Going back to the results topic of this thread, can anyone comment on the Championship Gold and Gold I Ladies? I skated Silver I last year at Mids and Nationals and did fairly well so was ready to move up. I passed my Adult Gold Moves and Fresstyle with intentions to compete this year, but then my synchro team competed in Switzerland and that took all of my skating $$$!! So needless to say, I just couldn't afford to compete individually this year. But I would love to hear what all those awesome Gold ladies are doing so that I know what to strive towards for next year's Mids and Nationals!

Congrats everyone at Mids!
Thanks!

The results from the entire competition are posted here:
http://www.sk8stuffmore.com/comps/05/r05adumids.pdf

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Thanks for the link to the results!
But did anyone get to actually watch the Gold Ladies events? I am just curious because I didn't get to watch Mids (I live in Colorado but I couldn't make it that day - bummer! ). So I was just curious if anyone did get to watch and what jumps and spins were being performed. I can land an axel, axel combo and really inconsistent double sals and double toes, so I just wanted to know if I would even be competitive at the Gold level for next year. Just want to know what I need to work on and improve!
Thanks again!

Well I saw 90% of the group and can comment heavily on my skate. It was a very fast a fluid group, the only clean double sal was from Maureen the rest were just a little cheated or hooked by my eye. Footwork was good throughout the group especially Cindy aka Cinderella. The new gal Kristina was very pretty w/ excellent lines and huge jumps. Gail was fast and powerful w/ her charming program to Wizard of Oz. Courtney did a good job w/ beautiful spin positons and a very soft knee. If you look @ the ordinals you can see it could have gone any direction. The last 1/2 of Marie's program was very nice and she made it through nicely.

I skated my program the wrong direction so I had to look at the tape to see if I have a funny look on my face once I figured it out. Both my doubles were cheated by about 1/2 to 1/4 but on one foot. spins okay, footwork okay and no big splats. What more could you ask... oh yeah, -- And a lot of luck.

;-)la

Thanks for your comments coskater64! It sounds like all the gold ladies had very nice skates with impressive jump attempts. I guess I have a lot of work to do to keep up with you all!

Good luck to you and everyone at Nationals!

Kristina is a gold level dancer with beautiful carriage and a gorgeous serpentine footwork sequence. She stumbled on the end of it, but it was in the best possible spot--the judges' blind spot! (all skaters know where I'm talking about....)

Well, the new sectional champ was being modest. Considering she was the only veteran of the event who trains at altitude, she really put out a strong, solid program. I had no idea she was backwards until she told me about it later!

Yes, Maureen did the only clean double--a salchow out of a bauer. Many had two clean axels in their programs. A lot of the flatlanders had drops in speed at the ends of their programs (for obvious reasons)--and to trumpet Cindy and Maureen --they skated the open event that was scheduled only a couple hours beforehand (and they're "flatlanders"). So could someone explain to me why the bronzes and pre-bronzes were before the open gold/master's events? If I had done the scheduling, I would have given the gold/masters skaters plenty of rest before the Champ rounds....

BTW, I am very proud to call two of those Gold men my clubmates....

Well, it seems that Burton may have understood the err of his ways. The web site has changed again, with all the "facts" in question removed without explanation, including the article from the Des Moines Business Record. Fishy, fishy, fishy....

G-day
Well....Iv been in Australia for 2 weeks and I see this, I have seen much about Burt Powrey ( Is that right). Anyway, Iv looked at the web page and thought I would add a thought here.
Most of you know me, and most of you know last year I skated in silver because I ran out of time to test into gold before Nationals. I would have skated gold if I had the time to test. In Burts defence there may be a situation that prevents him from testing up. I am now at gold and feel that this is where I realy belong despite the fact that I have never won at this level. I don't expect to win this year and Ill be lucky enough to even medel at all. Easterns where great with 8 skaters, it was a tough call for the judges and very close, but we all got to know each other and it was a great event because we made it that way by our approach to the event. We all cheered each other on and I watched every skater do some realy awsom moves.
I too was a roller skater for about 5 years before I went to the ice. I did ok on wheels but not even close to the national champion of that time. That was out of my league and I got on the ice at 23 but could not skate backwards at the time. My career has been very different from the norm and formal training did not come till much later in life.
Perhapes Burts situation has forced him to do things a little different as well.
Iv not seen him skate, I don't know him, but Im alway's willing to take people how i personaly find them. I look forward to meeting you Burt, I hope you will come say hello.
I will be at Nationals to cheer all the Gold men on. We are Adults, we support each other and a great performance is alway's a personal victory. Regardless of 1st or last place it's a victory and a step to improved performance. By the way Iv tried 3 revs a couple of times ( K-splat, K-splat ) Lucky to get some of the doubles, but I love trying.

The greatest risk in life is not taking one.

Im going see you there.

Star

" Well stated". Lets talk about somthing wlse..

Well, I hope he's listening now. It's not cool to be fraudulent about one's credentials to secure a loan for $50,000.00. For that, he might owe the City Council of Des Moines a huge apology.

It's not cool to compete in a USFS competition when you know you're not eligible (such as when you're a rink owner/manager or Skating Director). For that, he might owe the eligible Gold Men competitors at the 2005 Adult Midwesterns another huge apology.

It's not cool to rewrite a SKATING magazine article to make it read that you were the first person to acheive a triple jump at Adult Nationals. For that, he apparently owes two apologies: one to the writer of the article and one to Larry Holiday, the man who actually landed that first triple.

It's not cool to claim to be the 1983 World Cup Artistic Roller Skating Champion. That distinction belongs to Tim McGuire of Flint, MI.

It's not cool to claim to be the 1997 U.S. Adult Gold Men's Champion. That title belongs to John-Patrick Hull of New York, NY.

Frankly, I don't need to go on, but if I ever acheived the things that Larry Holiday, Tim McGuire, or John-Patrick Hull did, only to have a lesser skater publicly steal them from me, I'd hope that my fellow skaters would go to bat for me, rather than saying, "let's talk about something else...."

Wow. That's a pretty bold statement. Where's the proof?

My understanding, though i admit haven't double checked the rulebook myself, is that being a rink owner does not make you ineligible to compete.

As far as the other claims to being the first to land a triple, changing am article, lying about credentials, etc, I don't disagree with you.

It's too bad really, since I've heard from many that he really is a nice guy, and actually ran into another adult skater last night who said the same.

RX
I respect your opinion .However I think I will just show up to skate, do my best and see how it play's out. Im not defending or endorsing any one here ,Im just interested in the subject . I skate for skating sake , win or lose, It will be a victory for me to skate well. See you in KC

Here's a link to the info:
http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/mayor...lue/00-055.htm

I reread this thread tonight, and the thing that struck me the most about Mids, on a personal level, was how wonderful adult skating really is.

Last year I qualified for the championship event at nationals. This year I placed last. Almost all of my competitors, on that day, came up to me and hugged me, and gave me encouraging words. Quite a few people who were not in my event did the same. It's because they knew I didn't skate my best, and they knew that it hurt deeply - not because of the placing or the medal, but because I didn't feel good about my performance.

Since Mids, I have seen comment after comment (mostly on another, closed site) praising the good things about my program. The good things that others have seen in my skating in the past. The good things about me as a person. They didn't have to say these things - but they truly care about their skating friends, about their buddies in arms.

Last year the lady who won my event finished out of the medals. She buckled down, improved what she felt needed improving (very well, I might add) and won this year. I think if she hadn't won, she would still have been satisfied because of the great improvement she had made in her skating.

I hope I am like her in the next 360 or so days. I hope I am like all of my fellow competitors - from first to seventh - in my love for the sport, my joy (most of the time ) in my own skating, and the friendships I have made along the way. That's what adult skating is all about.

OK, I'm done being sappy....

__________________
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"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Never be anyone but who you are, a very decent kind person who shares a love for an incredibly difficult and consuming sport- with all of us.

la

I'm not seeing any fabrications of his titles on that though. He is a National Champion, technically, and as far as anyone has proven here, ahas been all the other listed items as well. So I don't think there's anything scandalous about the loan.

Same thing happened to me. I had a great shot at qualifying this year, and I have qualified in the past for Masters, but I had an uncharacteristically inconsistant skate. I got tons of support from everyone around me, and it reminded me about why adult skating is so great. I plan on buckling down for the next 350-something days to come back next year with guns blazing!

Now wait. I am a clubmate of two of those men, including the one who placed 5th, and they really, really don't care, so why do you? Both came back from Colorado and started really working on doubles....I've never seen either one of them so diligent. They love to skate and skate well....and you never know what will happen at a competition.

Also, what makes you think that the USFS hasn't checked this out? What makes you think that the USFS won't check this out before AN's? Trust me, if he is ineligible, he will not be welcome at KC. Unless he got married and changed his name , the USFS has his name and credentials...especially if he's been coaching all this time.

Look, I got nailed on here because of a similar issue and later learned that my facts weren't in a row about a particular skater. If you have questions about his eligibility, call the USFS. If you question the way the website is set up, there should be an e-mail for responses.

I think if Burt had been a total jerk all weekend, all full of himself and intent on winning, I think the people who were actually there at Mids wouldn't be so adamate about dropping it. But Burt was a great guy and competitor, being supportive of everyone, from pre-bronze to champ masters. He stuck around to watch other events, and organized an unofficial skaters party on Saturday night.

And sk8r1964, thank you for a wonderful post. It was beautiful...as are you!

I'm finally home from Mids (long story)....now I can sort through all the goodies!

Anytime one skates with integrity, they've skated well--which is why I admire virtually every adult skater. Skate your best in KC!

Look, I'm not saying that Burton is not a nice person. But I am saying that in the USFS Rulebook, a person is restricted from competing if he or she is a rink owner, a rink manager, or a rink's skating director--and he or she is likewise restricted for a period of time thereafter. On the day that Burton competed at Adult Midwesterns, he was listed on the ISI web site as the Skating Director at the Capitol Ice Academy. I'm not sure the USFS has the manpower to check these things out for every competitor.

If your clubmates "don't care," I respect that. I also respect how hard they're working, that they "love to skate and skate well." However, it is not up to them to allow USFS rules to be bent so that a restricted skater may compete in their event.

Yes, we all know that. He hasn't competed in years because of it. I wouldn't rely solely on a website, though....my rink website hasn't been updated in over a year. If you are this peeved about the situation, pick up the phone, call the USFS, and ask. Otherwise, you're just whining on a forum....were you even in Colorado Springs?

I know several adult skaters who have to go through the reinstatement process to compete in interp at AN's, so if the rules are that strict with interp, I'd be shocked if the USFS _wasn't_ aware of the situation. Why do you think forms are due over a month (and for AN's, three months) before the competition? And if they don't know about this, then they will be if you call and the appropriate investigation can be made.

But until then, I think I'd like to say "innocent until proven guilty." This is US Figure Skating, not Upper Mongolia.....

Admittedly, I don't know--but "Director of Choreography for a large touring company" sounds like someone has stretched the truth. And while I respect his accomplishments, Burton is a National Champion, technically, about as much as Bill Clinton, technically, "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

U.S. Figure Skating is very exact in its definition of "Champion." Currently, Michelle Kwan is the Ladies Champion and Johnny Weir is the Men's Champion. When it's said that one "has been a national champion," it is implied that they won the U.S. National Championships at the Senior (or Championship) level. When the USFS refers to the winner of a lower-level event, such as Junior Ladies, it's something like "2005 U.S. junior champion Sandra Rucker."

While winning an event at Adult Nationals is a great accomplishment, it would be more truthful, in my opinion, to refer to such a win as "2004 U.S. Adult Bronze II Champion" or "1999 U.S. Adult Gold Champion," etc. Otherwise it could be construed as being misleading, particularly on a loan application.

Likewise, I would question the claim of being an international competitor, which carries implications of representing one's country in a competition sanctioned by the ISU, which was not the case at Villard de Lans' Mountain Cup. Perhaps as Adult Skating grows worldwide, there will be competitions where deserving adult skaters are granted team envelope assignments by USFS, but this hasn't happened yet.

But he might have been an international competitor in roller skating.

What page in the rulebook states that if he's a rink owner he's not eligible?

I was wondering the same thing. If it is a rule, it seems like a rather ridiculous one.

From what I understand, it is a rule, and I guess the reason for it is that rink owners have a say over club activities, and that creates a conflict of interest. (But if the rink is not associated with USFSA, then I guess the rule is a moot point?)

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.