My Man Scott

Have you been watching the Olympics? Let me restate that. You better be watching the Olympics. My memories of ice skating competition are gilded with Scott Hamilton's commentating. I often get annoyed by commentators but never have I been bugged by Scott. In fact, it just wouldn't be the Olympics without him. I watch the Olympics, in part, just so I can hear what he has to say. If commentators could receive gold medals then Scott would get one every year. I'm sure of it.

Last night I realized that after all these years of listening to my man Scott's expertise, I've never actually seen him skate. I remedied that this afternoon. I was only too pleased with his performances. I thought he had a perfect combination of grace, power, and technical execution. Some skaters are go overboard when it comes to fluid movement and expression, and some fall short as they skate with stiff rigidity. Some skaters do o.k. when it comes to presentation because though they are making the marks, the transitions into the jumps and spins look too anticipated, structured, and planned. Not Scott. He flies across the ice and makes skating look as though it's as natural as walking down the street. He isn't too flowery in expression yet he moves with poise and elegance. He isn't stiff and rigid but carries himself confidently maintaining strong form. As he cruises along the ice he doesn't skip a beat or appear to move with anticipation, waiting and watching for the next upcoming jump. He simply skates along and when jump time comes up, he jumps, then moves right along keeping in time and pace.

Here are a couple of clips so you can see what I mean...

This one below is his long performance he won his gold medal for:

This one is just for kicks, or rather I should say, skates: