2023 U.S. Nationals in San Jose

acraven

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2,600
The stand giving out the all-event lanyards is at the entrance near Section 115, on the side opposite the judges. I don't know what the benefit is--do you not have to get your tickets scanned? (My seat mate says that's it.) Do you get in and out privileges? Since each competition session has its own ticket, few people will need to exit and re-enter. Maybe it's to simplify entry for practice sessions.

The little pink tag on my tote bag didn''t do anything for me on second entry; they still wanted to x-ray the bag. I can't complain about that since my bag is quite a bit larger than even the adjusted size limit--it's at least 13 x 13 x 4.

I'm not clear on the food situation. This morning the security supervisor was very explicit: "No outside food." However, many people have had no trouble bringing in small items, and @Debbie S was able to carry in a Whole Foods container. I don't know what to tell you about food. I think it would be best to create small bundles that can be tucked away.

There are quite a few concession stands open today. It's very unusual this early in the week. We have seen chicken tenders, fries, pizza, hot dogs and Italian ice. One of the open stands had "salad" listed, but I don't know whether salads are available yet.
 
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Carolla5501

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7,132
It's a waldorf salad with chicken. Couldn't believe the price of the chicken tenders $17.00+. Even Whole Foods is cheaper.


Welcome to California

For 7 years I commuted between Atlanta and California and every time they asked me why I didn’t move out there I just looked at them. Everything was dramatically more expensive and I knew they weren’t going to give me a salary increase to cover so they paid to fly me back-and-forth and paid for my expenses when I was out there. 😂
 

Foolhardy Ham Lint

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My friend in San Jose told me that during Jr Men's practice at SAP on Monday, a drunken man came to sit near her, started screaming something (she said those did not sound like English), then he walked up to the board and entered in the rink while boys were still practicing. The guy almost waked to the center of the ice with his casual shoes on. They had to stop the music and the practice.

Has anybody at the rink seen this? I have never heard or seen such a thing in any event...

ETA: My friend reminded me of the infamous incident that happened before Michelle Kwan skated her FS, Tosca, at 2004 World Championships in Germany...
Send my regards to Alexander Zhulin.

All kidding aside, that would have been really scary. I hope it was resolved quickly.

I am reminded of one time a guy lost his s*** at a level crossing. The boom gates had been down for some time because of a signal failure. Out of frustration, he got out of his car and tried to lift the gate (without success). Then, he started walking up and down the track, abusing other drivers, and throwing rocks at them.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
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58,289
I think it is an extremely dumb rule.
The problem with a lot of these rules is that they are super-picky and specific but then what happens when you get there doesn't necessarily require that and also you can't really justify it. I mean if all the bags go through an x-ray machine, what does it matter if they have compartments? It's all really weird IMO and not what other venues do yet it doesn't seem any safer than those other venues.
 

Dobre

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16,967
The stand giving out the all-event lanyards is at the entrance near Section 115, on the side opposite the judges. I don't know what the benefit is--do you not have to get your tickets scanned? (My seat mate says that's it.) Do you get in and out privileges? Since each competition session has its own ticket, few people will need to exit and re-enter. Maybe it's to simplify entry for practice sessions.
You still have to get your tickets scanned, and no, the lanyard doesn't help with re-entry if you leave. I think the practice session hypothesis is possible.

(Mom thinks the current entry system is going to become overwhelming when the audience numbers jump up for the senior events. We'll see. I don't know how many people they are expecting. A stamp would really be easier for re-entries than all the scanning they are doing now).
 

Carolla5501

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Safety concerns in a world often interrupted by violent gestures of mentally unstable persons, however unlikely at a skating event.
However, unlikely?

Sadly, skating has already had an incident as we all know


Sadly anytime you have a crowd of people in a society where the answer to everything is just to get a gun and start shooting it’s not unlikely


This event has already had a crazy man wandering around on the ice at practice. Granted it was at the secondary arena, but it shows that everyone at all these events is not there to be loving and supportive
 

Debbie S

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15,487
I did get in with an opened water bottle today but I had to beg the guy at the door. I explained that I had to switch hotels this morning, my room wasn't ready, water bottle still in bag from last night and I couldn't leave it anywhere (all true). Then I had my Jr Women ticket scanned and the woman said she could scan all my tickets, but I told her I was leaving and then coming back. She said in the future, I could have tickets unscanned on the way out (and then scanned again on reentry).

Initially, security guy outside said I didn't need my bag x-rayed b/c it was clear. Then the ticket woman directed me to the x-ray machine. The guy there did not x-ray it but tore off the band from last night and put a different one on, said I needed it to let staff know it had been looked at. (So what's going to happen when I come back in later?)

This works fine when 1 person comes in at a time and there's 5 employees standing around looking for something to do. When thousands of people are coming in this weekend, not so much. They need to streamline their system.
 

Carolla5501

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7,132
@Carolla5501 the incident actually happened at SAP Center. I was there. A bomb sniffing dog was brought in to check the guys very large backpack. Security has been beefed up significantly since then.



And yet we still have posts where the expectation seems to be bags are not to be consistently checked

Security has a huge flaw imho
 

Debbie S

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15,487
Tonight's theater consisted of walking through a metal detector with our bag. Then handing the bag to security to look at while we were sent back to walk through the detector again. Then we were sent to ticket scanning, after which we were directed to the x-ray machine where they sent the bags, including clear, through the machine and then we got a band around the bag strap. Well, not mine since I already had a band.

I'm all for security but this is ridiculous. Want to x-ray everything, fine, but don't make us go through multiple bag checks and walk-throughs. With thousands of people entering this weekend, I foresee chaos.
 

skatfan

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8,378
Tonight's theater consisted of walking through a metal detector with our bag. Then handing the bag to security to look at while we were sent back to walk through the detector again. Then we were sent to ticket scanning, after which we were directed to the x-ray machine where they sent the bags, including clear, through the machine and then we got a band around the bag strap. Well, not mine since I already had a band.

I'm all for security but this is ridiculous. Want to x-ray everything, fine, but don't make us go through multiple bag checks and walk-throughs. With thousands of people entering this weekend, I foresee chaos.
They didn’t x-ray my ir my friends bags this morning. Still trying to figure it out I guess.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
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58,289
You still have to get your tickets scanned, and no, the lanyard doesn't help with re-entry if you leave.
I didn't have to have mine scanned when I re-entered, only the first time each day.

Safety concerns in a world often interrupted by violent gestures of mentally unstable persons, however unlikely at a skating event.
It's not safety. It's Safety Theater. For example:
They didn’t x-ray my ir my friends bags this morning. Still trying to figure it out I guess.
They didn't x-ray my bag either! But I did have to go through the metal detector twice, once with bags and once without.
 

Dobre

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16,967
There's a size rule for the x-raying of the bags apparently. The guy at the metal detector this evening mentioned that it was the reason mine needed to go through the x-ray. (It's been no problem thus far. Hasn't been a line there when I've gone in yet. Scanning the tickets takes us longer).
 

Debbie S

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15,487
Today, we just had to walk through the metal detector once and then someone looked through our bag. Then ticket scanning, then x-ray machine and band for the bags. So slightly streamlined but can someone please explain why bags (clear and w/o compartments) need to be physically inspected in addition to x-rayed?
 

AnnM

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918
I came in about halfway through the first group of pairs. Handed over my purse, which arguably has multiple compartments, to be indirect and was allowed through. Had to go through the metal detector twice, probably because my underwire bra set it off (it happens a lot lol). Then I had to have my purse xrayed and banded after getting my tickets scanned.

As far as arena temps, I'm down in row 9 and there's only 1 (currently empty) row ahead of me before the overhang to the tunnel area. I have two layers on top, leggings, and Uggs with wool socks and am feeling fine.
 

DreamSkates

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3,364
I didn't have to have mine scanned when I re-entered, only the first time each day.


It's not safety. It's Safety Theater. For example:

They didn't x-ray my bag either! But I did have to go through the metal detector twice, once with bags and once without.
Ashley Wagner :)
And only for the first group at least on my end if streaming. I didn’t miss not having commentary.
 

Janef

Active Member
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104
Us pairs. I watched on a Russian link. Felt a little naughty! Anyways I was curious the state of affairs in this discipline. I liked Fernandez and The girls last name started with an S (blanked on the name). I thought they deserved a little higher scoring but they are in the running. They performed well I thought. I think the secret to skating and pairs is making something hard look easy and I thought they did that. Brandon and Alexa looked great. Just reading body language I feel like this might be Alexa’s last nationals. She and Brandon will be missed if this is the case. Those were the two best pairs in my opinion!
 

Karen-W

Checking Senior Bs for TES mins...
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36,134
Us pairs. I watched on a Russian link. Felt a little naughty! Anyways I was curious the state of affairs in this discipline. I liked Fernandez and The girls last name started with an S (blanked on the name). I thought they deserved a little higher scoring but they are in the running. They performed well I thought. I think the secret to skating and pairs is making something hard look easy and I thought they did that. Brandon and Alexa looked great. Just reading body language I feel like this might be Alexa’s last nationals. She and Brandon will be missed if this is the case. Those were the two best pairs in my opinion!
Plazas/Fernandez - they're developing quite nicely!
 

Debbie S

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15,487
I almost went full-on Karen at the entry today. Security person told me banners weren't allowed. I told her I'd talked to someone at the arena last week, plus we all got an email confirming that, plus I'd gotten in with it yesterday. I was just about to ask for a manager but she called someone over, who unrolled the banner, measured it against the doorway, and declared it acceptable.

Way to inform your staff of the actual rules, SAP Center.
 

Carolla5501

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7,132
I have been surprised watching yesterday and today that there are so many empty seats at the SAP Center.


In the program guide there’s an article on Junior winners at another San Jose nationals. They talk about stands full of cheering school groups. What a radical concept.

Sadly USFS is working hard not to encourage fans. 😓
 

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