QUESTION & ANSWER: ON THE BUTTON DICK BUTTON, EMMY AWARD-WINNING ANALYST AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, OFFERS A PREVIEW OF THE U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS.Byline: - Tom Hoffarth Q: Who would you identify as the favorites to win? A: ``The individuals are easy to identify - everyone in the sport knows them - but it's always who skates the best. It's that simple. I know all of them and I won't commit suicide Verb 1. commit suicide - kill oneself; "the terminally ill patient committed suicide" kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" by picking out just one or two who I think will win. You can't tell, and you don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. . You also have to realize it's much more difficult to win in the nationals than it is a world championship. It's harder to win against your own than it is against any other country. It's just a different scene and a different feel. It's a much more closed competition.'' Q: What are the United States' chances of winning a medal in the Winter Games
A: ``I think they're excellent. I've seen many positive things to think there will be more than one medal winner from this group. Again, I don't know who it will be from. The key is getting out to a lead and holding it. If you're competing in a 100-meter dash against someone and you cross the finish line 1/100th of a second ahead, then you win. But in figure skating figure skating Sport in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform various jumps, spins, and footwork. The figure skate blade has a special serrated toe pick, or toe rake, at the front. , you need to be about 25 percent ahead because the judging is so subjective. You need to be clearly ahead. If it gets too close, then the politics raises its ugly head. But judging will always be part of the sport, just as it is for diving and gymnastics and many other sports. It's the way it is. Q: Why does it seem that the better-known skaters have an advantage in judging than those novices who come up seemingly unknown in a competition? A: ``By this point, everyone is known. The judges have seen them all, as have the spectators. Very seldom does a dark horse rise up to win - it does happen, going back to breakout performances of Sasha Cohen
Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26 1984) is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 U.S. National Champion, 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and 2006 Olympic silver medalist. and Michelle Kwan Michelle Wing Kwan (關穎珊) (born 7 July 1980) is an American figure skater and media celebrity who has won nine U.S. championships, five world championships, and two Olympic medals. most recently. But to generalize generalize /gen·er·al·ize/ (-iz) 1. to spread throughout the body, as when local disease becomes systemic. 2. to form a general principle; to reason inductively. and say you have to be a known quantity to win isn't worth tootilypops.'' Q: Does the age limit imposed on skaters qualifying for the Olympics help or hurt the sport? A: ``To me, what difference does it make? But what I think means zilch in this case. Almost any skater should be able to qualify, but you have to realize, too, that it's much easier when you're 14 to flit across the ice with speed to `The Minute Waltz The "Waltz in D flat major", opus 64, No. 1, popularly known as the "Minute Waltz" is a waltz for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin. The piece is given the tempo marking "Molto vivace". .'' But do `The Minute Waltz' in a minute when you're 18 and do it beautifully, that's something to see. It's much more difficult to do these moves like a triple jump when you're 18, 19 or 20, so there's a greater appreciation in that regard. For some, an age limit is better, but there's no easy answer to that. Q: Why do skaters who fall down end up winning over someone who doesn't fall? A: That's never easy to determine. You have to judge the entire program. Sometimes your falling down is better than someone else left standing up. There are many cases of that happening, including my own Olympic victory. If you're judged to be better because you try something much more difficult than just skating mistake-free, you will be rewarded. You have to view the overall skate and compare it to what everyone else did that day.'' Q: Does costuming and music really have that much of an impact on how a skater's performance is judged? A: ``Of course. When you go out on a date, you don't just put on a dirty T-shirt. Why? Because you want to make a good impression. That's important. If you look like a slob, you'll be one. If you're elegant it affects how you perform. It's subjective, but the music is 50 percent of the first step toward success in this sport. If your choice of music is just some elevator music elevator music n. Unobtrusive arrangements of popular songs that are designed to be played as background music in public places, such as shopping malls and elevators. droning drone 1 n. 1. A male bee, especially a honeybee, that is characteristically stingless, performs no work, and produces no honey. Its only function is to mate with the queen bee. 2. on in the background, it won't lift the skater, or the judges, or the spectators. What's so wonderfully exciting about that? Q: Do viewers sometimes get caught up too much in technical parts of the skate, such as identifying a Salchow sal·chow n. A move in figure skating in which the skater jumps from one skate, completes a full rotation, and lands on the other skate. [After Ulrich Salchow (1877-1949), Swedish figure skater.] vs. a Lutz vs. an Axel Axel: see Absalon. ? A: ``When they do, they're missing the overall beauty. Just enjoy it. It's always evolving. It's like going to an opera or watching an actor's performance. If you focus on a specific lack of perfection you miss the overall satisfaction. There will always be a missed note or line, but that can't ruin everything else. You're missing the forest to see the trees. It's important for judges to pay attention to those things, but you should enjoy the overall impression.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (Dick Button) |
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