First, let me preface this review by saying I know little about identifying jumps, or judging the quality of spins, etc.. However, I do know what I like, and I know how much fun I had at the Masters, so that is what I intend to write about.
My Masters experience started as I walked to my car from the San Jose arena at the conclusion of the US Pros. I looked to my friends, goofy grin firmly ensconced on my face, and said "there are only 28 more day until I get to do this again!" Let me say right now, if you have never been to a live skating show or competition, get the to the travel agent. It is a must have experience for all skating fans. I absolutely love it. The site of the ice as I enter the arena gives me chills. The sound of the blades striking against the ice, and the tracings they leave. The whirling of the skater as they perform fast spins. These are a few of my favorite things.
So, twenty seven days after the conclusion of the US Pros competition, I found myself on another plane. Destination: Boise Idaho. My friends and co-workers thought I was crazy. My family, including my husband, was considering mental help, but I was ecstatic. I was on my way to see Todd, again! I had met up with two ladies I had become aquatinted with in San Jose, at the airport. We were on the same flight (purely by chance), and we were able to catch the shuttle to the hotel together.
As the shuttle arrived the first person I saw was Fran, sitting in the window, and the second person was Yuka Sato, I knew I was in the right place. That evening after dinner and drinks, I retired about midnight, with the calming knowledge that Todd, Richard, and Nicole were all safely in Boise, and tomorrow there would be skating.
The next morning I went for a walk to find an ATM machine and pick up my tickets. This arena did not send advance purchase tickets, you had to pick them up at the will call window. My husband had called and purchased the tickets. They had told him I would be in a center section in row four for both the afternoon and evening "shows" as they called them. The arena seemed to be a little confused by the fact that this was a competition, not a show. About half of the locals who attended, attended either the afternoon or the evening competition, not both. As I was waiting in line to pick up my tickets, I heard the girl in front of me say her name. It was Kellie, whom I was supposed to meet up with, from the spiral edge list. We were happy to find each other. My next surprise came when I got my tickets. They were not for the fourth row. They were for the first row - Yahoo! They weren't quite center for the afternoon, for the evening part they were in the corner, but they were right next to the boards, very exciting!
As Kellie and I entered the arena, the first people we saw, other than the security guards, were Anton and Elena. They were jogging around and warming up. We saw them a lot that day, they must enjoy warming up in the open, not back stage. I sat in my seat about forty-five minutes before the skating was to begin. I met a lovely gentleman, who informed me that the last time he had seen an ice show had been in 1941. He was very nice. Soon Fran arrived (she had a seat just three seats down from me) and Kellie came to chat as well. When the nice gentleman and his family figured out that Fran and I knew each other, they insisted upon moving down and letting us sit together. That was very nice of them, and sitting next to Fran was very educational. I'm sure I drove her crazy, and it was very nice of her to answer my questions. Thanks Fran.
Okay, on to the skating. I will skip all the non relevant parts (those would be parts that don't mention Todd right)? My first Todd sighting during the event was when he decided to stand directly across the ice from my seat and watch the pairs skating. Darn Todd, he was way too distracting, I didn't pay very close attention to the pairs. He is way too cute when he is trying to get "warmed up." During the Canadian Pairs skate he was even dancing a bit to the music. Anyway, soon the pairs were finished and it was on to the men. The warm ups are always interesting to watch. Todd kept warming up his combination. Although during the competition he did a triple axle/double toe, he did indeed hit a triple axle/triple toe during warm-up.
As you all already know, he skated to Willkomen from Cabaret. (Side Note: I recently purchased the soundtrack to Cabaret for my "Todd Music" collection. It is great. I wonder who chooses Todd's music, because whomever it is, they have marvelous tastes. Todd always has the greatest music.) It had been a long time since I had seen an ISU short program, and I was a little fuzzy on the elements, but, thanks to Fran, it came back to me quickly. As I said before Todd did the triple/double combo, and then he did the 3lutz out of footwork. The little "hop" before the lutz was a very interesting move. I loved watching his spins, but the sit change sit traveled a little, and it looked like his left foot might have skimmed the ice on the landing of the double axle. All in all, I loved the program and thought the "feel" of it was fabulous. It was a very inviting piece. The audience felt as if they were a part of the skate. I liked it very much.
The second part of the competition was held that same evening at 6:00PM Boise time, and was the part that most people saw live on TNT. My seat for this portion of the event was still in the first row, but it was on the corner, not in the center. It was still a great seat. I sat next to this adorable 10 year old boy who was in attendance for only one reason, to see Todd. He was so cute. He even had a rose to throw to Todd at the end of his skate. I even overheard him explaining to his father (he later explained this to me as well, he was so excited) how he would throw the rose, so he could get it to Todd. In fact, if you view the tape, you may notice one of the first flowers on the ice comes from the far corner, that is the rose of this little boy.
Todd didn^Rt disappoint me, or this boy. He was really on. I kept watching the ice entrance for the first sign of Todd, to see which costume he might be wearing, to get a clue as to what he might skate. He was, of course, wearing the blue outfit. Il Mare, I thought. At first I was a little disappointed. He seemed to have skated that a lot in the recent past. As he finished skating, I was glad it hadn^Rt been a different number. I had never seen Il Mare, either in person or on TV skated so well. From the opening notes of the music, to the closing spin, Todd was in control. During the short program, I had been nervous when he jumped, thinking he might fall. But that night, I was completely calm. Todd was on the ice, and he was steady and secure. I^Rm not sure he could have fallen if he tried. At least that was the impression I got.
And then his scores came up. A 6.0, how exciting was that. Todd had won, and all was right with the world. Well, with my world anyway. As I walked out of the arena that night, I thought to myself, only 34 days till I get to see Todd skate in person again.
