I know a lot of this isn't going to make sense, or may be inside jokes, but hell, it's my blog, so I'll put in what I want! It's really long, so if you don't get bored after the first few paragraphs, feel free to continue by clicking on the link below. Without further adieu, here it is:

- I flew in and my plane got in late at night. Our shuttle also had a pick up for the flight after mine, so we waited. While we waited, our driver told us his life story and we gave him some consolation about his upcoming divorce, and he gave us some advice about marriage.

- Unfortunately, the flight after us was WAY delayed. But you know what totally made up for it? It was Yang Yang A we were waiting for. I was giddy like a little schoolgirl. She was very nice, and amazingly beautiful. Those helmets don't do her justice at all.

- Friday morning, me and my roomie Bernadette went to breakfast with Noelle, Corin, Torrie, Denise and Susan at Tommy's. We had a lot of good laughs, and we were really excited about the upcoming races. I don't know if it was senior citizen's day at Tommy's or what, but the average age in there was about 70. I think we were the only ones there outside of Butta and Tysha who DIDN'T get the discount.

- I love our little short track family. Coming to these things is like a mix between going to Thanksgiving Dinner at grandma's, going to your 10 year high school reunion, and spending quality time with your teenage cousin. There are so many different kinds of fans out there, from different backgrounds, from different locations, each with a different reason why they came to Marquette, whether it be because of a love of short track, or of one particular skater, or just to come out and see the circus that is short track fandom. We all came, we had a good time. True, it wasn't one big group of fans that hung out together all the time, and I would be lying if I said everyone gets along. Because they don't. Too many different and strong personalities. But everyone was happy with their own group, and there's a single purpose that brought everyone together, and that's good enough, because it looks like everyone had a great and memorable time. And nothing could beat the enthusiasm that each one brought to Marquette. We were crazy fans, and we loved it. It was truly wonderful to see everyone again, whether I talked to them or not. I apologize if I didn't, but most of the time the time didn't feel right, or I was just too shy to approach people to talk, just as people were too shy to come up to me I later found out. I just hid behind my camera most of the time. Or my laptop. But to those of you who did say hello, thank you. It was great to finally meet Monique, Tysha, Lucinda, Sue and Jill for the first time. And I can't tell you how much it meant to me to have people ask about my mother and how she was doing. Probably the top two questions people were asking were 'How's your mom doing?' and 'So how's married life?' Sooz even went so far as to tell me to come to the next competition with a little one in the oven. We're working on it, Sooz.


- There was some AMAZING racing in Marquette. The Koreans were definitely a force to be reckoned with. Ahn and Choi seemed almost unstoppable (almost). And I had never thought that the ice in Marquette was known to be particularly fast, but there were a couple records broken - the top 4 finishers in the 1500m all beat the world record. When I heard that Korea, China, Italy, Canada, and Japan were all going to be in attendance in Marquette, I knew we'd have some good races. I was a little concerned for the US team, since all the major players would be there, so it would be a lot harder than SLC, but we did well enough to have Apolo and Rusty in the 3000m. And both of them did extremely well. The 1000m final was great to watch - when Apolo and Rusty came in and broke up the Korean chain the crowd was roaring. The 3000m was an excellent race, as well, with two Koreans, two Canadians and two Americans. But probably the most exciting was the men's relay final, with Korea, Japan, Canada and China. All the teams were close throughout the whole 45 laps, and it was a clean race, with no DQ's and no falls. Watching Korea and Canada switch leads in the last laps had the crowd screaming and biting it's nails.

- Some people may say I got a media pass so I could get kickass seats. Or so I could be closer to cute guys in skinsuits. Or have an excuse to talk to a cute guy in a skinsuit. Or so I can sit in on the press conferences. Or because I needed the internet connection. But the truth is, I got the media pass for the free food. Those Bavarian crème chocolate éclairs were to DIE for! I ate half the box, and took a couple home with me.

- Even though the media was comprised of mostly fans, there were a couple media people there that were, uh, actual media people. During the 1000m races, I sat on the media side of the arena to get some better pictures of the start line. Me and the rest of the gals in that area were playing a little game of musical chairs, trying to get the best seat without any obstruction from the block chasers. There was a point where the only seat left was next to this localphotographer/reporter, and we had a little exchange:

Me: Um, is this seat taken?
Dude: Yes it is, by you!
Me: Well, thank you!
Dude: Just don't tell my wife.
Me: It will be our little secret.
Dude: (staring at my chest, but in reality, trying to read my credential, or maybe not) What media group are you with?
Me: (showing him my creds) I'm with rustysmith.com
Him: Oh, I see. Are you his wife?
Me: (busts out laughing, then stops) HA! Uh, no. I work on his website. I have a husband. But it isn't Rusty.
Him: Oh. So do you come to these things often?
Me: About once a year or so. It's a lot of fun, isn't it?
Him: Oh yeah. It's really cool to see. You know, there's a lot of cute Asian girls skating.
Me: Uh, yeah, there are, I guess.
Him: I love to watch them.
Me: (internal alarm starts) Yeah, well, I think I forgot something in the media room. I'll see ya later.
Him: OK, I'll keep this seat open for ya.
Me: Uh, thanks...

- Thanks so much to Denise for driving me around. She is the coolest chick around. And I'm not saying that because I think she might have mafia connections. Or because Rusty Smith gave her his supersized check from the banquet. She's just the best.

- We came in late to the banquet, which is typical of me. Always late for everything. It was the first time I've ever gone to one of these things, and when we came in late, I felt like all eyes were on us crying 'Shame! Shame on you for being late!' I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. It was pretty cool to be sitting with the Finish Lynx guys and between the Canadian team and the Korean team. Seeing the skaters outside of their skinsuits and helmets was an eye opener. The helmets do the women no justice. The Canadian women were gorgeous, as were the Italians. The food was excellent, and I was Susan's drink orderer for the night, and I didn't disappoint. It was cool to see the awards given out. When the Koreans were called up, they were so cute because they did this little run up to the stage. Those Koreans, always on the move. When Apolo's name was called, there was this huge roar of applause, and we heard one of the Canadians exclaim 'Ohno! It's getting hot in here!' Which made us all laugh, because he was referring to a sign that Lupe was carrying which was featured on the front page of the local paper. There was this huge rush of people that went to the stage to take pictures. I took a picture of it, but it didn't turn out too well. After that, it was people milling around, finding skaters to take pictures with, chatting with different people, and Apolo constantly had a good sized mob of people with him. I basically took pictures of people with other people for them. The camera gal. I got to talk to Rusty a little, and got our traditional picture taken together. I did manage to see Apolo for a split second as he was trying to leave, and I made eye contact and did the 'nod' of acknowledgement, but then he was swept up with other fans so that was that. I pretty much went through the banquet in a daze. Too much to watch, too much sensory overload.

- I didn't get to see much of Corin and Torrie of World Short Track in SLC, but I got to spend a lot more time with them in Marquette. Outside of the arena, they are just about the cutest couple ever. It's great to see them interact, and they are such great people. And they love and know the sport so well, it's great to talk to them about it. I know a good amount about the US skaters but not tons about other skaters. But Corin and Torrie were glad to educate me! Every once in a while, it's nice to take a break from talking about the skinsuits and ass and talk about the actual sport. Even outside of the arena, Corin was all business when he saw skaters, chatting up skaters left and right. All WST, all the time.

- Guinness, lemon drops, jack and cokes, pucker shots, kahlua and cokes, jager bombs, vodka tonics, car bombs. All the right ingredients for a fun night. From what I remember. Which isn't much. But I do remember helping out the owners of the bar, who were taking the place of their bartender. I gave them the recipes for drinks and educated them in the finer points of making drinks and mixing shots. I also learned that a drink called Bomba is the perfect replacement when you run out of Red Bull.

- My favorite media person was a Korean girl named Choi. Not the skater. The girl who had her head stuck in a notebook for the whole competition who would growl and snap at you if you interrupted her during the races. She was one of the hardest working media people I saw. Not the best pool player, but a pretty good reporter.

- I have to remember that my actions may be misinterpreted by people from another country. I had videotaped a couple of the races while I was in the media section. Behind the media section was the area where a lot of the athletes sat in between races. As I was reviewing my tape on my viewer screen, I could feel the eyes of the Bulgarian team (who were sitting behind me) watching my tape, too. I turned around, gave them a serious look, then pretended to hide my viewer from their line of sight. I laughed then smiled at them and gave them a better view. But they weren't smiling. I don't think they got the joke.

- A big thank you to the Japanese lady who taught me how to say 'Smile with your teeth' in Japanese ("walla te"?). I never got to use the line on Satoru Terao because I didn't see him at the banquet, but it's good to know for future reference!

- Sometimes I felt like I was still at work. I fixed the copier in the media room, helping with other people's computer problems, and taught people how to use their cameras. A consultant's work is never done.

- One of my favorite images from Marquette was seeing Susan's Fabio Carta sign amidst all the OZ gals. It was so big she was hidden behind it when she held it up. Fabio was the best. He came and sat behind us during the men's relay heats, and was giving us information on the relay. It was so cool to have him there, and I laughed because every time the Italian men would have a bad pass, or when they would be passed up, he would exclaim, 'Uh oh!' to himself. He definitely made himself a lot of fans that weekend by being so friendly, personable and photogenic!

- Kimo is like Santa at these things. He's always got something up his sleeve or a little something to give away. And he never fails to crack everyone up! Ghetto Santa and sweet, pretty Jan, holding up her 'Apolo we had dinner with you' sign. Must have been a bitch to bring on the plane!

-I actually got a chance to talk to Hyun-Soo Ahn. Well, kinda. There was a bit of a language barrier. After he won the 1500m, he came into the press room, and Apolo wasn't there and Turcotte was being interviewed by the local press. Ahn was looking around like he needed help, and since I guess I was the only Asian there, he came up to me. Since my Korean is pretty rusty, well, ok, non-existent, it was hard for me to understand him. At first I thought he didn't know where the locker room was. But then I realized that he was going to go back to the locker room. I told him that it was all right (as if I had some authority!) but made it a point to tell him that he HAD to come back. He never did. But then again, he probably had NO idea what I was saying or why this strange Asian girl was making these weird bird-like hand gestures. While we're on the subject, Ahn has REALLY grown up. He's taller and he even colored his hair. We were joking around during dinner that I'd start a site for him: www.LetsGetItAhn.com.

- One of the most memorable things about Marquette for me was the people of Marquette. They just embraced the sport and all the athletes. They just weren't cheering for the US team, they were cheering for everyone. All the local people I talked to had such a hunger for knowledge about the sport, it was incredible. For most of the races I sat in front of this father and son who were new to the sport. Every now and then we would answer their questions about the sport, and Corin even gave them his worldshorttrack.com business card to check out the site. The next day, they had visited the site, printed out the helmet sheets and everything. On the first day, the son seemed pretty lukewarm to short track, when I turned around and said, 'Short track is really cool, you'll see,' he gave me this, 'yeah right' look, since he was a hockey player. By the last day, he couldn't get enough of it. The whole town of Marquette was hyped up about the World Cup. From all the posters in the airport by school children welcoming each of the countries to the cut out skates adorning the light posts in downtown Marquette, I don't think there was anyone in Marquette that didn't know the World Cup would be there. And who knew that clowns, swing bands, and a wildcat mascot would add so much to the festive atmosphere? Me and Corin did some swing dancing on the side, but it didn't catch on...but it was a lot of fun!

- I didn't take any pictures with any of the skaters other than Rusty, mostly because I was too shy to ask, and it just seemed like they had a lot of people taking pics with them as it was. I was happy with just watching other people take pictures with them. But the one person that I KNEW I had to get a picture taken with was someone that I had seen around the rink throughout the competition. Someone who had caught my attention, who had that certain je nais se quois. A fire in his eye, the agility with which he moved, his smile, his attention to style, something about him drew me like a moth to the flame. He was the NMU Wildcat. Holy hotness, Batman!

- I need to start a petition. A petition to make it mandatory that all ice arenas serve churros at their food stands. There wasn't a churro to be found in Marquette!

- One of my favorite moments during the women's relay was at the end, when Caroline Hallisey was helping Maria Garcia skate off the ice. Maria had suffered a concussion earlier in the day, but the women needed to do the relay to get points so they could do it at the Worlds. I think Maria may have skated a couple laps, but the rest of the girls covered for her for the rest of the race. Afterwards, Caroline linked her arm with Maria's and gently skated with her off the ice. It was really touching to see.

- Phone service in Marquette sucks for Sprint users. I was roaming the whole time and didn't realize that my phone rang 5 times during breakfast - I thought the ring belonged to someone else. Roaming sucks! I'm scared to look at my phone bill. I got and received a lot of calls that weekend, some having to do with work, or when trying to coordinate a meeting time, or searching for lost friends who come in 2 hours late to the competition. You know who you are.

- I got a lot of exercise in Marquette, mainly because my seat was all the way on the other side of the rink from where the media room was. And the media room was down a set of stairs. And my seat was down a set of stairs. There was a lot of running around in-between races to upload pictures in the media room then back to my seat to catch the races. Fortunately, years of working in downtown Chicago has taught me the long lost art of people dodging.

- It was great to hear Andy Gabel call the races. The energy and excitement in his voice was really infectious. You could tell that he was just as excited about the awesome racing that was going on as the crowd was. He also made sure to add in little tidbits about the sport, like strategy in races, when the skaters start speeding up in a race, etc. He did an excellent job!

- Apolo was definitely a favorite for the weekend, and everyone in a way expected him to do well. It's a lot of pressure, but I think he handled it really well. The Koreans were definitely strong throughout the whole competition. Apolo got third in the 1500m, which was great, but there was nothing better when he came first at the finish line in the 500m final. He knew he had it, pumped his fist in the air and went around joyously for his traditional hi-5 around the rink. The applause and cheering was deafening, the crowd was out of their seats, and the smile on Apolo's face was a mile wide.

- In Marquette, it was easier to figure out who DIDN'T have a press pass than who DID. I swear, it seemed like everyone was in the media room the last day. Between rustysmith.com, ohnozone, fabiocarta.com, usspeedskatingfans, world short track, ohnovelocity, apolo anton ohno portal, speedreading, and so on and so on, there were a lot of media/fans in the room. I almost felt like I was at an Apolo signing. It's truly showing the speedskating community how dedicated the fans are to supporting the sport and covering the sport for other fans, since there isn't a lot of regular media attention to it (like NBC or ESPN). And it also shows that the number one source that fans use to get information on competitions is on the internet. On the down side, in a way, is that I don't know if press passes were given out liberally, but it seems like anyone and their mom can make up a website and get a press pass. Is that a good thing? I dunno. Hopefully press passes aren't limited to websites in the future!

- On a similar note, I had my 14 minutes of fame when I got interviewed for the local paper. It was so weird to see 'Christine Estacio' in print, but it was really cool, too. Basically the article had to do with what I stated above - how the internet community gets its short track information through fan sites and official fan site, mostly from reports from competitions given by other fans. The interview covered a lot more than what was in the article, but I was honored just to have my name in print.

So yeah, all in all, I had a great and memorable time. There's a whole bunch of memories that will never see the light of this blog, mostly because I don't remember them. But as much as this short track world can be stressing, Marquette showed that it could be wonderful, as well.

Posted by Yano at December 8, 2003 09:19 PM

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