Jillian Barberie

Oopsy, Chipnreichenfan! :blush Thanks for the correction. You can see how big a sports fan I am... :lol

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Originally Posted by SnowflakeGirl

Hmm, that's a good question, LG, I'm curious about that as well.

Anyway, I love Jillian Barberie. I used to get to school late watching her on Good Day L.A. (before it went national) back when it was unusual and refreshing to have a morning news show be so loose and snarky. I've even met her and she is super-duper fun and nice in person. I'll be rooting for her, for sure. :up

jman is right though, I do remember from those years of watching Good Day L.A. that she used to be a figure skater (and she was married to a hockey player right?), so does her familiarity with the ice give her an unfair advantage?

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It's good to hear Jillian is nice in person. I have read online before, she is really sweet in person. I fell asleep-and only saw half-how did she do?

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Originally Posted by jman79

It's good to hear Jillian is nice in person. I have read online before, she is really sweet in person. I fell asleep-and only saw half-how did she do?

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She was great. While I was watching her I though "she could be a professional". Then the first judge asked her when she would be entering the U.S. Skateoff's (or whatever they're called). The next judge also made reference to her being a professional, so it was not just my completely uninformed opinion.

Apparently she's been keeping up with skating since childhood....cause wasn't that an axel that she was attempting to throw during those practice sessions? I know there's such a thing as muscle memory and all, but to just hop into that was impressive to me.

First it was sports and weather, now Jillian can skate beautifully.:yay . I love Jillian's performance last night. She and her partner scored a 51.5:wow :yay

She did absolutely GREAT!!! Go Jillian! Hope they win it all!

I remember when she hosted that dating show too, but can't remember the name of it but I liked it. I think she did a great job skating and hope she continues to the end.:up

Entertainment Tonight is giving the show lots of coverage. Last night, there was a feature that focused a lot on Jill. Apparently, she did skate as a child, but says that she stopped at 13 and hasn't skated since then. That's about 25 years, so I'd say her advantage isn't that huge.

Obviously, she is better than some of the other celebs, but that might also be because she has more of an aptitude. :shrug Todd could probably practice for a year and would never be as good as some of the others in that same amount of time.

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Originally Posted by Critical

Entertainment Tonight is giving the show lots of coverage. Last night, there was a feature that focused a lot on Jill. Apparently, she did skate as a child, but says that she stopped at 13 and hasn't skated since then. That's about 25 years, so I'd say her advantage isn't that huge.

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I don't believe her. :) I doubt she took skating lessons as an adult, but I'm guessing she's pretty athletic all around and took to the ice every now and again just for fun. You can't just do the type of spins she's doing after being off the ice for 25 years, no matter how talented you are.

I hope she and John win the whole thing! Mainly 'cause I enjoy looking at John...wait, did I mention that a few thousand times already? :blush

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Originally Posted by Critical

Entertainment Tonight is giving the show lots of coverage. Last night, there was a feature that focused a lot on Jill. Apparently, she did skate as a child, but says that she stopped at 13 and hasn't skated since then. That's about 25 years, so I'd say her advantage isn't that huge.

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Muscle memory doesn't disappear entirely. I'd agree that she isn't as good as she was when she skated regularly, but the body remembers the basics even when you don't practice. Examples: if you learn to ride a bike as a child and stop for a good many years, you will not have forgotten how. If you learn to touch type and don't do it for a long time, your fingers know the keyboard even if you can't vocalize it.

I agree with you that some people will have more natural aptitude, but it's very easy to see that Jillian has figured skated before.