Last weekend. TD Garden. Boston.
That is where furrylittlegnome and fellow gnomes spent their Saturday watching Olympic hopefuls grace the ice pinning their hopes on flawless four minute performances at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The goal? A win or second place finish would almost certainly guarantee a spot on the 2014 Olympic team travelling to Sochi in just a few weeks.
As much as furrylittlegnome wanted to see double axels, triple toe loops, triple salchows and all of the combination spins that make one wonder how a skater is not completely dizzy afterwards, there was much to see off the ice!
Two time gold medalist, from the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, Dick Button, was spotted signing copies of his new book “Push Dick’s Buttons”. 
Although, Brian Boitano is 5’11” or 1.8 meters (according to a quick google search), his costume from the 1988 winter games in Calgary where he took home the gold for Team USA looked, well, rather small. 
Some Olympic hopefuls, like Stephen Reynolds, was gracious and kindly signed autographs and took photos with fans. Spoiler alert! We won’t see him in Sochi.
Smaller and more intimate than one would think, the TD Garden was the perfect place to host this event. There really did not seem to be a bad seat in the house. Before the “Pairs” and “Ice Dancing” events took place, the pack of gnomes were able to watch the men’s “singles” practice. We were treated with all of those skating terms listed above and more!
With quite a few connections to New England, particularly The Skating Club of Boston, the crowd seemed to roar when the local skaters took to the ice. Furrylittlegnome’s assessment? We cannot knock figure skating as not being a “sport”. Television does not do it justice. The speed. The preciseness. The agility and strength. All of these things were put on display for everyone in the audience.
So, who will represent Team USA in Figure Skating at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi? A list can be found here.
furrylittlegnome 