Boitano

Real men don't like figure skating. Just ask the real man who controls the remote control in your life. He'll tell you it is not a sport.It is not a sport if you wear sequins when you do it. It is not a sport if the music they play while you do it matters. It is not a sport if you do it while holding a woman in your arms. And it is not a sport if people watching decide who wins.But the men of America will be good sports this month when women seize control of the television to watch the Winter Olympics from Lillehammer, Norway.

DETROIT -- Brian Boitano was the pro who couldn't lose. He was too experienced, too perfect, too artistic.But a strange thing happened to Boitano and his comeback to a fifth American skating title.He ran into a Montana cowboy who turned an ice show into the back lot of "West Side Story."Scott Davis, playing a Jet from Leonard Bernstein's street play, scored one of the great upsets in skating history, beating Boitano and retaining his title in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last night.

DETROIT -- This is how a professional takes a lead.On a night when he appeared nervous, when he almost botched his first triple jump and had trouble connecting with an audience while performing a waltz, Brian Boitano showed skaters nearly 10 years his junior what it takes to compete under pressure.Just grit and bear it.Boitano warded off the shakes and won round one of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships by taking the lead in last night's technical program, worth 33.3 percent of the overall score.

Coming to the rescue of U.S. figure skating: Brian Boitano.Yesterday, the 1988 Olympic men's skating gold medalist announced that he was applying for his international reinstatement in a bid to compete at the 1994 Winter Games of Lillehammer, Norway.Although Boitano's announcement was expected, it was a necessary first step on the road to Norway. The International Skating Union, the sport's governing body, is expected to reinstate Boitano this summer."It's no secret that I have already had this in my mind," Boitano said.

LANDOVER -- Brian Boitano sat nervously on a table in the hallway outside the locker room, trying to retain his focus on his program. It wasn't easy. The Zamboni ice-smoothing machine had broken down, and the four-time professional world champion was being asked to hold that thought a little longer."

LANDOVER -- Wearing tight red stretch pants and a glittering halter top, Kristi Yamaguchi proved she's not just the little girl next door anymore.Skating a hot, sultry routine to "My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)" byEn Vogue, Yamaguchi beat a hauntingly beautiful performance by Denise Biellmann to win her first Durasoft World Professional Figure Skating Championship in her pro debut last night at the Capital Centre."I have to show more now," she said. "And this is a little daring for me. But I can do it now. I couldn't have done it a few years ago. It's pretty sexy."

LANDOVER -- Four-time world professional figure skatin champion Brian Boitano wanted to put figure skating on the same plane as other sports. He wanted professional skaters, like professional basketball players, to be able to compete for an Olympic gold medal.He campaigned actively for it. But when the International Skating Union Congress passed a rule last summer that will allow that to happen, Boitano wasn't quite ready for what happened next.The rule became known as the "Boitano Rule," and he has been thrust into the position of being its champion.

* BOITANO'S HOPE: Several nights a week, in various cities, Brian Boitano does triple jump after triple jump. The 1988 Olympic men's figure skating champion knows how to put on a show.He would like to do all those jumps and his marvelous footwork and spins in the big show in two years: the 1994 Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway."I was thinking the other day, 'If someone came up and said lace up your skates, I think I would do it,' " Boitano said after watching the Unified Team's Viktor Petrenko win the gold medal Saturday night, edging American Paul Wylie.

ALBERTVILLE, France -- Men's figure skating began at the Olympics yesterday with the names Viktor Petrenko, Paul Wylie and Kurt Browning underlined. A skater who could beat them all was sitting in the stands."

Robin Cousins and Scott Hamilton were talking about takin VTC one more shot before the next generation of skaters pushed them out. Debi Thomas is making her personal farewell tour before entering medical school in the fall. Brian Boitano promised to push his fight to regain Olympic eligibility so he could shift his focus to those Games.You might not recognize the NutraSweet World ProfessionaFigure Skating Championships when it convenes at the Capital Centre next December for its 13th installment.