Host: Bill Boggs
Special Guests: Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton and Tara Lipinski
Aired on the US cable channel: The Food Network
Date: In the year 1998. Original airdate unknown. Show has been repeated several times
Length of show: 30 minutes
Intro segment: They're creativity and skill won them Olympic gold, and their grace, beauty and ability to achieve the impossible won our hearts. Today at our Corner Table meet figure skating's best.
Setting= Tara, Bill, Kristi and Scott are skating hand-in-hand. They're all dressed very casually. Kristi is dressed comfortably in black: gloves, leggings, zip-pullover with the Discover Stars On Ice logo on it, and has her hair up in a ponytail. (held with a black scrunchie, of course) She's also wearing minimal makeup and looks great! [as usual ;-)]
Bill: Hi, I am working up an appetite for our Corner Table at Chelsea Piers Skyrink in Manhattan. The stars of Stars On Ice! (gestures to each guest) Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi (they both nod in turn when Bill announces their name) and the great Scott Hamilton!
Scott: Thank you very much.
Bill: Are we getting very hungry?
Kristi: Yeah (claps her hands together)
Scott: Yeah, starving!
Bill: Let's skate a little first.
They slowly skate away from the camera...Bill holds on to Kristi and Tara's hands, while Scott trails behind him just "in case he gets a concussion or something". They all laugh at his statement.
---Opening credits for Corner Table---
Bill asks each of the skaters in turn, what their earliest memory of the ice is like. It's cute how each of them are standing with their arms around each other. Scott says his first memory of the ice was when he was four years old, going to the driveway of a neighbor's house, falling on a patch of ice and crying. Tara said her first trick was a bunny hop and demonstrated that.
Bill: How about you Kristi? First trick you ever learned on the ice?
Kristi briefly rubs her hands together before answering: Probably like, little swizzles on the ice. Like this....(and demonstrates a series of backward swizzles) Learning how to stop. (demonstrates that)
-- Short fluff piece begins: --
Voiceover with changing pictures of the skaters with their Olympic gold medals and past professional programs is shown.
"One thing Kristi couldn't stop doing was winning. She broke America's figure skating losing streak by capturing the gold for the US in the '92 Olympics."
For Tara: she was the "...youngest Olympic champion ever at age 15" For Scott is was: "The 1984 US Olympic gold, and one of the world's most celebrated skaters, has assembled these talented women and others to participate in the Stars On Ice tour"
--End of fluff piece--
Bill: What does it feel like, to fly through the air, knowing you're gonna land backwards on a little blade. What does that feel like?
Kristi answers first: You're just praying that you land! (laughs) It's a great feeling. I don't know - I think, every time you land a jump, there's a little thrill of energy to it. 'Wow, I did it!' It feels good.
Tara: And you're in shock if you fall! (giggles)
Scott likened it to golf. When you hit a the sweet spot on the club, you just want to do it again. It's addictive.
Bill: (changes the subject) So why don't we, say, head on over to the Corner Table and get something to eat?
Tara replies: Okay, but the last one to the table, picks up the bill!
Kristi and Scott exclaim: Oh, oh!
And the three champions race on over to the boards...while Bill is just standing around watching them leave.
Bill: And me? I get to pick up the check!
Setting= Bill, Tara, Kristi and Scott are seated at a round table covered with a white table cloth next to rink boards. [you could see skaters occasionally skate by]
Bill: I welcome you to the very hungry group of skaters. [Reintroduces them] Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Scott Hamilton.
In a question directed to Kristi, Bill asks: You just said skaters are like vultures around food. What do you mean by that?
Kristi answers: Well, you know we burn off a lot of calories. So when it's meal time, it's meal time! (everyone laughs)
Bill: All the food you're eating here are from Rita's Burgers, which is right here in Chelsea Piers.
Kristi: Great, love it.
Bill (describes the meals): And we have here barbecued shrimp, (for Tara. It was her first time trying it)
Scott explains: She's not a seafood person.
[Kristi takes a big bite of something unidentifiable (the shrimp maybe?), but whatever it is, it sure looks tasty!]
Bill: And you think you have enough guacamole, Kristi, for you?
Scott replies: For her, not for the rest of us!
Kristi is still chewing, so she just grins :-)
Bill: And Scott's taking in....
Scott is munching on his food and gestures with his hand: Mmm, mm...
Kristi: Very good!
Bill: Indeed! You guys are at the top of your profession. You all won gold medals. You probably have rooms of trophies at home, right? Rooms filled with pretty trophies. All kinds of national titles and everything. Making a lot of money on Discover Stars On Ice. Traveling with a corporate jet. What started it all? What was the initial appeal about the ice skating when you were little kids? Something had to ignite inside of you-
Tara says it was because of a care bear. When she was three, her mother read an advertisement in the local paper that said you got a free care bear for a roller skating lesson. So they went, but then realized in fine print, the ad said nine lessons. So they stuck around, and Tara loved it. Scott joked that she had read all that and made the decision to do all that when she was three years old.
Bill: So, Kristi, what's the appeal? Something had to be very special there.
Kristi: Actually, for me it was going to see another ice show. Just watching the other skaters out there perform, and the great costumes.
Bill: So, who was the skater that impressed you the most?
Kristi: Ah, well...Scott Hamilton of course! (She and Scott chuckle together) No, actually. Really, I think I went to see him in Ice Capades, and I saw Dorothy Hamill in Ice Capades too, I think....(glances questionably toward Scott)
Scott, who is at the moment is again preoccupied with his food, nods and says: Umm hmm.
Kristi: And I just loved it, and that was my goal. To be a professional skater on the road. It wasn't to go to the Olympics (laughs)
Bill: And now what age you got your goal?
Kristi: Six.
Bill: Scott, what about you? I have a picture, a photo opportunity...(he brings out a picture of Scott from the book Stars On Ice)
Scott: Uh oh...
Kristi: Uh oh!
Bill: A young Scott
Kristi: Aww, so cute!
Scott: that was my first real number I had. Because I jumped through a hoop of fire,...
Kristi: Wow!
Bill: How old were you there?
Scott: I think I was 11
Bill: 11 years old. What was it about skating that ignited the fire in you? Make you jump through fire?
Scott: Well, I was too short to do anything else obviously (everyone laughs). No, I was really sick and I really didn't have a lot of physical development and I really couldn't do a lot. As far as team sports goes; like football, baseball. They built a new rink at an university for a hockey team and PE [physical education] classes. The thing to do was bring your kids every Saturday morning and expose them to skating. Being sick, my doctor's kids took me along. I liked it and went back every Saturday.
Bill joked that if they took him bowling, he wouldn't be sitting there.
Voiceover: And like most athletes, there were sacrifices along the way.
Bill: Like getting up in 3 in the morning, when you're in junior high school. Getting up at four in the morning and you're eight years old. Kristi, why?
(Meanwhile, she takes another big mouthful, and has to chew/swallow a little before she answers....)
Kristi: Why? (laughs again)
Bill: The average kid wants to sleep late, watch tv, not go to school...
Tara: It's almost automatic.
Kristi: It is. I think, I mean, my parents gave me a choice. Either; if I wanted to skate, I had to, you know go for it 100%. And they're supporting me on this. My mom's getting up and driving me to the rink. And that's the only time you could get ice. Either before school or after. So, usually it was both. And I had to get up early. (shrugs a little)
Bill: The sacrifices are unbelievable. That your foot, and sacrifices that your parents told me too...[I believe he was referring to Kristi's club foot condition when she was a baby]
Kristi: Yeah...(nods her head)
Scott: Well, you get so much out of it. It's not a constant give-give-give. I mean, everyday you get a little bit better on the ice. Your self-esteem goes through the roof. And you get the next jump, you're feel like you're accomplishing something. It's something, you give to get. And it's not really discipline because you love what you're doing so much. It's almost like playing -
Bill: But Tara, but you turned pro at what age? 15?
Tara: Um-hmm.
Bill: Are you postponing your teenage years till later in life? Till your 20's or something? How's schoolwork?
Tara replies that she still feels like a teenager and wouldn't wat to do anything else. She looks back and feels normal and feels like she did everything she wanted to do. She has a tutor that travels with her. Her favorite subject is chemistry.
Bill: How's the food?
Kristi: Great. Very good!
Scott: I'm ready! (holds up an empty plate) Let's go!
Bill: Ready for the next course?
Scott: Absolutely! (rubs his hands together)
Bill: We have a variety of burgers coming up...
Kristi: Oh yum, burgers too? (her eyes widen)
Bill: And we're taking a break. Hungry skaters! The plate is empty.
(It's cute and funny how Kristi grins and rubs her hands together in eager anticipation for the meal ahead)
Scott: It is. Plate's empty. I'm ready. More!
--commercial break--
[Meal report: Kristi was really eating her food with enthusiasm! Scott ate rather quickly and when he unofficially pronounced the meal was over, she didn't look like she wanted to stop. LOL :-) ]
---end of commercial break--
Voiceover: "..our food today, an assortment of burgers and barbecued sandwiches from one of the Pier's restaurants, Rita's Burgers. Which is an all-American spot, featuring a classic western motif."
Bill asked Scott what the yellow mustard bottles meant to him. Scott said that it brought back memories of his childhood. When he saw the bottles, he was instantly taken back to Roger's Drugstore and going there after school, back in his hometown in Ohio. Where they sold soda fountains in the back. It was retro, 50's stuff to him, like diners.
Bill: Could you eat anything basically towards your workout so much? Because you're in training. Sort of have to watch your weight?
Scott: I think Kristi says it best. There's people that eat to live and people that live to eat. (laughs) And I'm one of those, that more or less, I eat to live and she lives to eat." (points to her and laughs again)
Kristi: True. (she smiles very widely)
Voiceover: Well, they might be kicking back and relaxing today, but most of their lives have been spent under the scrutiny of judges.
Bill: Does that carry over into life at all? You think people are judging you all the time? Or when you walk away from the ice, can you leave it?
Kristi: I have been able to leave it. (laughs)
Tara (in a low voice): Yeah, me too.
Bill: Good.
Kristi: It's like oh, get me away from that! (makes a wide sweeping gesture with her hand)
Bill: Do you think you can be a judge?
Kristi (raising her eyebrows): It's tough. You know, I really admire what they do cause it's really a tough job. Cause when you're sitting there watching 20 of the best skaters in the world....it's...you know...(shrugs her shoulders)
Tara: I wouldn't be able to remember what the first skater did.
Kristi agrees: Yeah. So, I don't know. I admire them.
Scott adds: You go for being in the competitive world where you're judged, to being in the entertainment industry where what people think really determines your ability to make a living.
Voiceover: But at age 40, is Scott considering hanging up his skates? (short clip of "One Week" is shown)
Scott: It's coming. And I see it coming and I respect it.
Bill: It's not tomorrow though!
Scott: Well, who knows? (laughs)
Bill: What makes you know it's coming?
Scott: Well, it's things. I've had health issues for the last couple of years that kind of kept me from really being as good as I want to be. And I'm building, so I got to be patient and if I get back to where I want to be, I'll continue. But if I can't, then I'll start looking at other things to do. Cause we're looking at, "Rookie" (gestures toward Tara), "Veteran (Kristi), (and finally, pointing to himself) "Fossil". (laughs)
--commercial break--
--end of commercial break--
Bill: Now, when we see the skating competitions like the Olympics, or Nationals or World Championships, and you see the judges and you know what's at stake. Ever once in a while, there is a fall during this, and you can fall down and still get a high score.
Scott agrees: Um, hmm.
Bill: And what I've always wondered is, when you hit the ice, as part of your program, you're down. You gotta get up and you have to resume what you're doing and gotta get your composure back instantly.
Kristi: Oh, yeah.
Bill: Without being intimidated by the rest of your program. So what are the mental resources that you -
Tara cuts in: Smile, cause then you feel better! (everyone laughs)
Kristi says (while holding a hamburger in one hand and gesturing with the other): I think you work on it in training. I mean, my coach, no matter how many times I fell in a program in practice, you get up and you keep on going. You know, some people stop their music and start over. But she never allowed that. So you get up and keep going, because one fall is not going to make or break a performance. You got to continue on, and you know, if you fall five or more times (laughs) than you're in trouble!
Voiceover: But at the Olympics, every jump counts. So how nervous were they going for the gold?
Scott: I don't remember! (everyone laughs)
Tara: I do! I was nervous.
Kristi: Sure...
Bill: Speaking of nervousness, so how can you channel the energy?
Tara: Well, you don't think about the consequences because they're so big. You just kind of pretend that like, your by yourself in a rink. And not two million people watching you.
Bill: And so you're able to block it out. And for you Kristi?
Kristi: Well, I think, um, I was terrified going into the short program, and -
Bill interjects: Terrified?
Kristi: Terrified. Like I almost couldn't imagine myself going out there onto the ice. But then once the music started, I remembered some words of encouragement that my choreographer had given me and it really -
Bill: What? What did she say?
Kristi: She said, you know, this is your time, this is your coming out. Go out and show them what you have.
Voiceover: And what about those golden Olympic moments?
Tara said all she remembers saying "Okay, just enjoy it, cause it's gonna be quick". But she "can look back and really enjoy that moment."
Bill: How 'bout you? (to Kristi) Obviously you're enjoying it.
Kristi: It still gives me, like the little... (thumps the area over her heart lightly, with a big smile)
Bill: You still feeling it?
Kristi: Yeah, I think it's a time you don't ever want to forget and I just remember seeing flashes of other Olympic champions. Scott, Dorothy Hamill, and Brian Boitano - all of them receiving their medals. And thinking, oh my god, I can't believe I'm a part of this now.
Bill: Scott, what about you?
Scott: Oh, every emotion. Every emotion in your mind, heart, soul goes through you at the same time. Triumph, exhilaration, cause you just achieved your life long goal. All of it hit me at the same time. It's like, 'Oh, I just did the greatest thing! I can't wait to share it with Dad. I wish my mother was still alive.' You're thinking about every single thing in the world and all the people that helped you get there. Obviously, you can't do it alone. And all the people you're representing at that moment, who, when you start to shed a tear, you know there's all of people really taking that moment and it's a part of them. Because I think that as a Olympic competitor, you feel like everyone's child.
Bill: Now all of you are relatively...uh, small people. (All three skaters smile) You weigh about 92 pounds right?
Tara: I weigh 95.
Bill: Aww...up to 95? (makes a incredulous look at the camera) Wow.
(Kristi laughs)
Bill: You're about 93?
Kristi (nodding her head): About there. 93-94-95.
Bill: 94 and she eats anything she wants! Scott, you're about 5'4 solid. Are there any large people who are excellent skaters? Or is it pretty much necessarily someone -
Kristi: Pair skaters.
Scott: Pair skating (nods at Kristi)
Bill: Pair skaters.
Kristi: The men are big. They're...you know, 6 feet or so...
Scott: It's better if you're a singles skater that you're small cause you're body takes a different kind of pounding.
Bill: Yes, that's right.
Scott: And you want to be quick and agile. You don't want to like - if you go up sideways for a jump and you're six feet tall...
Bill: And you weigh 180 pounds...
Scott: Tim - ber! (everyone laughs) It hurts real bad!
---commercial break---
[Meal report: I think by commercial break Kristi had finished her hamburger. She took rather, large mouthfuls. And after every bite, she would very daintily wipe her mouth with a large napkin and continue eating/talking. Tara poured ketchup onto her plate and would dip her burger into it before she ate it.]
---end of commercial break---
[Next course is dessert! Yum...]
Bill: And this is a brownie with ice-cream from Rita's Burgers here in Chelsea Piers with still hungry skaters.
Scott: Umm hmm (munching on his ice-cream)
Bill: I think we're give you the Bill Boggs Corner Table "hungriest guests" award!
(Everyone laughs)
Kristi: All right!
Bill: So this looks good. (points to his dish) What are your all time favorite desserts? If you had to pick, Okay, this is my favorite!. What's yours Tara?
Tara: Apple pie or cheesecake.
Bill: Apple pie or cheesecake for Tara Lipinski. What about you Kristi?
Kristi: I'd say ice-cream. (she says it with a smile, of course)
Bill: Ice cream? Any kind of ice cream?
Kristi: Any kind, yeah!
Bill: Really?
Kristi: Yeah...Ben & Jerry's (gives a thumbs-up)
Bill: Ben & Jerry's. I mean, rum-raisin, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry?
Kristi: Ah...'Oreo's Cookies and Cream'.
Bill: Okay. And Scott? I know I'm going to get something more exotic...
Scott: No, no, no. It's seasonal with me. Like during the winter, pumpkin pie. I can't get enough of pumpkin pie.
Kristi: Oohhh! (looks like she can't wait to have a slice of pie :-)
Bill: Now Kristi, you've recently, you've been doing some modeling (Kristi and Tara make eye-contact and laughs a little). I'm curious about how far you can take all of the pursuit of fame, fortune and artistic expression beyond the ice rink. So, how's modeling for you?
(Tara stops eating, smiles and looks towards Kristi to hear her answer)
Kristi: It's been fun. I mean, you never think a 5'1 figure skater can ever be, you know, a fashion model...
Bill: Uh-huh!
Kristi: But, you know, it's a neat look into the fashion industry and...
Scott playfully says: You get to play dress-up! (laughs)
Kristi nods: Play dress-up. They dress you up. It's neat. It's a whole different side and a different career. And a lot tougher then you think.
[Next, Bill asks questions that are geared somewhat towards Tara (who has been pretty quiet up until this point) and Scott. Kristi interjects with little comments and laughter now and then]
Bill talks to Tara about her CBS special and asks if she wanted to see more specials like that in the future. She replies that she would love too. She had such blast on the first one, she now wants so much more for the second one. Bill also asked her if she can have normal relationships with other 15 and 16 year olds and if they were intimidated by her gold medal. Tara answered definitely, that her best friend is not a skater, just a normal teenager and didn't feel that others were intimidated by her.
Bill: How about you Scott? The show Stars On Ice is your brain child...
Scott: Um hmm...
Bill: Do you see yourself continuing a life in figure skating. Or are there other things at this point, as a forty year old, that are of interest to you?
Scott: Yeah, I'm kind of getting more into the behind the scenes stuff. You know, I still want to tour at least next year with Discover Stars On Ice, then we'll see. I'm taking it year by year. It's not like I have a long range plan, you know. There's a few things I want to do. I still want to do a stage show in New York.
Bill: A stage show? A skating stage show?
Scott: Yeah. That's a big goal of mine.
Voiceover: Considering the elaborate Stars On Ice production, I wonder what kinds of things can go wrong during a show...
Scott (looking over at Kristi, who in turn, is looking down at her plate, loading food on her fork...): Well, I could tell you one thing I hate that's happened to me like 3 or 4 times in this tour.
Kristi: Okay...(and starts munching on her food)
Scott: It's that I have a squirting flower in my clown number...
Bill: Well, you need one. I wish you had one now, so you could squirt me!
Scott: That's great. But there's a little bulb, like a turkey baster bulb, that I keep in my pocket that has a tube that goes up my thing. (motions his hands from his waist to shoulder) Well, every now and then, the tube comes out, and the bulb is just sitting there and I'm squeezing it. And it's pure water on me, in my pocket. It's not pleasant at all!
(Everyone laughs)
[Meal report: At this point, Tara's not eating much, just listening. Kristi, of course is avidly eating her ice-cream. Scott as well.]
Bill: Scott, you've mentioned before that you've been through difficulties, you made it no secret about the fact that you're a cancer survivor. How are you doing?
Scott: Good. Everything's great. I'm getting stronger every day...
Kristi quickly rubs his upper arm and whispers loudly: Muscles!
Scott (grins and looks like he's about to break into laughter, but contains himself): I'm learning just how much I went through each day.
Bill: What it took out of your body?
Scott: Yeah, it took a lot mentally and emotionally too. So, it was a real big dip and I'm working my way out of it. Every day I'm a little stronger. I gotta be patient and persistent and keep on going.
Bill then states that they were with the Make a Wish (foundation) children earlier in the day. Scott said they're great, and Bill asked him if it had a special meaning for him, since he went through it. Scott replies (as he speaks, Kristi nods and smiles at him) that he now understands some of their issues much better, having gone through it himself. But anytime they get together with kids it's great. He adds that the children are truly special, because you could see the determination and fight in them to survive. That a lot of them are sick when they see you and they just open up and embrace you. (While Scott is speaking, a short video clip of Scott and Kristi mingling with Make-A-Wish Children is shown. In particular, Kristi and Scott are both gently pushing two smiling children sitting in wheelchairs on the ice rink)
Bill then asks Tara if she misses competing at all. Tara answers "No. Not at all." All three skaters laugh. He also asks her if it was a difficult decision to drop it. Tara says, that she thought about it, made sure that it was the right decision and it was. She has no regrets, since she accomplished everything that she wanted to - Nationals, Worlds, Olympics. She adds, "I'm very happy now".
Bill: Well, as you know, I like to close all of our shows here at the Corner Table with a toast to our Food Network viewers. So, may I call upon you Scott?
Scott: Absolutely.
Bill: Now, I know we're not supposed to do this with water, but we're creating a new tradition.
Scott (raises his glass and toasts): Health!
They all toast one another and clink glasses. Bill and Kristi repeat: Health!
Scott: Drink to happiness and longevity in life. Take care of yourselves.
Bill: To health! Thank you. The two of you (referring to Kristi and Tara) are blessed and it's been a blessing to have you.
Kristi: Thanks. It's a pleasure!
Scott: Good meal. Thanks. (then yells in a very loud voice) Thank you Rita!
Kristi: Yeah!
(Everyone laughs)
[As the ending credits for the show roll, you can see Kristi still eating her ice-cream brownie. Tara looks finished and Scott is talking with Bill....]
----End of meal. End of show. End of transcript.---
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