My youth club was one of several in the stadium as D.C. United fought for and eventually clinched a playoff spot against the Columbus Crew.
The stadium’s falling apart. The quality of play was wretched through much of the game. Columbus played like a bunch of punks. (To some extent, so did United.) The referee was a shambles.
And still it was a great night. Good food. Good company. And a game that was exciting, if occasionally sloppy.
A few things to mention:
– D.C. United does so many things right as a club. With a baffling construction project blocking a major exit from Lot 8, the main tailgating lot, the club put a detailed detour on its site and handed out cards with the same map and directions. Getting out was a breeze. Great work, guys.
– Bottomless popcorn? Big hit with the kids. And some adults.
– No overhead TVs in our section, and no view of the video screen. Some kids moved to another clump of kids from our club so they could watch the big screen. That’s a bit much, but still, I would’ve liked to have seen some replays. I also couldn’t understand the PA, and they put very little info on the scoreboard. I thought the first D.C. United goal was scored by Pidge Eon. Turned out it was Nick DeLeon. Very different.
– Columbus’s first goal — in the seventh minute — was a direct result of a D.C. United defender lagging behind the others and leaving a couple of Crew players onside. Columbus’s second goal — two minutes after Pidge Eon’s equalizer — was a direct result of a D.C. United defender lagging behind the others and leaving a couple of Crew players onside.
– Edvin Jurisevic will not give a penalty kick for any foul committed without firearms.
– Bathroom in prime area closed for repairs? Why, yes, that’s terrific timing! I mean, RFK has all those winter events coming up, and they don’t want the stadium to be in bad shape.
– The game was chippy and sloppy, particularly in the first half. I began to wonder if we should’ve left the kids at home, lest they pick up any bad habits. Picked up a bit in the second half, when United pinned Columbus in its own half much of the time, even though a tie was fine for United. Then the Crew made things interesting when they threw everyone forward for the goal they needed to stay alive in the playoff race.
– Doug the Food Dude’s salmon wrap wasn’t quite as good as I remembered, but it was still a great value for hungry fans in Lot 8.
– Screaming Eagles were in fine voice. Should I complain that they blocked the tunnel from Lot 8 when I was trying to meet the coach who had my tickets? No? I’ll think about it. Maybe not something to bring up when the lower bowl was full and loud. The “quiet” side was into it, too.
I might need to figure out a way to get to the playoff game. Maybe take the same families with us.
Maybe I’ll get back to the pressbox at some point, and I can’t say I have no complaints with the view from Section 302. But I’m looking forward to going there again.
– Still not buying Higher Ground as the theme song.
– They’re going out of their way to make Roy Nelson look bad. Have we even met his assistant coaches?
There’s allegedly a guy named Jon on this show. Anyone remember him? Just saw him in the opening credits.
Show starts with Dana White coming in to tell Nic Herron-Webb that he won the second round and got (bleep) out of a third round.
Roy Nelson, though, goes off on things Nic could’ve done better. He enlists jiu-jitsu wizard Cameron Diffley to explain one of the finer points. Diffley keeps silent and looks for a hole in the floor in which he can crawl.
Oh, THERE’S Jon Manley. The Team Nelson fighter asks people on the other team how they’re treated when they lose. Seems Carwin is all caring and nice, while Nelson is indifferent. Or maybe Matt Secor’s just lying to mess with them. Team Carwin has only lost one fight so far. That’s not a statistically significant sample.
Are the editors making you look bad, Roy? Well, I can’t seem to embed his Tweets, so read them here and here.
Kitchen problem. Team Carwin apparently took Team Nelson’s chicken and started marinating it, Julian Lane says. So Lane and someone else eat a bit of the food and toss the rest. Team Carwin returns and starts looking all over for it.
Lane raises a good point: “Why are you looking for chicken in a drawer, man?”
And THEN we hear Team Carwin did this to Team Nelson earlier. Michael Hill’s food was gone. So Matt Secor accuses Hill of taking the chicken. Hill flips out.
Remarkably, after an exchange of bleeps, Secor loudly announces that Hill did not take the chicken, and he apologizes. Hill thanks him.
But in confessional, Hill offers a classic call-out to Secor: “I’m going to put you to sleep, and you can dream about me taking your chicken from the fridge.”
At the fight announcement, Hill offers more conventional trash-talk: “I’m going to knock you out, then I’m going to fart in your face.”
But alas, Carwin chooses Team Nelson’s Colton Smith to go against Carwin’s old guy, Eddy Ellis. By draft placement, this would be a bad matchup for Carwin. Then again, Dana really liked Eddy’s prelim fight. Then again again, as we saw with Sam Alvey, prelim fights mean squat.
Eddy gives a bit of his backstory. He took a lot of tough fights early in his career to get experience. Then he left the party scene and met his wife. Seems like something’s missing.
Carwin brings Eliot Marshall once again to encourage Eddy to ground-and-pound rather than lay-and-pray. Or something like that. Marshall tells everyone that fighting is about what? Damage. What? Damage. Remember? Damage. The word that was specifically left out of many explanations of judging criteria when the UFC was trying to get the sport regulated in more states. What? Damage.
Another Carwin assistant, Trevor Wittman, reminds Eddy that Colton was the dirtbag who faked touching gloves and then went straight for the takedown in his prelim fight.
We meet Colton, who was raised by a single mom in Iowa and did a lot of wrestling. He was kind of a troubled kid, so she put him in every sport. He joined the Army and enjoyed learning combatives. He’s now a combatives teacher.
We get a peek at Nelson’s training, and we see that an unnamed assistant coach — oh, wait, he’s “James” — is telling Colton to use a lot of front kicks. He doesn’t want to. He and sparring partner Julian Lane agree.
We’ve yet to see any assistant coaches or guests on Nelson’s side, something he addresses on his site.
The Diaz brothers were on this show, and no one thought to include them? Was the crew unable to come up with enough subtitles?
The remainder of the pre-fight stuff is roughly 20% Eddy’s experience, 80% Colton’s military background.
Colton gets the early takedown, stands, tags Eddy with a left hook, takes him down again, gets up, tags him again. In what phase was Eddy supposed to be better?
Oops – spoke too soon. With 2 minutes and change left, Eddy lands a solid right that wobbles Colton. Eddy gets on top and takes Colton’s back, then works for the armbar. Colton fights out of it and gets up with some blood trickling. Eddy lands another good combo, then lands in side control. Colton gets up and pushes Eddy into the cage.
Nelson tells Colton it was a close round, so he needs to win the second.
Round 2: Colton takes Eddy down, gets side control and turns Eddy’s face into a bloody mess. He slowly moves into a mounted crucifix like his coach used to beat Kimbo Slice, but after four minutes, referee Herb Dean has seen enough. Colton is surprised: “Oh, come on, ref!” Dean calmly explains that he needs to be trying to finish the fight. Colton shoots again, rocks him and then presses Eddy to the cage as the round ends.
We’re all expecting another round. But it’s 10:53. Dubious decision time? Or did Colton get a 10-8 in the second, like some sort of makeup call for Nic Herron-Webb?
Majority decision for Colton. Yep. Another 10-8 round. Just like last week. In this case, though, at least the guy with the momentum got the decision. And Colton comes over to tell Eddy he deserved a third round.
Colton talks again about men and women overseas while blood runs down his face. And neck. And chest.
This is entertaining stuff. And fight fans aren’t watching?
Helmets, close quarters, right turns — that’s short track. Copyright 2011 Thomas Di Nardo / Bella Faccie Sports Media via U.S. Speedskating
From the grace, artistry and predictability of figure skating, we turn to the wild world of short-track speedskating. Figure skating may be in the hands of the judges, but short-track skating is often in the hands of the refs, who have to determine whether skaters false-started, changed their lines, impeded each other or went all-out roller derby on each other. Does anyone envy that job?
Storylines
– New U.S. coaches and a split camp. Some skaters filed a claim of physical and emotional abuse against head coach Jae Su Chun and assistant Jun Hyung Yeo. Others disagreed. But while they may have beaten the rap on the abuse charges, they admitted they knew U.S. skater Simon Cho had tampered with Canadian Olivier Jean’s skates at the 2011 World Team Championships. So the coaches are gone. Are the bad feelings gone as well?
– Not that South Korea ever dominated short-track speedskating quite to the extent that, say, China dominates badminton and table tennis, but going a couple of years without a South Korean woman in the World Championship overall top three is a little surprising.
Events
World Cup
Oct. 19-21: Calgary
Oct. 26-28: Montreal
Nov. 30-Dec. 2: Nagoya, Japan
Dec. 7-9: Shanghai
Feb. 1-3: Sochi, Russia
Feb. 8-10: Dresden, Germany
U.S. Championships Dec. 20-22: Salt Lake City
World Championships
March 8-10: Debrecen, Hungary
Qualifying
World Cup: The top five overall in the U.S. Single Distance Championships (yes, “overall” and “single distance” are contradictory, but bear with us) qualified for the World Cup teams.
World Championship: Separate qualifying process.
How to watch
The International Skating Union promises some live streaming.
Names to know
With the exception of Apolo Anton Ohno, every U.S. skater from the 2010 Olympics is still active. Could Ohno come back again?
Women
– Lana Gehring (USA): Bronze medalist (500m) at 2012 World Championships in addition to relay silver. On 2010 Olympic bronze-medal relay team. Good 2011-12 World Cup season: 3rd in 1,500m, 4th in 1,000m — won both distances at February meet in the Netherlands. Co-wrote statement in support of Chun.
– Jessica Smith (USA): U.S. overall champion. 2012 Worlds relay silver medalist. Stuck with inline skating into her mid-20s and switched to the ice in time to be a 2010 Olympic alternate. Co-wrote statement in support of Chun.
– Alyson Dudek (USA): On 2010 Olympic bronze-medal relay team. One of Chun’s accusers.
– Emily Scott (USA): 2012 Worlds relay silver medalist. Five-time inline skating world champion, in third year with U.S. short-track team.
– Sarah Chen (USA): Only 17 (born March 15, 1995). Finished second at U.S. championships. Former track cyclist.
– Katherine Reutter (USA, not on World Cup team): Huge year in 2011: World champion at 1,500m, World Cup champion at 1,000m and 1,500m, second overall at Worlds with a a silver and a bronze in addition to gold. Won silver in 2010 Olympics (at 1,000 meters) in addition to bronze from relay. Rehabbing from hip injuries and didn’t compete at U.S. Championships but still listed as a Category I skater. Officially neutral in Chun dispute.
– Kimberly Derrick (USA): Finished seventh at U.S. championships but added to team as discretionary pick. On 2010 Olympic bronze-medal relay team. Also competed in 2006 Olympics one day after grandfather’s death. Signed statement in support of Chun. Updated with addition to World Cup team.
– Allison Baver (USA, not on World Cup team): Three-time Olympian. Didn’t make World Cup team (finished eighth at U.S. championships). One of Chun’s accusers. Has had injury problems and is also dabbling in long-track skating.
– Tamara Frederick (USA): Has World Cup experience. Finished sixth in U.S. championships but didn’t get discretionary pick, bypassed in favor of more experienced Derrick. Signed statement in support of Chun.
– Li Jianrou (China): Reigning world champion (overall and 1,500m). Second in 2011-12 World Cup at 1,000m.
– Ha-Ri Cho (South Korea): 2011 overall world champion. In 2012: World champion at 1,000m, World Cup champion at 1,500m. A decade of international experience.
– Arianna Fontana (Italy): 2010 bronze medalist at 500m. Third in 2011 and 2012 Worlds. World Cup champion at 500m.
Top finishers by year:
World Championships overall:
2006: Sun-Yu Jin (South Korea), Wang Meng (China), Kalyna Roberge (Canada)
2007: Jin, Eun-Ju Jung (South Korea), Roberge
2008: Wang, Zhou Yang (China), Shin-Young Yang (South Korea) // 7th – Katherine Reutter (USA)
2009: Wang, Ming-Jung Kim (South Korea), Zhou // 7th – Reutter, 8th – Kimberly Derrick (USA)
2010: Seung-Hi Park (South Korea), Wang, Ha-Ri Cho (South Korea) // 6th – Reutter
2011: Cho, Reutter, Arianna Fontana (Italy)
2012 World Championships:
Overall: Li Jianrou (China), Valerie Maltais (Canada), Arianna Fontana (Italy) // 8th – Lana Gehring (USA)
500m: Fan Kexin (China), Fontana, Gehring
1,000m: Ha-Ri Cho (South Korea), Li, Maltais
1,500m: Li, Liu Qiuhong (China), Marie-Eve Drolet (Canada)
3,000m: Maltais, Fontana, Drolet
Relay: China, USA, South Korea
2012 World Cup standings:
500m: Arianna Fontana (Italy), Martina Valcepina (Italy), Liu Quihong (China) // 6th – Jessica Smith (USA)
1,000m: Yui Sakai (Japan), Li Jianrou (China), Elise Christie (Britain) // 4th – Lana Gehring (USA)
1,500m: Ha-Ri Cho (China), Eun-Byul Lee (South Korea), Gehring // 4th – Katherine Reutter (USA)
Relay: China, USA, Japan
2010 Olympics:
500m: Wang Meng (China), Marianne St-Gelais (Canada), Arianna Fontana (Italy)
1,000m: Wang, Katherine Reutter (USA), Seung-Hi Park (South Korea)
1,500m: Zhou Yang (China), Eun-Byul Lee (South Korea), Park
Relay: China, Canada, USA
2006 Olympics
500m: Wang Meng (China), Evgenia Radanova (Bulgaria), Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (Canada)
1,000m: Sun-Yu Jin (South Korea), Wang, Yang Yang-A (China)
1,500m: Sun, Eun-Kyung Choi (South Korea), Wang
Relay: South Korea, Canada, Italy
Men
– J.R. Celski (USA): U.S. overall champion. Won bronze in 2010 (at 1,500 meters) in addition to relay bronze. Then took a year off to start a film company in Seattle. Second overall in 2009 World Championships (won 3,000m); fourth overall in 2010. Still holds junior world records at 500m and 1,000m, set in 2009. One of Chun’s accusers.
– Jeff Simon (USA): Back after dealing with back problems. One of Chun’s accusers and said he would not compete on World Cup circuit if coaches were still in place.
– Travis Jayner (USA): On 2010 bronze-medal relay team. Good 2010-11 season: World relay bronze, third in World Cup 1,000m. One of Chun’s accusers.
– Chris Creveling (USA): Signed statement in support of Chun. New to international competition.
– Kyle Carr (USA): 2011 World relay bronze. One of Chun’s accusers.
– John-Henry Krueger (USA): Youngster finished sixth at U.S. championships and was added to World Cup team as discretionary pick. Signed statement in support of Chun.
– Simon Cho (USA, not on World Cup team): At center of skate-tampering controversy. 2011 world champion at 500m, fourth overall. On 2010 bronze-medal relay team. Finished ninth in U.S. championships.
– Jordan Malone (USA, not on World Cup team): On 2010 bronze-medal relay team but had a few problems in the U.S. championships. One of Chun’s accusers.
– Charles Hamelin (Canada): Veteran won 2010 Olympic gold at 500m. World Championship medalist in odd years: silver in 2007, bronze in 2009, silver in 2011. Great World Cup in 2009-10: 1st at 500m, 2nd at 1,500m, 3rd at 1,000m.
– Yoon-Gy Kwak (South Korea): Reigning world champion (overall, 1,000m, 3,000m). 2012 World Cup champion at 1,000m.
– Jinkyu Noh (South Korea): 2011 overall world champion and world junior champion; overall runner-up and 1,500m champion in 2012. Also World Cup 1,500m champion in 2012.
– Olivier Jean (Canada): Third overall in Worlds and won 500m, where he was also the World Cup champion. The target of the skate tampering that tore apart the U.S. team. You have to see his picture.
Top finishers by year:
World Championships overall:
2006: Hyun-Soo Ahn (South Korea), Ho-Suk Lee (South Korea), Francois-Louis Tremblay (Canada) // 9th – Rusty Smith (USA)
2007: Ahn, Charles Hamelin (Canada), Apolo Anton Ohno (USA) // 7th – Jordan Malone (USA)
2008: Ohno, H-S Lee, Kyung-Taek Song (South Korea)
2009: H-S Lee, J.R. Celski (USA), Hamelin // 5th – Ohno, 10th – Jeff Simon (USA)
In mixed martial arts, the fanbase is divided into two camps — “hardcores” and “casuals.”
“Casuals” are fans who were late to jump on the MMA bandwagon and are most prone to respond to big names. They know Brock Lesnar, but they’re a little hazy on Cain Velasquez. They aren’t well-versed in the grappling aspects of MMA. For a while, the dividing line was after the Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar fight in 2005 that propelled the UFC to greater heights.
“Hardcores” can earn their credentials in a few different ways. They might be experts in technique, either striking or grappling. They may have been around since the days of Pancrase or at least Pride’s heyday. They’re not homogeneous — some appreciate the pro wrestling roots of Japanese MMA, some hate pro wrestling and want MMA to strive for legitimacy and professionalism akin to other major sports. They’ll argue about the sport’s history the same way college-rock diehards will argue whether Automatic for the People was R.E.M.’s masterpiece or further evidence that they’d sold out.
In the EliteXC days, the UFC was the hardcore fans’ choice. EliteXC was betting the farm on the lie that Kimbo Slice was one of the world’s best heavyweights. Not even Kimbo believed that. The UFC was mostly a meritocracy. Some fans insisted that the UFC merely had some of the world’s best talent, not all of it, but the UFC was not something to ignore. The title belts meant something.
The Ultimate Fighter has often divided hardcores. The first season yielded the spectacular Griffin-Bonnar fight and several legitimate UFC stars, so even if hardcores scoffed at the drunken shenanigans in the house, they were willing to pay attention. As the TUF talent has grown weaker, hardcores have been more likely to say, “Oh, I haven’t watched since the fifth season.” They may have come back for the heavyweight season, which mixed in a few good prospects along with a true test of Kimbo Slice’s fighting skills, and the featherweight/bantamweight season drew a lot of curious looks at a largely untapped talent pool. But beyond that, the hardcores are an audience that would need to be won back.
The 15th season (first on FX) was designed to do just that. The fights were live. The drama in the house was toned down. It was less of a reality show and more of a tournament for prospects that played out in real time. But the ratings weren’t great. Perhaps the new Friday night time slot was a problem, though I’m inclined to think hardcores know how to work a DVR.
Season 16 went back to the old format, and the promos showed plenty of confrontations in the house. Honestly, I thought the ratings would go back up, capturing people who may claimed they didn’t like reality-show nonsense but secretly craved it. That hasn’t happened.
And that brings us to the week’s blockbuster news: Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones will be the coaches on the show’s 17th season. Then Sonnen, who has never won a UFC fight at light heavyweight, will fight Jones for the light heavyweight title.
I responded on Bloody Elbow with a flippant comment that “There are no hard-cores.” I thought I had explained a bit more, saying that the UFC must think there are no hardcores (I decided to drop the hyphen after looking around for common usage) if they’re just going emphasize Sonnen’s big mouth over a legit title contender, but I see now that I must have hit “send” before typing the rest. Oops. No wonder I got called out on the board and on Twitter.
Coincidentally, I talked with a colleague yesterday who has been around since the old days, and we talked about the size of the hardcore audience. It’s hard to pin down. Hardcores have kept up a lively presence on the Internet, with thriving news sites and a multitude of blogs. But what percentage of the audience is hardcore?
My colleague thinks hardcores’ enthusiasm has dimmed as the UFC has spread itself too thin, putting together weaker cards. I’m torn. Sure, the UFC has come up with some remarkably weak co-main events and third fights on the main card, leading to the cancellation of a major pay-per-view card when the Jones-Dan Henderson fight fell through and left nothing viable to call a main event. But shouldn’t hardcores also be interested in seeing fighters on their way up the ladder? Aren’t they the ones who hop on Facebook three hours before a pay-per-view so they can watch the prelims?
That takes us back to this question: Should we define “hardcores” as people who want to watch as many fights as they can, or are they people who just want to concentrate on the proven or promising fighters?
The next question: Is the TUF audience hardcore, and are they tuning out because they think the fighters have no future? Or is it casual, and have they tuned out because they’ve seen all the reality drama before?
Then what about the Bellator audience? Are they hardcores? And will they watch as Spike puts together another reality show that sounds an awful lot like The Ultimate Fighter but with Bellator rather than the UFC as the prize at the end? (Or do Bellator and Spike think casuals are so habituated to watching MMA on Spike that they won’t notice the brand name has changed?)
“Casuals” may be easier to predict. Give them a big name and an outsized personality, and they’ll respond. But that buzz has to come from somewhere — if their hardcore-leaning buddies aren’t telling them they need to check out Ben Henderson, they won’t. And the hardcores are a little more difficult to predict. They’re a temperamental bunch, and I say that with a lot of respect.**
The good news about the hardcore audience is that they’re not going to go away. Casuals may come and go, but hardcores have too much respect for the sport to abandon it entirely. The danger for the UFC is that hardcore fans are willing to look beyond it.
So I don’t know how big the hardcore audience really is. But I know they’re important. And I know stunts like Sonnen on TUF will not make them happy.
* – Apologies if the headline gets that awful Paula Cole song stuck in your head.
** – Am I a hardcore? Honestly, I’d feel like a poser if I claimed that. I may have been one of the first mainstream sports guys to catch on to the sport — I was USA TODAY’s first official beat writer — and I’ve gone back to watch everything from the first four UFC cards to every TUF episode. But I was lucky to work with Sergio Non, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of every fighter from at least the past 12 years. I have other colleagues in the media who can go point-by-point through the finer elements of jiu-jitsu or covered UFC cards when the sport was still virtually underground. I can go beyond the big names — some of the best fight cards I’ve seen were WEC cards that didn’t draw many other viewers on Versus — but I know my limitations. And I hate pro wrestling.
A thoughtful espnW roundtable on Lance Armstrong raised a good question: How valuable is Livestrong, anyway?
(One question needs to be addressed: One participant says people might see Livestrong Park and wonder where the funds are going. But unless the reporting is wrong, the funds are going to other way.)
The roundtable links to this Outside magazine story from earlier in the year that questioned a lot of Livestrong’s practices, from its strong-arm approach to the media to the nebulous emphasis on “awareness.” The latter is turning into a hot topic in cancer charities these days — is it time to put away the ribbons and pick up some lab microscopes?
But the Outside piece, while occasionally blunt, is fair. It doesn’t shy away from the good that Livestrong has done.
Figure skating has one of the more interesting competition series, spreading out its best competitors over the course of a season and building toward a couple of big events with the big names. So the big names are frequently active (unlike swimming or gymnastics) but they’re not facing each other every week (unlike skiing World Cup circuits).
It seems that the big names aren’t as American as they used to be. The U.S. men are indeed overdue at the World Championships — they haven’t medaled in the past three, tying the longest drought since the 70s — but Evan Lysacek is the reigning Olympic champion. The women’s results are more shocking — when Kimmie Meissner and Sasha Cohen placed first and third at the 2006 World Championships, who could’ve imagined they’d be the last U.S. medalists of the decade? In 2010, the U.S. women were kept off the Olympic podium for the first time since 1964.
And yet the USA has somehow become a juggernaut in ice dancing, with Meryl Davis and Charlie White picking up the torch from Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. The USA’s “A” team, which gets full funding, has one man, one woman, one pair and three ice dancing duos.
Storylines
– Comebacks: Olympic champion Evan Lysacek, the ever-entertaining Johnny Weir. Between them and consistent Jeremy Abbott, can the U.S. men make some noise this year?
– The great North American ice dancing rivalry: Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA) vs. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada).
– Will China return to pairs podium? A decade of dominance ended suddenly at the 2012 Worlds.
– Some consistency from U.S. women? They’ve been through a cycle in which someone steps up, then fades. Then sometimes re-emerges. Meissner was only 16 when she won the 2006 world title. Mirai Nagasu was just 14 when she won the 2008 U.S. title, but she hasn’t won it since. Nagasu was fourth in the 2010 Games, with Rachael Flatt seventh.
The USA continues to have a steady parade of World Junior medalists, including sweeps in 2007 (Caroline Zhang, Nagasu, Ashley Wagner) and 2008 (Flatt, Zhang, Nagasu). Zhang and Wagner medaled again in 2009. Then Agnes Zawadzki took over for 2010 silver and 2011 bronze, followed by Gracie Gold in 2012.
A couple of other events have been kinder. The Four Continents Championship doesn’t have the strongest field, but the USA has managed several top-five finishes in the past five years, with Wagner winning last year. Alissa Czisny won the 2010 Grand Prix Final for the first U.S. podium in that event since 2003, and she was the only U.S. finalist last year.
Events
Grand Prix
Oct. 19-21, Skate America, Kent/Seattle, Wash.
Oct. 26-28, Skate Canada, Windsor, Ontario
Nov. 2-4, Cup of China, Shanghai
Nov. 9-11, Rostelecom Cup, Moscow
Nov. 16-18, Trophee Eric Bompard, Paris
Nov. 23-25, NHK Trophy, Miyagi, Japan
Dec. 6-9, Grand Prix Final, Sochi, Russia
U.S. Championships
Jan. 20-27, Omaha
World Championships
March 10-17, London, Ontario
Qualifying
For Grand Prix Final: A couple of skaters enter three of the six Grand Prix events, but most will enter two. Points are given for first, second, third, fourth, etc., and the skater’s top two performances are added up. Top six in each discipline make the final. The ISU makes this relatively easy to follow on its site.
For World Championships: The USA can send two men, two women (er, ladies, in figure skating terminology), two pairs and three ice dancing duos. U.S. Championship winners get automatic bids. The rest are selected by committee, based on recent performances in big events.
How to watch
Order a season pass at icenetwork.com before Oct. 22, and you can get a discounted rate of $19.95 (down from $39.95). That’ll give you the Grand Prix events, U.S. championships and several other events — some live, some not, all on demand.
NBC also will have a lot of delayed coverage, including all the Grand Prix events, and the network will go live during the U.S. championships. If you’re lucky enough to get NBC affiliate Universal Sports, you’ll have more options to catch re-broadcasts. The folks at icenetwork.com were kind enough to compile their schedule.
We don’t yet have broadcasting info for the World Championships.
We can only hope the broadcasts include this:
Names to know
Figure skating is one of the few sports to hold a World Championship the same year as the Olympics, sometimes diluting the talent pool at Worlds and letting some surprising names take world titles.
Women
– Yu-Na Kim (South Korea): Olympic champion. Coming into 2012-13 season, had posted the three best scores of all time (or at least since the current scoring system went into effect): 228.56 in 2010 Olympics, 210.03 at 2009 Trophee Bompard, 207.71 at 2009 Worlds). For sake of comparison, Sasha Cohen holds the U.S. record at 197.60 in 2003. She has spent a good bit of time in North America, working for years with Canadian Brian Orser before splitting with him awkwardly. Went on hiatus but is coming back for another run. She’s still skipping the Grand Prix season.
– Mao Asada (Japan): Olympic silver medalist, two-time world champion (2008, 2010). Struggled last season after the death of her mother. Two Grand Prix events: Cup of China, NHK Trophy
– Joannie Rochette (Canada): Olympic bronze medalist in an unforgettable story, competing in her home country just a couple of days after her mother’s death. Hasn’t decided whether to return to competition.
– Carolina Kostner (Italy): World champion after years as a perennial contender. Also won 2011 Grand Prix Final after finishing elsewhere on podium for years. After all that, she plans to skip the 2012 Grand Prix season. Also had controversy in offseason when her boyfriend, former Olympic walking champion Alex Schwazer, tested positive for EPO at the Olympics.
– Ashley Wagner (USA): The only woman on the U.S. A team. 2012 U.S. champion (previous high was 3rd in 2008 and 2010). 2012 Four Continents champion. Qualified for 2009 Grand Prix Final, finished 4th. Like Alissa Czisny, she spins clockwise, a relative rarity in figure skating. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, Trophee Bompard
– Mirai Nagasu (USA): 4th in 2010 Olympics. 7th in 2010 World Championships. U.S. Championships, 2008-2012: 1st, 5th, 2nd, 3rd, 7th. Switched coaches and training bases, moving away from Frank Carroll, to cut down on commute and get a change of scenery. One Grand Prix event: Cup of China
– Alissa Czisny (USA): 2010 Grand Prix Final champion, the last significant win by a U.S. skater. 2009 and 2011 U.S. champion (2nd in 2012, 10th in 2010). 5th in 2011 World Championships. Hindered by calf and hip injuries in the past year. One Grand Prix event: NHK Trophy
– Caroline Zhang (USA): 2007 world junior champion, then 2nd the next two years. U.S. Championships, 2008-2012: 4th, 3rd, 11th, 12th, 4th. Four Continents: 4th in 2009, 3rd in 2010 and 2012. Has a signature move called a pearl spin. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, Rostelecom Cup
– Agnes Zawadzki (USA): 2nd in 2010 World Junior Championships, 3rd in 2011. U.S. Championships, 2011-2012: 4th, 3rd. Two Grand Prix events: Rostelecom Cup, NHK Trophy
– Gracie Gold (USA): 2nd in 2012 World Junior Championships. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, Rostelecom Cup
– Christina Gao (USA): 5th in three straight U.S. Championships. Harvard Class of 2016. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, Trophee Bompard
– Rachael Flatt (USA): 2010 U.S. champion and Olympian (placed 7th). Successful in other U.S. Championships: 2nd in 2008/09/11, yet only on USA’s C-team. Has had some injury problems and was reprimanded and fined for not disclosing injury before 2011 World Championships. 6th in 2012 U.S. championships. Qualified for 2010 Grand Prix Final, finished 6th. Stanford student. One Grand Prix event: Skate America
– Patrick Chan (Canada): 2011 and 2012 world champion after two years as runner-up. Also two-time defending Grand Prix Final winner. Chinese-Canadian (born in Canada; parents from Hong Kong). Finished 5th in Vancouver. Has posted six of the best scores ever, including the record of 280.98 at the 2011 Worlds.
– Daisuke Takahashi (Japan): 2010 world champion and 2012 runner-up. Also second in Grand Prix Final last year. Three of the top 10 scores of all time.
– Evan Lysacek (USA): Olympic champion – the first U.S. skater to win Olympic gold since Brian Boitano in 1988. Hasn’t skated competitively since then. But he’s back. Also 2009 world champion, 2009 Grand Prix Final winner, 2007 and 2008 U.S. champion (medaled each year from 2005-2010). 4th in 2006 Olympics. Had been entered in Skate America but had to withdraw and might return in a smaller competition.
– Jeremy Abbott (USA): 9th in 2010 Olympics. U.S. champion in 2009, 2010 and 2012 (4th in 2007, 2008, 2011). 5th in 2010 World Championships (8th in 2012). Won 2008 Grand Prix Final. The only U.S. man on the A team, which means he gets full funding. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, Trophee Bompard
– Johnny Weir (USA): Like Lysacek, making a comeback after a couple of seasons off that included a judging stint on Skating with the Stars. Two-time Olympian (5th in 2006, 6th in 2010). 3rd in 2008 World Championships. Three-time U.S. champion (2004-2006). Two Grand Prix events: Rostelecom Cup, Trophee Bompard
– Adam Rippon (USA): 2008 and 2009 world junior champion, 2010 Four Continents champion, 6th in 2010 Olympics. Best U.S. finish: 2nd in 2012. He can do the Rippon Lutz (watch his arms) and a donut spin. Two Grand Prix events: Cup of China, NHK Trophy
– Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan): 2012 bronze medalist. Did an exhibition skate to a remix of The Doors’ Hello I Love You. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, NHK Trophy
– Brian Joubert (France): 2007 world champion and frequent world championship medalist, finishing in the top six each year from 2003 onward. Two Grand Prix events: Cup of China, Trophee Bompard
– Takahiko Kozuka (Japan): 2011 runner-up. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, Rostelecom Cup
– Ross Miner (USA): 3rd in 2011 and 2012 U.S. Championships. 3rd in 2012 Four Continents. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, NHK Trophy
– Richard Dornbush (USA): Big year in 2011: 2nd in U.S. Championships, 9th in Worlds. Two Grand Prix events: Rostelecom Cup, NHK Trophy
– Douglas Razzano (USA): A few years removed from juniors but made Grand Prix debut at last year’s Skate America. Best U.S. Championship: 5th in 2012. One Grand Prix event: Skate America
– Aliana Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (Germany): World champion in 2012, 2011, 2009 and 2008. World runners-up and Olympic bronze medalists in 2010. Stuck with coach Ingo Steuer while he was under scrutiny for past links to the Stasi. Savchenko formerly competed for Ukraine. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, Trophee Bompard
– Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov (Russia): Two-time world runners-up after pairing up in 2010. Until then, Volosozhar competed for Ukraine. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, Rostelecom Cup
– Caydee Denney/John Coughlin (USA): The only pair on the U.S. A team, returning for second season together. In first season, won U.S. Championships and placed 8th at Worlds. Denney skated at 2010 Olympics (13th) and won 2010 U.S. title with Jeremy Barrett. Coughlin won 2011 U.S. title and skated at 2011 Worlds (6th) with Caitlin Yankowskas. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, Rostelecom Cup
– Lindsay Davis/Mark Ladwig (USA): New pair, with 20-year-old Davis joining 32-year-old Ladwig. With Amanda Evora, Ladwig was a three-time U.S. medalist and 2010 Olympian (10th). Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, NHK Trophy
– Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir (USA): 5th in last two U.S. Championships; 3rd in 2009 World Juniors. Short program includes Stray Cat Strut, apparently the Brian Setzer Orchestra version. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, NHK Trophy
– Tiffany Vise/Don Baldwin (USA): U.S. Championships since 2010: 8th, 6th, 9th. Also 6th at 2011 Skate America. A “mirror pair,” inclined to spin in opposite directions. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, Rostelecom Cup
– Caitlin Yankowskas/Joshua Reagan (USA): New pair. Yankowskas won 2011 U.S. title and skated at 2011 Worlds (6th) with John Coughlin. Reagan took a long break from skating after suffering an eye injury. Two Grand Prix events: Cup of China, NHK Trophy
– Gretchen Donlan/Andrew Speroff (USA): Young pair; 4th in 2012 U.S. Championships. One Grand Prix event: Skate America
– Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA): Olympic silver medalist. 2011 World champions. 2010-12 Grand Prix Final champions; unbeaten in last two Grand Prix seasons. 2009-12 U.S. champions (4 times). Posted top three scores of all time and six of top 10. Two Grand Prix events: Skate America, NHK Trophy
– Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (Canada): Olympic and world champion, reclaiming the title from Davis/White last year. Posted four of the top 10 scores of all time. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, Rostelecom Cup
– Madison Hubbell/Zach Donahue (USA): A-team. Second season together. Last year: 3rd in U.S. Championships, 10th in Worlds, 5th in Four Continents, 6th in Skate America. Two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada, Trophee Bompard
– Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA): A-team. Sister/brother duo was 2nd in 2009 World Juniors, 4th in 2010 World Juniors, then 3rdd at senior-level 2011 Worlds. Dropped to 8th in 2012. Also two-time U.S. runner-up (2011-12). Won 2011 NHK Trophy. Two Grand Prix events: Rostelecom Cup, NHK Trophy
– Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus (USA): 7th in 2011 World Juniors; 6th in 2012 U.S. Championships. One Grand Prix event: Skate America
– Lynn Kreingkrairut/Logan Giuletti-Schmitt (USA): 4th in 2012 U.S. Championships; best finish to date. Competed in three Grand Prix events, finishing 6th in 2010 Skate America and 2011 NHK Trophy. One Grand Prix event: Skate America
– Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA): Second season together. Last year: 5th in U.S. Championships, 5th in Trophee Bompard, 4th in Skate Canada. Bates skated in 2010 Olympics (11th) with Emily Samuelson. One Grand Prix event: Cup of China
Year-by-year:
2006 Olympics: Tatiana Navka/Roman Kostomarov (Russia), Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto (USA), Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov (Ukraine)
Boxing and MMA promoters have to walk a fine line between hucksterism and sports. The UFC has long walked it better than most.
Dana White didn’t build up Kimbo Slice as one of the world’s best heavyweights — EliteXC did that. White and company instead gave Kimbo a chance to work his way up through The Ultimate Fighter, taking advantage of his notoriety but not treating him as something he wasn’t.
The UFC might make some matchups just for fun. When boxer James Toney barked his way into a UFC shot, White put him on a main card and fed him to powerful wrestler Randy Couture, who duly took him down and demolished him. Last weekend, needing a main event for one of the many injury-rattled cards this year, White put middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a non-title light heavyweight fight against the durable Stephan Bonnar, a classic case of the unstoppable force against the immovable object. (Unstoppable force 1, immovable object 0.)
But title fights? No. Aside from the title shots granted to the winners of the “Comeback” season on The Ultimate Fighter, title contenders have usually earned their shots. Perhaps Brock Lesnar was fast-tracked in the heavyweight division, but he was essentially part of a four-man tournament to settle a weight class unhinged by Couture’s contract dispute. Vitor Belfort got a surprising shot as a late replacement, but he’s a past champion who still has a lot to offer. The UFC just doesn’t hand out title shots to undeserving fighters.
Until now.
Chael Sonnen has no claim to a title shot at 205 pounds. None.
The case for Sonnen: He gave Anderson Silva fits in two shots at the middleweight title, and he has the wit (and willingness to stretch the truth) to sell a fight.
The counterargument, from MMA Mania’s Brian Hemminger: “Chael Sonnen hasn’t fought at light heavyweight since UFC 55 over seven years ago when he was choked out in the second round by Renato Sobral.”
Other reactions:
Been thinking about this all day and have nothing against Sonnen and Jones getting work, but this title fight degrades the sport
And here’s the dean of the MMA press corps, Yahoo’s Kevin Iole: “A guy who did nothing to qualify for a title shot is getting one for no reason other than that he’s quick with a quip. The UFC bills itself ‘as real as it gets,’ but this time, it’s nothing but a fairy tale.”
But wait, there’s more …
– As exciting as Sonnen’s hype might be, he isn’t the most exciting fighter in the cage. Through 14 fights in the UFC and WEC, he has exactly one finish — his October 2011 arm-triangle choke win over Brian Stann. Before that, his last finish in the cage was against Kyacey Uscola in SportFight in 2007.
– In his current UFC stint, he’s 5-3. And I’m not convinced he beat Michael Bisping.
– Sonnen got TWO shots at the middleweight title and lost them both. Now he’s supposed to move up and be a contender without fighting anyone else?
– After his really impressive performance in the first loss to Silva, Sonnen’s postfight drug test showed a 16.9:1 testosterone/epitestosterone ratio. It’s supposed to be 1:1. The World Anti-Doping Agency allows for natural variance up to 4:1. Nevada’s commission allows 6:1, even when Sonnen was approved for therapeutic use of synthetic testosterone.
– Other light heavyweight fighters exist.
Sure, the UFC might want to give The Ultimate Fighter a jolt, given the current ratings. (The current season isn’t bad, but for some reason, people just aren’t tuning in. Don’t tell me Friday nights are a problem, unless you’re telling me MMA fans are high school football fanatics. Or players.)
So if the UFC really wants to have Sonnen on The Ultimate Fighter, here are a couple of suggestions:
1. Have Sonnen and Jones fight a non-title catchweight bout. That way, if Sonnen somehow gets lucky and beats Jones, he’s not the “champion” of a weight class in which he has no other notable wins.
2. That Sonnen vs. Forrest Griffin rematch (Griffin beat him via first-round submission in another promotion in 2003) the UFC was planning? Put Sonnen and Griffin on TUF.
Updates: Fighters are speaking up now:
I guess I should just quit training to win fights and to be exciting for the fans and just go to shit talking school. @danawhite
Here’s a great idea for a Google Doodle or an ad campaign: Have a floating picture of Anderson Silva’s head, and tell the user to try to “punch” his head with the pointer. No matter where you point, the head floats away, and you miss.
That’s basically what Silva did to Stephan Bonnar on Saturday. Oh, you want to hit me? OK, give it a try. Here, I’ll back up against the cage. Hands down by my side. OK, go.
When Silva got bored of dodging Bonnar’s blows, he simply knocked him out. Now consider this — Bonnar had never been knocked out, excluding fights stopped because of cuts. Never. He and Forrest Griffin hit each other with everything they could throw, and both guys were still standing at the finish. Now Silva has knocked out Griffin and Bonnar in the first round.
So when we’re thinking of the world’s greatest athlete, where does this guy stand?
Also speaking of the world’s greatest, check out Usain Bolt’s second appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend. (He’s near the end of the clip.)
Other stuff that happened over the weekend:
Soccer: The U.S. men continue their bid to induce panic attacks among the fanbase, getting a 90th-minute goal to beat Antigua and Barbuda. The good news: They just need a draw on Tuesday against Guatemala to advance to the next round.
Cycling (track): No medals for the USA in the World Cup stop in Cali, Colombia. Might be because the USA only sent one cyclist, Cari Higgins, who finished fourth in the omnium.
Not much else happened over the weekend — see the Team USA wrap for more — but everything changes this week: figure skating revs up with Skate America, and the short-track speedskating World Cup starts in Calgary.
The recap of previous episodes reminds us that Nic Herron-Webb was kind of a jerk in the house. Really, you don’t mess with your housemates’ sleep. Mike Ricci in particular took offense.
Back in the house, Matt Secor decides to rub Julian Lane’s nose in his loss. Lane rolls with it for a bit but finally snaps, smashing a bottle and trying to get Secor to hit him. Lane’s teammates come in and calm him. Igor Araujo tells Secor to dial it down, which Secor doesn’t want to hear. Classic bully pretending he hasn’t done anything wrong.
Nelson’s team is still a little concerned about practicing only once a day. Colton Smith has an easy solution — you want a cardio workout? Run while you’re at the house!
Team Carwin has the fight pick. With the next pick … Shane Carwin … selects … zzzzzzzzzzz
What? I’m up! I’m awake! OK, it’s Nic Herron-Webb (remember the foreshadowing?) against Carwin’s Igor Araujo, who leans pretty far into Nic’s face. Igor says something about eating brains.
Bristol Marunde, sporting some nasty facial cuts from his bout with Lane, wants Igor to damage Nic’s mouth so he can’t talk.
Meet Igor Araujo — he’s Brazilian but is now at the Jackson camp in New Mexico. He’s a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, which should neutralize Nic’s strength there. And Igor’s father was a journalist! OK, we’re rooting for him now.
TUF vet Eliot Marshall comes in to work with Igor. To our surprise, Eliot knows a bit of Portuguese. Igor’s pretty happy to hear his home language.
Carwin tells us Igor is truly fighting for bread and milk. This is a good thing, apparently. And yet Carwin does pretty well fighting as a side job from his engineering career. During the next segment, Igor mentions bread and milk again.
About that next segment — Herron-Webb somehow gets Ricci’s bed on top of a gazebo in the backyard. Ricci tells Herron-Webb to go get it, but he has no leverage. He flips Herron-Webb’s hat off, at least, before going to retrieve his bed himself.
Meet Nic Herron-Webb — he’s 22 but has already created “nap-jitsu” and has a 3-year-old kid.
Igor does a tearful confession. He cries before going to sleep, thinking about his family. His son Renzo is turning 2. He says his tears make him stronger.
We get more and more pre-fight talk. Igor again talks about milk. Unlike Bristol, Igor doesn’t care about punishing Nic. Just wants to make him sleep and dream of Alaska and his bears.
Fight time: Steve Mazzagatti reffing. Igor quickly gets a takedown, then slips out of Nic’s active guard and advances to half-guard. Then to mount, though Nic nullifies it by clutching Igor’s torso. Nelson tells him, “You’ve gotta let go if you wanna win.” So Nic lets go and immediately gives up his back, taking punches to the side of the head. That’s not better. But Igor isn’t doing much, and Mazzagatti probably should’ve stood them up.
Round 2: It’s Nic on top. Igor tries to work up for a submission, but Nic maintains control and lands some sharp elbows. Then nothing. Still nothing. Still nothing. For the love of Pete, Steve Mazzagatti, will you please stand them up?! Oops .. Igor reverses. Nelson tells Nic not to fight off his back, which is too bad because he’s not bad at it. His punches force a scramble, and then Nic gets a good grip on a leglock. He can’t get it, but he reclaims top position. Nic tries some ground-and-pound as the round ends, and everyone expects a third round.
Which we don’t get, because two misguided judges think the first round was worthy of a 10-8. Um, no. Dana White visits Team Nelson to say that judging was as bad as it gets.
So it’s Igor by majority decision, and Carwin’s team is up 3-1. But Nelson still has his top two fighters.
Next week, we seem to have a bit more conflict among Team Nelson, and Carwin considers a tertiary career as a voice-over artist for self-hypnosis tapes.
For the USA and England, today’s World Cup qualifiers mean games against two of the smallest countries in the world. The USA faces Antigua and Barbuda (population 81,799), and England faces San Marino (31,735).
Mismatches, certainly, though Antigua’s record in international soccer is already a bit better than San Marino’s. The Caribbean nation has a couple of wins against fellow Caribbean teams that have played in the World Cup without embarrassing themselves. San Marino has won exactly once.
Perhaps San Marino would do a bit better if the European draw were different. Andorra is only a few places ahead in the FIFA rankings, yet San Marino appears to have never played its fellow European minnow. It has played a couple of friendlies against Liechtenstein, with one of them accounting for the country’s only win.
That seems unfair, but in a sense, Europe’s system is true to the spirit of the World Cup. Pedantic folks will tell you the “World Cup” includes qualifiers, and that the 32-team tournament we see every four years is the “World Cup final.” If you like the idea of every country entering the World Cup if it so chooses (and each time, only a couple of countries pass up the chance), then having San Marino participate in full on the off chance that it might occasionally tie Latvia is a very good thing.
And it leads to wonderful scenes like this — a terrific piece of television from the 90s that some kind person uploaded to YouTube. Learn all about the Faroe Islands:
Duresport.com 