Button: Bowman will find Fame During NBC's coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this weekend from St. Paul, Minn., producer David Michaels says there will some kind of acknowledgement of the recent passing of Christopher Bowman, the former San Fernando Valley resident and two-time national champion who died two weeks ago in North Hills at the age of 40.
Dick Button, the iconic figure of figure skating who'll co-host the telecast Saturday and Sunday with Bob Costas, said Wednesday he believes Bowman will be on the ballot next year for eventual induction into the U.S. Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"It can't be done suddenly and quickly; that would not be in the interest of the Hall of Fame," said Button, who is enshrined in the inaugural class of 1976 and on the voting committee. "There will be nominations made next year and I trust that his name will be put up for nomination at that time.
" Button called Bowman "a young man of enormous talent, enormous charm and enormous ability. He was one of the great humorists of our time, and an absolute exquisite skater who could pull off anything at any time, except the control of his own life ... I think everybody was very upset about it. It was much too sudden and much too quick."
Added former Olympic champion and Hall of Famer Scott Hamilton, one of NBC's many analysts this weekend: "My heart just broke when I heard the news. Anyone that knew Chris knew he was a sweet, wonderful, happy guy and he was a 120-percenter ... The whole cliche of the candle that burns twice is bright half as long I think applies to Chris and the way he lived his life.
"There were a lot of references made at times about his self-destructive habits. But here is a human being who never said a bad thing about anybody. As much criticism that was thrown his way, he was always very sweet and very kind and he would never respond to his criticism with criticism. My heart aches that he is no longer with us."
After his days as a competitor in the mid-'90s, Bowman was a skating analyst for ESPN and Fox Sports, and also hosted skating specials on TNN.
Bowman Deserves Quick Action - Showman Worth Special Hall VoteJO-ANN BARNAS: January 17, 2008
The more I think about it, the more I believe it should be done: U.S. Figure Skating should push for a special vote among its electors and honor the memory of Christopher Bowman at next week's championships by inducting him posthumously into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
Bowman, 40, died one week ago in southern California. The cause of his death is being investigated, but police have said there was no sign of foul play or illegal drug use.
Though much has been said about the demons in his life -- his battles with alcohol and drugs; brushes with the law; difficulty maintaining steady employment as a figure skating coach -- no one can deny Bowman's competitive record.
Yes, he was charming -- a showman -- when he competed in the 1980s and early 1990s. But Bowman also was one heck of an athlete.
Bowman, who lived in Detroit for 11 years until February 2007, won his first U.S. title in 1983 as a junior. Four years later, he was runner-up to Brian Boitano at the 1987 senior nationals in Tacoma, Wash. In 1988, he took the bronze behind Boitano and Paul Wylie before winning his first of two U.S. men's titles in 1989 in Baltimore.
His second title came in 1992, a year after capturing the silver medal to Todd Eldredge's gold at the 1991 U.S. championships.
Incidentally, Eldredge and Wylie are among four individuals who will be inducted into the Hall during an on-ice presentation Jan. 25 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn.
Wylie and Bowman were roommates during the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Boitano won gold in those Games; Bowman was seventh and Wylie 10th.
Four years later, in Albertville, France, Wylie won Olympic silver while Bowman took fourth and Eldredge 10th.
In six appearances at the World Championships, Bowman won two medals -- silver in 1989 and bronze in 1990. He never finished lower than seventh.
In 1996, my predecessor on the Olympic beat, Michelle Kaufman, wrote an insightful profile of Bowman for the Free Press shortly after he moved to Michigan. At the time, he was a coach at the Garden City Ice Arena. In the story, Bowman -- a former child actor who was born in Hollywood -- said the pressure to be an entertainer, even when he didn't want to, was partly to blame for his troubles.
"It's a world of high expectations for someone so young," Bowman said. "I had a job when I was 6 months old, in a commercial. I was always on stage, under scrutiny. Even though I loved performing, I felt a lot of pressure to please them, and to please my parents and my coaches. I'm an only child. I grew up isolated, in a skating rink or on a TV set, removed from a normal life. I never felt I really fit in with other kids. I was popular with fans, but I was lonely."
Of his figure-skating career, Bowman told the Free Press: "People always say I squandered my career -- that I could have been so much more, made millions, but I don't look at it that way. I wasn't obsessed with winning. I never had a cutthroat mentality that big-time jocks have, but that doesn't mean I didn't care. To me, it was way more important to be popular with fans than with judges. I wanted to develop a style of skating that people loved, that they'd remember. I did that. I wouldn't trade that for Paul Wylie's Olympic silver medal, for all those years he obsessed, all those years falling down, agonizing about every little thing, worrying about Kurt Browning. When I looked at Paul's face on that medal podium, I thought, 'Now he can finally be happy.' My memories of skating are all fun. So what if I don't have a gold medal in a safe deposit box? I have more."
A memorial mass for Bowman was to be held this afternoon at St. Cyril's Catholic Church in Encino, Calif. Bowman, found dead in a motel room, had returned to California early last year to teach skating and resume his acting career.
If U.S. Figure Skating can revamp its competition schedule in short order to accommodate NBC at nationals next week, then the organization surely could pull a few strings to get Bowman recognized alongside Eldredge and Wylie.
Regardless if it can happen next week -- if not then let's put him on the ballot for 2009 -- no one can deny Bowman's figure-skating resume is worthy of the Hall of Fame.
In a teleconference call Tuesday, reigning U.S. men's champion Evan Lysacek called Bowman an "icon," adding that figure skating misses the artistic flair that Bowman brought. Lysacek is coached by the same man who guided Bowman on the ice until 1990: Frank Carroll.
"He brought so many things to the table that the sport is lacking right now," Lysacek said of Bowman. "Everyone -- everyone -- talks about what a tremendous talent he was. He'll definitely be missed, not only in our sport, but outside of it as well."
Donations in Bowman's name may be made to the U.S. Figure Skating Memorial Fund, 20 First Street, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80906.
