2008 U.S. Nationals: Land of 10,000 Blogs by Katie
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Back to the Cat Show
Remember yesterday how I went to the cat show and saw a bunch of Russian pins? Well, I went back today and bought some. I bought a CSKA pin, which was the cheaper of the three since CSKA still exists and can produce more. The other two were more pricy as there are only a limited amount of these pins out there: Leningrad European pin from 1970 and another one from the same competition in 1990.
I need to tell a funny story before I forget about it. Jayar Walker (writing for Golden Skate this week) has been helping out the ice-dance.com staff here in St. Paul, getting quotes and giving us audio files. He told us a story about how he used to go to skating competitions and shows with Jay Adeff. This was before Jayar started writing for Golden Skate, so he was there as a spectator sitting by Jay while Jay took pictures. Jayar said he used to come home from skating competitions with a big lump on his forehead where Jay had hit him with the camera lens. Jay would pan; Jayar wouldn’t. Jayar is glad this doesn’t happen anymore.
As I’m waiting for the final group of men to take the ice, I’ve realized I’m only one hour away from the conclusion of my first nationals. As the week comes to a close, I’ve realized some things aren’t the way I imagined them. But on the other hand, things have been better than I imagined them to be. The blogging experience has been much more fun than I thought it would be. I managed to “sleepblog” at least once. I’ve also received messages from people who can’t be here thanking me for my “behind the scenes” anecdotes.
Now I’m going to sit back and watch the battle between Johnny and Evan. So long from St. Paul, and thanks for reading!
posted by IDC Staff at 1:59 PM
Rocky Balboa and Mr. Bo Jangles
Today I was a little lazy and slept in. That’s ok, given the fact that I will get little sleep tomorrow night. I’m driving home right after the men’s free and then I have to be at work early on Monday morning. Real life is so overrated.
I went to breakfast with my gracious hosts, who I’ve barely seen the whole week I’ve been in St. Paul. We had some delicious banana pancakes at a local diner. My favorite part about going to different cities is checking out local hang-outs and new restaurants. After my own breakfast, I went to meet Daphne, Michelle, and Karen at their favorite breakfast spot. When I got there, they could tell I was a little frazzled. Two cars tried to cut me off on the highway just before I got there. And, to add insult to injury, I forgot today’s event tickets at my host’s house. This is one of those instances where I really want to blame someone, but I can’t. It was my fault I forgot the tickets (and again, my fault I forgot my jeans – we are going in Day 5 without them).
Daphne and I made a pit stop for my tickets and were at the arena in time to see the last two groups of pairs. Keauna McLaughlin & Rockne Brubaker skated an amazing free program. It is so exciting to see someone win their first senior national title. I was also so happy that Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin skated such a good program. They were so excited, jumping up and down and hugging each other. In such a small time together they’ve accomplished so much.
After the pairs medal ceremony, Daphne, Karen, and I went to the cat show that was being held in one of the rooms off of the skyway here in the Xcel Center. This was my very first cat show, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I enjoyed the movie “Best In Show,” but that was about dog shows. My best friend and I really loved the James Van der Beek and Molly Shannon “Saturday Night Live” skit about dog shows – “Rocky Balboa and Mr. Bo Jangles!” But once again, that was about a dog show, not a cat show. Can they really be that much different? I took some really cute pictures of cats, though. My mom will appreciate those more than the skating photos, I think. Glad I can make someone happy.
OK, so this cat show had some interesting vender booths stationed around the edges of the room. The one I liked the most was run by Russians. They had matryoskha dolls, icons, and pins for sale. Their pin collection was amazing. Even when I lived in Russia I never saw a vendor with this number of authentic pins. Daphne walked up to the booth to take a look and I showed her a CSKA pin. For those of you who don’t know, CSKA (Central Red Army Sports Club) is the famous Moscow sports school that produced great Soviet skaters – Irina Rodnina & Alexandr Zaitsev, Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, and many more. I decided to ask the vendor if they had any skating-specific pins. I asked him in Russian, and he was surprised by my usage of the language, but said that I spoke well. He showed us a page devoted only to figure skating pins. It was so cool! There was a pin from the 1990 Europeans in Leningrad and another from the 1970 Europeans, also held in Leningrad. I kept saying to Daphne that the perfect person to show these pins to would be Johnny Weir. His love of Russia probably rivals my own. It was kind of ironic that right after we left the cat show, I saw Johnny signing autographs at the Reidell booth. That is no place to have an educated conversation about Russia, so I figured I’d let the idea go for the time being.
After the cat show, we took our seats for the free dance. All of the teams did great, and it was such a thrill to see the final flight of skaters. Each team brings their own unique quality to the sport. I had been looking forward to seeing Tanith & Ben’s free dance live all year. I think their FD this year is one of the best they have ever had. I was also impressed by the changes Meryl & Charlie made to their free dance. I liked it so much better here than I have all year. The audience gave standing ovations to both Belbin & Agosto and Davis & White. Both programs really evoked the emotions of everyone here in the arena.
Now I’m off to shoot podium pictures for senior dance. That was quite the interesting ladies final. All I can really think about is who is the U.S. going to send to worlds?
posted by IDC Staff at 1:12 PM
Friday, January 25, 2008
Curly-haired people of the world – Unite!
I’m finally back at my friend’s house at a decent hour. No awards tonight, so we headed home right after the men’s short program. I’m going to start off by saying that I was sitting two rows in front of Brian Boitano for a while during the men’s short. My cousin is a big fan of Brian’s, so I kept trying to think of ways to approach him for an autograph to give to her. Nothing came to me, so I figured I better not pursue it. Sorry Steph, one of these days I’ll come through for you.
The hall of fame induction reminded me how much I miss Paul Wylie’s skating. I commented that I would give my arm to see him skate again. Paul was inducted this year along with Todd Eldredge, who at least is still skating with Stars on Ice. Would it be too much to ask Paul to guest star at some point?
Speaking of Paul and Todd, their costumes were featured as part of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame Exhibit at the Winter Carnival. My, how costumes have changed! Just take a look at them in my winter carnival album – definitely more voidy than those we see now. But that could just be the 80s. The St. Paul Winter Carnival proved that Minnesota can make the best the cold weather. I needed my hands free to take pictures, but that was rather torturous considering the blistering weather. I’m really glad I bought those kinds of gloves where you can pull the fabric on or off your fingers when you need to.
Daphne, Kim Navarro, and I had an excellent conversation about how to deal with natural curly hair. People think it is really a blessing, but believe me, it is NOT! I’m glad Daphne and Kim could sympathize with me. I recommended they both try Lush products. My current shampoo is made of coconut and it makes me want to eat it every time I take a shower. Maybe that is why the bottle is getting so low so fast…hmmm….
It was weird not to have a dance event today. But it was a much welcomed break. Today was a catch-up day. Daphne sat with Jennifer Wester and I and treated us to a tutorial of Dreamweaver (web design/maintenance software). It all seemed a little confusing at first, but I think once I get home and can try it out myself I’ll get the hang of it. At least I won’t be doing anything major, and Daphne assured me that I can’t screw up anything too badly. I hope not anyway.
Pants update: Day 4 wearing the same dress pants. They are getting a little too dirty. Sorry to everyone in advance if I smell! I still haven’t had the time to go buy a pair of jeans. I’m so picky with jeans anyway because I have no faith I will find a pair that has just that perfect fit. My close friends know that I wear jeans until they are filled with holes. Even then, if I really like them, I will sew on patches. My current favorite pair I’ve had for over two years. I’m feeling quite lost without them here in St. Paul.
One quick note for anyone who will be driving to downtown St. Paul: It costs $1.75 to park in a metered spot for one hour. I put in a quarter and had nine minutes. The downtown district must think money grows on trees. Remind me never to drive down there again.
posted by IDC Staff at 11:36 PM
A happy little tree lives here
It is only 7:00 PM and I feel like it is 10:00 . This might be because I endured a nerve-wracking junior free dance or it could just be because I have been here since 8:45 this morning. I say the junior free dance was nerve-wracking because I really wanted all of the teams to do well. The junior dance teams are just too exciting right now. The top five finishers are easily some of the most talented teams on any level. I’m just so amazed at the depth of dancers in the U.S. To use one of Michelle’s favorite phrases, “It rocks!”
I need to mention that yesterday there was a contest on the jumbotron. Two kids were selected to name celebrities that appeared on the screen. The first contestant didn’t get the rules, so when asked to name a celebrity, she said, “Jamie Lynn Spears” instead of looking up at the screen at the image of Fred Flintstone. It really disappointed me that Jamie Lynn Spears is that famous now. I have a sister that is ten, so I understand the Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, and Hilary Duff love. But I can say with certainty that if she ever lists Jamie Lynn Spears as one of her favorite celebrities, we are going to sit down and have a long talk about appropriate behavior at sixteen. Ok, enough of that rant.
After the junior free dance, Madison & Keiffer Hubbell came over to say hi to us. They seemed so happy and relaxed. Keiffer’s injury and subsequent food poisoning really took a toll on them this season. I hope that next year they can finally compete with healthy bodies. Even they said they wished they would have been able to skate with more expression and reckless abandon than they were able to here in St. Paul .
Right now my brain is extremely tired. Transcribing quotes while trying to write the junior free dance article while also watching the senior OD seemed to take some wind out of my sails. I’m looking forward to sitting back, grabbing some food, and enjoying the ladies short program. There are twenty competitors, so I have lots of time to relax before I need to shoot the junior dance podium.
Celebrity sighting of the day would be Kristi Yamaguchi. She was being approached by a number of fans for autographs and pictures while she was sitting in the stands. I also saw Nancy Kerrigan, but that’s a given with her commentating here. She looks really good during the beginning stages of her third pregnancy.
I also saw a Bob Ross look-alike. Of course, it can’t be the real him. But seeing his twin made me think of the times I sat with my babysitter (Hi Kim, if you ever read this) and watched good ole’ Bob paint a “happy little tree” in the middle of almost every painting.
We had some little kids running around the media section today, playing hide-and-seek behind the tables. Michelle asked them if they wanted to write our articles. They said yes, only if it was about that “cool team who skated to the Trans-Siberian stuff.” They obviously meant the Hubbells, who skated to Apocolyptica Cult. There is some kind of Trans-Siberian influence in that music.
Emily Samuelson had the coolest OD outfit ever. It reminded me of what I wore at a recent Russian Christmas party where I played “Snegurushka,” aka “The Snow Princess.” And I still like Tanith & Ben’s first version of the OD this year better than what they are skating now. Maybe because I’m a fan of bluegrass? Who knows?
I think I finally hit my blog groove. Maybe that is because I’m sleep-blogging (© Michelle). I’ll have to wait for the loud announcer to wake me up. Once the ladies short program starts he’ll blare in our ears and we’ll all go deaf. Oh well, it has happened a few times this week already.
And….just need to add that Jennifer Wester almost tripped Christine Brennan down the stairs.
posted by IDC Staff at 1:10 PM
Thursday, January 24, 2008
I landed my first single toe-loop while everyone in St. Paul is doing quads
Since I’ve been coming to skating competitions more often now, I’ve really started to pay attention to everything “behind the scenes.” Yesterday, for example, during Davis & White’s Yankee Polka, I took particular notice of their coaches, Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva. When you are watching skating on TV, rarely do the networks show coaches during the performance. Marina was one of the more animated coaches at the boards during the compulsories, following along with each element Meryl & Charlie performed by bobbing her head up and down, moving her arms, gesturing, or clapping. Each time Meryl & Charlie passed by, Igor and Marina would clap and give their students words of encouragement. I wonder if this kind of encouragement had anything to do with the wonderful performance Davis & White delivered. It certainly would have given me a boost – seeing my coaches get behind me like that.
I’m constantly amazed by the level of talent exhibited here at Nationals. Granted, these athletes have been training and performing their whole lives, but what they do out there on the ice never ceases to amaze me. Just the other day I was thrilled to have landed my first ever single toe-loop. Granted, I was aided by the harness, but shhhh! Now, only a few days after my triumph, I’m watching the men’s practice and see Jeremy Abbott go for the quad in the run-through of his long program. He doubled it, but it was the biggest double I’d ever seen and is still bigger and better than anything I will ever accomplish on the ice. At this point in my life, I have no dreams about becoming a champion, it is all for my own personal enjoyment. But these skaters are capable of doing more, and that is something to be applauded.
I think I might break to grab some hot chocolate – it had to be -20 degrees this morning, maybe even colder. I heard it is supposed to warm up tomorrow, just in time for me to go to the Winter Carnival. I’m glad I don’t have to go buy long underwear. But, I still need to go get a pair of jeans tomorrow. These dress pants aren’t cutting it in this cold weather.
One final thought while watching the final men’s practice group: Evan needs to get a new color. Badly. Black is just not doing it for me. Still like his skating though 🙂
posted by IDC Staff at 10:42 AM
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
I always forget to pack one key item
After a long drive last night, I finally arrived in St. Paul for my first U.S. Championships. Over the years I have done lots of traveling, and I’ve come to realize one thing: I always forget to pack one key item. Usually, I forget toothpaste. Or a comb. Maybe socks. But this time I forgot pants. Yes, pants! Luckily, I did have the dress pants I was wearing yesterday. But I packed all of my clothes as if I had been wearing my favorite pair of jeans. I end up with this mixture of an outfit: tennis shoes, sweatshirt, and dress pants. Oh well, it could have been worse. I could have left my tickets at home.
I met up with the rest of the ice-dance.com staff this morning for breakfast at the same restaurant they have been eating at all week. The food was really good. I want to go back tomorrow. I was very excited to see Daphne and Michelle again. The last time I saw them was in Lake Placid last August when I did my first ice-dance.com coverage. Nationals is a lot different than Lake Placid, but I’m finding things in St. Paul to be just as exciting.
After breakfast, we went over to the Xcel Center for the Senior Compulsory Dance. With Michelle shooting, I was able to start pulling and editing photos to put up online. We enjoyed trying to pick which teams would place where, and I like to think that we were almost spot-on in our predictions. Meryl Davis & Charlie White skated a really great Yankee Polka, and it was no surprise to us that they were so close to the leaders, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto. Before the CD started, they showed a montage that is familiar to those who have been to Nationals before, but is new to me. It is set to the music “I Like the Way You Move” and it shows all dancers doing their best “hair flip.” I would give Tanith Belbin a +2 GOE on the hair flip, but Albena Denkova wins out with a +3 GOE.
I think my favorite part of the compulsory dance (besides the actual skating) was trying to figure out which costumes had been recycled and used in other programs. For example, Ben Agosto’s CD costume was his first OD costume this year. Mimi Whetstone was wearing a new costume, but earlier this season she had been wearing Tanith Belbin’s costume from 2006.
The Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place right before the pairs short program. The USFS president, Ron Hershberger, opened the event, saying that Minnesota has a very rich history of skating and is therefore the perfect host for these championships. The Mayor of St. Paul called the city “Figure Skating town USA.” My impression was that everyone involved with promoting and hosting the event here in St. Paul is extremely excited about showing off their city. Even the Snow King and Queen of the Winter Carnival stopped by to kick off the event. I’ll have to make sure I check out the king and queen when I make a stop at the Winter Carnival on Friday.
And that just reminded me how cold it is outside. A really do love the cold, but sometimes that feeling of your lungs freezing with one breath is just too much. That will be my lungs freezing while taking photos of ice sculptures on Friday. So, when you look at the “Postcards from ‘Paul” pictures and see the ice sculptures, think of me and my frozen hands.
Next up was the pairs short program. During a Zamboni break, John Coughlin’s parents were interviewed on the jumbotron. When asked why John got into skating, his mom said that his sister skated and so it was more of a “babysitting technique” that got him into figure skating than anything else. Speaking of John Coughlin, I was really looking forward to his Nationals debut with new partner Caitlin Yankowskas. I saw them skate in their first competition as a pair back in November at Midwestern Sectionals. Needless to say, they took my breath away. I don’t say that very often but with them it was just magic. Their performance here in St. Paul wasn’t as strong as at Mids (they are currently in sixth), but I still think they are a pair to watch and might just pull out some of that special quality in the long program on Saturday.
It has been a long day, but tomorrow will be even longer with two big dance events scheduled. My first trip to Nationals has been fun and exciting so far and I hope tomorrow is just as great (and maybe even better!).
posted by IDC Staff at 11:16 PM
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Yesterday started off as a normal work-day
Yesterday started off as a normal work-day: attending meetings, writing emails, sending faxes, and putting finishing touches on the senior preview article for ice-dance.com. Around 3:30 p.m. I heard from Michelle, who asked if I could be on the U.S. Figure Skating conference call with Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto. The call was scheduled last-minute, and Michelle wasn’t sure she could fully partipate on such short notice. My day went from boring and predictable to exciting at the thought of interviewing Tanith and Ben about the upcoming U.S. Championships!
This was my first conference call for ice-dance.com, so naturally, I was a little nervous. Michelle decided to dial-in as well and help take notes, which made me feel a lot better. She and I were among the first to call in, and we soon found ourselves trying to kill time via Gmail chat as USFS was having some technical difficulties with Tanith and Ben getting onto the call. Callers were not automatically muted, so we followed our instructions and pressed *6 to mute ourselves. Then we realized something important: no one told us how to UN-mute! And you can’t ask others on the call how to do it because, well, we’re muted. At one point, another member of the press (who did not mute) shouted in our ears and during most of the call there was a distinct screeching noise. That was not pleasant. But it was well worth it once Tanith and Ben got on the line.
Scottie Bibb from USFS introduced Tanith and Ben and asked them if they could walk us through their season so far.
Tanith: This has been an incredible season, the best season we have ever had. We feel the strongest and really think our programs are the best work we have ever done. This summer we put in more work than the summer after the Olympics. This season we really wanted to step up our game. All year we have had great feedback on our programs, especially our free dance. I think our free dance is special and unique. We aren’t planning on making big changes right now to any of our dances. Right now we are just practicing and working hard.
After Scottie’s initial question, members of the press were allowed to ask Tanith and Ben their own questions. I figured out that unmuting required another *6, so I was fortunate enough to ask two questions. The first one had been weighing on my mind the whole season as I saw the numerous changes made to their country/folk OD.
Katie Weigel from ice-dance.com (otherwise known as “me”): Tanith and Ben, you said that all season you have received feedback about your free dance and were able to make changes. I have noticed that you have also changed your original dance a number of times. Can you elaborate on the changes you made in the original dance and what prompted these changes?
Ben: At the beginning of the season, we felt that our free dance was our strongest part of the competition. The feedback we received after Skate America was that our original dance didn’t hold up to strength of the free dance. Because of that, we wanted to go back to the drawing board. We really wanted to focus on getting the energy going right from the beginning. We needed to capture the essence of the dance right away and draw the audience in. We also wanted the audience to appreciate the fun nature of the dance and improve the impact of the program. After making the changes, we feel like we are able to draw people in right away.
Tanith: I think that the free dance was better received because it came from a more honest place. I think ice dance critics can read right through you. I think the free dance is subtle and beautiful with an honest emotion. In the original dance, maybe we were doing it a little too hokey, a little too animated. We wanted to bring that genuine feeling into a hyper, energetic program. The costume changes and music changes also helped. Now we feel like the dance is more relatable to us.
Michelle typed her question into Gmail chat so that I could ask it for her, since she wasn’t able to talk at that moment.
Katie Weigel from ice-dance.com (still me): A few years ago, there were only seven senior dance teams and now it seems like the depth in dance at all levels has really gone up. Do you feel responsible for that?
Tanith: If anyone would be so bold to say that, we would be flattered. Everything has a cycle and we came along at the right time. We were very lucky to have the opportunity we did at the Olympics to be in the spotlight. I think ice dancing was ready to climb that wave. There are very young skaters dedicated just like we are. Ben and I don’t stand alone. Meryl (Davis) and Charlie (White) and other junior skaters have worked really hard to get where they are. Once skating gets back to more coverage we will hopefully see the quality of skating that ice dancing has to offer.
Ben: I really feel so lucky that we were able to come and follow in the footsteps of some really great skaters who were training so hard but just banging against the wall. I think the ice dancing world was ready for us to come along. I think people can see it is possible (to do well) and that American ice dancers can succeed. It’s really incredible for me to watch the young skaters come along and really push the sport. That is the most exciting thing, and I am amazed at how the depth has grown over the last few years.
Elvin Walker from GoldenSkate.com: You guys are all but guaranteed a fifth national title. So looking at what is coming for you later this season, what do you need to do to be on top at Worlds? You were successful in defeating the Russians once this season. How will you plan to beat them later this season?
Ben: First of all, we are extremely excited about Nationals. We look at it as one of the most important competitions of the season. We get to perform for our fan base. We don’t want to put Nationals behind before we compete there. Looking ahead, we need to keep working and polishing everything the best that we can. We really just want to perform our programs to their very best.
Tanith: We don’t consider the Russians our one and only competition going into the World Championships. The dance world right now is very unpredictable. There are the French teams, Tessa (Virtue) and Scott (Moir), and many others. We don’t single out one team. It is a very tight race. We also can’t count out up and comers because they are ready to come in and take our spots.
Elvin Walker from GoldenSkate.com: If you do capture your fifth National title, you will be in very good company among American ice-dancers. What does that mean for you?
Tanith: We trained with Naomi (Lang) and Peter (Tchernyschev) while [they were] earning five U.S. titles. Liz (Punsalan) and Jerod (Swallow) also won five titles. We feel honored to be considered with them. Our goal for the future is to continue our winning streak right up to 2010.
Brian with Colorado Springs Gazette: What makes this season better than others?
Ben: I think this season is a culmination of ten years working together. Most importantly, we took time to go back to basics this past summer. This year we were really able look at our basics and make sure that we were becoming stronger and faster. We worked on having better line and unison.
Tanith: The fundamentals of our skating skills have really improved. I think this year we were able to approach this season as mature adults. I think that things are really falling into place for us.
Lynn Rutherford with IceNetwork.com: Tanith and Ben, it seems that in the compulsories you lose points compared to your other dances. How have you taken steps this season to improve the compulsory dances?
Ben: We think we have made a step forward this year with the compulsory dances. We have put the time in. There is really no other way to improve them but to put in time on basic skating skills.
Nancy Armour with the Associated Press: Was there a point where you realized you needed to go back to basics?
Ben: The desire to go back and work on our basics was always there. It has been something we have wanted to work on every year. Last year was the worst for our schedule. We just didn’t have the time to train that summer (after the Olympics). This year was the first good opportunity in a few years to get to work on basic skating. We did a lot of stroking, basic exercises, and strength training. We learned how important basics are, and we need to keep that in mind looking forward to the coming years. We know we need to build as much time in for training the basics.
Tanith: This year we took the time off and on the ice to work on our basic skills. We are using every second of our warm-up. We don’t just casually warm up. Our mental approach to training is to be more efficient. When we are off the ice we are not finished training. We have been stretching more after sessions and working out harder and longer. The result is that we are physically more fit.
Nancy from St. Paul Pioneer Press: How do you feel about your momentum going into the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver?
Tanith: This year is the first year that we have been able to progress, which has given us motivation to push ourselves further. Two years seems long, but it really isn’t. I am worried that we will run out of time and that we will get too anxious too soon before 2010. 2006 wasn’t as nerve-wracking because we weren’t expecting to compete in the Olympics then.
Ben: I think this year is extremely important because it will set up the competition going into the Olympics. Teams will start vying for positions on the world stage. Everyone will be paying attention to this battle. Two years will fly by. I think the next few years will be very exciting.
Nancy Armour with the Associated Press: There has been a decline in viewership of figure skating over the past years. Why do you think this happened and how do you think skating can recover?
Tanith: I’ve tried to talk to skating fans, and I’ve found out that people still love skating. People love it for the sport and the entertainment. I think the key to success is how we are packaging it and selling it to people. I know that the skating world is trying to market it in new ways to get more people interested. Before, we had a lot of stars and celebrities. Somehow we are missing that now. We don’t have the scandals and the celebrities. I think we should try to find something for the younger generation to relate to. The problem is people haven’t seen enough of skating to see past the stereotypes. The key is to find a new way to sell skating.
Ben: Tanith pretty much said it all. The new judging system offers new terminology for viewers to get used to. New elements have made the level of sport increase and have made it more exciting. But we need to make it more understandable for the viewers.
After this last question, our time to chat with Tanith and Ben was up. All-in-all, I thought the other reporters on the call asked interesting and thoughtful questions. We covered a lot of ground in a half-hour! (The above quotes do not constitute a transcript of every spoken word, but were highlights of the call.) I would have loved to sit down with Tanith and Ben and discuss these issues, especially about how to market and grow figure skating, but alas, our time was limited.
I am very happy with the way my first conference call went and I hope to do many more for ice-dance.com!
posted by IDC Staff at 11:24 AM