Introduction
When the 2003 U.S. Figure Skating Championships came to my home town, I was in skating heaven for a week.
I don't normally consider myself an autograph hound, although I've collected a fair number. I was originally planning only on obtaining a few autographs of five or six famous people, but somehow the autograph bug bit me halfway through the week. How could it not, with most of the not-quite-famous skaters so accessible, and a score book with their names in it begging to be signed?
Each morning I rode the train to Union Station for Reunion Arena, or to West End Station for the American Airlines Center. Reunion had open seating and I usually had a good seat. I had an assigned seat at the AAC, and it was fantastic!
My seat at the AAC was on the corner of the rink, reasonably close. But what made it so wonderful was that I was at skater central! I sat on the very end of the row, overlooking the tunnel through which the skaters came onto the ice. Ten feet away was the corner of the railing, from which a person could lean over and ask for autographs. Twenty feet across the tunnel was the platform from which ABC did their broadcasts. I sat across from Peggy Fleming and Dick Button the last four days.
The very first day, I made friends with Lois and Willeen, two sisters who live in the Dallas area, at Reunion Arena. It turned out that their AAC seats were at the opposite end of my row, in my section. Talk about coincidence. At the AAC, I also spent some time talking with a woman named Becky and her mother, who were from out of town.
Autographs
I attended every competition I could, as well as some of the ladies' practices. I was hoping to get autographs of the top three ladies (Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes), hereinafter called the Top Three.
I brought photos of Michelle and Sasha, as well as Ice Dancers Lang & Tchernyshev, which I had taken at Champions on Ice, and I had a photo of Sarah I'd bought on Ebay. I even had the foresight to bring permanent markers which could write on a photograph, which is something I'd usually forget and subsequently embarrass myself with.
I also brought my copy of Peggy Fleming's autobiography, The Long Program.
Early in the week, I got Carol Heiss-Jenkins's autograph on the inside cover of my program. If I'd been thinking clearly, I would have had her sign the "Past Champions" page.
I also wanted people to sign their autographs "To Doug," but sometimes I'd forget. (One of the Czisny twins mis-heard me, and signed "To Denis.")
It turned out that the Top Three didn't come into town until midway through the week, which made getting their autographs at practice a bit difficult. But then I had a stroke of fantastic luck: on Tuesday evening, when hardly anyone else was in my section of the stands at the AAC (I think the pairs were practicing), Sarah Hughes and her coach Robin Wagner walked in. They had apparently just flown in that day, and they were stopping by to say hello to a few people and to make some arrangements. While Sarah stood by herself for a few moments, I got her autograph on that photo.
As she signed, I could tell the last thing she wanted to do was get caught up in signing autographs, and I think she was at least grateful that no one else asked her. She slipped into autopilot and was very polite, but she looked really stressed. (It's always a risk when asking for autographs; the best I can do is be polite, non-intrusive, and fully prepared to hear "No.") She then followed her coach as they met with some other people.
As it turned out, if I hadn't taken advantage of that golden opportunity, I would never have gotten another. From that point on, ladies' practices were either during other competitions or were too dominated by other fans to get autographs from the Top Three. I never did get Michelle's or Sasha's autograph.
Also on Tuesday, I called over to the ABC booth when a few of their employees were packing it up for the day, and asked if there was a good time I could get Peggy Fleming's autograph. A very nice woman named Carrie said there wasn't, but she volunteered to take my book to Peggy and get it autographed for me. The next day, she returned it with a nice personalized autograph from Peggy on the title page.
No one in the stands tried to contact Peggy or Dick directly most of the time, because it was obvious they were very preoccupied when they were there. If Peggy wasn't needed in that booth, she disappeared below. But late in the week, during a slow point, someone in the next section yelled out to Peggy to stand up because she wanted her photo. Peggy – who is very charming and charismatic – dutifully stood up for a photo while the woman behind her secretly put rabbit ears over her head. It was great.
On the final night, after the last awards ceremony, when ABC was packing it up, I saw my own chance. I called over to Peggy, caught her attention for a moment, and thanked her for the autograph in the book, letting her know that that had been for me. I wanted her to at least have a face to go with that request. She just smiled and nodded.
During the ladies practices – and I attended one afternoon session at the Dr. Pepper Center in Duncanville – I got about a dozen autographs of not-so-famous skaters (and could have gotten more earlier in the week if it hadn't taken me so long to realize what a chance I had). I don't care if they become famous some day, it was just neat to get their autographs and see my scorebook fill up with signatures.
I also got Ice Dance Champions Lang & Tchernyshev's autographs right before a practice. Naomi Lang seemed perfectly at ease and cheerful; Peter Tchernyshev was outwardly polite but tight-lipped, like he didn't want to have his concentration broken before a practice. Immediately afterward, their coach politely asked me not to ask skaters for autographs before they took the ice for practice, which I agreed to do. I already knew not to do that, but I hadn't remembered at that moment, and I regret asking for their autographs at that time. I didn't do it again.
Peter Lund published a book recently called Frozen Assets, billed as a book which gives the inside dirty scoop on figure skating. (I've read it. It's mildly informative, a bit overblown, not earth-shattering.) He was autographing copies in the Hyatt (next to Reunion Arena), so I picked up my copy there and got an autograph from him.
Sometime around Thursday at the AAC, Willeen told me that Tiffany Scott's family was sitting right in front of her. It didn't take me long to go over there between performances and get an autograph from Tiffany. She was really sweet.
Becky, the woman who sat behind me at the AAC, adores Brian Boitano and pointed him out in the stands about ten rows back Friday night. She was too shy to meet him, so I took her ticket book and my program and approached him between performances. He was perfectly at ease and signed both autographs – mine was on the "Past Champions" page. Becky later saw him in the lobby and worked up the courage to get a photo with him.
Someone sitting near me pointed out Kitty Carruthers, a Pairs Olympic silver medalist, standing in the tunnel below. I got her autograph on the "Past Champions" page.
On Saturday, Rosalynn Sumners, also an Olympic silver medalist, signed photos at the Nu-Skin booth, so I met her and picked up one of those.
Skating
Believe it or not, my entire week was not taken up with autographs. I primarily went for the skating. But what can I say in text that would do it justice?
It was fun cutting up in the stands with other fans; seeing these beautiful, graceful athletes glide across the ice and do things I'll never do; seeing all their different performances and musical selections; seeing outstanding junior and novice skaters who are poised to make their marks on the skating world in just a few years; seeing Belbin & Agosto dance to Elvis songs; seeing skaters come onto the ice and deliver a performance so electric that the crowd rose as one to salute them, especially if they were previously unknown.
It was fantastic seeing Sarah Hughes skate in person. She and Michelle Kwan are both so lovely.
Michelle Kwan is simply a goddess when she steps onto the ice. The rink still belongs to her. The standing ovation she received for a full minute, while stuffed animals and flowers came down like rain, was incredible.
Sarah Searching
During the Junior Ladies Short Program, the teenage girls in front of me turned around and scanned the crowd behind us with great energy and intensity the moment Emily Hughes was announced, looking closely at any pockets of people who cheered. It took me a moment to realize what they were doing.
"Looking for Sarah?" I asked.
They nodded, without stopping. Alas, their search was in vain, as they never spotted the Hughes family.
Banter
Here's a secret about sportscasters: you know all that witty, casual banter they use at the beginning of broadcasts? It's scripted. Every word. I sat there and watched Peggy Fleming, Terry Gannon and Dick Button read from the teleprompter, acting as if they were just casually joking around the way the rest of us do normally throughout the day.
Camera Flashes
It irritates me when spectators at sporting events are inconsiderate to begin with, but I try to cut everyone a little slack. (Hey, if I can forget not to bother skaters before a practice, others can forget to turn off a cell phone, and it's just a mistake.) But when they continue to be inconsiderate after repeated announcements over the PA to be otherwise, it really gets my hackles up.
In tennis, it's cell phones. In figure skating, it's camera flashes.
Announcers are always being super polite, no matter how bad it gets, saying 10 or 20 times things like, "Please turn off your mobile phones. Thank you." But one afternoon at the AAC, the announcer launched this little gem:
"Ladies and gentlemen: we have asked you to refrain from using flash photography, as it can temporarily blind a skater and lead to injury. If you do not know how to switch off the flash on your camera, either use your hand to cover it up or stop taking pictures."
God, it was sweet.
What most people don't realize is that not only does a flash do absolutely no good whatsoever when photographing a skater from the stands, but the lighting was more than bright enough so flashes weren't needed. (Spotlights and lighting effects aren't allowed in competition, so it was always bright.)
None of this did any good, of course. People continued to use their flashes, and when Michelle Kwan skated it was like a fireworks display.
I myself never use a flash to take sporting photos from the stands. In fact, one of my requirements when shopping for a digital camera was the ability to take stop-action photos, or photos in relatively low light, with no flash. I used the National Championships to field-test my digital camera.
Suggestions for the USFSA and the ISU
Suggestions beyond the obvious, I mean. After all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that anonymity for judging is a bad idea.
(The USFSA, thankfully, did not use the new, incredibly absurd anonymous-judging system, developed by the ISU to cover up their failures instead of fix them. That system will be used, however, at the World Championships. Oh, boy. Everyone, steer clear of Dick Button, he's on a rampage. And good for him.)
1. Anorexia
Hey, USFSA! When one junior girl's shoulder blades protrude almost an inch from her back, and the outline of another junior girl's rib cage is visible through her costume from 40 feet away, do you think maybe someone can say something? Even a little bit? It's too late to do anything once they die.
2. Autographs.
This desperately needs structure.
Many people who would like an autograph must wait for a practice session to end, at which time it's a hit-and-miss affair regarding whether a skater is in a hurry, in a good mood, or if there are two dozen fans waiting and the skater only has time to sign five.
The most popular skaters also sign at rinkside for a few minutes after performances, but they only reach a small percentage of the people wanting one, and the pressing crowd is large, chaotic and rough.
Replace this chaotic system with something organized.
Forbid autographs at rinkside altogether – even after practice sessions. Hang a sign, make an announcement, and just let it be so. After performances, the skaters wave and bow and skate off. End of story.
As a replacement, once or twice during the week, have skaters sit for an hour or so and sign autographs at a table, with people waiting in an organized line. There are plenty of places at the base hotel to set up such a thing.
For the skaters who are not that famous, this won't take much, and it will be an excellent opportunity to get them accustomed to meeting the public if they are in their early teens.
For skaters who are immensely popular, such as Michelle Kwan, you could make free passes available months in advance, on a first-come first-serve basis. These passes might even be numbered. That way, the people who truly love skating enough to know about these things in advance will acquire their passes long before the casual fans who just decide to show up at the last minute. This ensures that the people who want the autograph badly are first in line. Then shut down the line after a certain time, probably one or two hours. You could even have a single line for all the most popular skaters at once, having the line going down a table.
I often think that sporting events could learn much from studying science fiction conventions. Sci-fi cons have this sort of stuff down cold. (But then, sci-fi celebrities regularly charge for autographs, so that's one thing that can be left behind. Make it a USFSA fan outreach function, not a celebrity money-charging function, and everything should be okay.)
3. Bus passes
When you charge $55 for a special spectator bus pass, actually ensure that the bus drivers know of the pass's existence and check for it. Either that, or don't sell such a pass at all.
Several times, I saw people whom I know for a fact did not buy the pass (because they told me) riding the Blue Line. It made me feel like my money was wasted. I even rode to Duncanville and back and was not checked! The only time I was ever asked for it was on Saturday night, after the Ladies' Free Skate.
Verdict? Great!
All in all, though, I think Nationals went very smoothly, and Dallas did a pretty good job for a first-time host city.
I hope everyone comes back.