(I was looking for this post to copy and post somewhere else. I couldn't find it anywhere, so here it is again).
I was thankful that I had no problem convincing my friend, Reggie, who was visiting me from Chicago, to come to the show with me. Reggie is not a skating fan, although he does recognize Hamilton and Boitano when he sees them. On Friday night, I had shown Reggie that home video that I made of Johnny at Rockefeller Center when he skated there in February. I was dubbing a copy for Johnny.
When we got to the lobby of Skyrink, I got nervous. We arrived just in time to see Rohene Ward skate. Oh, what spirals and laybacks! We sat in the stands a little while after Ward skated because I wanted to take a picture with him when he went by.
While we were waiting, Reggie saw Johnny approaching and alerted me. I called out to Johnny as he walked by. He looked up, smiled, and said, "Hiiiiiiiii!" He came up about a row or two to meet me halfway, and we hugged. He asked who my friend was, and I introduced him to Reggie. I asked him how his students did, and he had all their levels and final placements memorized. He complimented me on my hair. We chit-chatted for about 30 seconds, and he said he would see me later.
Meanwhile, Ward still had not gone by yet.
A little while later, Johnny came by again with two women. He looked up at me and said, "This is Sherrie." It sounded (from his inflection) as if he was introducing me to a new person. But I thought it could be our Sherrie, so I asked, "Sherrie . . . Sherrie from the . . .?" Sherrie responded, "How quickly one forgets." I was as excited to see Sherrie as I was to see Johnny. I came down and gave her a hug, and she introduced me to her friend.
We all talked for a little bit. Johnny said not to expect too much because he was out of shape after taking a week off. (This makes an interesting commentary on perspective, especially after seeing his last photo). He said he would be doing doubles. Johnny was reading something while the other 3 of us talked. Sherrie held up a CD for me to look at. I could make out the name "Barker" scribbled on it. Oooooooo . . . I knew what was on that CD. Johnny told Sherrie to look at my hair, which I had braided with beads in it. He said he was going to get his hair done like that. Sherrie asked him if he was serious, and he said he was. Johnny and Sherrie talked business until he had to go stretch, and the three of them walked away.
Meanwhile, Ward still had not gone by yet.
Orscher and Lucash started warming up. As soon as Reggie left the rink for food, Orscher and Lucash skated their program (short, I think) as an exhibition. Reggie returned, and we found Sherrie and her friend and joined them where they were in the bleachers. While we were talking, Reggie alerted me again to Ward finally walking by. "Mr. Ward!" I called out, but he didn't hear me. I figured he would come back during the exhibition skate, so I didn't pursue him. Sherrie got a chuckle out of my "Mr. Ward."
The skaters warmed up and skated either their long or short programs, except maybe only one who skated an exhibition program. These kids were terrific, very talented. I especially liked a girl named Jane Ruan. All of the kids skated, except the noivce male who had been skipped in the program. Johnny was last on the program roster, so we (Reggie and I) thought he was next. There was a slight delay, and then the novice male took the ice. Reggie had a flight to catch, so he wanted to see Johnny skate as soon as possible. We thought Johnny was surely next, but then there was a short biographical reading on Will Sears, the person for whom the memorial fund was named.
Then came the introduction of Johnny. When his name was announced, a bunch of girls in another section of the bleachers began screaming. Sherrie reminded me to get my note pad ready. I grabbed my paper, pen, and camera, and I left the stands to go to where I could get a decent photo of Johnny while he skated.
My eye is not as trained as I thought it was, so my review of his program is not very insightful.
He skated wonderfully. The doubles did absolutely nothing to mar the beauty of the program. His jumps were great anyway. I saw nothing markedly different in the choreography from his Valse Triste program except that his emotions were different (he was not sad this time, but lighter). Of course, he did all of the spins for which we love him so. The footwork was good, but again not anything that I noticed to be very different from before.
A couple of interesting things happened while he was skating. The first was while he was skating by the crowd. As he passed, he suddenly turned his head and looked directly into the crowd, as if he was looking directly at a specific person who had caught his attention. He was fixed on something or someone there, but I don't know on what or whom. The second was while he was doing his circular footwork. The ice rink shrank (yes, I blame the rink), and he got dangerously close to the boards, smacking his hand on the plexiglass as he skated by. He looked back at it, smiled, and continued. I saw it coming about 2 seconds before it happened. He was getting closer and closer to the boards and moving with a lot of speed. I got ready to cover my eyes. When he hit the plexiglass, it sounded like a hockey match. The crowd gasped.
When he finished, he got a partial standing ovation. The crowd LOVED him. I rushed back over to my seat to show Sherrie the blank piece of paper I had that was supposed to be full of notes. I'm sorry, but I was so mesmerized by his skating that I got no notes, no good photos, and only one moving video.
Johnny was part of a presentation, giving flowers to this year's winners. I saw Reggie out and caught up with Sherrie, her friend, and Johnny in the lobby. Johnny was talking about hitting the plexiglass. He said, "I was like, 'Oh, no! Not again!'" There were 3 girls that were very excited to meet him. One of them said, "You're MY role model, and you're HER role model, and you're HER role model!" It was the cutest thing. People of all ages were lined up to take photos with him. His students were waiting to hug him goodbye. I took a photo with him, got another hug, and left with Sherrie.
When we got a good distance away from the rink, I realized that I had forgotten to give Johnny the videotape. I decided I would give it to him in Boston and walked to the next avenue with Sherrie and her friend. I parted with them and headed to the bus stop. I thought twice about having to carry the videotape to Boston, so I headed back to the rink. I found Johnny outside at a cab stand, still hugging people and saying his goodbyes. I handed him the tape and said goodbye.
I tend to have gaps in my memory, so other things may come back to me in another couple of days. If so, I will add it to the bottom of this post.
I was thankful that I had no problem convincing my friend, Reggie, who was visiting me from Chicago, to come to the show with me. Reggie is not a skating fan, although he does recognize Hamilton and Boitano when he sees them. On Friday night, I had shown Reggie that home video that I made of Johnny at Rockefeller Center when he skated there in February. I was dubbing a copy for Johnny.
When we got to the lobby of Skyrink, I got nervous. We arrived just in time to see Rohene Ward skate. Oh, what spirals and laybacks! We sat in the stands a little while after Ward skated because I wanted to take a picture with him when he went by.
While we were waiting, Reggie saw Johnny approaching and alerted me. I called out to Johnny as he walked by. He looked up, smiled, and said, "Hiiiiiiiii!" He came up about a row or two to meet me halfway, and we hugged. He asked who my friend was, and I introduced him to Reggie. I asked him how his students did, and he had all their levels and final placements memorized. He complimented me on my hair. We chit-chatted for about 30 seconds, and he said he would see me later.
Meanwhile, Ward still had not gone by yet.
A little while later, Johnny came by again with two women. He looked up at me and said, "This is Sherrie." It sounded (from his inflection) as if he was introducing me to a new person. But I thought it could be our Sherrie, so I asked, "Sherrie . . . Sherrie from the . . .?" Sherrie responded, "How quickly one forgets." I was as excited to see Sherrie as I was to see Johnny. I came down and gave her a hug, and she introduced me to her friend.
We all talked for a little bit. Johnny said not to expect too much because he was out of shape after taking a week off. (This makes an interesting commentary on perspective, especially after seeing his last photo). He said he would be doing doubles. Johnny was reading something while the other 3 of us talked. Sherrie held up a CD for me to look at. I could make out the name "Barker" scribbled on it. Oooooooo . . . I knew what was on that CD. Johnny told Sherrie to look at my hair, which I had braided with beads in it. He said he was going to get his hair done like that. Sherrie asked him if he was serious, and he said he was. Johnny and Sherrie talked business until he had to go stretch, and the three of them walked away.
Meanwhile, Ward still had not gone by yet.
Orscher and Lucash started warming up. As soon as Reggie left the rink for food, Orscher and Lucash skated their program (short, I think) as an exhibition. Reggie returned, and we found Sherrie and her friend and joined them where they were in the bleachers. While we were talking, Reggie alerted me again to Ward finally walking by. "Mr. Ward!" I called out, but he didn't hear me. I figured he would come back during the exhibition skate, so I didn't pursue him. Sherrie got a chuckle out of my "Mr. Ward."
The skaters warmed up and skated either their long or short programs, except maybe only one who skated an exhibition program. These kids were terrific, very talented. I especially liked a girl named Jane Ruan. All of the kids skated, except the noivce male who had been skipped in the program. Johnny was last on the program roster, so we (Reggie and I) thought he was next. There was a slight delay, and then the novice male took the ice. Reggie had a flight to catch, so he wanted to see Johnny skate as soon as possible. We thought Johnny was surely next, but then there was a short biographical reading on Will Sears, the person for whom the memorial fund was named.
Then came the introduction of Johnny. When his name was announced, a bunch of girls in another section of the bleachers began screaming. Sherrie reminded me to get my note pad ready. I grabbed my paper, pen, and camera, and I left the stands to go to where I could get a decent photo of Johnny while he skated.
My eye is not as trained as I thought it was, so my review of his program is not very insightful.
He skated wonderfully. The doubles did absolutely nothing to mar the beauty of the program. His jumps were great anyway. I saw nothing markedly different in the choreography from his Valse Triste program except that his emotions were different (he was not sad this time, but lighter). Of course, he did all of the spins for which we love him so. The footwork was good, but again not anything that I noticed to be very different from before.
A couple of interesting things happened while he was skating. The first was while he was skating by the crowd. As he passed, he suddenly turned his head and looked directly into the crowd, as if he was looking directly at a specific person who had caught his attention. He was fixed on something or someone there, but I don't know on what or whom. The second was while he was doing his circular footwork. The ice rink shrank (yes, I blame the rink), and he got dangerously close to the boards, smacking his hand on the plexiglass as he skated by. He looked back at it, smiled, and continued. I saw it coming about 2 seconds before it happened. He was getting closer and closer to the boards and moving with a lot of speed. I got ready to cover my eyes. When he hit the plexiglass, it sounded like a hockey match. The crowd gasped.
When he finished, he got a partial standing ovation. The crowd LOVED him. I rushed back over to my seat to show Sherrie the blank piece of paper I had that was supposed to be full of notes. I'm sorry, but I was so mesmerized by his skating that I got no notes, no good photos, and only one moving video.
Johnny was part of a presentation, giving flowers to this year's winners. I saw Reggie out and caught up with Sherrie, her friend, and Johnny in the lobby. Johnny was talking about hitting the plexiglass. He said, "I was like, 'Oh, no! Not again!'" There were 3 girls that were very excited to meet him. One of them said, "You're MY role model, and you're HER role model, and you're HER role model!" It was the cutest thing. People of all ages were lined up to take photos with him. His students were waiting to hug him goodbye. I took a photo with him, got another hug, and left with Sherrie.
When we got a good distance away from the rink, I realized that I had forgotten to give Johnny the videotape. I decided I would give it to him in Boston and walked to the next avenue with Sherrie and her friend. I parted with them and headed to the bus stop. I thought twice about having to carry the videotape to Boston, so I headed back to the rink. I found Johnny outside at a cab stand, still hugging people and saying his goodbyes. I handed him the tape and said goodbye.
I tend to have gaps in my memory, so other things may come back to me in another couple of days. If so, I will add it to the bottom of this post.
