U.S. Olympic Figure Skating gold medallist, Dick Button, recently spoke with CBCSports.ca's figure skating analyst, PJ Kwong. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
When you're in the right place at the right time, you might just come across a unique opportunity.
Wednesday night was the book launch for 'Figure Skating and the Arts: Eight Centuries of Sport and Inspiration' by Frances Dafoe with introduction by Dick Button.
Dick Button? My ears immediately perked up.
You may remember that he was No. 1 on my Top-10 list of all-time skating men. As the seven-time US champion, European champion (when they briefly allowed non-Europeans to compete) five-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion, Dick Button has the skating goods.
Wading my way through the crowded room, weaving past skating superstar after superstar, I set my sights on Mr. Button.
"Nice to see you, world champions and Olympians Don Jackson, Brian Orser and Maria Jelinek," I thought, "But I've got bigger fish to fry."
Fortunately, I am never without my camera (although, except for the record function, I still don't really know how to use it). I sidled up to Mr. Button and, with the help of his lifelong friend "the author," he agreed to talk to me about Patrick Chan.
Before I even got the chance to press record, Button said that Chan's most important quality was his strength as a competitor. Luckily, even after my thumb found the right button, the ever-articulate Mr. Button had lots more to say.
In case you weren't sure, Frances Dafoe is a skating superstar in her own right. Dafoe is a Canadian figure skating legend who won two world titles--including Canada's first in pairs skating--and an Olympic silver medal with Norris Bowden. After retiring from competition, Ms. Dafoe went on to a very successful career as an international, world and Olympic judge. She was also highly acclaimed as a costume designer for theatre, films and TV.
You just never know who you're going to meet.
PJ Kwong
PJ is a self-proclaimed Word Broker who goes by the motto: I read them. I write them. I speak them. A degree from the University of Toronto studying Modern Languages has been put to good use as a bilingual PA announcer for, among other things, the last 5 Olympic Games, the FIFA U-20 2007 Men's World Cup and numerous international figure skating events since 1993.
Working as a figure skating coach for the last 25+ years led to commentating opportunities from CTV/TSN, ABC, Tokyo Broadcasting, CBC, Fuji TV, Seoul Broadcasting and CCTV among others. CBC has been home to Pj's skating voice, writing and commentary opinions since 2007. She would tell you that although working in skating is where her passion lies; she is the voice of lots of commercial projects, a blogger on her own site, a public speaker and with "Taking The Ice: Success Stories from the World of Canadian Figure Skating" a published author. You want opinions? She's got them. Follow her on Twitter to see.
