Steel hits ice for real today with the start of competition at the Spokane Arena.

The champ: This year's nationals start with something of a rarity: The only defending world champion here is a male skater. Columnnist John Blanchette writes about Evan Lysacek's climb to the top and his new, challenging routines. Lysacek won his first national championship in Spokane in 2007 and competes in the men's short program tonight.

Just don't call them groupies: Many friends make the U.S. Figure Skating Championships an annual rendezvous. Tom Sowa profiles one such group, the Splinters, in today's Spokesman-Review.

“We’re just die-hard, educated fans who know skating very well, having watched a lot of these events for years,” said [Gerrie] Wszolek.

Helping hands (at 10 and 2): Rebecca Nappi talked with volunteer shuttle driver Thomas Shields for the first installment of her daily snapshots. She'll be posting more of these to the blog as the nationals proceed.

Come back this afternoon and evening for photos and more coverage, and keep reading for today's lineup of events.

Junior Men’s Short Program: 8:45 a.m.

Championship Pairs Short Program: 1:30 p.m.

Opening Ceremony & Championship Men’s Short Program: 6:45 p.m.

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