2010 Trophee Eric Bompbard Results
2010 Trophee Eric Bompbard Final Protocols

My results: 1987 (51T out of 495)
Overall: 11447 (24 out of 768)

Here are my picks for the sixth competition in the US Figure Skating Fantasy Challenge:

We had to say goodbye to our good friend Bo today. We first met Bo when our neighbors brought him home as a puppy in 2003. We enjoyed watching him grow into a full-size Great Dane. He was such a good friend to our dog Keiko that we built a special gate in our fence so that Bo and Keiko could play together in the backyard. After Keiko died in 2008, our neighbors were generous enough to let Bo spend a lot of time at our house, acting as our surrogate dog until we were ready to adopt another dog of our own. When we adopted Powder in January 2009, she and Bo instantly became buddies and he continued to spend a lot of time with us. He frequently joined us for walks around the neighborhood and stayed with us when his primary family was away. This past August, we noticed that he was limping a lot on walks. His dad took him to the vet and returned with a diagnosis of bone cancer. The only visible sign was a large, inoperable tumor growing in his left front leg. I’m grateful that we had a few months to process this terrible news and give our large gray friend a proper send-off with lots of attention, treats and special privileges. My deepest condolences to his primary family. Bo will always have a special place in my heart. I miss him.

2010 Cup of Russia Results
2010 Cup of Russia Final Protocols

My results: 1702 (195T out of 484)
Overall: 9460 (53 out of 754)

Here are my picks for the fifth competition in the US Figure Skating Fantasy Challenge:

2010 Skate America Results
2010 Skate America Final Protocols

My results: 1963 (128T out of 576)
Overall: 7758 (54T out of 746)

Here are my picks for the fourth competition in the US Figure Skating Fantasy Challenge:

I haven’t subscribed to cable for more than 10 years, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Netflix since 2003. More evidence that the rest of America is starting to catch on … Cable subscribers flee, but is Internet to blame?

For live sports, I get much better coverage for the sport I most like to watch, figure skating, via Universal Sports (free over the air in my area) and icenetwork.com than the cable networks ever provided. My annual subscription to Icenetwork costs $39.95, and with that I get unlimited access to live and video-on-demand streaming of complete events from the US and abroad, without annoying ads or commentary inserted into the broadcast. Plus, I have access to an archive of similar content going back to 2007. It’s wonderful! Now, I feel kind of sorry for football and other “major sport” fans who are still subject to the restrictions of exclusive broadcast rights contracts held by major networks and cable companies.

2010 Cup of China Results
2010 Cup of China Final Protocols

My results: 1890 (108T out of 570)
Overall: 5795 (56 out of 705)

Here are my picks for the third competition in the US Figure Skating Fantasy Challenge: