Ice Dance Champ or Unstoppable SuperHero? Ben Agosto Isn't Human

Summer is in full swing and man I am excited! I’ve already been camping once in Nebraska for the 4th of July weekend. I mean, who doesn’t love being in all the glory of nature, building fire-pits, playing beach volleyball and swimming in a giant lake?! Many of you may be cursing your respective heat waves and swamp-cooler/Central AC units malfunctioning, but try and enjoy this fleeting season, because the weather will change quickly (especially here in Colorado… We savor the slightest glimpse of weather-related normalcy) and before you know it you’ll be cursing the freezing sleet and snow and ice build-up on your windshield that the stupid scraper you have never fully removes and your heater barely works so all it does is fog up the inside of the window. Look on the bright side…The 2010 Winter Olympics will coincide with this malaise of weather.

So here’s a little glimpse at one of the contenders and my other favorite skater and all around awesome dude.

Ben Agosto-
Champion figure skater, rock-climber and guitar-hero, part Puerto Rican and part Jewish. The devilishly handsome Agosto can perform a flawless Tosca routine and then fake an entire interview in Spanish (He did it at the 2006 Olympics). Check out his interview with Urban Latino Radio talking about his roots and skating and so much more. (www.urbanlatinoradio.com) The interview will be up soon. Follow me on Twitter and you’ll know as soon as it’s posted (http://twitter.com/Extreme_Twizzle)

The 27 year old rock star of the ice has a list of professional accolades to his name with ice dancing partner Tanith Belbin, including being the 2009 World Silver Medalist in Ice Dance, 2009 World Team Trophy Gold winner, 2006 Olympic silver medalist, 2004–2006 Four Continents Champion, and 2004–2008 US National Champion. I could retire on that list of accomplishments…but this guy just keeps going. I wish there was a good metaphor to describe Ben’s un-stopability (not a real word but I don’t care) If there was only like a small animal that just keeps going and going and going that perhaps plays an instrument…eh, oh well.
But this isn’t his only talent or passion. He has a musical side too. The first time I saw him lay down a couple licks backstage at a Disson Skating show in Los Angeles, I was thoroughly impressed. And not to toot my own horn (here I go) but I know good players, having shared the stage with members of the James Brown Band and numerous phenomenal musicians you’ve probably never heard of. With an all-too-familiar musical inception, Agosto played in a high school jazz band, like many would-be guitar gods and champions of the six-string.
The formative first concert- when a musician sees their first live show and the planets seem to align and everything sonically melds into a beautiful gelatinous blob of audio, visual and all-encompassing sensory theater…everything seems to just make sense. Ben’s first concert was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Technique, grace and passion, but his idol of the music world embodies raw emotion, pain and soul…The blues my friend and the man that made it all so good, Stevie Ray Vaughn. When I discovered my band Other Side of Clearview is on Ben’s Olympic Ipod playlist, I nearly soiled myself with delight.
From jamming back stage on the road while skating around the globe to rocking Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” live on the ice, Ben is a solid player. A man who can take seemingly polarized passions, excel at each and in many cases join them together.

With all of Ben’s free time (that preceding statement is dripping with sarcasm) he’s picked up rock climbing too! He describes it as “…both an adrenaline rush and a spiritual experience. There is a serene escape of entering a world where it is just you and the rock face. Everything is usually very quiet and climbing is never something you want to rush. That feeling of ‘oneness’ is then punctuated my moments of exhilaration and danger (or perceived danger :)”

Back to skating- Despite a back injury that took Tanith and Ben out of some major qualifying competitions (I think it was a publicity cover-up…Back injury? He was probably climbing K2 so he could shoot a music video of him ripping a monster solo at the summit), they bounced back at the World Figure Skating Championships in March and are now potential contenders for the 2010 Winter Games.
To top it off Ben is an all around nice guy. He’s not full of himself like a lot of celebrity athletes or getting himself wrapped up in scandals. Luckily the sport of figure skating is generally full of nice people that have their acts together. Of course there are always a few bad apples like the recent downfall of 2005 US Champion Nicole Bobek.

Send Ben your best wishes as he prepares for the 2010 Games through Twitter (http://twitter.com/Ben_Agosto)

I see these Winter Games going like this: Tanya Harding will be strapped for cash and tired of appearing a guest on shows like “World’s Dumbest Criminals” (I find it very ironic that she is a host of a show about stupid criminals) and as a publicity stunt will club her own knee outside of the Olympic torch ceremony. Nicole Bobek, to avoid a potential 10 year prison sentence for her links to a New Jersey meth ring will offer to clean every Olympic venue in less than 24 hours…All will wonder how she managed to do it. After that, Kimmie Meissner will take Gold for the US ladies, Evan Lysacek for the men and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto in Ice Dance. That’s all I can predict right now. I’m sure I’ll have others soon.

For more info on Ben Agosto go to his official website: http://www.tanithandben.com/

Cheers! Ciao! y Hasta Luego!

Kimmie Meissner: Road to Redemption & A Year of Comebacks

For all of those cheering for Kimmie’s great comeback, you can see all of the impressive steps she is taking as a mature and serious competitor. She has a string of amazing accomplishments including becoming the 2006 Ladies World Figure Skating Champion, the 2007 Ladies U.S. National Champion, and the 2007 Four Continents Champion(she is the first American and the first lady to simultaneously hold the World, Four Continents, and National titles), becoming the second American woman to land a Triple Axel in national competition in 2005 and securing a spot on the 2006 U.S. Olympic team(also being the youngest American athlete to compete at those Winter Games). She finished 6th at the Olympics in February 2006 and won the World Championships the following month. To top that off, she’s the co-founder and spokesperson for Cool Kids Campaign (www.coolkidscampaign.org/), a non-profit organization helping children facing cancer. Quite a lot to accomplish at the age of 19. Did I mention Kimmie is the seventh-youngest ladies World Champion in history?
Meissner has had a rough spell with getting into a groove recently, with routines seeming mechanical, injuries and her center of gravity changing as she’s gone from Kimmie the kid to Kimmie the woman.
With all this said she’s taking serious steps in her road to redemption…Redemption doesn’t even feel like the right word. Everyone I’ve ever talked to in the figure skating world loves Kimmie Meissner and is hopeful she will reclaim what is rightfully hers…There I said it ladies and gentlemen. I want Meissner to win the Gold in Vancouver! Nay, I demand it! You can give your words of support directly by following Kimmie on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/kimmiemeissner)

What’s her arsenal you might ask? Well, besides a wicked roundhouse kick (word on the street is she nearly took of Todd Eldrege’s head the other week when he jovially slapped her sun-burned back) Kimmie made a major change of location and coaching after the 2008 US Championships moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and working with Richard Callaghan and Todd Eldredge (1996 World Champion and a six-time national champion) She’s now added a new choreographer who, with a quintessentially warm grandfatherly smile makes clear he has no background is skating…What?! Maybe this mysterious Hungarian is exactly the type of person required to shake things up a bit. Who is this new member of Team-Meissner? The man travels the U.S. in a heap of a Jeep pushing a quarter million miles (bungee-corded tarp for a roof and all) and keeps his clothing in a waterproof box. He sounds like a troubadour or a dancing Hungarian version of James Bond. Mysterious, well-spoken and hard to find any information about through google. Gyula Pandi is a ballet icon. And for those who forget their geography Hungary is the quaint nation crammed right in the center of Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Austria to name of few of its physical borders, the birthplace of Harry Houdini and home of yet another European tri-colored flag (The region’s lack of insignia originality is slightly discouraging, but the goulash is to die for!). Pandi was a trainer and performer with the Hungarian National Ballet, but retired in 2003 and besides training Kimmie is a sought after guest ballet instructor. See the entire Baltimore Sun article on Kimmie and Mr. Pandi with video (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bal-sp.meissner21jun21,0,2593031.story)

Along with Meissner’s note-worthy comeback, a few other notable skaters are lacing up with Olympic Gold in mind including Sasha Cohen and potentially Michelle Kwan who’s first public appearance on the ice is scheduled to be August 14-16 for her friend and fellow skater Kim Yu-Na’s skating special in Seoul South Korea. Not to be confused with the Super Class '09 on Ice show August 1-2, 2009 at the Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea. This show will feature reigning World Champion Evan Lysacek, former World Champion Jeffrey Buttle & more!