You may have heard, as I did, that winning the Mens’ division at Worlds the year before an Olympics is considered the kiss of death as far as Olympic gold is concerned.
So I did a little investigating…and took a look at all the pre-Olympic male gold medalists from 1951 onward (because really, do we need to count anyone before Dick Button?). That’s a total of 15 different medalists we’re talking about. And if you were to look at the 1950s alone, you’d say “what kiss of death??”… for SO dominant was Button in the early 50s, Hayes Allen Jenkins in the mid-50s, and David Jenkins in the late 50s, no other gold medal hopefuls needed apply.
After that decade, well…the number of follow-throughs from pre-Olympic gold to actual Olympic gold drop way down to just TWO of the twelve: Ondrej Nepela of Czechoslovakia, who won the first of three Worlds in 1971 (plus Olympic gold in ’72) … and, as you might’ve guessed/known, Scott Hamilton won the third of four Worlds in 1983 on his way to Olympic gold one year later. As for the other ten…?
+ Four of them (Orser in ‘87, Stojko in ‘97, Plushenko in ‘01, Lambiel in ‘05) did the infamous “settle for silver”.
+ Another four (Danzer in ’67, Volkov in ’75, Browning in ’91, and—sorry—Browning again in ’93) finished completely off the podium in 4th, 5th, and in one case (sorry again, Kurt), 6th.
+ One of them (Donald McPherson, in ’63) retired prior to the ’64 Games in Innsbruck. I believe there’s a brief article about him in the current issue of International Figure Skating… check the very back of the magazine…
+ And one of them (Vladmir Kovalev, in ’79) withdrew from the ’80 Lake Placid Games altogether.
So what does all this mean for Evan Lysacek? Aside from motivation to work harder than ever, and take absolutely nothing for granted… probably not as much as one might think. Streaks like the one paved by the past 3 Olympic silver medalists are made to be broken. Whether Lysacek breaks it towards bronze, or gold, or no medal at all… anyone’s guess, no matter what history tells us.
Here’s his recent World Team Trophy FS as the Clip of the Day
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Kostner's Becoming A California Girl
You might say she’s returning to the scene of the crime.
Carolina Kostner, a former World medalist who suffered through one of the most content-free free skates in recent memory at this year’s Worlds, announced her parting from Michael Huth (her coach of 10 years, if I did the math correctly?) earlier in the off-season. So to hear she’s decided to train with U.S.-based coaches -- Frank Carroll and Christa Fassi, widow of Carlo Fassi-- isn’t all that surprising. A tad ironic, though, that to do so takes her back to Los Angeles. Which happens to be where, at the Staples Center (home of this week’s Michael Jackson Memorial Service), she suffered through that content-free free skate we know all too well.
As you might recall, Carroll is also currently coaching Evan Lysacek and Mirai Nagasu. If I hear he’s taking on anyone new beyond this, I’m going to suspect he’s been cloned somewhere along the way…
But the part of the story at IceNetwork.com that interested me more was this:
This move is partly in response to her panic or nerve attacks on the ice. Because of that, she has started working with Daniele Popolizio, the psychologist that helped Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle.
I’m always a little intrigued at the mention of a sport psychologist, and the role they can have in an athlete’s success. When I first heard Joannie Rochette had worked with one last season (after she’d won Skate Canada), I was jazzed for her; I had the feeling she’d turned a corner, and the win wasn’t a fluke. Yay—my “feeling” wasn’t a fluke either.
So while Kostner wasn’t next on my list of skaters who could use a little sports psych work (must admit, I had Alissa Czisny further up in the queue), it’s an interesting move at an interesting time. And while I don’t know that it will make me like her skating any better, it should make her like it better—and that counts a whole lot more.
For the Clip of the Day I’ve got her SP from 2003, her senior Worlds debut. Hope she enjoys LA better this time around.
Carolina Kostner, a former World medalist who suffered through one of the most content-free free skates in recent memory at this year’s Worlds, announced her parting from Michael Huth (her coach of 10 years, if I did the math correctly?) earlier in the off-season. So to hear she’s decided to train with U.S.-based coaches -- Frank Carroll and Christa Fassi, widow of Carlo Fassi-- isn’t all that surprising. A tad ironic, though, that to do so takes her back to Los Angeles. Which happens to be where, at the Staples Center (home of this week’s Michael Jackson Memorial Service), she suffered through that content-free free skate we know all too well.
As you might recall, Carroll is also currently coaching Evan Lysacek and Mirai Nagasu. If I hear he’s taking on anyone new beyond this, I’m going to suspect he’s been cloned somewhere along the way…
But the part of the story at IceNetwork.com that interested me more was this:
This move is partly in response to her panic or nerve attacks on the ice. Because of that, she has started working with Daniele Popolizio, the psychologist that helped Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle.
I’m always a little intrigued at the mention of a sport psychologist, and the role they can have in an athlete’s success. When I first heard Joannie Rochette had worked with one last season (after she’d won Skate Canada), I was jazzed for her; I had the feeling she’d turned a corner, and the win wasn’t a fluke. Yay—my “feeling” wasn’t a fluke either.
So while Kostner wasn’t next on my list of skaters who could use a little sports psych work (must admit, I had Alissa Czisny further up in the queue), it’s an interesting move at an interesting time. And while I don’t know that it will make me like her skating any better, it should make her like it better—and that counts a whole lot more.
For the Clip of the Day I’ve got her SP from 2003, her senior Worlds debut. Hope she enjoys LA better this time around.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Former “Free Spirit” Bobek Now Locked Up
And just when it looked like we were hitting an off-season, post-holiday skating lull…
Along comes word today that former U.S. Champion and 1995 World Bronze Medalist Nicole Bobek has been arrested, and made her first appearance in a Jersey City court this morning, on “the charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,” according to a couple of New Jersey press sources including this one…
Bobek wore the green garb of the county jail when she appeared in the small video conferencing room at the jail. Her hair was short and dark colored, a stark contrast to the long flowing blonde locks she sported during her skating years.
The article offers then-and-now shots; in case you need to see it to believe it. As for me, well… it’s tough to be shocked, as Bobek always seemed to be something of a ladies’ answer to Christopher Bowman in my mind. Still, it leaves me at a sort of loss for words—it’s so sordid and sad at the same time.
Bottom line on her alleged crime—she’s being held on $200,000 bond and could spend up to 10 years in prison if convicted. So much for that “free spirit” in her that the commentators liked to rave about, huh. Yikes.
For the Clip of the Day I’ve got the most recent skating clip of Bobek I could find… this was her “Whatever Lola Wants” routine from the 2004 Ice Wars. Particularly bittersweet to watch when they mention at the end that she was "going head-to-head" with Yuka Sato-- who is currently coaching our reigning U.S. Men's Champion. What a difference five years can make…
Along comes word today that former U.S. Champion and 1995 World Bronze Medalist Nicole Bobek has been arrested, and made her first appearance in a Jersey City court this morning, on “the charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,” according to a couple of New Jersey press sources including this one…
Bobek wore the green garb of the county jail when she appeared in the small video conferencing room at the jail. Her hair was short and dark colored, a stark contrast to the long flowing blonde locks she sported during her skating years.
The article offers then-and-now shots; in case you need to see it to believe it. As for me, well… it’s tough to be shocked, as Bobek always seemed to be something of a ladies’ answer to Christopher Bowman in my mind. Still, it leaves me at a sort of loss for words—it’s so sordid and sad at the same time.
Bottom line on her alleged crime—she’s being held on $200,000 bond and could spend up to 10 years in prison if convicted. So much for that “free spirit” in her that the commentators liked to rave about, huh. Yikes.
For the Clip of the Day I’ve got the most recent skating clip of Bobek I could find… this was her “Whatever Lola Wants” routine from the 2004 Ice Wars. Particularly bittersweet to watch when they mention at the end that she was "going head-to-head" with Yuka Sato-- who is currently coaching our reigning U.S. Men's Champion. What a difference five years can make…
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Yu-Na and Kwan: East Meets West... Sort Of
To the best of my knowledge, only one lady’s name still hangs out there in the will-they-or-won’t-they Olympic jungle now, and that name is Michelle Kwan.
I must admit I find it a little strange, and not just because of my already-voiced frustrations with skaters who have “had their shot”. I even found it strange when Kwan made her attempt in Torino in 2006. Why? Two words (or one word twice): Triple-triples.
Rest assured, I am as big a fan of Kwan as anyone. She’s magnificent, her longevity and consistency in the sport is incredible, and one has to wonder where amateur skating would be right now without her presence and influence over a decade’s time. But for whatever reason, there was only one triple-triple combination I recall seeing her land successfully—the triple-toe/triple-toe—and even that one often became a triple/double in the heat of competition. Maybe she was too inconsistent with other triple combos, or maybe she just wanted to prove that her skating could transcend such bells and whistles. (And more often than not, I think it did.) Whatever the case, facts are facts, time has moved on, and if people are wondering if Cohen can keep up with the current crop of champions… see where I’m going with this?
Still, the speculation is real enough, and with a big ol' TBA glaring among the U.S. ladies’ entries for Skate America, I suppose anything is possible.
And in the meantime comes this intriguing news that Kwan will be joining Yu-Na Kim in Ice Stars 2009, a three-day show set to take place in Seoul in mid-August. “It will be Kwan's first action since she quit the sport due to a hip injury in 2006,” the Korea Times article reminds us.
It also reminds us that Yu-Na is 18, while Kwan is now 28. And that Yu-Na has seen Kwan as “an iconic figure since childhood.” Hmmmm.
Anyway, the all-star roster includes Evan Lysacek, Joannie Rochette, Shizuka Arakawa, Jeffrey Buttle, and Stephane Lambiel (who, incidentally, seems to be the only man’s name still hanging out there in the will-they-or-won’t-they Olympic jungle).
Let’s see how this unfolds, if in fact there’s any unfolding to be done. In the meantime, I went back to when Kwan was 18 and dug up her 1999 Nationals performance as the Clip of the Day. (And yes, she does the triple-triple here.)
I must admit I find it a little strange, and not just because of my already-voiced frustrations with skaters who have “had their shot”. I even found it strange when Kwan made her attempt in Torino in 2006. Why? Two words (or one word twice): Triple-triples.
Rest assured, I am as big a fan of Kwan as anyone. She’s magnificent, her longevity and consistency in the sport is incredible, and one has to wonder where amateur skating would be right now without her presence and influence over a decade’s time. But for whatever reason, there was only one triple-triple combination I recall seeing her land successfully—the triple-toe/triple-toe—and even that one often became a triple/double in the heat of competition. Maybe she was too inconsistent with other triple combos, or maybe she just wanted to prove that her skating could transcend such bells and whistles. (And more often than not, I think it did.) Whatever the case, facts are facts, time has moved on, and if people are wondering if Cohen can keep up with the current crop of champions… see where I’m going with this?
Still, the speculation is real enough, and with a big ol' TBA glaring among the U.S. ladies’ entries for Skate America, I suppose anything is possible.
And in the meantime comes this intriguing news that Kwan will be joining Yu-Na Kim in Ice Stars 2009, a three-day show set to take place in Seoul in mid-August. “It will be Kwan's first action since she quit the sport due to a hip injury in 2006,” the Korea Times article reminds us.
It also reminds us that Yu-Na is 18, while Kwan is now 28. And that Yu-Na has seen Kwan as “an iconic figure since childhood.” Hmmmm.
Anyway, the all-star roster includes Evan Lysacek, Joannie Rochette, Shizuka Arakawa, Jeffrey Buttle, and Stephane Lambiel (who, incidentally, seems to be the only man’s name still hanging out there in the will-they-or-won’t-they Olympic jungle).
Let’s see how this unfolds, if in fact there’s any unfolding to be done. In the meantime, I went back to when Kwan was 18 and dug up her 1999 Nationals performance as the Clip of the Day. (And yes, she does the triple-triple here.)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Prima, Paganini, Beethoven: Here Comes the "New" Music for Next Season
Sometimes I think that every May, the top skaters in the world all sit together in a large auditorium while Dick Button reaches into a miniature Zamboni and draws name after name of different pieces of well-known skating music (the same 3 dozen pieces of music, mind you) and the skaters bid on them for use in the upcoming season. A veritable war-horse auction, as it were: And that’s two hundred from the Japanese gentleman for “West Side Story”, two hundred, do I hear two-twenty five? Two hundred going once, going tw—two-twenty five from the Canadian pair in the back! Two twenty-five? Do I hear two-fifty??
I’m not saying skaters don’t put a lot of time and energy and thought into their annual music decisions—but for all the time they DO put in, it’s surprising how much of it we’ve all heard before. Plenty of it is absolutely wonderful, but it’s like spending all your time listening to a Top 40 radio station when there’s a whole dial full of other wonderful choices out there.
That being said, it looks like our number-two singles skaters in the U.S. have both made their music choices for 2009-10:
For Rachael Flatt : Louis Prima’s “Sing Sing Sing” for the SP; Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” for the Free Skate
For Brandon Mroz : a Latin medley including Tito Puente's "Temptation," "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado and "Mambo Jambo" by Terry Snyder for the SP; Beethoven's "Symphony no. 5" and "Romance in F major” for the Free Skate
Articles on the progress of both can be found right now at IceNetwork.com. My first thoughts on all the choices…
For Flatt—it’s a well-worn piece for sure, but I adore “Sing Sing Sing” (or Sing-cubed as I like to say) in the SP. And I think it’ll be a nice fit for Flatt; would be lovely if we can hear her pumping up the Vancouver crowd with it next Februrary, wouldn’t it? As for the Paganini, well… it’s frequently used with good reason, and it’s probably distinctive enough to work in her favor. Let’s see what happens.
And for Mroz—while I’m intrigued by his SP idea, I’d probably be more intrigued if I wasn’t afraid it was going to draw instant comparisons to Ryan Bradley. At least one of those selections (“Cherry Pink”) was used in Bradley’s medley… when it comes to Beethoven’s Fifth, though, I tend to recall two separate visions: Michael Weiss using it a few years ago, and Lexie Winston allegedly winning Sectionals with the disco version of it (in the original Ice Castles movie). Given that, maybe Mroz can work some new magic with it for me. I must admit I’m not familiar enough with the second Beethoven piece… (hey, maybe that’s a good thing!)
Would love to hear your thoughts!
I’m naming one of the more recent spins on “Sing” (Jeffrey Buttle’s SP from a few years back) as the Clip of the Day.
I’m not saying skaters don’t put a lot of time and energy and thought into their annual music decisions—but for all the time they DO put in, it’s surprising how much of it we’ve all heard before. Plenty of it is absolutely wonderful, but it’s like spending all your time listening to a Top 40 radio station when there’s a whole dial full of other wonderful choices out there.
That being said, it looks like our number-two singles skaters in the U.S. have both made their music choices for 2009-10:
For Rachael Flatt : Louis Prima’s “Sing Sing Sing” for the SP; Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” for the Free Skate
For Brandon Mroz : a Latin medley including Tito Puente's "Temptation," "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado and "Mambo Jambo" by Terry Snyder for the SP; Beethoven's "Symphony no. 5" and "Romance in F major” for the Free Skate
Articles on the progress of both can be found right now at IceNetwork.com. My first thoughts on all the choices…
For Flatt—it’s a well-worn piece for sure, but I adore “Sing Sing Sing” (or Sing-cubed as I like to say) in the SP. And I think it’ll be a nice fit for Flatt; would be lovely if we can hear her pumping up the Vancouver crowd with it next Februrary, wouldn’t it? As for the Paganini, well… it’s frequently used with good reason, and it’s probably distinctive enough to work in her favor. Let’s see what happens.
And for Mroz—while I’m intrigued by his SP idea, I’d probably be more intrigued if I wasn’t afraid it was going to draw instant comparisons to Ryan Bradley. At least one of those selections (“Cherry Pink”) was used in Bradley’s medley… when it comes to Beethoven’s Fifth, though, I tend to recall two separate visions: Michael Weiss using it a few years ago, and Lexie Winston allegedly winning Sectionals with the disco version of it (in the original Ice Castles movie). Given that, maybe Mroz can work some new magic with it for me. I must admit I’m not familiar enough with the second Beethoven piece… (hey, maybe that’s a good thing!)
Would love to hear your thoughts!
I’m naming one of the more recent spins on “Sing” (Jeffrey Buttle’s SP from a few years back) as the Clip of the Day.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Never Will Say Goodbye...
Sigh.
For those reading in the States, this has been quite the week for the stars ascending on into heaven. For those reading in the rest of the world, the last one we lost has prompted enough shock and sadness for a whole fleet of singers, actors, and entertainers who have passed away.
While I can’t say Michael Jackson was ever an integral part of my life—all the MJ CD’s in the house belong to my husband; my only possession of his music is an old 45 of “Rockin’ Robin”—he was a part of it by default. I was learning to walk when the Jackson 5 first hit the airwaves… in grade school when Off the Wall was released… in high school when “Billie Jean” spent 7 weeks at the top of the U.S. charts… in college when the “Bad” video had its big MTV premiere… and working my first full-time job when Dangerous came out. With his astounding career starting around the time my life was starting, his music became a vital part of my soundtrack. It always will be. Still, it’s breathtakingly sad when such a voice is silenced. Especially when the whole world feels it.
And then there was the dancing. Like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and even Mikhail Baryshnikov, Michael Jackson was the gold standard for his generation and his genre. No surprise, then, why skaters and skating fans have repeatedly embraced his music for their own, unique spin on his moves. I have to wonder how many top skaters might be considering an MJ-inspired exhibition program now as they plan out the upcoming season…more than ever, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.
There’s a few different clips I could choose as the Clip of the Day, but I’m going with Katarina’s leather jacket-clad take on “Bad” from the 1988 Winter Olympic Gala. I wonder if MJ ever noticed that the only mere mortals who had a chance of successfully “moonwalking” were those that did it on skates…
For those reading in the States, this has been quite the week for the stars ascending on into heaven. For those reading in the rest of the world, the last one we lost has prompted enough shock and sadness for a whole fleet of singers, actors, and entertainers who have passed away.
While I can’t say Michael Jackson was ever an integral part of my life—all the MJ CD’s in the house belong to my husband; my only possession of his music is an old 45 of “Rockin’ Robin”—he was a part of it by default. I was learning to walk when the Jackson 5 first hit the airwaves… in grade school when Off the Wall was released… in high school when “Billie Jean” spent 7 weeks at the top of the U.S. charts… in college when the “Bad” video had its big MTV premiere… and working my first full-time job when Dangerous came out. With his astounding career starting around the time my life was starting, his music became a vital part of my soundtrack. It always will be. Still, it’s breathtakingly sad when such a voice is silenced. Especially when the whole world feels it.
And then there was the dancing. Like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and even Mikhail Baryshnikov, Michael Jackson was the gold standard for his generation and his genre. No surprise, then, why skaters and skating fans have repeatedly embraced his music for their own, unique spin on his moves. I have to wonder how many top skaters might be considering an MJ-inspired exhibition program now as they plan out the upcoming season…more than ever, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.
There’s a few different clips I could choose as the Clip of the Day, but I’m going with Katarina’s leather jacket-clad take on “Bad” from the 1988 Winter Olympic Gala. I wonder if MJ ever noticed that the only mere mortals who had a chance of successfully “moonwalking” were those that did it on skates…
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Gyula Pandi: Can He Help Meissner Get Her Groove Back?
For everyone still rooting for Kimmie Meissner to make a return to form in the coming year—here’s another sign that she’s not just going through the motions.
The Baltimore Sun ran this article over the weekend discussing the newest member of Team Meissner, a charming former dancer with the Hungarian Ballet by the name of Gyula Pandi. The description in the first paragraph is enticing enough, if you ask me:
The newest member of Kimmie Meissner's coaching team is a free spirit who cheerfully concedes that he knows nothing of figure skating, travels the country in a clunker Jeep with a bungee-corded tarp for a roof and 260,000 on the odometer, and keeps his clothes in a waterproof plastic box.
Apparently he comes in at the suggestion of none other than Peggy Fleming, so really… what more do we need to know?
The Baltimore Sun is apparently one of those newspapers that now accompanies some (or all?) of its online stories with a video piece, so if you click the above link you’ll get a chance to see Pandi and Meissner in action. Kinda cute. Hope he’s got one of the keys to unlock her from whatever’s holding her back—be it her body, her spirit, her mind… whatever.
I decided to make her 2006 Olympic SP the Clip of the Day. Maybe you can watch this, then compare it to the new video at the article website…
The Baltimore Sun ran this article over the weekend discussing the newest member of Team Meissner, a charming former dancer with the Hungarian Ballet by the name of Gyula Pandi. The description in the first paragraph is enticing enough, if you ask me:
The newest member of Kimmie Meissner's coaching team is a free spirit who cheerfully concedes that he knows nothing of figure skating, travels the country in a clunker Jeep with a bungee-corded tarp for a roof and 260,000 on the odometer, and keeps his clothes in a waterproof plastic box.
Apparently he comes in at the suggestion of none other than Peggy Fleming, so really… what more do we need to know?
The Baltimore Sun is apparently one of those newspapers that now accompanies some (or all?) of its online stories with a video piece, so if you click the above link you’ll get a chance to see Pandi and Meissner in action. Kinda cute. Hope he’s got one of the keys to unlock her from whatever’s holding her back—be it her body, her spirit, her mind… whatever.
I decided to make her 2006 Olympic SP the Clip of the Day. Maybe you can watch this, then compare it to the new video at the article website…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
