HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: fc03@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (Frederick W. Chapman)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Footwork -- The Third Discipline of Figure Skating!
Date: 13 Jan 93 01:18:55 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

A spinoff from the "Favorite Skater" thread...
...........................................................................

One thing I think is so truly wonderful about Gary Beacom's skating is that
he shows that freeskating is so much more than just a showcase for jumps
and spins...  I really think it's about time that footwork be formally
recognized as the "third discipline" of freeskating, and be put on equal
footing (!) with jumping and spinning.  Footwork is AT LEAST as challenging
as jumping and spinning, if not more so.  Why?  Once you master a
particular jump or spin, you can *usually* perform it correctly on command;
but with footwork, each performance is a new opportunity to trip yourself
and wind up flat on your face.  :-)

Here's a recent example of outstanding footwork (IMHO)...  In the first
ever Pro-Am competition (televised this winter), Scott Hamilton did some
footwork sequences that I thought were utterly dazzling -- some of the
other men also have strong footwork, but NOTHING else I saw that day even
came close to the intricacy, speed, and precision of Scott's footwork.  It
was mesmerizing to watch!  To paraphrase Cary Grant, "I think he's a
wonderful skater.  Why, I used to call him 'Twinkletoes'".

Footwork provides many opportunities for (1) creative and meaningful
artistic expression and (2) the showcasing of technical ability -- all at
the same time.  Another nice thing about footwork is that good adult
skaters can acquire real proficiency with it; not many people who take up
skating as adults will have the opportunity to add triple jumps to their
repertoire.  Quite frankly, most kids (often highly proficient at jumping
and spinning), have pretty lousy footwork, if any.  I attribute this to
lack of training stemming from lack of emphasis on the part of the skating
leadership, rather than to lack of ability on the part of the kids.

...........................................................................

In summary, footwork should be given much more attention, and does not
deserve to be relegated to the domain of "connecting moves".  (Connecting
WHAT?  Why, jumps and spins, of course.)  Does anyone else feel similarly
about footwork?

Fred
-- 

o ------------------------------------------------------------------------- o
|  Frederick W. Chapman, User Services, Computing Center, Lehigh University |
|    Campus Phone:  8-3218     Preferred E-mail Address:  fc03@Lehigh.Edu   | 
o ------------------------------------------------------------------------- o
|             Ecstasy is transitory, but a theorem is forever!              |
o ------------------------------------------------------------------------- o
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: Music at Public Skating Sessions
Date: 10 Jan 93 06:30:18 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

> 
>    Anyone got a few million to spare?
> 
> Several skating folk in the Boston area are looking around for a
> potential roller rink investment here in the Boston area  to make up for the
> much-missed Spinoff.

They should come down to the South Eastern PA / Delaware area.  There
are two ex-rinks currently up for sale/lease.  One, MaryLand, was a
antique car auction house, but supposedly still has the floor intact
and was "the rink" for a long time and is in an area now undergoing
suburban development (i.e. kids aplenty).

The other "Spinning Wheels" on 202, served time as a lumber yard or
home improvment store and no longer has a floor.  It was a 70's boom
rink.

Too bad I ain't rich...

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     work:   to be avoided at all costs...
but no way officially representing:   uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
Commodore, Engineering Department     domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
From: aboulang@bbn.com (Albert Boulanger)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: when to have ice skates sharpened
Date: 5 Jan 93 12:44:59
Organization: BBN, Cambridge MA
Reply-To: aboulanger@bbn.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: kariba.bbn.com
In-reply-to: mmzn@rice.edu's message of Tue, 5 Jan 1993 15:50:17 GMT

In article <C0E1Bu.10H@rice.edu> mmzn@rice.edu (Mark Mazina) writes:



  How do people decide its time to have a pair of skates sharpened?  I
  was once told that if the edges will shave a layer off the flat side
  of your fingernail, then the blades are still sharp; but that may be
  an old wife's tale [hmmm, I believe it was my ex who told me it, but I
  digress :-)]

   How do people decide?  Number of hours of use?  How the bite feels?  This
   latter method doesn't work well for those of us that don't have lots of
   experience.  Sometimes I know its just me being sloppy or tired.


I have figure ice skates and I don't use them that often (I am a
ROLLER skater ;-)), but if I do a jump and the landing edge slips, I
think it is time to sharpen them.

Regards,
Albert Boulanger
aboulanger@bbn.com




Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: kim@guppy.uucp (Isaac Kim)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: Pregnant roller-blading
Date: 10 Jan 1993 02:37:28 GMT
Organization: UC San Diego
NNTP-Posting-Host: guppy.ucsd.edu

In article <1993Jan8.172532.10330@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com> kevin@dipl.rdd.lmsc.lockheed.com writes:
>
>kim@guppy.uucp (Isaac Kim) writes:
>
>>I have a friend who is about 7 months pregnant.  She has stopped 
>>playing roller hockey (thank god), but she still insists on 
>>"pleasure" roller blading.
>
>>internal damage.  She is kind of old (30), so I would hate to see her
>                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>Eh?  What's that, sonny?  You have to speak up 'cause us old folk
>don't hear so good no more.
>
>Kevin Anderson

In article <55870037@hpcc01.corp.hp.com> you write:
>>Sonny writes:
>>I have a friend who is about 7 months pregnant.  She has stopped 
>>about.  I guess I just worry about the bigger falls which could cause 
>>internal damage.  She is kind of old (30), so I would hate to see her 
>                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>I laughed so hard I almost reruptured my double hernia scars!


Sorry, I didn't mean to insult the "senior" readership of rec.skate.
I was just refering to "old" as "late in prime child-bearing years",
in this case. [Please, no responses on what appears to be somewhat 
of a sexist statement.]

>
>>have a bad accident and have to start over again.  I know that one of the 
>>advantages of rollerblading is the low-impact nature of the exercise, and 
>>I understand that it is important for pregnant women to continue to get 
>>some kind of exercise up to labour, but when is the best time to hang up 
>>the blades and just settle for boring walks down the beach.
>>
>The beach walks could do more damage - walking in sand isn't that easy.

The La Jolla Shores beach near Scripps is composed of very firm sand.
The chances of her falling while walking along this beach is much less
than falling on rollerblades.

>Kirk (sort of old at 35 and my 60+ yr old windsurfing friends think
>I'm a young wipper spapper!) out
>

Isaac (kim@bull.ucsd.edu)
From: loosemore-sandra@cs.yale.edu (Sandra Loosemore)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: Favorite skater
Date: 10 Jan 1993 15:58:46 -0500
Organization: staff hacker @ Yale Haskell project
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: functor.systemsz.cs.yale.edu
In-reply-to: ac999257@umbc3.umbc.edu's message of 10 Jan 1993 15:21:34 -0500

Well, I suppose my favorite skater is Toller Cranston :-) because 
his distinctive style was one of the things that first got me interested
in skating as a sport when I was younger.

In terms of current competitors, I've got my eye on that young Russian
pair, Shishkova and Naumov.  They also have a very different look than
most of the other pairs -- Naumov reminds me a lot of Paul Wylie in
his body type and line, and he's very well matched with his partner.
And I must confess that I'll be cheering for Mark Mitchell at the
upcoming US Nationals.

-Sandra
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: adchen@news.weeg.uiowa.edu (Tony Chen)
Subject: Re: Request for another faq topic
Organization: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 19:52:38 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.145435.28998@bnr.uk> iainw@bnr.ca (Iain Woolf) writes:
>I would be grateful if someone could add some hints to the FAQ files
>on how to skate backwards, turn to go backwards, etc. (I skate with
>ice hockey skates, but I would think the principal is much the same
>for in-line, and possibly figure-skating?)
>
>I would do it myself but for the fact I haven't mastered the skill
>yet  :-(  (Hence the request!)

You might want to check out the in-line books listed in the FAQ (part 1).
Anyone of them should provide with at the very least, something to work 
with.  However, as other rec.skaters have said, it's probably the best to
have another skater teach you in person.  Immediate feedback can help you
improve much faster than self-taught trial-and-error emulation (which is 
how I learned almost all of my skating...although there's a certain amount 
of satisfaction in being able to teach yourself 8-)

-Tony Chen
 adchen@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: kevin@dipl.rdd.lmsc.lockheed.com (Kevin Anderson)
Subject: Re: Pregnant roller-blading
Summary: xxx
Keywords: xxx
Reply-To: kevin@dipl.rdd.lmsc.lockheed.com
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 17:25:32 GMT


kim@guppy.uucp (Isaac Kim) writes:

>I have a friend who is about 7 months pregnant.  She has stopped 
>playing roller hockey (thank god), but she still insists on 
>"pleasure" roller blading.

When I was a kid I had a skating coach that put on the 'ol skates
and went out on the ice all the way up until a few weeks before
her delivery.  It scared the hell out of some of us.

>internal damage.  She is kind of old (30), so I would hate to see her
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Eh?  What's that, sonny?  You have to speak up 'cause us old folk
don't hear so good no more.

Kevin Anderson
From: RRATEICK@vma.cc.nd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: WINTERTIME INLINE SKATING
Date: 11 Jan 93 17:06:22 GMT

I received some great Christmas gifts for outdoor skating which
may be of interest to other die-hard wintertime skaters.  Mom
found a "Thermal Headband" which keeps the ears warm.  This light
weight product from Seirus, Salt Lake City, UT, (I think she
ordered it from L.L. Bean)does not interfere with a helmet.
Speaking of helmets, here in South Bend, IN, it gets dark early
these days.  A tail light, "Vistalight", (from Brookstone) easily
ties onto the rear of a helmet (at least on a BladeLid).

I have skated at temperatures down to about 25 F, using
polypropylene tights and shirt, with a fleece sweatshirt and a
wind breaker (the ones for bicycle riders work real well, with
the added fabric over the rear end.)  I use a wrist guard
designed for snow-boarding (Chiba, DBS), which totally covers a
glove on the inside.  The outside is woven with Kevlar to protect
these $50.00 gloves in case of a fall (I have not tried to fall
in them yet).  The only problem with winter skating is cold feet.
Those cooling holes in Aeroblades sure do work.

Rick Rateick
University of Notre Dame
RRATEICK@IRISHVMA.BITNET   Richard.G.Rateick.1@ND.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: pae@teal.csn.org (Phil Earnhardt)
Subject: Re: when to have ice skates sharpened
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 04:46:55 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.003237.48385@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> fc03@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (Frederick W. Chapman) writes:
>In article <ABOULANG.93Jan5124459@kariba.bbn.com>, aboulang@bbn.com
>(Albert Boulanger) writes:
>
>>I have figure ice skates and I don't use them that often (I am a
>>ROLLER skater ;-)), but if I do a jump and the landing edge slips, I
>>think it is time to sharpen them.
>
>How often do you have your roller skates sharpened?  :-)

I don't know about roller skates; if anyone would know, Albert would.

With in-line skates, there's an interesting twist: you rotate your
wheels when an edge *starts* to appear on the wheels.

--phil
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 19:59:05 GMT
Subject: Re: Stanford University weekly skating gathering, info requested
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD
Newsgroups: rec.skate

>I would appreciate any information regarding Stanford University weekly
>skating gathering. Is it still on Wednesday evening ? what time ? how to
>get there (arriving from Sunnyvale, on El Camino Real) ?  Where to park
>?  What is the average skating level  ? What is the 'agenda' ?
>
>Tal Dayan
----------
Even better would be a Sunnyvale group!  Or a Saturday Shoreline group....

Kirk out
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: ewalents@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Erich Walentschak)
Subject: Re: Music at Public Skating Sessions
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 05:53:27 GMT

I agree wholeheartedly!!  I am a roller skater turned ice skater and that used 
to be my favorite part of roller skating.  It just wasnt the same if you could 
hear each other talk.  They had a DJ who took requests, had the couple skates 
and special skates and made it a real big thing.  Now as an ice skater, Im
usually depressed by public sessions.  Im too cheap to pay $5/45 minutes for
free style sessions since I skate pubic sessions for free, but the atmosphere
is kinda lame.  The lights are always blinding and the music, even if it is
good, is too low to hear.  Course the music is usually a random tape chosen by
the current skate guard.  With our guards, this choice is usually something
noone else has ever heard before.

On the other hand, going back to roller rinks doesnt appeal much cuz I like ice
better and I feel old enough to have fathered many of the kids at the roller 
rinks.  So I guess Im stuck.  :)

Erich
From: ag@tredysvr.Tredydev.Unisys.COM (Avijit Ghosh)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: ultra wheels eclipse
Keywords: any good?
Date: 11 Jan 93 20:33:08 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Unisys Corporation, Tredyffrin, PA

I'm in real need of some new blades and just saw an ad for mail-order
ultra-wheels - "Eclipse" - for about $80.  anybody know anything about these
blades and/or this price?  if so, i'd really appreciate any info you can
provide.

thanx!



Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: mdm@bnr.ca (Diane MacMartin)
Subject: Re: Favorite skater
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 13:37:32 GMT

As for most under-appreciated skater, I think that Gary Beacom, whom you
mentioned earlier, is a definite contender for the title. His skating is
always innovative, artistic, and often downright weird.  As an amateur,
he really challenged the whole skating system, skating without a coach,
accusing judges of favoritism (mostly correctly, for the most part), and
generally speaking his mind, which good little skaters did NOT do. His
non-conformity, while his trademark, was his downfall as an amateur. I
have seen him skate professionally a couple of times and I appreciate
his artistry as much as ever.

Brian Orser may be under-appreciated worldwide, but he is instantly
recognized by Canadians as a kind of national hero.  Even the HOCKEY
fans (rednecks, eh?) at the Senators' home opener knew who he was as
soon as he stepped onto the ice.  He is a wonderful performer, at least
in exhibition.

I should mention here that Orser's poor showing in the last couple of
years of professional competitions is understandable.  He lost a very
good friend last year after a long, degenerative illness.

-- 
Diane MacMartin       Bell-Northern Research, Ltd     Ottawa, Canada
mdm@bnr.ca            Any opinions are my own and do not represent BNR.
=========>> If this is printed on paper, please recycle it <<==========

Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: kimon@orac.holonet.net (Kimon Papahadjopulos)
Subject: Re: Bauer XR-10 any good?
Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access BBS: 510-704-1058/modem
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 01:56:40 GMT

mpeters@wtcd.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Michael Peters) writes:

>skk@gsg.pa.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman) writes:
>>A local store has these discounted to $300. I'm interested in
>>upgrading to a 5 wheel racing skate, but this model has beefy
>>metal plates and is on the heavy side. How does the XR-10 compare
>>to racerblades or other models?

>I've seen them as low as $280, but $300 sounds like an OK deal.

>I think you will find that most 5 wheel skates will feel a little
>heavy.  My Bonts and magnesium frames feel pretty light by themselves,
>but bolt on ten 80 mm wheels and 20 bearings and they don't seem
>so light.  Holding an XR-10 in one hand and my skate in the other,
>they seemed to be pretty close in weight.

The trick is not just to hold the skates but to push the skates out with your
arms and then pull them back abruptly.  Then the weight difference becomes
clear.

Weight and bulk is extremely important because when you are sprinting
you are flinging your skates out and back as quickly as you can, so even
a small weight differences is very noticeable.

Also, with a padded skate like the Baur, you always have some play inbetween
your skate and your foot.  This makes the skates more comfortable and easier
to get used to, but its kind of like driving with power steering-- you loose
a little touch with the road, and your skates slosh a bit from side to side.

For these reasons the Baur is not as good a racing skate as a Bont, Wrap
or Viking, but then again, its probably less than half the price.  And its
a whole lot easier to break in.  Kind of like getting a Celica instead
of a Lambourgini.

Kimon
kimon@holonet.net
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: pae@teal.csn.org (Phil Earnhardt)
Subject: Re: Wheel lore
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 23:56:57 GMT

In article <36020010@hpfcmgw.FC.HP.COM> cfb@hpfcmgw.FC.HP.COM (Charlie Brett) writes:
>I read in a physics reference that the "wheel" is constantly trying
>to go up a hill. But don't forget, you are putting energy into the wheel
>as the front of the wheel is compressed, and the wheel is returning energy
>as the rear of the wheel is de-compressed (you push the wheel, the wheel
>pushes you). The difference is the loss do to the internal friction and
>becomes heat. Gotta maintain that conservation of enery rule.

Unfortunately, Freshman Physics is a bit too simplified to tell us what the
fastest kind of wheel will be.

Two summers ago, all the in-line racers were using 74A wheels, which where the
*softest* wheels commercially available. I doubt if most of these guys have
degrees in physics, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they were using
the fastest wheel available at the time.

On a rough surface, it's probably more important to maintain contact with the
road surface than to lose some of your energy to internal friction. If you
can't get the rubber to the road, you can't get optimal acceleration from your
skating stride. Thus, a wheel with *less* rebound (and, probably necessarily,
more internal friction) will yield greater speed on a rough surface.

>Charlie Brett - Ft. Collins, CO

--phil
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin)
Subject: Trophy Lalique
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 93 05:55:26 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, Maryversity von Uniland, College Park
Originator: clin@feedback.eng.umd.edu


    I hope I spelled that right.   I saw what little I could of this (I don't
get TNT, which televised this, at home, and was watching at a friend's place
who wanted to watch football).    As mentioned earlier, this appears to be
not the strongest of championships in terms of those who participated in it.
Mark Mitchell was number one after the short program.   They did show a
Frenchman who seemed pretty good despite being ranked eight coming into the
long program.

    Anybody know if there are supposed to be any more coverage of skating
(in the US)?  When are they supposed to show this?

--
Charles Lin
clin@eng.umd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.skate
From: pae@teal.csn.org (Phil Earnhardt)
Subject: Re: Re: Wheel lore (skating floors)
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 20:47:12 GMT

In article <55870038@hpcc01.corp.hp.com> kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom) writes:
>I would suspect that the type of race would dictate which wheel is used.
>
>In short sprints, you can afford to waste energy on friction.  Don't
>track 100Meter sprinters use long spikes while marathon runners may
>go barefoot to save the extra few ozs of shoe wt (Zoela Bud)?

All of the IISA events are longer distances. USAC has shorter distances, but
these are mostly held indoors. USAC short-distance street races are very rare.

>Also, loosing [SIC] contact with a rough surface due to hard wheels would be
>VERY slow since you'd fall behind while picking yourself up after the fall.

What I meant by losing contact was small-scale losses of contact with the 
surface while accelerating. Small parts of wheel missing small parts of the
pavement. Something that costs a few percentage points in efficiency...

Falling [simply because of a rough surface] is not a problem: really good
racers have an incredible amount of skating talent. The closest analogy I can
point to is World Cup slalom racers. Have you ever seen one of them lose a ski
while racing? Do you see them continue making 3-4 more turns *on a single ski*
before stopping? Do you have any idea of the difficulty of this trick--have
you ever tried downhill skiing on one ski?

Serious in-line racers have these type of skills on skates.

>Kirk out

--phil
From: aboulang@bbn.com (Albert Boulanger)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: Music at Public Skating Sessions
Date: 9 Jan 93 12:38:27
Organization: BBN, Cambridge MA
	<1if8feINN11p@shelley.u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: aboulanger@bbn.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: kariba.bbn.com
In-reply-to: icedance@carson.u.washington.edu's message of 6 Jan 1993 18:30:06 GMT

In article <1if8feINN11p@shelley.u.washington.edu>
icedance@carson.u.washington.edu (Ann Schmidt) writes:

   The ice rinks here play mostly rock music, either on the radio or on
   pre-recorded tapes during public sessions (at high volume).  I personally
   think most of it is pretty bad.  If we try to play ice dance music the
   public session skaters complain (I suspect they also complain about
   freestyle program tapes).  I skate few public sessions for this reason. 

One could try a mixed stategy by using contemporary dance music. One
of the problems I have with "formal" ice and roller dance is that it
is frozen in time with their notion of "acceptable" music. The dance
era did not die with the demise of the swing bands.

Dancing away on skates,
Albert Boulanger
aboulanger@bbn.com