Here are a few of my pics from SkateAmerica. The pics of the GSers have been left out. Some of the pics wont make much sense as they are meaningful to me, mostly...
Also, any pics I took of fans and skaters and coaches that could be construed as deragatory to all of those folks I have left out....
http://s1217.photobucket.com/albums/...A-Kent%202012/

The first part of my wrap-up thoughts on the event:

http://jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com/...up-part-i.html

I plan on posting a few random pics this weekend, along with sending GSers who attended pics they might enjoy.
If you are a GSer who attended SA Kent and you DONT want me to send your pic to other GSers who attended,
please let me know. For instance, say I got a good pic of Paul and Moonlightskater together. If either of you dont
want other GSers who attended (who of course already know what you look like) to get that pic, let me know and I
will respect your privacy. If you would like me to photoshop Paul out and Brad Pitt in, I can do that too. :laugh:
chris

Had a great time at SA with Paul, Mrs.P, Moonlightskater and the gang. You guys are great! It was very interesting to listen to you folks at dinner...
wish I knew one tenth of what you folks do about the sport...hope we can all meet up again in the future. Changed out my orange vest for my lucky
Orange T-shirt on Sunday and man did it work...how fun was Sunday? Yeah! Stupid me forgot to set the video recorder for NBC coverage so I guess I
will have to watch Icenetwork to see me yelling in the third row. I will download my pics soon of the event and post the photobucket link...and while I wont post any pics here of the
Goldenskaters (except for me) , If you like I can send you pics of yourselves through private e-mail.

Look for a big orange T-shirt in the front row at Omaha....;)

Hi guys, I'm back home after a great weekend at Skate America. It was my first live competition and I had so much fun. Anyway, I thought I would start this thread for the GS-ers who were there to share their comments. I'll post more in the individual threads, but these are just general thoughts:

1.) It was so awesome meeting GS-ers in person after all these years chatting on the board. We had a great GS meetup that included DorisP, CoyoteChris, Paul_E, MoonlightSkater and jdw715 on Friday night. We had several opportunities to meet more informally throughout the weekend -- so it was fun to check in and get everyone's take on the different competitions.

2.) It's definitely true that some people look better in person than on TV. I think that Mae Bernice Mette was that for me. She is an impressive jumper---but oh boy---my jaw just about dropped when I saw some of her jumps. Other skaters who I think are more impressive in person: James/Cipres; Meshnov; Machida; Bobrova/Soloviev.

3.) I ended up having a nightcap at the host hotel twice, which turned out to be fun for people watching. I saw a lot of skaters and coaches and it was fun watching the Japanese fans camp out and try to get photos and autographs of different skaters. As I mentioned in the men's thread, I did have a fun conversation with Brian Orser, who happened to be sitting next to me at the bar. I also got to meet up with some other fans, which was cool.

4.) Some of the complaints from the skaters regarding the hotel are definitely valid. The hotel, which is near the airport, is a good 15-20 minutes away from the arena and the schedule was SOOO tight that even as a spectator I didn't have much time to do much besides eat at the Chipotle or Panera across the street.

5.) My husband, not a skating fan, had a good time.

Does anyone know why there were only eight judges instead of nine for ladies and pairs?

NBC's Skate America broadcast scored a 1.0 in the Nielsen weekend ratings.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/D...vernights.aspx


Not surprising since it is too early in the season for most Americans to be thinking about ice, snow and winter sports.

It is disappointing how limited the coverage was not to mention the lack of any promos/commercials.

My Exhibition photos plus video of Meryl and Charlie's performance:

http://jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com/...xhibition.html

Hey guys! Hopefully the FS will be better than last night's SP.

http://www.9stream.com/channel.php?n=152
Here's an NBC stream that hopefully will work

http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpusa2012/SEG004.HTM
Live scores!

20 more minutes!
Anyone have a working stream?

Hi fellow skate fans...i tried the hahasports some posted and it is not compatible with macs...can someone tell me if there is any live skating right now? if si I'll drag out the Asus and see if i can get a stream....also, If there are any links on youtube that have the individual skates up, thanks...the treads are very long tp plow through. I thank you very much and hope you r all enjoying the first event.

I wonder if CBC sports has anthing up? I saw they promised 6 hours of skate america. lucky canadians!!!!

I'm so excited! Let's talk :)

Starting Order for Men's Long Program

Warm-Up Group 1
1. Douglas RAZZANO USA 57.06
2. Tomas VERNER CZE 58.79
3. Alexander MAJOROV SWE 60.48
4. Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 68.27
5. Michal BREZINA CZE 69.26

Warm-Up Group 2
6. Konstantin MENSHOV RUS 73.32
7. Tatsuki MACHIDA JPN 75.78
8. Jeremy ABBOTT USA 77.71
9. Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 85.32
10. Yuzuru HANYU JPN 95.07

I guess I have to remember this is Skate America but as good as Davis and White are they in no way deserve to have that much of a lead over Weaver and Poje or B and S from Russia. The scores seem right for Canada and Russia but D and W were gifted. They are good but not that extraoridinary especially in the SD. Its like different judges were watch D and W. Very disappointing as much as I like D and W; we want good judging and or fair judging. Listen, not every routine or performance is a winner or complete winner. The judges should then give Canada and Russia at least 3 to 4 more points each. I fear this will continue in the free dance too. It's like they are ordained Oly gold and world gold. definitely SA gold.

And, now, ladies and gentlemen, the Ice Dancing event! :popcorn:
Enjoy!:)

There is no thread about this so: let's enjoy the ladies event, it takes place in 40 minutes! :party2::popcorn:

My photos from the pairs and men's SP:

http://jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com/...s-mens-sp.html

JR is on site covering the event. Thanks and enjoy!

Wow, Hanyu was amazing; he looks unbeatable. Abbott did a good job considering the mistake. Verner is not looking so good right now. buy Hanyu - looks like Patrick Chan might want to consider retiring. And Hanyu is still young to boot!

If you don't have icenetwork, I'm hoping this stream will continue the coverage:
http://www.hahasport.com/v-4/6/46/v-464766.html

Thanks to itofan for the link.:biggrin:

The ISU results site is up with Donlan/Speroff going first. I'm no good at posting results and don't have a live feed so I'm hoping someone will pop in with comments and play-by-play.

If you have questions of the skaters that are of a professional nature, please post here, and I will do my best to get answers for you. I probably won't be able to get to every question, but I hope to be able to get some information for you. Robin is here taking photos, and we hope to bring some great coverage to you all. Let's get this event started!

Here we go! :party2:

There will be a live chat with Ashley Wagner at 11:30 PST:
Here

If you have any questions for Ashley, make sure to submit them!

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

Saturday coverage is free. But you have to register.

Additionally:

There will be NBC Network coverage,:

OK, I got an e-mail from the director of operations today at the Showare arena.
He says the seats are padded....
Quote:
The seats are padded.
>
> Kind Regards,
> Joshua Holmes
> Director of Operations
> ShoWare Center

So I sent him back the e-mail I got from guest services there...
Quote: In Club Sections 114, 115 & 116, yes. All other seats are individual bucket seats (not bleachers or benches) of contoured plastic....

I cant wait to see what the director of OPs says tomarrow......

To pad or not to pad...
That is the question...
Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of numb butt.....

I know there's a thread for general predictions but I figured it would be nice to have one specific to Skate America :)

My predictions are:

Women
1. Leonova
2. Wagner
3. Sotnikova
4. Gao

Pairs
1. V/T
2. Pang/Tong
3. D/C

Dance

1. Davis/White
2. Weaver/Poje
3. B/S

I stay away from the men...:laugh:

I'm sorry if you are already discussing it in another thread (:p), but is there any online live streaming to watch SA without paying?

I dont know about you but when I get to a skating event, first day of practice, I dont know Ekaterina Bobrova from Isabella Tobias. So I made up a program of cut and pasted pics and basic info I got off of icenetwork. Nothing fancy, names, pics music coaches, highlights.... but at least if I want to know who is out on the ice and want to make notes about them, I have a cheat sheet to do it on. Its a MS Word doc (1997-2003 compatible so that anyone with MS Word can read it) Send me a pm with an e-mail address if you want a copy.
All I have to do is finish up the men and it will be ready to go. Probably be done by Saturday, I hope.
BTW, for those of you still in the witness protection program, you can go to Yahoo and make up a throw-away e-mail address to use for just such correspondance with strangers (ask Doris and Paul, I am pretty strange)

Somebody pinch me....I must be dreaming....free parking at the arena and
great restaurants 1000 ft away....
http://www.showarecenter.com/parking

Please please please put in for 4 Conts.....

I wonder if they will be having a techinical specialist team doing play by plays over the ear bugs at SA?
I listened to these guys at nats and found out just how much I didnt know about Ice dancing.
I will bring my receiver just in case....they also answer questions from the audience during down times.
The audience texts the questions to them....when is a costume a bit too revealing and how do the music
companys get paid for the music the skaters use....very interesting.....but I turn off the bug when my favorite
skaters are on the ice......

MEN

Michal BREZINA CZE
Tomas VERNER CZE
Yuzuru HANYU JPN
Takahiko KOZUKA JPN
Tatsuki MACHIDA JPN
Konstantin MENSHOV RUS
Alexander MAJOROV SWE
Jeremy ABBOT USA
Evan LYSACEK USA
Douglas RAZZANO USA

LADIES

Mae Berenice MEITE FRA
Sarah HECKEN GER
Valentina MARCHEI ITA
Haruka IMAI JPN
Alena LEONOVA RUS
Adelina SOTNIKOVA RUS
Viktoria HELGESSON SWE
Rachael FLATT USA
Christina GAO USA
Ashley WAGNER USA

DANCE

Kaitlyn WEAVER/Andrew POJE CAN
Nelli ZHIGANSHINA/Alexander GAZSI GER
Lorenza ALESSANDRINI/Simone VATURI ITA
Isabella TOBIAS/Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU
Ekaterina BOBROVA/Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS
Meryl DAVIS/Charlie WHITE USA
Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT/Logan GIULETTI-SCHMITT USA
Anastasia CANNUSCIO/Colin MCMANUS USA


PAIRS

Jessica DUBE/Sebastien WOLFE CAN
Qing PANG/Jian TONG CHN
Vanessa James/Morgan CIPRES FRA
Stacey KEMP/David KING GBR
Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR/Maxim TRANKOV RUS
Caydee DENNEY/John COUGHLIN USA
Gretchen DONLAN/Andrew SPEROFF USA
Marissa CASTELLI/Simon SHNAPIR USA