Figure Skating

[HartofDixie]

2 hours ago, Jillibean said:

So they're going to let Russia basically compete as a team, just under a different name. That strikes me as so wrong and completely undermining the point of the whole alleged ban. It seems so nominal in nature with no real teeth. 

Pretty much. As for skating OAR lost Stolbova/Klimov & Stepanova/Bukin and chose not to replace them with alternates.

[galaxygirl76]

6 hours ago, HartofDixie said:

If you use Twitter I suggest you follow Jackie Wong @rockerskating. 

Am I reading this right and they do all events early in the morning? Is this because of NBC and that they are now in US prime time?

[Jeddah]

8 minutes ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

They don't.  That's why the sport is failing here in the US, and especially with the young age group.  When 82% of all quad jumps end in falls, it's hard to attract an audience.  I mean, the OLYMPIC MEN'S GOLD MEDALIST FELL TWICE AND STILL WON THE GOLD.  The fact that we don't have a gold-medal women's favorite doesn't help either.  

Where is the 82% statistic coming from? That seems way too high. 

[HartofDixie]

1 hour ago, galaxygirl76 said:

Am I reading this right and they do all events early in the morning? Is this because of NBC and that they are now in US prime time?

Yes, it’s because of NBC so we’ll get skating live but if they plan to go back and forth I would prefer what they did in Sochi with Tara/Johnny commenting live and getting to see everything on NBCSN.

[annzeepark914]

20 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Yes, it’s because of NBC so we’ll get skating live but if they plan to go back and forth I would prefer what they did in Sochi with Tara/Johnny commenting live and getting to see everything on NBCSN.

I've been having great memories of watching NBCSN every morning for live broadcasting of '14 Olympic figure skating.  Tara & Johnny irritated me enormously but I decided to work at ignoring them & concentrating instead on the skating.  Football and basketball fans (college & pro) take this all for granted, getting to watch so much of their favorite sport.  We figure skating fans consider the O's a real treat (it's worse for the fans of tons of other sports that hardly ever get coverage).  Hurry up Olympics!

[Moxie Cat]

34 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I've been having great memories of watching NBCSN every morning for live broadcasting of '14 Olympic figure skating. 

Oh, me too! And it was a straight live feed of the events. I fear with all the skating in prime time on a network, they will constantly cut skaters out to air segments from other sports or air some skaters on a slight delay to fit in their pretaped packages. No way all this skating will air in its entirety every single night on NBC like it did on NBCSN in 2014. Especially pairs, which NBC usually pretends doesn't exist (if the GP and 4C are any indication).

[selkie]

If it's like Rio, if you have cable or satellite service, you can log into the NBC Sports app/web site and get some nice uninterrupted feeds of each event. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

17 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

"I, Nauseated." I love it.  As much as I want to see the movie, and think that Allison Janney is awesome,  it does bother me to see Harding's story whitewashed, and Tonya moved to victim status, something that Nancy Kerrigan actually IS.   Seeing Tonya at the Golden Globes, being praised by Janney in her acceptance speech, just turns my stomach. 

ITA. It's bad enough that the movie paints Tonya as the victim when she was actually one of the perpetrators, but seeing her at awards ceremonies being praised and hearing people applaud for her is sickening.

11 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I just saw this ad on NBC for the Olympics, featuring Nathan Chen.

I love when athletes aren't afraid to show footage of themselves falling/not being perfect. I know some performers who would NEVER let any kind of unflattering practice footage of them be shown.

[Jeddah]

This is a great NY Times Magazine article about Jason Brown. The author clearly loves Jason’s skating! 

The Unabashed Beauty of Jason Brown on Ice

[ElectricBoogaloo]

From "The Nutcracker" to the Olympics: How Ballet Helped Figure Skater Nathan Chen Reach the Top

[displayname]

35 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

From "The Nutcracker" to the Olympics: How Ballet Helped Figure Skater Nathan Chen Reach the Top

That didn't address how ballet helped figure skater Nathan Chen reach the top. At all.

[specialj67]

5 hours ago, Jeddah said:

This is a great NY Times Magazine article about Jason Brown. The author clearly loves Jason’s skating! 

The Unabashed Beauty of Jason Brown on Ice

This was a delightful read! Her agony at watching live sports is my agony too.

[Libby96]

What a wonderful article about Jason.  It sounds like the author truly recognizes that a magical figure skating performance is more than the sum of its parts.

I throught  the author referring to Nathan Chen as sweeping over the ice like Darth Vader was hilarious.  Don't get me wrong, I think Nathan is terrific, but his black clad figure and the intensity of some of his programs does make that an apt comparison!

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

If it's like Rio, if you have cable or satellite service, you can log into the NBC Sports app/web site and get some nice uninterrupted feeds of each event.

I am not sure so BECAUSE the live events are occurring WHILE NBC will be showing the Primetime show.  Why would they want people to avoid the NBC TV show to watch a feed on their tablets?  

Maybe they will air the feed AFTER the event has aired on NBC?  

[andromeda331]

16 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

ITA. It's bad enough that the movie paints Tonya as the victim when she was actually one of the perpetrators, but seeing her at awards ceremonies being praised and hearing people applaud for her is sickening.

Its sickening. Yes, let's applaud the woman who was part of the attack on someone else. Isn't that cute? Isn't adorable?  What a nice message to send to victims. You see? You could see your attacker at the award ceremony being fawned over. Won't that be nice.  

[Moxie Cat]

2 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

Maybe they will air the feed AFTER the event has aired on NBC? 

In 2014, "reruns" of that day's skating events would sometimes reair on NBCSN in the wee hours of the morning. I know the men's free definitely did. So maybe that's what they'll do.

[Jaded]

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-watch-2018-pyeongchang-olympic-games

[legaleagle53]

On 1/30/2018 at 10:40 AM, HartofDixie said:

If you use Twitter I suggest you follow Jackie Wong @rockerskating. 

Interesting that they give the Moscow times. I have to wonder how many Russians will be tuning in to watch a Games that Russia has been formally banned from competing in.

[legaleagle53]

On 1/30/2018 at 3:19 PM, Jillibean said:

So they're going to let Russia basically compete as a team, just under a different name. That strikes me as so wrong and completely undermining the point of the whole alleged ban. It seems so nominal in nature with no real teeth. 

You have to remember, however, that these are the permitted exceptions to the general ban, and they had to be specifically invited to compete by the IOC with the clear understanding that they were not to imply in any way, shape or form that they were representing Russia and that any medals they win will not be attributed to Russia.  Since they met the requirements for the limited exception to the general ban, they're in.

[NUguy514]

35 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

You have to remember, however, that these are the permitted exceptions to the general ban, and they had to be specifically invited to compete by the IOC with the clear understanding that they were not to imply in any way, shape or form that they were representing Russia and that any medals they win will not be attributed to Russia.  Since they met the requirements for the limited exception to the general ban, they're in.

Except they have all been doping, and most know how to cycle the drugs out of their systems leading up to testing so that they are not caught.  I won't treat any medals won by any Russian athlete in PyeongChang as fairly won medals, and I don't care if they can't actually win as Russians because they're still Russian and will still be perceived by the world at large as Russian athletes.  If the IOC had actually wanted to send a message, they would've banned every Russian athlete.  No exceptions.

[annzeepark914]

I got this schedule at the SkateFans forum.  Before printing, I deleted all the re-runs in the wee hours as I don't plan to watch then.  But who knows if this schedule is the best?  At least it has Olympic Ice included (have no idea who will be on the panel for Olympic Ice but fondly remember Dick Button from the Torino OI).

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SkateFans/conversations/messages/214400

[redpencil]

Can we all make an agreement to keep all Olympics-related figure skating talk in the figure skating topic over in the 2018 Winter Olympics forum (link here)? That way nobody has to try to keep up with two separate threads and people don't start posting the same thing in both places.

[ChicksDigScars]

Watching Return to Sochi on the Olympic channel, and the ladies event is on....and I just cannot. It still pisses me off. Not as much as Lipinski beating Kwan,  but it still pisses me off. 

Edited February 6, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[LoveMyVike]

2 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Watching Return to Sochi on the Olympic channel, and the ladies event is on....and I just cannot. It still pisses me off. Not as much as Lipinski beating Kwan,  but it still pisses me off. 

I'll never understand why people were so outraged. Sotnikova skated beautifully. One minor bobble at the end of a combination, but her base value was still higher. I'll agree that her overall score was a little too high, but her program was one of the few that I truly enjoyed that night. The vitriol and hatred that was hurled at a TEENAGER, when she had nothing to do with the scores, was disgusting. 

[displayname]

1 hour ago, LoveMyVike said:

I'll never understand why people were so outraged. Sotnikova skated beautifully. One minor bobble at the end of a combination, but her base value was still higher. I'll agree that her overall score was a little too high, but her program was one of the few that I truly enjoyed that night. The vitriol and hatred that was hurled at a TEENAGER, when she had nothing to do with the scores, was disgusting. 

Actually, her base value was artificially bloated, too. She flutzed and underrotated her opening combo, and her step sequence was leveled higher than it was. The bobble didn't receive the proper deduction. And base value doesn't determine anything anyway -- otherwise, Mao should've won the free skate.

 

Of course, this wasn't why people were outraged, which was something people only realized a few days later after analyzing videos. People were outraged because Adelina was clearly sloppy in the artistic side of her skating -- just compare her step sequence with Yuna's (who was under marked by a level, BTW), yet received virtually the same artistic mark (PCS). And errors are known to affect PCS, too -- that wasn't true for her, when she received higher PCS than a clean Kostner (and again virtually the same as a clean Yuna). It was clear to people that this was yet another instance of cheating. Most people were angry at the RSF and the ISU, though yes there was unnecessary bile directed towards Adelina, too.

Edited February 6, 2018 by fan94

[NUguy514]

2 hours ago, LoveMyVike said:

I'll never understand why people were so outraged. Sotnikova skated beautifully. One minor bobble at the end of a combination, but her base value was still higher. I'll agree that her overall score was a little too high, but her program was one of the few that I truly enjoyed that night. The vitriol and hatred that was hurled at a TEENAGER, when she had nothing to do with the scores, was disgusting. 

She realllllllly didn't, though, for all the reasons @fan94 listed.  Lipinski beating Kwan hurts more, but Sotnikova's gold is the angriest I think I've ever been at an Olympics result because it was so obviously rigged.

[displayname]

6 hours ago, fan94 said:

yet received virtually the same artistic mark (PCS). And errors are known to affect PCS, too -- that wasn't true for her, when she received higher PCS than a clean Kostner (and again virtually the same as a clean Yuna). 

Forgot to mention that Yuna achieved a world record PCS score in that event. Yes, a sloppy, error-ridden skate by Adelina received only 0.09 points less than a completely clean skate, judged as the artistically best skate upto that point, delivered by one of the finest lady skaters of all time. (Yes, that isn't really what PCS is, but judging their skills to be nearly equal is nonsense).

[honeywest]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/sports/olympics/russia-womens-figure-skating.html

[ChicksDigScars]

Right, NYT. Asking Johnny Weir to be objective about the Russians? Come on, now. 

 

I would like to see some rules tweaked, such as balancing a program, and I can't say that having girls do quads is the best thing for their bodies.  I hope this doesn't come to pass. 

[MostlyC]

I'd like to see a big overhaul, with more emphasis put on skills other than jumping, and no bonuses for jumping later in the program. Just saw Lipinskya's programs in the team event, and while I know nothing about her jumping technique, her spins/layback positions were jaw dropping.  I bet she would have taken the gold in the individual event if she had not skated in the team event- it must have exhausted her.

[NUguy514]

8 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Right, NYT. Asking Johnny Weir to be objective about the Russians? Come on, now. 

Where Russia is concerned, Johnny is basically Gay Uncle Tom.  It's not cute.

[ombelico]

Quote

I'd like to see a big overhaul, with more emphasis put on skills other than jumping, and no bonuses for jumping later in the program. 

I really think there needs to be a "Zagitova rule" (akin to the Zayak rule) enacted that specifies that at least 3 jumps must be attempted in the first half of a program. That would still allow for putting the majority of jumps in the second half, if an athlete prefers to go with that strategy, but would ensure that the programs are more balanced. It would also still be up to the athlete/coach if they want to put the more difficult jumps in the second half to get the bonus. I get that the ISU put in the "second half bonus" to counteract Plushenko's strategy of just doing jump, jump, jump etc. at the start of a program before he got tired, but the pendulum needs to swing back to a happy middle. 

[carrier76]

If not that, maybe the bonus giveth, and the bonus should taketh away. Sure, you’ll get a bonus for completing an element in the 2nd half, but if you biff it, you get a bigger deduction. High reward, high risk.

 

Also, take away the bonus in the short program. Come on.

Edited February 8, 2018 by carrier76

[Good Queen Jane]

Or the rule could be that you only get the bonus for the first 3 or pick a number jumps you do in the second half.

[AuntieDiane6]

Peggy Fleming was on the TODAY show this morning with a retrospective of her Olympic win.  Lovely, of course.  The one new fact the report gave was that Peggy is sponsoring a Peggy Fleming Competition this summer emphasizing ARTISTIC skating... 

[movingtargetgal]

Good for Peggy Fleming.  I really miss the artistry in skating.  I have to confess that I don't enjoy watching figure skating as much since the new scoring system was enacted.  I hate all the skate grabbing during spins, most of the time it is awkward and ugly.  All the emphasis on jumps has gotten out of hand.  Not only are skater's falling all over the place, they are getting seriously injured.  I much prefer to watch a skater like Jason Brown than most of the "quad capable" skaters out there.  To me figure skating is about artistry AND athleticism in equal parts.  The way it is now they might as well drop the music and line the skaters up to do jumps.    

[Maelstrom]

movingtargetgal, you're a skating fan after my own heart. :) I couldn't agree more with your post!

[cpcathy]

I hate the new scoring system. It's hideous. I miss the 6.0 system. I hate what it's done to figure skating, and I hate the new rules for dance. Not the same dance we used to get. Also hate that they can skate to lyrics. There. I'm cranky today.

[Crs97]

Table for four - our table is ready!

[Athena]

For Winter Olympics 2018 figure skating discussion, please consider doing so in the Olympics' Figure Skating thread to avoid duplication between the threads. Thank you!

[HartofDixie]

[Cindyluwho]

Prediction for worlds....Gabby Daleman will hit the podium to make up for hee horrendous outing at Olympics.

[Jeddah]

Hmmmm.... Worlds Predictions:

I have a terrible feeling that the pressure will get to Nathan again.

I think Jin Boyang will medal again. I love the Star Wars program, and I think it will win a Worlds medal.

I think Shoma will win.

I think Medvedeva will win, keeping Zagitova from having an undefeated season. I think Satoko Miyahara will be the other medalist.

I think Mirai will land her triple axel in at least one of the programs.

I think Papadakis and Cizeron will win and set a World record.

[displayname]

Zag answered Ashley Wagner's criticism when asked about it by reporters with grace that belies her age.

Ashley Wagner, 26, can learn a thing or two from Zagitova.

[HartofDixie]

26 minutes ago, fan94 said:

Zag answered Ashley Wagner's criticism when asked about it by reporters with grace that belies her age.

Ashley Wagner, 26, can learn a thing or two from Zagitova.

Will Karen’s boot problems force her to withdraw? Is Ashley training?

[Good Queen Jane]

I hope Jason Brown has been practicing as I am pretty sure that Adam Rippon will withdraw from Worlds. Also, if Mirai gets a call from Dancing With The Stars, she won't be going to Worlds because of the training time conflicts. The Shibsibs have also expressed an interest in DWTS, so they might skip Worlds.
 

[displayname]

Just now, Good Queen Jane said:

I hope Jason Brown has been practicing as I am pretty sure that Adam Rippon will withdraw from Worlds. Also, if Mirai gets a call from Dancing With The Stars, she won't be going to Worlds because of the training time conflicts. The Shibsibs have also expressed an interest in DWTS, so they might skip Worlds.

Really? Why must all of them want to go to DWTS?

 

I for one think the ShibSibs have greater celebrity than most people who go onto DWTS. And that goes for all the other Olympians on it, too.

[Good Queen Jane]

3 minutes ago, fan94 said:

I for one think the ShibSibs have greater celebrity than most people who go onto DWTS. And that goes for all the other Olympians on it, too.

Maybe to those who follow figure skating, but not to the rest of the USA. I can't tell you the number of people who remember Charlie White and particularly Meryl Davis from DWTS but have no idea they won the first USA Olympic Gold Medal in Dance. And I understand that DWTS pays well too.

[BlackberryJam]

2 hours ago, fan94 said:

Zag answered Ashley Wagner's criticism when asked about it by reporters with grace that belies her age.

Ashley Wagner, 26, can learn a thing or two from Zagitova.

Did I miss this somewhere? Is there a quote from Zagitova?

[displayname]

19 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Did I miss this somewhere? Is there a quote from Zagitova?

https://www.rt.com/sport/419808-zagitova-medvedeva-olympics-figure-skating/

RT: Ok, you're saying that you tried not to pay attention to anything in the media and just stay out of things. But you probably heard what the Americans said about your program. In particular, when after your free skate routine Ashley Wagner said ‘this is not a program, all the jumps are in the second part.’ Did you find out right away? Or you were told later?

AZ: I saw it on Instagram. I can say that it only spurred me on to be stronger and made me want to prove that this is not true. But there's no proving anything to such people. She could try skating such a program at the Olympics and I'll be happy to watch her do it and I won't give the same reaction.

RT: So you'll be above this?

AZ: Yes.

RT: But don't you think that it really gives an advantage to younger athletes because those who are older simply cannot do it anymore?

AZ: It is true that figure skating is developing fast now. There is already another generation of athletes that's coming after me, and then one more, and then more and more. And that's not going to stop. And I probably will think the same of other athletes – because, for instance, in my training group, some girls are already doing quadruple jumps. But I will do my very best to stay in the game as long as I can.

RT: Of course. But – to be honest, I heard it myself – that many reacted to her criticism pointing out that she didn't even make it to the Olympics so it wasn't really for her to speak. Would you agree with that?

AZ: I think everyone can express their opinion. But perhaps not so rudely.

Edited February 26, 2018 by fan94