hooray for citizenship and other random thoughts

So, first, yay for Tanith Belbin becoming a US citizen. Perhaps we will take home a figure skating medal this year after all! Doesn't surprise me that W signed this bill since it will be a chance for the US to look good, and we need all the help we can get with that. Not that an ice dancing medal makes up for wreckless destruction of foreign countries, but I'm sure that makes sense in some Republican's mind.

Second, I am still on a quest for a hockey jersey to fit my little body. I can't comprehend why all of the hockey apparel for women is sleeveless. C'mon, people, the rink is just as cold for us as everyone else. I'd like a nice, fitted, ribbed turtleneck sweater with a logo on the collar. I'm determined to find something before March 12, when I am off to Chicago for their game against the Red Wings. I just don't want to sit there in a ginormous sweatshirt again with cute, single guys next to me seeing me as a blob in heather gray. I might have to settle for a boy's jersey. At least kids' sizes are cheaper!

Back to skating... US Nationals this week. Michelle Kwan out... what a surprise (not). I think she realizes petitioning is the only way she'll make the team. Might have been a good idea to skate a few times under the new judging system to prevent going to the Olympics and finishing behind Slutskaya, Kostner, Rochette, Cohen, the Japanese ladies...

I am soooo crossing my fingers for Matt Savoie. I want so badly for him to make the team, but even placing in the top three is not enough anymore since only the winner goes for sure. As I see it, Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek will be there for sure, so it's a question of who gets that third spot. I'll be living on the USFSA website, there is no way I can wait to for TV to tell me who wins!

Olympic Figure Skating

I received an e-newsletter from the US Olympic Committee this morning detailing who they thought would shine for the Americans in Turino. I had to cock my head and wonder who exactly gave them the information contained therein. While I do agree that Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are our best hope for a medal (should her citizenship issues be resolved), I find it interesting that they seem to think we have only two slots for ice dance. Ben and Tanith's silver at World's last year gave us three, and the skating community has known that since the moment it happens. Let's just hope that one of those slots goes to them, since we aren't going to shine in any other discipline.

Pairs skating has long been one of those places where Americans don't fare well. I have to wonder what this Olympics would look like had that whole drug test debacle not forced Kyoko Ina and John Zimmermann to go pro. I do think, though, that Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. have a tiny chance to take bronze. If they have the skate of their lives, land the throw triple axel and the side-by-side lutzes, they could pull it off. Totmianina and Marinin pretty much just have to show up to win, and the Chinese pairs will battle it out for the other medals.

The Russian sweep is pretty much expected: Totmianina and Marinin, Navka and Kostamarov, Slutskaya, Plushenko. I have to say I agree.

With one little asterisk. I think, with a perfect skate, Jeffrey Buttle could beat Plushenko. I'd love to see that happen. Bronze would then go to... Stephan Lambiel? Emanuel Sandhu? Evan Lysacek? The one Japanese skater (and by that I mean the one who makes the team. Honday, Oda, Takahashi... they're all good, the question is which one the Japanese Federation decides to send)? It's so hard to call that one.

Even harder to figure out who will represent the U.S. Johnny Weir seems a lock as does Evan Lysacek. It's that third spot. I could see it being Michael Weiss, but my heart wants it to go to Matt Savoie. Savoie should have gotten the third spot for Salt Lake, but his lack of a quad held him down.

Ooo... did I forget Tim Goebel? Easily done, actually. I think my newsletter said to look for him to move up the podium. Hm. I guess whoever wrote that hasn't been watching the Grand Prix. His quads won him a medal in Salt Lake, but he hasn't skated cleanly since the end of that season. I know he's worked hard on the artistry and transitions, but he's still not up to par with the rest of the world. Without that, he has to hit his jumps, and I just don't see it happening for him in St. Louis.

And the ladies. Long a strength for the Americans. Hard to believe we might not have a medalist this year, but it could happen. Sasha Cohen is hardly known for her ability to handle pressure, and her loss to a less polished Mao Asada at Trophee Eric Bomphard shows what the judges think. Who knows what to think of Michelle Kwan? Competing only once under the new judging system is not the best plan with the Olympics looming. We all saw what happened in Moscow when she finished fourth. She failed to take into account the footwork and transitions that the new judging system require.

I can't decide who I think will make the team. Cohen for sure. Kwan should as well, though one of my friends recently voiced the opinion that she'll win Nationals, take the record, and decline her Olympic spot. If that actually happens, that leaves the battle among Hughes, Czisny, Meissner, Liang (not Jenny Kirk and Angela Nicodinov, as my newsletter seemed to think, since one has retired and one is taking the year off). My gut says Czisny. No offense, Kimmie, but go home and work on completing your jump rotations. We'll see you in 2010.

As for the podium, I see Slutskaya on top. I'm going to go out on a limb and put Joannie Rochette in second followed by Alissa Czisny. I just don't see one of the Japanese ladies pulling it off, unless it's Fumie Suguri and she might not even get to skate.

I guess we'll all know in February how it pans out. I just hope it is all free of controversy, though that's unlikely. Someone will complain. Likely fans of Sasha Cohen, since they're already complaining.

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Eve and, while I am looking forward to listening to the Wings and Avs tonight, I am less rabid about it in light of the whole Jiri Fischer situation. The press says he's fine, and I totally believe that and it's great, but suddenly the game seems more just that, a game. I checked NHL.com this morning as usual and saw that my Wings are now behind Ottawa for the league lead, and it seemed less important.

I remember having this same feeling after attending Skate America a few years ago and actually talking to the athletes, seeing them as real people (short people, mind you, figure skaters are sooo much tinier than they look on tv!). Skaters that I didn't give a hoot about how they performed previously, I suddenly wanted them to succeed. I think so often we forget how fragile, human, and real even the superhuman actually are.

Of course, even if I spoke Spanish, I'm not gonna say that to a South American soccer fan whose team's star player missed an empty net or a PK, even though those are the people who really need a reality check. I'm all about fan-aticism, but who wins the World Cup isn't going to solve world hunger or fix the ozone layer.

It's a matter of perspective. So, for the moment anyway (at least until the Stanley Cup playoffs), I am thankful for athletes who give their all and for all the fans who remember it is just a game.

Jiri Fischer

OMG one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced watching / listening to sports. I've taken to listening to the Red Wings on the radio, and I got home a bit late last night. Only moments before I tuned in, apparently, Jiri Fischer was taken to the hospital after having a seizure on the bench. Thank goodness he's okay, though I still anxiously await the press conference this afternoon.

What struck me, though, was the fact that they postponed the game. And it seemed to be the idea of the opposing team. Who was winning 1-0 and would clearly have a mental advantage if the game were to continue. I seem to recall Dale Earnhardt died during the Daytona 500 (or was it Indy? I'm not into auto racing. Sorry, Dad.) and they finished the race. I remember (uh, oh, I call myself a football fan...) a Green Bay Packer being taken from the field paralyzed and they finished that game.

Is it only in hockey where there is enough mutual respect and brotherhood for the other team to be willing to set aside an easy victory out of concern for a fallen comrade? Hockey gets such a bad rap for all of the fights, retaliation, and bloodshed, but I can't imagine another professional sport actually cancelling a game because of an incident like this.

I pause, though, as I write this, and recall one of the most widely viewed injuries in hockey, the so-called "Todd Bertuzzi Incident" when Steve Moore was knocked unconscious and taken from the ice with a fractured vertebra. As I recall it, they finished that game.

Is this a new, kinder NHL? Has the new collective bargaining agreement created a sense of unity that was not there with no salary cap? Has the lack of a season last year given the players a newfound respect for their sport and for one another?

It's hard for me to opine to the extent I would like because I live in a city that lacks an NHL franchise, so I don't hear about players who hold out and don't show up for training camps. I'm sure there are some. But I would think having a salary cap creates a sense that they are all pieces of a puzzle, that everyone has to fit in and keep balance in what used to be a free for all negotiate the best for me go ahead a buy a Stanley Cup atmosphere.

Regardless of the reason, I am glad they postponed the game. It showed respect in a way I have not seen before in men's professional sports. I'd like to see other sports take a lesson from this. No matter who wins or loses, after all, it is only game, and beneath all of the padding and protective gear, athletes are just human beings who deserve the respect and concern shown to Jiri Fischer last night in Detroit.

It's hard to live in Wisconsin and admit that I actually only watched a few minutes of the Packers game on Sunday, but I just couldn't take it any more. It's so sad. It's clearly a case still of a pretty darn good quarterback, but no team behind him. I've had this argument so many times, whether 'tis better to have a great team and a mediocre quarterback or vice versa. This seems t support my theory that the team is more important.
Kinda like the new NHL. A great team can survive with good netminding, but not so much the reverse. Case in point: the ailing Chicago Blackhawks. Since they played my Red Wings three times recently, I can say that it was not worth the money they spent on Khabibulin when they haven't got a forward who can find the back of the net. Even the Bulin Wall needs a little goal support.
Whatever you do, though, don't read the reverse into that. Legace is an amazing goaltender, I've said so for years to anyone who would listen. Mostly my friends just gave me blank stares, but when I've had the chance to talk to a hockey fan, I've gotten laughed at. No one seemed to think he'd ever be anything but a back up. But I've been in Detroit in the CuJo days and participated in the "Manny" chant, so I know there are at least a few others out there who agree with me. I wanted him in net in the '04 playoffs, but since my name isn't Dave Lewis, no one listened.
Clearly I love my Wings, and I want to support them wholeheartedly, so today I went online searching for a jersey. I've often said that I thought buying jerseys was a waste of money, especially when you don't know who will be where the next season, but at least with Detroit Yzerman and Shanahan are safe bets; they're not leaving Hockeytown. Being the Shanny fan that I am, I figured what the heck. Can anyone explain to me, then, why personalizing a women's jersey isn't possible? I don't want men's sizes, I'm too small for them, but that seems to be my only choice if I want to show my love for #14.
Speaking of jerseys, I've been annoyed for years that US Soccer offers any number of jerseys, but no Kristine Lilly. I understand Mia Hamm, but right now you can only get her jersey or that of Brandi Chastain, Shannon Boxx, or Abby Wambach. Nothing against Boxxy, but come on, Lil's the most capped player in all of soccer and she's tied for third now in all time goals. At least offer Michelle Akers before Shannon Boxx, or even Julie Foudy or Carla Overbeck.
Well, enough ranting for today. Until next time, go Wings!

First Time

Long-time sports fan, first time blogger. I read all of these blogs on sports sites, and I want desperately to toss in my two cents, but then I think my thoughts might not even be worth more than that! I'm hardly an expert, though I like to consider myself so. I'm going to use this as a place to sound off about all of the things that pique my interest in the sports that I follow.

Which means, this weekend I can over-analyze the performances at Skate Canada, cheer for my Red Wings as they take on the Coyotes, hang my head at another dismal Packers performance, and watch the US Men's National Soccer Team take on Scotland.

Of all of those, it's the hockey that has captured my interest most. The Wings are off to a great start, an amazing start, so much of it due to the play of Manny Legace. I've raved about him for years to anyone who will listen; it's great that the coach finally agrees with me! Now if only I could track down that waiter who told me Jimmy Howard would be between the pipes this year. He was right, I guess. Howard is in net. In Grand Rapids.

In other ice sports, how 'bout Alissa Czisny? Two Grand Prix medals and a trip to the final, yet she'll be fighting for a spot on the Olympic team. I'm watching the whole process with a mix of anticipation and dread, since I think the United States' best hope for a medal will be sitting at home due to citizenship issues. I hear there's legislation they're trying to pass to help out Tanith Belbin, but who knows if that will fly. Too bad for us if she and Ben Agosto can't go, they have a legitimate shot to medal in ice dance, where we Americans typically just suck. It's like rhythmic gymnastics, the ugly stepsister that is misunderstood and gets no attention. Well, Ben and Tanith will make America take notice. If they get to compete.