What made you a fan?

[Ravyn Rant]

It's all Peggy Fleming's fault!

I wasn't quite five when I saw her win in Grenoble (sp?), and I've been a fan ever since. When I was younger I preferred the ladies' event, but that changed shortly before the 1980 Games at Lake Placid when I discovered Robin Cousins. My first skater crush! I still check Lois' website every now and then just to see what the man is up to.
Ahh...nostalgia.
Great thread! Thanks!
xoxo,
Rave

 

[sk8rmom]

Oh, dear..showing my age, here...

I remember so well the 1988 Olympic torch being carried through the small town that my sister and her family lived in. They stood along the route and cheered the runner. And still have their little plastic replicas of the flame that were handed out as souvenirs.

I was an ex- ballet dancer and current dance teacher while those Olympics were aired. I had little interest and experience with skating to that point. But Elizabeth Manley was a dark horse in that competition, and so, with my sister's influence, I watched.

Well, of course, the pairs competition airs long before the ladies'. And which self-respecting ex-ballet dancer could help but be enchanted by the wonderful Gordeeva and Grinkov?? I remember too well how beautiful they were...how my spirit soared just watching them...and so a skating fan was born.

Long years have passed...my daughter now a skater herself (which does have a tendency to colour one's enjoyment of the sport !)...and still I seek the romance and beauty and enchantment of G&G. A good Canadian, I'll say that Sale and Pelletier were wonderful, argumentatively technically superior, and IMO, just about as magic. As a skating fan, I'll say that the search is nearly as enjoyable as the find.

Every once in a while, I see something that makes my heart flutter as it did watching Katya's beaming face in Calgary. My daughter's first landed 2lutz..( a benchmark in lower level skating)...seeing Emmanuel Sandhu on our local practice ice in preparation for the Canadian championships....did you know how few crossovers it takes a senior level competitor to travel the length of Olympic size ice?? So powerful! And of course, witnessing the excitement of the Browning/Stojko showdown, and seeing Casablanca. Which is, to my mind, the harbinger of new things to come...the first true freeskate programmme which was more than fancy skating to pretty music....that had a theme and a character, and really drew you in. And if you could have heard the crowd!! Louder than a Stanley Cup final, it was!! Really distracting for the skaters, I'm sure...but so exciting, and showed them just how much we all loved them!

Gotta confess...miss those glory days a bit! But am eternally watching for the next flutter.

 

[imanta]

I have been a fan to some degree for years, since I was relatively young. But back in 1994 when I saw G&G skate at the Olympics and was so impressed was when I started to actually seek out all ice skating on TV. My sister and I watched a skating show just a few days before Sergei died. We were both so enchanted by them---they did their "Out of Tears" routine and were just stunningly beautiful. I had not been nearly as much a fan of pairs skating until seeing them in 1994. My sister and I both had talked about how in love they seemed and what a "fairytale" their lives had turned out to be. We also discussed how horrible it would be if something ever happened to one of them. Then, just a few days later, Sergei died. It was quite surreal and just devastating.

 

[Figureskates]

Longer than I care to admit.

My grandmother actually got me hooked. I use to spenf February school vacation with her in Boston and we would always go down to the Skating Club of Boston and watch the figure skaters. My grandmother knew everybody...so it seems and I had the good foutune of meeting Tenley Albright and Laurance Owens.

I did figure skate as a kid in New Jersey at the South Mountain Arena. I remember that was the place to skate.. I had my first group lessons there. I remember the teacher was Hungarian who had fled Hungary the year or two earlier in 1956.

Still a fan today and I still figure skate.

 

[JonnyCoop]

It happened for me in the late 70s. A new shopping center with an ice rink had just opened up in the San Diego area (this was about '77 or '78) and my mother and I went to the center's grand opening weekend and we looked at the rink and decided it would be fun to try this. (I was 10, 11, something like that, at the time). My mother being rather predisposed to compulsive behavior when it came to something that she liked, once we started, we ended up going every Saturday. As a skater, however, she progressed much further than I -- being rather tall and gangly for my age, and not exactly athletic or graceful, I struggled with it and never did progress, even after several months, much beyond the stage where you're still holding onto the rink barrier. (Had the concept of EDGES been explained to me in any type of coherent fashion, I might have done better.) I finally had to stop, though -- I had this nasty tendency where I couldn't just simply fall; oh, no, I had to have BOTH legs slip out from under me, be in mid-air parallel to the ice before falling right on my tailbone. OUCH!! After this had happened about 2 or 3 times, my mother wisely decided that I should probably quit before I ended up in a wheelchair or at the very least with a broken bone. She actually took lessons for quite a few years and developed into a pretty good spinner -- and I think she may have actually landed a toe loop or a loop at some point. I never took any lessons, which might have helped me, too -- she figured (and much as I hate to admit it, she was right) that I wouldn't have the discipline for it. I think things would be different now, though -- back in those days, it was figures, figures, figures for beginners -- which does help with correct technique, but I would have LOST MY MIND.

Anyway, my mother's obsession of course then led to watching the competitions on TV. The first competition I ever watched was the 79 Worlds in Vienna -- when Tai & Randy won the Pairs title. I knew from that first competition that even though I had no aptitude for doing it myself -- I loved watching it. From then on I was hooked. Ironically, as years passed, my mother rather lost interest in watching, only tuning in every now and then (she was a big Sasha fan, though; was really impressed with her skating when Sasha made her big splash at the 00 Nationals), while I became downright obsessive at times. I've even gone so far as to critique (in spiral notebooks) every single competition program I've seen from the 88 Nationals on! Now THAT'S pretty pathological!!

 

[ranjake]

Back in the olden days, as a little girl, I was fascinated by a beautiful princess I saw skating on tv. I would try to watch her whenever I could. She skated with a man, and I thought she was "Princess Tai of Babilonia"! Many years later, when my amazing Dad was in the hospital dying of cancer, together we enjoyed the Nancy/Tonya saga. My Dad was from Norway, so in a sense, Lillehammer was his final trip home, and I'm so blessed to have shared it with him...and then little Michelle Kwan at her first World's...her expression after her LP I will never forget, and Todd, and Kurt, Gordeeva and Grinkov...I'm a fan for so many reasons!

 

[patsue1947]

Ah, when did I become a interested in figure skating? I guess I would have harken back to those pre-televised, pre-computer internet days to 1953/1954. My sister's Brownie Troop took ice skating lessons to earn merit badges, since my mom was asst leader and didn't have a babysitter for me I was allowed to join in the fun. I was 5-years old. I remember how cold the rink was and how much I loved every minute of my time on the ice. Unfortunately my sister was injured when her "partner" fell and sliced my sister's leg. That ended my skating days . Luckily my sister's leg eventually healed with no damage to muscles, etc.

My next recollection was reading about Carol Heiss winning OLY gold in 1956. Once again I was included when my sister's troop went to the Ice Capades and I was able to see figure skating "up close and personal." This time I fell in love with the sport. It was magical. I've never looked back!.

Of course, in those "dark days", there was no real coverage of figure skating--just bits and poeces in assing. I do remember reading the news coverage of the air tragedy that decimated the best and brightest of the U.S. skating team and feeling totally devastated at the news. The experts, at that time, predicted a long and slow recovery for the US skating programs and years before viable competitors would be seen at the world elite level.

Like many others here I remember being glued to the TV when ice skating was to be featured on Wild World of Sports--as an aside, it's also where I saw competitive skiing for the first time) don't know why but winter sports have always been among my favorites--maybe because I grew up in the San Jauqin Valley, Bakersfield, CA specifically. Anyway, I now jump forward to 1968--Peggy Fleming--the only U.S. gold medalist in any sport at the olys that year--her skating totally captivated me. Saw her Worlds win the same year, saw her live at Ice Follies the same year, watched her TV specials and thought I would never see another skater who would capture me in the same way. What Janet, Dorothy, Linda, all the ladies who followed the magnificient Miss Fleming, but it wasn't until I discovered Michelle Kwan that my love for the sport rekindled.

Now that Michelle is heading into her retirement years, no I don't want her to but yes I know it will happen, I've tried to find a new face to latch onto to keep me wanting to follow this sport I fell in love with 50+ years ago. However, CoP and the words and actions of Speedy and his ***-kissers in the ISU are most likely to drive me away.

 

[Linny]

Because I skated

I became a fan because I skated. Roller skated, but did figures and dance and made it to States and met my husband. Because I danced, Ice Dancing is my favorite. I will always be a fan and don't need a particular skater to root for. I know what I like and what I don't like (the BC spin for one, regardless of who does it, and I cringe everytime Tong throws Pang). As long as it is broadcast, I will watch. Pros or eligible, doesn't matter. Although I prefer eligible, I still bought a ticket to SOI when it came to town. When eligible skater comes around and I can afford it, I'll see that, too.

I bought Tivo specifically so I wouldn't miss any skating. If they stop broadcasting it on USA TV, I'll join a tape trading club or buy a pay-per-view get a dish that can pick up the Canadian broadcasts. As long as I can afford it.

Linny

 

[Hikaru]

LOL, I certainly won't. I was 14 at the time and had never been very interested in skating. All of the sudden, I am caught up in this huge national drama! I watched the Lillehammer SPs and was hooked. I saw Chen Lu's brilliance in "Claire de Lune", Baiul's beauty in "Swan Lake", and Kerrigan's dynamic athleticism in the Neil Diamond medley (okay, it was the LP....but to me it was the Gold medal winning LP). I loved it! The next year I started following Michelle's career and that was it for me. The Kerrigan/Harding scandal may have brought my attention to the sport, but Michelle made me stay. Since then, I have learned to enjoy all of the disciplines (including ice dance from 2004 Worlds on) and so many of the skaters.

count me with the '94 incident. Before that in Panama, I hadn't seen (that I remember) any FS competition. Heck, if I find 3 FS fans here it would be a miracle. I could even go as far as saying that I could be the most knowledgeable FS fan in Panama (not that I'm an expert, mind you, but you get the idea). I got to see the ladies' FS from the olys that year thanks to the southern command network that was in the Panama Canal Zone. A couple of years later we got cable, ESPN and US nationals became my favorite competition, and then worlds. This last season was the first time I got to watch the GP series. SO it was the incident that got my interest in the sport, but it was the other athletes that made me stay. Although I have the feeling that Lipinski’s style was not the favorite of many, I always enjoyed it. It’s not that I don’t like Michelle’s style, I do, but I don’t think I’m a die-hard fan, although I praise how long she has stayed in the sport, I always thought Lipinski skated with such joy, I always found it fascinating, I thought they pushed each other. Then over the years when I watch the world championships I got to see more skaters and respect their different styles: Michelle, Irina, Sasha (the first time I saw her skate, I said Whoa!; I also enjoyed NNN very much!!), the Japanese girls, Shen and Zhao, Yagudin, etc. Many things from different skaters that make me appreciate there performance and their individual styles. I've been a fan for 11 years, and even though I don't have people to talk about my favorite sport here, there's always the MB like GoldenSkate, so I don't feel lonely!

 

[jamesmango]

Tara (1995-2002) made me a fan.

 

[Rgirl]

Peggy Fleming's OGM in '68.
Some fun skating parties at the one mall rink in Phoenix.
Dorothy Hamill for her athleticism, and John Curry and Robin Cousins for their great dance stylizations on the ice.
More messing around for fun on the ice in Salt Lake City.
Torvill and Dean '84 and after.
Dmitriev&Mishkutenok and G&G in '92 and '94.
But really clinched it was seeing Oksana Baiul skate "The Dying Swan" with COI in '94. I was intrigued by her Olympic performances, but her LP was pretty cheesy. But somehow, at that time, Oksana had maybe a year or two of transcendance that infused her skating. Although I was sorry it was so short, sometimes that's all a person has.
Chen Lu grabbed me in '95 and Irina Slutskaya in '96. I warmed up to Michelle by the time she had her "Aranuez" season.
Ilia Kulik since '95.
Got excited about Sasha when she did TAT's black-and-white "Swan Lake," but then she does "Nutrcracker" in Pepto Bismal pink and keeps playing with my emotions. I hope being back with Nicks will allow her to capture the magic I've seen glimpses of.

Who will be next?!

Rgirl

 

[emma]

I was always a skating fan...I remember vaguely seeing Dorothy Hamill win. I do remember watching Denise Biellmann do her famous spin. Then I remember being heartbroken for Tai and Randy though I don't know if I had ever really seen them before the 1980 Olympics! LOL! I do remember being sad for Linda Fratianne too. By the 1984 Olympics I was so happy for Scott, so sad for Roz. It was between the 1984 Olympics and 1988 Olympics that I began to become a diehard fan. I started watching An Evening of Championship Skating each year where I first saw a young Kristi Yamaguchi in both singles and pairs and immediately loved her. :

This sounds so familiar...like basically how I got hooked too. Add to that that we had a pond to skate on in front of our house for about 5-6 years when I was little, and that I hated the cold but somehow skating made the cold better and Yes I've been hooked for a long time. I didn't know very many of the names of jumps or moves when I was little, and didn't really pay attention to that (I didn't even know there were edges on the blade, so you can imagine how I skated around that pond), but I was just enthralled with the beauty of skating...I even liked watching speed skating for a while.

So, I've watched on tv whenever I could...missing some key events or even seasons here and there when I lived out of the country ....and fell in love over and over with different skaters/pairs. It's always hard for me to pick a favorite because I do just love the variety and the personal accomplishments of even the not as good....although, I really was a huge Dimitriv/Mishtenuk (sp?) fan in addition to G/G, but the former just always made me drop my jaw....BUT having said that, it was somewhere around 98' that I started getting more like, 'gosh' (not the word i really used) I watch so much skating but don't really know anything about it technically speaking, and I didn't even understand anything about the scoring...So that's when I started very slowly paying more attention to the detail, reading up here and there, and taping or having someone else tape key competitions if I knew ahead of time that I would miss it, and trying to follow the judging part too. Of course, Michelle was always the one to watch...and I did and do still love her...but so many others too, as many of you know, it was way back in 98 that Shen/Zhao 'got me'...

Anyway, building a little more knowlege slowly led to becoming much much much more into and even obsessed with the sport....which finally led about 2 years ago to becoming a major lurker on skating boards (and CoP has just added to my lurking time), and finally a year ago to taking up skating for exercise, and now posting...

 

[Peggy]

I've always loved figure skating and I've seen many wonderful performances through the years. I watched Peggy Fleming win her gold, and I loved Dorothy Hamill, who I was lucky enough to see live many times in Alaska. I thought Kristi Yamaguchi's Olympic program was the best I would ever see--ofcourse the music was wonderful and Kristi is so artistic that it was a emotional experience watching her skate. When I first saw MIchelle, I thought the USFSA should send her to the Olympics because she was the best and I still think she would have won the Gold that year. I wasn't a Nancy fan and I didn't think the triple axel was that important and I still don't for the ladies. I thought Michelle was wonderful the first few years she skated but her programs started to look all the same so I lost interest in her. I was really happy when Tara came on the scene--she was a little fire ball and exciting to watch. I was very happy she got the Gold in Nagano. I have to say, I was broken hearted for Michelle because I was sure she would have won the previous Olympics when her programs had alot of substance to them. BUT, when I saw Sasha the first time, I thought WOW!!! and I've been a Sasha fan from that moment on. The only thing the girl doesn't have is consistency but there are not enough adjectives to discribe how incredabily beautiful her skating is. IMO If I was a skater, I'd want to skate just like her-consistency or not. I want her to win it all and I hope she does some day. I guess you could say I've always been a figure skating fan but as far as the ladies go, I'm a Sasha fan now.

 

[SingAlto]

I've watched skating in the Olympics for many years. I vaguely remember watching Peggy Fleming in the 1968 Olympics when I was four. The next time I remember watching skating was Dorothy Hamill in the 1976 Olympics when I was 12. I'll never forget the heartbreak of Tai & Randy in 1980, and I watched Scott Hamilton and Rosalynn Sumners in 1984. However, I didn't get hooked until Calgary. I got drawn in to all the hype of the Battle of the Brians, and I vividly remember cheering when Boitano won. He was awesome! However, I didn't become a Brian Boitano fan until the night of the closing ceremonies and the skating exhibitions. Boitano skated to "Parlami D'amore Mariu", and that was all it took. It was such a romantic number, and he looked so handsome...

 

[33leprechaun]

You brought back such happy memories, Sing Alto! Thank you. :thumbsup: Brian Boitano!

 

[SingAlto]

You brought back such happy memories, Sing Alto! Thank you. :thumbsup: Brian Boitano!

You're welcome!

 

[MannyisHOT]

You brought back such happy memories, Sing Alto! Thank you. :thumbsup: Brian Boitano!

That's what Bria Boitano'd Do!

 

[Gwendolyn]

Sad to say, it was Tonya vs. Nancy!!! I got hooked during that fiasco, and decided to watch ALL figure skating that appeared on TV during that time. I knew nothing about skating so when I saw Kristi Y complete a "triple" I was confused, because I thought only Tonya could do "triples" (not realizing that a triple axel was A LOT different that regular triples!!). Then I started watching Lillehammer, starting with pairs (which remains my favorite discipline) and I saw a fluff piece on G&G. Fell. In. Love. As a Canadian, I was hoping for Brasseur and Eisler to win but when I saw the fluffl piece on G&G, with their little daughter and Katia so beautiful and Sergei so handsome.... *sigh*. And THEN I saw them skate and I knew they kicked a**. The sound and power of their double axels astonished me and I knew there was no way for B&E to even come close. Don't even remember M&D because I was so fixated on G&G. Of course that started a life long obsession with G&G, until his death. Since I've followed Katia to a lesser extent, as well as other pairs but nothing captivated me like G&G. And ironically Tonya and Nancy.