Worth the money? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Worth the money?

Stephina

Spectator
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
For any true fan the event to go to is US Nationals. 7 days and you never know who you will see or meet even by accident. Sometimes even the performance of a lifetime happens and watching it live is incredible. In my life due to money concerns I have only been to 1 nationals. I met and talked with a future OGM before she was on anyone's radar (Tara Lupinski Bronze in Sr Ladies) and talked to her for 15 min very nice teenager at the time. Brian Boitano got in a food line at the arena behind me and until Jason Brown at the 2014 Nationals I saw the BEST men's performance ever at a US Nationals. Yes that is right I went to the 96 nationals in San Jose and Saw Rudy Galindo win Live. Pairs is my true love though and by accident watching Sr pairs practice early in the week I was overheard by the people in front of me in the stands complimenting a future National Champ pair on some cool things they were doing in that practice. The people who overheard me were Danielle and Steve Hartsells parents and they invited me to go to lunch with them and there kids after the practice. Unbelievable things can happen at us nationals if you go all 7 days and take it all in.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Stephina - what wonderful memories. My best memory from the 2014 Nats was talking to Jason at the practice rink. What a sweetheart and so polite and excited about everything that was going on around him. If anyone does go to Nats, a good place to see and talk to the skaters is at the practice rink. Once they're finished they're usually very nice about being approached.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
IMO, competitions are worth spending the money to attend. Skating is always better live than on television.

I can't agree with that.

Skating is actually "made for television/film" if you think about it, because the skater is performing to a 360 degree angle. It's not like theater where everything is set to a 180 degree angle - the stage playing to the house. The entirety of a skater's face and gestures can only be captured with video. Of course, skaters in competitions do still tend to "play to one direction", since judges are all seated in the same direction, but that just means you're probably going to get less out of the performance if you are seated on the other side of the arena.

If figure-skating-as-art was something that actually got taken more seriously, then expertly filmed professional competitions would pretty much be the highest echelon of figure skating.
 

SkateFan66

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I can't agree with that.

Skating is actually "made for television/film" if you think about it, because the skater is performing to a 360 degree angle. It's not like theater where everything is set to a 180 degree angle - the stage playing to the house. The entirety of a skater's face and gestures can only be captured with video. Of course, skaters in competitions do still tend to "play to one direction", since judges are all seated in the same direction, but that just means you're probably going to get less out of the performance if you are seated on the other side of the arena.

If figure-skating-as-art was something that actually got taken more seriously, then expertly filmed professional competitions would pretty much be the highest echelon of figure skating.

Agree to disagree. IMO, Television does not capture the true speed of the skaters, or the true height of the jumps and throws. It sucks when TV shows a spin from an overhead view. If the audio and visual on the TV are slightly off sinc, then the skaters true interpretation of the music is not captured. I pay a lot of money to attend live skating competition because I enjoy the live product more than the TV product. Other people are free to feel differently.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
Hmm, those are all complaints about the quality of the filming/playback, though? I haven't seen any broadcast do overhead shots of spins in forever but, yes, those are awful.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Skating is actually "made for television/film" if you think about it, because the skater is performing to a 360 degree angle. It's not like theater where everything is set to a 180 degree angle - the stage playing to the house. The entirety of a skater's face and gestures can only be captured with video. Of course, skaters in competitions do still tend to "play to one direction", since judges are all seated in the same direction, but that just means you're probably going to get less out of the performance if you are seated on the other side of the arena.

Oh, no, no, no! The smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd! Yesterday they told you that you won't go far; that night you opened and there you are!! ♫

Get a seat near the Kiss and Cry or near where the skaters come out and mill around before they skate. :yes:
 

leoncorazon

Skating on through
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Country
United-States
One thing to note is that Icenetwork requires flashplayer, so I couldn't watch on my iphone and had to plug my laptop directly into my TV to get to see it on the big screen. Also no pause and rewind on the live streams. But overall it's fun to watch the grand prix and overall mostly worth it...

Go to Nationals if you can...It's a different perspective which I prefer watching from the same spot in the stands vs. the switching between cameras and angles that you get on TV
 

Bonnie F

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
I'd like to thank you all for your advice and comments. I think I'll definitely try IceNetwork this fall and I'm planning to attend Nationals this winter (now I just have to convince my husband to go with me:p).
 

edenlover

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I'd like to thank you all for your advice and comments. I think I'll definitely try IceNetwork this fall and I'm planning to attend Nationals this winter (now I just have to convince my husband to go with me:p).

Leave him at home! (just joking) Find a girlfriend who loves skating as much as you do. You'll have more fun, especially if you go for seven days........Better yet, meet up with someone from this forum. I met a few in St. Louis who I chatted with on MKF, and one of them has become a good friend. In fact, we went to Cleveland Nats together and will probably go to Worlds in Boston. You will have a blast. Take in everything you can, every practice, every competition possible, and even volunteer if there are still spots. Buy a program, go to the USFSA Hall of Fame reception (check the USFSA website for details at some point) and people watch. We lived in the arena! I wish I was going this year, but I'll be using my personal days for a couple of weddings. Will have to wait until I retire!
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
I would love to attend Nationals! There really is something special about watching a competition live. A magic feeling in the air. You can hear everything, see everything, feel everything.
 
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