BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D MISS IT!

My annual rant about the figure skating competitions.

First, lots of dark roots to be seen. If you are going to go blonde, then keep it up! How difficult is that concept?

Second, lots of filthy skates and dirty skate laces to be seen. No. No. No. You must respect yourself and your appearance as a part of respecting your sport. Put in clean, fresh laces before a competition (thereby, as a bonus, possibly preventing a broken lace during the actual event) and make sure that you have polished your boots and in other ways refreshed the appearance of the soles and heels of the skate boot. It's simple cleanliness and should be considered as part of the overall presentation mark.

Third, costuming does not have to contain every sequin available in the known world! Tone it down some. Aside from the tacky factor involved in over-sequining your costume, there's the danger to other skaters. Those puppies cause falls and it is irresponsible to make the ice unsafe for others! Check your skirt length so that your partner doesn't end up tripping on an overly lengthy, overly flowing skirt! It has happened to one pair twice already in the same competition. That is avoidable error folks!

If you have only a 50% chance of landing a jump, don't include it in your program. The sight of your butt hitting the ice isn't one to which I look forward! The best competitions are the ones in which everyone skates cleanly and to the best of their abilities. Then the BEST man wins - not the last man standing!