US Adult Nationals bingo card?

[overedge]

I was reading the stories in the USFS Skating magazine about US Adult Nationals, and there was a reference in it to a "bingo card" that was circulating in the stands. Including items like "complete stop before an Axel", "body glitter", and "wrong music/no backup CD"

One of the adult skaters quoted in the article (I think it was the winner of championship gold men's) said he didn't do something in his program because he "didn't want to be a bingo element"

Does anyone here have a copy of the bingo card that they could share? It sounds albsolutely hilarious.

[sk8er1964]

I saw them, but didn't have one. Not sure where they came from.

[Rochelle]

I saw them, but didn't have one. Not sure where they came from.

I may have a copy of it at the bottom of my yet-to-be-100%-unpacked Nationals skate bag, or the "tossies"/gifts bag. My copy is unmarked since I spent most of my Thursday gluing stones on a dress I needed to wear that evening... and wasn't able to make Friday's events... and forgot about it on Saturday.

It basically was a predictable assortment of every possible thing you could think of for a suggested drinking game/etc.

If I can find it, I'll share mine... but as per the course for bingo my card would not have the majority of all possible bingo card items.

[Rochelle]

Found my ANs 2012 bingo card.

Not sure who created them this year... but they're intended to be humorous.

On my card, the spaces are:

wrong music played
forgetting to remove gloves
sword, dagger, or other weapon
feathers
sleeping judge
prop longer than skater's arm
three people using the same music
carrying a concealed prop
pirates of carib. program
vomiting
meltdown
falsies (any body part)
Free!
ponytail facelift
furry hat or coat on coach
untied/dragging laces
complete stop before axel
wrong pronunciation of a skater's name
broken strap (on dress, pants, etc.)
Phantom program
fake eyelashes
skin tone mismatch (min-2 tone difference)
"competition camel"
kissing or crying in K&C
excessive rhinestoning

[overedge]

Aw, Rochelle, thanks! Those categories are . Perhaps something similar will show up at Cdn Adult Nationals this year

[Bev Johnston]

A little history on the bingo card...

The bingo card was started by a skater from San Francisco for AN 2011. She handed them out at the competition, and when you got "bingo" on your card (consecutive down, across, or diagonal checks), you turned it back in to her. She drew a winner from the completed cards at the competitors' party. That person won a free bottle of champagne.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to attend AN this past year, but one of her club mates carried on the tradition in her absence.

So now you know the story!

[leafygreens]

What is a "competition camel"?

I lol'd at "forgetting to remove gloves". I thought I was the only one who did that.

Also lol'ing at "min 2-tone difference" in skin tone. Is that for tights, or makeup? That's a little harsh. Some of these are mean!

[AusTechSpec]

This needs to be a thing EVERYWHERE hahahaha

[aliceanne]

Yes, what is a "competition camel"? Is it a skating element or a clothing malfunction?

[Bev Johnston]

"Competition camel" is when you go into your camel spin, everything looks great, and then bam... You just fall out of it for no apparent reason. Happens all the time in adult competition - nerves, lack of focus, etc. Very annoying to the skater!

Really, these aren't mean. It's all in good fun and we laugh at our inhuman flesh tones in our costumes and still more inhuman flesh tone in our tights. Good times.

[leafygreens]

Yeah that happens to me in practice lol.

[sarahspins]

Yeah that happens to me in practice lol.

Me too. I also have something I call "first camel syndrome" where the first one is fantastic - faster, centered, lots of revs, then the rest are just horrible.

[Aussie Willy]

And if you think they are mean, pretty much it is just putting down in writing what everyone is probably saying anyway.

[leafygreens]

And if you think they are mean, pretty much it is just putting down in writing what everyone is probably saying anyway.

That's horrible. It makes me not want to go to Adult Nationals. It's already nerve racking to perform, and then looking out at the audience wondering if they are judging whether or not my tights are 2 shades different, and marking things down if I fall out of my camel. That is soooo mean. It takes a lot of guts for any one to get out there, probably more for an adult. I don't understand why anyone would make fun of them.

[overedge]

That's horrible. It makes me not want to go to Adult Nationals. It's already nerve racking to perform, and then looking out at the audience wondering if they are judging whether or not my tights are 2 shades different, and marking things down if I fall out of my camel. That is soooo mean. It takes a lot of guts for any one to get out there, probably more for an adult. I don't understand why anyone would make fun of them.

Everyone is making fun of themselves. If anyone is good at laughing at adult skaters, it's the skaters themselves.

And if you would actually look at the card before flying off the handle about it, there are a lot of entries that have nothing to do with the skater (e.g. sleeping judge, wrong CD).

[sk8er1964]

That's horrible. It makes me not want to go to Adult Nationals. It's already nerve racking to perform, and then looking out at the audience wondering if they are judging whether or not my tights are 2 shades different, and marking things down if I fall out of my camel. That is soooo mean. It takes a lot of guts for any one to get out there, probably more for an adult. I don't understand why anyone would make fun of them.

99.999999% of people at adult nationals are extremely supportive. There are those, of course, who are catty but they are out there in the real world too, and probably in higher numbers than at AN.

Personally, I think the bingo card is pretty stupid, but to each their own. I've never seen one - and I've been to AN multiple times.

ETA - Change that. I did see one in Chicago that someone else had (probably Rochelle's ). If I read my own post further up I would have known that.

[Aussie Willy]

That's horrible. It makes me not want to go to Adult Nationals. It's already nerve racking to perform, and then looking out at the audience wondering if they are judging whether or not my tights are 2 shades different, and marking things down if I fall out of my camel. That is soooo mean. It takes a lot of guts for any one to get out there, probably more for an adult. I don't understand why anyone would make fun of them.

So you don't sit a competition yourself and think things yourself? Or sit with friends and make comments?

The truth is about our sport is comments get made all the time about competitors. Most of them are really supportive but you will get the "OMG I have heard this piece 100 times" or "You can always tell this is one of [insert coach's name] students because every student has that move".

The good thing about the adult skating community is most of them do not take themselves too seriously (but there are exceptions) and can laugh at themselves which is what that bingo card was doing. And most of them can joke about themselves.

On the other hand, why would you give a rats about what people think? Just go out there and do it for yourself.

[AndyWarhol]

^^^ I agreee! Skating is a bitchy/snarky sport, like most things that are mainly populated by woman and gay men.

I have an axel with a massive skid into it, I love that fact my old coach (from years ago) was a russian who wore a furry hat with pride and I have an excellent program to Phantom on Ice in the works. I would love it if people were entertained by all this.

Bring on the shots!

[TangoGirl]

The only time I ever fall on a flying camel is at Nats, now I have a name for my condition, WOOT! (not).

[Rochelle]

99.999999% of people at adult nationals are extremely supportive. There are those, of course, who are catty but they are out there in the real world too, and probably in higher numbers than at AN.

Personally, I think the bingo card is pretty stupid, but to each their own. I've never seen one - and I've been to AN multiple times.

ETA - Change that. I did see one in Chicago that someone else had (probably Rochelle's ). If I read my own post further up I would have known that.

Agreed on both fronts, sk8er1964.

The items on the bingo cards are basically a predictable assortment of every possible thing you could think of for a suggested drinking game/etc. in any skating competition... and I found very few things on the card to be negative towards the skaters. More "oh darn, that happens sometimes" type of stuff. Of course, whenever I'm in an event there are usually 3 chances for "wrong pronunciation of a skater's name" and they usually get it wrong at least once -- and that's A-OK with me. .

You might have seen my card, but probably not... since it sat at the bottom of my "tossies"/gift bag incase an over zealous bingo player was concerned I didn't have a copy and was missing out. I never have time/interest in playing along. Too busy enjoying the skating it's self, socializing, facebooking updates for friends not in attendance, and still stoning my competition dresses to bother.

It's not something everyone in the audience takes part in... it's a very small minority... but it's just a way for some friends to past the time. When a large portion of us competing athletes are there 12+ hours, 4 days in a row... we all find our own ways to keep it engaging.

Check out this month's Skating magazine to learn about the "Beanie Babie Bazooka", for instance.