 Please, not the sickness ... Michelle Wojdyla and Laura Fawcett out of commission Wednesday morning. Make the madness stop!
Notes from Wednesday, Jan 24
(1/24/07) - Apologies for the delay in this blog. My wicked sore throat got worse and the fever knocked me for a loop. I had so much I wanted to write about, but the words just aren’t coming easily. But I’ll do my best to catch you up on the Tuesday scoop.
Tuesday felt like a doubly long day because the first part was spent at the Convention Center and the second at the arena. Normally I love “Dance Tuesday,” but I confess I’m not a tango fan. When Igor Shpilband asked me why I was backstage doing photos rather than rinkside watching, and I confessed my feelings for the tango, he looked as though I had kicked his puppy.
Tension was higher backstage for the junior OD than it was for the compulsories. Still, though, the friendship and camaraderie was clearly evident, like when Madison Hubbell came over to Emily Samuelson to see how Evan was doing. Various members of the Spokane police department tracked me down to ask questions about the original dance and what to look for. I love that they are getting so into ice dancing in particular and skating in general. It may be that strep throat is an epidemic in Spokane, but skating fever is what everyone seems to have come down with.
After junior dance, Daphne was working on her article and I was going through my backstage photos. Then it was over to the arena for more dance and the first senior competitions.
Having both the CD and the OD on the same day really drained the senior dancers. Most of the ones I talked to said that it was too much, especially given the time of their practice in the morning. The break between the events wasn’t long enough to totally come down from competitive adrenaline and chill and eat, but too long to carry over between the two events. By the time the draw was over, it was very late and the dancers had the first practice at 8:00 a.m. Some of them said they planned on skipping it, since they would have a chance to go on Thursday.
One of the reporters covering the event asked Tanith and Ben about Meryl and Charlie and then did the opposite. The two couples have a wonderful mutual appreciation society going on. Here are some quotes:
Meryl: “As role models, they are great for us. As people. As athletes. As training mates. They’re just everything we want. We can look up to them. They can teach us how to be the athletes we want to be. They’re just amazing.”
Tanith: “If you guys could see these guys train. They blow our minds every day in practice. It’s just incredible what they’ve been able to achieve this year. They have a phenomenal free dance that I think is one of the best programs I’ve seen in years. And the way they perform it, they compete better than they practice. They’re going to have great things no matter what in their future and I really hope that they get it this year. They’re something different in U.S. ice dancing and I think they have so much to offer.
“They’ve been together longer than Ben and I have. They’re holding the crown right now as the longest standing competitive team in ice dancing. They have a connection and a seamlessness when they skate. They really do skate as one. We can learn a lot from watching them skate. They have a fantastic work ethic and their personality is great. Their extension and their lines and their flow is a lot to aspire to. They’re very, very good.”
Ben: “They’re *awesome*. Every year they blow my mind with how much they improve.”
Tanith: “To move to senior and look worthy of being senior, if not at the top senior pack is incredible.”
I asked Tanith about her tango dress, being that I’ve seen her in at least four different ones this season. Here’s the story behind that:
Tanith: “This is actually a practice dress from five years ago. I didn’t have anything to wear for the waltz/OD practice. I just put this on and I guess the coaches liked it a lot more. Actually, it used to be two pieces, because it used to be a body suit with a different skirt and I put this (sheer black fabric) over it and arts and crafted it myself this morning. My coaches always like different things on me. It’s fun to keep them on their toes. As far as the costume goes, I like more of the idea of being in more realistic, actual clothing that you would wear, rather than a costume. Ben’s in a suit you would see on a dashing man. I would always prefer to wear something that’s a little more real in the tango. It makes it more raw. I’ll have a different one at Four Continents and Worlds, I guarantee.”
One of my least favorite parts about covering skating is having to do mixed zones with athletes who have just had a bad skate. It’s news and the audience needs to know, but that doesn’t make it enjoyable, especially if they are close to tears.
Morgan Matthews and Max Zavozin had a stumble and a fall over the two programs today. Max said he didn’t know what happened in the OD, but that it was probably a lack of concentration because their tango was going so well.
“Definitely not our best day, but what can you do,” Max said. “We get tomorrow off. Hopefully Friday will go much better than today.”
Meryl and Charlie were beyond thrilled to be in second after the CD and only .2 out of second after the OD. Once we got the “real” questions out of the way, I had to ask Charlie about what he thinks of the buzz about him across the Internet as skating’s newest sex symbol.
“I always try to be the nice guy,” he said, smiling. “It’s a testament that nice guys don’t always finish last, I guess.”
“I keep him grounded,” Meryl deadpanned.
I assume with the hectic schedule the skaters have, there wouldn’t be much time for surfing the Internet.
I would be wrong.
Suddenly I see this blond coming my way, pointing at me.
“You’re the person I want to see!”
Uh oh. Kim Navarro doesn’t look happy.
“I read that blog and my feelings are hurt.”
Brent hadn’t read it, so Kim proceeded to tell him they were no longer my favorite mixed zone skaters.
“Minna and Taylor Toth?!” Brent sounded incredulous. “Let’s get this back.”
However, it was just me in the mixed zone, so they didn’t have a large audience to play off. After getting the needed quotes on the Golden Waltz, I threw Brent a curve ball in questioning about Pilar Bosley. I asked him if having his girlfriend competing at nationals—and injured—is a distraction.
“For Pilar and I, I think we both have a healthy outlook,” Brent said. “We’re both here in Spokane, but this is our job. While it would be nice to spend all the time in the world with her and do a lot of things together, it’s not that kind of trip. I think we do a good job staying focused on the task at hand. I mean, I feel bad that she’s injured and rooting for her and trying to watch her every chance I get. She understands this is my priority and I understand that her skating is her priority.”
Kim made a ploy to get to the top of the mixed zone standings with her own twist on this.
“I’ve never dated Pilar,” Kim confessed. “I’ve always wanted to, but she’s turned me down a couple times. She’s so cute.”
Nice try, you two, but I don’t think it deserves first place yet.
In parting, Kim said that while getting a medal in dance would be nice, the important prize is getting the gold in my blog for best mixed zone.
Stay tuned.
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