Thanks. I don't know how I missed that. I think my new job has rendered me brain dead!

Excellent letter, skaternum! I agree with every word.

As for the ego issue, come on, guys! If you are tired or weak, won't you step off the ice and take a break? Of course, you will. Anybody in his/her right mind will do just that. However, Mr. Edge doesn't sound like he sincerely wants adult skaters to relax for a short while and keep practicing their moves later. No, his idea about chatting and sipping coffee is pretty much the same as saying: give up! You don't have to do that, you are too old! Just take it easy!

Well I finally got my skating mag...So after reading Mr Edge, here's my 2 cents:

I've had a problem with Mr Edge for a long time because I've always felt he was condecending to the KIDS. I think he could answer their questions without belittleing them. So I was prepared for the worst in regards to the adult column.

I got the impression that he felt he was having a friendly chat with like minded adults, meaning he was very aware of how he personally feels about adult skating but totally tone deaf to how others feel about it. So no, I don't think he was being mean to adults, not intentionally anyway.

He lapsed into what must be considered a 'coaching' mode. Maybe he coaches or did so sometime in the past, but it is not his role in writing his article. He would be safer commenting on fit and boot strength issues and not worry about things better discussed with a skaters physical therapist.

But the main impression I got was that this is a guy that has not been in a position to actually try to see what he could personally accomplish by pushing his physical boundaries, for a long time. He's an older gentleman and that's his perogative in terms of interest, health or whatever, so his big mistake really was to talk about something vastly out of his range of experience. He has no idea whatsoever what even an older adult body is capable of. I'm sure he has seen his share of skaters with significant limitations and adult skaters that overstepped their abilities too quickly or without proper preparation (to that extent, his article is accurate). But he is missing the train when it comes to the movement of pushing the envelope of age. Oleg and Ludmilla Protopopov represent a different universe in that respect and Oleg would be the first to tell us that it is quite possible to have strength, agility and endurance in the later years, and not just from having practiced it all of their lives.

I think we should be kind to Mr Edge and at the same time, hopefully, the USFS mag editors will offer him some new tighter parameters in regard to his articles. I don't think Mr Edge represents adult skating, nor do I think he represents USFS. He's an older guy that does boots and blades. As long as everyone keeps doing what they are good at, Mr Edge, USFS, envelope pushing adults, everyone will be happier.

Did anyone else that emailed this guy get this patronizing answer?

Hi Joelle......thanks for the e-mail. I appreciate any and all responses, be they good, bad, or indifferent.

Sorry to hear that you disagree with my thoughts. Just trying to give skaters something to think about so they don't end up with a career ending injury. My observations come from attending several Adult Nationals over the years.

At any rate, Good luck to you in your skating career........

Mr. Edge
Note: The answers and opinions of Mr. Egde are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of SKATING magazine or U.S. Figure Skating.

BLECH. So he's observed skaters not knowing when to stop skating and getting career ending injuries over his many years of attending ANS??? Anyone else observe that over the years?

j

Yes, it's easy to observe things that aren't there! And, that's all I have to say about that.

Yes, I got the exact same answer!!! Word for word. My opinion still stands on this guy and I hope too that USFS reins him in.

I honestly don't understand why you guys won't let him have an opinion.

__________________
Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Any body can have an opnion. Having the right to an opinion does not protect you from criticism of that opinion.

The two problems I have with his opinion is that

a) it doesn't jive with most adult skaters and that's what he's opining about....and based on his response, he's not interested in listening to other adult skaters

b) His column is not presented as an opnion column, it's presented as an expert/advice column and he doesn't really seem to have the credentials to advise adult skaters

c) I would expect even a column that is presented as editorial (which his is not) in a skating magazine to be more supportive of adult skaters. He's certainly welcome to have an insulting and patronizing opinion of adult skaters, but that doesn't mean a skating magazine that I pay for should give him space to vent that opinion.

j

Hah and here I thought that I was special, sniff. Well it was still nice to recieve damage control anyway.
Lyle

Soo, did anyone see Mr. Edge at AN? And if yes, did anyone saaay anything to him? I am forever the instigater.

I wasn't at AN, but I noticed that there were no letters to the editor at all in the copy of Skating magazine I received today. Don't they usually do a "letters" section?

I expected to see something regarding the rants about Mr. Edge...

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Nope! I had heard there was going to be a Harlick booth and he was supposed to be there, but there was no Harlick booth. . .

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I actually agree with you 100% on this one. I've never cared for his column, and they've always been plagued with inaccuracies and misleading statements. Which might not be all that bad coming from a friend at the rink, but this guy arrogantly purports himself to be /the/ knowledge source for all things skating, claiming to know better than pretty much anyone else out there. I have yet to read one issue of Skating magazine in which his column actually contains useful, accurate information with sufficient detail. Previously, I was thinking "well this is geared for kids so he can get away with it...", but it still seemed really overly condescending, and it certainly doesn't work out well when he decides to carry on with the same attitude in talking about adult skating.

Bleh on him... Oh, and caffeine and sports don't mix well...unless you consume it after already fully warmed-up and even then it's debatable...oh, and unless of course you ask Mr. Edge.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

One thing to keep in mind though, is that the skaters who attend Adult Nationals are not the sole representatives of the Adult Skating Community. They are in fact, only a minority percentage of the total.

Blue, we might be the minority percentage, which I'm not sure of, but these skaters are the ones who are most involved in the Adult Skating Program and structure. These skaters are why we created the program and do indeed represent the adult skating community.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Just a note too about the letters to the editor. Usually the publication deadline is so far in advance that anything submitted in the weeks after that issue went out would not make it into the very next issue. I would hope to see something next month, but it could be delayed even longer than that.

USFS's Adult Skating program was NOT created by or for the skaters who attend Adult Nationals. On the contrary, Adult Nationals grew out of the Adult Skating program that was established to encourage adults to take up skating and/or continue skating after high school and college.

There were what 300 skaters at Adult Nationals this year? There are a lot more adults registered with USFS who don't go Nationals than there are those that do. A great many adults don't compete at all and a lot that only compete locally or recreationally. But just because they don't go to Adult Nationals once a year, don't assume they aren't active in promoting the sport and therefore don't have voice in how adult skating is personified. I myself haven't been to Adult Nationals in several years, but I still skate several times a week, I compete locally and internationally several times a year, I am a USFS official, I serve on my club's board, I am the club delegate to Governing Council, and I coach an adult class besides. I doubt if many of the skaters at Adult Nationals are as active in the sport as I am or have been around the sport as long as I have. In fact, I probably have a more rounded view of adult skating because of those activities than the people who just skate and go to Adult Nationals.

Adult Nationals is only a PART of the Adult Skating Program, not the GOAL. Hopefully, the members of the current Committe remember that at Governing Council.

Sorry if I am late in posting this, but I didn't find Mr. Edge's article offensive at all. I have been an adult skater for 7 yrs, am a Silver lady & Bronze dancer, so when I read it, I was looking for more "technical" information about adult skater feet. When I didn't see any tech foot info, I just skimmed the rest of the ego vs. body comments, and turned the page to read the rest of the Skating mag.

My adult skater feet have been *brutalized* by yrs of standing on my toes ("pointe" work in ballet, plus bad genetics since my dad has bunions too), and now by my skate boots which have custom orthotics in them to prevent pronation. I have huge bunions on both feet which makes finding "normal" shoes darn near impossible (thank heaven for Dr. Martens, Tredair, and Fluevog brands!!!). I am also developing large heel spurs now from going much deeper in sit spins & bending more for jump landings.

I was actually looking forward to seeing Mr. Edge at Adult Nats this year because I had a lot of questions for him regarding the gigantic heel spur that seems to have grown on my heel in the past year (I'm from Detroit area so I don't get out to Chicago all that often).

I SINCERELY hope he wasn't chased off by the comments on this board. I REALLY needed to talk to him so he could look at my feet, and was extremely disappointed he wasn't there.

I TOTALLY agree with this statement. When I think of all of the Adult skaters I know and have known over the years, only a small fraction of them are the slightest bit interested in competing, and even less interest in skating at AN --

I have known many adults over the years that have achieved a very high level without doing any tests, also - they have just been interesting in skating for skating's sake.

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

FYI - there were closer to 550 skaters in Bensenville AN's this year (800 starts), according to the USFSA article about AN's.

In terms of being "active" in the sport of skating besides doing my own personal skating, I myself am a USFSA skating judge for singles/pairs. Also, there are many of my friends (they are on this board too) who attended Adult Nats this year who are judging, coaching basic skills, or helping out in their club's ice shows/competitions (making/working on costumes, being back stage, etc.). I even ran into one lady skater who ONLY went to AN's to be a surrogate coach for another adult skater. Another lady who used to skate is now a USFSA accountant and is constantly traveling. One Masters competitor is even running his own skating program in Iowa & takes on "Scholarship skater" students who he teaches for free because they can't afford to pay for the sport.

In the adult skating world, I always see a very joyous, enthusiastic group of people who genuinely love this sport & want to continue to stay involved, AN's or not!!! I agree that you definitely don't have to go to AN's in order to be considered in the "elite majority" of adult skaters. It's just one more way to be involved in the sport, but it isn't the ONLY thing out there.

I'm one of those skaters that Mr. Edge thinks he understands. I'm about to have my second back surgery for blown disks. I'll never be able to jump safely again and no more jogging eather. Other than that, we'll just have to see. So was he right, did I do this by excessive training and abusing my body? He would likely assume so.

The true answer is far more complicated. When I started skating, I weighed 300 lbs! I only forced myself to lose wt when I damaged my knee cartilage in a fall while skating . Good thing, that fall. So what about the back? Well Dad's first fusion was 15 years younger than mine and Mom should of had a fusion 20 years ago. Turns out, I have defective disks, born that way, bad genes and all that - you can even see that on my MRI's. So I've been working out atleast once every single day for the past 6 years and lost 75 lbs. I'm stronger and more agile than I was 20 years ago. My weight would have blown my disks years earlier than skating did. The muscles are what kept it going this long (per my neurosurgeons). So did I overdo it? Undoubtedly. Was it avoidable? No. What would have happened if I'd sat down and wasted $10/hr drinking coffee while I could have been skating? We'll never know, but that's not the kind of person I'll ever be again.

Normalcy is overvalued by the mediocre!

Lyle

Hmmmm. It is very interesting that Mr. Edge was not at AN. Regarding this month's SKATING mag, I also thought that maybe there wasn't time to address our issues. This month's issue came out very quickly. But... if you notice his article this time was not his usual question and answer and it was actually kind of informative and very neutral. Anyway, I hope the magazine does address it in some way.