Jeff Buttle - 2007 The Ice Show (Japan) - Go The Distance

I had the immense pleasure of seeing Jeff skate this program live once, and I must say; he was absolutely stunning. The quality of his skating left me breathless.

30 Days of Skating - Day 11: Top 5 Favorite Male Figure Skaters

Decisions, decisions... I could probably list ten or fifteen favorite male skaters! I'll try for a top five though, and maybe some honorable mentions, so that I don't fully exclude some that I really like, but that don't quite make the top five. The top five are....

Daisuke Takahashi: If you've read more than one or two posts on this blog, I'm sure you saw this one coming from a mile away. :P What can I say? Daisuke has gorgeous jumps, amazing footwork, very nice basics, and really skates with passion. I first noticed him when he skated at the Paris Grand Prix at least 5 years ago, but not for the reason you'd think; He was having a rather rough free program, even having a wipeout during footwork or something, and I actually heard some people in the crowd laughing, which really made me feel badly for him. After a somewhat disappointing Olympic debut, Dai really amazed me at 2007 Worlds, where he claimed silver after a very inspiring freeskate. He's been a favorite ever since. (Also, may I say; Who's laughing now? ;) )

Johnny Weir: Yeah... I know. The last few seasons haven't been Johnny's best, for many reasons, but he still holds a special place in my heart. I first saw him when I was 11,  when he skated to second place in the short program at 2003 Nationals, but injured himself in the freeskate and consequently had to withdraw. Like Daisuke, I felt terrible for him, but one day when I was about to leave the house, I found Eastern Sectionals on tv just in time to see Johnny on the ice. I was really happy that he came back after the "Dallas Disaster", and was thrilled when he not only made Nationals, but won it with a flawless freeskate. After that, Johnny did have a couple more excellent seasons, and of course some that weren't so great, but he has left me with some magical memories and performances to look back on, along with frustration that he never really reached his full potential.

Jeffrey Buttle: I don't remember thinking anything in particular about Jeffrey, until the 2006 Olympics, where he won the bronze after falling twice in the free, which really didn't sit well with me with Johnny placing behind him with no falls, and whatnot. Now that emotions aren't so high (I wanted a medal for Johnny SO badly!), and I've watched the performances again, I actually can see why Jeff placed ahead of him and why, despite usually making at least a couple of errors, Jeff has so many medals. He really does skate beautifully and has a magic that was rarely tarnished, even when there where technical problems. Thankfully, I did learn to appreciate his skating a couple of years before his retirement, and I was so thrilled when he finally put a clean competition together and won a World title. He really did deserve it, and I have to say, I still miss his presence on the competitive circuit.

Stephane Lambiel: I do remember seeing Stephane win his first World title on tv in 2005 and thinking he did well, but he didn't quite capture my attention at that point in time. Like Jeffrey, I didn't understand his placement at the Olympics at first, with he not even attempting any triple axels. Again though, after some time passed and I rewatched the competition, I really enjoyed Stephane a lot! His musicality, his step sequences, and spins are just wonderful. He paid/pays so much attention to the artistry of the program, I still go back and watch competitions where he'd had technical trouble because the actual performance was still fantastic. Unfortunately, this past Olympic Games were the one exception that I can recall where the life was sucked out of the performances. Even so, as a whole, his skating is pure, lovely, and entertaining, and I will miss seeing him compete.

Adam Rippon: I first heard about Adam right after he won his junior National title. Many people that mentioned him were saying how his style was similar to Johnny Weir's... so I decided to check him out once junior World's videos were up on icenetwork. I was very impressed by his skating; even without a triple axel, he could break the 200 mark! As time has gone by, I definitely think Adam has continued to improve, technically and artistically. He's very comfortable to watch; usually he inspires a sense of confidence that the jumps are going to get done, unlike many skaters. I think that he is becoming an ideal all around skater, as he seems to have few weaknesses. One of the things that stands out most about him for me, is the sense of joy in his skating. I love the freedom and passion in it. It is something that so often gets lost in the grind of competition,so I love seeing it in him; it is incredibly refreshing. I think Adam has what it takes to be at the top of the sport, and I am really looking forward to seeing him compete over the next few years.

Honorable Mentions: Takahiko Kozuka, Jeremy Abbott, Florent Amodio, and Nobunari Oda.

30 Days of Skating - Day 10: Last competition/show you attended

Unfortunately, I have never been to an elite level skating competition, but the last skating show I went to was Kimmie's Angels on Ice on August 25th, 2007. I was extremely fortunate enough to have that show close enough for me to go to, and managed to get VIP tickets, allowing me to see the practice before the show and go to a special dinner, etc. It was a really great experience, and the best parts were definitely being able to be so close to the ice and being able to meet some of my favorite skaters, including Jeffrey Buttle and Johnny Weir. I was really impressed by the skating in general - Jeffrey Buttle left me in awe with his "Go the Distance" program! Even some of the skaters I wasn't as excited to see were really impressive in person, like Steven Cousins and Brooke Castille and Benjamin Okolski. I hope that someone can get a skating tour similar to this running again, now that Champions on Ice is gone. I'd love to see more live skating like that!

Blast from the Past - Worlds 2007:The Men

Of all my figure skating tapes and dvds I've made over the years, I have to say that my dvds of the 2007 World Championship are some of the ones that I have watched the most . That said, it is certainly not without good reason: I quite enjoyed the men's event that year, even with Johnny Weir (yes, a favorite of mine) finishing in 8th place. The highlights are, for me at least, are...

Stephane Lambiel: After a less than perfect (but still fabulous) short program, he went on to have some difficulties on his jumps in the freeskate as well, but despite the mistakes, I love the passion in that performance and it remains a favorite of mine to this day. In addition, there is this fluff that really makes the passion in his programs at that event even sweeter, in my mind at least.

Jeffrey Buttle: Like Stephane, he also had a rough time technically in the free, but as with Stephane, I really enjoyed his overall performance. I think that those performances standing up as favorites even with the mistakes really underscores the fact that these two men were adapt at not letting technical errors ruin the program as a whole, which is definitely something you can't say about very many skaters these days.

Tomas Verner: His freeskate here definitely put him on the map. I didn't have any recollection of him before that, but it was a nice surprise to see a relative unknown step up to plate on the biggest competition of the season. Hopefully Tomas can put the puzzle pieces back together and get back to these kind of results.

Daisuke Takahashi: His near flawless freeskate (save for a hand down on his opening quad toe loop) was absolutely gorgeous, and the best part the fact he pulled it off in his home country! Daisuke skated a lovely program to Phantom of the Opera, which was full of solid jumps and great artistry. Brian Joubert may have won the World title, but Daisuke definitely had the performance of the night.

30 Days of Skating: Day 7 - Favorite Men's Program

That is extremely difficult for me to narrow down to just one... so I'm going to do a handful! :P



Just gorgeous. A moment when Daisuke proved he has what it takes to take on the world. What makes this amazing skate even more special is that he pulled it off at home, under immense pressure.



I was so ecstatic to see Johnny skate so perfectly and win his first national title after what had happened the year prior. If only he'd skated like that more the last few years.



Seeing Jeffrey finally put together two clean programs in a single competition was wonderful, and I think it is so great that such a lovely skater finally won a World title. I still miss him.



His second national title in a row, and an beautiful program to boot.



Daisuke Takahashi... fabulous! Following his Olympic bronze medal win, his performance at Worlds a month later gave him his long overdue World title. The fact that Daisuke managed to pull this and a Olympic medal off less than a year after he started jumping again (he was off the ice for several months due to a serious injury and missed the entire 08-09 season.)is absolutely astounding. I'm incredibly proud of him, and did I mention he attempt a quad flip?!? ;)

30 Days of Skating - Day 3: Favorite skating spectatorship moment

Going to Champions on Ice and Kimmie's Angels on Ice in my hometown was really nice, especially getting to meet skaters like Johnny Weir and Jeffrey Buttle, and their skating is exquisite live.

As for competitive spectatorship, I've never gotten to go to a figure skating competition that my sister or I weren't competing in, so these will be based on video spectatorship only.( And of course, I really can't pick only one moment.)

• Johnny Weir winning his 2004 and 2005 National titles
• Daisuke Takahashi winning World silver and then dominating most of the following season.
•  Daisuke Takahashi coming back after a career threatening injury to win the 2010 Olympic bronze medal AND the World title the following month.
• Jeffrey Buttle putting all the puzzle pieces together at 2008 Worlds to win his World title. 
• Almost everytime Michelle Kwan took to competitive ice.