Pass the Catch-up (End of Year Edition)

So! While elite U.S. figure skaters were snug in their beds last week with visions of national titles dancing in their heads, they could at least do so knowing the competition was still several weeks away… unlike their Japanese counterparts, Russian counterparts, French, Finnish…

Yes, national competitions have been a-blazing around the world this holiday season, so I suggest you go take a peek at Aaron’s Blog or Laura’s Blog to get everything that’s scoopalicious, and that I did not locate in time :-(

A mini-spoiler to share... Mao Asada did NOT win Japanese Nats. See? Scoopalicious indeed.

Anyway, since the year is coming to a close I thought I’d attempt to update you on a few of the open-ended bits of “news” I’ve posted since State of the Skate launched in April:

Scott Hamilton’s book (“Here Comes Self-Help Scotty” 7/26)… has a January 6 release date; you can find out more in recent articles such as this one. I’ll be keeping close tabs on sales once it’s out.

And… Hamilton vs. Trump (“But Will He Make Lemonade Out of These Celebrity Lemons?” 9/9): while there hasn’t been much reported on the actual cast for Season 2 of The Celebrity Apprentice since my post first went out, TVGuide.com reports that the show will return to the airwaves on Sunday March 1st… apparently with several 2-hour episodes in store. I haven’t followed Apprentice in several seasons, so forgive me if I say I’m not sure yet whether I’m rooting for him to win or lose (as a “loss” means I won’t feel compelled to watch anymore).

Sasha Cohen’s possible comeback ("Is She, or Isn’t She, or… Whatever, Sasha" 10/5): The bad news is she’s still making it into the headlines every 6 weeks or so with her fence-sitting. The good news, according to this article from a couple weeks back, is that she’s now set a deadline for making that big decision: next summer. Which is to say the wavering could go on through June. Or July. Or even August. And technically, summer stretches on into September… so, as usual—way to commit, Ms. Cohen! We’ll look to hear from you again around mid-February.

And finally...New skating reality show taping in December (“Just How This is This ‘Thin Ice’?” 9/19): Does anyone know if this thing actually took place Dec. 18-23 at the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods as advertised? I can’t find a single new article about it or that it took place at all, let alone that it will make it to the airwaves… which, unfortunately, makes me think the “ice” in this scenario was very thin indeed.

The Clip of the Day features a short program from Russian Nationals that led to an overall victory. (OK, no big surprise for Kawaguchi and Smirnov.)