10 Things about Rinks

[AgnesNitt]

Ten things I hate:
1. The rinks that don't update their website--then complain that no one shows up for public.
2. Hockey Ice
3. Dished Ice
4. Rink Guards that spend the session hanging out with their buds
5. No hot chocolate or diet tea at the snack bar
6. Hockey boys that dust me with ice spray from a hockey stop while I'm doing figures
7. Freestylers that don't fill in their divots
8. A-frames
9. Freestylers that don't wear a vest during their program practice
10. Hearing that program music over, and over, and over.....

Ten things I love about Rinks.
1. Pizza by the slice!
2. It's great to skate after mowing the lawn in August or during menopausal hot flashes!
3. All the adult skaters know each other and support each other.
4. $3 Senior citizen rate for public!
5. Being able to do figures during freestyle and moves session.
6. Watching ice dancers move like a locomotive and clear the kids off the ice during freestyle
7. Adult skater parties! Woohoo! Bring it on! Where's the food!
8. Having an 8 year old tell me she's noticed how I'm improving, and I should keep practicing.
9. At 5'4" being the tallest person on the ice.
10. The singular twinge of excitement when I realize I've mastered the 12th item in the list of 4,872 things that I have to learn in order to pass the Eighth Test.

[katz in boots]

Okay, I'll play.

Hate:
1. ice that hasn't been surfaced, especially in winter when it's hard
2. no Zamboni
3. recreational kids getting in my way for the zillionth time despite all my attempts to avoid getting in theirs, and their mother saying "shouldn't you people have special sessions for what you do?"
4. no rink guards to stop people from hurting themselves and others
5. too expensive to skate more than 3 times per week, 2 of those on public ice
6. No Zamboni
7. watching the kids who were struggling with 1 foot glides last year doing better than me on most things
8. No Zamboni
9. atmospheric conditions which create those bumps I call mushrooms
10. Did I mention no Zamboni?

Love:
1. ice !!!
2. other adult skaters (well most of them)
3. ice
4. the kids (most of them)
5. Ice
6. rare occasions when there's no music and hardly anyone else there, the sounds of blades on fresh ice
7. ICE
8. knowing there are bigger, better rinks out there - that do have Zambonis
9. knowing that although I'm not very good, there are lots of kids and adult skaters who think I am good.
10. ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rusty Blades]

Ten things I hate:
1. COLD! Mid-winter when the heat has been off all night
2. Hockey Ice!!! Rutted, cold, and hard
3. Lazy attendants who can't be bothered doing a flood
4. Lazy attendants who can't be bothered to turn the heat on at 5 a.m. like they are supposed to
5. Trying to find rink keys that never seem to be in the same place as last time
6. Other users who don't return keys
7. People who play around with the sound system and leave it dead
8. People who leave every gate open
9. Hockey players who leave the place like a pig sty
10. Hockey players who spit on the benches (I hope that's just spit!)

Ten things I love about Rinks.
1. Arriving at 6:15 a.m. to a dark, deserted rink
2. Having the rink to myself until after 7 a.m.
3. Having my own music (1960's Rock & Roll :) )
4. Cheap ice ($8 7-9 a.m.)
5. Being able to skate without looking behind me (until someone else comes on).
6. Having a fresh flood all to myself
7. My morning "competitive skating" group (usually less than 6, all respectful and supportive)
8. The humour of some of the coach/skater pairs
9. The sense of "family" on the early sessions
10. SUMMER SKATING

[Isk8NYC]

This is a great thread!

Ten Most Awful Things:


Uncut ice with hockey grooves and jump divots
Blaring music on ANY session; Hearing the same music many times each session for months
Hockey drills on public sessions
High-level MITF on freestyles
On-ice gossip sessions
Multiple open rink doors; people stumbling in and out of them
Dirty or poorly-maintained facilities; graffiti or dusty, old displays
Backwards skating without looking
Absolute beginners or hockey skaters in the middle
Rink guards that allow wild skating for anyone but figure skaters
Ten Most Wonderful Things:
Having a spectator say "You're really good!"
I love teaching skating
Empty ice and a back spiral sequence
Spins: any type
Being able to play my own music/listen through headphones (one earbud only)
Meeting new people and seeing friends
Clean, well-maintained bathrooms
TV screens in the lobby (Secret plan: change from CNN to all figure skating! Shhhh)
Comfy couches while I wait for the kids to finish skating
Workout room overlooking the rink

[londonicechamp]

Hi I will play too. :D

10 things that I hate about rinks:

1.) Rink guards letting their ice hockey friends skate fast, and join them in the process

2.) Only 1 person at reception, making you queue at least 10 minutes before you get your ticket onto the ice

3.) Public ice session and private lesson fees to be paid separately

4.) No music from the DJ box

5.) Hockey players skating around the rink, not having a think about anybody else

6.) Being given locker keys that do not work. 8O

7.) The ice is dry (usually after a crowded public session), meaning that it is very difficult for you to master your moves properly.

8.) Kids especially those who do not look where they are going, cut into the middle, where you are doing your spins. :twisted:

9.) More advanced figure skaters showing off on the ice, not caring about there are other more inexperienced skaters on the rink.

10.) Not let you practice on the after lesson session when you have missed the lesson, whilst allowing your friend to go onto the ice when she has missed the lesson. :halo:

10 things I love about rinks

1.) Making new friends, asking you to teach them basic moves such as forward crossovers

2.) Some more experienced skaters giving way to you when you try to practise your new spins or jumps

3.) When the rink is only 5 or 6 people, and no one cuts into the middle

4.) Coffee bar, where you can get ice cream during your break time. (Yummy)

5.) Making friends with rink guard(s) and security of the rink

6.) Being able to do figure 8s in forward and backward crossovers, and change of edge

7.) Can dance to your own music

8.) 8 year old kid telling you that you are really good at ice skating

9.) The ice is wet, it is really easy to skate. :)

10.) Being able to do cross toe spin and sit spins in the middle (have I mentioned this already?)

By the way, this is a great thread.

[RoaringSkates]

10 Things I Hate About Rinks

1) Super crowded sessions
2) Crashing into other skaters
3) Falling down!
4) Crappy ice
5) Uncut public session ice with hockey ruts and bird droppings
6) Hockey boy smell
7) Super early morning sessions that require 5am wake up times. Oy.
8) Grungy bathrooms
9) Hockey spit
10) The distance I have to drive to get there


10 Things I Love About Rinks

1) Skating in the heat of the summer. Soooo nice and cool!
2) Skating with the Olympians, as I call them - that once per week when I step onto the ice with the elites.
3) Skating on early morning ice with only a few other skaters around me
4) Fresh ice
5) Skating on a new rink when I travel - I try to bring my skates on any trip where I know ice will be available
6) Cool adult skaters
7) Skating on public sessions - I'm often the best one out there; certainly the best adult - what an ego boost! Normally, I'm the *worst* one on my freestyle sessions.
8) Meeting new people
9) Learn-to-skate kids. Too cute
10) Cool coaches

[kayskate]

I don't think I can even come up w 10 things I dislike about my current rink where I also teach. I consider myself very lucky in that regard. If I look back over the yrs I can come up w the following.

Dislikes:
1. Canceled sessions
2. Crummy ice
3. Very high level skaters on a FS. ( I can't stay out of their way or relax)
4. Kids talking in the middle
5. Being the only CW skater on a crowded session
6. Mismanagement
7. Ppl who play their program music over and over and over.
8. Ppl who yell "heads!" all the time.
9. Crowded publics
10. Filthy bathrooms

Loves:
1. Good fast ice
2. Empty ice
3. Skating w other adults
4. Having a really good skate
5. Friends
6. Good coaches
7. Receiving compliments from skaters and spectators
8. Athlete's euphoria
9. Skating longer and harder than the teens
10. A cool place on a hot day.


Kay

[Bill_S]

Dislikes:
1. Seasonal rinks.
2. The one or two clueless figure-skating teenagers who have no sense of right-of way. (It's obvious they haven't driven a car yet. I don't want to be around when they do.)
3. Ice stalagmites from overnight condensation. (see below)

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/skating/images/ice-bumps-04sml.jpg

4. Mentioned before, but worth another complaint - hockey spit on the seats - or anywhere.
5. The sliding chairs (projectiles!?) given to beginners.
6. People who use the rink as a means to babysit their undisciplined kids.
7. Ice that's cut the day before and allowed to get very cold and brittle overnight.
8. An unheated rink in the middle of the winter.
9. The cost
10. Rink rules that forbid jumps/spins during lightly attended public sessions, but still allow all sorts of hockey-hooliganism.


Likes
1. Near-empty sessions with plenty of room for moves.
2. Being the first skater on fresh ice.
3. The smell of the ice (not the rubber floors in the lobby though!)
4. The work ethic of serious freestylers.
5. Being able to watch skaters better than you - for many reasons.
6. Having a modest skill that impresses the majority of public session attendees.
7. The Zamboni
8. Meeting other adult skaters.
9. The workout.
10. Never running out of new things to learn.

[Isk8NYC]

Stalagmites indeed! That's huge!

Our local paper used to tote a garden gnome around town, sitting him in a pothole and taking his picture to shame the City into fixing the potholes. (They also reported it via the correct channels.)

The road agency asked them to stop, lol.

You should put a toy mountain goat on that sucker. It looks like a mountain.

[RachelSk8er]

Dislike:

1. Large quantities of small children (well...that dislike is a general one not rink-specific)
2. Bratty skaters
3. Snotty rink moms who breed bratty skaters
4. Hockey players
5. Locker rooms that smell like hockey players
6. Creepy men who hit on me
7. When they are using heavy cleaning chemicals in the rink area while we're on the ice skating...it smells and we can't breathe
8. When the people working in the office don't know how to work the overall sound system so we end up not being able to use music on an entire session
9. Skaters who don't throw their tissues away and leave them on the boards
10. Coaches who don't teach their skaters (particularly young ones) about right of way, looking where they are going, not hanging out in the corners where people are doing lutzes, etc.

Likes:
1. Having the ice to myself (or just me and a few others) on early morning sessions
2. Hard, fast ice
3. The teenagers at my rink are hilarious and they think I'm cool (they obviously have no concept of coolness)
4. Sunday dance sessions on the Olympic rink
5. Going to the rink when it's HOT in the middle of the summer
6. Getting in extra sessions because I don't have class, or get out of work on time, etc
7. Coming back after a competition or test session motivated to move on to the next set of goals
8. FINALLY getting something down (lately it's been my flying camel)
9. My rink is clean
10. Friends

[AgnesNitt]

Dislike:

snip
6. Creepy men who hit on me
snip


I had an 'ice stalker' once. He would follow me around the rink and get in my way every time I tried to set up a figure or a move. Even though I no longer skate at that rink the man asks The Big Guy (my main skating partner) when I'm coming back.

<shudder>

[Morgail]

Hate:
1) Zamboni fumes. *choke*
2) the bathrooms
3) uncut ice
4) lingering hockey boy smell on the ice
5) the stalagmites (stalagtites?) formed by the drips from the ceiling
6) when the ice monitor doesn't show up
7) full sessions (scary!)
8) other figure skaters who don't watch out for others on the session
9) kids on public sessions that follow me around, asking a million questions
10) compressors that break down

Love:
1) the smell of the ice (untainted by Zamboni fumes and hockey boy stink)
2) the rip sound of a good edge
3) empty sessions
4) kids who ask "are you a professional skater?" but then leave me alone so I can practice :lol:
5) watching other figure skaters reach their goals - it's inspiring
6) support from other skaters, both kids and adults
7) the "ssshh" sound of a centered spin
8) the sound system (when it's good music)
9) the hockey lines (without them, I'd never be able to lay out my MITF and dance patterns correctly)
10) the dasher boards (perfect for stretching)

[Query]

Love:
The Ice.
Hate:
More than 5 people on The Ice.

[doubleloopy]

lol @ Query :D

I pretty much agree with that :D

[sk8ryellow]

Ten things I love:

1) The cold
2) Friends
3) My coach
4) Being able to skate whenever I feel like it
5) Fresh Resurfuced ice, ecspecially when my mom or coach does it
6) Friendly Enviornment
7) People watching
8) Hearing programs over and over again
9) Workers are nice
10) Skate Club

Ten things I hate:

1) The girl that plays the same fun music every day
2) The rude girl (u know who u are)
3) Little kids getting in the way when your trying to jump
4) Coaches standing in the same place and wont move

I could only come up with 4 cause I love the rink too much to trash it.

[icechica88]

The ten things I love about the rink:

1. I love the smell of the ice. I know it sounds weird :)
2. Early morning ice.
3. The feeling of peace, frustration, hope, determination that I get when I am skating.
4. The memories I have had at the rink. Whether it was an extremely difficult power class, tryouts, landing passing junior moves, my first competition, or hanging out with teammates.
5. Midwestern synchro sectionals--tends to be both pure joy and heartbreak but I love every moment.
6. Landing a new jump or passing a test.
7. Working on new moves for hours. They never get old. I love the long practices.
8. All of the life lessons I have learned from skating.
9. Waiting on the ice to compete with my teammates in the few seconds before the music begins.
10. My skating friends--range in age from 3-70 and how everyone gets along and supports each other.

[slusher]

Just sticking to rinks:

Hate:

Freezing cold rinks
Stinky rinks
Rinks with bathrooms that are icky
Bad floods
No floods
The guy who leaves his truck idle outside right where the exhaust fumes can fill the rink
Too many open doors. After what happened to Nora Hoffman, I have a door phobia.
The coffee kiosk has random hours that don't seem to have anything to do with the rink.
Dirt tracked onto the rink.
Super hard ice.


Love:

Rinks with mirrors.
Jet Ice
Rinks with no boards.
A Tim Hortons in the building.
Rinks with windows. (one day, I'll skate at one)
Heat
Being the first one on fresh ice
Hours that suit my schedule
Having the rubber matting all the way around the rink. There's one place that if you get off the wrong door, there's a little mat and then it's cement. The guy is doing a flood, and your guards are on the other side of the rink. I have taken off my skates and walked around. More than once.

And lastly.....

Being related to the rink guy :D

[Becky-on-ice]

Oh, this should be fun!

Bad things:

1: Girls and boys that are younger than I am making fun of what I wear or how I skate. (I'm 15 and they are usually 6-9, but I am a very shy person and when they are there it throws off my whole session). :cry:
2: Skating on weekends or when the rink is very, very crouded.
3: When the ice is rough. Because, when it's like that, if you fall you stick instead of sliding. (I don't like that!)
4: When I try to stay out of the private lesson people's way, but they still seem to find me even when I am in a very tiny corner.
5: "Hockey Hooligans"
6: Couples who go skating for a date and have no idea what they are doing. Usually the girl acting stupid, dumb and screams very often! The guys are worse though. I think they try to impress the girl by slamming as hard as possible into the walls of the rink. :roll:
7: When the girl I started talking to about a month ago said "I don't like the stuck up and snobby figure skaters." Now she is one and I don't think she even knows it!
8: When the fire alarm goes off and everyone has to leave right away. (no fire, of course.)
That's all I could think of. Most of the bad stuff is about the people who skate AT the rink, not the rink itself.

10 good things:

1: Getting to help out with the tot classes. :halo:
2: Being able to get away from almost everything and be able to skate your heart out.
3: When there is almost no one at the rink :!: :!:
4: The staff are very nice an so are the teachers!
5: Great hours!
6: Great prices!
7: Getting to see that little boy who made fun of your clothes, wearing a pink and black striped shirt and checkerd shorts!
8: Seeing the tot's you teach practice when it's not a lesson
9: Being able to make teenage boys that are older then I am mad, becasue I tell them they can't walk on regular ground without their hard guards. :lol:
10: It's cold! I love the cold!

[flexiballetgirl]

i acutally would rather be in a rink full of hockey players than one full of braty, stuckup, rich skater and their parents.

[celticprincess]

Ten Things I Hate:
1)The large divets in the ice caused by hockey players
2)The oh so lovely hockey player smell..ever heard of showering..yuck!
3)The condensation fog that lingers over the ice
4)Coaches who stand in the same spot even though you are running your programme and yell 'excuse me'.
5)When people say that adults shouldn't even bother competing or being in show and that it's just for kids...thank my mom for that one.
6)When the zamboni breaks down
7)When very advanced (junior nats champion) skaters are on fs sessions and run their programmes over and over...yes we know you're amazing, but lets share the ice please.
8)Really strict skate guards
9)When water or juice machines are out of order
10)Extremely cold rinks at comps...especally when your costume is sleeveless, doesn't have much of a skirt due to it being beaded, and you can't stop shivering...(had that happen during my first showcase comp)


Ten Things I Like/Love
1)Ice
2)The feeling you get when your blade first touches the ice...ah that's priceless
3) The flying feeling you get when you get nice height on jumps
4)When little kids or even adults think Im really good..even though sometimes Im not
5)Your new programme music being played for the first time
6)Fellow NICE skaters
7)Watching as you and your fellow skaters progress over time
8)Shows and competitions
9)When my club president and most of my home club members refer to me as being a performer and borderline ham...I love it!
10) Having the freedom to express oneself through movement, interpretation of music and being praised for that.
11) Can I add one more? The standard figure skater smell(a cross between smelly skates, tights, and hairspray)..yes it may be somewhat unpleasant..it gives me of sense of belonging.