Mad for Skating blog

[Mad for Skating]

A bit of a fun blog post today: a tribute to the fabulous ice dancer Karina Manta and her influence as the first openly LGBTQ+ US ice dancer.

https://madforskating.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/thank-you-karina-manta/

 

[kalamalka]

Mad for Skating, many of your posts have seemed wise beyond your years, and your writing would be excellent at any age, but that blog post on Karina Manta, role models, and coming out is just beautiful. Thank you.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Mad for Skating, many of your posts have seemed wise beyond your years, and your writing would be excellent at any age, but that blog post on Karina Manta, role models, and coming out is just beautiful. Thank you.

Thank you so much, @kalamalka. It’s one of my more personal posts so I think I was really able to just spill my guts But really, all the credit should go to Karina for inspiring me so much.

(Btw, I posted it on twitter and Karina replied back and followed me, and now I think we’re best friends?)

 

[clairecloutier]

A bit of a fun blog post today: a tribute to the fabulous ice dancer Karina Manta and her influence as the first openly LGBTQ+ US ice dancer.

https://madforskating.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/thank-you-karina-manta/

Love this post!!

 

[Mad for Skating]

Love this post!!

Thanks so much @clairecloutier, you’re the best

 

[Scrufflet]

What a wonderful story! And my secret hope is that they will do Cirque for a while and then return to skating.

 

[Mad for Skating]

What a wonderful story! And my secret hope is that they will do Cirque for a while and then return to skating.

Thanks so much! It’s my secret hope too - we’ll have to wait and see

 

[Mad for Skating]

Hi, I know it’s been a while since I updated my blog. It’s been almost one year since Denis Ten’s death, so I wrote a list of 25 things I loved about him, one for each year he lived.

25 reasons why I love Denis Ten

It’s been almost a year since we lost Denis Ten, and I feel like I need to write this blog post to remind everyone what a wonderful person he was. I am trying to focus not on the horrible day of hi…

madforskating.wordpress.com

I don’t usually try to self-promote my blog, but it would mean so much to me if you could share this post as much as possible. I want to raise awareness about who he was and how much good he did for the skating community.

 

[Spun Silver]

Well done, @Mad for Skating. I think you too are wise beyond your years. Thank you for putting into words what so many must be feeling close to the anniversary of his murder.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Well done, @Mad for Skating. I think you too are wise beyond your years. Thank you for putting into words what so many must be feeling close to the anniversary of his murder.

Thank you so much, Spun Silver. It was a difficult post to write, but I think it’s important to remember his legacy. (Hopefully I can put up a less depressing post soon)

 

[Mad for Skating]

Hi, friends. This year, I noticed a lot of negativity in the sport, so I decided to write a list of 24 good things that happened this season to spread a little positivity and remind us why we love this sport so much.

Please comment with your favorite moments, I would love to hear!

24 Good Things That Happened in Figure Skating in 2019

2019 was a rough year for the world of figure skating. John Coughlin’s sudden death and the revelations of assault that followed sent the sport into a near crisis. Dozens of skaters came under fire…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

Since it’s the start of a new season, I wrote a quick introduction to many of the pair skaters on the roster. This should help introduce the sport to people who don’t know much about pairs and also give longtime fans a peek at what’s ahead. Please share this post so it can reach as many people as possible!

Who to Watch: A Quick Introduction to Pair Skating

As a skating fan since 2014, I’ve interacted with a lot of people who love figure skating as much as I do. However, it was shocking to me to see how many people didn’t watch pair skating (or at lea…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

My review of the ladies’ events at Autumn Classic and Lombardia Trophy. I am planning on writing a blog post every weekend throughout the Challenger series. Thank you for all the positive feedback last year - let’s keep it up!

Skate Canada Autumn Classic & Lombardia Trophy Review: Ladies

It’s a quiet Saturday and I don’t have much to do, so of course I’m watching figure skating. I’m going to give some hot takes on the ladies at Autumn Classic International and Lombardia Trophy in o…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

My review of US Classic and Ondrej Nepela Trophy - just Pairs and Ladies because I’m lazy lol

2019 US Classic and Ondrej Nepela Trophy Review: Pairs and Ladies

It’s the weekend, which means your favorite annoying skating blogger is at it again. So without further ado, here we go with my hot takes on US Classic and the Ondrej Nepela Trophy. Best part about…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

My review of the pairs event at Nebelhorn Trophy: https://madforskating.wordpress.com/2019/09/29/2019-nebelhorn-trophy-review-pairs/

 

[Mad for Skating]

I wrote a blog post about the sometimes toxic culture of the figure skating fandom. I would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to read it.

The End of My Love Affair with the Figure Skating Fandom

When my sheltered twelve-year-old self set up a Twitter account on my mom’s laptop, I thought it would be a fun way to contact my favorite figure skaters, wish them good luck, and maybe even get a …

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Spun Silver]

Good for you... but Satoko has changed her dress. (See Japan Open thread.)

 

[whiteskates]

I wrote a blog post about the sometimes toxic culture of the figure skating fandom. I would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to read it.

The End of My Love Affair with the Figure Skating Fandom

When my sheltered twelve-year-old self set up a Twitter account on my mom’s laptop, I thought it would be a fun way to contact my favorite figure skaters, wish them good luck, and maybe even get a …

madforskating.wordpress.com

Very well written! I am an old figure skating fan who is shocked by the behaviour of today's fans on the internet. You are young but are more mature than most and I like reading what you write so thanks a lot for a well written blog.

 

[Scrufflet]

MfS,
Thanks for this well-written piece! I hope everyone reads it and takes it to heart!
In terms of continuing your joy, I hope you catch some of BOTB. Many of us are watching and enjoying. Truly, a feel-good show.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Good for you... but Satoko has changed her dress. (See Japan Open thread.)

I just saw! It’s a major improvement; good for her. It’s quite pretty!

Very well written! I am an old figure skating fan who is shocked by the behaviour of today's fans on the internet. You are young but are more mature than most and I like reading what you write so thanks a lot for a well written blog.

Thank you so much! I think a lot of the young fans just get wrapped up in black-and-white thinking. It’s easy to confuse standing up for what’s right and overreacting to what’s wrong, until every little thing is a battle. It ain’t fun.

MfS,
Thanks for this well-written piece! I hope everyone reads it and takes it to heart!
In terms of continuing your joy, I hope you catch some of BOTB. Many of us are watching and enjoying. Truly, a feel-good show.

Thank you for the positive feedback! I am watching Battle of the Blades and it’s so much fun, although I’m upset because some of my favorites already got eliminated It’s truly a positive, enjoyable show though.

 

[Wyliefan]

You've got some good and helpful thoughts there.

 

[Mad for Skating]

You've got some good and helpful thoughts there.

Thank you so much, @Wyliefan! I try my best

 

[starrynight]

I wrote a blog post about the sometimes toxic culture of the figure skating fandom. I would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to read it.

The End of My Love Affair with the Figure Skating Fandom

When my sheltered twelve-year-old self set up a Twitter account on my mom’s laptop, I thought it would be a fun way to contact my favorite figure skaters, wish them good luck, and maybe even get a …

madforskating.wordpress.com

Loved every word of this.

I think that you described very well the concept of bullying cloaked behind a shield of self-righteousness really, really well.

But I think it's just holding a mirror up to the general way people act on the internet. Where people get the capacity to sustain so much anger (mixed in with so little self-awareness and actually an awful lot of ignorance) over so many different things I'll never know.

And in conclusion, I would say keeping out of unmoderated discussion spaces is a good idea.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Loved every word of this.

I think that you described very well the concept of bullying cloaked behind a shield of self-righteousness really, really well.

But I think it's just holding a mirror up to the general way people act on the internet. Where people get the capacity to sustain so much anger (mixed in with so little self-awareness and actually an awful lot of ignorance) over so many different things I'll never know.

And in conclusion, I would say keeping out of unmoderated discussion spaces is a good idea.

Thank you so much! I agree that it happens all over the internet, not just in the skating fandom. I think some of the people genuinely think they're doing the right thing, but others will use the "shield of self-righteousness" to bully people, as you said. It's not that I don't want to acknowledge the bad things that people do, but I can't spend every minute of my life focusing on it.

As for staying out of unmoderated discussion spaces, I do still enjoy Twitter because sometimes the unfiltered thoughts can be entertaining, and I have met some good friends there. However, I've started muting a lot of people so I see less of the nastiness and more of the things I love. It's just not worth the energy for me.

 

[CaliSteve]

I wrote a blog post about the sometimes toxic culture of the figure skating fandom. I would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to read it.

The End of My Love Affair with the Figure Skating Fandom

When my sheltered twelve-year-old self set up a Twitter account on my mom’s laptop, I thought it would be a fun way to contact my favorite figure skaters, wish them good luck, and maybe even get a …

madforskating.wordpress.com

Excellent read and it actually applies to all of society.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Excellent read and it actually applies to all of society.

Thank you so much! I agree 100%.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Non-skating post this time, but I’m still going to share it here. Today was National Coming Out Day. It’s the one-year anniversary of the day I came out as bisexual, so I wrote a list of 9 things I wish I knew as a LGBTQ+ teen so that maybe it could help other kids.

9 Tips for LGBTQ+ Youth

National Coming Out Day is October 11, which means it’s been a year since I spilled the tea to my mom and my friends. At the time, I was 15, pretty sheltered, and unsure what was happening to…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

Two blog posts in one weekend! Here is my review of 2019 Finlandia Trophy.

Last week, I wrote about the toxicity of the skating fandom, but I realized how much we take for granted the fans who are kind and respectful. I wanted to recognize those people, so every week, I’m going to give a shoutout to someone who makes the skating world a better place.

Stay tuned until the end of the blog post to see my choice of the week

2019 Finlandia Trophy Review: Pairs

The final event in the ISU Challenger Series has arrived, and somehow I’m still alive. Blogging while trying to balance honors high school and stay in touch with my friends is a bit of a challenge,…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

With the Grand Prix starting in just a few days, here is my preview and predictions for the pairs events:

2019-20 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Preview: Pairs

It’s that wonderful time of year again when you get to watch figure skating for six weekends in a row. Yep, the 2019-20 Grand Prix kicks off on Friday. In all the (well-deserved) hype about the inh…

madforskating.wordpress.com

 

[Mad for Skating]

First Grand Prix review of the season is done! This post focuses on the pairs and ladies at Skate America, plus a special person who adds some love to the skating community. Don’t forget to like and subscribe

2019 Skate America Pairs and Ladies Review: When Life Throws You for a Loop

After months and months of waiting, the Grand Prix of Figure Skating is finally here. The pairs event at Skate America was the perfect way to kick things off. The short program lulled me into a fal…

madforskating.wordpress.com