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.