On Site Reports: Your experience SkAm 2015

[semosk8tfan]

Just walked by Charlie White. Didn't know he was going to be here.

OMG my dreams are coming true! Please skating gods let me meet him

 

[plushyfan]

Thanks for your all reports!

 

[daylightescapades]

Within 3 minutes of walking into the Hilton, I ran into Zhenya Medvedeva.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

I'm very much enjoying all your reports (please keep 'em coming!) and at the same time getting ridiculously excited that it will be me (with others) on the ground at Worlds! I'm grinning ear to ear at the thought.

 

[dorispulaski]

Tanith will be doing Universal Sports commentary, probably. Charlie is probably with her, but I hope he will do IN commentary. He was a very kind, generous commentator at nationals with something nice to say about every team while pointing out places that needed improvement.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

I expect (ex)skaters sometimes just turn up because they want to watch the sport they love too. Some may be working, but others could just be there to watch, no?

 

[satine]

I posted 2 short videos on her fan thread, one was 3lz2t2lo and one is her stsq, but apart from those 2 i didnt see any

Thanks!

 

[Jaana]

Thanks so much for all reports!!!

 

[deetrakt]

Probably because Milwaukee is part of the Rust Belt, the city was built for a much bigger population than what currently exists. Detroit is the same way, not a lot of foot traffic but tons of roads. It will probably pick up a bit as the weekend approaches.

Actually, unlike a number of Rust Belt cities (esp. Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and St. Louis) that have lost over half their peak populations, Milwaukee's city population declined only moderately in the post-WWII period, from 700,000+ to a current 600,000. I think it's more that the immediate area is a characterless, spread-out mix of convention hotels, theaters, etc. (urban renewal?) Other areas in and near downtown can be a lot livelier.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Talked with Mariah Bell's mom while MB was having her pic taken with endless fans and showed her the pic I had taken at Omaha with me behind MB, Hannah Miller, etc. She got a kick out of it but couldn't tell me exactly how big her growth spurt was. "A lot!" Is what she said. I will try for another pic at the FOFS breakfast with Mariah. Lots of fun here. Here's to absent friends.

 

[ice coverage]

Just walked by Charlie White. Didn't know he was going to be here.

Charlie White is a choreographer for Mura, so that role could be a significant reason for Charlie's presence.

Tanith will be doing Universal Sports commentary, probably. Charlie is probably with her, but I hope he will do IN commentary. He was a very kind, generous commentator at nationals with something nice to say about every team while pointing out places that needed improvement.

Tanith is a commentator for 2015 Skate America for IN -- per announcements from USFS and IN.

Charlie was not mentioned in those announcements, but I suppose it is not impossible that he could make a cameo appearance.

My understanding is that for 2015 Skate America (unlike other 2015 GPs), Universal Sports is not producing its own coverage, but is simply re-airing NBC coverage.

(Universal Sports did not produce its own coverage for 2014 Skate America.)

For other GPs after Skate America, Universal Sports will produce its own coverage, AFAIK.

I expect (ex)skaters sometimes just turn up because they want to watch the sport they love too. Some may be working, but others could just be there to watch, no?

:agree: Totally agree, TGS.

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Belated but sincere THANKS to all who are contributing to this thread.

Love hearing everything from CoyoteChris, sabinfire, and papagena and others who are on site.

And thx to Stitch and others who are adding stuff from social media.

 

[daylightescapades]

So I ended up on the big screen after the short dance and won a free shirt and bracelet... WOW

 

[yyyskate]

some report about today's practice and comp
Karen tried lots of 1lz-3T, this drill is perhaps to make sure she lands clean -3T. however, most of her 3LZ-3t are still hooked(She can do very clean 1LZ-3T though). Her 3LZ jump are very high and her -3T is delayed also both her 3LZ and -3T travels long distance as compared to Alaine, who's -3T almost is a stand still jump and with not much distance at all. for Jump combo, the first jump need to be relatively long and low,for the next jump delay is not necessary. The features I observed about Karen's 3LZ-3T jump maybe the reason she has under-rotation issue. Karen did really well in competition,got herself a partial SO.
SoYoun did 3S-3T in today's run-through but popped her lutz, her comp pretty much reflected her practice. Her fly sit spin changed into fly camel, problem in comp maybe due to it is a quick recent change(although she never had any issue with that spin in practice).
Sui/Han's SP is really amazing/beautiful to watch live, until the little miss of their pair spin. just before that, the audience were wowing about their difficult/unique/beautiful pair spin position (the laid-low position),then, the error happened.it was a shame.
Han was having trouble with landing 4T, the whole practice, tried many, never landed one(always pop) on the side where his 4T is in his SP. Landed 1 or 2 on the other side of the rink. However, he landed his 4T in SP competition! What a difference an afternoon can make.
Denis, practiced 4T at the same place as Han's 4T. He landed more 4T in that area than Han in practice for sure. But falls in comp, also in competition, once again I was wowed by Denis, amazing performance(again reminds people why Denis is Denis),despite the fall on 4T and very unfortunate spin errors(Denis' spin is very strong in practice).

 

[karne]

Did you like Brendan, yyyskate? And Max?

 

[Wilhelmina]

Charlie White was sitting with Ryan Bradley, who (along with Tanith) was doing commentary for IN. They were two rows in front of me and I was lucky enough to say hi and get a picture.

Other people kept popping into our section, too--I saw Marina Zoueva and Igor Shpilband (not at the same time)--and it seemed like you couldn't pop out for a drink of water without running into a skater on the concourse.

What an amazing day! Highlights for me:

Seguin/Bilodeau - SUCH energy and joy! They were great, but I felt like they have the potential to be fantastic and get much bigger scores than today.
Wang/Wang - Quiet elegance.
Scimeca/Knierim - Killed it. You could read Alexa's fierce face from the back row.
Karen Chen - Gorgeous, a really well-laid-out program.
Elizabet Tursynbaeva - So tiny, and in that diaphanous dress she seems to be floating in a bubble. Loved her last spin position.
Hawayek/Baker - A surprise for me, as I've never really been drawn to them on TV, but they just FLOATED across the ice. (The amount of tulle on Hawayek's dress may have added to the effect.)
Ross Miner - Should only skate to Billy Joel from now on. What perfect music for him.
Max Aaron - Heck yes.

ETA: My row got handed free T-shirts advertising 2016 Nationals. I texted my husband, "That means I have to go, right?" To which he replied, "Can't argue with that logic."

I can't imagine a better first live competition experience than this has been.

 

[semosk8tfan]

Amazing first day! Only bad thing is my camera won't work. So many skater/coach sightings, hoping for more tomorrow.

 

[yyyskate]

Did you like Brendan, yyyskate? And Max?

Both Brendan and Max had given their best at comp. I liked them both. also spotted Brendan ouside the lobby taking photos with fangirls after men's short.

 

[GF2445]

I must say. This has been one of the best Skate America competitions i have seen.

 

[Bumdid]

I must say. This has been one of the best Skate America competitions i have seen.

Agree. Every skater brought it imo. Hopefully this doesn't mean that the free skate would be a complete hot mess.

 

[KKonas]

Tanith will be doing Universal Sports commentary, probably. Charlie is probably with her, but I hope he will do IN commentary. He was a very kind, generous commentator at nationals with something nice to say about every team while pointing out places that needed improvement.

Today is Charlie's BD, so maybe he just wanted to spend it with his wife since she is there doing commentary for ice dance.