Skating Year in Review

2015 is already shaping up to be an exciting skating year (for me as much as anyone else), but before we Zamboni the 2014 ice, here's a look back at the year's most memorable skating moments:

Sochi Olympics
Regardless of the results of the competition, any year deemed an Olympic year goes down in the history books.

Johnny & Tara
They're the new voices of skating, having replaced Scott Hamilton & Co. as lead anchors on NBC's figure skating coverage.

The Hanyu/Han Crash
It was bloody and violent. What more could you ask for in a primetime, major league competition?

Music and Lyrics
2014 marked the first season of competition in which lyrics were allowed for programs in ladies, men and pairs events.

Tonya & Nancy Saga Turns 20
I hadn't started my blog until after this notable anniversary was "celebrated," but we've come a long way since that fateful Nationals in 1994. Two very well-done TV documentaries (one by NBC and the other by ESPN) are worth watching that answer a lot of lingering questions.

And for me, 2014 marks a year of hard work and self-discovery on the ice that I hope continues into 2015.

Wednesday Training Recap

The last two weeks' worth of practices were very encouraging, as my stamina and consistency finally seem to be kicking into gear. The program is coming together, and I feel significantly less like I got hit by a truck at the end of it.

Last night's practice was great, given I was nursing a lingering head cold. Skating is actually pretty therapeutic for a a mild upper respiratory condition like a cold. The gulpfuls of air and the centripetal force of jumps and spins really sucks the snot out of you, quite literally. (Warning, don't skate too near me when I'm sick!) Thus, I was able to have a productive practice, despite the cold.

With the program choreographed, I'm working on nailing some of the more difficult elements we put into it, like this 2toe-2toe combo.

2toe-2toe #figureskating

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:23pm PST

Let's Talk About Japanese Nationals for a Second

Aside from the lackluster performance and sudden retirement of Tatsuki Machida following the Japanese Nationals last week in Nagano (another good use of a former Olympic venue), the results were unsurprising but for one discipline.

Yuzuru Hanyu trounced the men, cute little Satoko Miyahara won the ladies, and Cathy & Chris Reed won the dance.

However I was surprised to see that only one Japanese pair team competed. In all of Japan, there is ONE, single, senior-level pair team. How can that be? The country has never produced any competitive pair teams, this is true. But it does have a robust skating program, and skating champions are superstars over there. Why is there only one???

Let's Talk About Russian Nationals for a Second

The much-anticipated competition was held over Christmas week (Dec 24-29) back in Sochi (good that they're use that arena for something, right?), and produced a few juicy bits of news.

Reigning Olympic champ Adelina Sotnikova did not compete due to an alleged injury, but was still named alternate for Europeans next month in Stockholm. She has a "test" skate coming up mid-January to make the final determination as to whether they'll send her or not.

Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva went one and two at Russian Nat'ls, followed by unknown teenager Evgenia Medvedeva. But she got passed over on a Europeans berth for Anna Pogorilaya, who finished fourth. (See, the USA is not the only country to pass over their national bronze medalist!)

And then poor Julia Lipnitskaya finished ninth. It's a shame, because I know the reigning World silver medalist is better than that. Maybe she's going through puberty? Either that or the pressure on her since Sochi finally forced her to crack. Sad to see that happen.

In the men's event, Maxim Kovtun ran away with the gold, as did Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov in pairs and Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin in the ice dance event. In those three disciplines it seems, there's a great divide between Russia's top talent and everyone else.

Reigning Olympic pairs champs Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar were also named alternates for Europeans, not having competed so far this season due to Maxim's shoulder injury.

The Russian World team is to be decided based on how everyone does at Europeans.

Machida Retires Unexpectedly

Luu / Wikimedia Commons

Wait, what? Tatsuki Machida is retiring?

He crushed the competition at Skate America! Like, trounced the field. His subsequent performances were not as stellar though, and most recently he finished a disappointing fourth at the Japanese National Championships.

I guess it makes sense to retire after an Olympic cycle. He's the reigning World silver medalist, and at the ripe old age of 24, says he's retiring to focus on school.

Good luck man, we'll miss you in the skating world.

Chattin' with Johnny Weir

As promised, here is the actual interview I did with Johnny Weir, during his visit to my hometown. It aired Sunday.

It was one of the most fun interviews I've done in a long time!

30 Rock Lunchtime Figure Skating Olympics

This.

Selfies with Johnny

I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing one Johnny Weir this weekend. He was in town for a meet and greet with local skaters and fans.

I didn't quite know what to expect going into it--having interviewed many celebrities in the past, it's a crapshoot as to whether they'll be cool or not--but I am happy to say that Johnny was polite, polished and genuine during my conversation with him. And he was gracious enough to indulge my need to take a selfie with him.

Selfie w/ Johnny #bucketlist

A photo posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:30am PST

We chatted about a lot of things, and I will post the interview as soon as it airs!

Synchro Worlds

Synchro Worlds is not until April, but folks are starting to get psyched for it! A promo video was recently released, and it captures the essence of synchro. If you've ever wondered about it, what it was, how it worked, watch this video. There is no "i" in "team"!



Synchro Worlds are in Hamilton Canada, April 10-11, 2015.

Grand Prix Final in Rearview

Well that was some great competition. An explosive end to the Grand Prix competition, and a great stage-setter for Nationals and Worlds.

Not to mention it rocked my Fantasy scores. I'm back down to 116th!

For the sake of brevity, I'll just list my observations:

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva is a truck driver. She doesn't look like she'd be a good skater when you observe her getting on and off the ice, based on her posture and sort of mannish build, but once she starts going, she bowls you over. Her jumps are phenomenal. Could use some presentation work, but I'm pleased that she's not a bendy-flexy, skin and bones little girl and she's winning.

I love Ashley Wagner's Moulin Rouge freeskate. She nailed it at the Final and looked better perhaps than I've ever seen her skate. But unfortunately at her best, she's just not good enough to win. And I'm a little annoyed that she wasn't docked for clearly being on the wrong edge on her lutz...

I guess Yuzuru Hanyu is back to crushing the competition. He makes a quad salchow look like butter.

Javier Fernandez continues to get pooped on by the judges. His technical merit was rightly below Yuzuru Hanyu's, but in my opinion, he got majorly screwed in presentation. His performance was so energetic, his interpretation of the music so effortless and spot on...yet his scores were pretty significantly below Hanyu. Hanyu's great, don't get me wrong, but he's not as good as Fernandez, and I wish people would see that!

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, holy wow. They were AWESOME. I loooove them. I'm so glad they are doing well. Meagan is solid muscle. She looks like she could nail one of those Ninja Warrior obstacle courses. Couldn't be any harder than landing a throw quad salchow? They're the first pair I've ever seen (or at least noticed) do side-by-side combo jumps. So. Many. Points.

And now, on to U.S. Nationals next month, which should be great fun to watch.

Wednesday Training Recap

I was kept off the ice by nasty weather last week, so I started off this week at a bit of an endurance backlog. Making it through the program, even with single jumps, was a challenge, and disappointing after the progress I'd made two weeks ago by skating two days a week.

But I got through it. My coach made a great point as I bent over, huffing and puffing at the end of a particularly trying run-through. "It can't be worse than childbirth, right?" That is...true. #perspective

After another run-through, I launched immediately into two laps (a standard endurance-building tactic for competitive skaters). Halfway through the laps, I tripped on my toepick and went sprawling across the ice. For that, I earned two nasty bruises on my elbows. Here's one at right, lest you doubt my experience. And yes, it hurt. And it still hurts. But this elbow bruise is like an old friend to me. I can't remember a time during my skating career as a child when I didn't have an elbow bruise. I think it's time to dig out the 'ole elbow pads and see if they are still in decent shape...

And now here's a question. It has come to my attention that last year's version of the event I will compete in this March is likely available to watch on Icenetwork.com. And some of the competitors are women I will likely face this year. So, do I scout the competition?

This isn't like football. There are no real strategic advantages to watching the competition. In fact, I've always done better not watching, not scouting. It's not helpful to me, and it generally stresses me out because I begin to compare myself to others. However, I suppose it can be helpful to know what strengths of mine I should be playing up if I want to do well in competition. So I'm torn...

And for your viewing pleasure (or something to make you cringe), here's one of my attempts last night at a death drop combo spin.

Death drop attempt #skating

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:05am PST

Happy Hanukkah!

To all those who celebrate, Chag Urim Sameach.

And now here's a Hanukkah music video by Matisyahu, shot mostly on ice skates.

Grand Prix Final Preview

A month and a half of intense competition is about to climax. (Yes, I meant it to sound the way it sounds.)

The Grand Prix Final may not sound like a big deal when you compare it to Worlds or the Olympics, but it really is. It's a competition where the cream of the crop skate head to head, and we really get to see what they're made of. Here's a list of the qualifiers, based on their results in the last six competitions.

Here are some of my thoughts on the events:

Ladies
It was going to be Russia vs USA, but since Gracie Gold had to withdraw last week due to a stress fracture, it's going to be Russia vs USA vs Japan, with Rika Hongo replacing Gracie. Rika and Ashley Wagner don't stand much of a chance at a medal in my opinion, so this will be an interesting matchup of Russia's top skaters, and preview of what's going to go down at Russian nationals. My money's on Elena Radionova winning, with Elizaveta Tuktamysheva in a close second. When Radionova skates clean, her technical scores are just too high to beat.

Men
If Yuzuru Hanyu hadn't gotten knocked off his game (literally), he'd probably be a contender in the Final. But after a lackluster performance at NHK last week, I'm starting to doubt his commitment to Sparkle Motion. Instead we'll have Russia's Maxim Kovtun, Spain's Javier Fernandez and Japan's Tatsuki Machida contending for the gold, I'm thinking. Kovtun has won the two Grand Prix competitions he did by default in my opinion - he's terribly unrefined on the ice, with little to no presentation skill to speak of (he's almost hard to watch). But he gets high marks for technical merit that make up for it. Javier Fernandez is amazing, but not always consistent. Tatsuki Machida lies somewhere in between the two, with explosive technical merit when he's on, and decent presentation.

Pairs
It is shaping up to be a run for gold between Russians Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov and Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford. Both are tied in the points totals. I wouldn't totally count out Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov either, but they've shown more vulnerability in competition lately.

Dance
It seems like it could be a thrilling three-way battle between Americans Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje and French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron. All three teams are tied in the standings, and have given strong performances so far this season.

fwiw, here are my picks:

Grand Prix Final Event
Ladies A Elena Radionova (RUS)	Ladies B Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS)	Ladies C Ashley Wagner (USA)
Men's A Javier Fernandez (ESP)	Men's B Tatsuki Machida (JPN)	Men's C Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)
Pairs A Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN)	Pairs B Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov (RUS)	Pairs C Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN)
Ice Dancing A Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA)	Ice Dancing B Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA)	Ice Dancing C Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN)

Noles Fans Say "It's Not Figure Skating"

I'm not a fan of Florida State's football team to begin with, but this just solidifies it. Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher has twice compared the declining morality of college football to figure skating, lamenting the Noles' placement in the BCS standings (which is currently #2, cry me a river).



In a way, he has a point. If anything is allegedly "worse" than figure skating when it comes to being subjective and judgy (and corrupt), it's college football.

The Skating Waiters of St. Moritz

Back in the 30's, the great skating waiters of Grand Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, were the hottest things on ice. Oh how I wish this was still a thing!

I wonder what kind of resume one had to have to get a job as a skating waiter...by the looks of things, they were more comedian than Olympians.

Either way, I very much enjoy this set of photographs of the experience!

Babies on Ice

I am giddy with excitement over what arrived at my house yesterday!

I ordered a pair of skates for my toddler's teeny tiny feet from Babyskates.com. While we haven't yet tried them out on the ice, they arrived in a cute little package (a mere three days after I ordered them!) with a lovely handwritten note and pen from the proprietors of this relatively new online business.

So far, the kid loves them. Can't wait to go skating with her!

Behind the Scenes of Skating

This is a cool video taken behind the scenes at Skate America last month. While it's slightly more glamorous than the backstage scene of your average skating competition, it does a good job of capturing the essence of off-ice warm-up and the nervous, concentrated face of a skater before he/she takes the ice.

US Figure Skating's Newest Hall-of-Famers

This year's inductees to the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame have been announced!

They're not famous, but they've each made significant contributions to the sport. David Santee is the only skater - the former World silver medalist and two-time Olympian is now a coach and as an ISU technical specialist (he worked the Sochi games!). Anne Gerli is a long-time USFS admin who established fast-track program for aspiring judges and inspired the creation of Junior Nationals. And Ricky Harris is often referred to as "the mother of choreography education in figure skating." It's a long, but lofty title! She choreographed for the likes of Brian Boitano, Michelle Kwan and Scott Hamilton.

Congratulations to the "Class of 2015." They'll be formally inducted at Nationals in January.

Ex's Drug Trial Spells Trouble for Carolina Kostner

The former World Champ may be in a world of trouble after a prosecutor recommended she be banned from figure skating until after the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, as punishment for allegedly helping her ex-boyfriend Alex Schwazer dope up for the London Olympics.

 I don't presume her guilt or innocence, but that's heavy business. As the USA Today article aptly points out, if convicted, it basically spells the end of her career.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was just watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, when I learned that the Ronald McDonald float is sporting the world's biggest pair of ice skates.

Daily Mail

Rock on, Ronald. Hope everyone has a fabulous Turkey Day!

Bronze It Is for Josephs

US Figure Skating Hall of Fame

This is a cool story. American pairs skaters, siblings Vivian and Ronald Joseph are finally getting the respect they deserve!

The pair came in fourth place at the 1964 Winter Games, but after a scandal involving the bronze medalists signing a pro contract with Holiday on Ice, they were awarded the bronze. Yet somehow, the IOC never actually changed their records, and people didn't believe them when they said they'd placed third.

Well, finally, thanks to the New York Times, the IOC is officially recognizing the Josephs as the bronze medalists. Better late than never!

This is great for them, and great for US Figure Skating's rep, because it puts the tally of medals won by US skaters at 48--the most won by any country at the Games.

Practice Recap

I hit the ice for practice twice this week, with the focus remaining on choreographing the program and starting to build up the stamina to do it. We're about 4/5ths of the way through.

I just realized I never shared the musical selection I finally went with. I was inspired by my dance lesson at Chicago Arthur Murray to choose a Latin-theme for my program, and ultimately chose Jesse Cook's "Havana." It's really fast, Flamenco-esque music. I don't know what I was thinking. But I love it!

Here it is, for those who aren't familiar. Jesse Cook is tremendous.


And to continue keeping me honest, here's a video of my latest efforts to create a combo spin.

Tryin to crack the combo spin. #skating

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Nov 11, 2014 at 8:28am PST

Fashion Friday: Off-Ice Skating Clothes

Cosmopolitan.com / Kathleen Kamphausen

When I was a kid, I used to be mortified by the prospect of wearing my skating "clothes" anywhere but in the rink.

Now that leggings and yoga pants are somewhat en vogue (and my body image is far more stabilized), I have less of a problem with it. I usually hit the grocery store after practice, without a care.

Which is why I laugh at this Cosmo online piece from last year, featuring three editorial assistants donning skating dresses during everyday life in NYC. It pokes perfect fun at my irrational childhood fears of being see in public with skating clothes on.

Trophee Bompard Preview

The fifth Grand Prix event takes the ice in Bourdeaux, France this weekend with a lot of familiar faces.

It features an interesting match-up in the Ladies event, between Russian phenoms Yulia Lipnitskaya and Elena Radionova, who has had a long three-week rest between her victory at Skate America and the competition in France. They are both about equal in terms of technical merit and presentation, so it will go to whichever little blond Russian stick figure skates better. That's why I'm putting my (fake) money on Radionova winning here. I'm not sure Yulia is over her little tank and snubfest at Cup of China.

Tatsuki Machida is going to run away with the Mens' title, and the Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue have a great shot in Ice Dance.

I'm a little less certain of the outcome in the Pairs event, however. It could go either way in my opinion. The Chinese pairs are looking strong, but have been runners-up thus far to the Russians. Yet the Russian pair Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov haven't had much time to rest since their win at Rostelecom just a short week ago. So if they're not full steam, the Chinese pairs could seize the opportunity. That said, neither team stands head-and-shoulders above the others.

The other thing to note about Trophee Bompard, is that the outcome of this competition will essentially determine whether some skaters like Ashley Wagner will qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

Here are my Fantasy Skating picks: (let's hope my ranking goes up!)

Trophee Bompard Event
Ladies A Elena Radionova (RUS)	Ladies B Samantha Cesario (USA)	Ladies C Laurine Lecavelier (FRA)
Men's A Tatsuki Machida (JPN)	Men's B Richard Dornbush (USA)	Men's C Chafik Bessghier (FRA)
Pairs A Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS)	Pairs B Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres (FRA)	Pairs C Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (CAN)
Ice Dancing A Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA)	Ice Dancing B Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam (CAN)	Ice Dancing C Sara Hurtado/Adria Diaz (ESP)

Upcoming IOC Vote Could Change Things

IOC

The IOC is set to vote on 40 new changes for upcoming Olympic Games in December.

Among them, the proposal to add Synchro to the roster of figure skating events, which I wholeheartedly support!

Also among them, though unrelated to figure skating, is a proposal to include more mixed-gender events. This is fascinating to me, as I've always felt that some sports needlessly separate the genders. Sports like bobsleigh, which to its credit has just made the 4-man event gender neutral.

Synchro skating is already mixed gender. While you don't see a lot of dudes on teams, it does indeed happen (There is one on my old team, Gotham City Synchro!). While I don't think mixing the genders would work well for singles skating - there is too much of a disparity in the technical merit between Ladies and Men - why couldn't it work for pairs and dance? Why can't we have male or female teams rather than the strict male-female pairing? I don't know the answer, but I say it's worth a thought.

A Sectional Sendoff

Sectional competition begins today, woohoo! Those lucky skaters who placed at Regionals will take the ice to duke it out for the chance to compete at Nationals in January. Best of luck to all skaters at the Eastern, Midwestern and Pacific Sectional Championships!

Icenetwork.com will be broadcasting every event at all three competitions, if you're curious about it.

I had the honor of going to Sectionals once, for pairs, with my partner Joe. It was a lot of fun. We were competing at a level that did not advance to Nationals, so there wasn't much pressure. We tried some new throws and nailed our side-by-side 2toes, and had a great time to earn the bronze. After our event, we watched a young Sara Hughes and a young Johnny Weir compete (the were only Junior and Novice level back then). It was a great time, and I felt like a busy and important skater!

Skates on a Plane!

I always wondered about whether you could take your skates on a plane, never having done it (road-tripping to competitions was my modus operandi). And as I will have to do that next year if I am competing in Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City, I kept meaning to look it up.

Well I need look no further. In light of the fast-approaching holiday travel season, the Transportation Safety Administration is directing passengers to its updated list of items one should not bring in their carry-on and checked luggage.

And guess what, ice skates are allowed in your carry-on. Question answered, and any anxiety that my skates will get lost or stolen somewhere between New York and the competition is laid to rest. Phew.

Practice Makes Perfect

I haven't been posting Wednesday recaps for the last two weeks because I wasn't skating on Tuesday nights, thanks to the rink being closed. Instead, I've been hopping on some Sunday morning sessions to choreograph my new program. We've been hard at work trying to squish all the elements into three minutes and 40 seconds.

Frankly though, I'm more worried about my endurance to get through all those elements than actually fitting them into the program. I've got a long, laborious way to go, filled with supplementary cardio training.

Didn't have time to take any videos, but I'm hoping to be able to post segments of the program in the coming weeks.

Rostelecom Recap

Rostelecom Cup was kind of blah. No skater's performance was particularly noteworthy or clean, and there were no real buzzworthy skaters competing. Of course, compared to Cup of China and the crash heard round the skating world, it was bound to be uneventful.

As the precocious toddler of a friend and fellow skater put it, "the Ladies blew." Sorry to say, but they did. There were no top-ranking ladies in the field this time around, so we got to see what happens when the skaters you never see on TV (because they're always at the middle-bottom of the pack) are suddenly thrust into the spotlight.

I'm happy that Javier Fernandez, Madison Chock & Evan Bates, and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov all won gold, because it helps my fantasy team. I pretty much called every event except for the ladies, yet somehow dropped to 179th in the standings? I don't get it. Oh well, I'll do better next week.

On to Trophee Bompard in Bordeaux!

Get Your Skinny Butt to the Podium

David W. Carmichael via Wikimedia Commons

According to media reports, Cup of China silver medalist Yulia Lipnitskaya ditched the awards ceremony last weekend in Shanghai. That's a big no-no in Grand Prix competition, which makes attendance at awards ceremonies mandatory for all medalists. She is to be fined an unspecified amount, likely taken from her $13,000 winnings.

She claims she got her "dates" mixed up. Yeah, right. I declare shenanigans. In fact, I don't care what her excuse is. You win a medal, you show up for the ceremony. You know EXACTLY when it is. They don't make it hard for you to find out when you get your medal at a Grand Prix competition. But you should really do it at any competition. Period. No matter your level or your performance, it's part of your responsibility as a competitor. Get your skinny butt to the podium and accept your fate.

Which in Yulia's case, also happens to include a large sum of prize money. To me, the fact that she didn't show up shows me that she's an ungrateful little brat who was pissed about how badly she performed. Or she's under the thumb of someone who is pissed about how she performed. That's just insulting to her fellow competitors. It says their hard work and talent mean exactly squat, because apparently the silver medal isn't worth anything to the person who won it.

One time at a competition in Lake Placid, I bombed. I fell on a bunch of stuff, popped a bunch of stuff and just generally skated like crap. Much like Lipnitskaya did at Cup of China. I was so ashamed and disappointed with my performance, that I didn't bother to look at the results. So I hopped in the car with my mom and we started driving back downstate. But just before we got onto Rt 73, I remembered that I left my competition music at the rink. So we turned around. My mom parked outside the rink while I ran in. I walked up to the registration table and asked one of the officials I knew for my music.

"Congratulations!" She said.

"Huh?" I replied.

"You didn't see the results?"

"Um, no."

I had gotten the silver medal, for my craptastic performance. So I ran downstairs, made my mom park the car and ran back in to attend the medal ceremony. Because you don't miss the medal ceremony.

Rostelecom Cup Preview

For Week 4 of the Grand Prix series, we head to Moscow for Rostelecom.

According to the Fantasy Skating rankings, I'm currently in 78th place. (For reference, after Skate America I was 534th.) So I guess that's good?

Regardless, if you've been watching the Grand Prix competition, you'll see some familiar faces at the rink in Moscow.

Javier Fernandez and Anna Pogorilaya are back after earning silver and gold, respectively, at Skate Canada. Ice dance team Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who got gold at Skate America are back, as are pairs team Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier, who got silver.

It should be another fun event to watch. Here are my Fantasy Skating picks for the outcome:

Ladies A Anna Pogorilaya (RUS)	Ladies B Mirai Nagasu (USA)	Ladies C So Youn Park (KOR)
Men's A Javier Fernandez (ESP)	Men's B Takahiko Kozuka (JPN)	Men's C Sergei Voronov (RUS)
Pairs A Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS)	Pairs B Vasilsa Davankova/Alexander Enbert (RUS)	Pairs C DeeDee Leng/Simon Shnapir (USA)
Ice Dancing A Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA)	Ice Dancing B Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland (GBR)	Ice Dancing C Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS)

Adelina Sotnikova Out for Grand Prix Season

deerstop / Wikimedia Commons

We won't be seeing the reigning Olympic Champ compete in the Grand Prix season due to a torn ligament she incurred at practice last week.

Ouch. There goes her chance to prove herself post-Olympics before the Russian championships next month.

My prediction is that she will get her butt handed to her by the likes of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Elena Radionova and potentially Yulia Lipnitskaya (if she gets her head on straight) and/or Anna Pogorilaya. Which means there's a chance we wouldn't see her compete this year at Worlds.

But she does have that clout around her from Sochi. I'm very curious to see how Russian nationals goes down this year...

More on Cup of China, Thanks to Deadspin

Leave it to Deadspin to give me a good laugh over the whole Hanyu/Han crash debacle, calling it "a humdinger of a bell ringer."

This has got to be my favorite line:

"...Hanyu, the reigning Olympic champion and thus a badass of the highest order, managed to weather this debacle and finish second at the Cup. See? Happy ending. This has been figure skating news brought to you by our shared appreciation for violence and pratfalls."

For those of you who did not see and aren't bothered by a humdinger of a bell ringer, here's the replay of the crash.

A Smashing Cup of China Recap

Luu / Wikimedia Commons 

Too soon?

Once again, I didn't have time to watch the whole competition this weekend, so I am only commenting on what I saw, which was the men's and ladies' freeskates.

We'll start with the ladies. The rumors are true. Yulia Lipnitskaya is human, and not a robot. I don't want to say she skated poorly, because that's not even accurate. She straight-up gave up halfway through her freeskate. That's more shameful for a championship-level skater, in my opinion, than skating and falling. I don't know what she needs to work more on, her skating or her attitude, but she better buck up. She called it "the worst skate of my life." I hope she learns something from it.

And now for the men. Forget the performances for a second and let's focus on the crash heard round the skating world. Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu and China's Yan Han had a high-speed collision during their freeskate warm-up. Both were bleeding from the face/head, and the competition was suspended until their injuries could be assessed. Both returned to the ice about 45 minutes later and skated, bandaged up. Hanyu ended up with a respectable silver medal. Han ended up sixth.

Without any further explanation, that seems like a noble thing to do in our sports-obsessed world, right? The QB gets clocked, but pushes the docs away, says "put me in coach!" and rallies for the final play that wins the game. The audience goes wild. Well, at least in figure skating, it's not noble. It's freaking dangerous.

Both men could barely keep their $&#! together out there. A visibly disoriented Hanyu fell five times, and was a half-conscious, hot mess in the kiss-n-cry.

Hanyu's coach, Brian Orser, told the media he let Hanyu skate because he wasn't showing signs of concussion and because he insisted on skating. I'm not alone in thinking this was a terrible call on Orser's part, and the part of whoever was responsible for letting Yan skate as well. Regardless of whether either had a concussion or other serious injury that would have been exacerbated during the performance, the emotional trauma of the situation took their heads out of the game, and that can cause serious injury in and of itself. It's not Worlds or the Olympics. You can skip Cup of China and not miss out on your big chance. Sometimes looking out for No.1 is not skating.

I get that skaters put blood, sweat and tears into training for these events, and not competing feels like a sign of weakness or failure. But it would be all for naught anyway if they incur a catastrophic injury because of bad judgment. There's no policy for prohibiting skaters from competing after a warm-up crash like that, but perhaps there should be.

Nicole Bobek Joined the Circus

Icenetwork.com

Just the other day, I found myself wondering, "whatever happened to 1995 National Champion Nicole Bobek?"

Well, I guess she joined the circus.

Seriously. She travels around with Miami-based Rainbow Circus, contorting her body on the lyra (that's an aerial hoop, for those keeping track).

I can't deny I've been meaning to try something like aerial yoga, or doing something with aerial fabrics, as it's a great workout.

Nicole found herself in some trouble over the years, but it looks like she has straightened out and found something that keeps her busy.

#tbt The First Quad

All this talk of quads reminded me that the first person to ever land a quad in competition was 4-time World Champion Kurt Browning, who vaulted from 9th place after the short program to win the World Championship in March of 1988 after landing the quad on one foot.

It wasn't the most flawless quad ever landed, but it was the first solid, deduction-less one.

Don't believe me? It's in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Interestingly, Browning later confessed that he was surprised quads didn't catch on more quickly after his first. It took another decade or so before men started performing them regularly, and another few years after that before they became pretty much essential to winning. Sheesh, you'd think popping off quads was difficult or something.

And here's a video of that historic freeskate:

Synchro Stamps

Stumbled on this over at GetItCalled.com - Synchro World Champs Marigold IceUnity of Finland are going to be on a Finnish stamp. That is so cool!

A description of the stamp from Finnbay.com:

January’s sports-themed stamp is Synchronized skating, designed by Ari Lakaniemi and Susanna Rumpu, known for their many award-winning stamps. The stamp is based on a skating competition photograph taken by Olli-Pekka Juhola of Helsingin Luistelijat ry’s Marigold IceUnity synchronized skating team, which won the world championship for the fourth time in April 2014. The elegant sheet is printed on a glossy foil paper with a silvery ice crystal pattern added in gloss paint.


They are a fantastic team. If you've never seen them skate, you need to head on over to YouTube. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Cup of China Preview

We're entering the third week of Grand Prix competition and things are just heating up. Cup of China will feature a roster of highly impressive skaters, even more so than in the previous two events, imho.

I'm really excited to see two Olympic champs compete this weekend in Shanghai - Russia's Yulia Lipnitskaya (won gold in the team event) and Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu. They are both phenomenal skaters, in that they're both technically amazing, but also have quirky stylistic elements that they rock that set themselves apart from the rest of the field. I'm expecting both to win gold by a significant margin here. I also think Russia's Elizaveta Tuktamysheva as a good shot at the podium again, but if Yulia performs flawlessly, Elizaveta may be stuck with silver again.

As for the Americans, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not particularly impressed with Polina Edmunds. Her skating is very junior-level. But given the fact that the field is thinned (not everyone on the world stage is competing), she may have a chance to medal. I also think the Shibutani siblings have a good shot at a medal (maybe even gold??) in the dance competition.

Here are my Fantasy Skating picks for Cup of China:

Cup of China Event
Ladies A Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS)	Ladies B Gabrielle Daleman (CAN)	Ladies C Hae Jin Kim (KOR)
Men's A Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)	Men's B Richard Dornbush (USA)	Men's C Yi Wang (CHN)
Pairs A Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang (CHN)	Pairs B Xuehan Wang/Lei Wang (CHN)	Pairs C Jessica Noelle Calalang/Zack Sidhu (USA)
Ice Dancing A Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA)	Ice Dancing B Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA)	Ice Dancing C Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu (CHN)

My Long Lost Skate Canada Recap

Luu / Wikimedia Commons

Ugh, sorry real life got in the way of blogging, But I'm back!

Sadly, I didn't get to watch much of Skate Canada this weekend, but I did catch the tail-end of the ladies competition. Looking at the results, I can say proudly that my Fantasy Skating team killed it this week—I called the gold or silver medalists in every event, woohoo!

See all results here.

A few thoughts about the ladies competition:

Russia's Anna Pogorilaya, who won last weekend in Kelowna, is not the strongest of the Russian ladies. In fact, she's far below the rest of the pack in quality, in my estimation. She looks like she's lumbering through her program from one jump to the next with no connecting moves or feeling. There was nothing exciting about her, except for maybe her loudly colored Firebird costume. She did land her jumps, which I must say are technically good, but she just left me feeling blah.

The third place finisher, Japanese skater, Satoko Miyahara, is cute and good, but totally cookie cutter. She'll do decently in the rankings if she continues to perform well, but she needs to set herself apart with more personality or something. Again, I'm just blah.

And finally, some thoughts on Ashley Wagner, who won silver. I was impressed with her Moulin Rouge program. I thought it was great music for her and her presentation was strong. But her jumps are still not that great. She shied away from doing a 3 lutz in her program, worried that the deduction she would get from "flutzing" (taking off on the inside edge instead of the outside) would hurt her. Frankly, I think not trying it hurt her more. You still get points for an attempt, and in this league where everyone is throwing down as many points as possible, Wagner is not doing herself any favors by keeping points off the table. The flutz deduction is not that much, fer cryin' out loud! Also, the fact that she didn't do a triple-triple combo of any kind is going to hurt her too.

Competition is not about staying on your feet anymore, one of the things I actually like about the modern judging system. Ashley Wagner stayed on her feet, but that alone is not going to vault her to the podium at Nationals and Worlds.

Next stop, Shanghai for Cup of China, where we're probably going to see some really stellar skating.

#tbt Brian Orser, the Dapper Stepper

In honor of Skate Canada coming up this weekend...

We usually only ever hear about the two-time Olympic silver medalist and 1987 World Champ in the context of the famous "Battle of the Brians," as the losing Brian in his red and gold body suit, with his popped flip jump.

It is usually forgotten that the Canadian skater won the short program (then, the "original program") in Calgary in '88, with a fan-freaking-tastic performance. Dick Button called him a "dapper stepper," and for once, I completely agree with Dick's estimation. Orser's footwork pass was as good and as intricate as any today, and his jumps and spins were fantastic.

He really was a dynamic skater, truly a match for Boitano and more than capable of beating him. In fact, I believe if the Brian Orser of 1988 were to compete in today's men's field, he'd still be a formidable competitor.

Now he's in his 50's, but dontcha know, he's the coach of not one, but TWO Olympic gold medalists: Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu and South Korea's Yuna Kim (although he and the latter ended up splitting quite bitterly after Vancouver).

So in honor of #tbt, here's Brian Orser's short program at the Calgary Olympics. What a great skate.

Skate Canada Preview

Ok so when I said in my Skate America Recap that I thought I would get a better handle on the competition at the second Grand Prix event, Skate Canada, I lied. I only recognize a handful of skaters competing in Kelowna this weekend.

I completely guessed in the ice dance and pairs events. For the ladies and mens events I have more confidence. I think Russia's Anna Pogorilaya will be terrific, and I adore Javier Fernandez of Spain. He's a fantastic skater. I thought he got a little screwed at the Olympics and Worlds, so I'm eager to see him do well this year.

Here are my fantasy team picks:

Skate Canada Event

Ladies A
Anna Pogorilaya (RUS)

Ladies B
Rika Hongo (JPN)

Ladies C
Brooklee Han (AUS)

Men's A
Javier Fernandez (ESP)

Men's B
Michal Brezina (CZE)

Men's C
Florent Amodio (FRA)

Pairs A
Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN)

Pairs B
Maddie Aaron/Max Settlage (USA)

Pairs C
Mari Vartmann/Aaron Van Cleave (GER)

Ice Dancing A
Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA)

Ice Dancing B
Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN)

Ice Dancing C
Elisabeth Paradis/Francois-Xavier Ouellette (CAN)

Wednesday Recap: Hey, Axel

There comes a point in most skater's experiences when they finally nail something they've been working really hard at, and the feeling is exuberant. For many skaters, that comes with finally getting the axel jump. It's a 1.5-rotation jump, an extra half rotation above the other single jumps, and is often considered a "gateway" jump. That is, once you land your axel, it's only a matter of time before you get the gist of double jumps. The axel sets you up with that sense of the snap-and-rotate that it takes to make double jumps seem like no-brainers.

I landed my axel for the first time when I was 10. I recall the pure elation I felt at the achievement as if it were yesterday. I also remember the first time I landed a 2axel. I was 15, and I felt on top of the world.

That feeling is euphoric, and part of the reason why I skate.

On my practice session tonight, one of the younger girls landed her axel for the first time. I was watching her attempt them. She went from not even close to nailed it in a split second. She and her coach shrieked with joy, and I felt myself grinning ear to ear. I don't even know this girl's name, never exchanged two words with her, yet I was over the moon about her accomplishment. I know that feeling, it feels so good.

I had my own mini-moment during the session too. If you've been following my skating career over the years, you know the jump that has vexed me most is the 2axel. I had it perfect for some years, but then lost it for reasons I don't quite understand. Part puberty, part fear, I suspect. Tonight I tried out a few on the harness we have set up at the rink. It's kind of like a safety net. You can try out big jumps without fear of falling, so you can focus on the technique. Well, I tried a few 2axels and I am happy to say I made some headway. I didn't try any off it, but hopefully the experience will benefit my next attempts.

Here's an attempt, caught on video (featuring my awesome coach on the other end of the wires):

2axel on harness - take 2

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:43pm PDT

Pop Music to the Rescue

I meant to comment on this as part of my Skate America Recap, but thought it deserved its own post. And then the Washington Post took the words right out of my mouth.

At first, when the announcement came down from the ISU that they were allowing singles and pairs skaters to use music with lyrics for their competitive programs, I was a naysayer. I shook my cane at this new idea, clinging to the old ways. Lyrics will be too distracting, and could cheapen the sport, depending on how skaters used it.

But after watching Skate America, and the classy choices skaters made with their music, I am not ashamed to admit I've had a change of heart. It was the opposite of distracting, it was enthralling. You could tell the skaters were much more at ease on the ice because they were really connecting to the music.

Some argue that adding the lyrics makes it more likely that skaters will be passionate about their programs, which translates to higher presentation marks and make it more TV audience-friendly. I say both were proven at Skate America.

My personal faves were Jeremy Abbott's choice of  Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down" for his short program, and Mae Berenice Meite's choice of medley to the Soweto Gospel Choir's "Hosanna" and Savanj Rooms "The Groove You Like" for her short.

Finding the Right Skates

Kevin Reynolds, the Canadian National silver medalist and reigning quad king (he landed two quads in a short program and three in a long program in one competition, srsly), has withdrawn from Skate Canada because of "ill-fitting" skates.

Your skates are like your spirit animal or your Harry Potter wand, they mold and guide you as much as you mold and guide them. One can't just slap on any pair of skates and expect that your feet will feel the same underneath you. It doesn't work like that.

Getting a new pair of skates is no walk skate in the park. It's something every skater has to do. Skates take a beating and wear down, and eventually become unsafe to use if they deteriorate too much. New skates are often extremely expensive, stiff as a board, and painful to wear. When you try them out for the first time on the ice, it can be like learning how to skate all over again. So I can understand why this guy, who does dangerous high-level stuff, might be picky about his skates.

On the other hand, it seems like he may be too picky about his skates. According to the Globe & Mail piece, he went through 9 pairs last year and 4 this year, many of them custom-fit (which runs thousands of dollars per pair, btw). I think I've only ever had 5 pairs of skates in my entire life. I've been through the breaking-in process, endured weeks of painful and stunted skating. And I survived. So part of me just wants to grab this kid by the shoulders and say, "suck it up, cupcake!"

I hope Cinderella here finds the "right" pair of skates soon.

Skate America Recap: The Disco Club Bed Sheet Dress

The absolute best part about the televised coverage of Skate America was Johnny Weir's estimation of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's competitive outfit, as a "disco club bedsheet dress." Spot on, Johnny, spot on.

Jokes at that poor girl's expense aside, it was harder to predict the outcome of the first Grand Prix event of the season, not having been familiar with many of the up and coming skaters. But I think I have a better handle on how the season will pan out based on the results.

Peruse the score sheets for each Skate America event here.

If you didn't catch my live-Tweeting of the NBC broadcast on Sunday, you can see it here.

Here's a quick summary of my feelings on the outcome.

Overall, it's important to note that it may seem like the Americans got a lot of medals and are so hot right now, but because it's Skate America, we got to enter three skaters/teams in each event, whereas other countries got at most, two. It's a host country thing. So we had strength in numbers to dilute the field. I have a feeling that once we lump all the skaters together at Worlds, we'll see them start to rank lower. Not that I'm not rooting for them though (go Team USA!).

Men
Speaking of Americans, I was actually super-duper impressed with both American men competing. They stand head and shoulders above the rest of the competitive field in terms of presentation and artistry. They really connect every movement in their programs. Everything is nuanced, intricate and expertly done. The technical bobbles leave a bit to be desired, and is what really keep them from securing gold.

Ladies
I have complicated feelings about this event. I think in the end, the top two skaters were right based solely on hard technical scores (number of jumps completed, quality of jumps etc), and I don't think anything was rigged. But no offense to Gracie Gold or Elena Radionova, who are both legit great skaters, but the last thing skating needs is another little blond waif to dub the "it girl." The ladies event needs, to put it in the immortal words of the great Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor, more power. I want to see women on that podium who are built more like gymnasts and swimmers than ballet dancers and stick figures. Women like Elizaveta Tuktamysheva or  Elene Gedevanishvili or Mae Berenice Meite, who in my humble opinion, got toally screwed over by the judges in the short program. That girl is getting continually screwed by the judges, now that I mention it.

Pairs

I gotta say, I completely forgot about Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, because they had to sit out last year (and the Olympics, OUCH) due to an injury. But they're back, and they ran away with the gold. They whipped off a throw quad like it was nothing.

Their technical merit is so high, I don't think Olympic Champs Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov can catch them. They'll surely be the pair to beat. And did I mention, they're 32 and 30? Ancient in the skating world, yet kicking butt and taking names. And even though the American pairs did well, I continue to think them underwhelming.

Dance
I am thrilled an American dance pair other than Meryl/Charlie is taking the gold. It's good to know that new legacy may have taken hold. I don't know much about the rest of the dance field, so I'll have to study up before Skate Canada next week!

Skate America: Mens Short

I managed to catch the second and final flight of skaters last night in the Mens Short. You never want to call a competition based solely on short program results, but it can often be a good indicator of a skater's ability to deliver under pressure.

For the uninitiated, the short program is graded on the performance of a series of required elements--simplified, it's notably one jump combo, one solo jump and an axel of some kind (for men it's a 3axel), a series of combo and flying spins, and an epic footwork pass. You get serious deductions for not performing elements. This is distinct from the long program, which has looser requirements and presentation takes on more importance.

Anyway, here are my reflections on the last six skaters, who (SPOILER ALERT AHEAD) essentially comprised the top six.

Chafik Bessighier, France - He's bringing back cargo pants (were they ever a thing on ice?) with his sequened, graffitied costume. He's a solid technical skater, but not polished. I appreciated the spot of breakdancing he did though.

Michael Christian Martinez, Philippines - His spins are amazing. His Bielmann spin is better than most ladies'! If he were more consistent with the jumps, his spins would help give him scores to contend with.

Jeremy Abbott - This was the first time I'd seen a skater use music with lyrics. It took me a good minute to get used to it! I'm just in love with Jeremy Abbott's skating (and maybe with him a little too, haha). His performance stands out beyond all other skaters because it is so intricate and nuanced. His jumps are great when he lands them, but it's his performance that is spellbinding. He's got the best footwork in the competition, imho.

Jason Brown - He doesn't really have the high technical merit (no quad), but like Jeremy Abbott, his presentation scores were through the roof. He's got so much character. He's always smiling and upbeat, and makes you really excited to watch him. You aren't punched in the gut when he falls, because you just know he's like "no biggie, I'm just love to skate!"

Dennis Ten, Kazakhstan - I was disappointed with his skating. He's not looking so confident, but I'm not counting him out just yet, because he has a history of vaulting up to the podium with a stellar freeskate after disastrous short programs.

Tatsuki Machida, Japan - He's the reiging Skate America Champ, and must be giving Yuzuru Hanyu a run for his money in their home country. He's got stellar technical merit, especially with jumps. But he lacks the refinement I've seen in other skaters.  You can tell he's trying to beef up his artistry, but it just doesn't come naturally. His technical score was so high though that it didn't matter. He sits in first place after the short.

Overall it's not looking too good for my Fantasy Skating team. But I'm pleased to find myself really impressed with the American men. (They stand in second and third after the short.) It has been a while since I've gotten truly excited about American singles skaters. Moving into the Long Program, I suspect they'll do just as well.

Starting off the Season on the Right Blade

Skate America is revving up as I write this, which means the Grand Prix season is officially starting.

I'm pretty sure this season will prove interesting for a number of reasons. This piece on Yahoo does a good job summarizing the competitive landscape, but I do have a few additional thoughts.

1. Reigning Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova is going for another season, claiming she's trying to prove that she deserved her gold medal in Sochi. I was never fully convinced that she earned it, but I'm willing to give her another chance or two to prove herself. I think her jumps and spins are fine - her 3toe-3toe is ginormous - but she skates like a junior, not a championship-level competitor. Her skating lacks a refinement that a true high-level skater should have.

I don't know what's going on over in Russia in terms of coaching technique, but they are churning out skaters whose presentation skills leave a lot to be desired. Observe, for example, this video of Yulia Lipnitskaya, whom I believe to be the strongest of the Russian ladies. Notice how her leg is always bent during footwork and jump sequences. Her free leg is just sloppy.


Now that Sochi and all the purported weirdness over scoring is behind us, we'll see how they stack up against the other top ladies. My guess is, we'll see a slight difference in rankings.

2. The Ice Dance competition is anyone's game. There was such a huge gap between the top US and Canadian dancers who dominated the podium, and their respective teammates. Maybe the rest of the world finally learned something about the novel, modern style of dancing that Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir did so well?

3. Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu pretty much has the season wrapped up in a bag, and will run away with all the gold, but the fight for silver and bronze at competitions is less clear cut. There are a few promising dudes in the mix, like Canada's Nam Nguyen and Kazakhstan's Dennis Ten, but they have been inconsistent in their past performances, so it's hard to predict.

Going to tune in to Skate America tonight on icenetwork.com, to see the Short Dance and Men's Short.

Chicago's Ice Ribbon

This is the coolest thing EVER. The city of Chicago is building a new public park that will feature an "ice ribbon," which is literally an ice-covered path that forms a course around what will be Maggie Daley Park, just to the north of Grant Park in downtown Chicago.

Here's a photo below, from TimeOut Chicago.

I'm so adding this to my bucket list of outdoor skating rinks. It's slated to open this winter!

Deets on Skate America

Here's what you need to know going into this weekend's broadcast of the HHilton Honors Skate America competition.

NBC will cover it in a 2-hour telecast on Sunday (Oct 26) starting at 4 p.m. ET.

Tara Lipinski & Johnny Weir are doing the commentary. They're debuting as the new lead figure skating commentators for NBC.

Team USA has Gracie Gold, Mirai Nagasu and Samantha Cesario competing in the Ladies' event, Jason Brown, Jeremy Abbott and Douglas Razzano will represent in the Men's event, Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier and Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim will compete in Pairs and the Shibutanis, Madison Chock/Evan Bates and Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus will go for Ice Dance.

I have my own Fantasy league picks going, but skaters to watch out for:

Elena Radionova of Russia was third behind the two Russian stars of the Sochi Games at Russian Nationals. She's young and consistent, though her shortcoming is that she (along with the other Russian ladies), skate with the maturity of a Junior-level skater, not that of a Senior, championship-level skater.

Olympic Bronze Medalist and 2013 World Silver Medalist Dennis Ten of Kazakhstan is the guy to beat, but I expect Nam Nguyen of Canada to be a force in the Men's Event now that Patrick Chan is out of the picture (temporarily as far as we know).

In Pairs, the reigning Olympic champs Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov are practically unbeatable at the moment, but I expect to see the Chinese pair of Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang come closer than any other pair to the top. They're Chinese Pairs guru Yao Bin's latest prodigies, and I was really impressed with them in Sochi (8th) and Worlds (5th).

As for Dance, with the teams that have dominated the podium recently not competing, I'ma be honest and say I have no clue how it's going to play out. Americans Madison Chock/Evan Bates are promising as competitive ice dancers, but they are a far cry from the talent of Davis/White.

I'll be watching on Sunday, and live-tweeting @jess_on_ice!

Tara and Johnny are Officially Officially Lead Commentators for Pyeongchang

We knew it already, it was written in the cards, the dynamic duo officially announced they were going to be NBC's lead figure skating commentators for the Olympic broadcast from Pyeongchang, South Korea.

On the TODAY show yesterday morning, they announced they're pregnant taking over.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jokes aside, Johnny Weir made a great point on camera about being excited to bring figure skating back to America's consciousness (he didn't quite use those words, but that's the gist of it). I truly hope that happens!

Skates for the Small Set

I want to take my toddler, who will be 2 in February, skating for the first time this winter. Contrary to what many would believe, I haven't thought of putting her in skates until fairly recently, and thus never bothered looking to see if there even were skates made for such little feet. Silly me, of course there are.

I think I'm going to try BabySkates. It's the only company I can find that makes skates especially for toddlers. Kids this age are still trying to figure out how to walk and run, let alone skate, so sturdy, well-made, double-blade skates designed specifically for them seem like a good bet.

My first pair of skates were relics from the 1950s or something - they were literally just a double blade frame strapped to my feet with leather. Not so much skates as...well...contraptions. They did the trick though. I'll save the picture evidence for when I have my daughter's skates so you get the full effect of the side-by-side photos.

Now I just have to find a helmet that fits her little head!