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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Nathan O’Bleness

Nathan O’Bleness holds up skating tickets he purchased Friday. (Jesse Tinsley)
By Rebecca Nappi rebeccan@spokesman.com(509) 459-5496

Age: 57

Lives in: Spokane

I hadn’t intended to go, because I didn’t know how my money would be. I’m not a real skate lover, so it wasn’t worth paying $75 or $85.

I’m going to see the novice men’s finals and the junior pairs finals on Monday. It’s two separate programs for the price of one – $25. I also bought tickets for Wednesday, the junior original dance, and that was only $15.

I got tickets just for myself. None of my friends are rabid (skating fans).

At the Olympics, they always talk about how the Olympic skaters did at the nationals – in Sacramento, or Salt Lake City, or wherever they were. So I’ll presume they’ll be saying that about Spokane at the Winter Olympics. I enjoy seeing Spokane in the national spotlight.

Who knows when it will ever come to Spokane again? It’s a historical marker for Spokane. I want to be a part of it.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships tickets are still available. Organizers are hoping that last-minute ticket buyers, such as Nathan O’Bleness, will help Spokane reach record-breaking sales, as happened during the 2007 championships.