On November 27, 1995, I attended the US Figure Skating Postal Service Challenge. It was a competition held over two days, but I could only attend the first night, where the skaters did their short programs. So I didn't get to see the long programs. :-( (If it was now, I would never not attend a skating event with my favorite skaters...what was I thinking??) This was one of the first team pro-am competitions, so I didn't know what to expect. While deleting some old files from my computer, I came across this review of the comp that I originally posted to the Prodigy FS BB. It was fun to read my thoughts from the night, and I decided to post it here. I obviously wasn't that detailed then. The scores for each skater follows my review. I only have the short program marks, but I included the long program totals and final totals according to the TV broadcast (on ABC December 16, 1995). One final sad note. The competition took place about a week after Sergei died, and I didn't even think most of the skaters would be there (his close friends such as Scott, Paul, etc.) Onto the review...

The competition was excellent! I was so excited because this was the first time I attended a competition. I can't wait to go to another one. It was really unique...a team competition that put one eligible male skater and one eligible female skater with one ineligible male skater and one ineligible female skater. The teams were named after the different Philadelphia teams...the Eagles (football), the Sixers (basketball), and the Flyers (hockey). Also, on the Phillies (baseball), Kyoko Ina & Jason Dungjen and Renee Roca & Gorsha Sur each skated an exhibition (Jenny Meno and Todd Sand were listed in the program, but weren't there).

Scott Hamilton, Paul Wylie, and Rosalynn Sumners WERE all there. They had a moment of silence before the competition for Sergei. Then, all the skaters came out before the competition started wearing a jersey for their respective team.

Scott and Paul obviously didn't let Sergei's death interfere because they both did excellent! Everyone cheered during Scott's whole performance. He even got a standing ovation. He did the program where he imitates a skater who is just learning to skate. He received a 41.65 out of 42! Paul did even better--he received a 41.8! Michelle looks even more grown-up in person than on TV. She was wonderful! They announced her as winner of every comp she has entered this season...Skate America, Skate Canada, and Nations Cup. She received a 41.3. I thought the judging was terrible for some parts, though. For technique, Scott got seven 5.9s, one 6.0, and a 5.7! Roz got 5.6s for artistry?! The crowd really booed then. Tonia Kwiatkowski did relly good,too. She got a 40.35. Nicole did beautiful jumps in practice, but during the performance, she fell on the first jump of her combination. Todd did a HUGE triple axel in practice. However, he also fell on the first jump of his combination. He even received a 5.4! Nicole's final score was 40.2 (she got good marks on her artistic). Todd's score was 39.5.

After the first night, the Eagles were in first, then Sixers, then Flyers. I didn't go the second night, but I heard that Paul didn't do as well as the first night, Scott got a 83.9 out of 84 (he got all 6.0s for artistic), and Nicole did really well. The standings remained the same.

One more thing, in the program, they had an ad for SOI. Of all the skaters, who did they show? That's right, G&G. I was so upset when I saw the picture of them skating to "The Man I Love". I kept asking why?

Paul Wylie--On The Waterfront Highest Team Total

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.8	5.9	5.8	5.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	6.0	6.0	124.30
Artistic	6.0	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0

Caryn Kadavy

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	120.40
Artistic	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.7

Aren Nielsen

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.6	5.7	5.6	5.7	5.5	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.6	121.90
Artistic	5.8	5.9	5.7	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.6	5.8	5.7

Totals	Michelle Kwan	Paul Wylie	Caryn Kadavy	Aren Nielsen	Team Totals (for program)	Team Grand Total
Short	41.3	41.8	39.45	39.9	162.45	490.50
Long	82.6	82.5	80.95	82.0	328.05

Scott Davis--Hands Up

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.7	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.7	5.7	5.6	121.90
Artistic	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.8

Tonia Kwiatkowski--The Firebird

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	??
Atistic	5.7	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.8

Elaine Zayak

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.7	??
Artistic	5.7	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.8

Totals	Scott Hamilton	Scott Davis	Tonia Kwiatkowski	Elaine Zayak	Team Totals (for program)	Team Grand Total
Short	41.65	39.7	40.35	40.05	161.75	486.70
Long	83.9	82.2	??	??	324.95

Todd Eldredge--Swing Kids

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.5	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.6	121.20
Artistic	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.7

Mark Mitchell Highest Team Total

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.8	122.45
Artistic	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.8

Rosalynn Sumners

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Grand Total
Technique	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.7	119.05
Artistic	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.6	5.8	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.9

Totals	Nicole Bobek	Todd Eldredge	Mark Mitchell	Rosalynn Sumners	Team Totals (for program)	Team Grand Total
Short	40.3	39.5	40.75	39.55	160.00	484.30
Long	81.4	81.7	81.7	79.5	324.3