Recent content by acraven

Jackie didn't know at the time he recorded the podcast. He said he noticed one of the Italian male skaters (I don't remember which) running his hand across the surface of the podium at some point. I guess he later was told there was an issue.

Unfortunately, Jackie Wong is reporting there was a problem with the surface of the podium used for the team event. Blades were damaged, so the medal-winning skaters need to scramble to get their blades sharpened before their next practice -- and for the dancers, before tomorrow's competition.

Ilia's 2nd place in the SP was very, very costly--conceivably affecting his readiness for the individual event. The degree to which he can water down his Team Event FS is going to be somewhat limited.

That is an extremely interesting article, in which we learn, among other things, that Alysa was diagnosed as ADHD several years ago.

Yahoo has an online article on this subject. It still leaves me scratching my head. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/winter-olympics-2026-figure-skating-s-first-controversy-arises-from-music-copyright-law/ar-AA1Vw0vk?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=698110e131de4e4daaeb8dce658a4aaf&ei=93

It was clear during one of the practices or 20-minute warmups that something was wrong. He was only doing triples and landing awkwardly; it wasn't normal jumping at all. I later read on FSU that he had taken a fall earlier in the practice that I hadn't seen; perhaps he got too close to the...

The Atlantic has published an article about Ilia, titled "The Man Who Broke Physics". It's paywalled, so I haven't read it.

It varies quite a bit. If you go back to the 1980s, all-event tickets sometimes went on sale more than 2 years ahead of time; USFSA was sometimes holding three years' worth of ticket money from me for pending events. Fortunately, tickets weren't nearly as expensive then, even taking subsequent...

During the post-FS press conference, Efimova and Mitrofanov were asked about defending the title. Alisa answered that it was a challenge, but they had learned from it and would try to use the experience internationally [my paraphrase]. I took that to mean they planned to continue for long...

I vote for no public announcement but telling the skaters as soon as a decision is made so they can figure out their training regimen and try to peak appropriately. In addition, some might want to strategize with their coaches about program tweaks for the team event, perhaps leaving out a risky...

I've heard the Laurel rink is unusually cold--and that's compared to other training rinks, rather than major arenas. It's difficult to tolerate training-rink conditions day after day after day; two days for lower-level events at Nationals is challenging enough. The secondary venue in St. Louis...

If Salt Lake City turns out to be the host city, I urge potential ticket purchasers to be aware of two critical issues we experienced at the 1999 Nationals, when the primary events were held downtown at the Delta Center. Both problems affected sightlines and were caused by laying down a large...

I just receoved a text from a friend who just entered the arena and was told no plastic water bottles are allowed. Yesterday empty bottles were OK.

Sorry too late to help you, but we were able to stay on the concourse yesterday

USFS has sent a message to (All-Event?) ticket purchasers, correcting the door-opening time for Session 5 on Friday. Doors will open at 1 PM. The event begins at 2 PM (no change).