Yes! Alissa Cziny won! She may not have been the best technically but her total package was well above Rachael Flatt's. Alissa was third in the free but it was enough for the win on the strength of superior choreography and interpretation. Rachael was solid but rather boring. Her jumps are great but she lacks the finesse that Alissa, Caroline, and even Mirai Nagsu when she's on, have. Ashley Wagner...

Denney and Barrett, a no name team, won the short program over McLaughlin and Brubaker but they couldn't take it home even with a clean free skate. Keauna and Rockne won because of their superior choreography and interpretation (and also superior air position in the lifts). Denney and Barrett were good technically but their program was "blah". It was so empty...they were skating as 2 rather than...

Lake Placid, NY has been announced as the host city for Skate America 2009! And it's only 5 hours away from school by car! It'll probably be much cheaper than trying to go to Kitchner for Skate Canada. U.S. Figure Skating must have heard my pleas for an east coast city. Hopefully, my schedule for this fall won't be too terrible on Fridays! U.S. Nationals is under way and there have been some surprises...

Domnina and Shabalin withdrew from Euros after the CD due to injury. This is the 4th dance team that has had to withdraw from a major competition due to injury. Euros is to them (and Delobel and Schoenfelder) what U.S. Nationals was to Tanith and Ben. They must feel terrible...especially since they had to miss another major competition last year (Worlds) due to injury. I also notice that it's the...

I added this to my Nationals Preview Master Post but I think it deserves its own post. Kimmie Meissner has withdrawn from Nationals due to a hip injury. One withdrawal from nationals due to injury was too much now we have two! Unlike Tanith and Ben, Kimmie can't really petition to be on the world team because of her Grand Prix results so her season's over. Because of that, we likely won't see her...

So last night, the power went out at around 6:15 (making me miss the end of the Eagles-Cardinals game...too bad the Eagles lost). My dinner hadn't been in the microwave 5 seconds and the power went out...and stayed out for nearly 13 hours! The whole block was without power and the electric company was out there fixing it for 9 hours! It was about 6:30 this morning when it came back on. I'm glad it...

Happy Belated 27th Birthday, Ben Agosto! I can't believe that I forgot! Hopefully Ben was able to enjoy his birthday (which was yesterday) and that his back isn't causing him too much pain.

This is my (US) Nationals Preview Master Post. One discipline per day will allow me to get this done by Monday (and also to take my time to think this out). I'm starting with pairs... This will basically be a blowout. McLaughlin and Brubaker should have no problems winning this even with mistakes. And this time, they can go to worlds! Hopefully they will skate their best for the convincing win....

There's a piece of skating news I really wanted to mention. Brian Joubert has dumped Last of the Mohicans for an old favorite: Matrix! Well, Matrix Reloaded mixed with Requiem for a Dream...still, Brian just can't escape the Matrix! I was secretly hoping he was dumping his short program but whatever makes him happy (and also skate well). When Brian switched back to the Matrix after the Olympics, everything...

Was hunting for new montages dedicated to Tanith and Ben (to mourn their withdrawal from Nationals) and I found this hilarious sports news video: 1:48-2:05 is about Tanith and Ben's withdrawal. LOL at the guy doing this... Nationals preview will probably come later this week. I'm actually very excited despite the lack of a Meryl and Charlie vs. Tanith and Ben showdown.