I've been away from my blog for more than a month now. All it took was finding out that today was Ryan Bradley's 31st birthday to pull me back into my blogging mode!
In the time since my last post, I've moved to Philadelphia, moved into a new apartment, began a new full-time job, and started a new life. It's been a busy month and a half, but I return to blogging with a new passion for life, and renewed motivation to post fresh and interesting content.
I just rewatched a few of Ryan's best performances on YouTube. Were Ryan's edges the best? Nope. His transitions? Nah. His spins? Not really. And refinement? What refinement?
What Ryan did best was catapult himself into wild, high-flying jumps, entertain an audience with his comical movements and facial expressions, and make people laugh and smile, simply by being himself. Ryan was a genuine performer, who loved putting on a great show. A truly gifted athlete, Ryan made up for his lack of natural grace and flow with exciting jumping passes and plenty of personality to light up an arena.
In 2011, after many-times coming up just short of Nationals glory (he came closest in 2007 when he finished 2nd to Evan Lysacek), Ryan once again stole the show at the Nationals, but this time, stole the title, too. I'm sure all the skating fans out there couldn't have been happier when Ryan finally put it all together at the right time and skated away with the U.S. Championship.
In honor of Ryan's 31st birthday, here are his winning Nationals short and long programs from 2011.
Happy Birthday, Ryan!
Short program:
Long program:
