Dick Button Reflects On His Olympic History; and Skating As It Now Is

[skatesindreams]

Very interesting views; 70 years on:

https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/F...Years-Later-And-State-Of-Figure-Skating-Today

 

[Frau Muller]

Wonderful article! Thanks for posting. Gotta love Uncle Dick - the one and only. I hope that he makes it onto part of the upcoming NBC Olys coverage, even if remotely, for Olympic Ice. We could “Push Dick’s Button” again.

 

[Omilona]

I am happy to tell you that we live up the road from him, and he is doing really well. He has the most to die for garden, which he generously opens for charity every year. Slavka still teaches at the local rinks.

 

[Spun Silver]

What a wonderful article. He's as witty and opinionated as ever. So many details I never heard before. I love the Yale-Harvard story. I will share that one with my husband, a Yalie. And hearing about how important figures were to his wins, and about how "repulsed" he was at the idea of backing down from the 2A (a new jump then) at the Olympics. Olympians truly are a different breed.

 

[Wyliefan]

Thanks for sharing. Glad he's doing so well. It's kind of funny that he says he cheated his double axel, but gets upset that quads with mistakes get credited. Maybe the scoring systems aren't that different after all . . .

 

[skatesindreams]

Mr. Button remains "direct", as ever.
It's a wonderful thing!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Wow... wow... wow.... such a different world.... such different times...

Traveled by boat? Wow, THAT put things into perspective.... wow...... and then connected to a train and finally a horse-drawn sleigh. W-o-w.

Who knew that he (as an American) competed and Won the Europeans Title?

I miss figures. Does anyone else?

So sad about Gershweiler passing last year.

Cool that he will give a vote to "I, Tonya."

 

[barbk]

I am happy to tell you that we live up the road from him, and he is doing really well. He has the most to die for garden, which he generously opens for charity every year. Slavka still teaches at the local rinks.

Wow -- the pictures of his garden look amazing! Folks here will probably enjoy the short embedded video where Dick describes various features of his garden in skating terms!
https://www.lohud.com/story/money/real-estate/homes/2014/09/04/dick-buttons-garden-glory/15078861/

Here's another article (brief) on Ice Pond Farm. https://www.gardenconservancy.org/o...ory/dick-button-dennis-grimaldi-ice-pond-farm

 

[skatingguy]

Who knew that he (as an American) competed and Won the Europeans Title?

Barbara Ann Scott won the Ladies event (twice) and no one outside of Europe was ever allowed to compete at Europeans again.

I miss figures. Does anyone else?

No. I like the idea of skaters learning figures to help with learning good skating technique, and they can be fun to play with your blades and create shapes, but as a sporting event it is difficult to broadcast, difficult for casual fans & the general public to understand, and seems to easy for the judges to create the results they wanted.

 

[bardtoob]

Cool that he will give a vote to "I, Tonya."

It's cool he even has a vote!

 

[kittyjake5]

Love Uncle Dick! Great article!

 

[el henry]

I love Uncle Dick, I agree with every word he says, and I would love to visit his garden