Marshalls Musings
by Michelle Wojdyla, Special to U.S. Figure Skating Online |
(4/12/06) - All season my goal has been “I just want to blog my best and have fun.” After the mini-marathon of Smart Ones Skate America and the full marathon of the State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships, a quick trip down to Greenville, S.C. for the Marshalls U.S. Figure Skating International Showcase makes for a whirlwind event.
MondayI flew down early Monday morning. And by early, I mean my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. I guess I underestimated the early bird commuters, because I never even reached the speed limit on the way to Newark Airport because the traffic was so heavy. It is just wrong in so many ways for that many people to be on the road at 5 a.m.
After passing the entrance to my off-site parking lot twice (it was still dark!), I finally got the car settled and was driven to my terminal by a man with one eye. Security lines in Newark were worse than they were before St. Louis. I didn't think that was possible, especially when it was barely light out.
The flights to Greenville were pleasantly uneventful. Upon arriving at GSP airport, the first thought that hit me when I got into the terminal was “this city smells like meat.” It was a recurring thought over the next 48 hours. Being a vegetarian, this kind of thing sticks out a lot. My motel had a patio area that had barbeques and some guys with a strong affinity for lighter fluid were going crazy. Even the BI-LO Center smelled like meat. Weird.
Plans were changed, so I wasn't able to photograph practice Monday afternoon. Instead I ordered pizza and played Sudoku and tried to ignore the wafting meat smell sneaking under my door.
Tuesday1:00 p.m.
I headed over to the arena to take some practice photos and learn the new programs so I could learn what to expect. It's not only the judges who watch practices! I gave myself plenty of time to get lost, especially after my challenges in Boston during the winter Marshalls event. (Seeing signs for Cape Cod is not good when you want to be in downtown Boston.)
1:50 p.m.
Just as the opening/closing practice was to begin (and alas, there were no towers of flames like last spring) I realized I left part of my laptop power cord back in my motel. Fortunately it was only five minutes away, so it was a quick trip. Unfortunately, when I got back to the arena I had lost my parking space. And the lot was full of fire trucks and police. One of the security guards said that someone accidentally hit a sprinkler head, but while they double-checked and reset things, I was trapped outside and missed the first practice.
3:00 p.m.
I was finally allowed back inside, thinking I still had 15 minutes left in the pairs practice session. Some skaters also used different times than scheduled, so I unfortunately missed my chance at photos of Irina Slutskaya. The few I had all seemed to have her with a tissue in hand or some kind of grimace. I felt bad that she was the only skater I didn't get photographs of for the web.
There were no garbage cans rinkside, so the skaters piled their used tissues on the top of the boards. When one of the men putting up the board signage got to the section with Irina's tissues, he bravely picked them up and moved them. He made some kind of quip about Olympic DNA and a joking reference to eBay.
The two men putting up the signage were very friendly and answered my questions about rinkboards. By the time most spectators arrive for an event, the boards have all the advertising and event information already up and looking nice and bright. The process to actually make this happen takes some effort. The organizers of the competition or show determine which advertisers get which location around the rink and a diagram map is created to show the layout. For the Greenville event, the board covering was made in Winnipeg and shipped to South Carolina. Well, sort of. Some of the covering made its way to Texas by mistake, so it was last minute to get the boards done once the supplies came in. And in case anybody is interested, it feels like a thick, vinyl-y contact paper. And air bubbles are the enemy.
3:15 p.m.
Evgeny Plushenko also crashed the pairs practice. When he got off the ice, he was met by the coach of the BI-LO's hockey team, the Greenville Grrrowl, who asked him if he played hockey, too. The two chatted for a while, because of course Evgeny plays hockey. I just don't know if we'll see him in the dog jersey anytime soon, though.
3:25 p.m.
A small group of arena employees is going around with a small tray of black paint. I ask what that is for and was told it's blackboard paint that goes on the bottom of the temporary seats so that numbers can be drawn on in chalk. For an arena setup like Marshalls, seats go all the way to the rinkboards, so that makes rows of seats that must be hand painted and numbered before the spectators arrive. The employees were working up until the last minute making sure everything was properly numbered.
The next few hoursThe practice schedule is tossed out as skaters take the ice whenever they are ready.
Rena Inoue and John Baldwin practice for what seems like hours, working on the choreography of their two exhibition programs as well as the throw triple Axel for the finale. When they finally got off the ice, I commented on their long practice session and Rena said John loves to practice. I also finally asked her about the Tweety Bird sticker on her skates. Rena simply replied that she is a huge fan of Tweety.
Tanith Belbin, Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek are warming up. The three are very silly with each other and there is lots of laughter. This is such a stark contrast to the Russians' practice earlier, where there were few, if any, smiles. Evan and Johnny are working on some kind of freaky spin. It's hard to describe but kind of looked like a Salchow (?) entrance into a back sitspin. That's probably completely wrong, but I just know it looked impossible and both guys were having a lot of fun with it. Whatever it is.
Eventually Ben Agosto, who was getting physio on his still sore groin, joined Tanith and that just added to the silliness. The skaters took turns performing Evan's exhibition routine. Then Ben and Tanith worked on their poses for their Italian exhibition they did in Torino. I took my favorite practice session photo of the day with this, as the light outlined Ben's face and gave an extra “hot” look. (Like the two of them need any help in that department.)
At one point, Evan is standing two feet away from me, talking to one of the ABC folks. He reaches into his sweatpants and begins to pull them down. Part of me is thinking: Camera? No? Wrong. Bad. Hmm. Anyway, turns out that when Evan was participating in the Figure Skating in Harlem event yesterday, he had the chance to meet actress and morning show host Kelly Ripa. Who autographed his umm…lower abdomen. Later I asked Evan if he had the chance to meet Donald Trump (who owns Wollman Rink, where the event was held) and Evan said that “The Donald” actually came over to him and said he wanted to meet the guy who was dancing and seemed like the life of the party. So it seemed like “The Evan” had a great time helping a great cause. And I think he may want to marry Kelly Ripa.
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Emily Hughes came over to stretch in front of me, and we chat about all the things that have happened since I last saw her in St. LouisShe told me that she had one of her dressed dyed, so it's a whole new look. Tania Bass did beautiful beading on the dress Emily wore in the Boston Marshalls event, but the nude-like fabric didn't pop the way they hoped. The dress was now a rich wine color, which sounds very flattering to Emily's coloring.
Sasha Cohen comes out for her practice. Her hair has gotten pretty long. She said she likes it, but doesn't know how long she can put up with it.
Michelle Kwan lurks in the shadows and stretches for a long time. Perhaps “lurking” isn't the right word. The lighting crew was running different light tests, so Michelle wound up in the dark.
Johnny and Tanith and Ben finish their practice, but Evan stays. And stays. Later, he comes off the ice and sits with Lindsay DeWall, director of media relations.
Kimmie Meissner comes out for her practice. Her hair (which is incredibly long) is done in this cool knot with a little tail coming through it. She sets her skate guards on the wall and I notice one is blue and the other a yellow-gold. I ask her if they are purposely the colors of the University of Delaware, where Kimmie trains. Kimmie nods and smiles and in her best “attitude” says she's “representin'” and completes the statement with a cute flick of her head. She then sets her water bottle down and goes to start skating.
Not long after, Emily Hughes and her coach Bonni Retzkin come out. Bonni sits in front of me and Emily goes onto the ice. She takes off her skate guards and lays them down by Kimmie's. She then goes to open the water bottle that's there. Except it's Kimmie's. Bonnie tells her to stop and we all laugh that she just tried to scam Kimmie's water. It was an accident, of course. But now Emily explains to Kimmie that the cap is loose on the water. Kimmie is cool with it. Of course she is; she uses phrases like “representin'.”
Michelle Kwan and Shizuka Arakawa take the ice and the last of the practices begin. I get some more photos and then head off to the media room to go through them and pick some to send before the show starts.
6:42 p.m.
Lindsay takes me to my photo position (it's in the “blue” credential zone and I have a yellow one) and I nearly crash into Rudy Galindo in the hallway. And then it's kind of like—hey, Rudy Galindo is in the hallway!
7:00 p.m.
The show starts and it really is an impressive lineup. During the introductions, a few of the skaters wore dresses that they didn't use in their programs. Michelle wore the coppery dress she used for “The Feeling Begins,” Sasha wore a simple white dress with large rhinestones (I don't recognize it), and Shizuka wore a sheer white dress she used in qualifying at the Moscow World Championships.
8:21 p.m.
Rush back to the media room to download all the photos from the first act. I barely get them all done before it's time to go back for the second act. I'm sharing a photo space with Associated Press. I love hearing the reactions of photographers who don't usually cover figure skating. This time Johnny and Totmianina and Marinin get the praise.
9:10 p.m.
I just realize I got a photo message on my cell phone from my sister. It's a picture of her cat Seamus with an acupuncture needle in his nose. Seamus has been very sick, so Monica is trying alternate therapies in the hope to get “Little Boy” back on track. I send healing vibes to Seamus.
10:00 p.m.
Show is over and now I download the second act photos.
10:05 p.m.
While my first 2 GB card downloads, I go to the mixed zone to catch the end of Michelle Kwan's conversation with the reporters. She doesn't outright blame the new judging system for her injuries, but does say that she tried a lot of new moves this season. When asked if we might see a Biellmann spin from her in the future, Michelle laughed. Methinks she'll be leaving that move to others.
10:15 p.m.
Sasha Cohen comes to the mixed zone. Her hair is still down and curly, like it was in the finale. She says she's very tired, since she didn't get in until about 2 a.m..
11:20 p.m.-ish
Photos are downloaded and it's time to head back to my room and start sending them in.
Wednesday2:31 a.m.
The last of act one photos plus my article are sent. It's too late to get act two done, so it's time for a quick nap before heading to the airport.
5:30 a.m.
Wake up call comes and it's off to return the rental car and get to the airport.
8:20 a.m.
I managed to get switched to a nonstop flight that leaves at 11, so utilize every last drop of battery on my laptop—and the wonderful free wireless internet at GSP airport—to send act 2 photos.
4:35 p.m.
I'm finally home, typing this blog up for you from my list of notes I've take over the last two and a half days. And I really enjoy that I no longer smell meat.
