Who is watching figure skating tonight?

[madison2000]

I am.

[FuzzySlippers]

1. I probably will.

My brother is actually there. Lucky him!

[madison2000]

2. I've followed it for years, though not always religiously

Never been to a live competition.
Watched the mens this afternoon, it was fantastic.
Ladies on in 20 minutes!

[FuzzySlippers]

4. Is Dick Buttons doing commentary?

That guy kind of gets on my nerves. I don't think he's ever shut up for 5 consecutive seconds.

[madison2000]

6. Yes, he is, and he is truly an annoying old man.

[LibDemAlways]

13. Totally agree.

What's so infuriating about him is that when you see an old clip of his Olympic performance in 1952, it's apparent that a couple of spins and single jumps was enough to get him the medal. He was not a great skater, and by today's standards, he sucked. Yet, he thinks nothing of dissing today's much more talented and technically proficient skaters. He should shut the hell up.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. But he has been involved with the sport continuously, so he has

perspective. You don't necessarily have to be proficient in order to know what's good and what isn't.

All the performance sports have evolved tremendously since the 1950s. Look at the gymnasts in Tokyo Olympiad or watch films of Sonja Henie, who won a whole string of Olympic gold medals, and you'll see that standards are just higher now.

Peggy Fleming won her gold medal in the days when women skaters were not expected to do triple jumps. Her Olympic gold medal was considered amazing, because it came only 7 years after the entire national skating team was killed in a plane crash on their way to the world championships in Europe.

Anybody who won an Olympic medal before about 1980 would be considered a lousy skater today.

[LibDemAlways]

20. All true, and I know skating has

evolved tremendously. It's just that Button is so smarmy in his criticism of skaters doing moves he never even dreamed of. I think someone who has skated in the last couple of decades would provide more insight - that's all.

[PartyPooper]

3. When is it on and which channel? Thanks!

I love ice skating.

:-)

[madison2000]

5. ABC, 7pm CST

[Kahuna]

7. Michelle Kwan just did one kick ass program..

She was, "on." So radiant. So graceful. Hit all her jumps. She totally rocked.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Those clips of skaters getting injured were painful even to watch

:-(

[madison2000]

14. Yeah, those pairs skaters must really trust each other

I'll bet they have a lot of accidents on the way to learning to skate that well!

[Nitrogenica]

9. My wife is, so I am by default.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

10. I am!

Always watch it - love it! Go Michelle!!

[TheMightyFavog]

11. Give 'em sticks and a puck put a net on each end, then I'll watch.

Figure skating: a shameful waste of a perfectly good hockey rink.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Triple axel landed!

Only the second time a U.S. female skater has landed one--and it was done by a tiny 15-year-old who looks more like 12.

[madison2000]

15. Dick Button hates Tanya Harding so much, I am amazed that he mentioned

her without trashing her. I believe she was also the only woman to land a quadruple jump in competition.

[JimmyJazz]

18. She was the first to land a triple axel.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. No, she never did a quad

just a triple axel, the second woman in the world ever to land one. (The first was Midori Ito of Japan :-) ).

Tonya Harding's problem was that she wanted to go to the Olympics so badly that she hired a friend to injure her chief competitor. It was so unnecessary, too, because she and Nancy Kerrigan were by far the top two skaters in the country, with everyone else trailing way behind, so she would have gone to the Olympics in any case, as either the gold medalist or the silver medalist.

In doing so, she became persona non grata and lost her chance to cash in on her career.

[madison2000]

22. She did land a quad in competition- I've seen the tape several times

It wasn't a major competition. I don't think the commentators like to bring it up for obvious reasons.

[JimmyJazz]

16. erm...I lived in Newark, DE forever -- of course I'm watching

skating. :7

[PartyPooper]

21. It has just started here on the West Coast!

I'm watching.

:-)

[Bluebear]

23. Beatrisa Liang and Matt Savoie....robbed.