SKATING NOSTALGIA
An interesting thing happened this Olympic season. While, as expected, this blog saw a dramatic rise in visits and visitors, according to my referral page, over half the folks weren't searching for Sasha Cohen or Michelle Kwan or even new (to them) faces like Shizuka Arakawa or Evgeny Plushenko.
More than half the people visiting this blog for the first time were here because of searches for skaters past. Janet Lynn was a hot one, so was Robin Cousins, Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt, Irina Rodnina and "the Russian skater who died" (i.e. Sergei Grinkov).
Since this blog initially began as a "Where Are They Now?" of interviews with retired greats, I happen to have plenty of info on all of the above (just pop your favorite skater's name into the search box for a treasure trove of links). But it did get me thinking. This Olympics was hardly the excitement-o-rama of days gone by. No battle of the Brians or the Carmens (we could have had a Battle of the Girls With Russian names; but that tanked spectacularly). No star-making performances ala Gordeeva & Grinkov in 1988 or Sarah Hughes in 2002. No dramatic, made-for-TV tear-jerkers like Bereznaia and her head injury, no stunning upsets like Tara Lipinski in 1998, no Tonya and Nancy, and no (thank goodness) judging controversies.
Usually, an Olympic Games raises the level of interest in figure skating, at least for a few weeks. But, this time around, it seems more like the blah-ness of Turino 2006 made people long for the good old days, which manifested itself in Google searches for old favorites. What do you all think?
More than half the people visiting this blog for the first time were here because of searches for skaters past. Janet Lynn was a hot one, so was Robin Cousins, Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt, Irina Rodnina and "the Russian skater who died" (i.e. Sergei Grinkov).
Since this blog initially began as a "Where Are They Now?" of interviews with retired greats, I happen to have plenty of info on all of the above (just pop your favorite skater's name into the search box for a treasure trove of links). But it did get me thinking. This Olympics was hardly the excitement-o-rama of days gone by. No battle of the Brians or the Carmens (we could have had a Battle of the Girls With Russian names; but that tanked spectacularly). No star-making performances ala Gordeeva & Grinkov in 1988 or Sarah Hughes in 2002. No dramatic, made-for-TV tear-jerkers like Bereznaia and her head injury, no stunning upsets like Tara Lipinski in 1998, no Tonya and Nancy, and no (thank goodness) judging controversies.
Usually, an Olympic Games raises the level of interest in figure skating, at least for a few weeks. But, this time around, it seems more like the blah-ness of Turino 2006 made people long for the good old days, which manifested itself in Google searches for old favorites. What do you all think?
1 Comments:
At February 27, 2006 8:47 AM, TechMom said…
I'm afraid for the first time in recorded history, I've gotten tired of figure skating. Thank goodness we had SOME courageous skaters to root for - Shen & Zhao, Zhang&Zhang, Innoe& Baldwin. I'm so disappointed that Weir turned out to be a spoiled diva brat and that there was only one mainstream ladies competitor that didn't cave to the pressure. (I think a good solid boot in the rear might help to straighten Johnny out - but who knows.)
Oh, for the old days.....I've pulled out all my old skating tapes - better content than the current stuff.
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