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Thursday, January 12, 2006
Olympic skating drama starts tonight
Tonight’s the night when I begin my pre-Olympic hysteria.
The Turin Winter Olympics don’t begin for a month (Feb. 10-26 on NBC), but tonight is the beginning of the figure skating championships that will determine at least two-thirds of our female team and all of our male team.
And let’s face it, figure skating is what the Winter Olympics are all about. Unbelievable feats, Vegas-style costumes.
“The U.S. Figure Skating Championships”, dubbed “the nationals” by fans and insiders, arrives on ESPN2 tonight at 6:30 with the short programs for both the men and the women, live from St. Louis.
The long programs, which will decide medals and thus who goes to the Olympics, airs Saturday night at 7 on ABC.
If you’re a fan, you know that the women’s side is in a bit of a tumult right now because favored Olympic contender Michelle Kwan withdrew from the nationals with a hip injury. She has petitioned Olympic officials to award a berth anyway, based in part on her record of winning nine national championships, five world championships and silver and bronze medals in the most recent two Olympics.
Doll-like Sasha Cohen is favored to win the nationals in Kwan’s absence, despite battling the flu for several days. Other contenders include Alissa Czisny, Kimmie Meissner and Emily (sister of gold medalist Sarah) Hughes.
There always seems to be a world of drama surrounding women’s figure skating, peaking with the knee-whacking of Nancy Kerrigan involving Tonya Harding and cohorts in 1994.
Tonight’s short programs on ESPN2 will prep us for Turin — and give us a peek at the supreme melodrama to come.
Mommy, make them stop!
My heart sank when I watched the preview of ABC’s new sitcom “Crumbs” (debuts tonight at 8:30) and witnessed Jane Curtin, William Devane and Fred Savage acting like cartoon characters on meth. Stop it. Please.
Whoever told them to adopt this style of super-duper-overacting should be taken to the shed and spanked hard.
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