From: cs431109@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs431109)
Subject: Re: Landover - Prof. Worlds
Organization: Univ. of MD, Baltimore County
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:59:07 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.042116.28074@src.umd.edu> you write

>As far as the men go - I felt that Orser was completely ripped off by his
>third place finish. Wylie skated beautifully, too, although some of his 
>landings were sketchy. Boitano IS a perfect technician, but if he does 
>another piece like all of the ones he has done since
>the Olympics, I think it is safe to say he is merely a technician! He is
>a superb jumper, the best fer sure, but I feel he is very inexpressive. 
>Orser, on the other hand, has year after year, shown an ability to skate TO 
>all of his musical selections, and the selections have varied greatly. He has
>proven that he is very broad artistically, and this year his technical moves
>were strong and complete. Boitano additionally won an award for contributions
>to the sport, including artistic contributions, and at the risk of 
>receiving many flames, I beg to disagree. I *love* watching him skate, but 
>as an artist he is no risk taker. I also feel that Orser and Wylie 
>connect with
>their audiences. To me, Boitano is aware of his audience, but I don't sense
>that same connection or outreach that the others achieve.
>

I'm sorry, I know I've written a lot already, but I just have to comment
on this paragraph. I'll try not to flame too much since skating is a
subjective sport and I can understand someone having tastes other than mine.
I just wanted to say that I agree with some of the things 
said about the Men's comp, but I disagree with others.  I think Boitano
has changed from how he skated prior to and during the 88 Olympics, and
I think he's improved his expressiveness. Look at a couple of the numbers
he's done since 88 -- Billy Joel's Big Man on Mulberry Street and Harry
Connick Jr's Just Kiss Me. Those were definately diverse from his usual
fare. But you're right, he relies a great deal on his technical brilliance.
And he does seem distant from the audience, but that could be his
personality showing through. I read an article  once that described
Orser and Debi Thomas as skater's who thrive on audience approval -- they
get pumped up and perform best when they are able to wow the audience.
Boitano is exactly the opposite. His desire to skate seems to come from within
and he probably blocks much of the attention he gets before and during
a performance. That may make him seem cold to some people, but I prefer
to see someone skating for the sheer enjoyment of the sport rather than
getting the biggest applause. And which of the three skater's I've 
mentioned so far is the most consistent and skates best under pressure?

But I agree with you that he doesn't seem to have the same audience
connection as Orser and Wylie. Wylie always has been more stylistic and
graceful than skaters who rely on powerful jumps. That's what impresses
me most about him. Orser is a showman type skater, interpreting his music
and probably sacrificing big jumps for that interpretation. I've also
noted, as have many of his critics, that Wylie skates better during
exhibition than competition, until the 92 Olympics. He never did well
under the pressure of competition, until he didn't feel the pressure
in 92. Ever since then, he's gained enough confidence to be more consistent.
I have no idea why Wylie placed higher than Orser. Remember, it was
only by a tenth of a point. I liked them both, with a slight edge to
Wylie, but I would have understood Orser winning.

The award Brian received was for many contributions to professional
figure skating, one of which was the artistry he contributed through
his 3 tours with what's her name. Did you see those shows? I saw each
and was seriously impressed by the content of the entire show, not
just Brian's numbers. The entire show was choreographed from beginning
to end as though it were one continuous number. There were only a few
times where individual skater's went to center ice for applause, because
most of the individual performances led into the next number. There
was cohesion throughout. The music and the costumes, the lighting,
everything in the show was carefully planned to present one continuous
piece of skating. How much of that was Brian's? I don't know. But
without him, there would not have been three of the best skating shows
I've ever seen. Nothing Orser, Wylie, Thomas, Yamaguchi etc have done
with the Discover Card tours can compare. And he took a huge risk with
those tours, because it was his name that was first. It was a novel
idea to create such a show, and he easily could have found more lucrative
pursuits. So you are dead wrong when you say he is not a risk taker.
Maybe in one event here or there, he went with the standard routines
that are still far better than anyone elses, but in the past 5 years
he has taken several risks with his professional career to produce
shows that were different from and more artistic than the normal 
Ice Capade or Amateur Tour fare. No one can say the same of Orser.

Don't think of this as a flame, it's just my subjective opinion that
a majority of the skating world happens to share. I should tell you
that a friend of mine who also saw the show remarked that Brian B. wasn't
as good as usual. He didn't leave her as awestruck as in other years.
But I'll never forget his disappointment when he touched the ice during
the warmup on his triple axle attempt. He seriously kept looking at
that spot trying to figure out what he did wrong. I didn't notice the
same intense concentration on any of the other faces during the evening.
That told me more about him than any mugging with the audience could
have.

Mary :-)

P.s. As anyone can tell, I love discussing this subject. I'm so glad
I found this newsgroup!