Fun with Photoshop, and Schnapir & DeeDee Leng

Recently separated pairs skaters Simon Schnapir (ex Marissa Castelli) and DeeDee Leng (ex Timothy LeDuc) announced they're giving it a go on the ice. I don't know much about DeeDee, who finished 7th at Nationals this past year, but I really like Simon--I think he's a very strong pairs skater. So I'm optimistic they'll be a pair to watch next season.

And in the Age of Photoshoppery, anyone can be a pair! Icenetwork had a little fun with this and posted a digitally manipulated image of this new pair, though they've never competed together before.

Ahh the magic of digital photo editing! Which reminds me of a hilarious BuzzFeed that went up during the Sochi Olympics that I'm STILL laughing at, three months later: Olympic Pairs Skaters Minus Men Are Totally Magical. Behold:

Brilliant. Who even needs a partner???

Skating in Unlikely Places

Ask most folks in the United States if they've ever heard of the sport of figure skating, and they'll know exactly what you're talking about. But that's not true all over the world.

Which countries are figure skating powerhouses? USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, China. And to a lesser extent France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Maybe Ukraine too? These countries have well-established figure skating bodies, and consistently produce world-class talent in all disciplines.

Unlikely countries that have had emerging skating phenoms in recent years: South Korea, Kazakhstan, Spain. And to a lesser extent, India, Turkey, South Africa and Mexico.

I say they're "unlikely" though because these countries don't generally have the infrastructure to support the sport--i.e. few to no rinks, coaches, schools, teams or national push for excellence. Ask a random citizen of a country like Angola, Mongolia, Bhutan or Kiribati if they've ever heard of figure skating, and the answer is less likely to be yes.Whether it be climate, economics or another factor, the sport never really developed there.

But most, if not all of the skaters from the "unlikely" countries I mention train and live in the US or Canada. Many of them have parents who gave up their lives in their home countries for their children to achieve excellence in skating. (And most of the singles skaters are trained by two-time Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser!) Which unfortunately, doesn't go as far to encourage aspiring skaters or programs back home.

I once worked with a coach who had lived in Spain for several years. I asked her if she skated while she was there. She said yes, but that it was really hard to find a rink, and even harder to find ice time. When she asked a local rink operator if she could have some ice time when the rink wasn't being used, it was as if a request such as this had never been made. Such a foreign concept to me as well--I grew up in an area where there were no less than 5 rinks within 20 miles, and more ice time available to me than there are hours in a day.

I bring all of this up because I saw two articles in various places on the interwebs about skating in some of these "unlikely" locales. The first is an article about a charity figure skating show that Olympic Bronze Medalist Dennis Ten is putting on in his home country of Kazakhstan. According to the article, citizens of the former Soviet Republic usually have cross the borders to see shows or concerts, and the money from the show will go to support figure skating in the country. So cool.

The second is a video/article about aspiring figure skaters in South Africa, and the upcoming South African Figure Skating Championships. There's a growing interest in the sport there in all disciplines, especially ladies and synchro. You can see from the video and from recent competition that South African skaters aren't quite at the same level as some of their competitors, but that isn't a deterrent. So great to see skating taking root there.

Now if I only had the time and money, I'd travel the world looking to skate in every single country I visited...

Signature Moves

I always wished I had coined a signature move. It's how the sport remembers you, oftentimes even more so than winning an Olympic gold medal. Swiss skater Denise Biellman never won the Olympics, but no skater can get through a practice without mentioning her name via her signature move at least once, if not trying it a few times. The Biellman spin (in all its rotational, blade-grabbing glory) is almost a mandatory element for higher-level competition, as adding it to combination spins jacks up the difficulty level and thus, point totals.

The reason I bring this up is a new social media campaign on Ice Network called, "It's Your Move." It's a fun interactive module that pairs two signature moves, and asks skating fans to vote for their favorite. The votes will be tallied to reveal the viewers' choice for the most iconic signature move in figure skating history. From the Hamill Camel to the Protopopov Death Spiral, there is plenty of competition...at least as far as I'm concerned (I love them all!).

I'm really curious which will triumph...#itsyourmove

Style Saturday

Making up for missing Fashion Friday this week due to an overload of work obligations with a stylish Saturday post.

I was super psyched the other day when my brand-new SCNY Chloe Noel jacket arrived in the mail. I wasted no time throwing it on for practice today.

I didn't know what stylish was until I joined SCNY and met my fabulous fashionista friend and GCS teammate Stephanie, who was in charge of designing our team gear. Many thanks to her for helping to transform me from Frump Girl to looking awesome on ice!

And now I have exactly one week to figure out what the heck I'm going to wear while skating in the show...

He's Baaaaaaaack

Evgeni Plushenko says he's coming out of retirement...again. The Brett Favre of figure skating, Plushie has waffled on his decision to take off the skates for years.

Why does he want back in again? Another shot at a second Olympic gold and Russian men's skating history? Is he a fame-hungry type who just wants the spotlight back? Or does the guy just like to skate? Either way, I don't think we should criticize...yet.

I was a little miffed at the way he handled the Olympics. I think he should have quit after the team competition and let the Russian skater who rightfully qualified have a chance to compete.  He should known better than to try to skate in the men's competition, given his injury.

At the same time, you have to admire someone who would get back on the ice after yet another back surgery with the goal of working back up to quads. And I don't think we should be saying that he's too old, because the more competitive skaters there are over 30, the more mature the competition and the quality of skating can become.

So I'll say for now that I'm intrigued by the prospect of yet another Plushie comeback. We'll see how it goes...

#tbt Throwback Thursday: A Pair of Champions

Some #tbt nostalgia hit me today in pairs.

I've always had heaps of admiration for good pairs skating, and very much enjoyed my brief forays into the discipline. Pairs skating is perhaps the most taxing and even most dangerous of the figure skating disciplines. The chances of getting kicked in the head with a skate blade, dropped on your head, slamming into the boards and any other horrific mishap you can imagine are exponentially higher. At the same time, it's a beautiful thing to behold a pair that is so in sync that their hearts are probably beating as one.

One such pair was Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov (RIP). I have embedded two of their most striking performances, imho. The first, is their flawless Olympic-winning long program at Calgary in 1988.

This program is phenomenal. From start to finish they don't stop nailing things. It's an epic program that deserved every ounce of that gold. I've said before that I think stark physical differences between two pairs partners doesn't always work to the advantage of the pair, but here it works gloriously. They are literally, perfect together.

And now, flash forward about 6 years to 1994, when they again won Olympic gold in Norway.

It wasn't flawless. There was a bobble or two. But you can literally feel how mature and connected they are as a pair. And that, more than anything else, makes them great. Also what impresses me, is that Ekaterina was just two years out from having a baby. She's a mom, and won an Olympic gold medal AFTER having a baby. No other skater has done that, and it's very inspiring to me, particularly!

I had the honor of meeting them after a skating show when I was a wee one. I have a picture stashed somewhere in my old room at my parents' house of myself posing with them, looking like a total four-eyed geek. I promise, when I find it, I'll post it.

A few years later, I witnessed their last public performance together at an event at our local arena, just one week before he died.

Frozen...ON ICE

New York TImes

OMGomgomgomg. Disney is taking 'Frozen' and putting it on ice! A match made in a winter wonderland!

The highest grossing animated film of all time meets the ice starting in September in Orlando. From the NYTimes article:

Feld Entertainment,which holds the license for Disney on Ice, said patrons could expect a blizzard created by 20 snow machines, a stage inspired by a six-sided snowflake and towering video projection panels that, among other things, would simulate the movie’s jagged North Mountains.

SO COOL. I'm squealing with delight!

And just because I can never resist watching this epic scene from the movie anytime the song pops into my head, here you  go. You're welcome!

Meryl is the Champion!

Let's not ignore the news of the day: Meryl Davis winning 'Dancing with the Stars' last night, with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy.



I didn't watch the show, and I didn't vote (but I encouraged other people to do so!). I needed to catch up on some much needed sleep that was interrupted every two hours by a teething toddler, so the TV was off for the night. But I am so glad she won! I feel like it's a win for the sport of figure skating too, in that the very popular season hopefully turned on lay viewers to ice dancing and how dynamic and exciting it can be to watch.

However there is some debate as to whether Meryl's skills as an ice dancer gave her an unfair advantage over other competitors on the show. I think maybe, but only on a technical level? Ice dancing and ballroom have some distinct similarities, but a lot of the mechanics are also very different. And skaters of all disciplines also tend to use dance an off-ice supplement to their skating. So there's likely some advantage over say, Candice Cameron Bure. But Charlie White is an ice dancer too, and he didn't get much of an advantage out of it.

Ultimately, I think the strongest argument one can make that the ice dancing experience really doesn't matter is that the show is decided by viewers, not impartial judges who are well versed in dance technique. Viewers vote for who they like, and Meryl was exciting and fun to watch, and she had some sizzling chemistry with her partner.

So now that it's all over, I'm going back to watching SYTYCD!

Wednesday Recap

I actually practiced twice this week. Had a lesson on Saturday and then skated again Tuesday. Neither were particularly stellar, and I worked mostly on the program. It's all done and ready for the show a week from Saturday! I'm starting to get nervous just thinking about it--it'll be the first time I've performed solo in almost a decade!

But the nerves are usually fleeting, quashed by a gross lack of sleep from having to deal with a teething toddler. She has suddenly decided that waking up every other hour like she did when she was a newborn is cool again. Couple that with some busy days at work, and you've got one exhausted skating mama.

Last night I was kind of a s--t-show on ice. Ran through the program three times, missing everything the first time, and going 2 outta 3 on the jumps the two succeeding times. Spins and choreography are pretty good, and I'm not huffing and puffing at the end anymore. But boy am I exhausted after that practice. I can't remember feeling so tired on the ice when I was younger. Granted, I didn't have a toddler to look after back then, but I had a hefty schedule for most of my teenaged years and I had to have been exhausted at some point. I'm not willing to chalk this one up to age though. I think all skaters should have to run around after a toddler in their spare time. Good for building stamina!

But the exhaustion wasn't even the worst part of the practice. I sliced my finger open grabbing my blade, and bruised the heck out of my knee practicing the ending flourish in the program--I lunge on one knee and spin around. It looks cool, but hurts like heck.

Anyway, in lieu of video, which no one was there to take, I snapped some photos of my battle wounds:

Of course, I used to get nicks and bumps like these all the time, so this is nothing new. But I might have to wear pants in the hot weather until that bruiser heals or tap my stash of concealers...

Asada to Take Year Off

Reigning World Champ Mao Asada of Japan says she's taking the year off.

If you'd asked me, I would have bet she was done with competition, but she's leaving the door open for another chance at Olympic gold.

I was sure she'd retire this year after that disastrous short program at the Olympics. She seemed like she was so tired of the rat race, and was hurting from the loss of her mom. She left out crucial elements of her short program as if on purpose—everyone who has ever competed in a short program event knows that you never ever, under any circumstances want to leave something out. Trying and failing is a million times better than not trying (that's a parable for life, even!) Her long program made up for it, but it seemed more like one last rally than the start of something wonderful. And then the World Championship seemed like a great capstone.

Of course, I am not hesitant to say that I was never that impressed with Asada's skating. She's not very exciting to watch, has zero personality on the ice, and her signature triple axel is blatantly underrotated--a fact that the judges keep ignoring. At Worlds and the Olympics, she got little to no deductions for the cheated 3axels, which in some cases, were almost a half a turn short. Meanwhile skaters like Polina Edmunds and Gracie Gold got slammed with deductions for very minor underrotations (less than a quarter). When I think about it, I'm all like this:



Anyway, as much as I'm not a fan of her skating, I hope Asada makes the right decision for herself, and that whatever it is, she ends up succeeding.

#FashionFriday

Synchro rocks the iceways on this fine Fashion Friday. It is the sport's least publicized discipline, and the only official discipline that is not a part of Olympic competition. It is also one of the sport's most fashionable disciplines.

As far as synchro get-ups go, it's a classic case of form meeting function—or it should be, anyway. The main purpose of a good synchro dress is to enhance the visual cohesion and synchronization of the team's lines. So even if all those free-legs aren't extended to the fullest, a good synchro dress can help fudge that, drawing the eye away from flaws and bobbles.

The trend toward longer, flowy skirts in the last decade is reminiscent of ice dancing, to which synchro is closely related. The Marilyn Monroe-esque flair of over a dozen women (men don't wear the skirts) twizzling and twirling creates a mesmerizing effect to which even the judges are not immune. It's also worth noting that sequins and other appliques are NOT allowed on synchro dresses in the lower levels, so you'll only see them on the top teams. The issue there is safety. Synchro can be a dangerous sport, and random sequins on the ice can spell disaster.

Anyway, here are a few synchro looks that I love/don't love.

LOVE: World Champs Team Finland 1 short program get-up.

I dig the punk rock jungle camo thing they've got going on here. The pop of pink is just enough color, and oddly, I think the cut looks flattering on all the women. It's the kind of outfit that can make you feel way more badass than you actually are, as evidenced by the shot above.

DON'T LOVE: Team Mexico's short program dress.

No, no no nooooo. Their outfits are so bright I had to avert my eyes. I think they might actually be radioactive. The skaters look like they're glowing in the video. Too bright and too ostentatious works against you in synchro skating.

LOVE: Gotham City Synchro's competition dresses from the 2012 and 2014 seasons. You may accuse me of bias, having been a member of the team who owns one of these dresses, but I don't care. They are awesome.

The color gradient works fantastically on the ice, giving the skaters a nice, smooth, sleek line. Plus, our coach/captain made them all herself, so major awesome bonus points!

Synchro is an interesting event. It's all about creating a uniform look. Many of the elite teams have height and weight requirements to be on the team, and you'll notice that the top teams rarely have men or much diversity on them. There haven't been any cases of discrimination that I know of (although I'm sure they probably exist), and I've never been on a team that has ever had requirements like that. But that's a post for another day.

Synchro in the News

As a member of the news media, I get really annoyed when coverage of figure skating gets cheeky. It comes from a place of total ignorance, and it doesn't do the sport and its disciplines any justice. Also, in fairness, as a member of the media, I know journalists are stretched thin and do not often have time to go in depth on their stories. But since I am both a member of the news media AND a figure skater, I have a right to be irked at this coverage of a synchro team that has re-formed in upstate New York.

From the article's lead graf:

Figure skating isn’t something you think of as a team sport. Nonetheless, there is a figure skating team forming in Ithaca and Cortland. How’s that? As it turns out, there is a team version of figure skating, called synchronized skating. It’s kind of like synchronized swimming - but frozen.

Um, how much can one trivialize synchro skating in one paragraph? First, synchro has been around for ages. Second, it is NOTHING LIKE synchronized swimming. Ok it's synchronized, but that's where the similarities end. And figure skating not a team sport? Tell that to the legions of synchro fans and skaters and coaches and officials who work their butts off to make synchro relevant.

My synchro team skated against the Crown City Jewels (the team featured in the article) all the time. They were our arch-rivals! I'm happy to see they're back on their blades though, the sport needs more good teams--and more publicity.

Despite being a member of the media, I have to show some bias here for a cause I'm 100 percent behind. Let's get synchro in the Olympics! Sign the change.org petition here. SYNCHRO IN 2018!

#tbt Throwback Thursday

TGI #tbt, my weekly excuse to revisit my favorite skating performances past. Today, I'm taking a look back at two of my skating idols, 1956 Olympic Champ Tenley Albright and 1976 Olympic Champ Dorothy Hamill. I always thought my skating style resembled theirs somewhat--graceful in a sort of commanding, athletic way, more so than an artistic or ostentatious one. They weren't bendy-flexy, flat-chested girls, they were solid women. And they were darn good out there on the ice.

Here's Tenley Albright at the 1953 National Championships in Hershey, PA (I skated there once too!):

Her split jumps are out of this world, and the cross-foot spin she does at the end is hypnotic. It's interesting to note that jumps are far from the focus of the performance, a very different tactic from today's competitive programs. There are about four total (five if you count the axel-double loop at the end), sprinkled in between her numerous footwork passes, which dominate the routine. The sport has evolved much since Albright's time, but skaters today can learn a lot from watching performances of this era (1950s).

Next up, Dorothy Hamill's Olympic Gold Medal--winning freeskate in Innsbruck, Austria at the 1976 Winter Games.

Girl got the job done. She was unstoppable on a mission for gold. Twenty years after Tenley won in Cortina D'Ampezzo, you can see jumps and spins become a heavier focus in programs, footwork becomes less so, and you begin to see the way the modern freeskate evolved. And I can't forget to mention the glorious Hamill Camel and her flawless layback spin.

In both performances, we also see the long lost Walley jump. It's kind of like a cross between a one-legged salchow and a toe loop without the toepick takeoff. Don't really see that anymore. I wonder why?

And now here's my Novice Ladies short program from long ago that I think proves that these two fine lady champions above influenced my skating. I once heard Dorothy Hamill describe herself as a "truck driver" on the ice. While I think she's exaggerating in regard to her own skating, I definitely think I was also of the truck driver variety of skater.

Wednesday Recap

Since I'm supposed to be honest here, I really dragged a-- on the ice last night. I'm still catching up from a serious sleep deficit I accrued over the weekend and my arms and legs felt like lead out there. Ironically, I did three run-throughs of the program that were halfway decent. I finally decided on an ending too, which I'd been winging since I started it a few months ago.

The hubs and kid came with me again, and once again they took a little video, which fortunately for me caught some of the better moments. Here's my double loop:




And here's another double flip:



I still have to find an outfit for the show on May 31. Probably not going to find anything new, so this week's #FashionFriday may end up as a tour of the storage closet at my parents' house.

Good Luck, Charlie & Queen Yuna

Olympic Gold Medalist Charlie White has been eliminated from Dancing with the Stars.

Sad to see him go, but he had a good run! As I said previously, I think it was a stroke of genius to put him and Meryl on the show. And if you ask me, Meryl is gonna win the whole thing. She's nailing EVERYTHING.

And last week, Yuna Kim bid farewell to the sport at a final show in Seoul. I don't know if I would call her the greatest female figure skater who ever lived, but I can say for sure that she was pretty freaking amazing. I hope she finds success in life after skating.

Elvis on Broadway

I cannot believe I'm hearing about this just now. Three-time World Champ and two-time Olympic silver medalist Elvis "The Terminator" "Quad God" Stojko is on Broadway?

He's playing Billy Flynn in the Toronto and Broadway productions of 'Chicago,' one of my all-time favorite musicals. I knew he was an accomplished martial artist, but I had NO idea he was into theater and singing. Apparently his dad is a classically trained tenor? So cool!

I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise, as many skaters I've known (including myself) have gravitated toward theatrical extracurriculars. Whether its on or off the ice, performance is in our blood.

Can't wait to see video of Stojko on stage!

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

U.S. Pairs Champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Schnapir have announced they're splitting. Before this year, I would have been all, "who cares?" But after watching their fairly solid skating this season, I'm saddened by the news—because it probably means continued mediocrity for U.S. pair teams.

We haven't had a winning pairs team since Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, who won the World Championships in 1979. That's going on 35 years now, folks. And the last pair to even medal at Worlds was Kyoko Ina and Jason Zimmerman in 2002, with a bronze they got going on 12 years ago.

Schnapir and Castelli are both great skaters (although I did think she was too short for him). Here's hoping they find partners who can take U.S. pairs back to the podium in international competition.

Happy Mother's Day

...To my own mom, who selflessly carted me to every competition, practice session and rink in the northeast. She stood by me through my greatest triumphs, and comforted me through my not-so-stellar moments. Without her, I wouldn't be the skater I am today. Thanks Mom.

...To my daughter—my life and my skating has gotten SO much better since you came along. Being a mom and being a skater go very well together.

...And to all the skating moms and skaters who are moms, have a wonderful day!

#FashionFriday

Once again, a disclaimer that I am the opposite of a fashion authority. But I persevere.

And speaking of questionable fashion sense, I've picked the 90s as the theme for today's roundup. Unlike its mainstream counterpart, I think for figure skating fashion the 90s were the formative years, planting the seeds of some of the bold styles we see on the ice today.

LIKE: Pretty much everything Michelle Kwan ever wore, post-1994, especially the Vera Wang stuff.

Her dress at Nagano in 1998 is my favorite. I love the periwinkle color, the simple cut, the shimmery effect of the velvety fabric, and the way it complemented her every move.

NO LIKE: Pretty much everything Oksana Baiul ever wore on the ice in the 90s.

These dresses are exemplary of a more traditional, ornate Russian-inspired style. But I can't even. The feathery furry stuff and dangly crystals. Noooope. I always found Oksana's skating style a bit sloppy, and these dresses seem to magnify her weaknesses--and I daresay may have actually interfered with her skating. And I'd say the same about Irina Slutskaya, who sported very similar attire on the ice.

LIKE: Nancy Kerrigan's short program dress in 1994.

This Vera Wang dress is one of the most elegant skating dresses I've ever seen. The contrast between the black and white is striking, The sheer sleeves are lovely, as is the hint of sparkle on the wrists.


NO LIKE: Tara Lipinski's 1998 long program dress

Ok I don't totally hate this dress, and any lapses in fashion Tara may have had in the 90s have been more than erased by her recent stints as a high-profile fashion commentator. But I do really really dislike the sheer sleves on this dress from her Olympic gold medal freeskate. It looks like she has the chicken pox, or measles. Cut off the sleeves, and ease up on the crystal dangly bits and you've got a beautiful dress.

On a related note, I found this great Cosmo piece on figure skating fashion from February that really gets into modern ladies figure skating fashion. It does a much better job than I of explaining it.

#tbt Throwback Thursday

Once again, here are some of my fave throwback moments in the sport of figure skating.

This year marked 30 years since Scott Hamilton won gold in Sarajevo. Here's his winning long program:

It wasn't perfect (he popped a triple flip at the beginning), but it was enough to secure gold because of his performance in figures and in the original program. I've always been a huge fan of this guy and his positive attitude both on and off the ice. I also love the deliciously 80's synthesizer music he chose for his performance.

Also in U.S. Men, here is one of my all-time favorite skaters, in my second-favorite men's performance of all-time (a very close second to Brian Boitano's 1988 Olympic long program): Todd Eldredge, and his riveting 1996 World Championship-winning long program, skated to "First Night."

Dude NAILED it. And it's interesting to me to look back at skating in the 1990s and see the seeds of some of the trends that have caught on in skating these days--Todd Eldredge was always known for his good spinning technique, and he performed in 1996 some of the trendy modified positions that score high points in today's system.

Annnnd, more for laughs than anything else, here's me performing for the first time ever on the 1980 Rink (now the Herb Brooks Arena) in Lake Placid. I think I was 9 or 10, and it really was a thrill of a lifetime.



Ok who (of us adult skaters) still remembers the Freestyle 4 footwork sequence? I do! I do!

Wednesday Recap

Another week, another practice in the can.

This week, my husband and daughter were kind enough to accompany me to the rink, and they took some video.

Here's me nailing a double salchow. (Notice the dude in the background totally video bombs me with a wipeout.)





And here's me nailing a double flip.





Despite the video, all in all, it was not my best practice. Tried a few run-throughs of the show program and felt like I needed an oxygen tank at the end. I am still optimistic though that it's coming together in time for the show at the end of this month.

On a more positive note, I'm really proud of how my spins are improving. That's a part of skating I had always brushed to the side in favor of perfecting jumps, but now I'm starting to appreciate that there is so much more creativity in spins.

And unrelated to my own skating, I really enjoyed my daughter's wide-eyed wonder as she beheld an ice rink for the first time in her life. She seemed mesmerized for a bit by all the bright lights and the action on the ice. Maybe we have a future skater on our hands?

Anonymous Judging on the Table for ISU Congress

Next month in Dublin, the International Skating Union will be discussing a proposal to scrap anonymous judging during its annual congress. It's an effort to increase the transparency of the judging system, spawned by controversy around Adelina Sotnikova's win in Sochi.  Anonymous scoring was designed to make the judges feel less pressure to vote their conscience. However it seems to have made things worse, in that it's easier to secretly conspire to rig results.

I haven't said too much about how I really feel about the outcome of the ladies event in Sochi. Truth be told, I don't have much to say. Yes, there was most likely some rigging going on--there's no way you can argue the wife of the former president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, who was caught on camera hugging gold-medalist Adelina Sotnikova after the competition, wasn't a part of some scoring shenanigans. What are you gonna do about it? A big fat nothing. We can protest and sign petitions until we're blue in the face, but frankly, most of us would rather be on the ice practicing.

I don't know if it's sad or funny that my reaction to allegations of results-fixing in figure skating is a calm, "Yes, and?" It may not be right in the eyes of justice, but for many of us skaters, we just kind of accept that it's how it is. Many of us tend to look at it from an earn-your-stripes kind of perspective. Do your time in the bottom or middle of the pack, and the judges will eventually notice you. Kind of like what happened to Adelina Sotnikova.

And maybe that's part of the problem that all of us are so willing to just move on and practice harder. Maybe we should be carrying signs and marching outside ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta's house. Maybe we should be lobbying the ISU or trying to get a seat at the table. I'll be honest though and say I'm probably not ever going to do that.

I've been the both the victim and the benefactor of biased judging. At regionals one year, I very clearly outskated several skaters during the short program portion of the competition. Skaters that placed ahead of me fell on required elements, multiple times. I ended up in fifth place, when I should have been at least third, if not second. My coach spoke to one of the judges afterward, who confessed that she placed other skater above me for political purposes. She said I had the best double axel of any of the skaters in the field. But that didn't count for beans.

Yet a year later, I crashed and burned during a long program, and earned a silver medal for my efforts, placing above at least 5 other more deserving skaters. It was blatantly unfair, but all I could do was collect my medal and go home. Don't want to appear a sore loser, or you'll fall out of favor with the judges.

Anyway, I hope that whatever is decided during the annual ISU Congress will have a beneficial effect on the sport overall. Maybe getting rid of anonymous judging within the new ISU system (versus the 6.0 system) will improve the objectivity in judging.

The Icemen Cometh

I heard about this cool new program through US Figure Skating the other day. Had to share.

It's called the Icemen Network, and I think it's an awesome idea. Through the program, male skaters receive mentorship from elite male figure skaters, and can skate in a series of competitions. From US Figure Skating:

The Icemen Network is a way for males to learn more about what to expect in their skating career and provide them with an opportunity to build a peer communication network through newsletters, conference calls and other media.

Skating is a predominantly female sport, and as a result, the majority of programs out there to support figure skating in general seem geared primarily toward the ladies. The only support it seemed like men were getting was from folks trying to pimp them out as pairs or dance partners. But not all dudes want to do pairs and dance. Lots want to do singles. And even some go for synchro!

When I skated as a youngling, I knew exactly 4 male skaters (not counting coaches). I once saw a 12-year-old Johnny Weir at a competition, but that doesn't count. And on any given session, while there would be 15-20 female skaters on the ice, there might be one guy. If you wanted to do ice dance as a young female skater, you skated with your coach. And I was lucky enough to land a pairs partner for a season or two, but I was one of only two pairs in the region, like, ever.

Men's figure skating has a stigma I'm sure you all know about, that turns away a lot of prospective skaters. My own brother, who was a great skater, stopped skating largely because he was being taunted by classmates. But like most competitive extracurriculars with stigmas attached, the more we all lend to supporting and mentoring the individuals involved no matter their race, creed, sexuality or taste in music and fashion, the easier it is to see past it all and just enjoy the pursuit. (And get more dudes on the ice!)

I look forward to seeing all the great skaters to come out of this program!

Figure Skating #fashionfriday

In honor of Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski calling out Derby fashion this weekend, I too will be delving into the fashion of figure skating.

First a disclaimer--there is no way on earth I can claim to be any sort of authority on the topic of fashion. My fashion sense has always been conservative, comfort-based and highly suspect. I am not a trendsetter, and I tend to scoff at runway fashion every season as being ridiculous. ("What the hell is that??" is a frequent response.)

So, figure skating fashion. I'll kick off this weekly roundup with a review of the fashion in Sochi.

LOVE: French skater Mae Berenice Meite's short program dress this season. It's elegant and conservative, but has a little edginess to it at the same time with the one sleeve and the bust line. I love the color and the applique patterns too. Neither is obnoxious, and they pop really well with her skin tone. And, they're catchy enough to keep eyes on her all over the arena.

DON'T LOVE: South Korean Olympic silver medalist (and Vancouver gold medalist) Yuna Kim's short program dress. I cannot STAND the color, it makes me want to avert my eyes. It clashes with her skin tone and the applique pattern makes it look reptilian. It also made her look a little sickly, and amplified the visible anxiety she was experiencing at the time.

LOVE: Jeremy Abbott's short program ensemble this season. As far as men's figure skating fashion goes, I've always been a fan of the simple and elegant (sorry Johnny Weir). Something with a little contrast and maybe a hint of bling I think works best for dudes on ice, like what Jeremy was wearing. And it even looked great as he wiped out!

I do want to be clear though that I absolutely do not have a problem with frilly and fluffy (or feathery) and feminine on a male, and I think one should have the freedom to express themselves on ice (and in life) howsoever they choose. I just tend to think that outfits that are too busy detract from the awesome athleticism that men's figure skating can deliver. I also think gimmicky--on a male or female--distracts too much from the actual skating, which is the very thing I want to watch!

And, because it's also #fbf (Flashback Friday), here's one for laughs...

DON'T LOVE: My short program dress from my intermediate ladies season. It was a cheap getup I got it at a dance shop, I think, and while the color popped, the fabric was thin and SUPER absorbant, resulting in some seriously embarrassing sweat stains.

#tbt Throwback Thursday

I love #tbt because it gives me an excuse (like I need one, really) to click around the Internets and re-live the glory of skating past - both mine and that of skating greats.

Here's this week's #tbt:

Video footage from the 1913 World Championships in Stockholm. Seems like there was a lot more use of the toe-pick back then in freestyle.

The "Battle of the Brians" at the Calgary Games in '88, revisited. Hey, remember when they still did figures in competition? Yeah me neither...

And since this is my blog, here's one from my first-ever pairs performance at the Achilles FSC annual exhibition at Union College. I was 11ish maybe, and did a group number with my then pairs coach, Chip, as well as with two other skaters that he taught. I'm the littlest skater up first in the routine, which is aptly performed to "Head over Heels," by Tears for Fears. Get it? Because during the first lift I'm head over...nevermind.

More #tbt next week!