Why Seeking Junior GP Assignments is Becoming My Summer Olympic Pasttime

It’s Olympics time.


I know it’s not the one we figure skating fans plan our lives around every four years—unless you happen to be just as big a fan of swimming, or the decathlon, or archery. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that...)



But still, it’s Olympics time. It’s competition after competition after competition that matters so much more than any other competition EVER for athletes from all over the world. It’s often thrilling to watch, sometimes heartbreaking to hear, and riddled with spoilers if you are five hours behind London (as we are) and anywhere near social media (as I usually am).



So I sit here with gymnastics on the TV, trying to get a new post to my skating blog because y’all know it’s overdue, and it’s hard to do when skating’s distant cousin keeps snaring my attention. But if it’s not this, it’ll be swimming, or the decathlon, or archery. For the next two weeks. (You know why.)



Here’s the other problem: I was hoping to write about the Junior Grand Prix assignments—particularly since it’ll be starting up in less than a month, and with any luck, the U.S. will have some true contenders in the mix. But it’s hard to write about something that hasn’t happened yet, and outside of the first event (which I’ll get to in a minute), the assignments are still To Be Determined.



Say what? Senior assignments were made months ago for competitions that are still months away, but these September events are still up in the air? Can that be right? Surely not, I thought several times this week as I checked Wikipedia... and IceNetwork... and Googled it... and did a few other things... and finally headed to the ISU.org page. Where I found “information” such as this.  And this.  And not to mention this. 



So I feel like I missed a memo. Can anyone explain why this process takes so long... why these kids will apparently learn about competing in Lake Placid (USA), Linz (Austria), Istanbul (Turkey), Bled (Slovenia), Zagreb (Croatia), and Dresden (Germany) only a handful of weeks before they take place? Is it a life lesson in patience? Are there talent scouts patrolling the rinks, gauging whose triple lutz is ready for prime time and whose isn’t? Is there a Powerball lottery drawing involved? Or maybe Hedwig the Owl has already informed each of the athletes privately and they’re sworn to secrecy like Amazing Race contestants?



That’s all the brainstorming I’ve managed; obviously, I’m not getting very far. As I await enlightenment, here’s the list of U.S. competitors at the JGP season opener (in Courchevel, France, August 22-26; no pairs competition at this event):



MEN: Jason Brown, Harrison Choate


LADIES: Ashley Cain, Vanessa Lam


DANCE: Holly Moore/Daniel Klaber, Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter

And the only thing that immediately came to mind upon seeing this list was Jason Brown STILL hasn’t moved up to the Senior GP? But a) he’s still quite young, b) I still haven’t seen him try triple axels in competition, much less nail them, and c) he wasn’t able to move up the ranks this year at senior Nationals (9th two years in a row).



But other than that, I’m out (for now). Unless you’ve got the news we can use, maybe you should be “out” too.

Know why?

Because it’s Olympics time.

When Everything Old is New Again: Skating Music Selections Made for 2012-13

We’re hitting that time of year when “new” music selections for the 2012-13 season start revealing themselves... whether it’s via an article a la Ice Network, or via word of mouth as the off-season competition circuit (if there is such a thing) runs its course. Of course, we have to use quotes around the word new because 9 times out of 10 it really isn’t—at least not to skating fans. But hope springs eternal that in such cases, the carousel of warhorses and WITs (Warhorses in Training) will, in fact, pair up with Just The Right Skater and be reborn in favorable fashion.




You may have already heard that U.S. Silver Medalist Adam Rippon plans to get his Don Draper on as he channels the Mad Men character for his new free skate (using music from The Incredibles)...you may also have gathered that U.S. Bronze Medalist Ross Miner is brushing up on his Errol Flynn films as he prepares a FS to Captain Blood (music which was once skated to, famously, by Dorothy Hamill at the ’76 Winter Olympics).





Miner has also announced his SP music—"Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", which didn’t quite make it onto my Top 10 Warhorses list from back in January but was mentioned among the readers’ comments. As you study this list of choices made thus far for U.S. skaters, you’re bound to see other titles you recognize:


Jason Brown (9th at Nationals & World Junior Champ): SP "The Question of U" (Prince); FS "Liebestraume" (Liszt)


Prince for a competitive program? Color me intrigued... and it reminds me that someday soon we’ll have to get to talking about the upcoming vocals-in-competitive skating change. (Which doesn’t leave me intrigued; leaves me suspect is more like it. But I digress...)



Liebestraume, probably considered Warhorse territory by some, was most recently used by the likes of Mao Asada and Pang/Tong (and one other big name I think...?)


By the way, Brown’s choreographer for both is Rohene Ward—probably not well known on the international circuit, but a guy who made a splash at several U.S. championships despite never finishing higher than 14th (in 2002).


Gracie Gold (National Junior champ; Junior World Silver Medalist): SP "Hernando’s Hideaway"; FS Life is Beautiful



I’m tickled to see "Hernando’s Hideaway" on the list (originally from The Pajama Game, a 1954 Broadway hit), though it makes perfect sense given the number of tangos we’ve been witness to lately. Hernando has the potential for some campy fun, though, so I hope Gold works it well (I suspect she will). Life is Beautiful, of course, is the soundtrack of the 1997 Italian hit film La vita è bella and was utilized by Jeremy Abbott for his 2010-11 free skate.



Marley/Brubaker (National Silver Medalists, pairs): FS Umbrellas of Cherbourg



Taken from the soundtrack of another foreign film (1964’s Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, starring Catharine Deneuve), this WIT has been used by Virtue/Moir several years back and Nobunari Oda just last season (to name a few).



Agnes Zawadzki (National Bronze Medalist): SP Sex and the City 2



... which I presume to be a bouncy mambo-esque number in similar style to the original Sex and the City theme song. (Sorry— didn’t catch the sequel.)



By the way, she appears to be keeping her Rhapsody in Blue free skate from last season.



Caroline Zhang (National Pewter Medalist): FS "Nessum Dorma"



... ah, THERE’s the warhorse! Knew it’d find its way in here sooner or later.



Like Zawadzki, Zhang looks to be keeping a program from last year—in this case it’s the SP of "Rushing Wings of Dawn" by Tim Janis.



Oh, and Johnny Weir is rumored to be using the WIT Requiem for a Dream. Someone please wake me from that nightmare and tell me it isn’t true!


So what do you make of these choices thus far? Got any music recommendations for the remaining athletes? Be sure to sound off here!

The Emperor Cinquanta’s New Clothes—Er, I Mean ISU "Resolution"

When I posted a few weeks ago with a dizzying array of mostly-true skating headlines from last month, there was a big one that I deliberately left out... mostly because I wasn’t sure yet of the story behind it, and I didn’t want to speculate out of turn. (As opposed to my typical, well-timed speculations... ha ha)



But thanks to this column by Monica Friedlander, I’ve got it. You should, too, if you don’t already—in other words, go read this article. RIGHT NOW. I’ll wait.



(And don’t forget to read the comments below it... which include one from 1968 Olympic Silver medalist and 1969-70 World Champion Tim Wood, and another one from 1973-75 U.S. Champion Gordon McKellan. Here's a clip of Wood's Olympic performance in case you're interested.)

OK, any questions? Well... yes. A few. I’ll speculate on what “we” might be asking/answering, anyway...



Q: So as I understand it, current ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta has strong-armed, or bribed, or as the article says, “asked” the ISU to extend his reign of terror term through 2016 since he’s age-ineligible to run again when his term actually expires (in 2014). Does this mean I'm finally allowed to punch Mr. Cinquanta in the face?



A: Punching Mr. Cinquanta in the face is not recommended, as he is not worth the paper on which your formal assault charges would be written. You may, however, feel free to dream about it.

Q: But I’m so ANGRY! First he mishandles figure skating into near oblivion, then he remains arrogant enough to think he’s doing the sport a favor instead... then the ISU is either too corrupt or too brainwashed to elect him out of office... THEN they sign on for TWO MORE (unnecessary, violating) YEARS?? REALLY?!?


A: Um, yeah, seems like it.
 Q: There must be something the skating community and its fans can do about this, right?





A: Name some options.



Q: They could abandon the ISU and form their own governing body, away from speed skating and short-track skating...
 A: “They” tried—almost a decade ago. It was called the World Skating Federation. And not only did the effort prove unsuccessful, it resulted in at least a half-dozen ISU officials/WSF supporters losing their ISU positions for life. (This link off of FS Universe can provide more details.) In any case, the whole incident has thus far scared off any other prospective ISU dissidents. Name another option, please.

Q: How about if all those previous champions who are leaving the door open for an Olympic-year comeback makes headlines by announcing instead that they won’t return to the sport under these current conditions? Wouldn’t that shake things up?


A: That could be interesting... but Weir, Lysacek, and Plushenko are already plotting their respective returns. Miki Ando? The same. And now Kim Yu-Na has announced plans to throw her little black Bond Girl dress back into the ring. All these comebacks are bound to be interesting, but it’s like they’re uniformly saying Competitive figure skating is a hot mess... still... give me MORE! Know what I mean?

(Especially for Weir. At least the others have Olympic and/or World titles to their names.)

Q: OK, another option... fans could abandon the sport on grounds of misrepresentation—“figure skating” seldom involves figures nowadays, “free skates” are too shackled by IJS requirements to be truly free, etc...



A: It seems a great number of former fans have done just that. Sadly, Cinquanta & Co. appear far too deep into their own self-appreciation to notice and/or care.

Q: But how can fans cease to support those that somehow transcend the rules and make us love figure skating in spite of the shackles? Jeremy Abbott, Daisuke Takahashi, Akiko Suzuki, Davis/White... they deserve better, don’t they?

A: Of course they do.


Q: So how can this “dictatorship” of a sport be saved?



A: Maybe by way of this very tool at your fingertips. Think of how frequently the internet and social media are used nowadays for change—sometimes mind-blowing, positive change. Fans of figure skating could do the same thing, it seems.

Q: How?


A: Well-- clearly, I’m just one writer. But there are lots of us out there, and plenty of ideas to be communicated. Did you read Vlad’s ideas at his World Figure Skating blog several days back? That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about... and there’s so much more out there. I hope I sound optimistic (rather than simply naïve) when I say we have the collective ability to pull skating’s ice out of the fire... hopefully sooner rather than later.

Fire Near the "Springs" Ice; Samuelson/Gilles Dissolution

Readers: do me a favor, would you? Leave a comment if you happen to live in a part of the world that is receiving enough or nearly enough rain right now. It might prove comforting to be reminded of places that are NOT bone-dry and blistering hot as it is here in the Midwestern USA.



And IF YOU LIVE NEAR COLORADO SPRINGS or any other locale suffering under the strain of recent or ongoing forest fires, I’d love it if you left a comment letting us know how you, your neighborhood, loved ones, etc. are doing. As with the earthquake/tsunami that rocked Japan last year, disasters like these resonate all the more when you feel a personal connection to the victims... and I like to think skating enthusiasts such as us share a common bond, no matter where in the world we happen to be.


While I don’t have any immediate family in Colorado, former classmates and current Facebook friends of mine do, and have provided their own accounts over the past few weeks... and of course concern escalated as stories/updates about “The Springs” and the Waldo Canyon fire became the mainstay not just on Facebook and Twitter, but the Ice Network website (where even the staff at USFS issued a statement to concerned fans about the relative safety of their headquarters). Whether you keep thoughts for the firefighters and other emergency responders involved, the victims of bodily and/or property damage, the ones evacuated, or the weather conditions... here’s a Saturday update.  Let the prayers and good thoughts continue; the battle is far from over.


Colorado Springs is clearly one of the great U.S. figure skating hubs, and Detroit (and/or) Ann Arbor is another one. Most of the flurry of recent Michigan skating news has involved the public split of a certain coaching team, and the custody issues (for lack of a better term) that have erupted in their wake. But those of us who were wondering about a sort of off-the-radar Michigan dance team by the name of Emily Samuelson and Todd Gilles, wonder no more. Samuelson issued a statement this week on Facebook about the break-up of the team, which finished 8th at its Nationals debut this past winter. Interestingly, she writes in the initial paragraph “US Figure Skating will not be writing an official press release...” but Ice Network was quick to pick up her FB statement and turn it into this headliner on their website. Maybe the fire or some other unforseen circumstance kept them from covering this particular split on their own; nonetheless, I tend to think a 2010 Olympian (which Samuelson is, of course) deserves better than having to be her own press agent in a situation like this. As with Caitlin Yankowskas last season, it’s a crying shame to see an elite skater standing on the sidelines, partner-less in what could well be the athletic/artistic prime of her career. The difference is that at least Yankowskas (who is now partnered with Joshua Reagan) has two solid seasons to try and make a bid for the Sochi Olympics... whereas even if Samuelson found another partner late this summer—which seems unlikely, to read her statement— her Sochi chances would be extremely diminished, especially with an ice dance field as deep as we have now in the U.S.

But she remains upbeat, to her enormous credit, despite facing little more than career adversity in the years since Vancouver. More power to her!

Are All of These June Skating Headlines? Well, Not Exactly...

So much skating news in so little time... even in the “quiet” month of June!

Your mission: to A) find one of the headlines below that did NOT happen in past couple of weeks but maybe you’d like it to... and/or B) find the headline on which you’d like a blogger such as myself to offer some sort of commentary, humorous or otherwise.

And of course, your own commentary is welcome in the aptly-named “comments” section! Dig in, all! 

Jamie Sale gets remarried

Takahashi reunites with Morozov

Contesti retires from amateur skating

Kurt Browning trying his hand on Broadway

ISU allows vocals in other disciplines outside of ice dance

Zueva & Shpilband reconcile business partnership; adopt new ice dance team from South Africa

Adam Rippon severs ties to most of his hair 

Zueva 3, Shipilband 1: Igor rallies with the U.S. team Chock/Bates

Johnny Weir to appear on PBS Kids show

Kim Yu-Na still deciding about Sochi 2014

Jennifer Kirk's Brave, Wise Use of Social Media

The older we get, and the longer we follow figure skating, the more we think of the sequins and chiffon and stage-quality hair and makeup as little more than sparkly diversions from the sweat, scrapes, and hard-earned bruises of the athlete in question. We know it’s a tough sport that requires supreme athletic skill, benefits from amazing grace, and thrives on steel-belted nerves in competition. What we don’t know are the desperate lengths some will go to—when no one is looking—in order to find a modicum of peace in ice skating’s perpetually shuddering world.

Well, we know of a few. We know about Jamie Silverstein, a U.S. ice dancer and 2006 Olympian whose battle with anorexia and bulimia kept her out of the sport for quite a while. We know about Akiko Suzuki, Japan’s current World Bronze Medalist, who might never have reached such heights in the sport had her own eating disorder issues handicapped her chances in skating for more than a few years.
And, recently, we were reminded of Jennifer Kirk. She and Suzuki are only a little more than 6 months apart in age, and both were ravaged by eating disorders in the early part of the 2000s. But the path to recovery is not the same for everyone. We knew this well enough when Kirk wrote about herself—and countless, nameless others—in this 2009 article.

 Now, thanks in part to a conversation she started on her blog May 29—one that delves even deeper into the darkness that crept into Kirk’s life both before and after she left the sport—we know there’s still so much more to talk about. Whether an athlete (or anyone, really) turns to binge eating, starvation, binge drinking or self-injury—all of which Kirk apparently engaged in— it’s a highly complex exercise in self-destruction, typically with bushels of symptoms that few, if any, can detect.


To be sure, the subject as it relates to figure skating has been visited before. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan, first published in 1995, was one of the first to shine a bright light on it for both skaters and gymnasts.



And Kathryn Bertine’s All the Sundays Yet to Come, released in 2003, is a harrowing (yet somehow delightfully wry as well) journey into the drastic measures the author took in order to maintain a post-competitive career in skating. I happen to be 2/3 through my copy right now, so it’s fresh in my mind (and highly recommended, by the way).



Sometimes it takes an easily identified name and face to really click—if not with the subjects itself, with the parents and coaches who enjoyed Kirk’s skating. And in this day and age of social media and all its pros and cons, there’s no better time to use Facebook and You Tube (she has her own channel there now too, look for it!) not just for GOOD, but for EDUCATION and for POSITIVE COMMUNICATION. Jenny Kirk’s opening some big, important doors these days... whether you’re a skater, coach, official, or fan; whether you’ve suffered through similar problems or none of them, her words are crucial. Please take them to heart, and share them with others.



Having lost a childhood friend to anorexia myself, I can’t help but believe that the “unrealized dream” that Kirk speaks of is something of a misnomer. She left her Olympic dream behind, yes, but in its wake, she could be doing something much bigger-- she could well be saving lives by sharing her own. As “realized” dreams go, we all know it doesn't get much better than that.

The Shpilband Situation, and Other Headlines You Never Expected to See

This week’s bombshell in the world of skating news was something of a corker, you might say. You surely know the headlines by now (paraphrased in this case):


+ Igor Shpilband Fired From Arctic Edge Ice Arena


+ Shpilband Stunned, Searches for another Michigan Rink


+ Marina Zueva (his now-former coaching partner) cites a “Conflict of Interest” on Shpilband’s Part


+ Top Two U.S. Ice Dance Teams Announce They Will Continue with Zueva


+ Skate Canada Confirms that Virtue/Moir Will Also Stay with Zueva



(Oh, and let’s not forget Vladmir Putin’s invitation for Shpilband to return to Russia... nice!)



I think many of us expected a headline like this to emerge from the Canton quarters eventually:



+ Something Had to Give: (Virtue/Moir OR Davis/White) Part Ways with Shpilband/Zueva


Or maybe...


+ Shpilband/Zueva Require Twizzle Contest Between World Gold & Silver Medalists to Choose Who They’ll Stick With Through Sochi


Or even...


+ Scott Moir Finally Challenges Top U.S. Dance Men to Parking Lot Fistfight; Winners Take Shpilband/Zueva


... OK, maybe that middle one wouldn’t happen. In any case, the reality of the situation is Zueva 3, Shpilband 0. What on earth happened?



There are certain headlines we just kind of expect over time...


+ Ottavio Cinquanta is re-elected ISU President


+ Johnny Weir Comes Out of the Closet in New Memoir


+ TV Ratings for Figure Skating are Down From 10 Years Ago


And then there are the shockers—ones that leave us wondering if we’ll ever know what really happened... even if it’s none of our business...



+ Kwan Dismisses Longtime Coach (Frank Carroll)



+ Jennifer Kirk Announces Retirement From Competitive Figure Skating


(NOTE: No, it’s not a coincidence that I’m mentioning this the week after Kirk elaborates, via her blog, on the real reasons for her untimely retirement. If you haven’t read her new writings yet, go do it now. I’ll be discussing it more on a different post.)


And of course...


+ Orser No Longer Coaching Olympic Champion Kim



From Kim’s angry Tweet at Orser to Orser’s early “reveal” of Kim’s 2011-12 program information, this particular story got ugly in a hurry.



Which is just one reason why I hope the Shpilband/Zueva fallout is somewhat merciful. A Sunday afternoon “firing” of one of the most influential names of the current ice dance world doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. But there’s still time.