Kurt Still The Greatest!!

[Tonichelle]

I'm just waiting for him to do something in speed skates now .

just so long as he's not in one of those speed skater frog suits....

 

[Binthere]

Kurt can do anything. Does anyone remember him sliding across the ice with his GUARDS on!!

 

[Tonichelle]

yes, that was a great program... in those baggy denim overalls...

and of course defying logic as Raggy....

 

[Teenes]

Actually, that reminds me of the time he hosted Kristi's show. Started off in the stands, then appeared on the side of the ice in rollerblades, then with skate guards on on the ice, and then just one skate guard, doing footwork on one foot across the ice, and then finally in his skates, skating a tribute bit to "Moon River" to Kristi. If he had just fit hockey skates in there, that would have been one show demonstrating the full gauntlet of his skating abilities =).

 

[Noondarkly]

Any chance I could see this performance? I admire and love Kurt Browning, I think he's among the best 5 male skaters ever. Really fantastic. I wish I had been around when his golden era happened, or I would have paid closer attention to him back then.

 

[Teenes]

Noondarkly - which performance? If you mean his hosting of Kristi's show that I mentioned above, I think it's this show (you can get a copy of it at the site I'm linking):
http://www.scratchspin.com/video/dc/dc-147.html
His bits are spread through the whole Salute to Gold show.

If it's one of the other performances mentioned in this thread, which one? =)

 

[Olympia]

One of the reasons I love Kurt is that he shows how skating can stretch itself. It's great that he turned pro just as pro skating took off, so we could all enjoy the maximum amount of his talent. But even now that things have cooled down, he retains his creativity and ingenuity. His routines run the gamut of styles, from rock-out numbers to golden-age Hollywood song-and-dance programs, to humor, to jazz, even to ballet-tinged classical. Dick Button has frequently said that a truly great skater is one who leaves the sport richer and better than it was when he came into it. By that definition, Browning is one of the best ever.

 

[koreasktr]

Kurt Browning is best ambasador figure skating have. What a great person and a beutiful skater!

 

[Olympia]

I just got to watch a routine Kurt did on this year's edition of Kristi's "Family and Friends" show. This guy is unbelievable. Everything he does is fresh and new and makes you realize how much more can be done on skates. Unfortunately, he's probably the only person capable of doing most of it! He did a couple of lovely jumps, but even without them his routine was heart-stopping. You can't imagine the footwork this guy comes up with unless you see it for yourself. He also manages to establish an emotional connection with both the music and the audience (including those of us sitting at home feeling blessed by the experience). I know there's a joke about how the ice is slippery side up, but I think Kurt has figured out how to put the ice slippery side down...or else he has discovered the secret of defying gravity. Either way, he has spoiled me for any other skater's footwork.

Programs like this one are the reason that I might dither when asked my favorite female skater, my favorite pair, my favorite ice dancing couple, but I never hesitate when asked my favorite male skater. Now and forever, Kurt.

 

[Lilli]

I saw it too and totally agree with everything you said.

 

[Tonichelle]

I know there's a joke about how the ice is slippery side up, but I think Kurt has figured out how to put the ice slippery side down...or else he has discovered the secret of defying gravity. Either way, he has spoiled me for any other skater's footwork.

His dad was quoted as saying that during Olympic Coverage (I want to say in 1992 right before the LP... so I think Kurt either learned AFTER his olympic days ( ) or the skategods have just been more kind

Programs like this one are the reason that I might dither when asked my favorite female skater, my favorite pair, my favorite ice dancing couple, but I never hesitate when asked my favorite male skater. Now and forever, Kurt.

for the longest time I would say Scott was the best/my favorite... but in the last five years I'm like you... other skaters come and go but Kurt wins hands down everytime for me.

 

[Olympia]

Thanks for the source of that quote, Tonichelle!

I agree with you that Scott is worth putting at the top of anyone's list (except that Kurt's at the top of mine, of course!).

As for what you said about the skate gods maybe becoming kinder after Kurt's Olympic career, my take is that Kurt is one of those rare skaters who actually improved after his eligible career. He was a wonderful amateur skater, of course: the first quad in competition, four World championships. But the elements he refined and perfected in the years after 1994 are what set him apart, I think. (Maybe more accurately, it's the combination of both parts of his career that make him incomparable.) When you think of it, his unusual choreographic elements of footwork, jumpless programs (that clown routine), and so forth couldn't even be considered within the constraints of an Olympic-eligible competition program.

But lots of skaters had their pro career during the time when pro skating had such huge growth. Only a few of them really took advantage of the new possibilities offered by pro skating. Torville and Dean certainly did, as well as Yuka Sato, and of course Underhill and Martini. Browning is definitely in that group. For ten years, it seemed as though every time Kurt took to the ice, he did something new. He didn't just coast on his bread-and-butter jumps and a few poses.

Kudos also have to go to the choreographers who have played a part in this broadening of skating: Sandra Bezic, Christopher Dean, Lea Ann Miller, Alexander Zhulin, and others. And special thanks to your hero Scott Hamilton, who was one of the founders of Stars on Ice. That touring group gives skaters a chance to perform to artistic, innovative choreography--not, as I used to say about typical traveling skating shows, as lutzing Muppets.

 

[Tonichelle]

my take is that Kurt is one of those rare skaters who actually improved after his eligible career.

I wasn't suggesting otherwise. I am a fan more of Kurt's Professional career than his amatuer... he has grown and learned so much since then... I was making a lame joke... he does defy logic in some of the things he does lol

 

[Olympia]

Don't worry, Tonichelle! I figured you for another Kurt fan.

Isn't it wonderful that, four Olympics after Kurt last competed, a thread discussing him and praising his work is still one of the most active ones on the site?

 

[Tonichelle]

it's great and it's not surprising... Kurt has a huge following, always has, it speaks volumes of his work and as his person


I've been fortunate enough to meet him, and he's as every bit as genuine as he appears to be :yes: