U.S. Nationals Day 5: Men's Free Skate
My day began 6:00. I had to be at the arena by 8:30 for the Friends of Figure Skating Thank You Breakfast. I found free street parking roughly across the street from the XCel Energy Center, only to realize as soon as I shut off my car that I left my tickets to the Men's Competition back at my Bed and Breakfast! After some cursing, I almost turned around and went back to Afton, but then I thought I could probably still sneak in without a ticket. After all, I had my Breakfast pass, so that would be enough to get me into the building. Even though there'd be at least two hours between Breakfast and the Men's Free Skate -- and you need tickets to attend the practices -- I figured nobody would check for my ticket as long as I was already in the building. Luckily, I was right, so I just found ways to keep myself occupied until the start of the competition.
The breakfast was nice. It took place at the Headwaters Bar & Restaurant on the club level of XCel. The food was good, and the event was well attended without being crowded. I shared a table with a few women from New York and New Jersey -- Mary, Marion, and Karen. They were great company and kept me laughing. Well into the breakfast, some of the current U.S. competitors showed up to eat and sign autographs/take pictures.
Part of my problem is that I haven't kept up with skating in recent years as religiously as I did in the '90s. So I didn't recognize some of the skaters right away. In fact, I passed up a pair of skaters specifically because I thought, "If I can't recognize them, I don't deserve their autograph." What's sad about this is that this unrecognizable pair were the Ice Dance silver medalists that I watched skate the day before! Oh well.
There was one skater I recognized without a doubt: Ice Dance gold medalist Ben Agosto! As soon as I saw him walk in the room I got up and poised myself to hop into a line headed his way. Lucky for me, he came right back by our table, so I beat the line all together. He was SOOOO friendly, gracious, and all smiles. When Karen missed the first opportunity to get his autograph and later saw he was about to leave for rehearsal, I had no problem just coming up to him and asking him to stay for just one photograph with Karen. I knew he wouldn't mind, and he totally didn't.
Here's me, my scarf (I'm always cold), and Ben Agosto:
Me with the U.S. Figure Skating Championship Trophy
Me and Bebe Liang
Me with Melissa Bulanhagui
Me with 2008 U.S. National Pairs Silver Medalists Rena Inoue & John Baldwin
Me with 2008 U.S. National Pairs Bronze Medalists Brooke Castile & Benjamin Okolski
Me with Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig
Me with 2008 U.S. National Ice Dance Bronze Medalist Kimberly Navarro
Towards the end of the breakfast, they had a drawing for door prizes -- and these weren't shabby prizes, either. The grand prize was a backstage tour of the arena and competition for you and three other guests. Who the heck would I have taken, had I won? Ah the perils of traveling alone. I did win a 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals long-sleeve t-shirt though (a value of $28.00)! It's quite cute. I haven't tried it on, but it's an XL, so it should fit.
All I can say about the Men's Free Skate: "Wow mom." With my program in tow, I took meticulous notes on the scores of each skater's short program and free skate. As we got closer to the end of the competition, I kept a close eye on the standings - doing mental math to figure out how many points the next skater would need to take the lead.
Johnny Weir was in 1st place after the short program, so he was last to skate in the Free Skate. I kept the number he'd need to win in mind as he skated his long program, and when his scores were unveiled I was challenged to remember the exact decimal point he needed to win. Then they announced his combined score - adding the Short and Long Programs together - and it sounded strikingly similar to Evan Lysacek's score. Sure enough, a tie: 244.77 each! But because Evan won the free skate, he took the gold.
I'm not so sure how I feel about this! I watched both men skate, and I thought they were both amazing. Buuuuuut I thought Johnny won hands down! Recall that I was actually routing for Evan. But I didn't give Evan a standing ovation. I *did* give Johnny one, again, because I thought he skated better. Maybe I missed something, which is exactly why I can't wait to acquire a tape of the Men's Long so I can re-examine what the heck happened.
One woman standing near me after the competition just couldn't stop talking about it. Actually, her constant expounding about the subject was getting tiresome, namely because she kept repeating her same surprised thoughts. *sigh* And then she went on to say that the tie was just the proof that was needed to show that the new Code of Points judging system is still rigged. Um, I'm not so sure about that. But whatever.
It was a great competition to witness in person, and I wasn't surprised when the 8-minute period set aside for backstage interviews before the medals ceremony turned into 20 minutes. The medals ceremony was lackluster, as Evan barely smiled! The dude seemed unhappy. And surprisingly, Johnny Weir was gracious and smiling, whereas last year he was pouty and a poor sport about the loss.
What an odd day indeed.
Click and drag to see the finals scores and standings:
FPl.__Name___________Points_____SP_____FS
1 ___Evan Lysacek______244.77 ____2 ______1
2 ___Johnny Weir________244.77____1 ______2
3 ___Stephen Carriere ___228.06 ____3 ______3
4 ___Jeremy Abbott ______221.85____5 ______4
5 ___Ryan Bradley_______221.31____4 ______5
6 ___Scott Smith ________210.55 ____6 ______6
7 ___Wesley Campbell___200.10 ____8_______7
8 ___Shaun Rogers______195.96____13______9
9 ___Tommy Steenberg___195.32 ___12 _____10
10__Dennis Phan_______193.75 ____15 _____8
11__Parker Pennington___188.82____10_____13
12__Geoffry Varner______184.52_____9_____14
13__Eliot Halverson______183.67____17____11
14__Braden Overett______182.86____16____12
15__Derrick Delmore_____180.83_____7____16
16__Douglas Razzano____180.21_____11____15
17__Michael Villarreal____164.35_____14____18
18 Rohene Ward_______160.45____18_____17
The breakfast was nice. It took place at the Headwaters Bar & Restaurant on the club level of XCel. The food was good, and the event was well attended without being crowded. I shared a table with a few women from New York and New Jersey -- Mary, Marion, and Karen. They were great company and kept me laughing. Well into the breakfast, some of the current U.S. competitors showed up to eat and sign autographs/take pictures.
Part of my problem is that I haven't kept up with skating in recent years as religiously as I did in the '90s. So I didn't recognize some of the skaters right away. In fact, I passed up a pair of skaters specifically because I thought, "If I can't recognize them, I don't deserve their autograph." What's sad about this is that this unrecognizable pair were the Ice Dance silver medalists that I watched skate the day before! Oh well.
There was one skater I recognized without a doubt: Ice Dance gold medalist Ben Agosto! As soon as I saw him walk in the room I got up and poised myself to hop into a line headed his way. Lucky for me, he came right back by our table, so I beat the line all together. He was SOOOO friendly, gracious, and all smiles. When Karen missed the first opportunity to get his autograph and later saw he was about to leave for rehearsal, I had no problem just coming up to him and asking him to stay for just one photograph with Karen. I knew he wouldn't mind, and he totally didn't.
Here's me, my scarf (I'm always cold), and Ben Agosto:
Me with the U.S. Figure Skating Championship Trophy
Me and Bebe Liang
Me with Melissa Bulanhagui
Me with 2008 U.S. National Pairs Silver Medalists Rena Inoue & John Baldwin
Me with 2008 U.S. National Pairs Bronze Medalists Brooke Castile & Benjamin Okolski
Me with Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig
Me with 2008 U.S. National Ice Dance Bronze Medalist Kimberly Navarro
Towards the end of the breakfast, they had a drawing for door prizes -- and these weren't shabby prizes, either. The grand prize was a backstage tour of the arena and competition for you and three other guests. Who the heck would I have taken, had I won? Ah the perils of traveling alone. I did win a 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals long-sleeve t-shirt though (a value of $28.00)! It's quite cute. I haven't tried it on, but it's an XL, so it should fit.
All I can say about the Men's Free Skate: "Wow mom." With my program in tow, I took meticulous notes on the scores of each skater's short program and free skate. As we got closer to the end of the competition, I kept a close eye on the standings - doing mental math to figure out how many points the next skater would need to take the lead.
Johnny Weir was in 1st place after the short program, so he was last to skate in the Free Skate. I kept the number he'd need to win in mind as he skated his long program, and when his scores were unveiled I was challenged to remember the exact decimal point he needed to win. Then they announced his combined score - adding the Short and Long Programs together - and it sounded strikingly similar to Evan Lysacek's score. Sure enough, a tie: 244.77 each! But because Evan won the free skate, he took the gold.
I'm not so sure how I feel about this! I watched both men skate, and I thought they were both amazing. Buuuuuut I thought Johnny won hands down! Recall that I was actually routing for Evan. But I didn't give Evan a standing ovation. I *did* give Johnny one, again, because I thought he skated better. Maybe I missed something, which is exactly why I can't wait to acquire a tape of the Men's Long so I can re-examine what the heck happened.
One woman standing near me after the competition just couldn't stop talking about it. Actually, her constant expounding about the subject was getting tiresome, namely because she kept repeating her same surprised thoughts. *sigh* And then she went on to say that the tie was just the proof that was needed to show that the new Code of Points judging system is still rigged. Um, I'm not so sure about that. But whatever.
It was a great competition to witness in person, and I wasn't surprised when the 8-minute period set aside for backstage interviews before the medals ceremony turned into 20 minutes. The medals ceremony was lackluster, as Evan barely smiled! The dude seemed unhappy. And surprisingly, Johnny Weir was gracious and smiling, whereas last year he was pouty and a poor sport about the loss.
What an odd day indeed.
Click and drag to see the finals scores and standings:
FPl.__Name___________Points_____SP_____FS
1 ___Evan Lysacek______244.77 ____2 ______1
2 ___Johnny Weir________244.77____1 ______2
3 ___Stephen Carriere ___228.06 ____3 ______3
4 ___Jeremy Abbott ______221.85____5 ______4
5 ___Ryan Bradley_______221.31____4 ______5
6 ___Scott Smith ________210.55 ____6 ______6
7 ___Wesley Campbell___200.10 ____8_______7
8 ___Shaun Rogers______195.96____13______9
9 ___Tommy Steenberg___195.32 ___12 _____10
10__Dennis Phan_______193.75 ____15 _____8
11__Parker Pennington___188.82____10_____13
12__Geoffry Varner______184.52_____9_____14
13__Eliot Halverson______183.67____17____11
14__Braden Overett______182.86____16____12
15__Derrick Delmore_____180.83_____7____16
16__Douglas Razzano____180.21_____11____15
17__Michael Villarreal____164.35_____14____18
18 Rohene Ward_______160.45____18_____17