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Battle of Kurt, Elvis lives up to its billing
No skate could possibly match the 'come'n-see'um at the Col-i-se-um' hype that preceded the Saturday Showdown at Bay and York.
| Source: |
The Hamilton Spectator |
| Date: |
February 8, 1993 |
| Author: |
Steve Milton |
Next time someone mounts a truth-in-advertising campaign, these two
should be the poster boys.
No skate could possibly match the 'come'n-see'um at the Col-i-se-um'
hype that preceded the Saturday Showdown at Bay and York.
No skate could possibly live up to the marketing mystique of Kurt
vs. Elvis.
No skate except the two that Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko threw in
each other's face.
'If two skaters have ever done that back-to-back, it's been an awfully
long time,' said an exhausted Browning after he earned his fourth
Canadian title, and No. 1 seeding in the world.
An 'awfully long time,' as in forever. None of the skating veterans on
hand, and there were hundreds, could extract from their collective
memory a toe-to-toe confrontation of such calibre. The closest, albeit
with far higher stakes, was probably the Battle of the Brians at the
Calgary Olympics.
This one, however, left no Canadian disappointed, not even the guy who
lost, an entirely inappropriate verb on this occasion.
'I'd rather skate like that and come second than to win with some
other performance, ' said Stojko.
And that is all you need to know about what went down Saturday night.
For the record, this was the chronology:
Browning went first, portraying 'Reecky, ' Humphrey Bogart's
Casablanca anti-hero . It was a stunning interpretation, a triumph for
the choreographic gamble of counter-movements, surprises and long,
non-skating pauses.
He did fall on his most aggravating element, the triple Lutz, and also
stumbled on the simple triple toe loop but his commanding presence
wrote those failures right into the choreography and regained the
crowd within seconds.
The roaring standing ovation and his marks -- too high on the
technical side; bang-on, including three perfect sixes, on the
artistic -- were still reverberating through both bowls when Stojko
stepped onto the ice and immediately won the hyper crowd over to his
side.
Two triple Lutzes, two triple Axels and four other three-spinneramas
later, Stojko exited to yet another caucophonous reception and one six
for technical merit. But the issue, in the eyes of all nine judges --
such unanimity was suspect and a little out of place -- was decided on
the artistic front.
'What more could I ask from a guy?' said his coach Doug Leigh.'When
you go out there and see those kind of marks from the other guy and
skate like THAT? He will have his breakthrough one day ... he will be
world champion, I know it.'
Browning, plagued by back woes last year and worried about his father
Dewey who is recovering from cancer-related surgery, called it 'a
personal victory. After my injury, moving to Toronto, changing coaches
and having my parents not here. That was one of the sweetest skates of
my life.'
The three-time world champion also acknowledged Stojko's brilliance on
this night when either could have, or should have, won. Stojko,
criticized for lacking audience connection seems to have put that
behind him. His cult following has mushroomed into a
phenomenon.
'Tonight, he added spontaneity to his accuracy,' said choreographer
Uschi Keszler, who helped Brian Orser make that same
transition.
Stojko and Browning can utter all the platitudes they want about being
focussed only upon themselves, but without the other guy, neither
would have elevated his game to such heights. That might have been the
best 10 minutes of competition we'll encounter in any sport, anywhere
this year.
We are seeing Orser-Boitano all over again and next month Canada sends
this domestic version to the world stage, either of them capable of
returning as global champion.
It's too bad that the worlds aren't here early next month instead of
early next century. There is something about Copps Coliseum that urges
athletes to live up to their advance billing.
First there was Gretzy to Lemieux.
And now Browning to Stojko.~
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