 Michelle Wojdyla takes you on a trip back in time for some of her best U.S. Championships memories.
Notes from Friday, Jan 19
(1/19/07) - On top of juggling the two newspapers’ needs, "American Skating World" magazine was suddenly without a photographer when the woman who had been scheduled got sick. I was recruited to fill in, which was hugely flattering for a rookie. My photo position for the week was to the left of the judges’ stand near the kiss and cry. Awesome location, but it came with a price: standing on iced cement for a week. It was worth it, though. I was next to George Rossano and he was incredibly helpful and kind to the newbie.
(Please note ubiquitous Peter Tcherynshev shot Michelle took in 2000.)
2001
I always try to drive to events whenever possible, and Boston in ’01 was no exception. Of course I got lost, because, well, this is me we’re talking about. By the time I found the hotel, I had missed the senior compulsory dance. The skaters were walking through the lobby, and I saw Oleg Fediukov limping. I learned that he and Debbie Koegel had to withdraw and the dance was down to only seven teams.
Two main non-skating memories of Boston: food and police escorts. Because Boston is a traffic nightmare, this was the first time (that I am aware of) that police escorts were used to assist the buses in getting between venues and the hotel. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. During one packed ride, we went flying down a hill and spontaneously all of the passengers threw our arms into the air as though we were on a roller coaster.
One morning I decided to go over to the practice rink at the Skating Club of Boston. Upstairs was a hospitality room where you could sit in warmth and watch the practice below. They had the most amazing spread of food I had ever seen at any event. They even had Clementine oranges, my favorite. Boston rocked the hospitality. It cannot be said enough.
Compared with the bright, shiny, newness of Cleveland, Boston made me realize that it is not always enjoyable to do your job. My article on the pairs short program went through some edits after it left my computer, and the edits changed things in a way that was not good. There’s no disclaimer at the bottom of the newspaper that says “Michelle didn’t write it this way” and needless to say, those skaters mentioned in the article were not happy. I was upset because I didn’t write those words, and the article made everyone look bad. It was not a good experience.
2002-2004
In 2002 in Los Angeles, I was happy to be strictly on photo duty. With digital technology becoming a feasible way of covering figure skating, I was hired by iskater.com to shoot the event for them. I spent the week up in the 400 section of the arena, away from everyone except the web team. My hotel was not the main one, but rather the one the novice skaters were in. The whole week was very isolated, except for the “tacky tourist bus tour” that my friend Ginger and I took before the competition began (which, I have to admit, was a blast). The main snafu of the week was upon checking into the hotel, the desk clerk insisted I was rooming with Paul Martini, and I kept assuring her I was not.
From photo duty in ’02 I switched gears to be on writer duty for Dallas in ’03. This time I was working for U.S. Figure Skating, doing the traditional news articles. Dallas will not be remembered as the best U.S. Championships ever. In fact, some of the events were pretty grim. (Editor's note: Michelle has forgotten to mention, however, that the U.S. Figure Skating media/web team probably had more fun in our room with the Harvaths and ABC photographer Craig Shodji than we have ever had at an event. My favorite part was being caught sleeping on the floor of the room Sunday morning of the World Team shot with Paul Harvath ... sleeping apart, of course. And it was Peter Tchernyshev who found us.)
I remember watching the bloody mess that was the pairs free skate and thinking “what am I going to say about that?” I was jealous of the reporters who could be snarky in writing their newspaper columns. Then the men’s free skate was one disaster after another. I remember the long delay after Matt Savoie skated. In the arena, we didn’t know what the hold up was, but we did see Michael Weiss’ marks go up under Matt’s face. I called my mom, who was watching it live on TV, to find out what Dick Button and Peggy Fleming were saying.
Even the press conferences in Dallas were unusual. Everyone seemed very cranky after the men’s event. For the ladies, Sasha Cohen was crying after trying to answer a question about her less-than-stellar performance. I had never seen anyone cry at a press conference before. Unfortunately for Sasha, the microphone picked up everything, and it made for a very sad, uncomfortable evening.
Knee surgery in 2004 forced me to miss Atlanta U.S. Championships, and I was disappointed I missed seeing in person such amazing performances from Michelle Kwan, Jenny Kirk and Johnny Weir.
 I thought I was going to be bored in Portland in 2005. I was going as the secondary writer for "Blades on Ice" magazine - basically there to do interviews for future articles. And like Cleveland, I found myself very busy by the week’s end. U.S. Figure Skating asked me to pick up some articles for them, so I wound up writing a lot over the course of the week. It was great! The skating was so strong that year, and the articles seemed to write themselves.
The strongest non-skating-related memory for me in Portland was the late night cab ride back to the hotel. Of course we were the last to leave the arena. Four of us called a taxi, while Michelle and Paul Harvath went to wait for public transport. Four passengers plus the driver plus suitcases make for a snug ride. As we were heading to our hotel, we saw Paul and Michelle still waiting. Our driver swung around to pick them up. Needless to say, we were pretty much sardines. And while on the ride back, our driver regaled us with stories of her visit to Bangkok. Scary. (Editor's note again: This only scratches the surface of the weirdest, craziest taxi ride we ever had.)
I’m glad I was given the opportunity to blog in St. Louis last year, as it provides me with a great collection of memories. Last time I was in Spokane, it was the beginning of a new Olympic cycle. Once again the quadrennium gets underway in the Pacific Northwest. I look forward to bringing you the behind the scenes scoop and random musings over the next week and a half. I make no promises to mention every single skater. That’s not what my blog is about. Consider me supplemental fluff. I never deliberately plan to ignore or exclude anyone. I just write about the things I see and hear during the day. I try never to embarrass anyone, unless they give me permission to do so. I welcome all comments and questions.
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