- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
(all spelling is self inflicted...my apologies) Thanks to all the GSers that exposed themselves to me at SA Vegas. Specially Mrs. P, sabinfire, Aribba, sandskate, babyskate, ice coverage, and Nguyhm (hope I got that right) . It is always wonderful to see you. Wish we could have gotten together for dinner. If I missed anyone I am sorry.....
At the FOFS breakfast, I found out from my sourses that the most pourly kept secret is Nashville has Nats for 2022. But it cant be announced as the site for 2021 hasnt been announced yet and has ice sheet conflicts that need to be resolved. Wild horses couldnt drag out the location but we have been there before, they said.
Also at the FOFS breakfast, we had a lecture on a new technique USFS is using called "pipelining". In pipe lineing, lower level results are not the goal....developing the talanted skaters is the goal...so whether Alysa Liu medals at Juviniles is not as important as helping her become a better skater and pushing her up the ranks......They want to see the programs of talanted skaters more than once or even twice a year in person...they said that if someone, say for instance Ting, is having a bit of trouble on her landings of a triple whatever, they would take her and her coach aside and offer a hired gun , Frank Caroll is one, for a few days to help her along....the coaches love this, by the way.....
Also at the breakfast Alex/ Alexi talked a bit...he is a natural and his English is very good. Very entertaining....None of the ladies showed up, and I have to give a pass to Karen Chen because she was still sick...I dont know how she skated that free skate.... Nathan didnt show but Jason put on quite a speach. Didnt know about his traffic wreck and concussion.....got to listen a bit to Haven and her partner B. who did such a good job. With so many skaters MIA, or could only stay for a bit cause of the gala rehersals... the lines to get pics with the others were very long so I skipped and was thankful I had so many from past comps. The bacon was some of the best bacon I have ever had....two thumbs up.
Another WAG (wild something guess) is that the Orleans is getting this event back at some point. I am all for it. The rooms are huge and nice but no fridges and microwaves. Bring a small colapsable cooler if need be. They , the rooms, were, with all taxes and fees, ridiculasly cheep. Group rate. Forget about the shuttles. Ride share is cheep and fast. There are lots of restaurants but they can become overwhelmed at times...but there is always the food court. Go right away to the Bconnected booth and get a free Bconnected card. No email necessary and no phone number. (maybe they get that from your room, I dont know). You get discounts at the gift shop and $3 off the buffet. The Omlettes are excellent there but server service can be slow and that is the only way you are gonna get anything to drink, even if its free. You get 5 or 10 free bucks on the card also which you can gamble away (it took me 7 min 14 seconds to get rid of my 5 bucks.) Seeing skating folk is like shooting fish in a barrel cause they all have to pass through the corridor to the room elavators and walk around the casino....and take the corridor to the arena. You have to flash your room card to the casino security person to get to the elevators . They dont want street people wandering the halls foraging for food on the left out room service trays. One has to wonder if Mr. Hanyu comes to this event, would all the Japanese fans join FOFS to get advanced tickets??????????????? Yet how would they know he is coming? I have no idea how all those lovely Japanese fans get such good seats....
The arena was wonderful as there was no jumbotron to distract your eyes. The seats were comfortable. No cup holder that I saw. If you bought tickets on the judges side, you sat back and over the judges/skater pits. front row seats on the other side were row AA. Then BB, CC, DD, A. B C, etc. Everyone complained about Tanith doing home selling commercials during the time we should have been watching replays......and I am not the only person who is not a fan of Rusty Cap. The arena, while never an ice box, was cool at times......you could bring in bottled water no problem and the drinking fountains worked. The food was pretty good actually and reasonalbly priced for an arena.
I am not a Vegas person but I like this venue alot.....even if I didnt get Kaori alone in a elavator to tell her how much I admired her. But ONE of our GSers got to talk with her!
At the FOFS breakfast, I found out from my sourses that the most pourly kept secret is Nashville has Nats for 2022. But it cant be announced as the site for 2021 hasnt been announced yet and has ice sheet conflicts that need to be resolved. Wild horses couldnt drag out the location but we have been there before, they said.
Also at the FOFS breakfast, we had a lecture on a new technique USFS is using called "pipelining". In pipe lineing, lower level results are not the goal....developing the talanted skaters is the goal...so whether Alysa Liu medals at Juviniles is not as important as helping her become a better skater and pushing her up the ranks......They want to see the programs of talanted skaters more than once or even twice a year in person...they said that if someone, say for instance Ting, is having a bit of trouble on her landings of a triple whatever, they would take her and her coach aside and offer a hired gun , Frank Caroll is one, for a few days to help her along....the coaches love this, by the way.....
Also at the breakfast Alex/ Alexi talked a bit...he is a natural and his English is very good. Very entertaining....None of the ladies showed up, and I have to give a pass to Karen Chen because she was still sick...I dont know how she skated that free skate.... Nathan didnt show but Jason put on quite a speach. Didnt know about his traffic wreck and concussion.....got to listen a bit to Haven and her partner B. who did such a good job. With so many skaters MIA, or could only stay for a bit cause of the gala rehersals... the lines to get pics with the others were very long so I skipped and was thankful I had so many from past comps. The bacon was some of the best bacon I have ever had....two thumbs up.
Another WAG (wild something guess) is that the Orleans is getting this event back at some point. I am all for it. The rooms are huge and nice but no fridges and microwaves. Bring a small colapsable cooler if need be. They , the rooms, were, with all taxes and fees, ridiculasly cheep. Group rate. Forget about the shuttles. Ride share is cheep and fast. There are lots of restaurants but they can become overwhelmed at times...but there is always the food court. Go right away to the Bconnected booth and get a free Bconnected card. No email necessary and no phone number. (maybe they get that from your room, I dont know). You get discounts at the gift shop and $3 off the buffet. The Omlettes are excellent there but server service can be slow and that is the only way you are gonna get anything to drink, even if its free. You get 5 or 10 free bucks on the card also which you can gamble away (it took me 7 min 14 seconds to get rid of my 5 bucks.) Seeing skating folk is like shooting fish in a barrel cause they all have to pass through the corridor to the room elavators and walk around the casino....and take the corridor to the arena. You have to flash your room card to the casino security person to get to the elevators . They dont want street people wandering the halls foraging for food on the left out room service trays. One has to wonder if Mr. Hanyu comes to this event, would all the Japanese fans join FOFS to get advanced tickets??????????????? Yet how would they know he is coming? I have no idea how all those lovely Japanese fans get such good seats....
The arena was wonderful as there was no jumbotron to distract your eyes. The seats were comfortable. No cup holder that I saw. If you bought tickets on the judges side, you sat back and over the judges/skater pits. front row seats on the other side were row AA. Then BB, CC, DD, A. B C, etc. Everyone complained about Tanith doing home selling commercials during the time we should have been watching replays......and I am not the only person who is not a fan of Rusty Cap. The arena, while never an ice box, was cool at times......you could bring in bottled water no problem and the drinking fountains worked. The food was pretty good actually and reasonalbly priced for an arena.
I am not a Vegas person but I like this venue alot.....even if I didnt get Kaori alone in a elavator to tell her how much I admired her. But ONE of our GSers got to talk with her!