You Know You're a Figure Skating Fan When...

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you are watching an episode of "Pointless", and there is a question looking for American cities with NBA or MLB teams. Since you know absolutely nothing about either sport, and you know fine well that the people that were surveyed will have been in the same boat and will have just rhymed off big cities in America, you decide to go for somewhere smaller that you have heard of from watching figure skating.

But rather than go for a city that has a big coaching centre, you go for a city where one of your kids on here is from.

Grosse Pointe Farms (Emilea Zingas).

Unfortunately, when it is a question like this that has a lot of correct answers, they don't go through all of them. They just give a small selection. But, I just looked up teams in the two leagues, and Grosse Pointe Farms isn't in either.

Well, it was worth a try!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Mathman]

Grosse Pointe Farms is a suburb of Detroit, home of the NBA Pistons, the MLB Tigers, the NFL Lions and the NHL Red Wings.

Also, Olympic gold medalist swimmer (2024) is from Grosse Pointe (not, however from the "old money" Grosse Pointe Farms. )

There are 5 "Grosse Pointe" villages. Six if you count "Eastpointe." Eastpointe was formerly East Detroit," but a few years ago that name was considered too working-class so the residents changed t to Eastpointe.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Grosse Pointe Farms is a suburb of Detroit, home of the NBA Pistons, the MLB Tigers, the NFL Lions and the NHL Red Wings.

Also, Olympic gold medalist swimmer (2024) is from Grosse Pointe (not, however from the "old money" Grosse Pointe Farms. )

There are 5 "Grosse Pointe" villages. Six if you count "Eastpointe." Eastpointe was formerly East Detroit," but a few years ago that name was considered too working-class so the residents changed I t to Eastpointe.

Very interesting. So Grosse Pointe is the Michigan equivalent of our Newtownabbey - a town formed by the merger of a group of villages, but which soon essentially became a suburb of the capital in all but name.

Unless any of the teams are actually based in Grosse Pointe Farms itself, I don't think they would have allowed it. "Pointless" can be very strict and pernickity. In an episode that I watched earlier in the week, they didn't allow an answer because the contestant had put an extra syllable into the word.

My other option for an answer was Carrollton (Ashley Cain). But, the same predicament would have arisen there - are any of the teams from Dalls actually based in Carrollton itself?

Ach, why did the American skaters I adopted have to come from suburbs of other places?!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[NanaPat]

Very interesting. So Grosse Pointe is the Michigan equivalent of our Newtownabbey - a town formed by the merger of a group of villages, but which soon essentially became a suburb of the capital in all but name.

Unless any of the teams are actually based in Grosse Pointe Farms itself, I don't think they would have allowed it. "Pointless" can be very strict and pernickity. In an episode that I watched earlier in the week, they didn't allow an answer because the contestant had put an extra syllable into the word.

My other option for an answer was Carrollton (Ashley Cain). But, the same predicament would have arisen there - are any of the teams from Dalls actually based in Carrollton itself?

Ach, why did the American skaters I adopted have to come from suburbs of other places?!

CaroLiza_fan

Just look up what the "other places" are and use that for your guess! For example, Detroit for Emilea and Dallas for Ashley.

For many years we lived in Richmond Hill, Ontario, the home of Elvis Stojko. When asked where we lived before we moved to BC, we usually answer "Toronto". Only if someone pursues the subject do we fess up to Richmond Hill.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Just look up what the "other places" are and use that for your guess! For example, Detroit for Emilea and Dallas for Ashley.

For many years we lived in Richmond Hill, Ontario, the home of Elvis Stojko. When asked where we lived before we moved to BC, we usually answer "Toronto". Only if someone pursues the subject do we fess up to Richmond Hill.

Like I say I live in Richmond if I'm speaking to someone who I assume knows something about BC, but I'll say Vancouver otherwise since it's part of what used to be called the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional District). There's only a short bridge joining the two cities anyway. For a couple of summers I skated in Port Moody, and I'd tootle there in my little car from Richmond to Vancouver to Burnaby to Port Moody, all just driving along the same street with no turns or lane changes or obvious boundaries.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Just look up what the "other places" are and use that for your guess! For example, Detroit for Emilea and Dallas for Ashley.

For many years we lived in Richmond Hill, Ontario, the home of Elvis Stojko. When asked where we lived before we moved to BC, we usually answer "Toronto". Only if someone pursues the subject do we fess up to Richmond Hill.

That's a good tactic in everyday life. But on "Pointless", the aim of the game is to get answers that nobody else can think of. And the likes of Detroit and Dallas are too big and too well known. Even if the people being surveyed didn't know if they were correct, it would probably not take them long to guess them.

Which is why being a figure skating fan is so handy when you are playing along at home. Because our sport has lots of competitions in places that most people have never heard tell of. The number of times I have been able to get a pointless answer in a geography question because of being a figure skating fan...

But, I wouldn't want to actually go onto the show myself!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Mathman]

@CaroLisa_fan If you want a town that no one has ever heard of, there was a very popular (locally) figure skater from Bad Axe, Michigan ("iI you think you're a Badaxe come to Bad Axe"). Her name was Melissa Prill and she competed a decade ago in Winter Special Olympic events and won quite a few medals in state-wide competition, along with inspirational awards.

 

[NanaPat]

That's a good tactic in everyday life. But on "Pointless", the aim of the game is to get answers that nobody else can think of. And the likes of Detroit and Dallas are too big and too well known. Even if the people being surveyed didn't know if they were correct, it would probably not take them long to guess them.

Which is why being a figure skating fan is so handy when you are playing along at home. Because our sport has lots of competitions in places that most people have never heard tell of. The number of times I have been able to get a pointless answer in a geography question because of being a figure skating fan...

But, I wouldn't want to actually go onto the show myself!

CaroLiza_fan

I was thinking of Family Feud, where you want to get "common" answers. I read about the show and see that it is the opposite, where you want to get uncommon (but correct) ones. Your strategy gives uncommon answers, but in your case they are very unlikely to be correct. And the way the scoring goes, an incorrect answer is worse than any correct one. You'd probably be best with a medium-sized city like Sacramento or Fresno, and not with small towns or suburbs.
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I just looked them up, and Sacramento is correct but Fresno isn't. I thought of them because we drove past/through both of them, and they were both a real pain.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I was thinking of Family Feud, where you want to get "common" answers.

I loved "Family Fortunes" (as "Family Feud" is called over here), but unfortunately it has been on hiatus for most of the past decade. In 2002, the regular version ended after long term presenter Les Dennis left and the replacement presenter was useless. It was then replaced by a celebrity version, but that came to an end about 10 years ago, when presenter Vernon Kay was involved in a scandal (he was sending inappropriate messages to a Page 3 Girl). The regular version came back for a couple of series during the pandemic, but the repeats were taken off air earlier this year after presenter Gino d'Acampo was involved in a scandal (inappropriate behaviour and bullying towards colleagues).

Although I would love to see it return, I am hesitant because whenever ITV has revived old gameshows in recent years, they tend to get Stephen Mulhern to present them. And I cannot stand him. He was good as a children's TV presenter about 20 years ago, but he is unbearable as a presenter on grown-up TV now.

By the way, there have been a few skaters on the celebrity version, "All Star Family Fortunes". Robin Cousins has been on twice - once with his nephews; and another time as part of a "Dancing On Ice" team, alongside team captain Christopher Dean, Jayne Torvill, presenter Christine Bleakley (who went to school with my cousin), and Ashley Roberts from the Puddycat Dolls (who was a judge on the show at the time).

Karen Barber has also been a team captain, but I can't find out who else was on her team. On-ice partner Nicky Slater and / or off-ice partner Christopher Dean might have been with her, but I just don't know. Sylvain Longchambon's wife, "Coronation Street" actress Samia Ghadie, has been on the show twice, but both times were before they met on "Dancing On Ice".

I read about the show and see that it is the opposite, where you want to get uncommon (but correct) ones. Your strategy gives uncommon answers, but in your case they are very unlikely to be correct. And the way the scoring goes, an incorrect answer is worse than any correct one. You'd probably be best with a medium-sized city like Sacramento or Fresno, and not with small towns or suburbs.
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I just looked them up, and Sacramento is correct but Fresno isn't. I thought of them because we drove past/through both of them, and they were both a real pain.

My problem was that I just knew the names of the places that Emilea and Ashley were from. I didn't realise they were suburbs of bigger, well known places until I went to look up if they had teams that would be correct answers.

And on that note, when I was making out the tables for the OP's in the "Other Internationals" sub-forum this season, a thing I enjoyed was doing the links for the time zone conversions. Because a lot of the places that events were being held at were not listed on the Time And Date website. So I was having to look them up on maps to find out where exactly they were, so that I could choose the nearest place that was on the list. And I found out a lot of interesting things. For example:

• Otopeni (where the Crystal Skate Of Romania and the EDU Sport Trophy are currently held) is a suburb of Bucharest (ROU).
• Mentana (where the Mezzaluna Cup is held) is a suburb of Rome (ITA).
• Bergamo (where the Lombardia Trophy is currently held) is right beside Milan (ITA).
• Kranevo (where the Black Sea Ice Cup is held) is just up the coast from Varna (BUL).

I just love the way that you can learn so many things through being a figure skating fan!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you watch the film "Angela's Ashes", and you hear some instrumental music being played, and you start singing along (in German!), because you have heard it so many times being skated to.

"Bei Mir Bist Du Schön"

Mind you, I don't know why a song that, for me, always conjures up images of the high life in 1920's Germany, was being played in a film set in the poverty of 1930's / 40's Ireland.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Mathman]

...when you go to a musical, opera or ballet and spend the whole time chosing your cast for when you present the show on ce.

 

[Diana Delafield]

.... when your healthy but hungry cat nibbles at and rejects three different brands and flavours of cat food before deciding which one to eat for breakfast, and you sigh: "Honestly, you're like a skater who can't find the perfectly-fitting boot!"

 

[yuumagical]

...when you do a crossword puzzle with "Discipline of the Shibutani siblings" as a clue and almost immediately realize that the answer is "ICEDANCE." This clue also turns out to be the easiest clue in the entire crossword puzzle...

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you start watching the new version of MacGyver, and you reach the fourth episode. The team need the help of a Russian scientist who is now living in an old people's home in America, but they only have a photo of him when he was young. And when you see the photo, you go "my goodness, it's Alexander Samarain!"

And when they find him, even though he is older, you can still see the likeness to Samarin.

(I wish I could find a copy of the photo used, but I can't).

He was played by Latvian actor Elya Baskin.

I'll just add, the new version of MacGyver isn't anywhere near as good as the original. It is too flashy. And it has lost the whole essence of what MacGyver is about. One of the reviews on IMDB summed it up perfectly. In the original series, MacGyver was essentially a one-man A-Team. But now that he is part of an actual team, it is just a modern-day poor imitation of the A-Team.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Diana Delafield]

......when you watch your battered DVD of "Miracle" for the umpty-umpteenth time just because you're feeling nostalgic, and they filmed it in your city, and you trained or competed in every one of the four rinks they used for different scenes.

[also to catch, every time, the little cameo appearance of Jamie Farr (Klinger from M*A*S*H), a big hockey fan who had been in the audience for the real "Miracle on Ice" game in 1980, was caught on screen in the TV broadcast of it at the time, and begged to repeat that when the film was made.]

 

[Karoltyna]

My hair stylist recently had her prices up. One appointment would cost just as much as two tickets for one event at Worlds. My ends are splitting after summer. I just gave myself butterfly cut by Brad Mondo and now I'm afraid to blow dry my hair... Last time I cut my own hair I was 5 and stole my granny's nail scissors...

 

[dearskate]

You know you are a figure skating fan when you've been following it for 50 years (1968-2018)!

Yep that's me, and add on years 2018 to 2025 too.

 

[noskates]

Thanks Karoltyna = not only did I laugh out loud at your post but my computer screen now has coffee all over it! Hope it all turns out okay.

 

[lariko]

My husband sent me a birthday card that has Malinin doing a backflip and the wish of 'may your year glide on like your favorite skater on fresh ice'. Once I finished laughing I knew that only people on this board could appreciate the humor of this wish fully. Some things only a fan gets. Points to my hubby for trying tho.

 

[FaustinaF]

My husband sent me a birthday card that has Malinin doing a backflip and the wish of 'may your year glide on like your favorite skater on fresh ice'. Once I finished laughing I knew that only people on this board could appreciate the humor of this wish fully. Some things only a fan gets. Points to my hubby for trying tho.

How lovely!!!