Rubenstein Finished Story

English: Red Arrow Park ice skating rink in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Example of manipulating film exposure time to emphasise movement in a 'still' shot. Français : Patinoire de Red Arrow Park à Milwaukee, dans le Wisconsin. Exemple d'utilisation du temps d'exposition pour metter en valeur le mouvement dans une image. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the world's greatest ice skaters was gliding through Union Square the other afternoon, watching the mere mortals topple like tenpins.

Whomp. Thump. Plop. These are the sounds of the holidays in Union Square. Ice skating may be a lovely thing, every four years on television. In the real world, it looks a lot like tag-team wrestling.

The great skater, otherwise known as San Francisco's own Brian Boitano, had secret knowledge to impart to the wobblers. That's one reason he drops by the Union Square holiday ice rink. He seeks to buck up newbie skaters and avoid bloodletting, which is every bit as bad for the sport as whacking your opponent's legs with a club.

"If you start to lose your balance, lean forward and grab your knees," he said, softly, to the fresh troops. "That way you don't fall backward and hit your head on the ice. Beginners who hit their head on the ice never want to go ice skating again."

Boitano glided over to 8-year-old Lyndi Minniti, who was wobbling less than most and who had no idea that she was about to get a free lesson from the former Olympic champ. He got her to plant one toe, kick to the left and try a spin.

"You're a natural," Boitano said. "Pretend you're throwing a ball from one hand into your glove in the other hand," he said, and Lyndi tried it and, all of a sudden, she found herself going all the way around, and when it was over she was smiling about the whole thing. Lyndi's mother was at the rail, snapping pictures like the paparazzi.

Hardly anyone else recognized him. Partly it was his attire - old jeans with rips in them, and no spangles or spandex. (And he was skating in his crummy, $500 pair of skates - the good skates he had just sent by overnight mail to his official skate sharpener in Boston, the only person he trusts to do the job right.) And partly it was because Boitano won his Olympic gold medal in 1988, which is 22 Christmas shopping seasons ago, or forever in the celebrity business. These days he hosts a cooking show on the Food Network, to keep his hand in. "Hey, look," said one skater. "It's the chef on TV."

And then Boitano did some stuff in the middle of the rink that few TV chefs can do, such as the one-legged flamingo move and the "Swan Lake" leap and a frantic spin that could have passed for a smoothie in the Jamba Juice machine. A lot of people who were looking at the Union Square Christmas tree and at the colored lights and at a couple of girls in short skirts started looking at him instead.

Nearby, a big guy in a plaid shirt had just fallen, for the second time. The whomp could be felt from Geary Street to Grenoble. Boitano gave him a friendly smile and headed over to help another fellow, Raul Ramirez, who was ice skating for the very first time in his 23 years.

"You're a natural," Boitano said, and he got Ramirez to try to turn around, which he did, but not before losing his balance and falling like a Food Network souffle. "That's great," Boitano said, as cheerful and bouncy as a Labrador puppy. "You only lose eight-tenths of a point for touching the ice."

Along the edge of the rink, shutterbugs began clicking away and fans began to gather. One of them, a fellow named Vadim Shabenko, was no ordinary fan. He was a former member of the Russian skate team who told Boitano he once tried to copy Boitano's classic triple-Lutz-with-extended-arm jump, and wound up landing awkwardly with one skate cutting into the other foot, and blood all over the ice. Boitano said that had happened to him, too, and the two skaters compared horror stories and numbers of stitches. Boitano's knack for comforting lesser skaters was boundless.

"My boot gushed with blood," Boitano said, trying to cheer up his new friend. The two skaters shook hands, happy as could be. And then Boitano set eyes on this wobbling reporter and proclaimed him to be a natural as well, and there was nowhere to turn for cover. A rotation was attempted, slower than Saturn's. One of us found himself grabbing his knees.

Boitano graciously declared it to be all the fault of the second-string rental skates and then, just as graciously, said they were actually splendid rental skates, for rental skates, because Boitano wants everyone to feel good about skating, including people who rent second-string skates.

It was then the guy in the plaid shirt fell, for the third time. Boitano said he could feel the ice shake, but he didn't say it very loud. The fellow got back up and gamely kept at it, because a guy will do a lot of things before admitting he had blown a $9.50 skating fee, plus $4 for the rental.

"It's a real honor to fall on the same ice as Brian Boitano," the fellow said. He was 17-year-old student Frederik Schjaerff, who had traveled all the way from Copenhagen to find himself prostrate in Union Square. "Those were great falls I made. Some of my best. What an incredible experience to fall next to him."