A Whole New Spin; Horizons Shift for Scott Hamilton

Copyright 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

TARGET STARS ON ICE: 8 p.m. Saturday. Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan. $ 38, $ 51, $ 65. (212) 465-MSG1. Box office or TicketMaster.

This year's Target Stars on Ice tour is being billed as"Scott Hamilton's Farewell Tour."But the former Olympic and World Figure Skating Champion isn't retiring from skating. He's just saying goodbye to the rigors of life on the road.

The 42-year-old athlete-entertainer feels the need to pull back a bit after touring nearly non-stop for more than two decades.

"The whole idea is to put a little more balance into my life," Hamilton says."It's been pretty much all skating and career throughout.

After this many years, it just seemed like it was time to allow myself an opportunity to see what the rest of the world has. But I still want to be busy with skating. I just can't drop it and walk away, especially now, because this year has been so unbelievably positive and great."

Part of the reason for Hamilton's upbeat 1 outlook is that the ankle problems that have hampered his performance for several years have cleared up. Then there's the issue of his much-publicized 1997 bout with testicular cancer. The disease has been in remission for nearly four years, giving Hamilton a new sense of purpose both on and off the ice.

"I've been really good about keeping up with my checkups,"Hamilton says."I know cancer's not gonna get me. Honestly, physically, I can't remember when I felt this good on the ice."

Hamilton is speaking over the phone from Philadelphia during a 65-city tour. The production has come a long way since Hamilton founded it in 1986. A pivotal moment came in 1992 when Stars on Ice signed Olympic Gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi as one of its stars and brought in former five-time Canadian pair champion Sandra Bezic as co-producer.

"That was a huge jump for us,"Hamilton says. "We extended the length of the tour and we got to the next level of production. And we got the biggest star out of the Olympics in Kristi Yamaguchi."

Joining Hamilton and Yamaguchi as this year's headliners are Olympic champions Tara Lipinski and Ilia Kulik, as well as four-time world champion Kurt Browning. Also appearing are world champion Yuka Sato, Olympic silver medalist Denis Petrov, three-time U.S. national pair champions Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, two-time U.S. national dance champions Renie Roca and Gorsha Sur, and eight-time British champion Steven Cousins.

A portion of the ticket will benefit Target House, a housing center at St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and patients families. Equipped with conveniences such as a library donated by Tiger Woods and a music room donated by Amy Grant, the center makes it possible for families with sick children to go about their lives in a normal setting.

"Kids don't feel like they're different or strange because they're around other kids who are going through the same thing,"Hamilton says.

Hamilton underwent his own medical hardship as a child. When he was 5, he stopped growing. When the illness was mistakenly diagnosed as cystic fibrosis, he was given six months to live. After doctors prescribed a number of unsuccessful treatments, his parents took him to Boston's Children's Hospital. While there, he discovered skating. Within a year, he began 1 to grow again. His miraculous recovery was attributed to his intense physical activity in the cold atmosphere of the rink.

Skating again played an important role when Hamilton was recovering from cancer.

"I was almost ready to start looking beyond skating when I got sick,"he says."The cancer and the treatment were enough to make me say, 'OK, I want to do this. I may have been starting to take this for granted a little bit, but I'm not gonna take it for granted anymore." When the U.S. tour concludes next month, Stars on Ice will spend a month touring Canada. Hamilton will look ahead to projects that include an increased number of speaking engagements and an assignment to cover the 2002 Olympics for NBC. He's also looking forward to his film debut in"On Edge,"a skating spoof starring Jason Alexander in which Hamilton plays an overzealous coach.

He is also looking into the possibility of putting together a stage show.

"I've talked to people that have produced Broadway musicals and shows, and I'm investigating the best way to get it written,"Hamilton says."If I could bring something to New York, that would be phenomenal."

Despite his outside interests, Hamilton is not abandoning skating.

After a vacation in May, he plans to put himself on a schedule to skate vigorously five days a week.