U.S. Figure Skating Championships on NBC

Heather4CU

Heather4CU

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
7,153
Reaction score
35,332
Since the U.S. Figure Skating Championships are on NBC all weekend and it seems some of us love figure skating, I thought I'd start a thread to discuss. :) I'm here in Boston right now and just got back from an exhausting yet exhilarating 12+ hours at the arena!

For those of you who watched, what are your thoughts thus far? The Olympic team will be announced tomorrow but there is potential controversy on the Pairs and Ladies sides. A favored Pair(Denney/Coughlin) and Lady(Ashley Wagner) both underperformed in the Free Skate yet they have more international experience under their belts.
 
I know the ladies have 3 spots open and pairs 2? And if you came in the top 3 position they are who should go to the Olympics, I love how they make excuses for some! I love the dancing the best! It seems like the ones with more experience under their belts, are the ones that choke when they need to be at their best.
 
Olympic team so far:

Ladies:
Gracie Gold
Polina Edmunds
Ashley Wagner

Pairs:
Castelli/Schnapir
Zhang/Bartolomay

Ice Dance:
Davis/White
Shibutanis
Chock/Bates

Men will be announced at 7pm EST
 
I saw skating last night. I enjoyed it. Was there something
wrong with the ice since so many fell

I missed the couple stuff. Would NBC have it on their site?

I'm taping the men's skating this afternoon.

Heather, I kept looking for you :)
 
I just saw the men's skating. Wonderful performances.

Heather, you'll have to tell us about Jason and Jeremy.
Too bad we can only send two men and Max can't go.

I almost had to use my tissue after Jeremy was done.
 
It was even more electric in the arena. For Jason, the crowd was standing before he finished. I'm a big fan of his. I knew he was going places the first time I saw him at Nationals in 2011. At the Skating Spectacular tonight, the crowd gave Jeremy another standing ovation. I agree about Max--I've met him and he is a doll. A friend of mine is his webmaster too.

I'm happy for both Jason and Jeremy--well deserved on both parts. I believe Jeremy has a great career ahead of him as a choreographer and show skater. Maybe even as a broadcaster.

My heart aches for Mirai Nagasu--I think she should have been the 3rd woman instead of Polina Edmunds, the 15 year old.

I don't think NBC has the videos on their site but try the UniversalSports.com site or IceNetwork.com. I usually get my live feed from the latter since my cable company took away Universal Sports(owned by NBC). It's frustrating to be a figure skating fan in the US. In Canada, the sport is a bigger deal so the CBC gives it a lot more coverage.
 
thanks for the info Heather
 
When I was able to get Canadian TV, I always watched the Winter Olympics especially on their channels, as they seemed to give better coverage, to actually show way more of the competitors than the U.S. (which spends entirely too much time yakking about other stuff.)
I tried to watch the skating last night, but every time I put it on, there was a commercial,. so I gave up. And I truly LOVE the skating.
 
I wish we could watch a channel besides NBC to show more
competitors world wide. One reason, I don't watch the Olympics.
It's suppose to be place where nations come together. We
need to see that more in US TV

I will try to find out when skating is one and tape it. :back:

The icenetwork.com does have couples skating.
I just have to find time to watch it.
 
Jason has talent and has a fabulous program; he doesn’t need all the fancy jumps to receive a great mark, that’s what skating should be about, 90% of the men fall on the Quad!
 
This event was obviously a big deal for me as I run the skate shop at the Skating Club of Boston, my daughter was an internationally competitive ice dancer, she and her partner used to compete with Meryl and Charlie all the time; they are long time friends on Team USA. Then, when her partner graduated from MIT and went on to Yale, she went on to do 5 years with Disney on ice, finished college in between tours and now works for FELD, the parent company of DOI ( they also own Ringling Bros and other properties) as PR coordinator. She actually did her interview on skype when she was skating in Israel. So skating has been her life from age 3 to 27... as a result, mine too.

I designed and implemented the set and props for the opening ceremony. The club hosted this event and has been working on it for over a year and a half. There were over 400 competitors. people forget that it's not just the seniors that compete at Nationals, because that's obviously all you see on TV. There are competitors in juvenile, intermediate, novice and junior besides the "big guns". We had another complete venue at the BCEC ) Boston convention & exhibition center). Very proud of our Boston skaters, Marissa Castilli and Simon Snapir, National Pairs Champs for the 2nd time.

The question about the ice always comes up...nothing wrong with the ice, it is patched and zambonied regularly. Sometimes the pressure just gets to these skaters with so much on the line. Richard Dornbush fell apart in long the same way Ashley Wagner did. Jason Brown skates with joy and passion, inviting the audience into his world. Jeremy can do the same thing when he gets out of his head. His last 2 years have been a bit shaky,hopefully he will do better internationally then he has in the past. Many photos and videos are posted at Icenetwork.com and Boston2014.com for those interested. So as far as skating goes...I've pretty much seen most of it from those first glides at age 3 all the way through every level to professional. It's a crazy, expensive endeavor, but teaches so many life lessons that one would never expect from putting blade to ice.
 
Thank you, icecat. We always forget what goes on behind the scenes at the competitions. Also, the skaters' families have to sacrifice right a long with the skaters.

Scott Hamilton stated that the skaters don't practice with the stands full of people, and that gets to some of them when they're in the major competitions.

I haven't been to a competition or show since Scott Hamilton did his farewell tour with his own show. My Mom and I always went to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo, but I can't interest any of my friends in going since she passed away.
 
@IceCat Thanks for that. The Skating Club of Boston did a great job and the sweepers were adorable. I'm hopeful to get to Boston for Worlds in 2016. I'm very happy for Marissa and Simon. I didn't get to meet them but I did meet Felicia and Nathan and I'm happy for them too.

@Poirot You're right about the CBC. I always enjoy watching that channel when I'm in Canada.

Meryl's dad sat right in front of me for both programs--that was legitimately his seat. I think he was more nervous than she was:). I had a chance to congratulate her and Charlie during an autograph session and I told her about him.

If you don't want to pay for the Ice Network, Universal Sports Network has great coverage of all the events and shows all skaters. It's just that not all cable companies carry this channel.

Today's USA Today Sports section has an entire page devoted to figure skating if anyone is interested.

There was a puddle by the Smuckers sign on the ice Saturday night but to my knowledge skaters were going around it. I don't think it had anything to do with performance. There are actually about 20 competitors in 3/4 disciplines. NBC only airs the final 5-7 skaters as well as the taped short programs. I'll need to start figuring out the best place to find the full Olympic feed as I don't want to watch just "highlights" in prime time.
 
icecat, thanks for the information.

I've never skated before and the announcers on TV mentioned
the ice. I thought there might have been problems with it.
 
Oh wow....Squirrel, if I lived near you, you'd definitely have someone to go with you to the shows. I love figure skating. Saw just a couple minutes of Scott Hamilton on the Today show this morning. I really loved his skating. I saw Brian Boitano the other day somewhere, can't remember now where.

Thank you icecat for all that behind the scenes info. How fabulous that you have seen so many of these skaters grow up and improve so much. And Heather, that had to be exciting time for you, and lucky you could spend the entire weekend there.

I don't know is MNBC would carry more coverage than regular NBC...or maybe BBC will have some coverage. ???
 
I just checked a couple things. The Winter Olympics will be broadcast at various times on several TV stations.......NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network and NBCOlympics.com

I understand that they will be live streaming on NBCSN (which I think is online?????) And the first day will be covering some figure skating among other things. NBC will be broadcasting every evening, but is doing a lot of events live. We will all have to check our local listings, etc.

​
 
The regular figure skating competitions during the year are aired in their entirety on both IceNetwork.com and Universal Sports Network(owned by NBC).

There is a new figure skating team event this year and it starts a day or two before the Opening ceremonies. So that is what you probably read about Poirot.

Forgot to mention, Stars On Ice is coming back in full force this year in a lot of cities around the country. Tickets just went on sale. Supposedly, the Olympians will be part of it. So far the site just mentions Meryl/Charlie and Ashley Wagner.

@Squirrel I typically go alone to most skating events however, I've made friends over the years thru forums just like this one so we meet up at the event. I find that a lot of people at skating events are in a similar situation. The faces you see become familiar over time. My husband will come to an occasional show with me if it's local but he won't travel to a competition that is 12+ hours a day for 3-4 days.:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top