Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Tonya Harding!

[UrbScotty]

[chollybocker]

1. Sumpinsumpin... avoid thin ice... sumpinsumpin...

;)

[Skittles]

2. sad

[dawg]

3. I know this sounds weird ...

but I've always had a soft spot for Tonya. She seems like a person who has been through a rough life, and although she hasn't handled things the best, it's almost kinda sorta understandable.

I guess I just feel sorry for her a little, and I think she could have been much more under different circumstances.

[nolabear]

4. Yeah, I see where you're coming from.

She didn't have enought wherewithall to be able to make a real talent into a good life. It's astounding what rough circumstances can do to a person.

She looks pretty scary, though. I can't help but think "steroids" and that's not going to end well.

[dawg]

5. I don't see the steroids.

She just looks like she's gotten a little chubby to me.

[rurallib]

6. you ain't the only one

I have had a soft spot for her also.
I think mine was because she made it in ice skating despite her background.
I may be wrong, but have always had the impression that one had to have money to make it in ice skating.

[seabeyond]

7. yes. me too. you see where kids are coming from and better understand, why.

my niece and a friend of hers came to house last night. my niece is at boys ranch, kids having troubles or troubled family life. the friend has been out there most all her childhood and 18 now. her mom is a prostitute and druggie and grandma xprostitute and mean..... ah, this girl... yes, just not a woman yet, she is so focused on not being in that trash life.

i took a boy home last night so he didn't have to walk home 5 miles. on track team with son. he was an odd child and i was having a tough time getting info on where, his name ect.... was all odd. after dropping off, my son told me he is in foster and has had it rough. i need to reconnect with him

i have been thinking about those two kids most of last night and today. it has precipitated conversation with both my boys, our life, the differences.

[retread]

11. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

[RedCloud]

8. Break a leg, Tonya!

[PotatoChip]

9. Proof of how one's past can haunt them forever.

At least in this life. It kind of makes one understand why others believe and hope that there is hope for another.

[Archae]

10. Hey, she did beat the shit out of Paula Jones!

:-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Tonya messed up on her own

I remember the U.S. championships that were the qualifying competition for the Olympic team. The U.S. was going to send two women skaters that year, and Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were by far the top contenders. No one even came close, not even 13-year-old Michelle Kwan, who was obviously talented but still looked like an awkward little kid.

So if Tonya had just gone into the competition and done her routine, she would have been guaranteed a spot on the Olympic team--without all the drama.

Then she could have turned pro (like Rudy Galindo, another champion skater from a poor background) and earned (at that time) $100,000 a year performing in ice shows.

Instead, Tonya tried to cheat where no cheating was necessary and ended up as a joke on Jay Leno.

[murielm99]

13. She could have had so much more than this. n/t

[freshwest]

14. Oh, no, I knew I shouldn't have looked at this thread. I cannot unsee that.

[grasswire]

15. is that pic for real?

If so, she has really put on the weight.