2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Championship Men's Free Skate press conference

Posted by Brian at 12:11 AM on Jan 28 Comments (6)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Championship, Men, Video

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Press conference following the Championship Men's Free Skate at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 27, 2007. Speaking are: Evan Lysacek, Ryan Bradley, and Johnny Weir.

Evan Lysacek - Just off the ice

Posted by Brian at 11:17 PM on Jan 27 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Championship, Men, Video

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Even Lysacek talks with the press just after his Men's Free Skate performance at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 27, 2007. Lysacek captured 1st place after landing a quad toe triple toe combination.

Championship Men: LIVE from the Spokane Arena

Posted by Berkley Villard at 8:50 PM on Jan 27 Comments (7)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Men, Results, Analysis

WE HAVE AN UPSET AND A BACK FLIP!!

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Championship Ladies Free Skate press conference

Posted by Brian at 6:50 PM on Jan 27 Comments (3)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Championship, Ladies, Video

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Time condensed version of the Championship Ladies Free Skate press conference at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 27, 2007. Speaking are: Kimmie Meissner, Emily Hughes and Alissa Czisny.

Kimmie Meissner - Just off the ice

Posted by Brian at 5:48 PM on Jan 27 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Championship, Ladies, Video

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Excerpts from Kimmie Meissner as she speaks to a she exits the ice following her Free Skate performance at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 27, 2007. Meissner placed 1st in the Free Skate winning her the U.S. Figure Skating Championship.

Post Ladies Free press conference

Posted by Joe at 4:19 PM on Jan 27 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Championship, Audio

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Excerpts from the press conference following the Championship Ladies Free at the U.S. Figure Skating Championship Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007 at the Spokane Arena. Speaking are: Kimmie Meissner, Emily Hughes and Alissa Czisny.

Kimmie Meissner - Just off the ice

Posted by Joe at 3:50 PM on Jan 27 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Audio

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Kimmie Meissner speaks to the media after leaving the ice at the Spokane Arena Sat., Jan. 27, 2007. Meissner won the U.S. Figure Skating Championship after a high scoring short performance and a strong long show.

The ladies earn their accolades

Posted by Vince at 3:02 PM on Jan 27 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Ladies

Well, I'm impressed.

With everything on the line, Kimmie Meissner had enough in her free skate to claim the ladies senior championship to go with last year's world title.

Emily Hughes, third a year ago, placed second and Alissa Czisny put together the performance of her life to finish third.

For more on the ladies, check my post on SportsLink.

Midway through the ladies

Posted by Vince at 1:39 PM on Jan 27 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Ladies

The ladies are through two-thirds of the competitors, and Danielle Kahle, from Moorpark, Calif., leads with the short program leaders yet to take the ice.

If you would like to know how the competition has gone so far, click onto SportsLink for more commentary. I think I have an idea of what's going on by now.

I hope.

Friday Night Video Update

Posted by Colin at 9:52 PM on Jan 26 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Pairs, Analysis, Video

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Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch and skating analyst Berkely Villard give you an update from Fridays Championship Pairs Free Skate.

THE SKATING EDGE

Posted by Joe at 9:35 PM on Jan 26 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, People & Places, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Slideshows

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Spokesman-Review staff photographer Brian Plonka spent some of his time at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships looking for often overlooked moments and scenes.

Where were the spectators?

Posted by Heather at 3:36 PM on Jan 26 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes

The lack of people at this afternoon's (free) men's practice session at the Convention Center got me wondering: Where is everybody?

Then I remembered. Some people in Spokane just might actually be thinking about something other than skating this week.

Morning Practice Run Down

Posted by Berkley Villard at 2:49 PM on Jan 26 Comments (3)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Ladies, Analysis

Kimmie Meissner was in a particularly good mood this morning as she breezed through her long program elements. She warmed up quickly executing both triple lutz, triple toe and triple flip, triple toe combinations.

Read full entry »

Practice, practice, practice

Posted by Vince at 10:43 AM on Jan 26 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Ladies

The Convention Center is open and the ladies are practicing for tomorrow's free skate.

The price is right (free) if you want to watch, and some 500 people are taking advantage of it.

Watching practice is a great way to get to know the sport better, as one competitor goes through their entire routine while five or so others skate around the edges, practicing different elements.

It sort of like watching batting practice before M's games, but you don't get a shot at a home run ball.

True baseball fans know how important B.P. is, and true figure skating aficionados know how important practice is.

I'm going over to the Arena to watch a little of the junior men and see what I can find.

Championship Ladies, LIVE from the Spokane Arena

Posted by Berkley at 7:11 PM on Jan 25 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Ladies, Analysis

Liang leaps over Emily Hughes in short program upset!

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Thursday's figure skating update

Posted by colin at 6:37 PM on Jan 25 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Men, Analysis, Video

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Thursday Figure Skating update with Jeff Bunch and Berkely Villard.

Quads?

Posted by Berkley at 4:20 PM on Jan 25 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes
Tags: Championship, Men

Who's quading and who's not...

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Well, we knew what he meant

Posted by Heather at 3:42 PM on Jan 25 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes

Security guard next to me at the conclusion of Evan Lysacek's stunning, nearly flawless performance of his short program:

"Standing motivation. First one I've seen."

A free skate - literally

Posted by Vince at 2:07 PM on Jan 25 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Junior, Championship, Pairs, Men

The first group of men have taken the ice for their short program and we are in the Arena ready to comment.

First thing I notice: black seems to be the color of choice.

If you want more (and why wouldn't you?) click over to SportsLink for a non-skater's view of the proceedings.

And here's some news: Friday's practice at the Convention Center for the senior men and ladies has been opened to the public, free of charge. The practice will run from 10 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.

If you want to see the best skaters this country has to offer without spending big bucks, here's your chance.

Champ. Pairs Short - press conference

Posted by Joe at 1:26 AM on Jan 25 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Audio

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Excerpts from the post competition press conference Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007, at the Spokane Arena with: Point leaders Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, second place team Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris, and third place team Brooke Castile and Benjamin Okolski.

Bird’s Eye View from Behind the Judges. Junior Ladies Finals

Posted by Berkley at 10:09 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Junior, Ladies, Results, Analysis

Thanks to Bank of America and their suite tickets I was able to sit and watch the junior ladies from the judge’s point of view and wow what a view it was!

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Championship Pairs Short Program LIVE

Posted by Berkley at 8:46 PM on Jan 24 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Pairs, Results

Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, the two oldest competitors at this year’s national championships, took to the ice second opening with side by side double axels. They then proceeded up to their now famous throw triple axel which was landed with a step out. The rest of the program was clean and they set a new personal best score of 62.73.

Naomi Nari Nam & Themi Leftheris, another of Peter Oppegard’s teams opened with side-by-side triple toes and proceeded up ice to an enormous throw triple loop. They had a beautiful step sequence and bauer into a high level split double twist. That should have beat Inoue & Baldwin, however the judges scored them 62.29 which is a new personal best scores for them.

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Gregoire opens U.S. Figure Skating Championship

Posted by Joe at 8:23 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Audio

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Washington Governor Chris Gregoire officially opened the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the Spokane Arena Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007.

Dancing with the junior stars

Posted by Vince at 5:53 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Junior, Dance

Well, I sat through the junior ice dancing free dance.

Though the competition was tight between two couples – Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates edging Madison and Keiffer Hubbell by .17 for first, both nearly 15 points ahead of third-place finishers Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt – the discipline left me sort of cold.

The ice skaters' routines are so much more athletic. Without the leaps, jumps, throws, etc., the dancing seems more performance than competition. Yes, they do decide who won, and tonight's event went down to the wire.

I know it must appeal to many because the Arena was more than half full, but it's not my favorite. However it did provoke some questions, which you can peruse at SportsLink if you want.

Insight into how jumps are scored

Posted by Colin at 3:12 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Video

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Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch and skating analyst Berkely Villard discuss how the new scoring system impacts how jumps are scored.

Ron Hershberger announces new ticket sales record

Posted by Joe at 2:42 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Multimedia
Tags: Audio

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The Presdient of U.S. Figure Skating Ron Hershberger announces at a press conference Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007, that Spokane's championships have set a new record for ticket sales with 146, 311 tickets sold so far.

Johnny Weir Press Conference (Part 3 of 3)

Posted by Brian at 2:40 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Audio

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Three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir answers questions at an afternoon press conference at the Spokane Arena Wednesday.

Wednesday Figure Skating Update

Posted by Colin at 1:49 PM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Ladies, Men, Analysis, Video

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Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch and figure skating analyst Berkely Villard watched Wednesday's practices at the Spokane Arena and give you an update on what they saw.

Senior Ladies 7:00 am Practice

Posted by Berkley at 11:47 AM on Jan 24 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Ladies, Analysis

It was an early morning practice for the Senior Ladies this morning, which meant coffee, more coffee and o.k., one jelly roll for me.

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Skating Etiquette 101

Posted by Heather at 11:42 AM on Jan 24 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Highlights

It's a packed house at the Convention Center right now for the junior men's short program competition. And with that many people squished together on bleachers, somebody is bound to annoy somebody else with their poor observance of Skating Fan Etiquette.

That's why I'm here to help you with a little lesson.

Read full entry »

Championship level Compulsory Dance slideshow

Posted by Colin at 8:50 AM on Jan 24 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Multimedia
Tags: Championship, Dance, Slideshows

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Audio slideshow of Tuesday's Championship level Compulsory Dance competition.

Junior Ladies Free Skate - Post Interviews

Posted by Brian at 9:28 PM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Junior, Ladies, Video

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1st place Mirai Nagasu, 2nd place Caroline Zhang, and 3rd place Ashley Wagner talk about their Junior Ladies Free Skate performances Tuesday at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 23, 2007.

Tuesday's video figure skating update

Posted by colin at 2:04 PM on Jan 23 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Ladies, Men, Analysis, Video

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Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch and skating analyst Berkley Villard look at the senior men and woman who took to the practice ice Tuesday morning.

Summary: Novice Ladies Finals

Posted by Berkley Villard at 2:02 PM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Novice

Deedee Leng was the surprise of Novice Ladies long last night. The 13 year old attempted and completed the only triple lutz of the evening. In all, Lang completed four triples along with a double axel, double toe, double loop combination. Her third place finish in the freeskate was not enough to pull her from ninth to the podium as she finished in fourth. She had the highest technical element score of the evening but lost valuable points in the artistic catagory. Watch for this name in coming years! (9,3) 124.51 4th Overall

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Dancing into the sports arena

Posted by Vince at 11:54 AM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes
Tags: Dance

It comes as no surprise to me that writing about figure skating's athletic aspects would draw a response.

Defending the turf that it is a sport - by my criteria - brought just that. More than a few, actually (some came as e-mails).

But if you want to know more, click this link. There are also observations about this morning's competition.

If you want to read the comments, follow this link to SportsLink and read the posts labeled U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Tickets to ladies final open up

Posted by Vince at 10:39 AM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Ladies

If you are sitting at home, wishing you had tickets to the sold-out Championship Ladies Free Skate Finals, you have hope.

If you act quickly.

U.S. Figure Skating released 200 tickets to Saturday's event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Arena.

If you're interested, you can purchase them at the Spokane Arena and Convention Center box offices, ticketswest.com, or by calling (800) 325-SEAT (7328) or (509) 325-SEAT (7328).

I have no idea of price or location. All I know is, as of 9:20 this morning, 200 seats were available.

Novice Ladies Free 1st place - Angela Maxwell comments

Posted by Brian at 10:20 AM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Novice, Ladies, Video

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Post event comments from Angela Maxwell after she finished in first place in the Novice Ladies Free Skate Monday at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 22, 2007.

Novice Ladies Free 2nd place - Kristine Musademba comments

Posted by Brian at 10:13 AM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Novice, Ladies, Video

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Post event comments from Kristine Musademba after she finished in second place in the Novice Ladies Free Skate Monday at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 22, 2007.

Novice Ladies Free 3rd place - Carolyn-Ann Alba comments

Posted by Brian at 10:08 AM on Jan 23 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Novice, Ladies, Video

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Post event comments from Carolyn-Ann Alba after she finished in third place in the Novice Ladies Free Skate Monday at the Spokane Arena, Jan. 22, 2007.

Images from Monday's events

Posted by Joe at 8:38 PM on Jan 22 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Novice, Junior, Pairs, Slideshows

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Most of these images are from the Spokane Arena in the afternoon. A few are from the morning events at the Convention Center.

This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Waltz

Posted by Berkley at 4:40 PM on Jan 22 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Dance, Analysis

Look out “Dancing With The Stars” fans, the ice dancers are in town and they brought the “Hotness.” Hey, I think that's an Idol quote.

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It's like being in school

Posted by Vince at 3:10 PM on Jan 22 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes
Tags: Novice, Pairs

As I wander around the Arena and Convention Center this week, I am struck with how much there is to learn about this event and sport.

Each change of scenery, each change of competition, each change of venue brings something new to absorb.

I share some of what I learned today in this post on SportsLink, my on-line column.

I expect by the end of the week I'll be able write at least one intelligent sentence about ice dancing.

One can only hope.

Pairs skater John Baldwin speaks about being mugged in Russia

Posted by Colin at 2:53 PM on Jan 22 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Pairs, Video

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Senior pairs skater John Baldwin talks with Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Meehan about being mugged in Russia last Dec. It is the first public interview he has given about the attack.

Trent & Vise Are Attempting History

Posted by Berkley at 2:19 PM on Jan 22 Comments (4)
Filed under: Competition
Tags: Championship, Pairs, Analysis

Vise and Trent are bringing it!! It’s here… throw quadruple salchow. They landed the first attempt with a step out at this morning’s long program practice. It’s amazing! The consistency is low, but if Vise can manage stay on her feet and avoid the costly 1.0 deduction, their element points will benefit. The three other attempts, were all fully rotated, landed, then followed by a slip off the landing edge.

Read full entry »

Monday Video Update

Posted by Colin at 1:41 PM on Jan 22 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Novice, Pairs, Analysis, Video

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Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch and skating analyst Berkely Villard give you your U.S. FIgure Skating update from the Spokane Arena Monday Afternoon.

There's more coverage outside the area

Posted by Vince at 11:20 AM on Jan 22 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes
Tags: Junior, Ladies

The Spokesman-Review isn't the only paper covering the competition this week.

Follow this link to my SportsLink blog and you'll find links to a couple of Seattle Post-Intelligencer stories on the junior ladies short program.

There is also this story from the Orange County Register on Caroline Zhang's "worst program."

Also on SportsLink, I share my thoughts on why you can't disqualify ice skating as a sport just because it's judged.

We'll be back later with more on today's action.

Junior Ladies Short 1st place - Mirai Nagasu comments

Posted by Brian at 10:07 PM on Jan 21 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Junior, Ladies, Video

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Post event comments from Mirai Nagasu after she finished in first place after the Junior Ladies Short program Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007.

Junior Ladies Short 2nd place - Caroline Zhang comments

Posted by Brian at 10:03 PM on Jan 21 Comments (6)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Junior, Ladies, Video

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Post event comments from Caroline Zhang after she finished in second place after the Junior Ladies Short program Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007.

Junior Ladies Short 3rd place - Blake Rosenthal comments

Posted by Brian at 9:56 PM on Jan 21 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Junior, Ladies, Video

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Post event comments from Blake Rosenthal after she finished in third place after the Junior Ladies Short program Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007.

The first of many days

Posted by Vince at 8:29 PM on Jan 21 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes
Tags: Junior, Ladies

I'm no longer a skating juvenile. I've attended an event live.

If you want to know what I thought about it, click this link to my SportsLink post.

But here's a sneak preview: I was pleasantly surprised.

Sunday evening update from the Arena

Posted by Colin at 7:36 PM on Jan 21 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Novice, Junior, Dance, Pairs, Analysis, Video

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Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch gives a video update from the afternoon and evening events at the Arena and Convention Center.

Sunday afternoon Novices

Posted by Joe at 6:33 PM on Jan 21 Comments (0)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Novice, Pairs, Slideshows

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These images and music are from the Sunday afternoon skates at the convention center. The fans held up well getting louder throughout the day.

Skating for the rest of us

Posted by Vince at 5:38 PM on Jan 21 Comments (2)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes

Not everyone associated with the coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a skating illiterate – OK, it's just me. I'm the only one who is bewildered by what I'm watching. Everyone else is a freakin' genius.

As I'm sure everyone is who finds their way to this blog.

But if you're not a skating savant, I'm here for you.

As the overseer of the S-R's SportsLink blog, I'm at the championships as a representative of the mass of sports fans who know skating exists, but may not have experienced it. You're curious about this national event in your town, but ...

My first report on what I'm seeing is here for you to peruse, criticize, laugh at – whatever. Remember, many of these observations might seem, well, basic to a figure skating fan – the equivalent, I'm sure, of explaining an RBI to a baseball nut.

But I'm trying my best. And I guarantee you I respect the effort of everyone involved with this event – though I don't think I will be taking a second mortgage to attend the Worlds.

Sunday morning sights and sounds

Posted by Joe at 3:04 PM on Jan 21 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, People & Places, Multimedia
Tags: Novice, Junior, Pairs, Slideshows

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This show is mostly skating from the convention center but there are also images from off the ice and a few from practce sessions at the Spokane Arena.

Sunday morning update from the Arena

Posted by Colin at 11:32 AM on Jan 21 Comments (1)
Filed under: Competition, Behind The Scenes, Multimedia
Tags: Junior, Dance, Analysis, Video

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The Spokesman-Review's Jeff Bunch gives you a Sunday morning video update from the practice sessions at the Spokane Arena.

U.S. Figure Skating Championship Video Preview

Posted by Colin at 4:22 PM on Jan 19 Comments (4)
Filed under: Competition, Multimedia, Highlights
Tags: Analysis, Video

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Spokesman-Review writer Jeff Bunch and skating analyst Berkley Villard preview the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.