** Skate America ** | Golden Skate

** Skate America **

silverpond

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skate_America

Here's a "wiki" link to Skate America, a wonderful competition that has featured a treasure trove of great champions.

I was looking at my videotape (yes, it's that old!) of the 1989 Skate America competition. The late Christopher Bowman won the men's title, defeating Kurt Browning. Tonya Harding skated very well and won the title over Jill Trenary. Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudi Galindo finished second and showed so much promise as a pairs team.

Hopefully, all of the skaters will be at their best at this year's Skate America, and they will be satisfied with their performances.

Good luck to all!! :thumbsup:
 
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silverpond

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
OK...so is anyone planning to attend this year's Skate America? Has anyone out there attended Skate America in person? If so, won't you share your thoughts with us?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I have been to two Skate Americas. The best was 2002 in Spokane (my home town :) )

Some of my memories...

My favorite in mens was Vakhtang Murvanidze. :rock: The judges only gave him 7th. Boooooo! What is this, a conspiracy? (Well, there was that botched triple Axel, but still.) The winner was a newcomer that no one had ever heard of before. Some French guy named Bree-ahn Zhou-bear.

Ann Patrice McDonough won the practices. She stayed on the ice long after everyone else had finished, doing complete run-throughs of her LP to Madame Butterfly She practiced two different endings, with and without stabbing herself. (She went with "without" in the performance.) She got second in the free and second overall. :clap:

I got to have a nice chat with the only girl in town prettier than Jenny Kirk -- Jenny Kirk's older sister. :)

Favorite ice dancers: Watanabe and Kido. They finished 8th out of 9. Booooo!

Kristi Yamaguchi was there giving autographs, from 12:00 noon to 12:30. I got there at 12:31. Everyone laughed at me when I said, where's Kristi?. I guess it is well-known in skating circles that when Kristi says 12:30, she means 12:30. :laugh:

Olympic champion Sarah Hughes was promoted as the headliner, but she had to withdraw. The USFSA had to make Michelle Kwan "an offer she couldn't refuse" (to quote Michelle's agent, Shep Goldberg) to step in and save the show. Michelle said, "I feel like Michael Corleone in the Godfather. Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in."
 
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CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Thanks, Mathman. SA 2002 is the event that got me hooked on Competition.....only time I got to see MK win anything, too!
Chris in Spokane, headed for SA, Nats and 4 Conts
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
We attended part of SA in Reading, PA in 2003 and 2007. Great experiences - In 2003 Jenny Kirk skated lights out following Sasha. Jenny won the silver medal! In 2007 we saw Patrick and Taka skate live for the first time. We were very impressed with both of them from that point on.

In 2005 we attended part of SA in Atlantic City, NJ. It was an awesome opportunity to watch the pairs practice (saw Dube & Davison and Amanda & Mark for the first time)! Delobel & Schoenfelder did that neat 'Carnivale" program with the gloves that they used as masks. It was our first chance to see Daisuke skate (and IIRC, he won the men's title). As a wwonderful bonus, we got to meet Kurt Browning & Chris mabee after one night of men's competition (we saw some flower sweepers lined up and realized they were eager to meet Kurt, so we joined them before we left Boardwalk Hall for the evening).
 

Kitt

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Country
United-States
I also attended 2005 in AC. That was where I saw the lovely Alissa Czisny who ended up 2nd. Later I said to my Mom, "A star is born this weekend" referring to Alissa.

Also, Daisuke was unforgettable - he had so much charisma. As far as the pairs, I got to see Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy - they made an impression on me.

This year's line-up sounds great too; I am tempted to go.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
The great thing about SA and 4 Conts is of course you get to see international skaters without the vast cost of going to worlds....
Miki Ando, come baaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkk......
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
All you lucky ducks who have attended Skate America (and are kind enough to share your experiences with us) are turning me green with envy. In the nicest possible way! But bright green nonetheless.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Actually there is no luck about it.....the unfortunate thing is that to be a fan who attends events takes cubic dollars and cubic time. That is why you see alot of us seasoned citizens there. There are ways you can trim the dollars but it is hard for many to get enough time off and do family vacations.....at least therre are a few good things about being old!!!!
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
It helps if the events come reasonably close to your area. For example, living in Philly, PA, we are about an hour & a half from both Atlantic City (southeast of here) and Reading, PA (northwest of here). We weren't able to attend the whole events at the time due to work obligations, so we attended what we could on the weekends.
 
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silverpond

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Some day I will have the time to actually attend Skate America and/or perhaps other figure skating competitions that are not too far away from my neck of the woods.

I believe there is a travel agency in Virginia called "Skate Tours" that sells (or at least used to sell) packages to many of these competitions, including Nationals, Worlds, and even the Olympics. The latter two were quite pricey, of course, and required a specific committment of time for travel. Oh well, we can all dream on, can't we?

Thanks so much for sharing your memories of Skate America.:yay:
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
For Skate America, you don't need to deal with a tour-they are typically not sold out or anything. You buy your seats on line and book a hotel, then drive or fly.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Doris is correct....some tours I will not mention are extreamely expensive for what you get.....in my experience, SkateAmerica can be tough to get the really good seats at times but not impossible...and many of the events you can seat poach....a practice I see nothing wrong with if you pay full price for the best seats anyway and get stuck in a so-so seat. At Lake Placid I got stuck behind this huge guy I could not see over or around (I am a slim 6 ft 2 in male) so for much of the event I just sat with friends and then for the main events I sat in the section with all the family members and skaters, past stars, etc.....it helps to make your own official looking credentials before you go.....
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
The first time we attended Skate America for one day (Reading, PA - 2003), I think we paid $45.00 per ticket. I think that was a pretty good deal - we got to see three finals (dance, ladies, pairs). I wish we could have been there the night before as well to see the men's final, but, like I said before, work obligations were a factor.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Hey, Gail, I had a job once too...it was the worst 30 years of my life! I cant imagine comming for only one day....gotta be in that seat at every available hour, watching everything.....the thrill of victory, the agony of da feet....drama, beautiful music, coaches wincing....pretty girls everywhere....Nikolai Morozov peering over the boards like a cougar....Elene Gedevanishvili.....what's not to like?
 

JDLutz

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 24, 2010
So I was just at the ISU site, and it seems that Viktoria Helgesson will now be at SA, replacing Laura Lepisto.
l
 

Trewyn

Medalist
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
What happened to Laura? I read a tweet saying 'sometimes you have to take one step back to take two forward'
 

JDLutz

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 24, 2010
What happened to Laura? I read a tweet saying 'sometimes you have to take one step back to take two forward'

From what little Finnish press has come out, its due to irritated nerves on her landing leg, It might not be too accurate, but it involves one of her legs.
 
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