P.s. Wish I Weren't Here

Your old roommate Christopher Bowman ended his amateur career as only he could have, not with a whimper but a dang. Skating last, he seemed to be in line for the bronze medal when, halfway through his long program, Bowman fell along the boards. Unbeknownst to most folks, he bruised a nerve in his left knee. But he continued. The funny thing was...not funny but...well, you know Bowman the Showman . When he started limping around the ice, grimacing in pain, no one knew whether he was faking or not. Heck, he was still landing jumps: a triple Sal-double toe combination; a double Axel. In between it looked like he was going to die. His coach, John Nicks, hollered to Bowman to keep going. His manager, Michael Rosenberg, commented to a companion, "He better be hurt." Some of his dear friends in the press section were audibly chuckling. What melodrama! The guy should be on the stage! This was the little boy who had cried wolf once too often. Only it truly was a gutty performance. And Bowman darn near came through with a medal, although the judges had little choice but to dock him artistically for all the staggering around. So Bowman finished fourth behind Elvis Stojko of Canada , and everyone went home that night feeling a little guiltier than when they had arrived. It was, incidentally, the first time since 1979 that the U.S. men had failed to win a medal.

That means the U.S. can send only two men to next year's worlds. Since you're planning to retire, no skin off your spandex, right? Unless you change your mind, leaving you, Eldredge , Mitchell, et al. to battle it out for only two spots. And if the ISU votes to open up the world and Olympic championships to the pros, you can add Brian Boitano to that list. Oh, well. Wish you'd been here. And Petri Kokko had been there.
Go figure,
E.M.S.