Ice Wars (figure skating) Did anyone watch last night?

[undeterred]

Oksana Baiul - tan and blonde - looked really old to me. Love that Russian guy Alexei Yagudin!

[KingFlorez]

1. I saw that

[hopein08]

2. I saw it! And I completely agree on both counts...

Oksana Baiul did look old. Too much orange on her skin, maybe? Contrasted with the super blond hair anyway.

And Yagudin is such a cutie-pie! I've had a huge crush on him since I first saw him skate in like 1997. And he just keeps getting cuter. I have to say that his programs could have been a bit more exciting though I do love his footwork.

What did you think of Michael Weiss? He's always kind of creeped me out and last night was no different.

[Darth_Kitten]

3. Ice Wars is creeping me out......

I'm a figure skating fan but these professional competitions seem a little odd to me. :)

[hopein08]

11. I think it creeped me out a bit too...

I remember after the Tonya/Nancy drama there were many, many, many professional competitions. They were exciting then. But last night they kept hyping that it was the 13th Ice Wars. I remember when it took two nights to do Ice Wars (live, no less) and it seemed kind of sad (or was it creepy/pathetic) that they needed Rory Flack Burghart (though she is a very entertaining skater) to round out the American team.

And what was with everybody skating with hats? I don't think I liked it.

[undeterred]

6. He's ok but I am always waiting for him to make a mistake

He never really reached Olympic quality skating.

[hopein08]

12. Me too...and he almost never fails to make that mistake n/t

[spindrifter]

4. Baiul was an embarrassment.

She needs to drop several of those chunky pounds and get serious about gettting herself into shape.
The Japanese skater was just spectacular and Yagudin was a lot of fun. He is far more creative that many.

[undeterred]

5. Baiul has the talent

but you never know what to expect from her. She is like a ballerina when she is at her best. But sometimes the choreography is crazy, and when you're that small, the extra pounds have nowhere to hide.

Japanese skater is fantastic- reminds me of Kristi and Midori from the past.

Kurt Browning never disappoints, and Brian Boitano is a true artist.

Yagudin is fantastic- I have heard he's got a lot of hip pain from all those quadruple jumps. I am so glad to see him as a professional skater where he can worry less about jumps and become a great artistic skater like Browning and Boitano, but with that Russian zest.

[xchrom]

7. what's not to like about yagudin --

young, good looking, muscular, talented, -- a yummy package.

oksana is some one who admire -- but she struggles with life so.

i wish she could or would twist her kaleidoscope just a wee bit.

[spindrifter]

8. Yes, Oksana has

definitely not had an easy road. I hope she can continue to reinvent herself in a positive way.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

9. I missed it. Was the Japanese skater Yuka Sato?

I don't usually watch professional ice shows, I'm more into watching competitive skating, ie., the Grand Prix series, US Nationals, the World Championships and of course, every four years, the Olys.

I've always loved Yuka Sato's skating. She was the World Champion in 1994, after both Oksana Baiul and Nancy (why me???) Kerrigan both skipped the Worlds after the Olympics.

I love Yags. I was ecstatic that he won the Olympic Gold Medal in SLC in 2002 over the over-hyped Evegeny Plushenko :puke:.

Who was skating for the US besides Brian Boitano and which team won this supposed competition?

[undeterred]

10. It was Shizuka Arakawa- who won gold at the Olympics in 2006

She is still not a household name, but she is absolutely spectacular.

"The USA team is led by 13-year “Ice Wars” veteran and 1988 Olympic gold medalist Boitano, three-time U.S. National Champion Michael Weiss, 1995 U.S Open Champion Rory Flack Burghart, and two time U.S Championship Bronze Medalist Angela Nikodinov.

Competing for the World team will be 2002 Olympic gold medalist Yagudin (RUS), four-time world champion Kurt Browning (CAN), 1994 Olympic gold medalist Baiul (UKR), and 2006 Olympic gold medalist Arakawa (JPN)."

Nikodinov is also a beautiful skater- she was in a terrible car accident during Worlds in Portland a couple of years ago in which her mother died. She is just now returning to skating.

Arakawa


Nikodinov

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

13. Oh yes, Shizuka Arakawa is an exquisite skater. Her performance

in the ladies LP at Torino last February was absolutely breathtaking... I wasn't sure if she turned pro or not.

Angela Nikidinov was another favorite of mine. She is a lovely skater, but when she was an "amatuer", she never seemed to put it all together at the right time. I remember the accident that killed her mother before the US Nationals in Portland in 2005. Absolutely tragic..

Also Brian Boitano will always be a skating icon, at least for me. His performances at the 88 Calgary Olympics were legendary. I have both his SP and LP on tape and every once in a while, I'll pop them into the VCR to watch again.

Of course, listening to Dick Button's commentary (remember The Battle of the Brians?) on each of these performances is absolutely perfect. I remember watching the Men's LP in Calgary live in February 1988 and thinking it was an absolute shame they couldn't give two gold medals that night. To be quite honest, there hasn't been an Olympic men's competition as good as that since 1988....

[cmkramer]

17. ITA with you

I've been a fan of Brian Boitano since his first Olympic appearance in 1984 -- I think he came in 5th. But I've also always really liked Brian Orser. And you had to admire his grace over the way he found out he didn't get the 1988 gold medal -- "Brian, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you skated great. The bad news is you still lost."

Does anyone know if Sasha Cohen is skating this year? Or is she just skipping the Grand Prix events? I'm pretty sure Michelle Kwan is out for the year.

[idgiehkt]

20. Sasha isn't doing the GP.

I think she's supposed to be at nationals unless I'm wrong.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

21. Oh God, I remember when David Santee said that to Brian

Orser in Calgary. I wanted to slap the shit out of Santee. It was an appalling and totally crass comment.

The other thing I remember about Brian Orser during the Calgary Olys was his exhibition piece. He skated it to "The Story of My Life" and the minute I heard the music I started crying. It was heartbreaking to see him skating to that the afternoon after the LP.

I don't think Sasha is going to Nats and Michelle Kwan is finished for good, I believe. Michelle was recently appointed to be some sort of "sports" ambassador by Condisleeza. Michelle is attending the University of Denver full time. I also think she had surgery for her hip problem, but I'm not too sure about that.

[idgiehkt]

22. Don't forget she's engaged to the devil.

Michelle, that is. She's been finished since before the Olys but for some reason the girl will not retract her claws. It's really strange. Her fiancee's Dad just bought COI.

Spokane still has Sasha on the nationsals p.r. site.
http://www.spokane2007.com/spokane2007/sub.aspx?id=1680
I know someone had said they were taking a year off but I thought it was just Plushenko.

edit: well, disregard that link because Kwan is on there also, lol, when I just hit it she came up.

[undeterred]

23. What are you talking about "she's engaged to the devil"

I can't find any news of her engagement, just this:

[idgiehkt]

24. dating the son of a republican billionaire

I can't find news of an official engagement, so I guess that is just rumor. I can't remember the boyfriend's surname, it starts with a B, I think, it was all over the FS boards about 6 months ago. His company's name is something like Aushultz and they own AIG which just bought COI. I'm gleaning this all from old e-mails. Apparently the family are fundies or something.

edit: here's a link, I know nothing about this source but the 2nd to last paragraph is the general gist:
http://www.andongkim.com/articles/2006/09/kwan_college.htm

[undeterred]

25. Christian Anschutz

I found it on messageboards but no news releases of an engagment.

[flamingyouth]

18. Arakawa was exquisite as always

Her skating is just so lovely.

And it was wonderful to see Nikodinov back. Her tribute to her mother was very moving. I have always liked her very much.

[undeterred]

16. oh yeah, the World Team won.

[flamingyouth]

14. Yeah, we watched it

Oksana's first routine - didn't quite get that. I love figure skating and pretty much watch anything related to it. :D

[bumblebee1]

15. No. I had to work last night.

Damn!!! I missed the chance to rob the cradle. That's what I refer to watching Alexei Yagudin as. Every time I see him, my mind goes into a most delightful place: the gutter!! It's been doing that since the 2001 Grand Prix final. That's when I developed my crush on him. The bad thing is, he's young enough to be my son. Well, my husband discovered my crush. His comments: "Talk about robbing the cradle!!"

[idgiehkt]

19. Everything I loathe about skating, all on one show.

I like Alexei although he has been giving some really fucked up interviews lately in the Russian press about his new wife and her 'role' in the family as opposed to his role. I guess that's a more 'traditional' culture because he really comes off as sounding like quite the chauvanist in the translations.

I loathe Kurt Browing within an inch of his life, because of the way he treats/talks about certain amateur skaters these days. I might just go up to that site in the thread above and damn him to hell, actually. He is one of the most pompous, egotistical jerk-offs I've ever seen. I heard from two different people last year that went to Skate Canada of him trashing a certain American skater, I can't believe he'd be that unprofessional; one was someone with 20 years in that field, but another one was just a spectator I know. I wasn't crazy about him before but now I despise him. He also, if I'm correct, is the one that said Rohene Ward 'looks like a thug'; just a complete racist, homophobic asshole.

Oksana's autobiographical routine was really strange. It reminds me of her skating to the Swan and weeping uncontrollably on the ice when Sergei Grinkov died. She's just got no humility. I also did the age calculation thing when I saw her, 16 in 94 which makes her 28...she looks like she's in her mid-thirties or more and I wonder what is doing it, unless she's tanning at a tanning bed or drinking/using or something. It's very strange since skaters usually look younger than their ages if anything.

Shizuka skated flawlessly as always. It's strange people still don't know who she is. It's funny she skates to "You Raise Me Up", lol.

The highlight was seeing Angela Nicodinov. She's really been through it and I thought she did a great job.

[hopein08]

26. Alexei got married?!

I was just catching up on him the other day (or so I thought, apparently) and saw that there were rumors in Russian tabloid-y papers about him being engaged to some 19 year old ice dancer but that he was denying the engagement. Can you point me toward some links? Please?

I'm not doubting you. I just hate it when my crushes go out and get married on me! :blush:

But I've apparently been out of the loop because I didn't even hear about Browning trashing amateur skaters!

Here I come google!:yoiks: