It's all pretty cryptic, but it does seem like a thawing of the
ice over Rose and that MLB could be open to reconsidering his
situation, perhaps even ultimately removing the life ban that
prevents him from being inducted into the Hall of Fame. It seems
to indicate that given sufficient time, a changing of the guard
at the top of a sports organization can lead to a reappraisal of
such bans as new people without a vested interest in the
decisions of the past take over. Perhaps we can be cautiously
optimistic that this same process will occur at the USFSA and
that given sufficient time they will also re-appraise their
attitude towards Tonya.

There is a big difference. Tonya was convicted of a felony crime, and part
of her plea deal is that she permenently resign the USFSA, so it does not matter what the USFSA does. Even if they un-ban her, her plea deal also peremenently bans her from having anything to do with competitive skating.

So she can never be a coach, no matter what happens.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.tonya-harding

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The Portlandian, the Internet's premier source of Tonya News

August 11, 2015 Edition
(C) 2015 Portland Ice Skating Society
http://www.pdxiss.org *****************************************************************

Welcome to a new edition of "The Portlandian". There's been two
big Tonya stories over the past few months, both from New York:
the opening of Matt & Viviana's Tonya/Nancy museum and the first
full performance in that city of the Tonya rock opera. We've also
unearthed some interesting pictures of Portland's past with a
Tonya connection.


NIGHT (AND DAY) AT THE MUSEUM

The gala opening for Matt & Viviana's Tonya & Nancy museum which
we mentioned last issue was held on Saturday 18 April at the
Standard Toykraft Theater and you'll be pleased to know it was a
spectacular success. They've posted several photos of the event
on their Twitter & Facebook feeds, and also released their
official museum opening video:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.352232191641624.1073741830.332480433616800&type=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZrL1-eGlk

Amongst those present at the party as guests of honor were Sandra
Luckow, who made "Sharp Edges", the very first documentary about
Tonya back in 1986, and Tonya impersonator Lynn Harris. Other
highlights included a slide show and live trampoline
performances, a 90's themed DJ playlist, plus guests were given
swag bags with Nancy trading cards, iconic Tonya photos, cupcakes
and "Team Tonya" and "Team Nancy" buttons. There's also been alot
of media coverage of the event, including a Rolling Stone article
which gives the most in-depth description of the opening gala so
far. Unfortunately the writer seems to be irked that the curators
insist on taking the museum idea itself seriously and won't say
it's all a big joke at the skaters' expense, and spends most of
the article hunting for evidence that this is the case:

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/the-tonya-harding-nancy-kerrigan-museum-we-never-knew-we-needed-20150420

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2015/04/tonya_harding_and_nancy_kerrigan_1994_museum_gala.php

http://www.irockiroll.com/irir/2015420the-1994-nancy-kerrigan-tonya-harding-museum-was-a-great-party

Since then it's been almost non-stop tours of the museum itself.
Amongst the visitors so far have been skating journalist Lois
Elfman, the casts of the Tonya rock opera and a Tonya musical,
Nanette Burstein (director of the ESPN documentary "The Price of
Gold", which was what started all this) a lost dog they named
Lillehammer (who, you'll be pleased to know, was eventually
reunited with his rightful owner) and even some people actually
from Lillehammer itself. But so far, no sign of Christine
Brennan, despite us sending her an invitation. Here's just a
sample of the coverage the museum has received:

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/first-look-inside-the-tonya-harding-and-nancy-kerrigan-1994-museum

http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/nancy-kerrigan-tonya-harding-kickstarter-museum/

http://bust.com/you-definitely-want-to-visit-the-tonya-harding-nancy-kerrigan-museum.html

http://untappedcities.com/2015/04/17/behind-the-scenes-photos-inside-the-new-tonya-harding-and-nancy-kerrigan-1994-museum-in-a-brooklyn-apartment/

http://abcnews.go.com/US/tour-tonya-harding-nancy-kerrigan-museum/story?id=30404320

http://gothamist.com/2015/04/18/photos_inside_williamsburgs_tonya_h.php

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/19/400736119/like-dynasty-on-ice-the-nancy-kerrigan-and-tonya-harding-museum

http://pix11.com/2015/04/20/tonya-harding-nancy-kerrigan-museum-opens-in-brooklyn/

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/take-a-virtual-tour-of-the-tonya-harding-nancy-kerrigan-1994-museum

https://news.artnet.com/in-brief/nancy-kerrigan-tonya-harding-museum-287658

IceNetwork took a tour: http://www.icenetwork.com/video/v84136183


United Airlines had a feature in its in-flight magazine:

http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2015/06/01/history-in-a-hallway/


It also features in an article about museums in private homes,
written by the daughter of one of our subscribers, in Conde Nast
Traveler magazine:

http://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2015-04-17/museums-hidden-in-private-homes-around-the-world-london-paris-rome


It was one of several projects this writer backed on Kickstarter,
and as far as he is concerned, it delivered:

http://tech.blog.austin360.com/2015/06/02/column-is-backing-projects-on-kickstarter-worth-it/

"It has all the makings of a Portlandia sketch":

http://im.moonfruit.com/writings/4589906087/The-Whack-Heard-Around-the-World-Cloud-funded-museum-communities/9943281

A video made by a student filmmaker: https://vimeo.com/133409534


Matt & Viviana have also done numerous interviews and podcasts to
promote their project:

- http://fusion.net/story/100792/yes-these-two-brooklynites-are-really-working-on-a-museum-devoted-to-tonya-harding-and-nancy-kerrigan/

- Susie Meister - The Meisterpiece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLIv1dugdFg

- Newswhore: http://traffic.libsyn.com/newswhore/095_-_Matt_and_Viviana.mp3

- Overtired: http://www.esn.fm/overtired/37. (Tonya stuff from
approx 20 to 40 mins, and 1:06 onwards.)

- The Gist from Slate (first 9 minutes only)http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/gist/2015/05/guest_sean_rameswaram _of_sideshow_talks_to_god_david_javerbaum.html

- http://www.studio360.org/story/sideshow-podcast-kickstarting-tonya-harding-and-nancy-kerrigan-1994-museum

- The Sharon Spell Show. To save having to download a whole pile
of iTunes bloatware to listen to this, here's the link to the mp3
file:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/sharonspellshow/SharonSpellShow080_2015-06-08_THNK1994Museum.mp3


It's even got international coverage as far away as Canada and
Australia:

- CBC's "As It Happens": http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.2989148/tonya-harding-and-nancy-kerrigan-museum-unveiled-in-new-york-apartment-1.2989485

- ABC Australia: https://soundcloud.com/abc-gold-coast/cult-appeal-tonya-harding-nancy-kerrigan-1994-museum


More exhibits have also been trickling in, including the first
batch of official Nancy stuff and some pastries that supposedly
represented the two skaters, which got eaten in any case. The
Dockside Saloon in Portland, where the so-called "Tunee Can"
note was found, is contributing one of its menus. And Laura
Collins has sent in a painting based on Tonya's mug shot of the
time:

http://www.lauracollinsart.com/paintingoriginals/tonya-harding


It's also inspired one person to write a poem about the museum
(and she hasn't even visited yet):

http://www.freezeraypoetry.com/jennifer-macbain-stephens.html


We are also pleased to advise that the Special Duties Section's
East Coast Operative from North Carolina visited the museum with
her husband shortly before it officially opened and gave us the
following report. Unfortunately Viviana (who describes herself as
a "Tonya") was not present but she did get to meet Matt, who
despite being a self-confessed "Nancy" was more than happy to
show her around and hear about her experiences as a Tonyaphile.
She says:

I really loved the two tiny videos that they had on their
wall, one was the shoelace bit and the other was the Minn.
program. I tried to show Matt where a guy in a white sweater
jumps up and down when Tonya lands the axel but it didn't show
up in their ABC TV clip. I pointed out in the stands where I
had seen the guy on a slo-mo tape from another angle. I also
talked about meeting Dodie Teachman and visiting the rinks in
Portland but not seeing Tonya. I also explained about the
check (with Tonya's signature on it) I have and have no idea
where it is but if I ever find it, I will send it to them.
They do have her signature on a white sheet of paper on the
wall, sent in by someone. They also loved the needlepoints and
have no idea who made it. Some things were sent in from fans
that had bought stuff off eBay too.

She also explained her long-standing connection to us going back
to the mid 90s, and how she got interested in Tonya.

Matt asked me how I got so interested in Tonya. etc. I
explained I had loved ice skating and never got to skate
growing up in NC. I also explained how my Dad liked it too on
ABC's Wide World of Sports and followed it since I was a small
child. I barely remember Peggy winning in Grenoble and also
followed speed skating and meeting Eric Heiden and Dan Jansen
and I had roller skated also and was a tomboy growing up so
was outside a lot. I also told him of growing up in a hearing
school and being hard of hearing and the only kid with hearing
aids for miles around so I identified with Tonya on having a
harder time growing up and loving sports. I told him of my
meeting Chris Bowman and that he grew up next door to my
husband Joel's friend in LA and that I had met a skater of his
in Michigan online and she gave my pix with me and Chris to
him and he signed the back and she sent it back to me. I told
Matt also that Tonya and Chris had that raw talent that others
didn't have and didn't train hard enough etc.

I also told him of that long Sports Illustrated article (that
he maybe could find online) from after Tonya won in Minn. of
how her Dad would leave her in the car as a 4 year old and go
hunting and how they camped and Tonya developed the arm
muscles for the jumps by chopping wood, etc. He was amazed by
that story. I also told him of how 20 years later that more
compliment Tonya on that program on YouTube and how that
program was one of the best done by a woman, etc.

While there, she donated a Tonya pin to the museum and plans to
donate a check she has with Tonya's signature on it if it can be
found. She has also sent Matt a picture that she took of her
husband standing in front of the Lillehammer Skating Hall a
couple of years ago.

To get the latest news about the Museum project, check out the
web site, or the Facebook and Twitter feeds:

http://www.thnk1994.com/press.html
http://www.thnk1994.com/updatez

http://twitter.com/@mattandviviana

http://facebook.com/THNK1994


NO DOUBT ABOUT TONYA

Also dropping by the museum was Bobby Cardos, a member of the
band Doubting Thomas Cruise Control, which has written a song
inspired by Tonya:

https://www.facebook.com/DoubtingThomasCruiseControl

Called "Lillehammer", it comes from their new album "Remember Me
John Lydon Forever", and you can listen to it here:

https://m.soundcloud.com/fleetingyouthrecords/doubting-thomas-cruise-control-lillehammer


MOVE OVER, SHAKESPEARE: TONYA ROCKS 'EM IN NEW YORK

It seems that New Yorkers for some reason just can't get enough
of Tonya. July 9-16 saw new performances of "Tonya & Nancy: The
Rock Opera" at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, marking its
first proper performance in the Big Apple (there was an earlier
staged reading in 2013). Even before the first performance hit
the stage it set the New York theater scene abuzz:

http://www.nymf.org/festival/2015-events/tonya-nancy-rock-opera/

http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/new-york-musical-theatre-festival-lineup_72578.html
(with a nice photo from a previous performance).

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2015/07/09/People-and-Pop-Culture/Tonya-Nancy.aspx

These articles are largely repetitive, but each has a different
photo:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tracy-McDowell-Jenna-Leigh-Green-to-Lead-TONY-NANCY-THE-ROCK-OPERA-at-NYMF-20150619

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/10-Days-Until-TONYA-NANCY-THE-ROCK-OPERA-Stars-Share-New-In-Character-Photo-20150629


Like the museum, the event has also got international coverage:
the story of "les patineuses Américaines" got mentioned in Quebec
(in French, obviously):

http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/artsetspectacles/general/archives/2015/07/20150709-051356.html

and also in Singapore (an English version of the article above),
South Africa, Australia and the UK Daily Telegraph:

http://news.asiaone.com/news/showbiz/tonya-nancy-ice-drama-hits-ny-stage-rock-opera

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/06/22/Tonya--Nancy-The-opera

http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2015/06/22/20-year-old-ice-skating-assault-inspires-new-musical-comedy/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11688628/Tonya-and-Nancys-ice-rivalry-to-be-performed-on-stage.html


Both leads featured experienced actresses, and it's a testament
to the quality of the production that it's attracted such talent.
"Tonya" was portrayed by Tracy McDowell, and she's not just
acting the part of Tonya, she's a Tonyaphile of long standing,
who describes it as a dream role and says that Tonya has been on
her dressing station mirror since high school. Her other work
includes "Motown", "Rent", "Measure of Success (The Lark)",
"Jawbreaker", "Atlantis", "Hair" and "Godspell" and has appeared
on Oxygen's "The Next Big Thing". She's also a soloist for
Broadway in South Africa, a charity that teams up impoverished
youth living in that country with professional artists to empower
them and inspire change. "Nancy" was played by NYMF veteran Jenna
Leigh Green who has had many guest starring roles on TV such as
"Bones", "Ghost Whisperer", "E.R.", "Castle" and "Cold Case" and
also played Libby on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch".

All the shows quickly sold out, and it's also scored a solid 6.0
with the critics, as these reviews testify, including one from
International Figure Skating magazine:

http://lettersfromthemezz.com/2015/07/12/tonya-and-nancy-a-rock-opera-is-deliciously-camp/

http://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/nymf-2015-moses-man-tonya-and-nancy-the-rock-opera_73535.html

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20937575,00.html

http://www.shubertalleycat.com/2015/07/review-tonya-and-nancy-rock-opera-at.html

http://www.curtainup.com/nymusicfestival2015.html#Tonya

http://www.ifsmagazine.com/articles/32788-tonya-nancy-a-lighthearted-take


Liz McCartney, who pulls double duty playing both LaVona Harding
and Brenda Kerrigan, won the 2015 NYMF Outstanding Featured
Actress for her portrayal of the skaters' mothers.

For more information, such as any future performances, you can
keep up to date at their web site and Facebook page:

http://www.tonyaandnancytherockopera.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TonyandNancytherockopera (yes, we know
it actually says "Tony and Nancy", but that's the correct address).

Next stop: Broadway? And then perhaps... Hollywood? Could
"Tonya" end up with a Tony? Perhaps this could turn into one of
those audience participation things like "The Rocky Horror Show".
Except with people dressing as fat wannabe secret agents instead
of transvestite vampires in garter belts.

Uh-oh, I've just had this vision of Shawn Eckardt in a garter
belt. I do wish it was possible to "unimagine" things...


IS PORTLAND'S FIGURE SKATING COMMUNITY ABOUT TO BE "KNEECAPPED"?

A couple of issues ago we reported on how an important piece of
Tonya history is under threat: the skating rink where she first
took to the ice some forty years ago.

The owners of Portland's Lloyd Center Mall, Cyprus Equities (and
if that name doesn't sound like an outfit run by a Bond villain,
I don't know what does) is planning to shift and remodel the rink
- believed to be the very first ice rink in a shopping mall
anywhere in the world when it was opened in the early 1960s - as
part of an "upgrade" to the mall. This remodeling will leave the
rink, which is already below USFSA standard regulation size and
marginal for top-level skating, almost 25% smaller and a bizarre
oval shape. By all accounts the new downsized rink will be
effectively useless for even serious recreational skating, let
alone elite-level competitive performances, so it means one less
facility where those Portlanders who hope to follow in Tonya's
tracings and become Olympic-level figure skaters can develop
their skills.

It's a double blow for both Tonyaphiles and the Portland figure
skating community as the other large-sized rink where Tonya
trained, at the Clackamas Town Center Mall, closed back in 2003.
A third major Portland rink, Winterhawks in Beaverton (which is
mainly a hockey rink), also has an uncertain future. If this
happens and the remodeling of the Lloyd Center rink goes ahead as
planned it will leave only two decent publicly accessible skating
rinks in the entire greater Portland area: one in Sherwood, in
the Southwest of the city, the other over the river in Vancouver
WA, neither of which have evening sessions and both of which are
in areas with poor public transportation. Neither of these is
within the City of Portland boundaries. In other words, Portland
OR, the former home of Tonya Harding, one of the world's greatest
figure skaters, could have NO full-size public skating rinks left
AT ALL if this proposal goes ahead - a pretty shocking state of
affairs.

There is also the danger that the redesigned rink will be such a
flop that it will eventually be closed completely. This will
basically leave the mall as a JAFM - Just Another Frigging Mall
that looks like the thousands of others in the U.S. In an era
when malls across America are dying by the dozen, jeopardizing
the future of Lloyd Center's most distinctive feature is flat-out
foolhardy.

The good news is that it appears that the remodeling work is not
scheduled to start until January of next year, so there may still
be time in the next six months to stop this butchery. Local
skaters have also set up a Facebook group to co-ordinate
opposition to the proposal, and also a petition at change.org:

https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSkaters

https://www.change.org/p/cypress-equities-save-our-ice-don-t-shrink-the-rink


We would urge you to publicize these links on your website or
social media feeds if you can. With a bit of work and some luck
maybe it might be possible to sink this idea, or at least get
some sort of compromise to the design that will still leave the
rink a useable size. We've already lost one Tonya-connected rink -
let's not lose the other.

We've also come across this fascinating article about the
Portland area mall rinks - it's mostly about Lloyd Center but
does mention Clackamas and has a photo of Tonya practising there.
There's even a couple of photos of Diane Schatz (better known to
us as Diane Rawlinson) skating at Lloyd in 1966 in what appears
to be some sort of promotion for Chrysler (it was an open air
rink at that stage):

http://historicpreservationclub.blogspot.com/2014/01/lloyd-center-ice-rink.html

http://historicphotoarchive.photoshelter.com/image?&_bqG=1&_bqH=eJzzzSpMC80Iyk_JCg719zPLjDfWDUp1iso0qgq0MrMyNbAyNAACK894l2BnWx.f_MoUbefUvJLUIjWwULyjn4ttCZAdGuwaFO_pYhsKUl6SaGhRHJyZERHoqBbv6BxiW5yaWJScAQAhSiF_&GI_ID=


BLATTER GETS THE BOOT OVER FIFA CORRUPTION

Many people have been shocked and stunned in recent weeks over
the rapidly moving chain of events surrounding the FIFA
corruption scandal, culminating in the sudden resignation of Sepp
Blatter. In fact, this is no surprise at all to people who have
been following the work of investigative journalist Andrew
Jennings, who has been writing on the topic of sports corruption
for years. It was he who in 1992 warned of corruption in the IOC,
six years before the Salt Lake City bribery scandal exploded.
Almost ten years ago he wrote "Foul!", a book which alleged
corruption at FIFA, and in an uncanny sense of perfect timing,
now has a followup book available, "Omerta", in which he further
exposes the sleazy underbelly of the FIFA "family", comparing
them to the Mafia:

http://www.transparencybooks.com/

If you want to keep up with this developing story, his blog and
Twitter feed have all the latest news:

https://transparencyinsportblog.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/aandrewjennings

Now if this guy would just start digging into the International
Skating Union, it would be nice. Football's given Blatter the red
card - now maybe figure skating can take a cue from them and dump
Speedy?


A ROSE-TINTED FUTURE FOR TONYA?

June 30th marked an infamous anniversary for Tonyaphiles: it's
the 21st anniversary of her life ban from the sport of figure
skating.

Although we can't report anything positive on that front, there
is related news about another American sporting icon who his
supporters say also got a bum deal, baseball legend Pete Rose.
Rose was banned for life for betting on baseball games, even
though there's no evidence he ever bet against his own team. Word
is that Major League Baseball's new Commissioner Rob Manfred is
planning to meet with Rose, in order to give him a venue to "tell
me whatever he wants to tell me about the state of the situation
now."

"I think it's important to understand the facts as they existed
when they made the agreement (to ban Rose for life), what's
happened since then," Manfred was quoted as saying in a recent
interview:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mlb-commish-talks-pete-rose-new-domestic-violence-policy-article-1.2301981

It's all pretty cryptic, but it does seem like a thawing of the
ice over Rose and that MLB could be open to reconsidering his
situation, perhaps even ultimately removing the life ban that
prevents him from being inducted into the Hall of Fame. It seems
to indicate that given sufficient time, a changing of the guard
at the top of a sports organization can lead to a reappraisal of
such bans as new people without a vested interest in the
decisions of the past take over. Perhaps we can be cautiously
optimistic that this same process will occur at the USFSA and
that given sufficient time they will also re-appraise their
attitude towards Tonya.

*****************************************************************
VISIT THESE GREAT TONYA WEB SITES:

PortIce - http://www.pdxiss.org
David House - http://www.tonyaharding.org
Charlie Main - http://www.charliesweb.com/tonya/tonya.html
Puppetboy - http://www.usapaul.net/tonya/
Valerie Smith - http://www.olywa.net/radu/valerie/LilHam.html
Swan Lake - http://members.tripod.com/~TonyaHarding/index.html
Blades of Gold - http://members.tripod.com/tmhfan/index.html *****************************************************************

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)