geez, I gotta lose weight) and their programs were incredible!
Rhonda Workman skated an Interp that was so amazing. 8O 8O It expressed her grief and frustration of losing her mother 6 months ago. :cry: :cry: Also, Diana Ragsdale who cracked her skull last summer skated a very touching Interp expressing her concern for our troops in active duty. I have a son back in Iraq and it was so comforting to know he and his buddies are not forgotten! :bow: :bow: :bow: I'm going to send the video to him.
OK, I'm overwhelmed....will write more later.
Becca

Terri C

04-17-2005, 10:21 AM

Nova, After the party, HOW are you even able to get on the computer!!!! (I got to the room and just crashed) The party rocked! Adult skaters RULE!

Maybe I need to start training for Peach now,and I don't mean on the skating end of things!!! :twisted:
Hopefully if the SkateGods can finally cooperate, I'll pass those Bronze tests and be in Dallas next year!

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 03:51 PM

Nova, After the party, HOW are you even able to get on the computer!!!! (I got to the room and just crashed) The party rocked! Adult skaters RULE!HaHa ... the power of being young, perhaps. I went to bed at 3:45am.
It was a crazy little party. Loops and I eve ndid some lifts at the party's end. Then a bunch of folks were doing the hokey pokey in the hallway!

Meeting a bunch of forum members was a special treat at the party. Glad I can entertain off the ice as well! ;)

SkateGuard

04-17-2005, 05:05 PM

Is it over already?

Well, home, time to unpack and repack (yes, I have a 7:25 am flight tomorrow. Well, at least I get to dance with the partner.....).

It was a pleasure to finally meet Michigansk8ter, NoVa, Loops, Mrs. Redboots, FrankR.....

NoVa and Loops had a great pairs skate. Yes, the socks were from me. I'm the sock lady. I just didn't have time to watch you and do little cards.

I want to take care of that Gold II who reconsidered. (Chocolate, champagne, cigars, whatever....) We returned the favor by having a good time helping Lori out by ice montioring Champ Gold Men. And the partner decided to actually do his axel in the program for the first time in over a year. He hasn't even done it in a practice run through. 8O My coach put him on the ice...I think it helped. (I'm still trying to count how many skaters my coach put on the ice....including her six regular students, I think the number is around 20.)

Thanks, jazzpants, for noticing the 5th. It wasn't my best skate--I fell on waltz-loop. I had the skate of my life in fs and got 10th. The world has now balanced out...and Bronze I was a bit more normal in terms of ability level, as compared to last year. Thank goodness. (Though I saw way too many poor quality flying camels....it actually hurt a couple of skaters because they were so poor.)

I wish I could have seen Mel skate...I drew after her in both events. I heard the cheering, however, so she was doing _something_ right!

Please, I _don't_ want to hear about Williams' interp. :roll: Something about choreographing a program before you get to AN's.....well, the end result was pretty good, as was the $15 Wal-Mart costume I made on Wed. for the dance partner.

As for the age thing, I agree that it should be done eventually, but with a long-range plan, rather than pushing it through and creating a host of problems. NoVa and I agree that the test age should be lowered to 21 so that skaters will have passed MIF/FS by 25. That should help increase the numbers of I's. I mean, there were _five_ class I men single skaters...can we possibly split the Class I group with those numbers? I'd like to see them spend a couple of years (six? ;) :lol: ) working on building up the Class I numbers before splitting them off.

I hope coskater64 got home safe...she has to drive through a severe thunderstorm watch.

FrankR

04-17-2005, 05:51 PM

Hello all,

I don't have a laptop so I didn't have the ability to post or read here as the competition progressed. Hmm, I need to invest in a laptop. :D

Anyhow, I will say that I enjoyed this year's Adult Nationals immensely. Granted, I was a raving headcase in the few days leading up to my event but nevertheless I met a lot of great people and saw a lot of great skating.

Regarding my own skating, I am happy with how I did. My practices and warm-ups went well. I did feel very loose in the knee when I took the ice for the six minute warm up. Jelly legs! Technically, the program had a few minor rough spots and on the whole I would have liked to have gone faster but I hit both my lutz/axel and axel/toe-loop/loop about as well as I've ever done them. However, I was very nervous and it showed in my skate. I didn't really project at all. I was focusing all of my attention inwards and thinking every step of my program through instead of just letting the performance go. Afterwards, two of the judges came up to me and told me that I had a nice smile that I should have shown it off more during my skate and to quit looking down at the ice all the time. :oops: (Hey Ross, I know you posted on here a few weeks ago that there's nothing to read down on the ice and that we shouldn't be looking down at the ice as we skate. You were right. Apparently my brain didn't get the memo. :lol: ) Well, another lesson learned. Nevertheless, I felt great about how I skated.

Regarding the Silver Men I event as a whole, I have to say that it was a very well skated event and I give all credit and congratulations to my competitors Pope Impius the First (a.k.a NoVaSk8er, a.k.a Stephen) and Jeremy Balcom. I didn't actually watch them skate during the event because I'm very jittery when I compete and I easily get freaked out watching my fellow competitors skate. I'm trying to break myself of this bad habit because I think not watching just makes me even more nervous because I don't know what's going on, and also, I don't want people to think that I'm not watching out of malice. However, I did watch the event on tape and I thought both Stephen and Jeremy were wonderful. It was an honor and privilege sharing the ice with you guys. Also, might I add, that it was quite the strange feeling skating in a group where I looked completely vertically challenged. You guys are so !@#$!@^ tall! And I'm not even going to start with how flexible you guys are. 8O Kudos!

So, if you all will indulge me I'm going to send out a few shout-outs:

Dana Lyn Brahms: Thanks so much for standing with me at my event and for being so nice and chatting with me all week. It was nice seeing a friendly face nearby and I am forevery in your debt.

Marna Grim and Stephen Trzaska: It was great seeing you guys again and I enjoyed seeing you guys skate and chatting with you off the ice. (Yes, I know I already talked about Stephen earlier in this post, but he won two golds this week so he gets two-shout outs. So congratulations Stephen...you big lush. :P Kidding, Kidding!)

Tara Cioppa: We've known each other for three years and watching you go out and put it out there on the ice 100% every time has been an inspiration. I've learned a lot just by watching you. Kudos to you and Jason for an amazing performance and completing such a difficult journey in such a short time frame. Kudos to you all by yourself for skating so well in your individual events. Many thanks for volunteering to be my costume designer from this point forward. God knows I can't keep grabbing things off the rack forever! ;)

Dana Hordyszynski: It has been so nice getting to meet you starting at the Morris Open last Sunday and seeing you through Adult Nationals this week. Many congratulations! I really enjoyed seeing you skate. Thanks for the tiger beanie! :D

Richard Bretweiser: Thanks for being so supportive. As always, it's a pleasure to see you and share the Adult Nationals experience with you.

Hsin-Ting Feng: You've been skating for one year and Adult Nationals was your fourth ever skating competition. You did so well! You rock!

Edward Van Campen: You deserve a special thanks from me. You and Jackie are my coaches and occasionally my on-ice therapists when I'm in full freak-out mode. You rock! I could watch you skate forever and never get tired of it. And I know plenty of people that feel that way too.

To everyone else I may have failed to mention: Thanks to everyone who stopped to pay me a compliment and wish me well. I wish you all the very best and look forward to seeing you around the adult skating world.

Frank

Mrs Redboots

04-17-2005, 05:52 PM

It was great. We tiptoed away during the Championship Ladies as Husband's back had gone (mine went on Friday but I stretched out and it was okay after that) and he was very tired. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet Tim or Frank, but I think I met most people.

This morning we did the social dance session, which was enormous fun. I think I prefer skating the Swing Dance at US tempo, I'm much better at it. Thinks.... how can I persuade Other Woman & her Husband to skate it to that tempo at the Mountain Cup? Our Swing Dance was up there with anybody's this morning, and our Fiesta was okay, too, if small. I was wearing my psychedelic boot covers, although strictly speaking as it was Sunday I should have worn my white ones (I normally try to wear boot covers in the liturgical colours of the season on Sundays!). My new practice-dress is fantastic, and I look great in it! But it has a keyhole back, which strikes chill.

Had enormous fun dancing with all sorts of Gold & Championship men! We have learnt _so_ much from watching the dancers, you can't imagine! Husband actually has learnt the proper arm position in Kilian hold, and one pre-Gold dancer friend of ours said he had a wonderful hold. I was like, "are we talking about the same man?" so I do hope he remembers!

These whole few days have been glorious. I am running out of superlatives! Now we have a couple of days rest & visit with our friends - we are going to the Flint Hills tomorrow, weather permitting.

Hope everyone got home safely. Thanks again to those who gave me bears & other small gifts - you know who you are - and thank you to all the skaters for being so great! I wasn't able to watch all of you, but it was great to watch as many as possible.

daisies

04-17-2005, 06:45 PM

What a fun thread to come home to!

First, many MANY thanks to everyone who supported me in my attempt to return to free skating and for your congratulations on my result. I was beyond thrilled to have placed second among such a fabulous group of skaters and to have truly skated the best I possibly could. I don't think I have ever skated that well, even when I was doing double jumps! My hardest jump now is a single axel, and I have two choregraphed in the program. But I had actually never landed the second one in practice. Or should I say ... I had never attempted it in practice. Seriously, I was always so worn out by the time I got to that element in practice that I always just did a waltz jump. But on Thursday when I was competing, as I was coming around to do the second axel, I just said, "It's now or never ... JUST DO IT!" And I did! So from that point on I was so ecstatic that it removed all fear and nervousness from my body! It was really a great experience.

The only downside was that because I got overly excited I actually had a sports-induced asthma attack after I skated. I never thought I had asthma, but it looks like something I'll need to look into. The medic actually had to come down to the ladies dressing room and give me oxygen! :oops:

It was so great to see Mrs Redboots there -- thanks again for the compliments... and the soap! :)

And of course it was wonderful to watch all the skatingforums peeps! Congrats to manleywoman on two great skates (I got your Interp!); to PattyP on her super-cute Interp; to coskater64 on her wonderful Saturday free skate; and to starskate6.0 on his many performances -- it was great to finally meet you! I didn't get to see TimDavidSkates' performance, but I did see the result -- good for you for getting out there despite not knowing what music you would skate to a week ahead of time, dude!!! I didn't see SkateGuard or Beccapoo skate either, but it was nice seeing both of you in the stands! And thanks again for the vodka nip, Becca!

Unfortunately I don't think I saw anyone else from here skate. But congrats to all of you for getting out there and skating, no matter what your result. The adult skating community as a whole should be very proud of all it has accomplished!

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 08:25 PM

I think someone asked about a report for the bronze men. I saw the Bronze II event (which took place right before my Silver I event). Some had awesome crossovers, as well as good spirals and flexibility, and outstanding presentation. There were 2 in particular (the actual bronze II's mind you) who I approached and had to compliment.
For the true bronze-level skaters, a few attempted the lutz, some tried the flip, and most landed the salchow, loop, and toe. I didn't see any true camel spins, but there were some decent sit spins and scratch spins. Most of the programs were well done. One guy skated to West Side Story and had amazing presentation. Another skated to Pearl Harbor and did a very impressive forward spiral. I wish I could rememebr more, but Iwas coming in and out of "my special place" in getting prepared for my free skate.

Stormy

04-17-2005, 08:31 PM

Congrats, everyone! I was really dissapointed I had to scratch, I'd been looking forward to AN for months and months. I took a new job recently that had me in Florida this past week for some seminars. Ugh, one of those grown up things I had to do, chose work over skating. :( I am bummed I missed it, but it sounds like all my friends had great skates, which I am thrilled about! I'll just have to look forward to Peach and Dallas next year!

Terri C

04-17-2005, 08:44 PM

I'll just have to look forward to Peach and Dallas next year!

For me, it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't pass my tests to go to AN. As quite a few of you know, my mother was hospitalized a month ago and wound up having major surgery (open cholecystectomy to be exact) and is still recovering. If I had passed my Bronze tests and qualified for AN, it would have been more upsetting to have to withdraw after all the excitement of training for AN and the expences involved.
With all that said, I do plan on going to Peach for the first time ever this year and all week, after reading everyone's posts, I can hardly wait for September to get here!

icecatepairs

04-17-2005, 08:46 PM

Hi everyone, just taking a break from the pile of mail that awaited me to send a post. It was a long and awesome week, and after 4 (yes 4!) events i am tired but there are some things i wanted to post tonight.

I am sorry i didn't get to meet everyone who is on forums. I was in 4 events and hold the record for buying the most practice ice cause i am a freak. i regret not being able to see any of the silver men as i was on practice ice at the same time. so frank, tim, larry s., stephen, and crew i'm sad i missed you guys.

Frank R....thank you so much for being so supportive and possitive through the weekend. and i am so happy for you that you had a personal satisfaction in your singles skate. you have come so far in just a short time. i would be honored to be your costume designer...i'm thinking of electric blue and balack silk shirt with onyx beads....

stephen and marna...simply put ..you made me cry when you skated. it was an awesome weekend. i'm glad we got to spend time together in person for a change. congrats on your successful weekend.

larry S.....(2/1 lutz...2/1 lutz....2/1 lutz....hey i finally landed it in open gold...um and forgot to land the rest of the jumps. sorry i missed your skate ...thanks for being so supportive all weekend...i always look foward to seeing you at an...and thanks for gracuiosly guessing my weight so low after our lutz lift....pairs next year...get back in the club!!!!

Ross ..you were professionally entertaining on the ice..it must be all those years of t-stops....i forgot to check the cockpit for a drunk/hungover pilot before take off this morning.

general...a big thank you to everyone from me and jason for all your wonderful support and possitive feedback on our pairs program. i can honestly say that from the moment we got on the ice in the warm up to the last note of our program we could hear you all and we used that energy to help us in our program.

so in closing i hope to see everyone in dallas and no i am not taking up ice dance to enter yet another event so maybe i will be able to see you all next time.

last but not least...edward you are an amazing skater with edge quality that olympic champions can't to touch. heal your body and your soul and come back again next year. we won't let you retire..it would be too much of a dissapointment to the audience. :D

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 09:00 PM

Regarding my own skating, I am happy with how I did. My practices and warm-ups went well. I did feel very loose in the knee when I took the ice for the six minute warm up. Jelly legs! Technically, the program had a few minor rough spots and on the whole I would have liked to have gone faster but I hit both my lutz/axel and axel/toe-loop/loop about as well as I've ever done them. However, I was very nervous and it showed in my skate. I didn't really project at all. I was focusing all of my attention inwards and thinking every step of my program through instead of just letting the performance go.Yes, Frank, your warmups went very well--I was getting nervous watching from a distance! ;)
I was very anxious on the 30-minute practice/warmup and it was hard for me to concentrate. On the 6-minute warmup, I mostly worked on keeping my nerves in check and making sure that I could visualize my program.
I didn't see your full program, mostly because I was exhausted and had to sit down on a bench. But I thought you skated very well. I almost fainted when I saw your axel combo. :P
I like your "letting the performance go" statement. It's something that I had been thinking of in my past few competitions. A fellow silver-level skater told me to just think of how I skated in my silver pairs program and to just use that feeling. I did that, and it totally worked. I also think it was Loops who told me that I skated my program the way I was skating in the warmup, which is to say, I took my time, stayed focused, and didn't freak out. At least, I think that's what was meant.

But I must say, we silver I skaters all looked incredibly nervous before the 6-minute warmup. And before I left the dressing room, I passed by a mirror and my face was ashen, and my eyes were glossed over (wait, was that from all the vodka nips I had been drinking? ;)). But we all appeared to have a good warmup. Everyone looked strong and ready to go.

Regarding the Silver Men I event as a whole, I have to say that it was a very well skated event and I give all credit and congratulations to my competitors. I didn't actually watch them skate during the event because I'm very jittery when I compete and I easily get freaked out watching my fellow competitors skate.I also used to not watch my competitors because it makes me nervous ... also because I don't like to play the "why did the judges mark us that way" game. But now I do watch--when possible.

However, I did watch the event on tape and I thought both Stephen and Jeremy were wonderful. It was an honor and privilege sharing the ice with you guys. Also, might I add, that it was quite the strange feeling skating in a group where I looked completely vertically challenged. You guys are so !@#$!@^ tall! And I'm not even going to start with how flexible you guys are. 8O Kudos!Haha. :D I feel the same way among most of the pairs skaters that you feel among the other Silvers.
And yes, Jeremy is very tall! (I'm only 6'.)

I liked Jeremy's program music, the layout, and his interpretation. And I loved your music selection ("Wicked Games" by Chris Isaak--awesome!) and what else can I say about your axel/toe loop and lutz/axel sequence. Rock on! :bow:

Marna Grim and Stephen Trzaska: It was great seeing you guys again and I enjoyed seeing you guys skate and chatting with you off the ice. (Yes, I know I already talked about Stephen earlier in this post, but he won two golds this week so he gets two-shout outs. So congratulations Stephen...you big lush. :P Kidding, Kidding!)No, I really was a lush this past week. I'm worried about my papal chances. And I just had a malibu nip. :P

Terri C

04-17-2005, 09:09 PM

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 09:13 PM

I am sorry i didn't get to meet everyone who is on forums. I was in 4 events and hold the record for buying the most practice ice cause i am a freak. i regret not being able to see any of the silver men as i was on practice ice at the same time. so frank, tim, larry s., stephen, and crew i'm sad i missed you guys.Tara, you are amazing. 4 events and 3 US Adult National medals, including the gold pairs title. And you skated championship gold a few hours after the gold pairs event. Simply awesome.

stephen and marna...simply put ..you made me cry when you skated. it was an awesome weekend. i'm glad we got to spend time together in person for a change. congrats on your successful weekend.I think you made us cry when you told us that. Your pairs coach also said some very nice things. We are so glad the program looked nice and that we skated it nearly perfectly. We're still trying to figure out where that came from. And I cannot for the life of me explain the split twist; we've never done one like that before.

general...a big thank you to everyone from me and jason for all your wonderful support and possitive feedback on our pairs program. i can honestly say that from the moment we got on the ice in the warm up to the last note of our program we could hear you all and we used that energy to help us in our program. As soon as you and J. finished your program, Marna and I looked at each other and said (in unison--hey, we are a pairs team!), "We are SO staying in silver pairs!"
You two were phenomenal. Your marks and ordinals say it all.
I guess I can say that we hope to one day be as half as good as you two are. :bow: But thanks again for all your nice words, and your encouragement, support, and advice.

Seems like there are a few more pair teams in the works. I hope to see them at Peach and/or in Dallas next year ...

mskater

04-17-2005, 09:19 PM

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 09:19 PM

This was just reported by a Italian news agency:
The Vatican has reported that the lone American favorite for the papacy, Stephen from Virginia (Diocese of Arlington) is no longer in consideration.
The sources report that he was spotted at a Hooters outside Kansas City this past week, as well as karaoke bar in the area, where he appeared to be intoxicated. Vatican officials were monitoring this man as he was participating in a adult figure skating competition in Kansas!

Now, I really need to make a date for the confessional next Saturday! :lol:Hmmm, well this Stephen is originally from New York, so that news flash is simply erroneous. ;)
And I've never been to a Hooters. (There was one a few storefronts away, but ew, how degrading to go in there!)

However, I did indeed partake in karaoke with Careygram on Thursday and some local yokels (oops, I forgot to say good-bye to those lovely ladies! :roll: :P ); it was all very innocent--well, the parts that I remember.

And to my knowledge, there's no rule against drinking. :??

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 09:28 PM

Thanks to everyone who posted on their experience at AN's; very fun reading and a good source of motivation! Can't wait for Dallas and Sectionals in Hillsborough (practically my backyard) next year.

Great job Nova and Loops, all that hard work and time on the ice has paid off!:] Can't wait to see what you guys put together for next season!

Btw Nova, where's my Master's Men's report? I'll sit tight since you may still be 'under the influence' ;]Um, to my knowledge, Loops and I are not going to AN next year.

I have your report somewhere, but you'll have to wait a while for me to decipher my handwriting. I seem to have written it while inebriated. One note reads: 1/2 lutz/2R, which makes no sense. Once I get the Rosetta stone for my hieroglyphic writing, I'll post. And a nip seems to have spilled on the page causing the ink to run. Ah, the beauty of chromatography.

But one word of advice, C: Work on your spins! The top 3 men had outstanding camel spins.
And the winner attempted 9 doubles (landed 7 clean).

The official report (http://usfsa.org/event_story.asp?id=29634) is on the USFS homepage.

mskater

04-17-2005, 09:37 PM

What a nice report on the USFSA site; I think this is the most extensive coverage they've ever had of AN's.

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 09:50 PM

Chad, who luvs ya, baby? :P

Here's what I can decipher; there may be some minor errors:

Carl DeAngelis:
This was a crowd-pleaser number. Well, you saw him skate at Sectionals last year. He did a lunge, a salchow, a waltz, a 1/2 lutz, and some basic footwork.

Edward VanCampen:
(He skated to Malaguena)
-Camel w/bent skating leg; great stretch and amazing speed.
-Axel
-Walley/half-loop/2flip (step out)
-Camel/sit/back camel
-Interesting MIF pattern (and mostly throughout the whole program)
-2lutz (fall)
-Spiral sequence
-Loop
-Flying camel
-Straight-line footwork sequence
-Russian split jump
-Scratch spin (fast and centered)

Ted Gradman:
-Ina Bauer into loop
-2salchow
-Camel/scratch/back sit
-2flip (cheated)
-Axel
-Circular step sequence
-Flying camel (slow; only 3 revs)
-Spread eagle/lutz
-Spread eagle/flip
-Sit spin

Joe Radomile:
-2lutz (great height and runout)
-Walley into 2axel(? I think he tried it but turned out of it)/2toe(? someone walked in front of me here)
-Arabian/back sit
-2sal/2toe/2loop (step out)
-2flip
-Camel change camel
-Serpentine (?) footwork sequence
-2loop
-Cannonball sit spin
-Walley/2flip/2toe (the USFS website says 2toe/2flip, but that's obviously wrong)
-Circular (?) footwork sequence
-Camel/sit/back sit/back scratch

Davin Grindstaff:
-3sal (onlt 2.5 revs)
-2axel (underrotated)
-2toe (he had planned a 3toe)
-Circular(?) footwork
-Sit spin (great position)
-Walley/2flip/2toe
-1-foot axel/sal (should have been 2sal I'm guessing)
-2loop
-Camel/sit/back sit
-2loop/2loop (very nice)
-Flying camel
-2lutz (gorgeous!)

(And of course, he had awesome connecting steps.)

1. Joe Radomile, 8/1
2. Davin Grindstaff, 9/2
3. Edward VanCampen, 9/3
4. Ted Gradman, 9/4
5. Carl DeAngelis, 9/5

FrankR

04-17-2005, 10:00 PM

Yes, Frank, your warmups went very well--I was getting nervous watching from a distance! ;) ...But I thought you skated very well. I almost fainted when I saw your axel combo. :P

Thanks Stephen. :) I'm glad the axel stayed with me throughout the event. I think I have my coaches to thank for that. My freestyle coach had me warm-up, skate my program run-through and then made me stroke once around the rink at full speed and then do six axels in a row. 8O No breathing, no stopping, just six axels, rapid-fire. I've dubbed that particular exercise the Kill Drill Volume 1. :lol: The first few weeks she had me do that I had some nasty waxel falls but by the time I left for KC I was doing all six axels and landing them well. Now if she has a similar drill for improving my spins and performance quality then I'll be set! ;)

I like your "letting the performance go" statement. It's something that I had been thinking of in my past few competitions. A fellow silver-level skater told me to just think of how I skated in my silver pairs program and to just use that feeling. I did that, and it totally worked. I also think it was Loops who told me that I skated my program the way I was skating in the warmup, which is to say, I took my time, stayed focused, and didn't freak out. At least, I think that's what was meant.

I think you did a superb job at staying composed and that was great. I'm just glad I didn't completely unravel or it might have gotten really messy in my skate. :P Now I have to figure out how to do that without keeping my eyes glued to the ice. By the way, great sit to catch-leg upright spin! Great line.

Haha. :D I feel the same way among most of the pairs skaters that you feel among the other Silvers.
And yes, Jeremy is very tall! (I'm only 6'.)

After our skate, I ran into Jeremy and his coach by the podium right before the medal ceremony and I mentioned how tiny I felt with you guys on the ice. I said "Geez, when I skate with you guys on the ice it almost feels like I'm skating with a pair of redwood trees!" I don't know if he appreciated my attempt at being funny. I hope I didn't offend him. :oops:

I liked Jeremy's program music, the layout, and his interpretation. And I loved your music selection ("Wicked Games" by Chris Isaak--awesome!) and what else can I say about your axel/toe loop and lutz/axel sequence. Rock on! :bow:

I saw Jeremy's program at Easterns and on tape a while ago and I agree that I really liked it. There's an even distribution of elements and he expresses himself well. The same goes for your program. Looking at my program on tape I think that I have these two big bang elements right off the top and then it kind of putters out. I'll have to work on that with my coaches once I get back on the ice again. Thanks for the compliment about my music. I really like the music and I think I have a ways to go before I really do it justice. I may keep it another season or maybe re-cut it if needed. Thanks again for the axel-lurve! :lol: Kudos to you for those spirals and the hydroblade move. You'll pick up the axel soon, I'm sure. If I tried your spirals or hydroblade move I'll end up in traction. 8O

No, I really was a lush this past week. I'm worried about my papal chances. And I just had a malibu nip. :P

Pssst. Just say it was altar wine. I'll back you up. ;)

Frank

FrankR

04-17-2005, 10:09 PM

Frank R....thank you so much for being so supportive and possitive through the weekend. and i am so happy for you that you had a personal satisfaction in your singles skate. you have come so far in just a short time. i would be honored to be your costume designer...i'm thinking of electric blue and balack silk shirt with onyx beads....

Hey, my pleasure Tara. I appreciate your support and it's always great to see you and hang out and skate. Can't wait to shop for my new costume with you! :D

last but not least...edward you are an amazing skater with edge quality that olympic champions can't to touch. heal your body and your soul and come back again next year. we won't let you retire..it would be too much of a dissapointment to the audience. :D

Amen! If I can skate half as well as Edward does, I'll be so happy. And I'm not just saying that because he's my moves coach and he'll make me do a solid hour of pumping exercises during my next lesson if I tick him off. ;)

Frank

SkateGuard

04-17-2005, 10:14 PM

No, I really was a lush this past week. I'm worried about my papal chances. And I just had a malibu nip. :P

Two words: Irish priest. ;)

BTW, that's a huge hint for my next year's _silver_ program. :D I am finally done with bronze.....three years is enough!

coskater64

04-17-2005, 10:35 PM

Well it was a long drive back to colorado...luckily we had a spare driver, 3 beers and i'm a wreck the next day. :roll:

I cannot begin to say thank you to everyone who supported me it meant a lot and this was my most memorable nationals to date (#4). It was also so wonderful to meet everyone, especially Ms. Redboots, you are going to MC and O'dorf?

It was nice to finally put names and faces together and everyone was just so kind and really fun. I must go to sleep now, it is late and I have got to go to sleep....... ;)

NoVa Sk8r

04-17-2005, 11:03 PM

My freestyle coach had me warm-up, skate my program run-through and then made me stroke once around the rink at full speed and then do six axels in a row. 8O No breathing, no stopping, just six axels, rapid-fire. I've dubbed that particular exercise the Kill Drill Volume 1. :lol: The first few weeks she had me do that I had some nasty waxel falls but by the time I left for KC I was doing all six axels and landing them well. Now if she has a similar drill for improving my spins and performance quality then I'll be set! ;) My coach _makes me_ do my program in the morning after having skated for 1.5 hours. It's evil, but effective. I'm never out of breath in the program. I am so impressed with those axel drills. I am so averse to falling even though I know that is the only true way to progress. My back fights with my brain and says it's not worth. And then when I do fall (on the axel, double sal, double flip attempts--as if I'll EVER land those jumps :roll: ), I scare my coach half to death.
No, don't get better at spins--it's my only defense against you evil axel-ers! :P

I think you did a superb job at staying composed and that was great. I'm just glad I didn't completely unravel or it might have gotten really messy in my skate. :P Now I have to figure out how to do that without keeping my eyes glued to the ice.I think I owe the composure to a few people. In particular, masters lady Beth D. gave me great advice on how to handle the warmup. I followedt] it, and it worked. (So not only does she make great cocktails, execute a layback that melts my heart, but she is a guru on performance psychology!)
As for not looking at the ice ... hmmm. Just trust yourself. You know what you're doing or else you wouldn't be competing at adult nationals!)

By the way, great sit to catch-leg upright spin! Great line.I actually have no idea what this looks like. Maybe one day, I'll view the tape.
Someone called me gumby after I did this, so I guess it looks kind of unnatural for a guy to be doing this. :?? I still like it. That end spin is actually a pruned-down version of a 4-position spin that my coach suggested I do (and maybe I'll put it in a gold program if I ever reach that level). If you've not noticed, I simply love to spin. I wish I could put 6 spins in my silver program. Unfortunately, 2:10 does not allow for that.

After our skate, I ran into Jeremy and his coach by the podium right before the medal ceremony and I mentioned how tiny I felt with you guys on the ice. I said "Geez, when I skate with you guys on the ice it almost feels like I'm skating with a pair of redwood trees!" I don't know if he appreciated my attempt at being funny. I hope I didn't offend him. :oops: Hmmm, I don't see how that would be offensive. But then again, I'm the wrong person to ask on questions of social etiquette and offending people! I wish I had gotten the chance to talk to him more. I really loved his interpretation of Carmen. I think that is a very difficult music to skate to, but he did it.

I saw Jeremy's program at Easterns and on tape a while ago. There's an even distribution of elements and he expresses himself well. The same goes for your program. Looking at my program on tape I think that I have these two big bang elements right off the top and then it kind of putters out. I'll have to work on that with my coaches once I get back on the ice again. Honestly, I've never felt totally secure with my program. I chose "Harlem Nocturne" because it is completely off the beaten path for me. And I thought it would be an interesting challenge. I tried (and I really do mean *tried*) to mimic Ilia Kulik's "Blues for Narada" program. It never felt 100% there, but I had fun working on it. I had changed this program no less than 15 times in the past 12 months, but I always tried to keep a nice pacing where the elements were well-laid out.
But I am really looking forward to choosing new music that is in a completely different quadrant musically. I *hope* to do this for the Peach Classic. :??

Thanks again for the axel-lurve! :lol: Kudos to you for those spirals and the hydroblade move. You'll pick up the axel soon, I'm sure. If I tried your spirals or hydroblade move I'll end up in traction. 8O The hydroblade/back shoot-the-duck move is actually a resting point for me; it's much easier to do than it looks.
And I've just about given up on the axel. While I think the camel spin is the easiest thing in the world to do, my body does not grasp the concept of the axel (different strokes for different folks). I can explain it away and tell you how to do it, what it looks like, the take-off edge, etc. But my hips are completely anti-axel all the time. I'd rather learn new spins and work on increasing my flexibility. Maybe some Sasha Cohen-like moves will be on display in the future ...

Now that nationals is over and I've given up pairs for a while, I guess I have no excuse for not working on those gold moves. Grrrr.... Expect major rants and phrases of woe in the near future. :P

TimDavidSkate

04-17-2005, 11:12 PM

Hey Frank, congrats on your silver medal :D It was nice meeting you, I will see you in Dallas next year 8-)

NoVa Sk8r

04-18-2005, 02:07 AM

skateflo

04-18-2005, 07:16 AM

It sounds like so many of you had a real blast!!!

When you all come back down to earth, can someone report on the AN/adult committee meeting? What were the hot topics? Also, did they have any off-ice seminars this year?

Terri C

04-18-2005, 08:14 AM

Um, to my knowledge, Loops and I are not going to AN next year.

Loops may not be going but YOU are!!! Jazzpants and I will see to that! :twisted:
Hopefully, I may be taking Bronze moves in June, so gear up!

LoopLoop

04-18-2005, 08:56 AM

Thanks to everyone for the kind words (and socks and stuffed animals)! Overall it was a good week. I was surprised to get out of qualifying in silver II, which was the biggest event at nationals this year. I didn't see much of the event unfortunately due to my skating draw, but just from the warmups I know everyone in the group was terrific. I skated well but not perfectly in qualifying and didn't try my flying sitspin because it was AWFUL in the warmup. Then later that night we had a pairs practice which, sorry NoVa, was not very productive because I was so tired from the adrenaline rush and then crash, not to mention the six dance teams on the ice with us. ;)

Then on Thursday we had the pair event, which was unbelievable. Ten minutes into the 20-minute warmup session I was ready to compete; I've never felt like that for any competition, but I just wanted to get out there and do it. And it carried through to the competition. I've never seen Tim and Debbie skate better and I think that inspired me even more. And speaking of pairs, Tara and Jason were, in a word, awesome. I can't believe how much they've accomplished in less than a year. Paul and Judy did the best press lift I've ever seen them do, and Marty and Alla looked like a pair team, not an adult pair team at all.

My final round was Friday night, and, well, it didn't go as well. After competing on both Wednesday and Thursday I think my mind as well as my body said "no more." I was OK for the 30-minute official warmup, but before my six-minute warmup I completely panicked. Careygram, thanks so much for trying to calm me down, and thanks also to Jen Simon for trying too. None of it worked, however, and I was just petrified. My hands were shaking in my opening position and I never pulled it together. I botched my combination spin and skated w-a-y t-o-o s-l-o-w-l-y. :frus: At least I did the flying sit that time, and I landed all of my jumps.

As for everyone else... doubletoe was great and she'll do well in gold next year. I really admire her (and everyone else who can do it!) for being able to skate in competition just like they do in practice. For example, my partner... who skated his silver I program looking calm, relaxed, and comfortable. FrankR landed all of his jumps but Frank, you looked as nervous as I felt on Friday night. Nick Chou was fabulous in gold men; starskate had a great performance in gold II; the championship masters were awe-inspiring, especially Kim Sailer whom you would never know started skating as an adult; coskater did a great program in gold II; I didn't get to see manleywoman skate at all unfortunately; PattyP had a great performance in interp; Maureen L in gold I has an absolutely perfect axel...

SkateGuard, I was wondering who kept throwing socks! Thanks!
Kristin, I'm glad you were at the party and I'll definitely be in touch. :D

And to everyone I'm forgetting and didn't mention specifically, adult skaters are awesome! All of us!

skaternum

04-18-2005, 09:30 AM

I forgot in all my (many!) previous posts to thank skaternum/the Other Woman for: her unwavering support; the stuffed animal pig that she threw on the ice after my singles event (and whose tag read "For the biggest HAM I know); her encouragement of my inebriation (Beaujolais, anyone? ;)); the little tidbits of gossip; her lending of her body to use in demonstrating/practicing a few new lifts when "The Woman" was either too tired or unavailable; and last but not least, her sharing of a certain dream that she had on Fri. night. 8O 8-) :POh, how I wish now I'd kept that dream to myself! :oops: LoopLoop warned me not to tell you. ;) Yep, nothing like drinking Beaujolais from paper cups in the stands at noon!!

It was tons of fun hanging out with you guys and getting to meet some of the skatingforums crowd. I wish the Friday night Eat & Greet had worked out, but given the fact that people were scattered all over, it was hard to find each other, and the spacing of practice ice/warmups/events, it clearly wasn't meant to happen.

I didn't even skate, and I was exhausted when I got back. I thought I wouldn't want to be skating, but by noon on Friday, I was already wishing I'd skated at AN, afterall. I don't care if I have to recycle an old singles program -- I will be skating something in Dallas!

nerd_on_ice

04-18-2005, 10:18 AM

My only and entire impression of AN comes from reading this thread and I just have to say:
1. I am in awe of everyone's support, encouragement, and cheerleading for each other.
2. Every post I read makes me a little more "hungry" to pass Pre-Bronze & Bronze this year so I can compete next year.
3. As a Dallasite I think I can safely say Dallas is NOT READY for y'all! :twisted:

Adult skaters are awesome indeed!

Figureskates

04-18-2005, 10:55 AM

I agree with you whole heartedly, Nerd on Ice.

I am in the same predicament as far as fininhing the bronxe qualifications. Maybe being an Aggie, I could do a program to the Aggie War hymn.....Is Dallas ready for that???

mskater

04-18-2005, 11:36 AM

Thanks for my report; you rock! Hurts me to read it b/c I think I might of had a chance at a bronze??

Wonder what happened to the Pacific Coast guys? Wasn't Boise Ding supposed to compete?

Chad, who luvs ya, baby? :P

Here's what I can decipher; there may be some minor errors:

Carl DeAngelis:
This was a crowd-pleaser number. Well, you saw him skate at Sectionals last year. He did a lunge, a salchow, a waltz, a 1/2 lutz, and some basic footwork.

Edward VanCampen:
(He skated to Malaguena)
-Camel w/bent skating leg; great stretch and amazing speed.
-Axel
-Walley/half-loop/2flip (step out)
-Camel/sit/back camel
-Interesting MIF pattern (and mostly throughout the whole program)
-2lutz (fall)
-Spiral sequence
-Loop
-Flying camel
-Straight-line footwork sequence
-Russian split jump
-Scratch spin (fast and centered)

Ted Gradman:
-Ina Bauer into loop
-2salchow
-Camel/scratch/back sit
-2flip (cheated)
-Axel
-Circular step sequence
-Flying camel (slow; only 3 revs)
-Spread eagle/lutz
-Spread eagle/flip
-Sit spin

Joe Radomile:
-2lutz (great height and runout)
-Walley into 2axel(? I think he tried it but turned out of it)/2toe(? someone walked in front of me here)
-Arabian/back sit
-2sal/2toe/2loop (step out)
-2flip
-Camel change camel
-Serpentine (?) footwork sequence
-2loop
-Cannonball sit spin
-Walley/2flip/2toe (the USFS website says 2toe/2flip, but that's obviously wrong)
-Circular (?) footwork sequence
-Camel/sit/back sit/back scratch

Davin Grindstaff:
-3sal (onlt 2.5 revs)
-2axel (underrotated)
-2toe (he had planned a 3toe)
-Circular(?) footwork
-Sit spin (great position)
-Walley/2flip/2toe
-1-foot axel/sal (should have been 2sal I'm guessing)
-2loop
-Camel/sit/back sit
-2loop/2loop (very nice)
-Flying camel
-2lutz (gorgeous!)

(And of course, he had awesome connecting steps.)

1. Joe Radomile, 8/1
2. Davin Grindstaff, 9/2
3. Edward VanCampen, 9/3
4. Ted Gradman, 9/4
5. Carl DeAngelis, 9/5

Mel On Ice

04-18-2005, 11:44 AM

Oh. My. God.

How can I put into words adequately the feeling I got from being at Nationals as a competitor? I met people I have admired from afar for years, met people that feel like I've known them forever, and got to meet so many skatingforums folks. I'm taking that away with me to treasure forever.

As for the skating... TWO CLEAN PROGRAMS! As for placements.... I knew going into the competition that I was going as a newly-anointed bronze skater who wouldn't have the jumps or skills of the other competitors, and I was going to finish near the bottom, so I needed to make the best out of what I had. DID I EVER! Skated with pride and got some pretty impressive artistic marks. And my ordinals in the freeskate weren't universally straight-across-the-board-you-suck.

I loved being a part of this. Thank you to all the folks who tolerated a hyper-happy, hug-you-on-a-dime Bronze I lady. I was proud to be a part of the nucleus that started the group hug at the end of the competitor's party that turned into a mass of people moving around the lobby swallowing people en masse to create the impromptu hokey pokey.

jazzpants

04-18-2005, 12:13 PM

Thanks for my report; you rock! Hurts me to read it b/c I think I might of had a chance at a bronze??

Wonder what happened to the Pacific Coast guys? Wasn't Boise Ding supposed to compete?I don't know about Boise, but the last time I spoke to Mike Dianda about going to AN, he says he won't be able to make it b/c of work commitments. I rarely see him skate at our rink these days now... but it could be b/c he's skating at a different time and day...and maybe even a different rink!

And well, my coach... he's "retired"... again!!! :roll: (Those of you who know my primary coach knows why I'm rolling my eyes...) :P And last I'd remembered, he's not officiallly a Pacific Coast guy... he's a Midwestern guy! :P :lol:

LoopLoop

04-18-2005, 12:53 PM

And well, my coach... he's "retired"... again!!! :roll: (Those of you who know my primary coach knows why I'm rolling my eyes...) :P And last I'd remembered, he's not officiallly a Pacific Coast guy... he's a Midwestern guy! :P :lol:
Jazz, I talked with your coach at the party and he's going to do his best to get you to AN next year. We all told him that you need to be there!

nerd_on_ice

04-18-2005, 02:13 PM

Maybe being an Aggie, I could do a program to the Aggie War hymn.....Is Dallas ready for that???

Judging from the number of 12th Man bumper stickers I see 'round here, Dallas is more than ready. On the other hand, you'd immediately alienate any burnt-orange-blooded judges on the panel! :lol:

Figureskates

04-18-2005, 04:00 PM

Judging from the number of 12th Man bumper stickers I see 'round here, Dallas is more than ready. On the other hand, you'd immediately alienate any burnt-orange-blooded judges on the panel! :lol:

You know, I think that it would be a great interp program, some Aggie based thing. I sure would find out real quick how many TU people are in the audience.

I also read in the Aggie alumni news that they are building a ice rink in College Station and there is actually a figure skating club at Texas A&M.

As far as alienating an TU leaning judges, I could start a whole new block judging contraversey.

sk8er1964

04-18-2005, 04:39 PM

Hi all! It sure was a great AN this year :D . I've finally got some faces to put with screen names - Patty P, NoVa, Loop Loop, Skaternum, Mel on Ice (I'll pm you when I get your pic with Charlie developed), Starskate 6.0, and, of course, Mrs. Redboots :P . (Hope I didn't miss anyone, but probably did). It was great to see old friends from previous years too.

Thanks bunches for the wine, Patty P! I had to go in and watch the champ ladies while stuffing my face with Cheetos and a stale sub so I would sober up :lol: . You're pretty darn cool 8-) .

Two years ago (my first AN) was my injury AN. Last year was my basket case AN, where I was a mental mess. This year I decided would be my beer AN, because all I really wanted to do was have fun. And I did. Even with my lack of training (I have not been a good skater about doing my run throughs this year - lots of reasons) I feel that I skated my best ever in KC. I certainly had the most fun of any year out there on the ice.

The audience response to my God Bless the USA interp program was extremely wonderful -- probably the best personal feel good moment of my skating career -- because I took something important to me, and through my skating brought those feelings to others. Wow.

And you know what? I guess the hokey pokey is what it's all about! :lol:

jazzpants

04-18-2005, 04:44 PM

Jazz, I talked with your coach at the party and he's going to do his best to get you to AN next year. We all told him that you need to be there!Him and my secondary coach are on my case to get there. :P The power 3's are making some progress this year and the forward crossovers are now in the process of working towards "extra points," so I'm pretty hopeful to take at least the Bronze Moves sometime this year.

Until then... back on the ice I go... and thank you for the reports and the inspiration, you guys!!! AN Skaters ROCK!!!! 8-)

Edited to add: And Loops, we all have "bad skates" at times! The key to it is to learn from that and move on... You will eventually have a good skate at the right time. That's how Skate Gods work... ;)

Michigansk8er

04-18-2005, 04:53 PM

Has anybody seen my blue inflatable cushion I was sitting on? I must have dropped it somewhere.

I hope you found it. I think I might have seen it as we were rushing out on Saturday (to get ready to party). It was in the A Rink bleachers. I should have grabbed it, I guess.

It was GREAT finally meeting you. :) :) :)

Michigansk8er

04-18-2005, 05:01 PM

Sad the Great Skatingforums Reunion didn't come off (no flags, so nobody knew where to meet).... but at least I got the vodka out of it. I hope Michigansk8er eventually found Sk8er1964, who'd got lost (rumour said a beer or six later).

Well, we had a Great mini-reunion thanks to Becca, her vodka nips and GREAT company!!!!! :D :D :D

Sk8er1964 was found........not that she was really lost.

Hmmm, it's not sounding like we went there to skate. :lol:

FrankR

04-18-2005, 05:26 PM

My final round was Friday night, and, well, it didn't go as well. After competing on both Wednesday and Thursday I think my mind as well as my body said "no more." I was OK for the 30-minute official warmup, but before my six-minute warmup I completely panicked. Careygram, thanks so much for trying to calm me down, and thanks also to Jen Simon for trying too. None of it worked, however, and I was just petrified. My hands were shaking in my opening position and I never pulled it together. I botched my combination spin and skated w-a-y t-o-o s-l-o-w-l-y. :frus: At least I did the flying sit that time, and I landed all of my jumps.

...FrankR landed all of his jumps but Frank, you looked as nervous as I felt on Friday night...

Hey Marna,

I think you're too hard on yourself. Although you may have felt nervous I thought your program looked very smooth and I very much enjoyed it. Chin up, girl! ;)

As for me, I was definitely nervous. It's something I'm working to overcome. However, I'm glad that I managed to hit my jumps and keep the program in somewhat decent shape. Trust me, you have to see some of the poopy run-throughs I've done in practice to know just how bad and choppy my skating can get when I get uptight. Just the previous week, I did a run-through for Edward during a lesson and almost wrecked myself waxeling the second axel and missing just about every spin. I definitely think my nerves are getting a little better with each event and hopefully it won't be as much of a problem in the future. I hope! :D

Take care,

Frank

Mrs Redboots

04-18-2005, 05:42 PM

It was also so wonderful to meet everyone, especially Ms. Redboots, you are going to MC and O'dorf?Both, but I'm not skating at O'dorf, although husband is. You'll see me skate (probably badly!) at MC, though - Pre-Bronze couples dance & Ladies Interp III.

I have made so many new friends who are coming to O'dorf & MC that I'm going to be making soap forever between now & then!

Mrs Redboots

04-18-2005, 05:49 PM

The audience response to my God Bless the USA interp program was extremely wonderful -- probably the best personal feel good moment of my skating career -- because I took something important to me, and through my skating brought those feelings to others. Wow.It was a very moving programme - and you did it very well.
You know, I think that it would be a great interp program, some Aggie based thing. I sure would find out real quick how many TU people are in the audience.
I should think it will go over as well as the Everything's up-to-date in Kansas City routine did - in other words, huge cheers!

FrankR

04-18-2005, 06:37 PM

Hey Frank, congrats on your silver medal :D It was nice meeting you, I will see you in Dallas next year 8-)

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the encouraging words. Congratulations to you as well and it was also nice to meet you. I don't know about Dallas yet. :lol: I've got a lot of thinking and a lot of work to do. We'll see how far I get and how Dallas fits into all of that.

Frank

Michigansk8er

04-18-2005, 09:18 PM

FrankR

04-18-2005, 09:45 PM

I'm not sure this belongs on the "gossip" thread, but for those of you who know Barb Lezotte (Bronze III) I thought I'd pass this on. She had to withdraw from her final because her father was ill. He died on Friday, shortly after she returned home. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm so sad to hear about this. She and her family will be in my prayers.

Thanks,

Frank

FrankR

04-18-2005, 09:50 PM

I don't know about Boise, but the last time I spoke to Mike Dianda about going to AN, he says he won't be able to make it b/c of work commitments. I rarely see him skate at our rink these days now... but it could be b/c he's skating at a different time and day...and maybe even a different rink!

Hi,

This post reminded me that I had several people from San Francisco stop me at the Ice Chateu and at Pepsi MidWest to tell me that I look like Mike Dianda's younger brother. :lol: It's kind of cool to know that there's someone out there that I resemble. :D

Frank

NoVa Sk8r

04-18-2005, 09:51 PM

COGRATULATIONS NOVA!!! Now does this mean you'll go after your Gold test???Why yes, it does mean that! Actually, I *started* working on gold moves the week after I passed the silver MIF/FS tests. Now that AN has concluded, coach will be damn darn insistent on working on gold MIF. Methinks I don't stand a chance. You've seen my silver program ... I do at most 4 forward crossovers because they are that bad. :oops: The back crossovers are fine, but the gold power circles are gonna kick my arse. (But I really just want to work on flying sit, double flip, and double sal; those are my dream elements.)

It's not realistic to expect that I'll pass gold MIF within the next 2 years. And since I have no axel (and I've been working on it off and on for several years), I don't ever expect to pass the gold test, unless I have blind judges or ones that overlook my 2-footed attempts. That said, I would totally entertain the notion of skating up and competing at the gold level; it would be fun to do a 2:40 singles program. Think of how many spins I could cram in there!!! :D

sk8er1964

04-18-2005, 10:15 PM

I'm not sure this belongs on the "gossip" thread, but for those of you who know Barb Lezotte (Bronze III) I thought I'd pass this on. She had to withdraw from her final because her father was ill. He died on Friday, shortly after she returned home. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

OMG, Michigansk8er. I'm glad she got home in time. Please pass on my condolences to her.

sk8er1964

04-18-2005, 10:33 PM

It was a very moving programme - and you did it very well.

Thank you, Mrs. Redboots! :D

I hope you enjoyed your visit to AN -- and I hope you really enjoy your new dresses! It was a real treat to met you and your husband 8-) .

jazzpants

04-19-2005, 12:54 AM

I do at most 4 forward crossovers because they are that bad. :oops: The back crossovers are fine, but the gold power circles are gonna kick my arse. Oh, THOSE are fun... NOT!!! The primary coach makes me do them when he feels particularly in an evil mood. The first time he made me do them was when I just started skating and just got down the theory of a crossover! 8O I went up to pretty fast speeds before gravity took care of my butt!!! But he was amazed nonetheless the speed I was able to get to.

And if you think those are bad, wait 'til ya work on the last move that came from the Novice MITF test!!! EVIL...whoever thought of making a Gold level skater do those moves... PURE EVIL!!! :evil: (Then again, you'll love it! It's alt. backward crossovers...not forward crossovers!) :lol:

Just saw evil primary coach tonight and he relayed everyone's hello to me!!! And he also said something about skaternum pushing for me to do Peach Classic as well too! Hmmmm? (I only read about AN for next year...and it's from Loops!)

Okay... time to push for things...as soon as my leg recovers from this weekend. (I did a gym workout as well as my skating on the same day. BAD mistake. Legs are very sore now!!! *sigh* :(

NoVa Sk8r

04-19-2005, 01:03 AM

And if you think those are bad, wait 'til ya work on the last move that came from the Novice MITF test!!! EVIL...whoever thought of making a Gold level skater do those moves... PURE EVIL!!! :evil: (Then again, you'll love it! It's alt. backward crossovers...not forward crossovers!) :lol:Well, that move is apparently being removed <<crosses fingers>> and being replaced with the slide chasse--a move I had no problem passing in silver MIF. I'll just need to make it faster and crisper so it can be "gold level-ish."

Terri C

04-19-2005, 06:20 AM

Just saw evil primary coach tonight and he relayed everyone's hello to me!!! And he also said something about skaternum pushing for me to do Peach Classic as well too! Hmmmm? (

Skaternum is not the only one who would like to see you at Peach! Hey maybe we can do the Bronze MIF together and see which one has it worse!

Terri C

04-19-2005, 06:22 AM

I'm not sure this belongs on the "gossip" thread, but for those of you who know Barb Lezotte (Bronze III) I thought I'd pass this on. She had to withdraw from her final because her father was ill. He died on Friday, shortly after she returned home. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Needless to say, this really hits home for me :cry: . I'll keep her in my prayers!

manleywoman

04-19-2005, 07:36 AM

Hi all! Tuesday morning and I'm just reading through this. I barely made it home from KC because Saturday afternoon I got hit with a horrible case of the flu and was having fever chills and vomiting fits in the Courtyard Marriott! I was supposed to put my friend Kim Sailer on the ice for Champ. Masters Ladies, but instead her husband brought me chicken soup and TheraFlu! It was hideous. I really thought I'd have to call 911, because nobody but Kim knew where I was and I was really hurting and having trouble keeping food down. Luckily the fever broke just long enough for me to catch my flight home on Sunday, but once my husband got me in the car the fever started all over again. I'm finally getting better.

So I'm very sad I missed all the big events Saturday night and the party, but glad that the illness didn't strike until after my two events were over!

Very nice meeting Mrs. Redboots, Michigansk8ter, BeccaPoo and PattyP, albeit briefly.

Thanks Daisies for understanding my Ebay interpretive program! Seems the audience got it because I got lots of compliments, but it seems the judges didn't! Did a few of them really not know what Ebay is? Ah well! Interpretive is so difficult, because on the one hand they're supposed to award originality, and yet the judges always like the familiar stuff. So I'm glad I had fun with it anyway!

As for my Junior event, I was really please I skated so well (though I should never have fallen on the 2toe! Grrrr...). For me, it was redemption for how poorly I skated at Easterns. So I was pleased!

It was a really nicely run event I thought, and there were a lot of fantastic performances and personal bests, from what I saw (including Daiseis!). I saw Nova skate as well in Silver.

Looking forward to Dallas!

Raine

04-19-2005, 08:57 AM

I'm not sure this belongs on the "gossip" thread, but for those of you who know Barb Lezotte (Bronze III) I thought I'd pass this on. She had to withdraw from her final because her father was ill. He died on Friday, shortly after she returned home. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks Michigansk8er for passing this along. Sad news. We'd heard that she left due to a family emergency, and we missed her at the Bronze III finals.

Terri C

04-19-2005, 12:05 PM

This was a ongoing joke throughout AN, but there is a new Pope Benedict XVI!! If there was one more vote, NoVa might have had a chance!

a

jazzpants

04-19-2005, 12:29 PM

Skaternum is not the only one who would like to see you at Peach! Hey maybe we can do the Bronze MIF together and see which one has it worse!I'm starting to save up for the trip now. If I get enough for the trip. I'll surely sign up for the Bronze MIF event. (Heck, why not? I should at least have a bunch of judges look at it one more time before I test... that is, if the primary coach doesn't make me test before Peach...) :twisted: Of course, probably by that time, you would have passed the Bronze Moves test! :P ;)

Sorry to hear about Barb... I don't know her, but I'll send my prayers to her too!

manleywoman: Wow!!! I'm glad you're feeling better now! What a horrible time to get violently sick!!!

Sorry, NoVa! Better luck next time! Or maybe we can hold our own conclave and have the Atlanta Ice Arena blow white smoke out for Pope NoVa I. :lol: :P

skaternum

04-19-2005, 12:46 PM

I'm starting to save up for the trip now.Hurray!!! We'll make sure you have a great time.

manleywoman: Wow!!! I'm glad you're feeling better now! What a horrible time to get violently sick!!!Yes, poor manleywoman! I wish I'd known -- since I wasn't skating, I could've taken care of you. Glad you're feeling better.

Or maybe we can hold our own conclave and have the Atlanta Ice Arena blow white smoke out for Pope NoVa I.No, no, no. That would be Pope Im-pious I. :lol:

Mrs Redboots

04-19-2005, 03:37 PM

I didn't know Barb, but what a very sad way for her Adult Nationals to end. Also for you, Manleywoman - but we'll meet again in Europe in a few weeks (rather too few, from my point of view!).

As for me, I've been buying up the town today, and am all shopped out... Thank heavens for compression bags, or I'd never get everything into my suitcase (maybe husband has a few spaces!). We fly home tomorrow, and back on the ice - well, maybe Thursday night might be a bit optimistic, but certainly sometime on Friday!

Mel On Ice

04-19-2005, 03:40 PM

oh, and an informal poll of random ladies has declared Nova Skater as the 2005 AN Hottie Champion 8O :twisted: :)

NoVa Sk8r

04-19-2005, 04:28 PM

oh, and an informal poll of random ladies has declared Nova Skater as the 2005 AN Hottie Champion 8O :twisted: :)Wow, sounds like I wasn't the only one who was drinking heavily. :P

No, that's very nice of you to say ... I'm quite flattered. :oops:

A few more drinks on Saturday, and I probably would have taken my shirt off and torn up the dance floor. Thank you, moderation! :halo:

jazzpants

04-19-2005, 04:35 PM

No, no, no. That would be Pope Im-pious I. :lol:
Viva il Papa Im-pious I!!! :bow: (Translates roughly to "Long Live the Pope Im-pious I.")

techskater

04-19-2005, 06:34 PM

ITA about Mel on Ice's comment! Woohoo! Think you could channel any more Brian Boitano NoVa?

I feel bad for Barb. I hope she is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. She will be in my prayers!

Manleywoman, I hope you feel better!

NoVa Sk8r

04-19-2005, 06:40 PM

ITA about Mel on Ice's comment! Woohoo! Think you could channel any more Brian Boitano NoVa?I'm still hoping to impersonate his death drop ... And was it Burton Powley who said that I sounded exactly like Brian Boitano? I resemble BB but have some of Sasha's flexibility. There's a mix for you! 8O

Again, I had the time of my life at my first AN, and I'm so glad to have met lots of people. I wish I could have spoken to and entertained more folks. The party on Saturday night was quite memorable.

Thanks also to Kristin for her kind words, lively conversation, extra drink tickets (;)), and lovely stuffed beast she gave me. It's going to work with me tomorrow--ah, the days off had to end some time.

Terri C

04-19-2005, 06:50 PM

A few more drinks on Saturday, and I probably would have taken my shirt off and torn up the dance floor.

That's sounding like that idea you had for a Interp program!! :P

NoVa Sk8r

04-19-2005, 07:27 PM

That's sounding like that idea you had for a Interp program!! :PAh, yes, my Phillippe Candeloro interp ... be frightened, be very, VERY frightened! :twisted:

jazzpants

04-19-2005, 07:31 PM

Ah, yes, my Phillippe Candeloro interp ... be frightened, be very, VERY frightened! :twisted:And so when and what competition are you gonna debut this interp??? If it's at Peach, I'm bringing my digital camera and zoom lense with my skates!!! :P :lol:

doubletoe

04-19-2005, 07:41 PM

My final round was Friday night, and, well, it didn't go as well.

As for everyone else... doubletoe was great and she'll do well in gold next year. I really admire her (and everyone else who can do it!) for being able to skate in competition just like they do in practice.

LoopLoop, first of all, it was WONDERFUL to meet you!! Second, I think you looked a lot better in the final round than you thought you did (I just watched the tape last night), but I know we are all the hardest on ourselves, so I'm sure you will pick your program apart just like I always do! LOL!

By the way, I must confess that I don't skate in competition just like I skate in practice. . . I usually SUCK in practice! 8O The best I have ever skated my program--either in practice or competition--is one mistake, never completely clean. Here's my secret: I have at least one technique cue word that I have to say in my head for every single element (and for my dreaded camel spins, I have 4!). It takes so much focus to actually get through my program and skate it cleanly that I find I can usually only muster up enough mental energy to do it when I'm competing! But I have to say, ever since I started filling my head with technique cue words--both before and during my performance--my brain has been too busy to think scary, nervous thoughts, and I haven't been as affected by jelly knees! :) So you might want to try it!

Happy skating, and see you next year! :D

doubletoe

04-19-2005, 07:43 PM

I'm still hoping to impersonate his death drop ... And was it Burton Powley who said that I sounded exactly like Brian Boitano? I resemble BB but have some of Sasha's flexibility. There's a mix for you! 8O

Again, I had the time of my life at my first AN, and I'm so glad to have met lots of people. I wish I could have spoken to and entertained more folks. The party on Saturday night was quite memorable.

Thanks also to Kristin for her kind words, lively conversation, extra drink tickets (;)), and lovely stuffed beast she gave me. It's going to work with me tomorrow--ah, the days off had to end some time.

Hey, NoVA, GREAT to have met you!! And congratulations on your win! Woo hoo!

Terri C

04-19-2005, 07:43 PM

Ah, yes, my Phillippe Candeloro interp ... be frightened, be very, VERY frightened! :twisted:

Uh er, no it was more like a Chippendales interp! :oops:

NoVa Sk8r

04-19-2005, 08:23 PM

Hey, NoVA, GREAT to have met you!! And congratulations on your win! Woo hoo!Likewise ... congrats to you, too. A win in silver ladies II, WOW!!! You done brought it when it counted.

Loops should be very proud of her performance. She finished 5th in the QR to make the final round, which is hard in and of itself. Not only that, but she was the only lady in bronze, silver, or gold (I believe) to land a flying sit spin! :bow:

As for your tip on the technique cue word, I think we do that in pairs ... but the words are usually expletives! :P And I think it is David Pelletier who uses this technique as well.

As for me, I don't usually get scared in singles, but highly anxious, and I tend to overskate, i.e., not follow through on the current skating element. I usually cannot believe when I miss a simple flip jump (my easiest jump).

For pairs, the sbs elements tend to be easier because they've been so rehearsed; it's almost like you HAVE TO hit the jump/spin element when your partner does.

Anyway, congrats again, VLD.

Thin-Ice

04-20-2005, 04:04 AM

What a GREAT thread to come home to -- to read and re-live AN!!! Congratulations to everyone who skated... everyone who skates at AN is a winner just for putting in all that work for a year (or more) and putting it out there for public consumption.. not to mention the judges' scrutiny.

And I FINALLY feel like part of the "In-crowd" in high school! Beccapoo threw me one of her "treats". :lol:

Thanks to everyone for the cheers, the animals and especially the camraderie!

Now, it's back to work for all those things I need to have for NEXT year! :roll:

I sure hope Barb is doing ok under the circumstances. She is such a lovely skater and was deeply missed in her final round. I know that seems like a trivial thing to say at this time... but it's true and she and her family are in my thoughts.

LoopLoop

04-20-2005, 07:58 AM

LoopLoop, first of all, it was WONDERFUL to meet you!! Second, I think you looked a lot better in the final round than you thought you did (I just watched the tape last night), but I know we are all the hardest on ourselves, so I'm sure you will pick your program apart just like I always do! LOL!
There's a difference... I don't watch myself on tape. I've watched tapes of a couple of our pairs performances, but I've only watched a singles program of mine once. I know my skating LOOKS different than it FEELS, and in general I'd prefer to remember the feeling. I know I'd improve by watching myself on video, but ...

By the way, I must confess that I don't skate in competition just like I skate in practice. . . I usually SUCK in practice! 8O The best I have ever skated my program--either in practice or competition--is one mistake, never completely clean.
Maybe that's part of why I was disappointed with my skate; I have skated clean, in practice and competition, and I did a couple of perfect runthroughs the week before nationals.
Here's my secret: I have at least one technique cue word that I have to say in my head for every single element (and for my dreaded camel spins, I have 4!). It takes so much focus to actually get through my program and skate it cleanly that I find I can usually only muster up enough mental energy to do it when I'm competing! But I have to say, ever since I started filling my head with technique cue words--both before and during my performance--my brain has been too busy to think scary, nervous thoughts, and I haven't been as affected by jelly knees! :) So you might want to try it!

Happy skating, and see you next year! :D
Hmmm, I usually try *not* to focus on technical elements too much, instead going with "just skate, stupid, you know how." And last year I was getting much better at dealing with competition nerves and skating well in competition, but I haven't competed much in singles lately. As a matter of fact, AN was only my second singles competition since last May; I skated well at the New Year's invitational here in DC which was the first time out with this program, and I had to scratch from a competition last month, so I think I'm out of practice at competing by myself! It was my fifth pairs event since August (and I don't get nervous for pairs).

doubletoe

04-20-2005, 02:01 PM

Hi, Guys! :D

I totally agree! LoopLoop, a flying sit is awesome!! And Nova, your presentation is exquisite! I was wondering who you were when I saw you!

LoopLoop, I can see why you were nervous, if AN was just your second competition since May. Last year at Sectionals I had some serious jelly knees going on, and I think it was because I hadn't done a competition since the summer. This year I did a local competition before Sectionals, then did Sectionals, then did a local competition before AN, just to get used to the whole competition thing. I know it helped a lot. Anyway, can't wait to see you on the podium next year!! You are a beautiful skater! :D

;) Doubletoe

NoVa Sk8r

04-20-2005, 02:42 PM

I totally agree! LoopLoop, a flying sit is awesome!!I agree, major kudos to Loops. Not only did she have to contend with singles qualifying & final rounds and the pairs free skate, she also had to deal with me. She should get a gold for that alone! :P

And Nova, your presentation is exquisite!Doubletoe, thank you so much for your comment. While I think that my presentation is much better than my technical (and it was the presentation that won me the singles event), I wouldn't call my presentation exquisite. Maybe a little emotive.

The funny thing is that the night before my free skate, I was still uncertain about my skating. I couldn't go to bed because I was trying to rechoreograph my program in my head. It was nearing 2am, and I got out of bed, slapped on my iPod to hear my music and then rechoreographed parts of my program to make it a little crisper. Nothing like freaking out at the last minute!

I was wondering who you were when I saw you!That's also funny. Several folks had no idea who I was off the ice. When I told them that I was wearing the purple outfit for the pairs ("Oh, with that ruffle/flap thing?" :oops: ) and the tight red shirt for the singles, they put it together.

skaternum

04-20-2005, 03:26 PM

That's also funny. Several folks had no idea who I was off the ice. When I told them that I was wearing the purple outfit for the pairs ("Oh, with that ruffle/flap thing?"Ay, ay, ay! Loops' dress is beautiful, but that flap thingy has got to go! :twisted:

NoVa Sk8r

04-20-2005, 03:35 PM

Ay, ay, ay! Loops' dress is beautiful, but that flap thingy has got to go! :twisted:Well, I've already burned that outfit ... and next year's will have no flap, no fringe, and no sequins. Rhinestones I can live with!

You and I both hate my outfit, but it looks kinda cool from afar. Really far. ;)

Terri C

04-20-2005, 08:40 PM

Well, I've already burned that outfit ... and next year's will have no flap, no fringe, and no sequins. Rhinestones I can live with!

So, is the red tunic going too?

Mrs Redboots

04-21-2005, 01:31 PM

Just hope nobody else is as jetlagged as I am at this moment....

Got home safely, so have our skates. Didn't skate today, for obvious reasons, but maybe tomorrow, we shall see....

Allskate

04-21-2005, 04:44 PM

You guys are so entertaining that I just wasted a whole day catching up on the "gossip" thread and reliving AN (looks like I read the entire 1000 posts in this forum).

I've seen Iceskatepairs pairs performance - it was unbelievable (thanks for keeping the standard so high!),
saw Loops & Nova win - as I told Loops - you are ready for Gold,
saw Nova live and it was a gold-medal performance!
And the best part from Starskate6.0's program is that stop on the blade hills - I've got to get myself a crash pad and try it!
Wish I knew who Debbie S was because I am sure we’ve met before!...
Thanks to Loops for some kind words (almost made me cry - this thread seems to do it to a lot of people).
Mrs. Redboots – do you ever skate at Queens (that was my home rink for two years– it was sooo lovely there, although it would have been better without the bowling alley).
And whoever was throwing the piggies on the ice (after reading for a whole day forgot who it was) – thanks, she is wearing my medal, it seems to suit her very well.

Not sure what description I will be able to put into my timesheet for today - "gossip reading" seems appropriate, now I just need to find a business reason for doing that.

Thanks all for giving me some great reading!

sk8er1964

04-21-2005, 09:08 PM

The following was written by Robin, a first time Bronze skater who I had the pleasure of meeting at AN. She posted it on a closed site, but gave permission for it to be copied elsewhere. I don't think she's on this site, but I pulled it from the USFS's site. It so perfectly sums up the AN experience :bow:

My Adult National Medal

By: Robin Johnson

After Attending the 2005 Adult National Figure Skating Championships

It is not gold, silver, bronze, or pewter, but It sparkles in the eyes of my fellow skaters.

It is the love, support, and encouragement that we give each other.

It is being appreciated for our strengths, and even more so for our weaknesses.

There is no trip to the podium with THIS medal, as it is about the journey
Just to make it to the competition and share the wonderful company.

It is about the joy that I feel for my new skating family,
And the pride that I feel in their successes.

It is about the encouragement and total acceptance that I get
From these wonderful people that I hope to emulate even a bit.

It is about being the newbie and having a bundle of animals after my first Adult Nationals.

It is about the Erin socks, and the freakin' AWESOME Wendy Bear!

It is about looking out there and seeing my peeps in the stand
Supporting me every stumble of the way.

It is about how being positive is the norm
And being negative is not accepted.

My medal is not a tangible physical thing,
It lives in my heart and on my mind.

It is the experience of a life time that was made so
Perfect by my wonderful Competitive Adult Skating friends