Alysa Liu: joy on ice

As the team portion of Olympic figure skating peaked, NBC’s Terry Gannon had a question.
“Is Alysa Liu ever NOT smiling?” he asked.
Apparently not. Liu (shown here) had finished her part, the short program, and now was sitting with her teammates, mostly beaming. A week later, she had something more to smile about: She became the first U.S. woman to win figure-skating gold in 24 years.
Viewers can get a sampling Saturday, when NBC has the Olympics skating gala in two bursts, at 2:55 p.m. and 3:50 p.m. ET. There will be no rules, no judges, just the medalists skating for fun.
Except that for Liu, it always seems to be fun. Which stirs up a memory from a half-century ago.
When I moved to Lansing, Mich., the city was agog about a high school sophomore who had brought joy back to basketball. A colleague at the newspaper dubbed him Magic and it stuck.
Magic Johnson could do amazing things on the court, often with a broad grin. He won college and pro championships, while reminding us that basketball began as a game. Really.
Now Alysa Liu reminds us that all of this — skating, sports, life — can be fun. Watch her (and the others) Saturday; you might find yourself smiling, too.