Hiya, I've been missing in action, finally have
climbed out of the trenches to fill you in on the
excitement. Day five, second day of competiton.
Needless to say another long and action packed day of
skating. Have been in the rink for over 12 hours!
This day can be described with two words, Agony and Ecstasy....
First off the Dance Complusaries
Agony listening to the Tango Romantica over and over
and over again....ok, I was prepared for this but man,
when you are sleep deprived it's a chore, I nearly
passed out in the stands..."Somebody grab me a coke!!!"
Well the outcome was to be expected, after all this is
Ice-dance! B&K looked good, esp after Shae's minor
injury when Victor's blade knicked her leg. They
looked relaxed. I thought their speed and expression
were good. They both looked good in each outfit asusual.
I was excited to see D&V, L&A and L&T as they were all
missing in the practises I went to. I like D&V and
they did not disappoint. L&A were good as were L&T
but in my opinion both of these teams don't do that much for me.
A&P were good they looked strong and relaxed, received
a warm reation from the crowd. Lot's of cow bells
going, now what is that all about? Must be a french
thing! FP&M did show a lot of speed but they were ok
but nothing stunning, he still bugs me, and could
someone please stop him from doing that odd hand
gesture in the Kiss and Cry....ok it was funny the
first 10 times but get over it Maurizio!
Intersting results, A&P and FP&M tied for first L&A
and B&K tied for second, well the OD will beinteresting for sure!
Men's Short Program
Mens, well an emotional roller-coaster. Great to see
Yags pull it all together after the shocking
qualifying. His injury came as a complete surprise
since he was popping off quad, triple doulbles with
ease. He has a fire that is undescribable...everyone
was on the edge of their seats and he ate it up!
Todd, what can I say? Consistant, dependable good ole
Todd. You might have seen it on tv, how could you
miss the huge American Flag??? I'm sitting in that
section....the crowd support is amazing and I think it
helped Todd and Tim. Whatever Frank Carroll is doing
with Tim, it's working. He still needs to mature buthe is excting to watch!
Ok Agony time....
First off Emanuel, I had a feeling he'd pull it
together, he looked relaxed and like he said maybe too
much so. I thought if ever there was a time to have
fun doing a program and enjoy the crowd's energy, I
thought he'd seize the opportunity but he lost focus.
He does frustrate me, he has sooooo much talent!
Elvis...what can I say? I wanted him to skate well
with every fibre of my being! You could hear 18,000
hearts breaking when he missed the quad. I wanted him
to prove to the nay-sayers that he could do it. I
don't think it was a focus problem, it just happened
and I don't think it was a lack of seasoning from
being out all year, because if anyone can do it,it's
Elvis. I can't help thinking where would he be if he
only missed the quad. I will be sick if the media
tears him apart because he doesn't deserve disrespect,
especially after all he's done for skating!
I'm looking forward to the long program, it's going to
be mega exciting and if there's anyone that is sure to
excite it's Elvis, medal or not.
Can't forget Pluschenko, he gets better and better! I
love his long program, so it's going to be great!
Esctasy....wathing the excitement of some of the
lesser known skaters after they've nailed a program!
The crowd's reaction to a great skate.
Waving my Canadian Flag and shouting at the top of my
lungs...with no-one telling me to be quiet!! Got to love it!
Celeb spottings: Alexandre Zhulin looks like he's been
working with quite a few skaters.
Viktor Petrenko, first sitting with wife Nina, then with Zhulin
Katerina Witt working for German tv.
Mrs Stojko & B&K's mums ~ nice to see the mum's in the crowd.
Fashion Fax paus of the day....tough to call, I'll go
with Alexander Abt, black with silver lines, think
he's been working with Urmanov's designer ugh!
Got to run,
More reports to come, comments on The Ladies
Qualifying and Pairs Final, sure to be dead exciting!
Tues. March 20, 2001