Harding Used to Inspire More Than a Knee-Slapper

With figure skating’s national championships this week in Philadelphia coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, you’re bound to hear and read Tonya Harding’s name a few times.

She was mentioned rather flippantly in this space Wednesday, the implication being that I miss her.

In fact, I don’t miss the Harding of 1994.

She was overweight, overwrought and, as we learned in subsequent court proceedings, desperate enough to do almost anything to displace Kerrigan as the United States’ preeminent figure skater going into Norway’s Winter Olympics.

I miss the Harding from earlier years, when she doggedly battled asthma and the establishment while climbing to the top in a sport that doesn’t embrace young women whose edges were as rough as hers.

You could never imagine her as an ice princess, like you could contemporaries Jill Trenary, Kristi Yamaguchi and Kerrigan. But Harding was the most fun.

The night after she won her only national championship, in 1991 in Minneapolis, she left the formal party hosted by the sport’s most important promoter, Tom Collins, and walked across the street to celebrate with a game of pool in a bar.

What a glorious day it was for Harding. The judges couldn’t ignore her when she became the first U.S. woman to land the triple axel, then, seizing the moment, skated the rest of her long program as if she were floating on air. It was the best she ever was. It was as good as anyone ever was.

Spellbound by the performance was a preteen member of the audience from Torrance. It was the younger of the Kwan sisters, the one who had potential but wasn’t committed to practicing.

Never again could that be said of Michelle Kwan.

On Saturday night in Philadelphia, she’s favored to win her second national championship. It depends on whether she can overcome a broken toe and competition from world champion Tara Lipinski. If Kwan does, the sport’s experts expect her to wear the gold medal at the Winter Olympics next month in Nagano, Japan.

It’s sad that, as Kwan’s inspiration, Harding wouldn’t be able to share in that moment. She wrote an altogether different legacy for herself.

*

Fred Claire wasn’t so impressed when six of eight position players projected to start for the Dodgers showed for the first day of voluntary workouts Monday. . . .

“Let’s wait until Wednesday, when the media aren’t here,” he said. . . .

On Wednesday, the same six--still minus Mike Piazza and Raul Mondesi--were at Dodger Stadium. . . .

The Dodgers worried about second baseman Eric Young’s attitude, considering they left him unprotected in the expansion draft and might have to duel with him in arbitration. . . .

But he has been enthusiastic, saying he wants to make sure the Dodgers never feel they can risk losing him again. . . .

Remember that John Robinson-to-the-Raiders rumor? . . .

“I’d be very doubtful if something like that would materialize,” he said, adding he hasn’t been contacted. . . .

The Tank Younger Trophy, which is like the Heisman for players at predominantly black colleges, will be awarded Friday night at the Biltmore Hotel. . . .

Jerry Rice, formerly of Mississippi Valley State, will receive a special career achievement award. . . .

The USFL’s Los Angeles Express, whose last season was 1985, will be represented by two players in Sunday’s games, Steve Young with San Francisco and Gary Zimmerman with Denver. . . .

The Football 50 could be the best race in the Feb. 7 L.A. Invitational indoor meet at the Sports Arena. . . .

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Justin Fargas, the defending state 100 champ, faces Pasadena’s Sultan McCullough, who would be favored if he weren’t injured. . . .

Also entered is Tustin’s DeShaun Foster. . . .

Three of the nation’s best high school running backs, they should feel lighter when they get college recruiters off their backs. . . .

I like Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro over Nicole Bobek and Tonia Kwiatkowski to win the third women’s berth in Philadelphia for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. . . .

On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.

*

While wondering if Pat Riley really believes he’ll come out ahead by messing with Michael Jordan, I was thinking: Running a state made more sense to George W. Bush than running a baseball team, I guess I missed it when the last golf season ended, I’m going with Tiger Woods, Green Bay, Denver and Kwan.