Olympic Figure Skating: My Dream

While I'm not totally inlove with the judging of Olympic figure skating, there are a few comments I'm going to make.  First of all, my favorite skater this 'round is Italian skater Carolina Kostner.  My other favorite is from San Jose, California, Polina Edmunds.  Why Polina? She has the artistry of Oksana and has maturity beyond her years.  Why Carolina?  Because she is a seasoned, underestimated underdog and her freeskate to Bolero was perfection.  I tend to root for the underdogs.

I know, my picks are not the American media's "darlings" this time around, but my opinion is what it is.  I'm also partial to the skaters from the Japanese team this Olympic cycle and Yuna Kim from South Korea.  They are showing heart and soul.  No pun intended.

My aspirations for becoming a figure skater were squashed at an early age.  In retrospect, I'm sure my parents did me a favor for not entertaining the notion I would ever make it to that level, and not wasting my time and their money.  I was never a great jumper.  However, I could spin...

In any event, I remember asking my parents for skating lessons.  My father's reply was, "The entire god-damn world is covered in ice, and you want ME to take you indoors for lessons?"

Still, that did not deter me.  I would go to "tiny tots" and shovel the snow off the ice.  There was a warming house in those days, but snow removal off the ice was lacking.  I'd lace up my skates and pretend I was Dorothy Hamill.  I even had the dorky hair cut.  The worst were the cracks in the ice and yellow piss bumps left by dogs peeing on the ice.  My toe pick would get caught and more often than not I'd land face down.

I had never skated indoors until I moved to California.  I was amazed at how smoooooooooth it was.  It was like heaven.  I could not fathom such smooth, sleek ice and how easily I could glide.  I still dream about it to this day.