WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kurt Browning was so upset over his second-place finish he pretended to ram his head into a concrete wall and called himself a loser.

A couple of hours later, Kristi Yamaguchi also finished a close second after falling on a triple loop, but she was all smiles.

"I just wanted to come in and enjoy the skating, and at this point in my career that's the important thing," Yamaguchi said. "It's funny, because we were watching the slow-mo of the triple loop, and I was even smiling as I was falling."

While no one doubts Yamaguchi's dedication, the competitive-intensity meter at this month's Skaters' Championship -- and at all professional skating competitions -- has swung nearly to the carefree extreme she expresses. And certainly away from Browning's the-goal-is-to-win attitude.

"I'm sitting there going, `loser,'" said Browning, beaten by Ilia Kulik in the men's event. "I don't know how you beat Ilia on a night like this, but at the same time, I didn't give my best. I crawled off the ice going, `I didn't want to leave anything behind.' And I'm not sure how many of us really do feel that way."

Six years ago, in the wake of the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan scandal, professional skating competitions rode an amazing tide of success. Pro events rivaled the Olympic-eligible circuit in popularity. Huge television ratings meant big money. Even 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski turned pro while still a teen-ager.

Today, professional head-to-head competitions have crashed like a bad double axel. Artificial team events such as "Ice Wars" still thrive, but no one takes them seriously.

"It's not bad," Browning said. "But it's not like it used to be." The World Professional Figure Skating Championship, an event that built prestige over more than two decades, ended this year, replaced by the Skaters' Championship. The crowds at the MCI Center were smaller than ever.

There were some mitigating factors. Tickets went on sale late. Fallout from Sept. 11 might have kept people from traveling to the nation's capital. Fans are focused more on the Olympic skaters with the Salt Lake City Games just weeks away.

But Browning cites another reason for the decline: the retirements and semiretirements of an unprecedented lineup of champions who took winning and losing seriously and who, for several years, turned every competition into a once-in-a-lifetime show.

"You need outstanding champions," Browning said. "In the pro ranks, we were really hot for a while. You had Scott Hamilton, Paul Wylie, Brian Orser, Brian Boitano, me. We were all good. And right now the professional ranks are not as strong. We've seen brilliant moments, but we need more young guys to come up and be great. Right now we're in a lull."

Besides Kulik, who is still learning how to play to a crowd, and the competition-shy Lipinski, who is plagued by hip problems, many big names have remained Olympic-eligible. That's a triumph for International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta, who slowed the defections by introducing a big-money Grand Prix circuit that rendered the word "amateur" meaningless.

Yet even when the field is overflowing with stars, the pro circuit is plagued by three major complaints:

• --The same routines get recycled again and again. Kulik won in Washington with his 1998 Olympic program, which he said he has now performed more than 70 times, including tour appearances. Last year, the World Pro introduced a rule that one routine had to be making its TV debut, and it made for one of the most lively and original competitions in years. That rule lasted only a year.
• --The competitions often are broadcast weeks after they occur. No one would dream of treating the Olympics the same way. NBC finally broke that standard by showing the Saturday artistic skate live from the MCI Center for the first time.
• --Not all the skaters take the competitions seriously. Philippe Candeloro knowingly violated a no-props rule during the technical program, saying he was more interested in pleasing the crowd. Yamaguchi said she's just not as competitive anymore. Kulik said, "I don't really care too much about the placement."

Yuka Sato was an exception. She skated gamely in both pairs and singles and called her women's title, "the best moment of my career." And she won a world championship in 1994.

Browning said the lack of a competitive atmosphere hurts the event's chemistry.

"But what can you do?" Browning said. "Some things don't last forever."

The pro skaters have a trump card: Whatever the motivation, they put on better shows than Olympic skaters. Anyone who watched Yamaguchi and Sato stage near flawless back-to-back routines saw a special moment younger skaters can't duplicate.

"What they did as a 1-2 punch was truly an Olympic moment," Browning said. "The dancers -- they are the best on the planet. I'd rather watch this than the Olympics."

Browning will rely on showmanship during Sears Open

OTTAWA (CP) -- Kurt Browning isn't going to outjump anybody during the Sears Open but that doesn't mean he can't win.

Showmanship is his thing, and he's better at it than most figure skaters. He knows he'll get killed in the short program of technical elements when the two-day figure skating pro-am begins Friday night in the Civic Centre.

"I'm going to make them laugh then stand back and watch the carnage," he said after practice Thursday in predicting what will happen in the first phase of a men's event.

He'll be up against Elvis Stojko, Emmanuel Sandu, Todd Eldredge, Brian Orser and Steven Cousins. Browning (4), Stojko (3), Eldredge (1) and Orser (1) have won a total of nine world titles.

It's a tough assignment for Browning, 35.

"It's a professional guy coming in against the amateurs in their Olympic year," he said of being in the same field as Stojko, Eldredge and Sandhu. "I put together a short program that is going to be a lot of fun but I don't think I'm going to be scaring anybody with my technical prowess.

"It's hard to do Stars On Ice then change gears to do this. I've tried it other years and tried the triple Axel and it hasn't worked so this year I've taken it out.

"When you don't have the big jumps, you want to do it clean."

Rules restrict the number of triple jumps in the long program Saturday to four. As many as eight are allowed in Grand Prix meets and world championships.

"We all know, and I certainly do, that if this was a wide-open event like a Skate Canada or the Canadian championships that I don't think I'd be on the ice competing with Elvis," said Browning, who retired from the world competitive stage seven years ago. "They restrict the number of jumps to make it a level playing field.

"I'm at a disadvantage in the first half but some might say the pro is at an advantage in the second half."

The women's singles field includes Jennifer Robinson, Josee Chouinard, Nicole Watt, Lu Chen, Nicole Bobek and Victoria Volchkova.

It's a big weekend for Browning in more ways than one: the Kurt Browning Gotta Skate television special is on NBC Sunday afternoon (2 p.m. EST). His wife, ballerina Sonia Rodriguez, joins him on the show.

Browning is unsure who will win the men's singles gold medal at the 2002 Olympics. Initially, he was leaning towards reigning world champion Evgeny Plushenko. But he's been impressed with how Alexei Yagudin has been skating this season.

"He seems very hungry for a win," Browning said. "I had my money kind of going towards Plushenko but I don't know anymore. When (Yagudin) gets cocky and competitive, he's a tough guy to beat."

MESSAGE FROM KURT

KURT RANKS 2ND IN ONLINE SURVEY

Kurt placed second behind Todd Eldredge in the "SUPER SINGLES" online survey conducted by Blades On Ice magazine for their October 2001 issue.

RESULTS: MEN

1. TODD ELDREDGE
2. KURT BROWNING
3. ALEXEI YAGUDIN
4. BRIAN BOITANO
5. SCOTT HAMILTON
6. ALEXANDER ABT
7. ILIA KULIK
8. EVGENI PLUSHENKO
9. ELVIS STOJKO
10. TIM GOEBEL

RESULTS: LADIES

1. MICHELLE KWAN
2. KRISTI YAMAGUCHI
3. OKSANA BAIUL
4. TARA LIPINSKI
5. IRINA SLTSKAYA
6. MARIA BUTYRSKAYA
7. SARAH HUGHES
8. ANGELA NIKODINOV
9. KATARINA WITT
10. JOSEE CHOUINARD

On road to Olympics:
Browning works with world champions, who introduce their new short program

Monday, August 13, 2001
By BEVERLEY SMITH
***submitted by Brenda Thomas

CALGARY -- Magic was felt the other night at a quiet, little rink in Calgary.

World pair figure-skating champions Jamie Salé and David Pelletier unveiled the short program they will use at the Olympics in Salt Lake City in February. The public saw it for the first time at an Alberta summer competition. It was a tango called Jealousy, and it sizzled from beginning to end. The Jimmie Condon Arena has only a couple of rows of bleacher seats on each side, but on a warm August night, it was packed to the rafters. And noisy. All Salé and Pelletier had to do was show up and the cheers started. After all, they are one of Canada's best hopes to win an Olympic gold medal in six months. Since Salé and Pelletier moved to Alberta to train, they have quickly become a part of the landscape. Salé grew up in Red Deer, an hour-and-a-half's drive away. Pelletier, a native of Sayabec, Que., has revelled in the relaxed atmosphere of Edmonton.

And they've both benefited from another Alberta-grown treasure in four-time world champion Kurt Browning, a native of nearby Caroline. The clever final pose of Salé and Pelletier's new tango sprang from Browning's fertile mind.

Their choreographer, Lori Nichol, hatched the idea to have Browning work with the pair earlier this summer in Toronto. "We were all a bit nervous because we weren't sure of how it was going to work," Salé said. "He's a singles skater and I'd never seen him work with anybody." Salé knew Browning from skating with him for years on the national team. Still, she was nervous. Pelletier had encountered Browning many times, but had never sat down to talk to him. "It was like a first date," Pelletier said. "It was like 'so, what T-shirt should I wear [for the session]?' "

Nichol felt Browning would be particularly helpful to Pelletier. "This is what I would do," Browning would tell Pelletier about certain moves or attitudes. Browning also helped them with the footwork of the tango. "He was an inspiration," Pelletier said. "They were just knocked out," said Louis Stong, who coached Browning in the latter part of his career and who helped set up the meeting. "David just could not believe it. He kept saying after that, 'Oh my god, I can't believe what happened.' " Nichol knows that Pelletier is a bit of a sponge. He would watch a Bruce Willis movie and he'd become Bruce Willis for two days. "I think she knew that if I watched Kurt, then something would come out in me," he said. Pelletier and Browning are a lot alike. They're both performers on ice. They both have a flair for comedy, something that is apparent in the new tango. Stong describes Pelletier as "a tad more shy." Browning has enough versatility that he could also help Salé with her attitude. "He plays both roles well," she said with a smile.

Browning seems to have a future in choreography. "I think he has a terrific sense of what works," Stong said. "Sometimes it's a very finite point, but it has a huge effect. Think of the things he's done and decisions he's made at the last minute." Browning was not supposed to do a smoking pose in his famous Casablanca routine, Stong said. There was a strong antismoking sentiment at the time. But Browning inserted the move on the spot when he performed it one time, and it became one of the most memorable gestures of the routine. "When he finished, everyone turned and looked at Browning's choreographer, Sandra Bezic," Stong said. "I didn't do that," she said. "Don't blame me."

"He's very quick and he's very clever at the draw," Stong said of Browning. "If he can transfer that kind of ingenuity to others, he'll be a priceless treasure." Pelletier said Browning could have 10 futures. "If he wants to become a comedian, he can be a standup comic," he said. "If he wants to be an actor, he can be an actor. If he wants to be a pro skater for 10 hundred years, I'll be watching him for 10 hundred years. He's so damned natural at everything he does." As for the new tango, it's the kind of routine that makes you smile all the way through. "It's over the top," Stong said. "It's very clever."

And it's clever because of the way Nichol works, allowing Browning into the creative process. "That's what so great about Lori," Pelletier said. "She's not one of these people who is scared to go somewhere else to get ideas. She has an open mind. She always listens and it doesn't matter who you are." "She wants as much information as possible," Salé said. "She wants to make sure it [the routine] doesn't just please you, it pleases four out of five people. You're never going to please everybody."

The long program that Salé and Pelletier will use during the Olympic season is quite different. They're not ready to show it off yet, because they changed the first two minutes of the routine about 1½ weeks ago, just to reposition some of the elements and rework the choreography. It, too, is a masterpiece, Stong said. It's a perfect vehicle to show off their strengths. "Their attention to edge and speed is really very noticeable in these programs," he said. "They're very, very good."
Copyright © 2001 Globe Interactive, a division of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.

11 AUGUST 2001-KURT SKATES AT MARIPOSA
The biggest crowd reaction came when two of Canada's finest athletes stepped on the ice together. Elvis Stojko and Kurt Browning stood at centre ice while the entire building cheered and gave the two skaters a standing ovation.

Closing the show was Kurt Browning, who skated to 'Nyah'. The program, which is more of a dance on ice as there are no jumps, pushes the artistic boundaries of skating and has become a crowd favorite across the globe. Performed with the flare we've come to expect from Browning, the program was unforgettable despite a small music problem. Charming and charismatic, Browning joked the incident away and continued the performance erasing the mishap. A fine way to end the evening, Browning wove a spell to end a magical night of skating. Full story @ iskater.com