Monday, June 21, 2010

This and That







The ISU has announced the Grand Prix assignments for the fall. Given that so many of these skaters will withdraw and others will be added in their place, it is difficult to make too much of them just yet. I was shocked to see Beverly Smith writing an article about Plushenko having another season in him given the Grand Prix announcement. I'll eat my words if he shows up, but Plushenko has been scheduled to have surgery this summer. What we do know is that Evan Lysacek and Joannie Rochette will definitely not be competing in the Grand Prix.


Nicole Bobek plead guilty to her role in the crystal meth distribution ring. She will be sentenced on August 5 and can face anywhere from probation to five years in prison.

My adopted daughter, Maddi Desch, finished second behind Va Zam in elite compulsories at the Bieger Elite Qualifier and wound up qualifying all the way through to the National Championships. Grace Williams, who won JOs (Maddi was 4th, 1st on UB at JOs) will have to qualify for Championships at the US Classic.

The ISU officially eliminated the compulsory dance and implemented scores of other changes. Suzanne Bonaly was a US Rep at the council summit. It is unclear to what degree he failed us.

A few things happened while I was away for a few weeks. The major story was that Sale and Pelletier divorced but decided to still skate together. This surprised approximately no one. Oddly enough, articles about their divorce included quotes about how they knew they were meant to be during their '98 tryout. For anyone who witnesses their amateur career, it was obvious that they'd never last each and every time Jamie missed yet another side-by-side jump and David screamed at her. It is likely that a cheap shot during a Love Story snowball fight may have been the last straw.

Mao Asada has chosen music for her new programs. She will be skating to Alfred Schnittke's 'Tango' for her short program and Franz Listz's 'Liebestraum' for her free skate. Mao's new jump coach is Hiroshi Nagakubo. Liebestraum will be heaven on Mao Asada and will help erase the memory of The Bells of Moscow. Tango is a welcome addition to the skating music vault.

Tony Wheeler saw Johnny Weir and others perform on Saturday. Johnny managed to reel off a few triple toes. He is a page out of the Yamaguchi book on a sustainable professional career. Tony was not pleased with famewhore manager Tara Modlin who nastily eschewed autograph seekers in order to bring Johnny to another D List autograph session where autograph seekers were forced to pay. Michelle Kwan never charged for her autograph. Frankly, these sessions are reminiscent of Tonya Harding charging $15 for her autograph. I believe that P.T. Barnum used to charge admission for their freak show ($5 for the elephant man.) A few videos were recorded.

8 comments:

  1. any chance beverly smith has to bash a russian she takes it!! i think she published that to make a note of the fact he doesn't have a high world ranking

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  2. Wow, Fumie just won't quit, will she?

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  3. I've been reading the comments posted by Johnny's FB fans. Seems that most of them had a fabulous time.

    This Tony guy you link to, never has anything good to say about Tara Modlin. Tara comes from a culture that is known for its strong, very smart and directive women. Maybe he just can't stand the type.

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  4. PumaJ- hello to you. This is the first time I've ever said ANYTHING about Tara Modlin, so I don't know where your "never has anything good to say" comes from. Oh well.

    She was rude and snapped for no reason, taking the center of attention when no one was paying attention to her. I love smart and strong people in general-- this wasn't the case. Sorry!

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  5. Tara has no class and should not be in a responsible job. She is doing a bad job with Johnny and Jeremey ( who even knows Jeremy's name outside the skating world) and if you ever watched Johnny's absurd little show you would see why. All she does is act like Johnny's bff and act like a drunk teen.

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  6. I think it's in poor taste to single Johnny Weir out for supposedly "charging for his autograph" at the Skate For Hope meet and greet. All of the headline skaters were present at that meet and greet, not just Johnny.

    Also, all of the skaters donated their time for this event so that 100% of the proceeds would go toward breast cancer research. Considering that Weir's grandfather passed away the day before he had to be in Ohio, I think it's really nice that he followed through with his obligation, even though it must have been hard for him.

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  7. Tara Modlin is not smart, she is just trashy and obnoxious. There is a difference.

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  8. How many money did they raise or was it just for awareness? I think that anyone give up their free time should not be mocked for it.

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