Lsyacek Has High Hopes

The Chicago Tribune reports that Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek hopes to make his skating comeback next season.

Lysacek had originally hoped to come back this season, but he could not come to financial terms with the US Figure Skating Association for the Grand Prix or U.S. Nationals.

According to the Tribune, Lysacek believes he will be able to work the issues out for next season.

"Some talks I have had in the past couple weeks make me feel certain it will get worked out," he said.

USFS spokesperson Barb Reichert said last fall that money created the impasse. In the broadest sense, that was true, but Lysacek insists, "It was never an issue of dollars and cents," even if the USFS funding offer was less than he hoped for. Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told me the main sticking point involved individual sponsorship contracts Lysacek currently has and could get in the future.

Reichert said Friday the USFS would have no comment "at this time" about Lysacek's feelings that an agreement is near.

Lysacek is quoted in the article as saying he has a 50 percent success rate on the quadruple jump, which he will need in order to be competitive once he makes his comeback. It was not necessary for him to win the 2010 Olympics.

Don't forget that Lysacek's old rival Johnny Weir is also making a comeback next season. Can the world handle anymore stories pitting these two against each other? Hey, you work with what you've got, I guess!