The BIG Introduction

After months of procrastinating, I'm finally done doing it: sharing my unique perspective on the world of figure skating in blog form. What qualifies me to do this you ask? Well, for starters, I do enjoy a good bit of fun and I drink a little (which always livens things up). I have been following figure skating religiously since 1994, when the "whack heard around the world" brought the sport into the collective consciousness of people everywhere just in time for the Lillehammer Olympics.

Long before the internet was a 'big thing', I armed myself with a VCR and an immense love for the sport and absorbed as much skating as I possibly could. Fortunately, this came at a time when skating was at it's ultimate heyday. On a Saturday afternoon, you could count on a Grand Prix event on one channel, a professional competition on another and a cheesy made for TV special on a third channel. I never complained!

Somewhere in the middle of all this I started skating myself. I never quite achieved amazing success but I achieved the goals I wanted to as a skater starting way after most people do (I started skating in my teens). I won a handful of gold medals at local competitions and even took home the gold in Artistic skating at Nova Scotia Provincials in 2000. I also got certified as a skating judge with CFSA (now Skate Canada) and judged at many competitions here in Nova Scotia while I was still competing.

After moving on to other adventures in dance, writing, drag performance, spirituality and real life shortly thereafter, I no longer skate but I still have SO much intense passion for a sport that has given me hours upon hours (I don't even wanna count!) of enjoyment.

If you're looking for a blog analyzing skater's CoP, PCS, personal bests and personal blursts, you've come to the wrong place. I'm a firm believer that the new scoring system that came into play after the final judging scandal that broke the ISU's back in 2002 has sucked the creativity and originality out of the sport. That's not to say today's skaters aren't immensely talented, they are just having to serve cookie cutter realness and it's a damn shame. Sorry.

I'm a strong advocate of professional skating and am thrilled to see projects like YAS (Young Artists Showcase) going on that are encouraging a new generation of skaters to be original, interpret music and choreograph and construct brilliantly crafted pieces. If you look at some of the skaters and choreographers that have been involved in this, it's just incredible. Garrett Kling and Kate McSwain are two names that come to mind among many. That said, professional skating competitions and shows and NEED to make a comeback and this generation of skaters need to be educated about the Robin Cousins', John Curry's, Torvill and Dean's, Toller Cranston's, Duchesnay's and Janet Lynn's of the sport (I could name a million more... AND WILL).

At any rate, I hope you enjoy some of the postings I'll be making. I plan on talking about artistry, professional skating competitions, doing some interviews with skaters and members of the skating community and of course Brian Joubert's butt... because you know... it would be rude not to. You could eat off that. You really could girl.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.