Abbott and top U.S. pair join coaching-change carousel

The U.S. figure skating's coaching-change carousel is getting pretty crowded.

And the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo., a little emptier.

The newest riders on the merry-go-round are two reigning national champions who trained at the World Arena and are now relocating a substantial distance from Colorado.

They follow 2008 U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu, who will simply move across Los Angeles after announcing Wednesday she was leaving Charlene Wong for Frank Carroll.

I had confirmed Friday that 2009 national men's champion Jeremy Abbott was about to announce he is leaving Tom Zakrajsek, who also coaches the top women's finisher at the 2009 worlds, Rachael Flatt, as well as the No. 2 U.S. man, Brandon Mroz. (Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly referred to Mroz as the top men's finisher.) I didn't know at that point who Abbott's new coach would be. Now I do: One minute after I posted the news of Abbott's departure in this blog, U.S. Figure Skating sent out a release announcing that Abbott was moving to Detroit to train with 1994 world champion Yuka Sato of Japan.

Beach volleyball and dangers of the sun

The Times' Pete Thomas has just written a story heading into the Huntington Beach Open, fifth stop on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour, about the comeback of Jeff Nygaard. 

Nygaard is back on the tour, ranked third with partner John Mayer, after having learned in 2007 that he had skin cancer. Nygaard is the most unmistakable player on the men's circuit: He's the only competitor out there who wears a long-sleeve shirt while he plays.

Nygaard tells Thomas that being in the sun was a concern after learning of his condition:

"I found myself wanting to compete but at the same time not wanting to be there. I'd have a few great points and then I'd retreat into myself saying, 'I really want to get out of the sun right now.' "

Thomas also reports that other players on the AVP tour have had skin cancer, though the tour is not naming any individuals. The story is posted on latimes.com now.

-- Mike James

Photo: Jeff Nygaard. Photo credit: AVP.

Skate coach Carroll on his new star pupil: 'Best package America has'

Can't say I'm surprised by figure skater Mirai Nagasu announcing Wednesday that she was leaving coach Charlene Wong to join Frank Carroll.

Skaters leave coaches all the time, usually after disappointing seasons like the one Nagasu had -- although Michelle Kwan left Carroll the season after winning her fifth U.S. title and fourth world title.
Sobarely a year after Wong's coaching helped Nagasu become the Cinderella champion of the 2008 nationals at 14, the two have ended their three-year collaboration.

"I don't see it as something Mirai did against me,'' Wong told me by telephone Wednesday. "It's a moving on. We don't own students; I never even had a contract (to coach Nagasu).

"There was no big drama or big upset -- not even a slamming of the door. There are no bad feelings.''
There had been one significant disagreement. After the 2008 season, Wong counseled a long rest period for Nagasu to get over a chronic foot injury, but her parents saw no reason why their daughter couldn't push through it.

"Sometimes the coach is wrong,'' Wong said.

The results say otherwise in this case. Nagasu had a lost season in 2009, with a fifth and a dismal eighth in her two Grand Prix events and a fifth at nationals.

Skater Shani Davis wins another Oscar

Chicago's Shani Davis has won speedskating's Oscar for his performances at the Utah Olympic Oval in March.

Davis was given the sport's Oscar Mathiesen award for setting world records in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter long-track races on successive days.  The award, which Davis first won in 2005, honors the late Norwegian skater who won five world all-around titles and set multiple world records.

Three other U.S. skaters -- Chad Hedrick (2004), Bonnie Blair (1992) and Eric Heiden (1977-1980) have won the Oscar, which celebrated its 50th anniversary presentation this year.

Davis' 2009 season also included the overall title at the World Sprint Championships, allowing him to join Heiden as the only man to have won sprint and all-around titles; gold and bronze medals at the World Single Distance Championships; and World Cup season titles in two events.

He won gold and silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Shani Davis in one of his Oscar efforts, setting a world record in the 1,000 meters March 7 in Kearns, Utah. Credit: Associated Press / Charlie Neibergall

Is USOC really close to channeling its TV ambitions?

Peter Ueberroth sometimes asks people at the U.S. Olympic Committee what channel the "USOC Network" is on.

It’s meant as a joke. Sort of.

The point behind the question is an attempt to determine the end of a gestation period that now is 36 months and counting since former USOC chairman Ueberroth planted the seed of starting a network he wanted to begin broadcasting before the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The new USOC chief executive, Stephanie Streeter, answered that question before a recent meeting of U.S. sports federation CEOs by holding her thumb and a finger about a half-inch apart and saying, "We’re this close," according to people who witnessed it.

Streeter also used the word "June" to emphasize how close the USOC was to making a significant announcement, then sought leeway by saying, in effect, "be patient."

Which left some of the sports federation chiefs rolling their eyes, because they have heard this several times before from other USOC officials, and the USOC continues to deny them any specifics about the network with the shopworn defense of not wanting to jeopardize negotiations.

To those who wonder whether there ever will be such a network, the best answer would be: Steve Greenberg of the low-profile (no website), high-reputation boutique investment firm Allen & Company.

Greenberg, the former Major League baseball deputy commissioner who is point man on financing for the USOC network, was a founder of Classic Sports Network (sold to ESPN and turned into the highly profitable ESPN Classic) and College Sports TV (still a relative fledgling after being sold to CBS).  He knows how to do deals like this.

And the reason(s) to think there won’t? Recession; lack of quality programming (much of the best international and national Olympics-related sports rights are owned by NBC subsidiary Universal Sports); and lack of a complete domestic buy-in, as six major U.S. federations (track, swimming, gymnastics, skiing, soccer, hockey) have not signed away their TV rights to the USOC.

Attempts to get Greenberg to comment on the state of the negotiations were unsuccessful.

Swimming's blockheads take action, sort of, on high-tech suits

The international swimming federation (FINA) wiped a little egg off its face Tuesday, but it still has to eat the mess it has allowed high-tech swim suits to create in the sport.

Just ask the French swimming federation.

It was left smelling like rotten eggs when FINA representatives announced Tuesday they had not approved the suits in which Alain Bernard (left) set a world record in the 100-meter freestyle (Arena X-Glide) and Frederic Bousquet (right) set a world record in the 50 free (Jaked 01) at last month's French national championships.

French swimming officials' laissez-faire attitude toward those suits, which had yet to receive FINA approval when the records were set, means they suffer the embarrassment of having their athletes almost certainly lose the records.

I say "almost'' because who knows what FINA will do next.  You usually can be guaranteed it won't make sense. And its Tuesday announcement left many questions unanswered.

Vande Velde update: more tests needed on injuries from Giro crash

Here is the Garmin-Slipstream team's update on injured Lemont cyclist Christian Vande Velde, which tempers a bit the enthusiasm he expressed over the phone to me three days ago about making it to the July 4 start of the Tour de France, in which he finished fourth last year:

Team Garmin-Slipstream’s Christian Vande Velde, who crashed out of the Giro d’Italia during stage three (Monday), continues to undergo examinations at home in Girona (Spain).  The results so far have confirmed that he sustained one rib fracture, a severe contusion and sprain to his mid-back and a hairline fracture to his pelvis, but team doctor Prentice Steffens cautions, "We need to continue to run tests, so it is still too soon to speculate on the extent of his injuries or how they will affect racing and training.''

Phelps returns to a sport where clothes are making the (rich) man [UPDATED]

When swimmer Michael Phelps returns to competition Friday, his first races since winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, many people will be paying close attention to his new, stiff-armed freestyle stroke.

And many people also will be paying close attention to what kind of swimsuit Phelps and others are wearing at the Charlotte, N.C., UltraSwim meet. Especially since the international swimming federation (FINA) is about to try to catch a (cash?) cow that is at least four time zones from the barn door that the federation stupidly has left open for the past two years.

Vande Velde is in pain but optimistic about Tour de France

Christian Vande Velde has broken one arm and several ribs and fractured his collarbone more times than he can count in cycling accidents.

And he said he has had scarier crashes than the one Monday that knocked him out of the Giro d’Italia.

"But as far as pain, this was the worst without a doubt," he said Wednesday from his European training base in Girona, Spain. "The best part was I didn’t hit my head, and no organs were damaged. But I have never had any pain close to this. I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy."

Kwan says no thanks to chef's role -- and other skating food for thought

Thanks to Sasha Cohen’s comeback and the continual nonsense perpetrated (and perpetuated) by the sport’s international leaders, even in May there is figure skating news deserving of comment.
So: Three things I know, and you should.

1.  Michelle Kwan could have had a guaranteed spot with the U.S. Olympic delegation at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

As assistant chef de mission, an essentially honorary position.

The U.S. Olympic Committee asked the three-time Olympic figure skating team member if she would be interested in filling the role, but Kwan declined out of uncertainty over her future plans.

One thing seems certain -- there’s an oxymoron, seeming certainty -- about those plans:
Unlike Sasha Cohen, who confirmed last week she would try to make a third Olympic team, Kwan has not replied affirmatively to U.S. Figure Skating’s invitation for a place at the Skate America Grand Prix event this November.

Kwan has until May 30 to tell USFS whether she would like to skate on the 2009 Grand Prix circuit.  Her agent, Shep Goldberg, said the skater had yet to rule anything out.