A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

DEBI THOMAS, ARE YOU FREE NEXT MONTH? With the Winter Olympics just weeks away, ALOTT5MA Award-Winning Guest Correspondent Gretchen previews this weekend's figure skating action:

After a great men's championship, the US Figure Skating National Championships gear up this weekend for the ice dancing and women's competition. If you want to see a future Olympic medalist, you'd be better off watching ice dancing than the ladies. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, silver medalists in Turin, are back -- but this time, they have competition in Meryl Davis and Charlie White, a pair who are ranked first in the world. If you're a SYTYCD fan who appreciates the Bollywood dances, be sure to check out their Bollywood number. The theme for the original dance this year is a folk dance, which encompasses everything from Russian folk dancing to liederhosen to country line dancing in plaid shirts. [bot only does the competition include Russian folk dancing, but the Russians themselves are doing Australian aboriginal dance. Unshockingly, the Australians are displeased.]

The women's competition will be fascinating. Sasha Cohen says she's back, but she hasn't competed since 2006 and pulled out of all of the preliminary competitions this year. And with only two spots on the Olympic team for American women, she has no time to warm up. Then again, who else would they send? No other American woman has demonstrated the star power, the confidence, or the international success of even a rusty Sasha Cohen.

My money's on Rachael Flatt, a spunky and very consistent skater who had an exuberant performance at Skate America (and who has already submitted all of her college applications, so at least she doesn't have to worry about that). Alissa Czisny has all of the required elements to be a champion, but is so very inconsistent that I have to think that anything less than a national championship would keep her off the team. (While the top two skaters will probably go to the Olympics, that's not a guarantee, as we saw in 2006 when they chose an injured Michelle Kwan to go.) Mirai Nagasu, an angsty teenager who has told the media that she's "not very smart and not very pretty," could win if she could just pull her head together. And that still leaves Michelle Kwan protege Caroline Zhang, Ashley Wagner, and injury-ridden Emily Hughes. No one is a lock -- which should make this a legitimately exciting athletic competition.

added: The short programs were held last night after Gretchen filed this story; Nagasu, Cohen and Flatt lead the women, with Czisny out of the running. Scorecards here.