It kinda sucks having to skate first...

Hi all,

So my mom's birthday is on December12th. Ever since last year, I've taken her to see the International Figure Skating Challenge. This year the event was earlier than her birthday, so we went tonight. Here's the results, just in case you were curious :)

My mom was quite excited because Michelle Kwan was going to be competing. I was able to recognize Michelle's name and Sasha Cohen's name, but that was about it. Sasha was at last year's competition. I think she won...

Anyway this year, I was able to buy some kickass tickets. We were one row away from the ice, and a little closer to the center this time. I was pretty impressed by the seats, and best of all, I actually got to see the skaters this time! Last year, they were distant and fuzzy, but this time it was way cooler.

As luck would have it, I forgot my camera. But I have the tickets to prove it ;)

I'm sure you know, I'm all about the experience. As the skaters whizzed by, you could feel the air as they passed. The best part was the really cool sound of the ice skates on the ice. Physics in action, I tell you...

And yes, just like it looks on TV, the skaters do skate quite close to to the edge of the ice.

Plus, I now see the value of the up close seats :)

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that there were dudes skating at this event too? ;) Well, there were like 4, I think. I don't remember much about about that part though ;)

I still don't understand how everything is scored though. I get the ratings of 1 for 6 for technical and performance, but I don't get how the judges do the judging. The people that got bad scores did ok (in my book). I guess that's why I'm not a judge. One thing that I do know, is that similar to the arcade games that I've played, like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and SSX, it's all about the combo moves. That's where the big points are.

And that's my report on figure skating :)

-Kirk