Darknight

It's going to be interesting to see if an Eteri skater can do 3a. From what I've read her skaters struggle with it. Even Alena struggled with it. Alexandra wanted to learn 3a but learned quads instead. As for world's, I secretly want Koylada to medal and Alina to skate clean. Poor girl should just take a nice vacation after. I'm happy for Ting Cui but sad she is getting hate because people wanted a Russian sweep at Jr worlds Next season will be interesting for ladies. Quads and 3a? Let's see if this can last. I also can't fault skaters for jumping when judges only care about the jumps. It's jumps over artistry.

It's very annoying. Hanna and Ting along with Alyssa are working on quads too. I feel bad for US ladies because every single time we'll hear look at the Russians. See Russians and everyone our ladies can do quads too. Look, see USA ladies skate like the Russians. They can do quads and rippons. My goodness. I remember Tara or Johnny or one of them said something about the Russians creating quads and pushing the sport forward so now others are copying them. Excuse me, the Russians didn't create quads. Nobody is copying them.

Hockey is actually less expensive than figure skating. Not even hockey skates cost as much as figure skates. Add in costumes, choreography, ice time, coach fees, travel fees, figure skating takes the bait as the more expensive sport. Both are expensive but skating has extra costs involved.

I hate Hanna's Cha Cha costume. It's ugly to me. Please Ting, run from ToM Z. I'm happy for both Hanna and Ting. They're both very beautiful skaters from the few videos I've seen of them. I just hate absolutely hate it when Jonny or Tara brings up the Russians. There was an article about Hanna. She is half Japanese and speaks Japanese fluently. She has Russian coaches. Suddenly, Johnny says she has Russian technique. She skates like a Russian. No Johnny. She skates like Hanna and does rippons named after Adam Rippon. The Russians didn't invent the jump Johnny. Now all we're going to hear now is how Hanna jumps like the Russians. Also, I heard Liu went to her first red carpet event for VH1 I believe. Sigh. Can anyone please post about pairs and ice dance results? Thank you.

Very true. I remember when skating shows and tours were very popular. Skaters could earn a living and money. Now, what options are there for skaters? I know this isn't the same but I bring it up because some people think it's ridiculous how much money I spend on dance. Well, a dancer has many options available to them. Hockey players have more options available too. Skating doesn't have many options.

I'm sorry. I think the WSJ has a limit on how many articles you can view. I can copy and paste the article if you'd like. I remember reading about ice rings closing or rings only allowing hockey players on the ice over skaters. I love that girls are becoming more interesting in hockey. I use to be a big hockey fan too. The USA women's team is a big influence and inspiration to young girls. I hope women's hockey becomes more popular like men's.

More ladies are joining hockey over figure skating. https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-many-girls-figure-skating-loses-its-edge-to-hockey-11551802166

The most boring podcast ever. My goodness

He and Cait need real jobs and get an education. Even trade school is good. I wish the show would end so these people can face the real world.

Which is sad. I mean most teen moms don't have that kind of money. All they do is waste their teen mom money. I think the kids should have trust funds for being exploited

I'm happy she found happiness again in gymnastics. I love her personality

Apparently, Alena Kos is injuried and pulled out of junior worlds. The injury is serious. She is my favorite Eteri skater. This is so sad. Not to be a conspiracy theorist but I hope Alena is well and goes senior next year. However, it wouldn't shock me if she doesn't go senior and is left behind because there are so many upcoming seniors next year. Russian federation is really pushing the quads and now 3a. Anything is possible with Russia Can't the federation hire their own person to investigate?

I agree. Sometimes I wish social media didn't exist. The amount of hate these girls receive is terrible. They're teens for godsakes. Leave them alone! Let them skate. I would encourage Alina and Evgenia to either turn off social media or try as hard as possible to ignore. They don't need to read ugly things online or read about death threats.

Evegenia has full support of Tatiana and Russian Fed. She also has sponsors. More than Alina and many other Russian skaters I believe. I wonder if they know ladies only get one or two years in seniors before their technique starts failing so they're replaced. Maybe they want to prove they can have an adult lady skater like Liza. Evegenia has full support of Tatiana and Russian Fed. She also has sponsors. More than Alina and many other Russian skaters I believe. I wonder if they know ladies only get one or two years in seniors before their technique starts failing so they're replaced. Maybe they want to prove they can have an adult lady skater like Liza. And poor Evgenia. She is getting so much hate in Russia. The comments are so nasty. She should just get rid of social media or let her agent handle everything

Imagine next year. Especially with Eteri's group. I'm sure there will be hurt feelings all around. I like Alina, Alena, Alexandra, Anna together but I wonder if down the line it will hurt their friendship. Especially the upcoming seniors. They're also rivals fighting for their spot.

I'm secretly hoping Liza trains two quads next season and beat these younger girls. Let's see how Russian fed will react

Well gee Russian Fed, I thought you cared all about the jumps. The Japanese has a 3a. So why not put Liza on the team? Liza earned her spot. Both Alina and Evgenia are having s tough season. Skating politics suck. I hope this doesn't bite them in the ass and they only have to spots next year.. I don't understand wtf was the point of Russian Cup. It seems like emotional abuse to pit these girls against each other like that. Russian federation knew no matter what they would choose Evgenia in the end. So why not just say that earlier? Ugh And there are no American, Russian, or Japanese judges at worlds this year.

I doubt they would do this. Alina needs to prove herself in the eyes of everyone . If anything Stasya, would pull out. What the heck was the point of Russian cup then? I predict a Japanese sweep.

Can anyone tell me who Russian Fed chose for their men's team? Also, I'm pissed at the world's selection for ladies. Russia can hope for two spots next year.

I understand nationals are inflated but USA is the worse when it comes to this in my opinion. Tech just pretends they didn't see anything. If the jump is UR then call it out as UR. If a skater falls then call it out. Internationally the judges will call it out. I didn't know Mie worked with Vincent. That's awesome. I hope he fixes his jumps because I cringe when I see them. I guess I don't read or hear much about Japan so I'm not up to date with everything. Satoko working on her 3A? I'm sorry but yikes. I think many talk about the top coaches here like Raf, Tom Z, Frank. I do think there are a lot of wonderful coaches here that don't get recognized. I know a few coaches who I think are wonderful but they're not well known. So skaters might not go to a less known coach. I'll admit it would be kind of cool to see an American skater train in Japan but I just can't see it happening for many reasons.

Yes. The first issue is how expensive figure skating is. Many families even upper class families wouldn't invest or want their child to be an elite skater. It's too expensive and it's not worth it in the end. Meaning there is no pay off like basketball or gymnastics. Here, skating puts in in poverty or debt. In Russia and Japan skating gets you out of poverty. You can became a huge star skating. Once you add up everything it's so expensive. It's sad because some skaters have talent but can't skate because they don't have the money. Other countries invest and its paid for by the government. Our government would never invest in sports like this. Many skaters get endorsement deals here. That's only if they're on top and create buzz. Besides money, I think it is the technical issues too. Many US skaters I've have technical issues.

Their secret? They don't push baby ballerinas and hype skaters up as the next Mao or Hanyu at 12 years old. Heck Rika is doing good and she is the first Rika not next Mao. They focus on technique and themselves and don't give out brownie points. They don't push their skaters to do things they're clearly not ready to do. They take each thing step by step. Also, the Japanese culture is about respect and being kind. This is why you'll see many Japanese fans and people clap and cheer skaters from other countries and even make documentaries about them. It sucks Worlds is in Japan this year because you have zero chance at getting tickets. Even if you live in Japan.

I called this 7 years ago when they were hyping Gracie up as the next Kwan. She seems to have an eager to please personality and hates letting people down. She can't say no or disappoint people. On top of that USA federation created the Gold Wagner rivalry and hyped her up. Her last name is Gold for goodness sakes. Gracie had so much pressure to win a medal in 2014 and win at worlds. To live up to the Gold name. She was the next it girl. I saw her struggles back in 2015 and 2016 and she looked over it. Going to Frank didn't help. I think moving to Japan would be hard. New language, new culture. New school. What about money? Costs? Would Japan accept and train an American skater? I mean they do send Japanese skaters to North America and aren't strict like Russia. I wonder how that would work. The skater would have to learn Japanese, be away from home, and learn about a new way of living and training. Maybe some Japanese coaches can hold a few training sessions here. I think the big issue is from what I've seen is the USA has technical issues they refuse to admit to. Skater jumps 3a falls, they're rewarded for trying. Skating has UR USA federation ignores it as long as they don't fall. At Japanese nationals, I think they score their skaters lower than what they would actually earn internationally and give them fair scores. No brownie points. USA inflates their scores too much. IN my opinion, the Japanese judges are fair. I think USA is in such a rush to prove their ladies can do quads and triples that they don't care about tech issues or taking things slow. They keep pushing the baby ballerina's and focus on the wrong things. Meanwhile, the Japanese pay attention to details and take things slow so their skaters can grasp things before moving onto the next thing. I doubt they're worried about what Russia or what other countries are doing. They're focusing on themselves. USA is too focused on Russia and Japan. They're fishing out the pre-adolescent skaters who might look good and hyping them up as the next Michelle Kwan while ignoring everything else. Then they scratch their heads and wonder why they keep falling behind. It's going to be hard for Gracie but if she puts in the work I think she can do well. There are up and coming juniors/seniors in USA who look good besides Alyssa. Ting, Hannah, Lindsay, Isabella are all good potentials moving forward. I hope Gracie can start to heal and has a good support system. My heart breaks for her.

I'm still not over Sochi. The whole thing was a mess and again I was turned off by the Olympics and skating. Eteri has beautiful skaters but awful programs. I think the huge thing is she only creates programs to win and get as many points as possible. Some of her programs are recycled. Alina's program is a hot mess this year and she deserves better. Danii and his music cuts. I would take of points for that. I do wish skaters would hold elements longer. It's impressive but with lacking technique how will they hold elements? China is already sending skaters to America and abroad. South Korea has skaters too. At this rate, I see China and South Korea catching up before we Americans do.

I see South Korea having skaters too. At this rate China and South Korea will catch up more than America.