grand slam of skating 2000

�Kelly W

By now, I'm sure you've seen the Grand Slam of Skating competition on television. My friends and I had a wonderful time attending this exciting event in St. Paul, MN where I was fortunate enough to see Steven skate live once again. I would like to share some highlights from those two days with fellow Cuz fans. My review is simply on the Steven-related events that happened surrounding the competition and not a review of jumps, other skaters, etc. However, I will say that Steven's second number to "Belfast Child" was absolutely amazing. I had goose bumps. Steven was brilliant (isn't he always).

We had excellent rink-side seats in the center of the arena behind the judges. For the second night, I wanted to bring something to toss on the ice for Steven. I had held a garage sale earlier that week, getting ready for our big move to L.A. Cuddles the Cow was one of my many stuffed animals I had been selling, but  nobody bought him. My husband told me to "get rid of that thing," so I grabbed it, threw it in the backseat of my car, and headed off to XCel Energy Center.

Cuddles had a great time. Here I am with my friend Janine. Cuddles enjoyed having his own seat. If you watched the broadcast on FOX, you will notice Cuddles himself. Yes, he's now famous!!

With Cuddles the cow, pre-fame

Scott Hamilton came out before the competition. I was talking to Janine when she said, "Hello Scott!" I turned around and there he was, checking things out from next to our section, where the judges come out from backstage.

Scott: Hey there!  (sees the cow)  Did you have to buy a ticket for him?

Me: Yes, it was VERY expensive, but he came just to see you skate.

Scott:  Cool!

Me:  His name is Cuddles.  Would you like to cuddle him?

I held Cuddles out right in front of Scott. Scott laughed, looked at me like "what is she smoking" and then squeezed Cuddles, not sure if he should or not. Perhaps I frightened the man. Oh well. I put Cuddles back on the chair and Scott stood there for a little while, making small talk.

Scott came back out when Caryn Kadavy was finishing her program. He was whispering to Debi Thomas (one of the judges) ... "9.9!  9.9!  Debi, 9.9!"  Debi looked over at him and smiled, then ignored him.

When it was Steven's turn to skate, as he came along the boards on our side while warming up, Scott taunted him, yelling "Lookie! Lookie! Lookie!" Steven looked over and laughed, pointing at Scott.

Me: Steven's da man, isn't he?

Scott:  Hell yeah!!

Scott was cheering for Steven and as Steven took the ice, I squealed "Steeeeeven!" Then I apologized to Sir Hamilton who smiled and said, "He's gonna think that was ME!"  :)

Scott clapped when Steven landed his first triple. He stayed out there and continued to cheer with us. Steven landed three great triples in all. He was very happy about his performance. Janine and I hurled Cuddles the cow out on the ice when Steven turned around and came in our direction. Steven saw the cow and got all wide-eyed and did a belly slide over to the cow. He almost slammed up against the board, stood up, clung to the board and just about jumped over the boards to hug us. I blew him a kiss and almost flung myself at him. Crowd went nuts.  Steven grinned and said, in that sexy British accent, "Thank you!"

Steven and Caryn played with Cuddles in the kiss and cry area. Steven waved him around when waving to the crowd. That was cool. The ladies in our section were all laughing about that.

It was an early Halloween for me and Janine.  After I asked nicely, Barbara Roles, head judge, gave us candy.

Just before the final round, Caryn came over to talk to a couple of the judges and check things out from our section.  She signed an assembly line of autographs for the teenage fans who filled the seats behind us.

Me:  Caryn, I love your Lion King number.

Caryn: Oh thank you *so* much!  It means a lot.

She posed for a picture with the younger fans but the flash didn't go off. 

Me (to Caryn):  Tell Steven to take care of that cow.

Caryn:  (smiled and gave a thumbs-up)  Will do.  WAIT!  Oh my gosh, you're the one that gave him the cow?  Cool! 

Then she left.

After Show Highlights at the Hotel

My friend Kelly informed me that Steven was by the elevator. See me make a beeline for Steven, practically squealing his name. There was Steven with a huge grin on his face as this small crowd of crazy women made their way over to him. 

He signed an autograph for one of my friends and I didn't see Cuddles. So, I asked him, "Did you already give away the cow?"

Steven: (smiling) Nope! Actually, I'm having it delivered.

Yay!  Happy dance.

I asked to receive a digital moment and then the assembly line of photos began.

CuzWeb webmistress hangs with the Cuz himself

Me: So are you heading back home tomorrow?

Steven: I'm off to L.A. and then to Boise next week for the next competition.

Soon the elevator came and we decided to leave Steven be. Some lady was talking to him and I was waving bye and he had this huge adorable grin on his face. He waved back to us and then went up to his room. He came back down later for the after-party wearing tight jeans and a nice black sweater.

All in all, we had a terrific time and I can't wait to see Steven in this year's Stars On Ice tour!