Ice Skating

McHENRY -- Hoping to make Garrett County a winter sports mecca, outdoor enthusiasts here are pushing plans to build a winter sports complex offering improved cross-country skiing, other activities and possibly ice skating."

As we approach the XXCVXIXXIML Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, some questions that are very much on our minds are:1. What is the Official Lip Balm?2. Which one is Norway, anyway?3. Is it the same as Sweden?4. Will the Buffalo Bills be involved?Also, we are all on pins and needles about what will happen next in the saga of Tonya Harding, who every day seems to be implicated in more and more things (the FBI is now saying that she can be clearly seen in frames 189 and 190 of the Zapruder film)

Thinking of taking a nice evening stroll to "walk off" your Thanksgiving dinner? Plan to be gone for more than six hours. That's how long it would take a person who weighs 155 pounds to burn the roughly 1,650 calories eaten in a typical Turkey Day feast - and that's without going back for seconds. Here's a breakdown by dish: Turkey (115 calories in 3 slices) and gravy (178 calories in 1/2 cup) = 293 calories = 71 minutes of walking Mashed potatoes = 111 calories in 1/2 cup = 14 minutes of racquetball Stuffing = 198 calories in 1/2 cup = 21 minutes of biking Green beans = 18 calories = 2 minutes of ice skating or 2 minutes of racquetball Green bean casserole = 110 calories in 2/3 cup = 13 minutes of ice skating Sweet potatoes, candied = 192 calories in 1/2 cup = 16 minutes of swimming Dinner roll = 115 calories = 14 minutes of tennis Cranberry sauce = 105 calories in 1/4 cup = 9 minutes of jumping rope Pumpkin pie = 367 calories in 1 slice = 45 minutes of jogging Glass of wine = 142 calories in 1 glass (7 ounces)

Before they attended Christmas church service, before they lighted candle luminarias along suburban sidewalks, before they cut into Esskay hams and spiced loaves of Bohemian raisin-nut bread, they skated.Families and friends gathered at the Inner Harbor skating rink yesterday to burn a few calories, stretch their muscles and strengthen holiday traditions on what was a cold but brilliant day before Christmas."This is our kickoff to the holiday," said Diana Strohecker, 43, an elementary school principal from Severna Park who showed up at the rink at Rash Field with her husband, Stephen, also 43, and daughter, Natalie, 9.As with many in the ear-muffed and heavily bundled crowd, the Stroheckers rushed through last-minute errands in the morning to create time for family entertainment in the afternoon.

Jean Lopez lives a cold and icy existence. However, she wouldn't have it any other way. The Sparks mother of one spends at least four days every week, sometimes more, at the Northwest Ice Rink, where she brings daughter Leandra.For some, like Lopez and her family, ice rinks are a year-round activity. For others, ice rinks are an occasional event, a seasonal activity on cold winter days.Donnell Myers, 10, is an ice-skating neophyte. Recently, he skated cautiously around the crowded ice rink looking pretty good for a first-timer.

Shaun Rogers, a 12-year-old from Brightview Woods in Anne Arundel County, will be out for gold the third week in March when he takes the ice at the Junior Olympics in Plano, Texas.Shaun is ranked among the top 12 intermediate men's figure skaters in the country by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.In October, he skated in the South District competition in Tampa, Fla., where he qualified for the Eastern championships in Simsbury, Conn., in which he finished third. The top four finishers go on to the Junior Olympics.

For three years, Ekaterina Gordeeva has faced the ice alone, spinning and jumping with the best. Now, she's going to try flying again. In an ice-skating show touring the country, Gordeeva is lifted high in the air by a male skater, Denis Petrov. After a few moments, Gordeeva twists elegantly downward and lands lightly on the ice.It's the first time since her husband and longtime partner, Sergei Grinkov, suddenly died that Gordeeva has done one of these dangerous, full-extension lifts. Her colleagues and fans wondered when the moment might come, if ever.

Star skater Tara Lipinski braved the chilly rain yesterday to bring a simple message to a few dozen children slipping and sliding across a wet ice rink in downtown Baltimore:Skating is cool. Smoking is not.It was a terrible day for ice skating, at least outdoors, but the 16-year-old Olympic gold medalist had a different purpose in mind when she stopped by the Rash Field rink at the Inner Harbor. Huddled under an umbrella, she joined a half-dozen student leaders from across Maryland in rallying to raise the state's cigarette tax to discourage teen smoking.

ICE SKATING is enjoying unprecedented popularity throughout America. Developers in the Baltimore region are responding by erecting an precedented number of new indoor rinks. In an area where ice time was so scare not long ago that hockey leagues routinely scheduled games and practices after midnight and figure skaters were perfecting double toe loops before the sun rose, this building spree is putting smiles on the faces of serious and casual skaters.Baltimore County's approval this month of a $5.3 million project in the Fullerton area, planned to include two National Hockey League-sized rinks, is the most recent manifestation of this boom.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Fairfax Ice Arena doesn't look any different from your average neighborhood rink. Local kids pull on their skates one at a time just like everywhere else. The cool air is thick with their hopes and dreams, and the ice doesn't give much when they come back to earth.It is different, though. That much becomes evident when Michael Weiss, 20, settles gently back to the ice after a perfect triple and the ice rink moms -- who apparently moved indoors after soccer season -- burst into spontaneous applause.

BEIJING - Michael Phelps has backed away from a previous comment he made about purchasing a pool in Baltimore, saying at a news conference yesterday that he's not sure of his plans. Phelps, still in China after winning eight gold medals at the Olympics, said, "We're definitely going to start training back in Baltimore. "But I'm not really sure exactly. I never know what I'm really talking about, I just say things." A day earlier, Phelps told NBC's Nightly News that he and his coach, Bob Bowman, had bought a pool in Baltimore and were looking to change the sport of swimming.

Many Marylanders may not realize it, but blind people like to skate, and many know how to take to the ice safely. For years, the local affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind has held its annual convention at a hotel in Ocean City that features an ice skating rink, and the blind convention participants enjoy the rink along with other hotel guests without problems. Blind skaters use their canes on the ice, just as when walking, in order to avoid colliding with other skaters and to observe the boundaries of the skating area.

Thinking of taking a nice evening stroll to "walk off" your Thanksgiving dinner? Plan to be gone for more than six hours. That's how long it would take a person who weighs 155 pounds to burn the roughly 1,650 calories eaten in a typical Turkey Day feast - and that's without going back for seconds. Here's a breakdown by dish: Turkey (115 calories in 3 slices) and gravy (178 calories in 1/2 cup) = 293 calories = 71 minutes of walking Mashed potatoes = 111 calories in 1/2 cup = 14 minutes of racquetball Stuffing = 198 calories in 1/2 cup = 21 minutes of biking Green beans = 18 calories = 2 minutes of ice skating or 2 minutes of racquetball Green bean casserole = 110 calories in 2/3 cup = 13 minutes of ice skating Sweet potatoes, candied = 192 calories in 1/2 cup = 16 minutes of swimming Dinner roll = 115 calories = 14 minutes of tennis Cranberry sauce = 105 calories in 1/4 cup = 9 minutes of jumping rope Pumpkin pie = 367 calories in 1 slice = 45 minutes of jogging Glass of wine = 142 calories in 1 glass (7 ounces)

WHAT TO DO Five things to do in Ocean City 1. COUNT DOLPHINS / / Volunteer to help staff from the National Aquarium in Baltimore conduct Maryland's annual dolphin count Thursday. The count, which helps assess the health of the bottlenose dolphin population, is part of the aquarium's Beyond the Boardwalk summer program, which includes a fundraiser at Seacrets on Friday and Family Fun Day from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Park. Call 410-371-9802 for locations and details. 2. TAKE A LEAP / / Go skydiving high above the shore at Ocean City Skydiving Center.

Founded in 1827, Patterson Park ranks as one of the oldest parks in the country. It grew from 9 acres at its start to 155 acres by 1909. Patterson Park Boat Lake also dates to the 19th century and became popular for ice skating among residents after it was built; it was later enlarged. The lake was created after extensive earthmoving was performed to remove military emplacements.

TURIN, Italy -- The adjective most often associated with U.S. speed skater Chad Hedrick is cocky. But yesterday afternoon, about two hours before his race at the Oval Lingotto, he was overwhelmed by the tension and began crying. He went into the stands and found his family and friends because, of all things, he needed a hug. "I've never been in that situation before, crying before a race," Hedrick said. "I felt like a sissy." Before the afternoon was over, he would know how it felt to be a gold medalist, the United States' first of these Winter Olympics.

Learning how to ice skate for the first time ever is not as hard as you think -- not unless you count all the time spent thinking beforehand about how hard it will be learning how to ice skate for the first time ever. Some learn quickly. Some slowly. Some want blow-by-blow instructions on which leg muscles will be used for each move before they try it. Others just slog through until they get it. Then there are those who can't get over their fear of falling. It's true, instructors say, children seem to pick up ice skating more easily than adults, but the bigger truth is that it's never too late to learn.

Today it's good-bye to ice skating and hockey in Millersville and hello to a massive indoor sports complex specializing in something 1976 Olympic gold medal winner Dorothy Hamill never heard of while she was practicing her figure eights: futsal."

Last week's question: The Benfield Pines Ice Rink, a landmark destination in Anne Arundel County for ice skaters and hockey players, closed its doors last Sunday after 33 years. A partnership is leasing the facility, which will be converted to accommodate indoor soccer, basketball and volleyball. That leaves one year-round ice rink in the county, at Piney Orchard. Benfield owner Rick Pardew based his decision to close on competition, including that from two outdoor winter rinks that are funded by the county.

Pilar Bosley was a bundle of nerves, waiting for her name to be called to skate at the 2005 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. "At the first part of the competition, I looked out and I could see all these people," said 16-year-old Bosley, a junior at C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air. "I started breathing heavy and pacing and wringing my hands together. I was so nervous. I was wondering if I could do it." When Bosley and her skating partner, John Corona, 16, were called, her jitters were forgotten, and the couple ice-danced their way to a fourth-place win in the novice dance category.