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Avaleigh

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  1. As much as I love Kaori, I'd like to see Loena bring home gold this year. Regarding Amber, if she delivers two clean programs and one triple axel, I don't see why she couldn't finish third. I'm pretty sure that first and second are out of the question though unless a lot of mistakes are made from the top medal contenders. AFAIK she isn't planning on trying a triple axel in the short. If she could do it in both programs though that would go a long way towards her being a major threat to the other top tier ladies.
  2. Same. I'm going to keep watching, but it hasn't had that spark moment for me yet where it takes off and I'm pumped for the next episode or the overall journey. I liked the scenes with Winslet and Martha Plimpton. Her character is a little patronizing with Elana and seems to think this is going to be easier than it turns out to be. Then the moment where she realizes that Elena is disturbed enough to have her people threaten her physical safety--the tension there was good and I wasn't entirely sure how far they were going to take this intimidation tactic. Regarding the lack of comments, yeah, I thought there would be more for both episodes. I finally looked at the reviews from critics and we're not alone in finding the show uneven and, at times, even a little underwhelming. I feel validated that at least some critics think The Regime is all over the place in terms of deciding what kind of show it wants to be. I just thought I was too dense to get it, but when even the people whose job it is to write about this stuff can't figure out what this show is trying to be, I think it's safe to say the showrunners didn't hit the mark.
  3. I think she needed a break to reevaluate whether or not she still has a passion for skating. I think she's coming back with the goal of wanting to compete in the team event in the next Olympics. I say this because if it was really about the Russians then she would have continued to compete knowing the Russians wouldn't be in for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. She was well positioned to be the American frontrunner if she'd stayed for the last two seasons. (Will the Russians be back for the 2026 Olympics?) I just hope her coming back is what she wants to do and that she isn't being pushed by others. Hopefully we'll get to see programs where her personality shines through and it's less about what other people think she should be as a skater. I don't think she needs to worry about quads, but it would be nice if she could hit a fully rotated 3A. It would be awesome if she and Amber could both consistently land them to the point where they could include it in their short programs too. That would give the Americans a real advantage in the team event.
  4. I didn't hate it, and I enjoyed Kate Winslet's other HBO projects so much that I'm hopeful I'll come around to enjoying this series almost as much. It's definitely flawed, but there were some bright spots here and there. There's definitely some offbeat humor. This brings me to one of the problems with the show though. There are some parts that are sort of funny, but not funny enough for me to label this a comedy, not even a dark comedy. It's not really a drama either though. I honestly couldn't tell you which genre they're going for and that in itself is problematic at least IMO. As far as tone, it's kind of all over the place. Still, I'm intrigued enough to want to know more about the Elena character. How did she turn out this way? What was her father like? What's her ultimate objective for her country? What I found interesting is how she has just enough awareness to not want the Americans to see her obsessive side. It's funny that she has no problem giving a not so great musical performance for the American politicians, but draws the line at them finding out about her humidity obsession. The show hasn't won me over yet, but I want to see more. I'll have a better sense by the next couple episodes.
  5. I wanted to reply to this before the forums went down. Yes, it was a little hard to watch how thin the pairs field is right now. I'm guessing some of these teams didn't have much competition at sectionals because there were only 10 teams. Gone are the days when there'd be 12-15 pair teams at nationals. Honestly, the field isn't that deep internationally either. Even though I don't enjoy admitting it, I can be fair enough to acknowledge that pairs is the only discipline where I absolutely feel the absence of the Russians. Men, ladies, and dance are still incredibly deep. There are multiple top notch exciting skaters who keep the competition interesting and make it feel like it isn't set in stone who will win. I don't miss the Russians in those disciplines at all. That being said there are some notable bright spots in pairs that keep me watching. Miura and Kihara have been a delight to watch the past three years and are hopefully inspiring the next generation of pairs skaters. Conti and Macii are getting better every season and I look forward to seeing how they do in the team event at the Olympics in two years. If Italy gets the right woman they could have a real shot for the bronze in 2026. Deanna Stellato is beyond fierce and inspiring. I love how many men and women in figure skating are proving that age really is just a number.
  6. Yeah, I'm im the minority about Adam and Ashley although I will admit to enjoying Adam's commentary over Ashley's. That's why I said in a perfect world my new line up would be Adam, Polina and Terry. It's a fair point that they talk a lot, but I think for me the content of what they have to say doesn't grate on my nerves the way Johnny's commentary does. At this past nationals he particularly annoyed me during Jason Brown's long. Hey, it wouldn't be the first time I've disagreed with people over at Golden Skate. They can be extra savage with the commentary over there. That's why I only lurk.
  7. Agreed that Johnny and Tara are better than Scott and Sandra, but after ten years I'd like to see a new lineup. Terry can stay though. I think he's great. Thinking on old commentators, I also can't say that I miss Peter Carruthers. I still remember the way he seemed more preoccupied with certain skaters looks as opposed to their skating. Regarding Lindsay Thorngren, my biggest issue with her is that she seems miserable out there. It's entirely possible that skating is her greatest joy and I'm totally reading it incorrectly, but she reminds me of the kind of skaters who are skating because they feel they have to, not because they particularly want to. As far as her actual skating, the jumps need work and the UR issues with her are pretty constant--that being said, I do see a big improvement this season with her overall skating skills save the jumps. I think her spins are, to quote Uncle Dick, first rate and her footwork has definitely improved. Next season I'd like to see her with programs that she really enjoys and maybe that will help. Starr Andrews skating skills aren't quite as good as Lindsay's (IMO) but the joy she has for skating is obvious and it makes her programs fun to watch even when she makes mistakes. Part of the appeal to me is that she generally chooses music she connects to.
  8. I enjoyed listening to Adam and Ashley at nationals. I'm hoping they're going to be the B team I get to listen to when the Olympics rolls around. It's funny that I very much prefered listening to Johnny and Tara back when they were the B team at Sochi. They were much better to listen to than Scott and Sandra. Now though I'd like to see them replaced. My perfect team would be Adam and Polina, but I'd settle for Adam and Ashley. With Johnny, I'm a little tired of his bias towards the Russians. It even extends to favoring Russian Americans and skaters who are coached by Russians and/or former Soviet skaters. Like he thinks no other skating school styles have anything to offer.
  9. Pairs skaters have been able to do side by side triples since the late 80s and early 90s. Yes, side by side triples are a challenging element, but many teams complete them successfully. Too many to list. Also, this isn't a male female issue. Consider when Aliona Savchenko was with Robin Szolkowy. He fell on their side by side triples at two different Olympics while she landed hers. There are other examples of women hitting their jumps while the men make mistakes. Mistakes happen, there's nothing to suggest that side by side triples are too difficult for most women to perform. I also don't like the idea of making an element easier on the grounds that the women supposedly aren't strong enough to handle it. US pairs might not be in a great place right now, but it'll eventually get better. It just takes one strong team to light a fire that inspires others.
  10. Go Amber! I'm so happy she's finally a national champion. I gasped audibly when she doubled the lutz. Prior to that moment I honestly thought she was finally going to have that magical skate. Then when she popped I was so bummed. I thought Isabeau had it in the bag. I feel so bad for Isabeau. I was surprised by the first fall, but by the third I was absolutely stunned. I don't think I've been that surprised with the ladies long since Michelle tanked in '97. I'm so happy for Amber and Josephine but feel terrible for Isabeau. The competition was more exciting than I thought it would be.
  11. Too bad. I was so looking forward to seeing her compete here. Hopefully she has an amazing skate at 4CC and is chosen for the world team. I too am curious why nationals is so late this year. I always look forward to nationals, but I feel like this year isn't going to be especially exciting. I don't think there are going to be any surprises as far as the winners go.
  12. I didn't think that backflips were illegal because of any potential danger factor. I thought the decision to keep them out of competition early on was to keep the sport from becoming gymnastics on ice. I'm curious now to know though what the "official" reason is. That being said, I mostly agree with you. I think my primary concern is that I don't want a backflip to become yet another element that everyone feels they have to do in order to get more points. I worry that every program will include them even from skaters who don't do them well. Still, I don't think skaters should lose points with these tumbling style elements. I just don't want a backflip to turn into an unofficial requirement. Theoretically though if people want to have the option of including a "leap" of some kind on the choreo sequence, I'm more than okay with that. It seems to excite the audience and viewers, and skating is in a place where it really needs a shot in the arm. If it takes backflips to get more people to watch, I say why not?
  13. Did anyone have any thoughts about Adam deciding to spontaneously do a backflip during (I think?) the choreo sequence? I think it would have worked for me more if his program had been flawless and it was a way to kind of put his excitement on display. Here it maybe came across a little show offy? As if it didn't matter to him that he'd lose points even with a shaky program because no one at this event is near his level. I didn't mind it, but it didn't seem like the right moment to have that kind of DGAF moment. Or maybe I'm juat overanalyzing it. 🤷🏽‍♀️ There's definitely been an uptick in aerials, cartwheels, arabians and the like. If another skating discipline were created, I wonder if it would allow for more acrobatic moves? There certainly seems to be an appetite for it in terms of the audience and viewers.
  14. Kurakova is a favorite of mine so this was disappointing. I hope she comes back strong for worlds. So far the only standouts for me for the women from the earlier groups were Livia Kaiser, Sarina Joos, and Olga Mikutina. Maybe an honorable mention for Julia Sauter. Loena was great. The combo wasn't perfect but the overall program was strong. Nina!! What a great season for her if she ends up with a medal here. Her jumps aren't huge, but I definitely feel like she's a full package skater. Very polished in terms of her presentation. For the pairs, I admit, I preferred Ghilardi and Ambrosini. Then again, I'm not a big fan of Cats so that's probably why I didn't respond as much to Beccari and Guarise's program. I definitely got the impression that Johnny isn't happy the Russians aren't able to compete.
  15. Poor Kevin. I saw his performance at French nationals and it really was the worst I've ever seen him skate. He just gave up. I was hoping he'd do better at Europeans, but unfortunately it was another disaster. It's too bad because he's the most artistic guy out there who's still competing. I've seen Adam skate better, but I'll be happy for him if he wins. My favorite skate of the day was definitely Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia. That program was everything I didn't know I needed. Fingers crossed he brings it in the long program.
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