 Archway Anecdotes - Nice Guy John and Jumbotron Rohene WardU.S. Figure Skating Correspondent Nice guy John Coughlin wins a medal, and the Jumbotron seems to be sending subliminal messages.
Notes from Friday, Jan 13 Thursday
11:40 a.m.
I get to the rink in time for the end of ladies warm-up. It is a silent practice, only 20 minutes with no music. The “Ice Diaries” people are all over, with three skaters in today’s ladies short program.
12:25 p.m.
MeeRan Trombley and Nathaniel Hess are performing their junior pairs free skate. During an overhead lift—the star/reverse star—Nathaniel loses his footing and MeeRan comes crashing to the ice. After the program they make their way to the mixed zone. MeeRan assures us that she is fine and doesn’t get hurt easily.
1:42 p.m.
I find my roommate, Daphne, and join her in the stands to watch the final group of junior pairs. John Coughlin and Bridget Namiotka take the ice and the crowd goes nuts. I ask around why everyone is so enthusiastic and hear many variations of what an incredible guy John is and how he takes care of others and is just a good person. I look up on the scoreboard to see a close up of their headshot and realize that John is the gentleman who helped me with my mangled camera bag on the bus this morning. Go, John!
2:03 p.m.
The final group of junior pairs takes the ice. I am offered an Altoid from the woman behind me. Turns out it is sort of a good luck Altoid. The people sitting behind me are the parents of Kaela Pflumm and Christopher Pottenger.
2:10 p.m.
Pflumm and Pottenger have a strong skate. I have the broken eardrums to prove it. The families are obviously thrilled, and Kaela blows a kiss to her mom.
2:40 p.m.
The final results are up. Pflumm and Pottenger win pewter. Mr. Nice Guy John Coughlin snags silver and my bus buddies with the spiffy suitcases from Monday night, Kendra Moyle and Andy Seitz, win gold.
3:45 p.m.
Men’s short is going on and it’s starting out as a strong competition. For some reason “ROHENE WARD” flashes randomly on the Jumbotron at center ice. Subliminal messages?
4:33 p.m.
Intermediate dance champions Maia and Alex Shibutani have arrived with their parents. Last year in Portland, Alex shadowed me for a day, as he wants to be a sports journalist when he is older. Today, however, they help me more than any quote-obtaining could. I am now the happy recipient of a heat pack. It’s a playing card size packet that gets hot and stays that way for up to seven hours. It is truly arctic in Savvis, so this helps me more than they could know.
4:48 p.m.
Johnny Weir has just finished perhaps the best short program he’s ever done, and the score is a personal best. Down in the mixed zone he calls out to the crowd of reporters for the woman who wrote the USA Today article on him to identify herself. She does and Johnny informs her that he was not wearing a boa at yesterday’s press conference, and that it is a scarf. He also compliments her on the article and tells her he liked it.
5:03 p.m.
While Rohene Ward of the Subliminal Jumbotron is taking his bows, a fan with a less than powerful arm accidentally pelts Michael Weiss with a beanie animal that didn’t quite reach the ice. Michael doesn’t flinch. He looks very much in the zone to not even notice.
5:17 p.m.
Kurt Browning is sitting at the table with Dick Button and Terry Gannon. During a wait for Ryan Jahnke’s scores, the arena plays the Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.” Kurt is dancing in his seat.
5:21 p.m.
Terry Gannon asks someone to please get him some water. (Hey, it’s not the most interesting thing, but scores are taking a while to come up and I must entertain myself by taking notes for you all.)
8:09 p.m.
During the ladies short program, Emily Hughes is about to skate but her earring seems to have fallen out. A flock of sweepers charge across the ice, looking for the missing jewelry. Somehow, Emily finds it herself. The crowd cheers. The sweepers keep going. The announcer tells them that the earring has been found. They skate off.
8:19 p.m.
It still is cold, but I have the Shibutani heat pack. Over in the ABC booth, Dick Button places his coat around Peggy Fleming’s shoulders. Awww.
8:57 p.m.
The crowd is doing the wave. As it goes by the ABC stand, Dick and Terry enthusiastically participate.
9:13 p.m.
Stephanie Rosenthal is about to begin her breakdance/robot short program. Kurt Browning pulls Katarina Witt over to watch.
9:16 p.m.
Stephanie Rosenthal gets a standing ovation.
9:58 p.m.
During another break, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” is playing over the arena speakers. Kurt and Katarina dance. When the music ends, they turn to us and bow. We applaud.
10:20 p.m.
The ladies event ends and I have to head down to write my article. It’s so crowded in the media room that it takes forever to move a few feet.
10:38 p.m.
The ladies press conference begins. Sasha Cohen does not attend because she spent a long time with the reporters after her skate, so Emily Hughes and Bebe Liang answer questions and pose for photos.
12:19 a.m. Friday morning
My article is done, press conference photos are sent and my blog is updated. That’s all for tonight. to top |