Pittsburgh Morning Radio Show

[Angela]

These guys will be commenting on skating and doing things rather wacky. John, Dave, Brian, Bubba, Shelley and Aimee don't know much about skating, and the men don't care. So ignore their disrespect and have some laughs!

[Angela]

(this takes place in February just before the 2006 Olympics, and is based on a real conversation that happened in 1996 regarding the Pittsburgh Penguins' star Jaromir Jagr)

John: Good morning, everyone, we've got a real treat in store for you here today! Now, we have no idea if this is real or not, but we got a call yesterday saying that they had Evgeni Potemerenko's home phone number. Evgeni Potemerenko is the figure skater who got silver at the Olympics in 2004 in men's skating, many feel he should have won, well supposedly we have an anonymous call that has given us what we believe to be his home phone number, so we wanted to call him this morning and see if he will give us a little interview, okay? Cause he hasn't before. Now, when we did Celebrity Trick-or-Treat, Bubba went to his house in Sewickley, and if you guys remember he was very nice and gracious so we will just have Bubba make the call and see if we can get him on the radio.

*phone makes dial tone noises*

John: He lives with his mom.

*more beeps*

Shelley: Oh, he does?

Bubba: Sh!

John: Or he used to-

Bubba: Sh! It's ringing, hold on.

Masha: Hello?

Bubba: Is Evgeni there?

Masha: Who is this?

Bubba: Ah, this is his friend, Bubba.

Masha: *pause* No.

Bubba: He's not up?

Masha: He's not at home.

Bubba: He's not at home?

Masha: Yes.

Bubba: Ahh... Ahh could you find out where I could get in touch with him?

Masha: Yeah, I'm sorry. He come back after practice.

Bubba: Oh, he' coming- Oh, he already left for practice this morning?

Masha: Yes.

Bubba: *in a rush* This is Bubba from B-94, we're on the radio, we wanted to talk to him this morning. *pause* He's not around?

Masha: *pause* I am sorry, I don't understand.

Bubba: Okay ah, well... Well, d- d- are you Evgeni's mother?

Masha: Yes.

Bubba: *even faster* You're his mom, well this is Bubba from B-94, we're on the radio, and we wanted to talk to Evgeni about ah, about the Olympics, are you excited that your son's almost winning the Gold Medal? *pause* The Olympics, in figure skating, the- the- the championship- ah, uh, d'you... *pause* Are you excited for your son?

*CLICK*

John: Argh.

Shelley: Awww ohhh...

Dave: Ohhh...

Shelley: That was it.

Dave: Toast with mom, too.

Bubba: I feel bad! I was trying to...

John: I know, I know, I know.

Bubba: Trying to be friendly.

John: I know, I know, I know, I know.

Shelley: Ah, yeah, she probably didn't understand what we were trying to-

John: He- and he's there, he's there, we'll- we'll call back in an hour. Half hour. Maybe just-

Dave: OR, Ah just- JUST an idea, just as we're brainstorming here live, MAYBE a little later we oughta send some flowers out to her.

John: Sure.

Bubba: That's a good idea.

Dave: Because, I mean, obviously she was a little confused, it's this early in the morning, ba- babbling idiots on the telephone, and you can barely understand the language to begin with.

Shelley: Well, a babbling BUBBA on the telephone makes a big difference. *chuckling*

John: Skating, you know, with ice?

Shelley: You know, that skating thing your son does!

Bubba: I didn't know what to say, I panicked!

John: You immediately went into Smart-Alec mode.

Bubba: No I didn't!

John: Yeah, you did! WHY COULDN'T YOU BE NICE TO HER?!

Bubba: I was TRYING to be nice!

John: Skating, you know, it's with ice?

Bubba: No, I was trying to be nice, ah the- ARGH.

Shelley: Do you know what this sounds like? It sounds like all the bro- like all these older brothers, yelling at their little brother, they're trying to put him up to something, get him to do something, and he screws it up.

John: He screwed it up!

Bubba: I tried to be nice! Ah, when she- Are you excited for your son?

John: Are you excited for your son? Skating, you know, with ice?

Shelley: *laughs*

John: And he lives with his mom.

Dave: Wasn't that great?

Brian: YEAH!

Shelley: Aw, get outta here, Brian! *laughs*

Dave: So maybe, maybe a little later Bubba's gonna send some flowers out to her. A- and apologize in person that he wasn't nicer!

John: Yeah, and I- I think we should call, too. I think we should call.

Bubba: I'm not making that next phone call! Let's see YOU guys do it! Let's see YOU guys do it!

John: Cause we know, we know for a fact, when Angie and Arsenij go to practice, they go at like ten o'clock. So he shouldn't be practicing this early.

Bubba: Or maybe he picked up some babe last night, he just hasn't made it home yet! And, and he keeps saying, Mom, we pra-

Dave: Mom I'm going to go skating with ice!

Bubba: No, he- he keeps saying, Mom, we- we practice overnights now.

Dave: To a football!

Shelley: Yeah!

John: 7:25, hang on.

*commercial break*

John: B-94, 7:28.

Dave: Ok, since we just ah, got ahold of what I think was Evgeni Potemerenko's mother-

John: She confirmed that it was.

Dave: Oh, okay.

John: Yeah.

Dave: THOUSANDS of calls. And, ah, most of them saying, Bubba, why were you so rude? Though Bubba wasn't trying to be rude.

Bubba: I wasn't trying, I just don't speak OUR language very well!

Dave: But out of respect to the- ah, the Potemerenkos, we're going to wait a while before we make a return call. We'll try to get someone who's a little NICER on the phone, perhaps SHELLEY, and ah, then Bubba will just have to go out there and shmooze them with some flowers.

John: Now, I've got a call from a guy who claims that his mo- Evgeni and his mom don't live together, Evgeni lives in West Mifflin.

Bubba: I got a call like that too.

John: That he lives way out, that-

Bubba: That the number we had, that they, they don't live together anymore.

John: But I see him-

Dave: What, they've broken up?

John: ... once a- once a week twice a week in Sewickley, and I've seen him coming, coming out of that- And we know where his house is.

Bubba: Yeah. Do we?

John: You've been there!

Bubba: That's right I forgot.

John: I've seen him pulling out of that street.

Dave: Either that, or he's so rich, he pays some body double to drive around.

Bubba: Well... maybe...

John: Could be, could be. So I don't know. Maybe, MAYBE we're just calling his mom. But she did say that he wasn't there, that he was at practice... I don't know.

Bubba: I don't know, maybe that's just a standard answer.

John: Maybe Shelley should call because she's nice.

Dave: She's the nice one.

John: She's nice. Gonna check on traffic, MacDaddy?

"MacDaddy" Traffic Reporter: Yeah.

John: Talked to Evgeni's mom there.

MacDaddy: Uh, I heard, and uh... skating, with ice?

John: She hung up on him.

Bubba: No I didn't know what to say!

John: She hung up on him.

MacDaddy: SHEESH!

Bubba: MacDaddy, I went into Panic Mode. Didn't know what to say, so I was like Uh skating, you know, with ice?

John: Here, let's do- let's do traffic, with cars!

MacDaddy: Oh, that's great, and trucks too!

[Angela]

(this takes place in September, 2008)

John: Good morning, everyone. It's 6:30 on the dot, and have we got a treat fr you. We are about to bring in the reigning Olympic Champion in men's figure skating for a special surprise. Today is the silver anniversary of this station's morning radio show, as we've been saying all morning. The show has gone from Quinn and Banana to John and Banana and now JohnDaveBubbaShelley. Well, last week we made this announcement and we got a call from Danil Andropov. He lives in West Mifflin, as some of you might now, and he says he listens to us all the time. He wanted to stop in and give us a surprise. Well, we have a surprise for him. So we sent Bubba to go get him.

*A few minutes of babble later, Danil enters*

Danil: Good morning, John, Dave, Shelley, Giant Brian, and Aimee! It's a pleasure to be here.

*all offer various greetings and offer him a microphone*

John: Well, Danil, you are here to promote the upcoming season of the sport of figure skating-

Dave: Which is not really a sport, but...

John: Right. But we understand you have a surprise for us.

Danil: I do indeed. I have made a special anniversary cake for you.

Shelley: Aw, it looks delicious Danil!

Danil: Thank you.

Bubba: Thanks again, man.

Brian: Looks great. Well, we have a surprise for you, and you have the option to say no.

Danil: Uh-oh!

Brian: No, no, it's nothing bad. We have just come up with a game, behind Buba's back, called "Buba GetsWhacked." See, because you're Russian, and Russia is known for its mafia and everything-

Danil: Oh, I am not mafiya! *laughs*

John: And when you screw up in the mob, you get-

Brian: You get whacked, exactly. So here's how we're going to do this. I'm going to ask you ten questions. Whenever you miss a question, Bubba gets hit... by Shelley. And some of them will have little answers that have to do with skating.

Danil: *snickers* Okay, I think I can do this.

John: Give a couple practice hits first.

Shelley: Wait, let me take of my rings because-

Dave: Why? That would help cut him!

Bubba: *fake excited* Ooooh! D- d- d- Ah- *Bubba is hit* OOOOH!

All at same time: OOOOH!

Shelley: OooH, I'm sorry, that was premature, I just wanted to see if I could do it.

All: OOOOH.

Shelley: Okay. *chuckles*

Danil: Aw, Bubba, I'm going to really try to get them right.

Bubba: Danil, as much as Shelley loves you, I may end up hating you.

Shelley: Wait, turn this way!

Bubba: No, no, no, just one cheek!

Shelley: Turn this way!

Bubba: Pick one cheek to prove it!

Shelley: I just want to see if I can backhand! *higs Bubba*

All: OOOH!

Shelley: Okay, all right, go ahead, ask the questions.

Brian: Okay, Danil, question number one. What do- Rememgber you're a figure skater.

Danil: Yes, I am.

Brian: What do you get when it rains on your linens and the temperature is below 32 degrees?

John: Wait a minute, these aren't the questions!

Danil: You get, ah...

John: What kind of question is that?

Shelley: Yeah!

Danil: Okay, a mess!

Brian: Nope, an ice sheet!

Danil: Aw, that was great! *laughs*

Bubba: OW!

John: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Shelley: That was kinda lame!

John: Shelley, you gotta hit him.

Bubba: She just did!

Shelley (at same time): I did!

Danil: She did whack him!

*Bubba is hit again*

All: OOOOH!

John: Yes!

Dave: That's a fat face too!

Shelley: It jiggles! Aw, see I'm gonna feel to guilty.

John: Question number two, Giant Brian.

Brian: What is the capital of Nebraska? The capital of Nebraska.

Danil: (right away) Omaha.

Bubba: Lincoln!

Danil: Oh, Lincoln, I'm sorry! *laughs*

Brian: Lincoln. The answer is Lincoln.

John: The answer is Lincoln, Danil got it wrong, Shelley?

*Bubba gets hit, this time the hit can actually be hear*

Danil: Ohhh no!

Bubba: Danil! You're 0 for 2! If I get hit ten times, I'm gonna hit you!

Danil: Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, come on, I need a little help.

Dave: No!

Danil: Just peek over his shoulder!

Dave: No!

Danil: Bubba's getting whacked!

Dave: *laughs* Ahahahaha!

Brian: Okay, Danil, an acute angle, less than or greater than 90 degrees?

Shelley: *laughs*

John: Wooo. Fourth grade!

Danil: Greater than.

Brian: That would be less than, I'm sorry.

Danil: Awwww!

Shelley: Turn this way, cause I feel too guilty hitting you. *SLAP*

Brian: OHH!

John: Yes! Ouch. NICE, Shelley! Ouch.

Bubba: Danil, you're throwing this on purpose!

Danil: I can't even think! I'm just watching Bubba get smacked!

Brian: Okay, Danil, you're a figure skater. Another name for a pig and a bovine.

Bubba: What the hell?

Shelley: What?

Danil: What?

Brian: Another name for a pig and a bovine.

John: Th-th... These questions are HORRIBLE!

Danil: I have NO idea.

Brian: Sow cow! Or Salchow.

Danil: Ohhh. No, no, no hitting Bubba!

John: No- yeah- d- no.

All: OHHHHH!

Bubba: It's too late! She already hit me! Don't overhit me!

Brian: Too hard!

Dave: Too stupid.

Danil: Sow cow...

Shelley: That was dumb. REALLY dumb.

Dave: Like drug-induced question.

Bubba: I- I think Brian went to the Dave school of writing questions.

Brian: Okay, Danil, who won the second season of American Idol?

Danil: My Ruben.

Shelley: Yeah!

Danil: Ruben, Ruben, Ruben, Ruben, Ruben!

Shelley: LOVED him! Did you? Oh, I loved him.

Brian: What was Kramer's first name on Seinfeld?

Bubba: Cosmo! Say Cosmo!

Danil: Cosmo.

John: CHEATER, HIT HIM! Hit him, Shelley! Hit him, Shelley!

All: OOOOOH!

Brian: God, below!

Dave: Oooh!

Brian: Down Below! *laughs*

Shelley: I was just trying to divert the attention away from your face! *laughs*

Danil: Shelley, you have too many muscles to be smacking him like that...

Bubba: *higher pitched* I can't believe you just hit me in my-

Shelley: *laughs* I hit ya off to your left.

Bubba: I know, that's my left one!

Brian: Danil, what Pittsburgh Pirate wears number 18?

John: DON'T SAY ANYTHING, BUBBA! Number 18.

Bubba: *still high-hahahahed* Please get it right! Please get it right! Oh, come on, just please-

John: Take a guess. Take a guess, it's okay- he's looking to me for help!

Danil: Ah, come on, John!

*Bubba continues pleading*

John: Number 18!

Danil: I pay attention to figure skating!

John: Take a gues, take a guess!

Danil: Kendell, Kenell!

John: Right!

Shelley: Aww, very good, Danil!

*Bubba celebrates*

Danil: Brian, this is so embarrassing! That Lincoln, Nebraska thing got me all shook up! *laughs*

John: Yeah, you'll take a lot of grief over that.

Danil: I know, and the angle! Fourth grade. I haven't een here for a long time!

Buba: I know, I'd have got it wrong too. How many questions is this?!

Danil: Oh, my gosh, this is misery! *laughs*

Brian: Danil, who invented the cotton gin?

Shelley: Oh, jeez.

Danil: Eli.

Brian & John: Eli...?

Danil: Whitney!

Shelley: Yeah, Danil, good jo!

Danil: Ohhhh gosh! *laughs*

Brian: Danil, what is P. Diddy's real name?

Danil: Ah, Sean Comes.

Shelley: Wowwwwww, he goes by so many, I didn't know what he'd say!

John: Danil the Olympic figure skater knows his current events.

Danil: Oh, yeah, right!

Brian: Okay, you're a Russian figure skater, the final question.

John: Final question!

Brian: How do they start a Russian NASCAR race?

John: Think about this one.

Danil: All right. They say "Davai!"

John: No. What do they do in RUSSIA to start a NASCAR race?

Danil: Okay, it's some kind of driver, it's some kind of guy that's in NASCAR who is Russian-

Brian: The Russian figure skater, Danil the Russian figure skater.

Danil: And- and- and we don't have any-

John: How do they signla the racers to go in a NASCAR race?

Danil: They wave a flag.

John: Okay, so... What-

Danil: Aw, man! Which driver is Russian?!

John: *laughs* In Russia they would do what?

Danil: They'd shoot a mafiya gun!

*Bubba mumbles as others laugh*

Brian: No, what color flag do they wave?

Danil: *laughs* They wave a red flag?

Brian: Riiigh!

Danil: Oh, gospodi. See, I thought you wanted me to give you a NASCAR driver because- and I didn't got any hard question right.

Brian and John: No.

John: No, the Russian NASCAR starts with the waving of a red flag.

Dave: Yeah.

Brian: Plus, Bubba cheated again!

John: Yeah!

Bubba: D'OH! *as he is hit again*

Shelley: YOU CAN'T CHEAT!

John: Shelley, golly you're rough!

Danil: Brian, I have to say, that was very challenging.

Brian: Thank you, Danil.

Shelley: Am I done?

Bubba: No! No but I am!

Danil: No, because it's going to be your turn for the questions! *laughs*

Dave: Hats off to you, Bubba. I'd have hit her back.

Danil: Oh, man.

Shelley: JUST TRY IT, COOK! JUST TRY IT!

Danil: Well sow cow was my favorite, I have to say.

Shelley: That was the dumbest question I've ever heard in my life.

John: Well, thank you very much, Danil.

Danil: For the-

John: For the 25th birthday cake.

Danil: You're welcome! Thank you very much for the humiliation today! *laughs*

Bubba: What about me? It was me!

Shelley: You did get beat!

Brian: Yeah.

John: And next week, we'll have the Anchor, the Banker, and the Figure Skater on to pick some scores.

Brian: Why not!

John: Okay, thank you Danil Andropov!

Danil: Thank you.

Shelley: Thank you, Danil!

Bubba: We love you, Danil!

John: Danil's looking at us right now, like "What just happened? What just happened?"

Danil: Was this really live?

Bubba: I'm building a wall between Shelley and I forever.

Danil: Awww!

John: All right, we will give a short interview with Danil after thse messages, here on B-94.

[Angela]

(continued from previous post!)

John: We're back, it's 7:05, and we're here once again with Danil Andropov, who is the only openly gay figure skater to win the Olympics.

Brian: That we know of!

John: That we know of, exactly. So we just played our little game with him, called Bubba Gets Whacked, since Danil is Russian and Russia is known for its mafia and that's why we had Bubba get whacked by Shelley every time Danil missed one of the ten questions that were asked. How many did he miss, Giant Brian?

Brian: Uhh, six. Well, it would be five if Bubba-

John: If Bubba hadn't cheated, right.

Danil: But still, that's pretty bad, if I am allowed to talk.

John: No, of course you're allowed to talk, that's why you're here! We're glad to finally have you here. We understand that you are a big fan.

Danil: Yes, I tell you my mornings are not the same without you! Whenever I go abroad I always listen online so that I do not miss you!

Shelley: Well, that is really sweet of you, Danil.

Danil: And I introduced you to some of my friends and fans online, I even linked to you on my livejournal so that they can listen too, and I tell you, my fans are from France to New Zealand, so you have a lot of listeners abroad thanks to you being online and me promoting you.

John: Wow! We've gone global then!

Danil: You certainly have!

John: Now, Danil, you said that we could ask you anything we liked, and then we can open the phone lines up and have people call in with their questions. So, first off, you are openly gay.

Danil: Yes, I live in civil union with my lover, he is an American football player, he loves the Steelers-

All: Wow!

Danil: Yes, he loves the Steelers and he loves you and he is actually the one who got me to listen to you in the first place, so thank you to him.

Shelley: Do YOU love the Steelers?

Danil: Of course, and I think they will win Super Bowl next year!

Giant Brian, Bubba, Dave: Wow!

Dave: Now, I'm starting to like you.

John: Now, I'm just curious and you can feel free to not answer if you want. But are you a political gay, or do you just kind of go with the flow, you don't care much about politics?

Danil: Well, I am still not really a citizen. I have green card, but not citizenship, so I, you know I hear things but I don't pay close attention because I don't feel I have the right.

Shelley: Wait, so you chose a green card over citizenship, or you couldn't get citizenship?

Danil: I chose it. Even though I love living here I feel that Russia is my heritage and forever will be my true home, you know. It was where I lived with my family, my mother, I just don't see myself giving that up even though I don't intend to live there anymore.

Bubba: You're not an alien, though, are you?

Danil: *laughs* I am an alien, actually, I am from Saturn!

*all laugh*

Danil: No, I'm just kidding. I am an alien from Russia, of course. But I am-

Dave: But are you a LEGAL alien from Russia?

Danil: I am a LEGAL alien from Russia, yes.

John: So how do you feel about illegal immigration and gay marriage?

Danil: Well, you know I really don't think I deserve to comment, I am a figure skater. That's my job. I am a human being, of course, but I do not know as much about politics as others so I will trust them to do what is right, you know?

Dave: What is right in your mind?

Danil: *chuckles* Ah, no comment, okay?

John: Okay, moving on. Now, you are in Evgeni Potemerenko's skating show in a few weeks, why don't you tell us about that?

Danil: Well, if you don't know, Evgeni and I are brothers-

Bubba: Wait, what?

Brian: How's that?

Danil: Well, we had the same biological mother, my mother, Anna Andropova, she is dead now, but she had a relationship with Zhenya's- ah, Evgeni's father, and that was before she met my father. So that's why we are brothers with two different last names.

Bubba: Oh, okay.

Danil: Yes. So, he has been having this show for two years now, and I have been in both of them, and I told him I wanted to be in it again. This year I will be dedicating some performances to my coach, and to my late mother.

John: Your mother was... well, is it okay to say?

Danil: It is, I trust your tact.

John: Your mother was murdered, right?

Danil: That's correct, when I was twelve, almost thirteen.

John: So, you are honoring her in the show with a performance, and what is the song or piece of music that you're using?

Danil: I'm using 'Remember' by Josh Groban.

Dave: *sarcastic* Rock on! Josh Groban, wow.

Danil: *chuckles* It's a song about remembering those who are lost, and I think it fits well for me. For my mother.

Shelley: That is really sweet of you, Danil.

Danil: Thanks.

John: So, you're skating a routine for your mom, and your coach, but nothing for your- how do you want us to call him, spouse, lover, partner?

Danil: *chuckles* I call him my husband, but whatever is comfortable for you. And no, unfortunately, I am not skating a particular performance for him.

Bubba: Well, why not? I mean-

John: Yeah, isn't he the most important person in your life? *chuckles*

Danil: *laughs* Of course, he is, absolutely! I do have a program that I will be skating for him, just not at the show, necessarily. I plan on using Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, the "Pathetique-"

Dave: Pathetic Symphony? *sarcasm* Is that any way to treat your husband?

Danil: *laughs* I am using it for my free skate this year, my competitive free skate program, my long program. It was written by Tchaikovsky shortly before his death, and he wanted it to be about his life, and that's what I intend with my program, I want to tell the story of my life with my spouse, and our love.

John: This is not going to be at your brother's show, Evgeni Potemerenko's show, this is going to be performed when?

Danil: I will debut it in a few weeks at the Campbell's championship in Spockane, the Grand Prix of Paris, Cup of Russia, NHK Trophy, the Grand Prix Final if I qualify, my National Championships, the European Championships and World Championships if I qualify for those, and Love On Ice, which is the Valentine's Day show. That's all the places I will be performing my free skate.

Dave: So, Danil, I'm just curious. I look at you, you have long hair-

Bubba: But pulled back in like a low ponytail.

Dave: Right. Do you put it in a bun when you skate, like the ladies do, or what do you do? Does it get in your way?

Danil: Ah, no, I don't put it in a bun or anything, it's okay just pulled back like this, cause my hair is not thick, you know.

Dave: Have you ever been confused for a girl? Like, have you ever-

John: Dave!

Shelley: Dave, come on now, be nice.

Dave: No, I'm just asking, what's the deal with the long hair?

Danil: It's all right. I just keep my hair shoulder-length, I don't know why, I like it.

Dave: Are you a transvestite?

John: Hey!

Danil: No. *laughs* I do not like dressing in ladies' clothing or anything like that. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just not me, you know?

John: There, see? Having long hair does not make a man a transvestite, Dave. So, moving on, you mentioned you have a Livejournal?

Danil: I am on Livejournal, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, all of them have the same username, which is Tchaikovsky_on_Ice, that's T C H A I K O V S K Y underscore O N underscore I C E. Anyone may read, however in order to contact me you must be on my friends list, but I usually approve the people who request it. I also have it set so that comments have to be approved by me before they are posted, just because I want to screen them, you know, because I've had my share of hate mail.

John: Actually, that was going to be my next question. Do you- well, you just said, you get hate mail. Is it because of your sexuality, or another reason?

Danil: Hate needs little reason, you know. It exists whether there is a motive for it or not. Most comments I get are positive, but some are negative. That's a part of life, you know. Everyone has someone out there that they don't like, or an aspect of another person's life that they don't like. What bothers me is when people who don't even know a person starts telling them how to live their lives, you know. Like when I said that I was engaged to my future spouse, back then I was less discreet with my comments that I received, and I got such awful messages, even from fans, who said that they did not mind that I was gay, they just did not want me to marry because of their personal beliefs about marriage and its sanctity. Now, I am not against the religious ritual of marriage, I think it is holy, but Peter and I wanted this for legal purposes. It just saddened me that people I'd never even met took it upon themselves to tell me how to live my life. It just bothers me. You know, if you're against gay marriage, civil union, fine, just don't go telling those who want to get married that they are evil or devient or going to Hell because of it.

John: Those are all-

Danil: Those are all comments that I have received, yes. Those are actually the tamer ones. I've received many death threats from people-

Dave: Death threats?

Danil: Yes. I still get them, and there's nothing I can really do about a threatening e-mail unless a person is actually at my rink or in my area, you know? If it comes from someone in Australia, there's nothing to do about it except ignore it. Even for the local ones I wait until things- and this is something my husband hates about me- I wait until things become really serious before doing anything about it. Because this is a free country, you know. You can say what you want, however horrible sometimes.

John: So, you wait until things become serious with threats, well have you ever been threatened to a point where you did have to take drastic action?

Danil: Actually, there is a rival skater I have been battling with for three years now-

Dave: Tonya Harding?

Danil: No, he is actually even worse! *laughs*

Bubba: Worse than Tonya Harding?

Danil: Yes, because he actually tries to be the one to attack instead of letting someone else hire people. *laughs* Anyway, I believe he made a threatening phone call to me when we were both competing in the same competition, he said *speaks in Russian* which means 'You're going to die tonight' in Russian. It really scared me because I'd never had that happen before. He tried to collide with me on purpose during the competition, and I've been trying to avoid injury from him ever since.

John: Now, is he like that because you're such a great skater, so much better than him, or is it something else?

Danil: It is a combination of jealousy and hatred because of my skating as well as my sexuality, his behavior indicates that those are the reasons why he is interested in harming me.

John: Wow, so you really are in danger here.

Danil: Ah, here as in this situation, not necessarily here in this country, because this skater does not live here, he is a skater I compete against internationally. I will say that he scares me, but there is little that I can do about it except just tough it out, you know.

(I am going to bed, will edit more tomorrow or Sunday!)