MaKaM

I believe you are right about the order of qualification. Kenworthy didn't qualify until January 22nd. Rippon qualified on like Jan 6th. But, it really is splitting hairs.

The Directv Olympic app is showing it from 7-8 on NBCSN.

Okay, don't like the blue bandaid on his costume...

The only issue is that there have to be spots or invitations for the independents. But otherwise...

Yeah, but why are they allowed to organize as a team? If they were truly "independent" as several of the Summer athletes were, they shouldn't get to link up and play as a team.

Japan has a huge hole in Ice Dance and Pairs though.

Shoma, jeez, triple it up, you only need to be clean!

Ooh, NBC is going to be bitching something fierce if the ice quality is not improved ASAP because this shit ain't gonna sell ad space.

Weird. That warmup for him was so good and then that.

Oh, geez, I forgot how much I actually hate watching this live. Tape delay + spoilers for me! ETA: Is the sound for the skater's music too low? Is that one of the issues? It seems so boring this time...

Guess we are skipping Bychenko...for a repeat of Nathan's fluff from Tuesday.

Speed skating is at the same venue? Whew, sucks. I really like Nathan's blades. Those are neat. I wish the camera would back off a bit. Y'all gonna give him a complex, NBC!

And the Russian crime boss bribing the judges was running an illegal gambling ring in Trump Tower--if you wrote this sh*t as a movie script, it would be kicked back due to unbelievably. I'm still kinda bitter about 2014 Ladies competition, so I don't know how much I will watch. I am also still real unconvinced with the PCS scores, their fairness, their application across the field, and really think the whole system needs another overhaul. But, I hope Mirai gets a shot at the team and can land her 3A for some redemption but other than that, I am distinctly meh on the whole thing.

Why switch the Ladies off? Just have Mirai do both, save Bradie for the main event, say you were going with maturity. Mirai isn't likely to beat the Canadians, the Russians (if they are there), or the Japanese contender. Bradie isn't likely to beat them either, so it doesn't seem to matter which you use. I'd split Ice Dance and Men's.

Ooh, good point! Wonder how that will (or won't) work. So if Russia is out, Canada is basically a lock for gold, the US has the best shot at silver, bronze could be really interesting!

Who are the team medal threats? Canada for sure. Russia (if they show up) is strong everywhere, but Japan has holes in Ice Dancing and Pairs--can you medal only on the strength of your singles? China has Ice Dancing and Ladies holes. The US has a semi-hole in Pairs and Ladies that add up to maybe a single hole, so who am I forgetting?

Adam's scores this season: Finlandia: 249.88, SA: 266.45, NHK: 261.99, GPF: 254.33, Nationals: 268.34 Ross's scores this season: Finlandia: 233.72, CS Autumn: 219.96, SA: 219.62, Nationals: 274.51 Poor Ross but his scores this season have been underwhelming except for Nationals. At least he got that great moment and the crowd really seemed to love his skate. Sucks about the Olympics but the only way he would probably be going is if Adam had really imploded because his Nationals score with two popped jumps is still within a few points of Ross's best-by-far.

I haven't watched since the Sochi judging debacle. Yeah, there is all sorts of hand-waving and whataboutism you can use to justify Sotnikova wining but it still stank. Looking at the PCS scores for the anointed favorites is just absurd. Judged events that go to two decimal precision are just garbage ways to hide your favoritism and cheating. Add in anonymous judging and no penalties for being outside the mean (a jump averages a +2.3 PCS but you've given a -1, then all your judging scores should be tossed out because you either weren't watching or were cheating. Or everyone else is giving 9.1ish for whatever component score and you are down at 8.3, you had better have an explanation because clearly not all judges are using the same criteria (just using Adam Rippon as fresh example, 3 judges at Nationals thought his skating skills were 9.50 level and one thought it was 8.0. And 2 thought his Performance was 9.5 while one gave it a 7.25. How does that even happen? A spread of 2.25 when we are using that level of precision is absurd. It is incompetence or cheating and neither is acceptable)) and I was done. I'll probably watch during the Olympics but I am definitely not as invested as I was previously.

Yeah but she withdrew because she re-injured herself--not exactly something can plan a few weeks earlier. It wasn't like she was thinking "when can I withdraw to screw over that other skater" or something.

I think you can make both "body of work" argument and a "what have you done for me lately" argument. Bradie has nothing to show other than 7th at Jr, worlds a GP medal, and now a National title. Her "lately" outweighs her "body of work" portion. You can't really punish her for not making the GP final since she only had one assignment and for not having a deeper body of work since she just went senior. It is a balance and I am betting they are just gambling on who will bring in some advertising dollars. Adam is definitely higher on "body of work" and his "lately" is a bit uneven but still superior. It makes sense. It sucks, but it makes sense. In a subjective sport, you make teams by either being indispensable (winning events) or being engaging enough to bring in sponsors and good enough to not embarrass your federation. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't find a way to put Jason directly on the team--he's the most marketable one after Nathan due to his charming personality and engaging smile.

Wait, you are simultaneously not okay with a skater with a stellar international reputation/results (5x World Champion, 2x Olympic medalist for instance) getting named to an Olympic team over a no-name and okay with a skater with a decent international reputation/results (a few top 20 Worlds results) getting named to an Olympic team over a no-name? I am confused...

Aaron got 3rd alternate. USAFS owes Miner big time. Worlds and 4CC? But I get dropping him for Rippon since they are chosing teams more like Gymnastics does--what have you done for me overall and how do you fit into this picture. Miner hasn't been making a case for himself for long enough. If he had been seriously nibbling at the edges for two years, he would be in a stronger place but... The US is unlikely to get a figure skating medal except in Ice Dance and maaaaaaybe Nathan (and isn't that reversal of history) so they should just be trying to stem the bleeding at this point. They managed 3 spots for the Olympics and they should just work on keeping 3 spots until some stars emerge. And maybe an overhaul of whatever is going on in coaching in this country that is producing such headcases and underrotaters.

It is especially hilarious when they go to a house and are like "Oh, it has my craftsman details!" But it doesn't. It isn't a craftsman, having a couple of porch pillars does not a craftsman make. It is usually a Minimal Traditional. Aka--no real style. The majority of modern houses fall into this category. Just because there are shutters around the window doesn't make it a colonial. Having a dormer doesn't give you a cape cod. Etc. It isn't like the producers don't know what houses the couple will be going to see--feed them the right words so they don't look more moronic than they already do. Instead of pushing a specific style that they must have, they can talk about not liking lots of rooflines because of the possibility of leaks while the other member of the couple ignores that because it looks stately. Or they could even have them say "I prefer a house with a distinct style. I grew up in a minimal traditional and it was nice but I prefer something recognizable as a contemporary or victorian" or whatever. (which was actually one of my requirements when house hunting. I wanted a house that looked like something--didn't care if that something was a tudor, contemporary, geodesic dome, A-frame, etc. It just had to be something. I ended up with a classic colonial which are a dime a dozen around here but still, you look at it and know what it is.) I laugh so hard at the couples who look for vintage and then bitch about the closed off kitchen or small closets. If they wanted to make themselves sound like they had no clue, they succeeded admirably. Regarding the open concept, it is hard to know if people really want it or they want it because they were told to want it. My kitchen is connected to the family room only by a doorway. I could remove most/part of the wall between them since it isn't load bearing and there is still a formal dining room and living room that have some separation (it is also down the hall from the front door so kitchen is not visible upon arrival thank god) but I haven't decided to do it yet. Waiting to see if the trend dies before I sell my house. Maybe the "opening with shutters" that you saw on all the sitcoms will come back...or maybe Alf only had that to hide the puppeteer.

Maybe they were trying to get a couple who would actually flop once in a while? It is pretty annoying that as dumb as Tarek and Christina seem (or act), they still make crazy bank on nearly every house they show. They make it look like any idiot with the initial capital can win at realestate just by putting in gray and white and laminate into squatter houses. The Las Vegas couple looks like they'll flop a lot but then they don't even show it when it apparently happens.

It is also sad that she was victimized a second time with that phone hacking thing. Kid couldn't catch a break and I wonder if all that shit is what caused her to end her career relatively early.