The Skating Session - A New Show

Do you see (Tony and Thomas)anyone showing up at Cranberry in Norwood? I remember seeing Green and Parsons skating their Martha Grahamesque free dance there and swooning.
Well, Cranberry this year is just singles, so the earliest we can hope to see any dancers is probably Lake Placid, but that might be too early for a lot of the top teams. I'm not sure we'll even see any of the top teams at Championnats québécois d'été in mid-August either.

We should have a better idea after the GP assignments come out who we may or may not see at Cranberry, at least from the American skaters, because we know the USFS used it last year as the de facto SkAm Host TBD spot qualifying competition.
 
Do you see (Tony and Thomas)anyone showing up at Cranberry in Norwood? I remember seeing Green and Parsons skating their Martha Grahamesque free dance there and swooning.
I won’t be able to swing that. I’m aiming for US Nats and Worlds right now.

(And possible trip to Angers…)

A lot of other podcast websites pull from Apple’s directory, so it’s the top one. Next would be Spotify.

Most podcasters utilize a service like Buzzsprout or Podbean to get an RSS set up and then the service automatically pushes new episodes out to every known podcast directory/platform.
Thank you for the info! There seems to be a lot of options, so of course I’m over analyzing each one. 😂
 
I won’t be able to swing that. I’m aiming for US Nats and Worlds right now.

(And possible trip to Angers…)


Thank you for the info! There seems to be a lot of options, so of course I’m over analyzing each one. 😂
Lucky you!
 
Since I’m not doing a Grand Prix (at least I’m 90% sure I’m not dealing with the Lake Placid logistics), I might be ambitious and fly Miami -> St. Louis -> Manchester -> Miami and knock both Nationals and Euros out back-to-back. Flights really aren’t that bad and I’d only have to take 2 more vacation days than I would’ve done just with St. Louis. We will see. I have three(!) raises scheduled between now and the end of the year so why not?

Cranberry may attract a few names, especially since Skate America isn’t until later this year and it Boston obviously is far and away the least travel for those Challengers.
 
Since I’m not doing a Grand Prix (at least I’m 90% sure I’m not dealing with the Lake Placid logistics), I might be ambitious and fly Miami -> St. Louis -> Manchester -> Miami and knock both Nationals and Euros out back-to-back. Flights really aren’t that bad and I’d only have to take 2 more vacation days than I would’ve done just with St. Louis. We will see. I have three(!) raises scheduled between now and the end of the year so why not?
Why not try for Saskatoon instead of Lake Placid if you do want to go to a GP?
 
I won’t be able to swing that. I’m aiming for US Nats and Worlds right now.

(And possible trip to Angers…)


Thank you for the info! There seems to be a lot of options, so of course I’m over analyzing each one. 😂
Yeah, it really matters your objectives. RSS.com is becoming increasingly the favorite of podcast hobbyists vs. those with larger production needs, multiple pods to manage, etc. There are some good subreddits with organized information out there.
 
@tony - can you explain your rationale behind thinking that the North Korean skaters wouldn't be allowed to compete in China? North Korea sent their skaters to Asian Winter Games in Harbin this past February. Has something changed in the CHN-PRK relationship?
 
@tony, the M/K erasure! Enjoying the latest episode, but Japan definitely qualified a pairs spot for the Olympics already with, ya know, the world champions 😉
And Spain did qualify a 2nd TBC spot ;) so there will be a Spanish team at the OQE. Given the field and the number of spots available, I would say their chances aren't great, but ice is slippery....
 
@tony, the M/K erasure! Enjoying the latest episode, but Japan definitely qualified a pairs spot for the Olympics already with, ya know, the world champions 😉
I was very tired! :lol: sorry

And Spain did qualify a 2nd TBC spot ;) so there will be a Spanish team at the OQE. Given the field and the number of spots available, I would say their chances aren't great, but ice is slippery....
I remembered Val/Kazimov, but I don't see them playing spoiler to any of the other teams mentioned.

@tony - can you explain your rationale behind thinking that the North Korean skaters wouldn't be allowed to compete in China? North Korea sent their skaters to Asian Winter Games in Harbin this past February. Has something changed in the CHN-PRK relationship?
They very well could, but I've seen some political articles lately saying there's a new(er) strain in their relationship. Also, IIRC North Korea did this in 2021 where they (could have? but) didn't send anyone to Nebelhorn after having sent athletes in 2017. So who knows what their thinking is.
 
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@tony, the M/K erasure! Enjoying the latest episode, but Japan definitely qualified a pairs spot for the Olympics already with, ya know, the world champions 😉
I didn't catch it either re: Japanese pairs in the Team Event. :lol: We were going through so much of "which country has x for Worlds but x-1 for the Olympics and has to qualify another spot" that it all seemed like it tracked.
 
I didn't catch it either re: Japanese pairs in the Team Event. :lol: We were going through so much of "which country has x for Worlds but x-1 for the Olympics and has to qualify another spot" that it all seemed like it tracked.
Lol, I get it. I have multiple figure skating spreadsheets/workbooks to track all this kind of info, lest I forget.
 
Am confused: I thought Japan would get first dibs on two of the additional athlete quota spots, presumably as the highest ranked team with three, if their dance team, Yoshita/Morita, doesn’t earn a spot in Beijing. Unless CAS expedites the appeal for Stepanova/Bukin, and the Russian Fed wins the appeal before Beijing, Y/M have a better shot now.

A decision after Beijing and before Milano could force the IOC’s hand to allow them to be the 20th competitor and fill out the first group, just as the ISU deciding to let Russia back in the Fall. It’s unlikely the timeline would work, but I put that in the never-say-never category.
 
Am confused: I thought Japan would get first dibs on two of the additional athlete quota spots, presumably as the highest ranked team with three, if their dance team, Yoshita/Morita, doesn’t earn a spot in Beijing. Unless CAS expedites the appeal for Stepanova/Bukin, and the Russian Fed wins the appeal before Beijing, Y/M have a better shot now.
Yes, if YoMori don't earn a spot in Beijing then they'd be first in line for two of the additional athlete quota spots. All it means is that some other country, further down the TE points standings, wouldn't get to send a dance team.
A decision after Beijing and before Milano could force the IOC’s hand to allow them to be the 20th competitor and fill out the first group, just as the ISU deciding to let Russia back in the Fall. It’s unlikely the timeline would work, but I put that in the never-say-never category.
I wouldn't hold my breath on RUS getting a spot in dance or pairs as some sort of "extra" spot should the IOC/ISU lift the ban in the fall. At best, it would mean that RUS & BLR athletes are not required to compete as AINs and that the spots earned by Petrosian, Gumennik, Safonova & possibly Puzanau would then go to the feds & someone else could be sent in their stead, representing RUS/BLR.

CAS appeals generally take so long and I can't really see this one moving any faster, so I'd be surprised if anything comes down from CAS between now and January.
 
Episode 9!

The Skating Session - Ep 9 - Rhythm Dance '26 Rules & Music Ideas, Sui & Han Return w/ Tony & Thomas​


I do enjoy listening to you two discuss figure skating, so keep it up! As a typical American fan who does attend events (because since I'm retired, I now have 1. the time and 2. the funds), I would love to see a higher percentage of younger people in the stands also, but understand why it is not happening. Boston was so great because the stands were full for the most part, and the audience was much more diverse (age, gender and ethnic background) than at normal US event. Boston, of course, has a young vibe with over 60 universities in the greater area.
 
Thank you @Cayuse ! I do wonder what can be done. Figure skating competitions just aren’t built for a more modern audience. Mr thvu struggled with the Worlds schedule.

It makes me think about teaching, and how teachers have to adapt to shorter attention spans. The ISU is starting to adapt, but there’s so much structurally that can’t be changed easily.

And then the price of tickets. I didn’t tell Mr thvu how much I paid for his all event ticket and he gasped. (And he makes more than I do. 😂) It’s cost prohibitive to any casual fan of middle class means.

I think about the line for last minute theater/broadway tickets. Maybe figure skating should do the same, sell tickets the morning of for unsold seats, with the caveat that you have to stand in a queue. Discount cheap tickets. There’s a risk/reward of course for fans, but it could help fill seats. I’d even offer some unsold seats to local schools two weeks before.

 
It’s cost prohibitive to any casual fan of middle class means.
It took me fifty years before I could justify the cost and amount of leave necessary for Worlds. DH has no interest in going so then I have to factor what other trips we have in a year. Prague is a great price but we already have too much planned for me to make it work.

Having the short program on one weekend and long program on the next would help the casual fan but would be bad for everyone else, especially the skaters.

Thanks for the show. It helps me get through the offseason. Loved the 90s song discussion, I forgot some of them.
 
And then the price of tickets. I didn’t tell Mr thvu how much I paid for his all event ticket and he gasped. (And he makes more than I do. 😂) It’s cost prohibitive to any casual fan of middle class means.


My family went to 3 events total at Boston Worlds, and I think it was worth it, yet it was also a real investment for us (and we did not have to travel). I'm glad it was such a good event, because for that price, it really needed to be!!
 
I think about the line for last minute theater/broadway tickets. Maybe figure skating should do the same, sell tickets the morning of for unsold seats, with the caveat that you have to stand in a queue. Discount cheap tickets. There’s a risk/reward of course for fans, but it could help fill seats. I’d even offer some unsold seats to local schools two weeks before.

Back in the day when we attended the 1994 US National Championships in Detroit, elementary school groups were bussed in to watch the novice and junior events at the Cobo Arena. We have no idea whether they enjoyed it or not. (Although going on an excursion and skipping school was always a big tick in our book!)

But the children seemed well behaved enough and applauded in all the right places. If nothing else, their presence certainly filled that cavernous venue and made it less empty for the skaters who were competing.
 
I don't know if anyone realized this, but when Taiwan held competitions (4CC or JW) the tickets were always completely free, and I feel so spoiled to be able to see so many competitions for free. I assume that this was only possible because it was sponsored by the Taiwanese government, but I always found it such a shame that the competitions held here were so poorly attended (I suppose that with no financial pressure, there was less motivation to properly market the competition). I cannot imagine paying so much money to attend competitions elsewhere, and I'm grateful for getting to see Davis and White, Patrick Chan, Kevin Aymoz, both Maos, Sui and Han... the list goes on and on, but it was all free.

I suspect that competitions will not be held in Taiwan for a long time considering the political situation around the world... but if it ever returns, people should consider coming to visit a beautiful country, while getting to attend a figure skating competition for free.
 
Skating is so inherently inaccessible in most parts of the world -- that makes things that much more difficult to attract younger audiences, particularly in today's fragmented media landscape.

Others have noted the high cost of attending competitions. Hell, I'm probably in the top percentile of skating fandom, and I only see live skating once every few years--I'd rather spend my money and vacation time drinking on a warm beach than spending more money in a cold rink.
 

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