2010 US Nationals - Longer Schedule

[Isk8NYC]

This year, the USFSA spread the US Nationals out over two weekends. The official reason is because of the Olympics schedule, but the unofficial word is that NBC wanted people to watch the skating on their network instead of icenetwork.

Do we like the longer schedule or not?

[RachelSk8er]

Yes and no. I don't mind it being spread out, but I was annoyed that final groups were not live on Ice Network. I wasn't able to be near a TV to watch the men's final due to some other commitments that day that had me out and about, so Ice Network was my only option. Trust me, I'd much rather have watched it live in high def on my 48" plasma TV while sitting in my couch than in that itty bitty square Ice Network display on my 10" mini netbook. I think that given the option to watch live on TV or on Ice Network, anyone would watch on TV. Or be a super dork and have both running at the same time!

[icedancer2]

I think the schedule sucks in relation to the event itself - I mean, who can afford to go to Nationals for 10 days???? Choosing betweeen weekend packages also is an impossibility for someone like me who likes Dance and Mens. How to choose between the two weekends?

I ended up going to the first weekend (well, part of it) because I went to Pairs Judge School that was being held (it was great, BTW) but was disappointed not to see ANY Dance while I was there (we had opportunities to go to events between school sessions) - so yeah, I think they will find that this schedule doesn't really work for the event itself.

I also noticed that in the arena there seemed to be less vendors than at previous Nationals I have attended. Wondering if they are just waiting until this weekend to come up (the always anticipated "ladies final") because I'm sure it is also expensive for the vendors to come all the way to Spokane for 10 days.

JMHO of course.

[Artemis]

... but the unofficial word is that NBC wanted people to watch the skating on their network instead of icenetwork.

So why does that mean it has to be over 2 weekends? We get relatively full coverage of all stages of all 4 disciplines for Canadians. All in 1 weekend. Been that way for years. (I'm assuming the field isn't significantly larger at US Nationals -- thats what sectionals etc. are for, right?)

icenetwork seems to be a great solution if you want to watch all the entrants, but for the majority of viewers seeing just the final flight (plus the odd highlight from the lower flights) is sufficient.

[Isk8NYC]

I don't know why the rumor is NBC changed the schedule - maybe so that their weekend-only broadcasts were closer to the actual date? I remember ABC used to show the Nats on both Sat and Sun, maybe even twice on each day at different times. NBC is only airing one 2-hour highlights event each weekend.

They do have the Universal Sports coverage, but that's only for people who have access to that channel.

[RachelSk8er]

I think the schedule sucks in relation to the event itself - I mean, who can afford to go to Nationals for 10 days???? Choosing betweeen weekend packages also is an impossibility for someone like me who likes Dance and Mens. How to choose between the two weekends?

I also noticed that in the arena there seemed to be less vendors than at previous Nationals I have attended. Wondering if they are just waiting until this weekend to come up (the always anticipated "ladies final") because I'm sure it is also expensive for the vendors to come all the way to Spokane for 10 days.

Same may go for many of the athletes themselves. How many of these skaters (particularly in novice) who were done competing early on are staying the entire competition? Part of the experience of competing at a national competition is being there the entire time, soaking in the atmosphere, watching higher level skaters and learning, making new friends, and just enjoying everything these competitions have to offer beyond just the skating. It's your reward for working your butt off to get there. That's why most of us try to stay at ANs the whole time, even though for us competing may be done on Wednesday or Thursday. Lower level synchro teams are done with nationals on Wednesday or Thursday, but most of the teams stay through senior free on Saturday. But that's a matter of an extra few days, not an entire extra week.

Have the pairs teams and men going to the Olympics already headed home to start preparing and focusing on Vancouver, or are they staying the entire time, too, and maybe practicing in Spokane? I know the Olympics is more important than staying at Nationals and having fun for a week, but it would just be strange that you're already done and moved on to the next thing when the competition isn't even over for another week. At the same time you're expected to skate in an exhibition at the end of the competition, too.

[icedancer2]

The only one I know of is Johnny Weir who flew back to NYC for the week and then will be co ming back Saturday to skate in the exhibition on Sunday. And staying in Spokane and practicing may be problematic since they are having all of the practices (at least this week) at an arena 10 minutes from the main arena and I don't know how many other rinks are in this area. I suppose they could go to Seattle, Sun Valley (or hey - Portland - come on down Jeremy). but that is still hotel rooms and meals, etc. - of course flying home and then coming back is expensive in terms of flights, etc.

Hoping they decide this wasn't such a great idea after all. I know that Spokane broke records when they hosted in 2007 and it will be interesting when they get the numbers for this year. I can say for the Men's Final there were LOTS of empty seats, especially in the 2nd tier.

[flying~camel]

The only one I know of is Johnny Weir who flew back to NYC for the week and then will be co ming back Saturday to skate in the exhibition on Sunday.

Jeremy Abbott is doing the same. I'm a fan of his on Facebook and he posted yesterday that he's back in Detroit for the week and will fly back to Spokane for the exhibition on Sunday.

[sdfigureskater]

The scheduling has been a major pain in my ###!!!!!! Aghhh!!!!! :(

[Dave G]

Watching Nationals from a fan's perspective can be quite an endurance contest if you're trying to see all the senior skaters in all the disciplines and this scheduling certainly removed that problem! Though I certainly empathize with those who could not attend both weekend sessions and had to miss two of the main events. If this scheduling is used again it would be better if it were in a more accessible city by air, i.e., one with a 'hub' airport. That might enable more people to attend both weekends. I understand why they wanted to go back to Spokane, but you basically have to devote a full day to travel there from the midwest or east coast (and back), and then hope for good weather and no delays!

[Mel On Ice]

I can't imagine what that schedule did for coaches with kids training back home. For big players like Frank Carroll, no big deal but for Joanne Q Public from Podunk FSC in Middleanowhere, AK, that's a long time to be away and a lot of lesson time lost.

But I'm sure the coach (who may also act as chaperone) doesn't want the skater to miss a minute of the nationals experience - they earned the trip, the glory and the right to train alongside other national competitors. For middle of the pack and below, "being there" is its own reward and a valuable lesson to a skater learning the ropes of nationals and international competition.

But you also have to consider the audience in the stands. No way could I have ever taken 10 days off to go watch a skating competition. The one week format is an endurance test of 24/7 skating; but two weeks is an duration test as well.

And what about the volunteers? I devoted LOTS of time to planning and actual volunteer hours for the 2006 nationals and was wiped out. What did two weeks do to the crew in Spokane?

I hope they are doing attendee surveys to find out how well the format worked. Stands looked full...

[Nicki]

I hope they are doing attendee surveys to find out how well the format worked. Stands looked full...

I was there for the Ladies Long Program. During the compettition, they announced that the ticket sale record set in Spokane in 2007, had been broken at this year's nationals. I went, because Spokane is only 5 hours away from me, so I figured this would be a once in a lifetime chance to see a national championship. I could only afford to go to one event, so the new schedule change didn't affect me, but I agree that it could be an issue for some of the compettitors/coaches.