Figure Skating

[cpcathy]

Johnny, for some reason, hated Angelina's music, which I found actually different for a change. I could have done without the Romeo and Juliet portion.

 

I saw Anna's free progam! I just happened upon the Europeans and wow, was she awful! I didn't even see her skating fast, just slow, fall, slow. Yes, that was a log roll, I was expecting her to cop out and just skate off the ice!

 

Oh, and please, among the pieces of music we need to stop skating to, include Scheherazade. I saw Anna skate out in her costume I thought, "Oh, Scheherazade."

Edited February 1, 2016 by cpcathy

[attica]

Johnny seems to think she has some sort of ethereal "skating from the heart" quality which I frankly do not see.

 

If by that he means that her expressions always look like she's starring as Anna Karenina just before she goes under the train? Then, yeah.

[ChicksDigScars]

I think that's the part of his commentary that bugs me. He's openly biased toward the Russians. Of course he had to find something not to like about the Latvian skater. She really should have been on the podium.

[attica]

I'm not gonna lie: I love listening to Johnny pronounce all those Russian (and Russian-adjacent) names.

[Avaleigh]

I agree that it's annoying how obviously partial Johnny is when it comes to Russian skaters and coaches. 

I think that's the part of his commentary that bugs me. He's openly biased toward the Russians. Of course he had to find something not to like about the Latvian skater. She really should have been on the podium.

Anna managing to get third just proves the point of how meaningless falls have become in this sport. A fall used to be a big deal and they just aren't anymore. I love Yuzuru but didn't he fall twice in his long at the Olympics? The system is still hugely flawed IMO and isn't doing the sport any favors. 

Edited February 2, 2016 by Avaleigh

[KFC]

Johnny's Russian bias is so odd at times. When I think of classical Russian greatness, I think of someone like Gordeeva and Grinkov. And a lot of the current Russian skaters that Johnny praises adopt more of a Plushenkoesque athletic-but-tacky mentality which is pretty much the antithesis of the beauty on ice as far as I'm concerned.

[Avaleigh]

Consider though who Johnny's favorite skater growing up was. Oksana Baiul. If ever there was a skater who got lucky it was that chick when I consider her jumping technique. Oksana basically two footed her way through her entire blink and you'd miss it amateur period. No way would Nancy not have won under the new system with the lutz late in the program and a triple triple. I think Oksana's one combination was a shaky double axel double toe. It's still ridiculous to think about twenty years later. 

[KFC]

I've always felt that way about Oksana, too. I get that she had charisma and a openness about her skating that Nancy lacked, but Oksana's technique was SO sketchy and that showtunes LP was so utterly cheesy I could never quite justify how she beat Nancy at Lillehammer. I know Nancy could be a bit cold and robotic at times, but her jumps were always sublime (that lutz especially), and she had good carriage and always paid attention to the music, more so than she was given credit for.

[annzeepark914]

I don't understand how Anna Pogorilaya remained in 3rd place after her horrible LP.  Those weren't just falls--they were splats, on her belly, real program disrupters. Meanwhile, Angelina K's LP was, IMO, quite good.  Did she underrotate?  Was she slow?

[SophiaD]

OMG.  Oksana vs. Nancy.  I always thought that Nancy lost just because people were sick of hearing her story and Oksana was cute and so waiflike, plus she hurt her back.  I thought Nancy skated just brilliantly, after a media circus that was unparalleled for its time - and she wasn't a natural at that, either.  I was glad to see her on "The Price of Gold" and see she's managed to regain some happiness in her life.

 

For me, the classic Russian singles skater will always be Alexei Yagudin.  His "Winter" program remains one of my favorites, and I LOVE the version of "The Man in the Iron Mask" that he did at Worlds during that Olympic year.  I was sorry that his injury forced him to retire early.

[Libby96]

I enjoy Tara and Johnny's commentating, and I am a die hard Kwan fan who took about 15 years to forgive Tara for besting Kwan at the '98 Olympics. Tara and Johnny really seemed to turn on the criticism, though, with Radionova, and jump on the Medvedeva bandwagon. I thought Radionova flailed her way through the entire season last year, but they were gushing over her presentation. Now the newest shiny Russian teenager has arrived, they are less complimentary.

Medvedeva is quite a talent but I wish she would lose the Surprised Face as her opening move and put that arm over the head back where it belongs. Once or twice in a program would be effective, but using it almost every jump.... Gimmicky. Plus she just flops it up there. It's not as aesthetically pleasing as something like Adam Rippon does with both arms extended upward during his triple Lutz.

Amazing that the Russian Ladies B team that they didn't even send includes the reigning Olympic champion, the reigning world champion, and their It Girl from Sochi.

Edited February 6, 2016 by Libby96

[cpcathy]

I'm still pissed that Tara beat Michelle at the Olympics, and no, I don't think it's about time to get over it.

[wintrygal]

When are the Four Continents being held?  I know they happen before Worlds, but can't remember if they're in Feb or March.

[gatopretoNYC]

It still burns my ass that she won a gold medal over Kwan.

  

Michelle Kwan is one of my favorite skaters ever. Her artistry honestly moved me to tears. There are only a handful of skaters who really show that connection with the music, their program, no matter what it is, and she was one of them.

Me too! 

 

For me, the classic Russian singles skater will always be Alexei Yagudin.  His "Winter" program remains one of my favorites, and I LOVE the version of "The Man in the Iron Mask" that he did at Worlds during that Olympic year.  I was sorry that his injury forced him to retire early.

YES! Loved him. I also really liked that race car short program he was doing his last competitive season. It was fun, and different.

[Matryoshka]

Four Continents is February 16-21 in Taipei.

[wintrygal]

Thanks Matryoshka!

[Libby96]

I see that I'm not the only Kwan-o- phile on this board. And when I said that I "got over" Tara beating Michelle, I still don't agree with it. Kwan was the more mature and complete skater, and I think she was a victim of skate order. Had she skated after Tara, I think Michelle would have won.

NBC is airing the Four Continents in Feb. 20. I have no idea if they are just showing singles, or if pairs and dance will be included too. I'm kind of surprised Gracie is completing since she is the U.S. Champion going into Worlds, and often the 4CC team is different than Worlds. I'm sure NBC is thrilled she will be there. They just can't give Gracie enough love.

[redpencil]

Oh, man. Alexei Yagudin. Totally forgot about him, and just went down a YouTube rabbit hole watching him (found this from some sort of professional competition in 2014; it's lovely). What a beautiful skater. I had a major crush on him back in the day, too, and thought the whole Plushenko vs. Yagudin debate was laughable. Also, that man could do straight-line footwork sequences like nobody's business.

[Good Queen Jane]

The 2016 version of the skating show “Shall We Dance on Ice” will air on Saturday (Feb. 13) at 3:00-5:00 pm (Eastern Time) on ABC. The show will repeat on Saturday, Feb. 27 on ABC. As always, check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.

 

The format is that dancers from “Dancing With the Stars” perform a style of dance (foxtrot, mamba, etc.) on the stage and then ice dancers do the figure skating version of the dance on the ice. Ice dancers in this year’s show are Davis and White, Belbin and Agosto, the Kerrs, Lang and Tchernyshev, Coomes and Buckland, Paul and Islam, Navarro and Bommentre and Tobias and Tkachenko. “Dancing With The Stars” will be represented by Dmitry Chaplin, Chelsie Hightower, Anna Trebunskaya and Damian Whitewood. The show will include a tribute to Torvill and Dean’s Bolero. Kristi Yamaguchi and Rumer Willis will host.

 

For those of you who like ice dancing and/or “Dancing With the Stars”, this is a show you will want to see.

[HartofDixie]

What is up with the US skaters dropping out of Four Continents?

[Good Queen Jane]

For many US skaters, travelling 6500 miles to compete in a basically meaningless competition when they could be home preparing for Worlds has no attraction. Plus, it comes less than month after Nationals and doesn't give them much time to recuperate from that competition.

 

Four Continents starts tomorrow (February 17). Since the competition is in Taiwan this year, the live-streaming on icenetwork will be mostly in the wee hours of the morning. However NBC Universal HD and NBC will be showing highlights from Four Continents. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a TV listing for the Men’s Free Skate as yet, so it appears this event will not be aired on TV.

 

Here’s the broadcast schedule for Four Continents. All times listed are EASTERN. Be sure to check your local listings for the times and channels in your area. Event listings are subject to change:

 

NBC UNIVERSAL

 

Thursday, February 18, 3:00 - 4:00 pm: Ladies Short

Friday, February 19, 1:30 - 2:30 pm: Free Dance

Friday, February 19, 2:30 - 3:30 pm: Men’s Short

Saturday, February 20, 6:30-7:30 pm: Pairs Free Skate

 

NBC

 

Saturday, February 20, 4:00 - 6:00 pm: Ladies Free Skate and highlights

 

ICENETWORK LIVE STREAMING

 

Wednesday, February 17, 11:45 pm: Short Dance

Thursday, February 18, 3:40 am: Ladies Short

Thursday, February 18, 7:30 am: Pairs Short

Friday, February 19, 12:30 am: Free Dance

Friday, February 19, 5:25 am: Men’s Short

Saturday, February 20, 1:30 am: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, February 20, 5:15 am: Ladies Free Skate

Saturday, February 20, 11:00 pm: Men’s Free Skate

 

 

ETA: I’ve finally found the date and time of the broadcast for the Men’s Free Skate from Four Continents.

The event will air on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on Sunday, Feb. 21, from 12:00 midnight to 1 am EASTERN time. Not the best time slot or network for the event, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Good Queen Jane

[Good Queen Jane]

I know that this is a double post but on a different topic and it just outraged me enough that I had to post it.

 

French Federation president Didier Gailhaguet, who was banned from skating for three years after the Salt Lake City Olympics judging scandal, believes he should be given the chance to be the next ISU president because he “didn’t kill anyone.” He added that “even murders get a second chance”. Gailhaguet made that statement in an interview from the Winter Youth Olympics with the insidethegames.biz website. Gailhaguet also declared, “"I'm not a saint, not perfect, but I never went over the blue line.” The 62-year-old former figure skater said, “I didn't press a gun against any of the nine judges, I didn't pay money.” He also told the website that judging him based on the old scandal “is not fair to me at all”. "I have brought (the scandal) up with every member I have spoken to, and said 'okay, I am not perfect, I have made mistakes, but all this has changed me',” Gailhaguet stated. “Nobody, even my worst opponents, cannot say I do not have a true passion and authenticity about skating and all sport."

 

Reuters is reporting that Gailhaguet has employed Mike Lee's British consultant firm, which last year helped Sebastian Coe to become president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), to organize his campaign for president of the ISU.

 

Earlier this year, the German Federation accused the French Federation of requesting an “exorbitant amount” of Euros in order to release Pairs skater Bruno Massot so that he could compete with Aliona Savchenko for Germany. The issue was quickly resolved after the publicity about the demand and the negative backlash it caused on Gailhaguet’s bid for the ISU presidency.

 

To say he should be ISU president simply because he didn’t kill anyone is a ludicrous. Gailhaguet should be banned from being ISU president just for making such a ridiculous statement.

[cpcathy]

If he was one of the reasons why we had to change to the current idiotic scoring system from my beloved 6.0 system, then he might as well have killed someone!

[honeywest]

The Shibutanis are in first place after the short dance at Four Continents--ahead of Weaver and Poje. Chock and Bates are in fourth--behind Hubbell and Donohue.

 

Mirai Nagasu is in third (behind Miyahara and Murakami).

 

I am thrilled.

Edited February 18, 2016 by honeywest

[Avaleigh]

If he was one of the reasons why we had to change to the current idiotic scoring system from my beloved 6.0 system, then he might as well have killed someone!

I hate the new system but agree that the old system had problems as well. I don't know what the right answer is but I still feel like there's a ways to go. Dance is the only discipline that doesn't feel disrupted for me in terms of the new system. 

 

The most obvious consequence of the new system are how meaningless falls have become in addition to programs looking alike and there being less freedom for choreography overall because of the way the free skate has simply turned into a long short program. I miss the days too when a skater could change their program without the fear of being harshly penalized. 

 

What's happened to spins is another consequence that bums me out. It's so rare that I see an amazing layback these days. Not everyone looks good doing a Biellmann spin but damned if they aren't going to try because of the points they'll lose. Same with catch foots on everything. Choreographically speaking it isn't always necessary. 

 

The loss of the spiral sequence in the short was another change that annoyed me. When I think of some of my favorite ladies short programs from the past, they all included incredible spiral sequences.

 

And while I'm going down the list of things that annoy me---the three jump combination. Some people do it well and it looks nice in a program but for some people it just looks like they're checking off an x on a box and I wonder why it's really necessary. Anyone can tack a freaking double toe onto a two jump combination. I don't understand why a three jump combo is a requirement when it's so rarely an impressive display at least with the ladies. [/end rant]

Edited February 18, 2016 by Avaleigh

[KFC]

The Biellmann phenomenon annoys me, too, because THAT'S NOT A LAYBACK!

 

A simple fix would be some sort of rule where you have to perform at least one or two L1/L2 spins. So basically no/max of one change of position, no changes of edge (I hate that for spins, I get that it's difficult, but it just slows down the spin and the whole point of watching a skating spin to me is SPEED!). So you're basically watching a skater perform a spin for GOE. It would kind of force a skater to stay centered, fast rotating, and holding one position for a longer period of time.

 

Removing the spiral from the SP also bothers me. I recall the rationale behind taking it out was that a lot of the women didn't perform it properly anyway, but then why couldn't they have changed the requirement to any moves in the field (spread eagle, besti squat, spiral, ina bauer, etc.) where you have to hold an edge? It'd certainly mix things up while retaining the beauty of a held position.

 

I'd also like to see some sort of cap on the maximum number of points you can achieve in a program. That will likely never happen, but the concept of a perfect score tends to work out better for yielding originality IMO. It allows everyone to try and hit the same high but (theoretically) they can reach it using whatever plays to their strengths. Plus I just think it's easier for a TV audience to follow when they know that, "hey, 100 points is perfect, so therefore 85 must be a good score, 90 is even better." Or whatever the max point total would be.

[MaryMitch]

I like the new scoring system because it is easier for casual fans - like me! - to understand the scores. But I understand what you all are talking about. I miss spirals too, and we rarely see a good layback (Dick Button taught me what a good one should look like). So I agree there does need to be more of an emphasis on artistry, but there's also a thrill to see someone do a triple-triple. Maybe they could increase the points for artistry.

[ronaround74]

 

The Shibutanis are in first place after the short dance at Four Continents--ahead of Weaver and Poje. Chock and Bates are in fourth--behind Hubbell and Donohue.

 

From the protocols it looks like the Shibs got level 4's for all five of their SD elements, while Chock & Bates only had one level 4. Hubbell & Donohue had four out of five elements rated level 4.

 

 

Mirai Nagasu is in third (behind Miyahara and Murakami).

 

Gracie Gold is down in 9th, about 9 points behind Nagasu. Looks like she (Gracie) fell twice. Karen Chen is in 13th.

 

 

I am thrilled.

 

Same :) although I do wish Gracie and Karen had performed better in the short.

[AllAboutMBTV]

Am I the only one who misses school figures? Probably... I mean, I don't want to watch hours of them, but I always enjoyed seeing them, especially with the ice dancers. Plus, if the commentators were good you'd learn a lot about edges and footwork and closeness of position and what to look for when watching a short or long program.

 

Also, I am Old.

[cpcathy]

I loved the idea of school figures. So, yes, I miss them. I remember if you tanked on your figures you had an uphill battle.

 

As I recall, ice dancers had the compulsory dances, where they would all skate to the same rhythm, three times around the ice. The Olympics on ABC would show the entire day of compulsory dances, every last dang couple. I miss wall to wall coverage like that.

[HartofDixie]

For many US skaters, travelling 6500 miles to compete in a basically meaningless competition when they could be home preparing for Worlds has no attraction. Plus, it comes less than month after Nationals and doesn't give them much time to recuperate from that competition.

 

Four Continents starts tomorrow (February 17). Since the competition is in Taiwan this year, the live-streaming on icenetwork will be mostly in the wee hours of the morning. However NBC Universal HD and NBC will be showing highlights from Four Continents. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a TV listing for the Men’s Free Skate as yet, so it appears this event will not be aired on TV.

 

Here’s the broadcast schedule for Four Continents. All times listed are EASTERN. Be sure to check your local listings for the times and channels in your area. Event listings are subject to change:

 

NBC UNIVERSAL

 

Thursday, February 18, 3:00 - 4:00 pm: Ladies Short

Friday, February 19, 1:30 - 2:30 pm: Free Dance

Friday, February 19, 2:30 - 3:30 pm: Men’s Short

Saturday, February 20, 6:30-7:30 pm: Pairs Free Skate

 

NBC

 

Saturday, February 20, 4:00 - 6:00 pm: Ladies Free Skate and highlights

 

ICENETWORK LIVE STREAMING

 

Wednesday, February 17, 11:45 pm: Short Dance

Thursday, February 18, 3:40 am: Ladies Short

Thursday, February 18, 7:30 am: Pairs Short

Friday, February 19, 12:30 am: Free Dance

Friday, February 19, 5:25 am: Men’s Short

Saturday, February 20, 1:30 am: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, February 20, 5:15 am: Ladies Free Skate

Saturday, February 20, 11:00 pm: Men’s Free Skate

 

 

ETA: I’ve finally found the date and time of the broadcast for the Men’s Free Skate from Four Continents.

The event will air on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on Sunday, Feb. 21, from 12:00 midnight to 1 am EASTERN time. Not the best time slot or network for the event, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

Thanks for the explanation.  I don't know why USFSA bothered to name the top 3 to the 4CC.  I wish they had this event the same week as Europeans.  

[honeywest]

Mirai is in third, Gracie is in ninth, and Michael Weiss and the Universal guy are uncomfortable. (Frank Carroll is thinking, "I used to coach Michelle Kwan.")

[Good Queen Jane]

Thanks for the explanation.  I don't know why USFSA bothered to name the top 3 to the 4CC.  I wish they had this event the same week as Europeans

 

The problem is that both the US and Canadian Nationals are held the third/fourth week in January. Europeans is held around the same time. US Nationals will never change the date as long as NBC has the contract. NBC likes to have Nationals the weekend before the Super Bowl so it doesn't conflict with football (although this year it was the same weekend as the conference championships since the Super Bowl was late this year.)

 

ISU rules require countries to send the National Champion in each discipline to 4CC unless there is an injury. That's to keep 4CC from being a consolation prize for those who don't make the World team. I'm not sure how Adam Rippon got around this requirement.

[ChicksDigScars]

The Super Bowl just gets later all the time, with the additions of BYES, and the Wild Card Round in the NFL. My birthday (Feb 6th) has been around Super Bowl weekend for the past five to seven years (with my favorite team actually winning ON my birthday in 2011). I think Nationals tend to be earlier in January in Olympic years, now. When I was a kid, the Super Bowl was always around my mom's birthday (Jan 18).

What is really frustrating was that World's always seemed to fall on the same week as the opening rounds of March Madness. I think that's what killed US coverage. Well, that and the US ladies no longer dominating, or even medaling. There was no chance competing against wall-to-wall college basketball on CBS/TBS/TNT/TRU TV, for two straight weekends, and the Final Four on CBS the third weekend, especially with no consistent gold medal threat like Michelle Kwan, to draw viewers in. Throw in the ESPN networks giving the same coverage to the Women's NCAA tournament on those same weekends, and figure skating got squeezed out. Now, we barely get ANY World Championship coverage here.

[HartofDixie]

The ShibSibs WON!!

[honeywest]

They won by nearly seven points over Chock and Bates (who pulled up to second) and nearly eight over Weaver and Poje (down to third)--and that was with a one-point deduction for an extended lift!

 

Boyang Jin is in first after the short, nearly six points ahead of Shoma Uno and nearly nine ahead of Han Yan. Grant Hochstein is in sixth, Max Aaron in eighth, Ross Miner seventeenth.

 

The Shibs won!

[attica]

Okay, I'm gonna ask it: what's the fourth continent?

[honeywest]

This year there are actually five continents participating--North America, Asia, Oceania, and one competitor each from South America (Denis Margalik of Argentina) and Africa (Michaela du Toit of South Africa).

[attica]

Oh! Yay for South American and Africa! That makes me happy, it does.

[cpcathy]

Go, Shibs! I want them to take it all now.

[Good Queen Jane]

 The Shibs score at 4CC was 181.62. Papadakis & Cizeron's score at Europeans was 182.71. Different judges, of course, but it bodes well for the Shibs at Worlds, especially since they will have the home ice advantage.

[Shades of Red]

I loved the idea of school figures. So, yes, I miss them. I remember if you tanked on your figures you had an uphill battle.

 

As I recall, ice dancers had the compulsory dances, where they would all skate to the same rhythm, three times around the ice. The Olympics on ABC would show the entire day of compulsory dances, every last dang couple. I miss wall to wall coverage like that.

Bolded part is mine and that's precisely why I disliked school figures.  They nuked people like Toller Cranston which still makes me upset all the many years later.  The compulsory dances on the other hand I think are very important.  To me it's like going back to the basics which you need so you can build on from those.  They were boring, but you could certainly see who had great edges etc.  I don't like the combining of the compulsory with a short for the dance.

 

I like the idea of "maximum points".  This new system stinks and is very difficult to follow.   I stopped watching the men skate years ago when it turned into a jumping competition.  I want some artistry and not elements that are connected with some skating.  The pairs sadly is starting to turn into the same thing, but with pairs' elements, not just jumping.  All the lifts, spins etc are starting to look the same to me with pairs.  No room for originality.

[cpcathy]

I agree with you, Shades of Red, and want to add that I'm hugely disappointed in the direction that dance has gone. It's just an offshoot of pairs now. I mean, sit spins?? We are so far gone from the glory days of T&D, when you got a real dance, and not just mandatory twizzles and spins.

[Good Queen Jane]

Some comments on watching the videos from 4CC:

 

Paradis and Ouellette of Canada had a “wardrobe malfunction”. He was doing a rotational lift with her when her dress broke open at the neck and the right side of the dress flopped open. He immediately stopped and shielded her and then helped her snap the dress close. Then he skated over to the referee, who apparently told them to skate on. They finished the program but didn’t do the last choreography lift because they ran out of time. They got no points for the choreography lift plus a 3 point deduction for an excessive interruption. Pretty harsh since he was only trying to shield his partner from embarrassment. Still, they managed to finish 6th, just ahead of Muramoto and Reed of Japan.

 

The Men’s Short isn't pretty. Kevin Reynolds of Canada had 4 falls including one on a spin. Ross Minor had two falls and one invalid element. Hardly any of the Men had a clean program.

 

BTW, Troy Goldstein is the Technical Specialist for Pairs and he must be fast on hitting the time clock. Three Pairs got a 1 point deduction in the Short for going over time – Yu and Jin of China, Iliushechkina and Moscovitch of Canada and Castelli and Tran of the U.S. You’d expect that early in the season, but by now, the Pairs should have their time pretty well set.

[honeywest]

Mirai won silver (Miyahara gold, Rika Hongo bronze). Gracie Gold pulled up to fifth.

 

Sui and Han won gold, Scimeca and Knierim silver, Yu and Jin bronze. Duhamel and Radford withdrew after the short; don't know why.

[ChicksDigScars]

Interesting that the three US dance teams went 1-2-3 in the Free Dance (1-2-4 in the final standings). It will be interesting to see how the Shibs do with home crowd advantage next month. The roar that will surely go up during that twizzle sequence. GO SHIBS!!

Good for Mirai! I do love it when she sticks it to the US federation, who would love to see her retire into the sunset. As for Gracie....sigh.

I wonder if it was an injury that will affect Duhamel and Radford's status for World's, or a precaution so that they don't miss their opportunity to go to a Worlds so close to home. Basically, an actual injury, or a twinge they don't want to risk aggravating. The US silver in Pairs is certainly a nice surprise.

[wintrygal]

According to CBC Duhamel was sick, stomach flu.

Edited February 20, 2016 by wintrygal

[COESpiral]

Allow me to roll my eyes so hard I can see the back of my skull--Virtue and Moir have announced they're coming back next season. And they're training in Montreal with Dubreil and Lauzon...who happen to coach the reigning World Champs Papadakis and Cizeron and American team Hubbell and Donahue. After all of Scott Moir's bitching about not getting their coach's full attention when training with Davis and White, how is this solution any better?

And who will they make the villains in their reality show? Gabrielle or Madison? Or will they turn on Weaver and Poje and infer they're subpar to Tessa and Scott?

[WhitneyWhit]

Allow me to roll my eyes so hard I can see the back of my skull--Virtue and Moir have announced they're coming back next season. And they're training in Montreal with Dubreil and Lauzon...who happen to coach the reigning World Champs Papadakis and Cizeron and American team Hubbell and Donahue. After all of Scott Moir's bitching about not getting their coach's full attention when training with Davis and White, how is this solution any better?

And who will they make the villains in their reality show? Gabrielle or Madison? Or will they turn on Weaver and Poje and infer they're subpar to Tessa and Scott?

I can't wait for all the bitching and moaning that is for sure heading our way over the next two years. They're friends with Weaver and Poje, but I'm sure that's coming to an end now that W/P are seen as legit contenders, and poor P/C, they have no idea the hell that is about to be unleashed on them should they beat V/M, and I certainly hope Dubreil and Lauzon are prepared to treat them as the most special snowflakes to ever exist and to basically ignore all their other students, that is the only behavior V/M will accept from their coach.

[ChicksDigScars]

Grooooooaaaaan. No. Come onnnn. No more Virtue and Doucheface. Do the still have those crazy fans insisting that they have a secret love child, who publicly stuck little pins in Meryl Davis dolls, and posted how "untalented" she actually was, made fun of her looks, not to mention trying to paint her with the mean girl brush. Gold medal AND tacky mirror ball trophy of dancing show goodness, assholes.

Watching the NBC coverage of FCC. Could Gracie look any more disconnected? Wow. Instead of resting bitch face, we have Skating Bitchface. Wait...there's our Resting Bitchface. It's on Frank Carroll.

Shibs were great. You can really tell the difference in that twizzle sequence when the Canadians skated after them. Just not as crisp and fast as Maia and Alex. Unfortunately, NBC chose NOT to show us Hubble and Donohue, whose free dance scored higher than Weaver and Poje.

Edited February 20, 2016 by ChicksDigScars