By Phil Cianciola Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Feb 12, 2010 at 11:10 AM

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the Winter Olympics.

For an old winter hater like me watching the competition every night on TV helps get me one step closer to spring. Heck I was chanting, "USA, USA" at the end of my PhilCast podcast show today. I'm psyched.

Every Friday on the PhilCast I include a little walk down memory lane from my 30 years of broadcasting that I call "Flashback Friday." Since the Olympics begin this evening I figured it would be a great time to include an interview I did with figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi way back in 1993 after she brought home the gold.

Kristi sounds like she's about 10 years old in the interview, although she had actually just turned 21 at the time. She talks about how her life changed since an entire nation fell in love with her on the ice. She also talks about life behind the scenes in the skating world, including what Scott Hamilton is really like.

How dangerous is a death spiral really? That and more from this flashback to 1993.

Give it a listen ... and let's go USA!

Phil Cianciola Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Phil is a Milwaukee guy. He was born and raised in Milwaukee, a graduate of UW-Milwaukee in 1982. He first took to the airwaves in the Milwaukee market in the fall of 1978 when he began attending classes at UWM.

Married to Sandy, another Milwaukeean. No children but a Cairn terrier named Gabby. (Phil is very active with the Wisconsin Humane Society).

Phil has made a connection with the people of this area through his decades of reaching out to them via the radio while talking about the events and news stories that affect the entire community. That connection is reflected in the hundreds of e-mails and blog comments that have been sent or posted in support of his next project, the PhilCast podcast.