2011 US Nationals ** SPOILERS **

[Isk8NYC]

The crowd was behind alissa...[spoiler]now in 1st...Flatt couldn't unseat her - Czisny wins![/spoiler]

[Schmeck]

Bravo to all the ladies - some really wonderful skating out there, a very competitive podium, they all did a great job.

Just watched it all on TV, so I saw you!  Of course, I don't know what you look like, but still, LOL!

[ChristyRN]

cool - I was just on tv

Were you anywhere near the row of yellow or the trio in red and white stripes?  They're the ones that stand out in my mind.

[Isk8NYC]

I just looked at the recording - I was on the arena display, but the shot wasn't shown on the TV broadcast.  Rats!

[Isk8NYC]

Going to Men's LP and the Spectacular today - can't wait to see if Jeremy hangs in there or if it's Bradley's time to shine.

[MadMac]

Go RYAN!!  Rooting for you to join Alyssa on top this year!!!!

[jjane45]

Surprise surprise podium for the men!

[AgnesNitt]

Hover to show
Finally [spoiler]Ryan[/spoiler] gets a win!

[Isk8NYC]

I am, as Kiwiskater would say, shattered.  I'm so tired, but up I am to start the workweek.

Last night was fantastic - I'm so glad I went and that I bought tickets to the Men's event.  There were some thrilling performances where you could feel the electricity in the building.  Ryan's Rooters were out in force!  I had a chance to speak with him briefly and he's psyched, but I think he's running on pure excitement - gonna be a serious crash.  It was after midnight and he still had on his skates, but he stopped to sign autographs for the fans who stayed for a video recording session.

Randy Gardner directed a nice exhibition piece for RISE! 1961 with all of the skating champions from Novice-Senior, all disciplines.  It's really great.
I can't wait to see it in the movie.  Lysacek's performance was wonderful, after one false start.  ("Take 2")  He also performed a piece with a group of lower-level skaters which is totally "awwwww" to see.

More later - packing the kids off to school.

[FigureSpins]

Since Agnes is bored, here are a few links to various videos of US Nationals

http://www.youtube.com/user/topazgirl170#g/u
http://www.youtube.com/user/AB1111111111111111AB#g/c/AF7563305035DFD1

[AgnesNitt]

Thank you!

So Ryan Bradley is the Steven Bradbury of American Figure Skating?

[FigureSpins]

It was really exciting to be there for this competition.  The crowd genuinely adored Bradley.

I don't think it's an even comparison - Bradbury was way back when the others wiped out.  Ryan was in the lead after the short program by a big margin, given the competition.  He just didn't screw up as much as the others in the LP.  If Bradbury had stumbled in front of the pack and fallen across the finish line, then I could justify the comparison, lol.

While waiting for the start of the LP, Bradley nailed one of the jumps he messed up in the program.  I thought to myself, "Don't show off now - save it for the program."  You know what they say: don't leave it on the practice ice.  I was listening to the unofficial tech callers and he really didn't make a lot of mistakes during the program, by their reckoning.  I know a lot of people don't like the "showman" programs, but I really enjoy them much more than the angry or sad programs.  Pedestrian tastes, I guess.

I'll go out on a limb and say keep an eye on Brown: he's got the goods, just needs a little more experience.  We're in NASCAR country, so the ponytail was perfectly acceptable, but by the end of his program, he had converted people who were sitting like mummies when he started.  Everyone got to their feet for that kid.  IMO, most of Brown's issues came from focusing on the choreography rather than the technical side of the house.  The (unoff) tech callers kept counting his spin revolutions - where three were required, he'd do two because he wanted to stay on cue with the music, but it was killing his scores because the spin could have been a Level 3 or 4 if he had just held it in position for one more revolution.

The Junior Mens winner is also a firestarter - just has incredible rapport with the audience, plus he's talented.  Huge, clean jumps.  Fast, tight spins.  His footwork sequences were fun to watch.  The personality is what makes him shine - he just connected with ease.

[sdlevitt]

We were there for the ladies finals. We were part of the Atlanta figure skating club that came.  We had seats right near the Kiss and and Cry and below Evan.  My daughter was only able to get his autograph. She really wanted a picture.  My daughter thought this was one of the best experiences of her life. 

She was also interviewed by the local fox affliate, as well as myself.


http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-story-figure-skating-sat-110129,0,4956590.story

[Isk8NYC]

My husband got Rusty's autograph and we chatted for a while.  I'm now one of his Twitter followers, lol.

[pikachu314]

aaah, just catching up on youtube and USFSA website... So happy that she won! She's my favourite of the american skaters at the moment

I liked Jeremy Abbott's exhibition! I lolled when he tried to throw the hat onto his head and it bounced off again, but that shrug made up for the fail