To be or not to be…that is the question…
PS Magazine May/Jun 2011 Here’s another one - to skate or not to skate…compete or not to compete. As I write this, a decision was made regarding the staging of the 2011 World Championships … I’m glad I didn’t have to make it…talk to twelve people and get twelve different opinions. From a humanitarian position, this is a tragedy of epic proportions and regardless of the decision to compete or not to compete; someone will be disappointed, if not enraged, and some will be relieved. Some pundits felt that the competition should have been cancelled out of respect for the Japanese people. I can see that point; the precedent was set when the ISU cancelled the 1961 championships in response to the loss of the entire US delegation. The ISU president in 1961 was Dr. James Koch. Even with a request from the US that the championships go on as scheduled, Dr. Koch and the executive committee voted to cancel the competition. The vote of the committee was not unanimous. As reported in various Ame