Figure Skating in Harlem or Dancing with the Stars?

The annual Figure Skating in Harlem event took place on April 5th - here's what Ice Network had to say about it:

It's an annual event where stars and fans meet, greet and skate under the stars (hopefully no rain this year) at Wollman Rink in New York's Central Park. This year, Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH), an organization that provides innovative ice skating and educational programming for girls ages 6-18 from the Harlem community, will honor three women who share a commitment to kids.

From the skating world, FSH has chosen Kristi Yamaguchi, who founded the Always Dream Foundation around the same time FSH came into being. On Jan. 16, the foundation celebrated the official opening of the Always Dream Play Park in Yamaguchi's hometown of Freemont, Calif. It's a place where physically challenged and able-bodied kids can play side by side.

And it seems the Stars on Ice tour bus took a pit stop in Central Park, because a lot of familiar faces pitched up to support FSH:






Also present from the skating world was Dorothy Hamill, Charlie White, Mirai Nagasu, Ben Agosto and Sasha Cohen. Donald Trump, Tamara Tunie and Christopher Meloni also attended the benefit due to their work with the cause.

One FSH regular who wasn't able to attend was Evan Lysacek, due to his commitments to Dancing with the Stars. He topped the leaderboard this week with his Quickstep:



But one person who isn't too interested in Evan's footwork? Johnny Weir, NY Mag is reporting:

"Evan is fine as a person. We've been competitors for years and years and years and that's kinda the forefront to us being people to each other," Weir said. "I think he worked very hard and he deserved that Olympic gold medal and he does a good job. He does his work. But as a person I don't really know him that well and we've never really made the effort to be nice to each other." But surely he must at least watch Lysacek on Dancing With the Stars? "No," Weir said. "And I won't."

Ouch! But who'd expect anything less from Johnny?

The hiatus is over!

I'm back from hiatus! And my, what I've missed. I really missed blogging over the past few months, and I had to force myself not to start again because what with my exams and my own skating I've had no time to properly do it; in the past some of my posting has been half-hearted and not of good enough quality and I didn't want a repeat of that.

Once my exams were over (for now!) I KNEW that there was just too much going on in the skating world for me to limit myself to a few tweets (www.twitter.com/Ice_Addiction if you're interested) So here I am, and ready and rather raring to go.

I've still be watching the skating since I went on hiatus, and here are my highlights and lowlights to get me back into the swing of things.

+ Jeremy Abbott's long program at US Nationals. It was one of the most amazing skating moments I have ever seen, and I am desperate for him to repeat that in Vancouver.

+ ...which is starting in 15 days and 7 hours! Anticipation for the Olympics has been what's got me through some particularly boring revision sessions these past few months. Hands up who else just cannot wait?

- Speaking of revising, I think that's what Belbin and Agosto need to do with those new long program costumes, a definite lowlight for me. They just really didn't fit with the music at Nats, and that really made a big difference to how the program came across.

+ BUT it left Davis and White open to win US Nationals again, in spectacular fashion. The other top ice dance teams should be very afraid.

- Yes, I'm talking to you Domnina and Shabalin. All that controversy over your Aboriginal original dance has yet to distract from the fact that your free dance does not have that "wow" factor which Davis and White have in spades, or that Maxim's knee has really seen better days.

- Actually, the "wow" factor has been missing for me in a lot of the ladies skating these past few months. I found the European ladies competition somewhat of a letdown, and whilst Flatt and Nagasu were fantastic in the US, I'm dissapointed about Ashley Wagner not making the team.

- I'm also disappointed about Cohen; she had such a great (if overhyped) comeback with the short program but then let herself down in the free skate; not only by fluffing the jumps but by seeming to lose the fire which usually made her competitive programs so exciting.

+ But (to end on a high note) the comebacks from Plushenko and Lambiel didn't let me down (too much). Whilst I'll never be a Plushy fan, you cannot deny that his jumping is amazing, especially after so many years of doing those quads! And on the opposite hand, whilst Lambiel needs to work on the jumps, it was great to see his beautiful artistry and fantastic spins back on the competitive circuit. We're all pleased to see him (apart from a certain Mr Joubert, I'd imagine.)

I could go on and on (I haven't even touched on some of Europeans, or Canadian Nationals) but I think that's enough for now. I have a blog to revive!

Bloggers - Being Respectful?

Aaron from Axels, Loops and Spins wrote a great post about the snarking and bashing that happens on a lot of figure skating forums. But what about it coming from actual bloggers themselves? Phil Hersh has long been attacked for his Chicago Tribune articles, but I felt this one really took the biscuit. He did a question and answer session (of questions he made up himself!) Notable quotations include:

"Czisny and Kostner would clean so much of the ice with their bottoms the resurfacing job would be much easier."

"Yuna Kim could stand still for four minutes, and she still would deserve higher component scores than Rochette at her best."

"There is everything to like about Belbin-Agosto and Davis-White as people and performers. And performers is the key thing, because that is all ice dance is about. It's all in the eye of the beholder -- great entertainment, archly camp at times, incredibly hard to do well...and no more a sport than ballet."

Now, I don't know about you, but as a blogger I would never say things like that about skaters. People might argue about how high Rochette's PCS scores are, but to say that about her is clearly not true, and Hersh knows that - in his attempts to make an entertaining, controversial blog post he is merely putting down skaters who do not deserve criticism like that. Bloggers are allowed to question, of course they are, that's our job. But flat out put skaters down? I think not.

Furthermore, I'm not a professional blogger; I get no money for this, I just do it for fun! But Hersh is EMPLOYED by the Chicago Tribune, as well as other publications to write about skating, and so has an obligation to write fairly and honestly, I feel. I hardly have to mention how his writing skills are not reflective of his professional blogging position; at one point he says Rochette got Level 2s "on all three of her four spins".

I should add, this is not a personal attack on Hersh. I don't mean this in an offensive way, as I am merely questioning his post and opinions. He has some good points in his post as well, and attempts to apologise to Jenny Kirk after criticising a very excellent post she made about Cohen's Grand Prix withdrawals (with limited success!)

Do you agree with what I'm saying about Hersh's post? Judging by the comments at the bottom of his article, many others are outraged/exasperated/amused at his post. Or do you think this post is just giving him a wider audience, and catering to his controversial style of blogging?

Breaking News - Cohen out of Skate America

Sasha Cohen withdraws from Skate America in Lake Placid, citing the same injury that stopped her competing in Paris.

"I have been battling this injury for a while," Cohen said. "After meeting with my orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that in order for me to fully recover, I should not compete this week."

Cohen withdrew from her first Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series assignment, Trophée Eric Bompard, in early October after being diagnosed with tendonitis in her right calf.

"I'm very disappointed I won't be able to compete in Lake Placid," Cohen said. "I've been going to physical therapy and training with every intention of being healthy and ready for this competition."

Cohen says she will continue her physical therapy and training, with the goal of competing at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash, Jan. 14-24, 2010.

Replacing Cohen at the event is 2007 U.S. silver medalist Emily Hughes. The 2006 Olympian last competed at Skate America in 2006, finishing fifth.

Honestly? This is a real disappointment for all of Cohen's fans. I know she only sees these Grand Prix events as practice but she needs to get her programs out there before Nationals. I'm really pleased Hughes gets to take her place though, it's a great opportunity for her to compete there.

Cohen's out of Trophee Eric Bompard

Anyone else see this one coming? Sarcasm aside, it's a real shame that Sasha won't be competing in Paris next weekend due to tendinitis in her right calf. What's even more of a shame is that the event is so close, there probably isn't enough time for them to find someone else to take her place. It was going to be such a great showdown with her and Yu-na and Mao, though it'll still be an exciting event. Jennifer Kirk has some really interesting comments on her blog, which I recommend you read. What do you think about her withdrawal?

Good News and Bad News

The good news is that Sasha Cohen is returning to competitive figure skating! Check out Axels, Loops and Spins for the details.

The bad news is that this blog is going on a brief hiatus. With exams, I just can't post as often as I'd like to, but they'll be over in a month and we'll be back to daily updates. If you need to contact me in the meantime, email km-28@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Program of the Day

Program of the Day goes to Sasha Cohen, who posted a new journal a couple of days ago. She sounds really happy and in a good place, and it sounds like she's doing well with training for her possible comeback. She says:

I’m in good shape, and I feel strong and happy with what I am doing in my workouts. I’ve gotten my consistency back and I'm getting into jumps the way I was when I was competing. I do a lot of off-ice training and have improved my body core conditioning.

In May and June I will weigh everything and announce my plans for the next season. Right now I am living in the moment and focusing on getting into good physical shape and getting quality rest.

The rest of the article can be read here.

Program of the Day is a bit of a different one today; it's Sasha from 1994, when she was only tiny. It's always great to see skating stars when they were younger and not so, ahem, polished. I defy you not to say "Aw.." as you watch it.

"Sasha Cohen may take shot at 3rd Olympics"

Phil Hersh has just written an article at the Chicago Tribune about Sasha Cohen's potential return to competitive figure skating, and he brings up some very interesting points.

Cohen will decide about a comeback in June.

"As long as I can keep my body healthy and especially the way I've been skating lately, it feels like the right thing to do," she said. "Going to a third Olympics would be just incredible.

"I have the next 50 years of my life to have fun. Eventually I will have to move on, but I think I can do it again, and I need that purpose and challenge in my life right now."

Despite people's doubts about whether Sasha is right to return or not, I think she has a very good point here. Physically, she is in very good shape; skating almost every single night for months on the Stars on Ice tour is by no means a substitute for real competitive training, but has definitely kept her in good form, Furthermore, audiences at the SOI shows have reported that she's been performing to a very high standard,landing her triples confidently, and this is something which Michael Weiss has reiterated;

"She's doing all the triple jumps and working on triple-triple combinations," Weiss said Tuesday.

"Even if she does only triple-doubles, she is pretty much a lock to make the Olympic team because her spins and footwork would be all top levels, and her component (artistic) scores would be so strong."

Now that, for me, is the main reason why I think Sasha would excel if she returned to the competitive circuit. All the skaters currently have the technical ability,else they would not be competing at the level that they are, yet I feel that there are not so many which have the artistic ability on the same level as Cohen's when she won her OSM.

Hersh is not the only one "beseeching Sasha Cohen to come back", as he claims; I think the sport would benefit from her return. She seems to have the technical ability as well as the fitness, and her artistic ability would guarantee her good results were she to return. What has she got to lose?

Still not sure? Watch Sasha at arguably her best;