The Antidote Thread -- All Positive, Please
- Thread starter ManyCairns
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2004
Ross Miner's FS. His tribute to "Boston Strong" I have to admit I was misty eyed during his performance.
Jeremy's kick### SP and his winning his 4th National Title.
Jason bringing the house down with his amazing FS.
I became a Josh Farris fan. Very talented skater with great skating skills and lovely artistry.
Max's FS. He put his heart and soul into that performance along with wonderful quads.
Gracie Gold she is the real deal. IMO she is the US lady who could sneak onto the
podium in Sochi.
Mirai winning the Bronze medal and her reaction in the K&C when she saw her scores, priceless.
The entire Ice Dance Competition, loved it.
Many of the top skaters came to Nationals with their A game and delivered.
GO Team USA!
Jeremy's kick### SP and his winning his 4th National Title.
Jason bringing the house down with his amazing FS.
I became a Josh Farris fan. Very talented skater with great skating skills and lovely artistry.
Max's FS. He put his heart and soul into that performance along with wonderful quads.
Gracie Gold she is the real deal. IMO she is the US lady who could sneak onto the
podium in Sochi.
Mirai winning the Bronze medal and her reaction in the K&C when she saw her scores, priceless.
The entire Ice Dance Competition, loved it.
Many of the top skaters came to Nationals with their A game and delivered.
GO Team USA!
What a great idea for a thread! I had a great time at my first U.S. Nationals and in Boston. Highlights:
Nice moments/observations/things
* I forgot who went before Joshua Farris at the gala, but a bunch of people threw stuff for that person. Problem was there were no sweepers! So Joshua went and picked all the stuff animals for that person. It was quite endearing.
* Speaking of sweepers, another +1 for Jason Brown slapping the cute boy sweeper's hand before he started warming up before the program. The kid reached out his hand and Jason actually squatted down to give him the high five. So adorable.
* So to my chagrin, the Golden Skate meetup was at the same time as the Ice Dance autograph session! I tried to do both, but I ended up late to the autograph session and they cut me off from the line. My only goal was to get my trading cards signed by the Shibutanis, so I tried to plead with the guy and he wouldn't relent. But then Alex and Maia saw me asking and Alex said, "We can sign the cards!" And they did. Maia, in her usual thoughtfulness, signed it and made a point of not putting it back in the plastic cover saying, "I want to make sure it dries first." I thanked them on Twitter for the gesture and they favored and re-tweeted it.
* Goldenskate meetup was great. We chatted about what just transpired in the Men's free skate. Doris and I talked about Ice Dance. I had no idea what to order, so I told the the waiter to give me their best local beer. Turns out it was Sam Adams Brick Red, which is only available in Boston. SOOOO GOOOD -- wish it was available in my neck of the woods.
* Ended up waiting 1.5 hours in line to get an autograph from Meryl and Charlie. I stood next to this very cute girl who was rehearsing what she would say because she didn't want to cry or sound too awkward when she got to them. It was a cute moment. Meryl and Charlie were quite gracious of course. Favorite funny moment, Charlie is sort of staring off into space and then snaps back into it and says "I'm sorry, I'm a bit out of it!" I wanted to just tell him that it's OK -- YOU JUST SKATED A RECORD BREAKING PROGRAM, totally understandable! Meryl, like Maia, also made a point of making sure the cards were dry.
* Meeting Jason Brown and Kori Ade. You can read all about it in my Saturday thread on this subforum: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?43814-Saturday&p=817720&viewfull=1#post817720
I have a few more things to add, but I'll add it later. Today's my last day in Boston. Got make the most of it!
Nice moments/observations/things
* I forgot who went before Joshua Farris at the gala, but a bunch of people threw stuff for that person. Problem was there were no sweepers! So Joshua went and picked all the stuff animals for that person. It was quite endearing.
* Speaking of sweepers, another +1 for Jason Brown slapping the cute boy sweeper's hand before he started warming up before the program. The kid reached out his hand and Jason actually squatted down to give him the high five. So adorable.
* So to my chagrin, the Golden Skate meetup was at the same time as the Ice Dance autograph session! I tried to do both, but I ended up late to the autograph session and they cut me off from the line. My only goal was to get my trading cards signed by the Shibutanis, so I tried to plead with the guy and he wouldn't relent. But then Alex and Maia saw me asking and Alex said, "We can sign the cards!" And they did. Maia, in her usual thoughtfulness, signed it and made a point of not putting it back in the plastic cover saying, "I want to make sure it dries first." I thanked them on Twitter for the gesture and they favored and re-tweeted it.
* Goldenskate meetup was great. We chatted about what just transpired in the Men's free skate. Doris and I talked about Ice Dance. I had no idea what to order, so I told the the waiter to give me their best local beer. Turns out it was Sam Adams Brick Red, which is only available in Boston. SOOOO GOOOD -- wish it was available in my neck of the woods.
* Ended up waiting 1.5 hours in line to get an autograph from Meryl and Charlie. I stood next to this very cute girl who was rehearsing what she would say because she didn't want to cry or sound too awkward when she got to them. It was a cute moment. Meryl and Charlie were quite gracious of course. Favorite funny moment, Charlie is sort of staring off into space and then snaps back into it and says "I'm sorry, I'm a bit out of it!" I wanted to just tell him that it's OK -- YOU JUST SKATED A RECORD BREAKING PROGRAM, totally understandable! Meryl, like Maia, also made a point of making sure the cards were dry.
* Meeting Jason Brown and Kori Ade. You can read all about it in my Saturday thread on this subforum: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?43814-Saturday&p=817720&viewfull=1#post817720
I have a few more things to add, but I'll add it later. Today's my last day in Boston. Got make the most of it!
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
Lots of things already mentioned, but I'll mention them again
- Castelli/Shnapir's SP - The energy from the crowd was just incredible and you could feel the kind of propelling power it had. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of
- Zhang/Bartholomay Exhibition - Their FS has already been mentioned by several other people but at the Exhibition, Nate tripped near the end but totally played it off with such good cheer that it was excellent
- Aldridge/Eaton FS - To be honest, I had a feeling of trepidation about their program being a take on Bollywood but they really impressed!
- Cannuscio/McManus FS - They were so delightful to watch! This was a really fun program
- Shibs FS - The crowd LOVED this and they really sold this program. It was absolutely electrifying
- Rachael Flatt SP - The footwork sequence was absolutely lovely
- Mirai Nagasu SP & FS - Both programs were well done and she was practically the only lady who skated relatively clean programs both nights. Especially with her FS, the audience could feel the joy of the program and were cheering for her before she had even finished. Her reaction at the end of the program was so cute!
- Jeremy Abbott SP - The program was just so right for Jeremy and he performed it so so well; it was magical.
- Jason Brown SP & FS - Of course. Also I have loved his Can't Touch This program since seeing it at An Evening with Champions so I was thrilled to see it again at the exhibition
- Ross Miner FS - The Boston pride was so strong and I love that he picked Sweet Caroline for his pre-skate music
- Douglas Razzano FS - Exquisite. It was such a beautiful performance.
Overall, this week was so much fun and I feel so lucky to have been able to see so much great skating! (And so many skating greats around, goodness! We happened to be a table over from Scott Hamilton at dinner on Sunday! I saw Michelle Kwan in the elevator! Tenley Albright waved to me! I was kinda in a conversation with Ben Agosto! Will never get over this!)
- Castelli/Shnapir's SP - The energy from the crowd was just incredible and you could feel the kind of propelling power it had. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of
- Zhang/Bartholomay Exhibition - Their FS has already been mentioned by several other people but at the Exhibition, Nate tripped near the end but totally played it off with such good cheer that it was excellent
- Aldridge/Eaton FS - To be honest, I had a feeling of trepidation about their program being a take on Bollywood but they really impressed!
- Cannuscio/McManus FS - They were so delightful to watch! This was a really fun program
- Shibs FS - The crowd LOVED this and they really sold this program. It was absolutely electrifying
- Rachael Flatt SP - The footwork sequence was absolutely lovely
- Mirai Nagasu SP & FS - Both programs were well done and she was practically the only lady who skated relatively clean programs both nights. Especially with her FS, the audience could feel the joy of the program and were cheering for her before she had even finished. Her reaction at the end of the program was so cute!
- Jeremy Abbott SP - The program was just so right for Jeremy and he performed it so so well; it was magical.
- Jason Brown SP & FS - Of course. Also I have loved his Can't Touch This program since seeing it at An Evening with Champions so I was thrilled to see it again at the exhibition
- Ross Miner FS - The Boston pride was so strong and I love that he picked Sweet Caroline for his pre-skate music
- Douglas Razzano FS - Exquisite. It was such a beautiful performance.
Overall, this week was so much fun and I feel so lucky to have been able to see so much great skating! (And so many skating greats around, goodness! We happened to be a table over from Scott Hamilton at dinner on Sunday! I saw Michelle Kwan in the elevator! Tenley Albright waved to me! I was kinda in a conversation with Ben Agosto! Will never get over this!)
So now that I'm a plane going over Lake Michigan, I have some time to add to my earlier thoughts.
So other highlights/observations both skating/non-skating related:
* I had the opportunity to workout with the November Project. For those who don't know, they are a grassroots running group that meets a few times a week for various run. Despite a late night from attending the ladies free skate, I managed to wake up early for their 6:30 a.m. hill run. It was tough. You start up downhill then you have to go back up the hill! It's a longish-hill about .6 of a mile. I was dying and getting lapped by the faster runners (how do you run fast UP A HILL?!) In any case got 3.1 miles done and managed to make it up the hill a few times.
* Somehow I managed to keep my running streak alive during my trip. This sometimes required midnight/1 a.m. runs around the hotel. Since Thanksgiving Day, I have run at least 1 mile for 47 days in a row. Today I got to run by the Charles River which was nice. The weather was hilarious. On Friday when I did the hill workout, it was 35 and snowing. Today it was 50 and raining and I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Go figure.
* Eating. Cannoli at Mike's Pastry. A delicious cocktail concoction at Drink in the Seaport District. Really good parsnip apple soup at the hotel restaurant. Fried Chicken Rabbit and waffles before the Men's Free Skate (again at the hotel restaurant). Dark hot chocolate at L.A. Burdick in Cambridge. Butta burger at Tastyburger. Really good beer from John Harvard's also in Cambridge. Korean fried chicken at Bochon! I suppose keeping the running was necessary as I was going to eat a lot.
* The people of Boston were amazing and friendly. I guess they have a tough exterior, but once you engage, I found they were quite warm. My husband and I actually bonded with the late night front desk crew since we were getting back from the competition so late. One of them was an awesome woman from Nigeria who was about graduate from one of the local universities and trying to get into law school. The other was an man of Egyptian descent who enjoyed doing stand-up comedy when he wasn't working as the night manager. Basically everyone we encountered was just helpful and friendly.
* Seeing Rachael Flatt look happy at the men's free skate on Sunday. She was walking with Kimmie Messiner and I made a point to tell her congrats on a good career and good luck on her next step. It seems she is at peace or even anticipating with excitement with what's ahead.
* Talking to Jordan Moeller before the exhibition Sunday night. I asked him what he thought about Jason making the Olympics and he said he was really happy for him and that "He worked so hard for this." Also made sure to congratulate him on his silver medal in junior men. Really a great week for Kori's skaters!
* Seeing Tenley Albright walking around the arena. She looked amazing!
* Seeing Polina and Jason skate together, carrying the U.S. flag at the end of the gala. They are truly the newbies of the group and I think they were both thrilled and excited to see their dream come true.
* Speaking of Polina, she ended her gala piece and it seem it was over -- the announcer even said her name -- but then there was a record scratch and suddenly "Single Ladies" comes on and Polina starts showing her sass.
* Reuniting with Japanese fans I met at Skate America in 2012. It was nice they remembered me.
Favorite programs/performances
* Castelli/Shnapir SP -- Wow, dynamic and amazing.
* Leng/LeDuc SP -- So fast and fluid!
* Zhang/Barthomay FS - As others said, Felicia's joy during this performance went all the way up to the nose bleeds. I love seeing Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora jump up in down in excitement at the end of the performance.
* All the top 7 Ice Dance FD (Davis/White, Chock/Bates, Shibutanis, Hubbell/Donahue, Aldridge/Eaton, Kriekiguait/Gilluiti-Schimitt, Cannusico/McManus). As I said in the FD, every one of these teams brought their A game! I feel so lucky to have seen each of these performances in person.
*Douglas Razzano FS. So thrilled for him. He really brought it. I didn't even care that it was to a warhorse!
* Ross Miner FS. I didn't understand the finer points of the program, but it was clear it meant something to the crowd and to him. The emotion and feeling was there even if it wasn't a perfect program. I'm glad he got to skate that home.
* Joshua Farris FS. As I mentioned elsewhere, I wasn't particularly a big fan of Joshua's, but seeing him skate in person changed my mind. His step sequence in this program is
And it was wonderful to see him so happy with his score! I'm looking forward to seeing Joshua continue to develop in the next quad.
* Samantha Cesario FS. Probably she was the best Carmen ever. Loved that she was clean. Love her charisma. She still had work to do as far as speed and technical content, but this was an amazing year for her and I'm sure she will build on it from there.
* Jordan Moeller's FS. His program was so stylish and it was nice to see him come back from a 5th place SP to get on the podium in junior men!
* Rachael Flatt SP. Doesn't matter that it didn't score well. It touched my heart. She really projected her soul out there. Also her silver dress was GORGEOUS.
* Mirai Nagasu SP/FS. Regardless of what happens, she should be proud of her performances here. I really enjoyed her, as my husband. Her Gershwin was flirty and nuanced while her Bond showed some dynamism.
* Gracie Gold FS. Mainly because it was technically amazing. The program itself did not do much for me, but no doubt that she deserved her huge lead and win here.
* Hannah Miller SP. Yes it's Firebird. But Hannah did a great job with it. I loved the step sequence!
* Barbie Long FS. Barbie looked so elegant out there! Like Samantha, she still have things to work on, but this was a great debut for her.
* Jeremy Abbott SP: How cow 4T-3T combo! Great choreography. The performance of the night.
* Jason Brown SP/FS. I don't have to say anything more do I?
Okay, I will. SP was great, triple axel done right in front of my section looked great. As for the FS....I feel so lucky I was able to see that in person. The arena was just EXPLODING with energy. And his 3A-3T looked awesome, best 3A I've seen from him since he started putting the jump in last season. And oh yeah, Mr. P saying "I still hate Riverdance, but Jason sold me."
I had so much fun at my first nationals. Mr. P did too.
So other highlights/observations both skating/non-skating related:
* I had the opportunity to workout with the November Project. For those who don't know, they are a grassroots running group that meets a few times a week for various run. Despite a late night from attending the ladies free skate, I managed to wake up early for their 6:30 a.m. hill run. It was tough. You start up downhill then you have to go back up the hill! It's a longish-hill about .6 of a mile. I was dying and getting lapped by the faster runners (how do you run fast UP A HILL?!) In any case got 3.1 miles done and managed to make it up the hill a few times.
* Somehow I managed to keep my running streak alive during my trip. This sometimes required midnight/1 a.m. runs around the hotel. Since Thanksgiving Day, I have run at least 1 mile for 47 days in a row. Today I got to run by the Charles River which was nice. The weather was hilarious. On Friday when I did the hill workout, it was 35 and snowing. Today it was 50 and raining and I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Go figure.
* Eating. Cannoli at Mike's Pastry. A delicious cocktail concoction at Drink in the Seaport District. Really good parsnip apple soup at the hotel restaurant. Fried Chicken Rabbit and waffles before the Men's Free Skate (again at the hotel restaurant). Dark hot chocolate at L.A. Burdick in Cambridge. Butta burger at Tastyburger. Really good beer from John Harvard's also in Cambridge. Korean fried chicken at Bochon! I suppose keeping the running was necessary as I was going to eat a lot.
* The people of Boston were amazing and friendly. I guess they have a tough exterior, but once you engage, I found they were quite warm. My husband and I actually bonded with the late night front desk crew since we were getting back from the competition so late. One of them was an awesome woman from Nigeria who was about graduate from one of the local universities and trying to get into law school. The other was an man of Egyptian descent who enjoyed doing stand-up comedy when he wasn't working as the night manager. Basically everyone we encountered was just helpful and friendly.
* Seeing Rachael Flatt look happy at the men's free skate on Sunday. She was walking with Kimmie Messiner and I made a point to tell her congrats on a good career and good luck on her next step. It seems she is at peace or even anticipating with excitement with what's ahead.
* Talking to Jordan Moeller before the exhibition Sunday night. I asked him what he thought about Jason making the Olympics and he said he was really happy for him and that "He worked so hard for this." Also made sure to congratulate him on his silver medal in junior men. Really a great week for Kori's skaters!
* Seeing Tenley Albright walking around the arena. She looked amazing!
* Seeing Polina and Jason skate together, carrying the U.S. flag at the end of the gala. They are truly the newbies of the group and I think they were both thrilled and excited to see their dream come true.
* Speaking of Polina, she ended her gala piece and it seem it was over -- the announcer even said her name -- but then there was a record scratch and suddenly "Single Ladies" comes on and Polina starts showing her sass.
* Reuniting with Japanese fans I met at Skate America in 2012. It was nice they remembered me.
Favorite programs/performances
* Castelli/Shnapir SP -- Wow, dynamic and amazing.
* Leng/LeDuc SP -- So fast and fluid!
* Zhang/Barthomay FS - As others said, Felicia's joy during this performance went all the way up to the nose bleeds. I love seeing Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora jump up in down in excitement at the end of the performance.
* All the top 7 Ice Dance FD (Davis/White, Chock/Bates, Shibutanis, Hubbell/Donahue, Aldridge/Eaton, Kriekiguait/Gilluiti-Schimitt, Cannusico/McManus). As I said in the FD, every one of these teams brought their A game! I feel so lucky to have seen each of these performances in person.
*Douglas Razzano FS. So thrilled for him. He really brought it. I didn't even care that it was to a warhorse!
* Ross Miner FS. I didn't understand the finer points of the program, but it was clear it meant something to the crowd and to him. The emotion and feeling was there even if it wasn't a perfect program. I'm glad he got to skate that home.
* Joshua Farris FS. As I mentioned elsewhere, I wasn't particularly a big fan of Joshua's, but seeing him skate in person changed my mind. His step sequence in this program is
And it was wonderful to see him so happy with his score! I'm looking forward to seeing Joshua continue to develop in the next quad. * Samantha Cesario FS. Probably she was the best Carmen ever. Loved that she was clean. Love her charisma. She still had work to do as far as speed and technical content, but this was an amazing year for her and I'm sure she will build on it from there.
* Jordan Moeller's FS. His program was so stylish and it was nice to see him come back from a 5th place SP to get on the podium in junior men!
* Rachael Flatt SP. Doesn't matter that it didn't score well. It touched my heart. She really projected her soul out there. Also her silver dress was GORGEOUS.
* Mirai Nagasu SP/FS. Regardless of what happens, she should be proud of her performances here. I really enjoyed her, as my husband. Her Gershwin was flirty and nuanced while her Bond showed some dynamism.
* Gracie Gold FS. Mainly because it was technically amazing. The program itself did not do much for me, but no doubt that she deserved her huge lead and win here.
* Hannah Miller SP. Yes it's Firebird. But Hannah did a great job with it. I loved the step sequence!
* Barbie Long FS. Barbie looked so elegant out there! Like Samantha, she still have things to work on, but this was a great debut for her.
* Jeremy Abbott SP: How cow 4T-3T combo! Great choreography. The performance of the night.
* Jason Brown SP/FS. I don't have to say anything more do I?
Okay, I will. SP was great, triple axel done right in front of my section looked great. As for the FS....I feel so lucky I was able to see that in person. The arena was just EXPLODING with energy. And his 3A-3T looked awesome, best 3A I've seen from him since he started putting the jump in last season. And oh yeah, Mr. P saying "I still hate Riverdance, but Jason sold me." I had so much fun at my first nationals. Mr. P did too.
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2010
The more I watch it, the more Jason's shocked reaction at his FS score (while Kori just breaks into a huge grin) is awesome.
Oh yeah! That is on my list too. I love it, he goes from this questioning look on his face to complete EXCITEMENT in all of five seconds. What a moment!!
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2010
It's the only one that beats Amber Glenn's IMO.
Also, I need to add this to my list, because of course he would: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyIfLB_MpA4
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2013
Twitter:
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That is fantastic news!
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2007
- Country
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Hey, that IS great news, and the attendance occurred before any kind of controversy, which makes it even nicer.
Thanks for all the responses on the thread! Many nice moments shared. I really was thinking I might not even watch the Olympics, but now I'm over that, so the antidote worked!
Thanks for all the responses on the thread! Many nice moments shared. I really was thinking I might not even watch the Olympics, but now I'm over that, so the antidote worked!
For some reason I don't know how to describe, this event made me excited about skating again. Admittedly my work and personal life has taken me out of the fs scene, so to speak, for a couple years, but I have been super engaged the last couple weeks!
* Watching Jeremy Abbott's SP had me on cloud 9; I swear I watched it 10 times and I haven't done that with a skating performance in so long. Nice to see someone hit it out of the ballpark when it counts.
* I know Davis/White's PCS were inflated, but I can't lie, it was fun to see perfect marks again.
* Semantha Cesario's and Polina Edmunds' skating surprised me in totally good ways. Hope to see these two around for quite a while!
* Watching Jeremy Abbott's SP had me on cloud 9; I swear I watched it 10 times and I haven't done that with a skating performance in so long. Nice to see someone hit it out of the ballpark when it counts.
* I know Davis/White's PCS were inflated, but I can't lie, it was fun to see perfect marks again.
* Semantha Cesario's and Polina Edmunds' skating surprised me in totally good ways. Hope to see these two around for quite a while!
Can I just say how much I was shocked/impressed at how much improvement there has been to Gold's 'helicopter arms'?
I don't know what kind of magic those ballet lessons/ Caroll have been up to, but man, if she'd come out like this from the getgo, there would NOT have been as much a backlash and bashing as there was earlier, just this YEAR even.
A pity, since I personally just have a habit of scrutinizing her arms/hands when she skates, regardless. But really impressed. I would never have deemed them to be 'fixable'
Can't wait for the next quad, when Edmunds grows into her limbs, so that she and Gold can really start pushing each other.
I don't know what kind of magic those ballet lessons/ Caroll have been up to, but man, if she'd come out like this from the getgo, there would NOT have been as much a backlash and bashing as there was earlier, just this YEAR even.
A pity, since I personally just have a habit of scrutinizing her arms/hands when she skates, regardless. But really impressed. I would never have deemed them to be 'fixable'
Can't wait for the next quad, when Edmunds grows into her limbs, so that she and Gold can really start pushing each other.
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2009
- Country
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I would like to celebrate Mirai's fight back to top 3 and the podium after a 2 year slump! How awesome is that? 
I hope that this is the start of better things to come for Nagasu. I wish for her great success in whatever her endeavors are in the coming years but if she stays in - I hope that she can find a stable coaching environment (it'd be great if it were in Japan!) and that she improves dramatically and contends on the world stage again.
Jason - especially his FS! My fave of the men's!
It was such a relieve to watch the Ice Dance event without any worries! Meryl and Charlie were already as good as on the team so it was great that they could skate with abandon and enjoy their final Nationals (please don't let it be so!)
I hope that this is the start of better things to come for Nagasu. I wish for her great success in whatever her endeavors are in the coming years but if she stays in - I hope that she can find a stable coaching environment (it'd be great if it were in Japan!) and that she improves dramatically and contends on the world stage again. Jason - especially his FS! My fave of the men's!
It was such a relieve to watch the Ice Dance event without any worries! Meryl and Charlie were already as good as on the team so it was great that they could skate with abandon and enjoy their final Nationals (please don't let it be so!
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