Catching up - past few months

Here I am on a Sunday morning, waiting around and reading the paper. Today, is the last day of the Skate Houston 2007 competition. Gabby did well. I, as a dad, wish she would win everything and come in first in everything, but the reality is that it is a very difficult sport. She will get there I believe but it takes small steps. Each step has to be solid and she has to learn and practice good fundamentals. Do things well, and do things properly. As the judges tell me, I would rather a skater do a level 2 (single Axel) clean than a level 3 (double Axel) not as clean. Something about whether scoring is deduction based or whether then start at a base and "add" to the points. Say, a skater is given a base of X points - as they skate, the judge subtracts "-1", "-2" or go the other way, "+1", "+2".

These days, some of Gabby's competitions are based on the 6.0 system. Yesterday, Gabby had the TOM (total of majority) marks. This means that the panel tied Gabby with one or more skaters in her group and they go to a tie breaker. In the 6.0 system, the top and bottom scores are tossed out - and what you end up with is the "median" of score - the middle ground. For example, if she had one judge place her at 1st and one place her at 9th...those two go right out and the rest are averaged to determine her placement. Confusing - oh yeah. These days...I just shake my head and go with it. Whatever. As long as Gabby has a great time, she does well, and her friends do well. That's about all we can ask for. At some point, though, it has to get competitive or she will not survive. She has to have that inner competitive strength that she wants to win and to excel. Right now, I don't think she has it. She's enjoying it and while she tries hard, it's not burning in her to win. That's going to separate her from other skaters. I have seen flashes of it and when it lites her up she is brilliant. It usually happens when she feels that a judge has wronged her or she was treated unfairly - she sets it in her mind that she will show them. She does and gets higher scores. It's a sense of focus and purpose. If she could find to turn that on and off she would do a lot better. Skating is so mental. If you over think it, you'll have problems.

This goes into the - When did that happen??? - section.

I used to hold Gabby's hand when she was little. She would always look up and I would either pick her up or she would walk alongside. She would grab my finger and that's all her tiny hand could do. Then, as she got older, she started to hold 2-3-4 fingers at a time. Then it was the cupped hand holding as we walked. Not long ago, I realized that she was holding my hand like a young lady. It was nice, but at the same time, surreal - where did my little girl go. Sure, she's 10 today...well be 11 soon...and her body's going through all these changes. Oh boy. Great.

~Joe.

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