Cool/historical look back at 72 National Championships | Golden Skate

Cool/historical look back at 72 National Championships

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I did not know the first pair (junior pair) of African Americans won the National title in 72.. Plus tons of other things I did not know.

http://skateguard1.blogspot.com/201...YTQV8lZCCM6Nc1_bxyKa5V2b38Y9gr9Ih4vwSoLPFcmQ4

Very interesting. But I had to go back and review the history of video tape to understand how the current video quality could be so bad....Reels cost $300 per hour (unknown what year for inflation)of tape and degraded over the decades...and many tapes were just reused....So what was recorded the year I graduated from College the first time looked great back then but terrible now....It would take a Peter Jackson to digitally enhance these old skates....
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
Ryan's blog is certainly a trove of skating history (I remember when it was "Is that a Skate Guard in your pocket?":laugh:

But mostly I looooove this quote from John Misha Petkevich, Harvard student and US champ who finished second in this comp:

"I made a couple of crucial mistakes in technique that pretty well tells the story. I'm by no means finished. I still have the Olympics and the World Championships [but] this is the precise reason I never wanted to quit school to devote full time to skating. There are too many other experiences in life."

Almost 50 years later, words that still ring true:rock:
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
Ryan's blog is certainly a trove of skating history (I remember when it was "Is that a Skate Guard in your pocket?":laugh:

But mostly I looooove this quote from John Misha Petkevich, Harvard student and US champ who finished second in this comp:

"I made a couple of crucial mistakes in technique that pretty well tells the story. I'm by no means finished. I still have the Olympics and the World Championships [but] this is the precise reason I never wanted to quit school to devote full time to skating. There are too many other experiences in life."

Almost 50 years later, words that still ring true:rock:

I'm late to the party with the Skate Guard blog I guess, although it continues to be updated multiple times per month.

For me, I'm of the opposite opinion regarding skating and school. If I had some sort of talent that would allow me to compete in anything on a world level, I would not be trying to combine it with school, unless I could get a scholarship for doing so. Even then I might not because as far as I know one can't have sponsors or accept money for participating in a sport and retain NCAA eligibility. 3 gymnastics national team members made a commercial for free for this reason. Anyway, the time window for remaining at that level in figure skating is very short. The time window for going to school is as long as a person is alive. I know a lady who got a PhD in her 70's; my dad got a Master's degree in his late 50's. I might still go to law school someday; who knows? Of course this is just me and everyone should do what they want in this regard. Taking a full course load at a good school is pretty hard work unless one is a genius. Remaining competitive in figure skating on a world or even national level is VERY hard work. I really don't get trying to combine them. I get that skaters have usually missed out on a lot by being home schooled or at least not having time for things like prom, homecomings, etc, but they also are not going to have a "normal" college experience if they are skating.

Oh! and one of the things I learned from that blog was that US Nationals used to be held AFTER Worlds. I wonder how they picked the Worlds teams..
 
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