My version of SA

Well I am back from Skate America and very tired. Here are some of my favorite moments from the competition.

First, for those of you that were there. I loved waking up every morning watching Massimo!! And if you don't know what I am talking about...here's what I mean. Massimo Scalli the ice dancer from Italy is very hot!! I started an unofficial fan club for him. But my question is...we spent a every day talking about him so why did Pasquale Camerlango stand in front of us every time at practice? He probably enjoyed listening to us talk about him the whole time!!

And Yao Bin rocked!! I think he thought I was crazy asking for his autograph but putting the rinestones on his finger and pretending it was a ring was funny!! But then again I waved to the Zamboni guy too...so maybe I am crazy!!

And I really enjoyed talking to Kim Navarro's mother every morning waiting to get in!! She was so nice and really gave us the inside on their programs. There African Original Dance was really great. Apparently they spent days with an african dancer learning the dance. It is actually a real african dance and at one part they are lifting their hands to the sky asking for the rain. Thanks to Kim's mom for this info. I proudly wore the pin she gave me too!!

Also not so happy with Evan. He avoided the people and came on the rink and left through a different place then the rest of the skaters. Not very fan friendly at all. In fact at the fans of figure skating brunch I met him there. He wasn't all that nice there but it was his mom's birthday and he wanted to take her out. But I did manage to get his picture and an autograph which means I got a picture and autograph with every competitor there!!

Daisuke didn't skate his long program at practice on Saturday. In fact he rushed off the ice so we were wondering what was wrong with him. Rumor had it that the Japanese team didn't arrive until 4 am on Thursday. Nanri was really coughing alot during practice on Saturday so maybe they were sick.

Yuka Sato was so nice. She was sitting in the crowd during most of the practices and no one really recoginzed her!! In fact on Saturday she walked through a whole crowd of people by the ice waiting for the ladies to sign autographs and no one stopped her. That was funny!!

Galit Chait was so nice and took the time to speak with me for a few moments.

Suidik (pleast don't ask me to spell his first name) was surprised that I asked for his autograph.

Kevin Reynolds is such a cutie. I think he was excited that anyone wanted his autograph and a picture with him...which I got!! And by the way he is 17!! Patrick Chan is 16!!

Another thing about Evan, if you watched closely during the medal ceremony, he was very unhappy that he lost. I am not a fan of Evan's and after that I won't be. But I will say his Tosca long program was really awesome!!

Now for the competition...Daisuke's short program to Hip Hop Swan Lake was awesome!! If he can perform that program like that every time he competes I think he will be unbeatable. Caroline Zhang is awesome to see in person. So for those of you on here that said that she is really something to watch, you were right!! The pairs competition was not that good. Can any team skate a clean program? Please someone do it this season becuase in the short and the long not one pair could do it!! Well Yuri and Vera did in the short!! Steven Carriere was really good too. Nice to finish in 4th in your first senior compeition. I would have to say that in the men's Ryan Bradley was the crowds favorite!! I think the dance teams that were there were really great. I don't think I can pick a favorite but Fabian and Nathalie from France were great and there crazyness program for the long was great!! The chinese dance team doing the Havi Nagila (yeah bad spelling) was funny. What was funnier was when their music played during the practice the Zaretski's started actually doing the dance!! That got a laugh from the crowd. Tanith and Ben's long to Chopin music was nice. A departure from their usually character program. And of course the Italian's doing Yentil music was funny too!! In the pairs...I am surprised that Jessica and Bryce did that good. She had a crashed into Yuri during the warm up for the long progam and almost crashed with Pang and Tong while Bryce was trying to lift her. Then she almost crashed with someone else. Pang and Tong missed the long program practice. Apparently they were at the hotel eating breakfast. I believe this since none of the Chinese contingent were there for a while. The Japenese were strongly represented!!

Well that's all for now. I am sure that I will respond to the other threads now.