Off Season Fun 2016-2017: Fashion Review - Free Skate

Off Season Fun chugs along.  Next up my favorite free skate looks from last season.

5. Anna Pogorilaya: "Modigliani Suite"

2017 U.S. Championships: Review

I was hoping to see some good skating here from a number of the competitors.  Luckily some of them didn't disappoint.  Unfortunately, a few others did...

A brand new champion is crowned!

2017 U.S. Championships: Preview

The 2017 U.S. National Championships are just around the corner.  In most cases there is a clear front-runner...unfortunately, that ain't the case this year.  Everyone seems to be struggling in some way which means this could be a very interesting competition, especially if someone has a breakout performance.  I'll take a look at where the skaters are coming in and give them a bottom line for these championships.

Who will stand on the podium?

2016-2017 Grand Prix Final & Junior Grand Prix Final + 2016 Golden Spin of Zagreb: Review

I picked a terrible time to go sail the seas!  So much has happened over the past two weeks which means I have a lot to catch up on.  I'll take a look at the Senior Grand Prix Final, then the Junior Grand Prix Final, and wrap it all up with Golden Spin of Zagreb.  Here we go!

2016-2017 Grand Prix Final

Back-to-back gold for Evgenia & silver for Satoko. Welcome to the podium Anna!

2016 Trophee de France: Review

This competition was a strong one for quite a few skaters but, unfortunately, it was a bit of a disaster for quite a few as well.

The new generation has arrived

2016 Skate America: Review

The first competition of the season was touted as being another Ashley v. Gracie showdown. The media loves to drum up the drama between these two stars but in the end, there wasn't much to be had.  Instead we saw a few new stars emerge and that's always something to talk about.

The Americans go 1-2!

2016-2017 Season: Preview

Another season begins!  It's hard to believe we've already reached the halfway point between the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.  A lot can change between now and then but for now, here's where we stand heading into the 2016-2017 season...

Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS)

Can she make it back-to-back titles?

We'll Be the Judge of That: 2014 Sochi Olympics - Results

So this was a much more massive undertaking than I originally thought.  I'm not the Excel wiz I wish I were otherwise this might not have taken so long.  Regardless, it was still a fun project.  I'm not surprised with the outcome but I am surprised with some of the scores we came up with.

Let's see if our judges agreed with the standings

2016 Japan Open + 2016 Tallinn Cup + 2016 Autumn International Classic + 2016 Ondrej Nepela: Reviews

Oh boy, here we go!  This was a massively busy week in the skating world.  Four competitions!  I'll take a look at Japan Open, JGP Tallinn Cup, the Autumn International Classic and Ondrej Nepela Memorial.

2016 Japan Open

Japan Open is a bit of cheesefest that doesn't really count for anything, but it is a competition that gives us a sneak peek at where some of the bigger names are just a few weeks before the start of the Grand Prix season.  (Side note: It was super-weird not seeing Mao Asada here...)

Team Japan is still #1

Off Season Fun 2015-2016: Favorite Free Skates

After a longer than usual break (sorry about that!) Off Season Fun continues and concludes with my favorite Free Skates from last season.
5. Mao Asada: "Madame Butterfly"

End of Season Power Rankings: 2015-2016

Did that go by really quickly or was it just me?  It seems like this season flew by at light speed and here we are at the end of another year. With the season officially over it's time to take a look at the top skaters from my End of Grand Prix Power Rankings and see how they fared in the second half of the season.  Some people have moved up, others moved down, and there are quite a few new additions as well as skaters from earlier in the season who didn't make the list.

10. Mirai Nagasu (USA)

2016 World Championships: Ladies Review

This was one of the most anticipated World Championships I've seen in a while.  I don't know if it was the fact that the event was in the States or that there was a real possibility we'd see the U.S. ladies medal drought come to end...whatever it was, I'm glad to say these championships did not disappoint.

Russia still reigns but the U.S. medal drought is over!

2016 World Championships: Ladies Preview

We're almost there!  The 2016 World Championships start in just a few days and I'm so excited!  This is the first time these championships have been held here since 2009 and we are all dying to find out how this event will turn out.  As is customary for my previews, I'll take a look at where each competitor is coming and give them a bottom line for these championships.

Who will show up and show out in Boston?

2016 Four Continents Championships: Ladies Review

A lot of the top names were invited to this event but only a few of them came...and even fewer actually showed up.

Not the podium I was expecting but, I'll take it!

2016 U.S. National Championships: Ladies Review

This went from being one of the worst competitions I'd seen since last year's NHK Trophy to rather interesting at the end.  Put on your reading glasses and get comfortable.  I have a lot to say about this one...

Gracie is back on top!

2016 U.S. National Championships: Ladies Preview

The U.S. National Championships will take place later on this week and I'm so ready to watch this one shake down.  With the 2016 World Championships taking place in Boston, a much bigger spotlight will be trained on the U.S. champion this year.  The U.S. champ skating on home ice at Worlds...that's a major advantage.  So who will have it?  I'll take a look at where the top contenders stand coming in and give them a bottom line for these championships.

This year's top contenders have their work cut out for them

End of Grand Prix Power Rankings: 2015-2016

Half of the season down, half to go.  Based on what we've seen in the first half of the season and what we can expect to see in the second half, here are my Power Rankings for the top 10 ladies...

10. Courtney Hicks (USA)

2015-2016 Grand Prix Final & Junior Grand Prix Final: Ladies Review

The Grand Prix season comes down to this: the Final.  For the junior ladies, it was the Russians versus the Japanese; for the senior ladies, it was Teens versus the 20-Somethings.  I'll take a look at the senior ladies first and then the juniors.

2015-2016 Grand Prix Final

The Teens win it!

2015 NHK Trophy: Ladies Review + Final Grand Prix Standings

With so many well-known names at this event I expected this to be the best competition of the series.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be the most disappointing...

I'll give you a million dollars if you predicted this correctly...

2015 Trophee Eric Bompard: Ladies Review (Short Program)

From what we saw, this promised to be a very interesting event all around; however, due to the terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, the remainder of the event was cancelled.  Naturally, skating fans were upset but in light of the seriousness of the attacks (more than 130 people dead), it was the most respectful thing to do, as well as the safest thing to do for all of the athletes and fans.

We don't have a final score from this event but at least we have the SP results to talk about...

Gracie brought the fire in her SP