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OriginalCyn
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15 hours ago, specialj67 said:

Was hoping I could start enjoying Evgenia Medvedieva's skating since it's obvious from the international space station she's a medal fave for the 2018 Olympics, but so far--nope, still not on that train.

LOVE Chock and Bates' free dance this season, though.

I don't really want to think about 9/11, and hear sirens and so on during a figure skating routine.

The same could be said for holocaust interpretations.

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I've been watching the singles for the first time in years and can't say I'm impressed.  I watch the pairs and dance, but rarely watch the singles, so need to ask when did spins turn so ugly?   I stopped watching single skaters years ago when it turned into a jumping competition.  Now it seems the competition is for the ugliest spin?

Lots of flapping of arms and no real effort in joining movements.  Will the men change my mind or should I skip that too?  I have all the coverage from TSN and CTV on my PVR, but would like to ff or clear up space unless someone can tell me to look out for someone exceptional in singles.

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I counted a total of seven jumps in Evgenia Medvedeva's long program with her arm over her head. Seven. Sheesh. Enough already. I get that it makes the jump harder, and that she gets bonus points for doing it that way, but seven. They really need to come up with a new rule: they can call it the Medvedeva rule, and it should be that you can't do more than 2 jumps with your arm/s over your head, any more than that and you don't get any bonus credit for it. Why? Because it's too much like a trick, or a gimmick. If she's going to get bonus points every time she jumps with her arm over her head, then all the other girls are going to have to jump with their arms over their heads, or they won't be able to compete for points. It therefore becomes the new standard and all the girls will be jumping with their arms over their heads. It needs to stop.

At least Elizaveta Tuktamysheva is wearing a better costume this season. That flowy thing she wore 2 seasons ago was so distracting and hid most of her upper body.

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Wow, does NBC's coverage suck or what?

It sucks all right. I don't get Universal HD and I'm not paying extra for Ice Network.

Oh, and Mirai Nagasu was at Skate Canada, and finished 9th? Who knew?

Edited by iMonrey
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Disson Skating has announced the TV broadcast dates for their 2016-17 skating shows. Listed below are information about the shows, including the taping dates and locations for anyone interested in attending the live performance.

Musselman’s Apple Sauce Family Skating Tribute

TV Broadcast: ABC, Sunday, November 27, 3 - 5 pm EST

Taping: Completed

This is a family-themed show hosted by Olympic Gold Medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and three-time U.S. Champion Michael Weiss featuring Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, Paul Wylie, Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge, Sinead Kerr-Marshall & John Kerr, Silvia Fontana & John Zimmerman, and Jodeyne Higgins & Sean Rice, performing alongside their talented children. Special musical performance by country music duo Dan + Shay.

Holiday Movie Skating Spectacular: Where Did They Film That? The Holiday Music Journey

TV Broadcast: ABC, Sunday, December 4, 3 - 5pm EST

Taping: Wednesday, November 9, 7:30 pm Stockton Arena, Stockton, CA

This holiday-themed show celebrates the greatest holiday movies and holiday soundtracks of all time. The special is hosted by Kristi Yamaguchi and Michael Weiss featuring Brian Boitano, Kimmie Meissner, Caryn Kadavy, Caydee Denney & John Coughlin, Steven Cousins, Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre, Carly Donowick, Jonathon Hunt, Erin Reed, and Ashley Clark. Special musical performance by Italian-American popera star Romina Arena and international renowned music phenomenon The Four Phantoms.

Shall We Dance on Ice

TV Broadcast: ABC, Saturday, February 11, 2017, 3 - 5 pm

Taping: Sunday, December 11, 2016, 7:30 pm, Mandalay Bay Event Center, Las Vegas, NV

"Shall We Dance on Ice" is a journey of dance through the ages with both skating and dance performances. The special is hosted by Kristi Yamaguchi and Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec and will feature performances by superstar dancers, including Dmitry Chaplin, Chelsie Hightower, Tristan MacManus, and Anna Trebunskaya. The special will also include performances by ice dancers Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Sinead Kerr-Marshall & John Kerr, Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev, Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen, Isabella Tobias & Ilia Tkachenko, Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam, Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre, and Beata Handra & Joel Dear. Special musical performance by Grammy Award-nominated Goo Goo Dolls.

Colgate Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular

TV Broadcast: ABC, Saturday, February 18, 2017, 3 - 5 pm

Taping: TBA

This show is a skating and gymnastics-themed special hosted by Kristi Yamaguchi, Michael Weiss, and Olympic Gold Medalist gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci. The special will feature figure skaters, including Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Nancy Kerrigan, Alissa Czisny, Caydee Denney & John Coughlin, Carly Donowick, and Wesley Campbell - as well as gymnasts Simone Biles, Danell Leyva, Alex Naddour, and Chris Brooks. Special musical performances by indie-pop band Echosmith.

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On 10/31/2016 at 4:55 PM, iMonrey said:

I counted a total of seven jumps in Evgenia Medvedeva's long program with her arm over her head. Seven. Sheesh. Enough already. I get that it makes the jump harder, and that she gets bonus points for doing it that way, but seven. They really need to come up with a new rule: they can call it the Medvedeva rule, and it should be that you can't do more than 2 jumps with your arm/s over your head, any more than that and you don't get any bonus credit for it. Why? Because it's too much like a trick, or a gimmick. If she's going to get bonus points every time she jumps with her arm over her head, then all the other girls are going to have to jump with their arms over their heads, or they won't be able to compete for points. It therefore becomes the new standard and all the girls will be jumping with their arms over their heads. It needs to stop.

At least Elizaveta Tuktamysheva is wearing a better costume this season. That flowy thing she wore 2 seasons ago was so distracting and hid most of her upper body.

It sucks all right. I don't get Universal HD and I'm not paying extra for Ice Network.

Oh, and Mirai Nagasu was at Skate Canada, and finished 9th? Who knew?

I was really hoping for Mirai to have a good competition.  She's been looking good in training.

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On 10/28/2016 at 7:41 PM, Shades of Red said:

Just watched an interview that Rod Black did with Scott and Tessa.  Can you say diplomatic?  Wow - Scott was really trying to make the past sound like it was an anomaly and that they've learned from it.  Wonder how long it will take for them to complain or turn into jerks to Andrew and Kaitlyn?  I like watching them skate in skating shows, but am not impressed they are back in competitions. 

No spoilers but will share I do like this "pick your skating order" stuff.  It shakes things up a bit and makes viewing more exciting.  Of course I'm watching coverage on TSN, so they have all the skaters unlike the networks that just have highlights.  In those cases, this shake up of skating order doesn't matter.

I can't find this interview, but are they still complaining about Meryl and Charlie claiming that the world is just so unfair to them?

I wonder if P/C know what they're in for should they win Worlds this year?

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The next stop on the Grand Prix circuit is the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow this weekend.

This event is not coming From Russia With Love, at least as far as the TV networks are concerned. None of the events will be shown on NBC; all coverage is on the NBC cable networks. Likewise, Canadian TV is showing only the Free Skates. But icenetwork will live stream all the competition from Moscow, giving us at least one platform to watch all the skating, although you will have to get up early to watch many of the events.

The biggest battle in Moscow should be among the Russians in Ladies; Julia Lipnitskaia, Anna Pogorilaya and Elena Raionova are scheduled to compete at the Rostelecom Cup. In Dance, Weaver and Poje of Canada will be making their season debut, and they will square off against Chock and Bates of the U.S. and Bobrova and Soloviev of Russia. The Men’s competition will include Shoma Uno of Japan, Javier Fernandez of Spain and Mikhail Kolyada of Russia. The Pairs event has been pretty decimated by injuries, but it still will be interesting to see how Seguin and Bilodeau of Canada do competing against Savchenko and Massot of Germany.

Here is the broadcast schedule for Rostelecom Cup. As always, all times listed are EASTERN. Check your local schedule (especially after the time change at 2 am this Sunday) for the times and channels in your area:

ICENETWORK LIVE STREAMING

Friday, Nov. 4 - 7:45 am: Short Dance

Friday, Nov. 4 - 9:25 am: Men’s Short Program

Friday, Nov. 4 - 12:00 noon: Pairs Short Program

Friday, Nov. 4 - 1:40 pm: Ladies Short Program

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 7:00 am: Free Dance

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 8:50 am: Men’s Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 11:05 am: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 12:50 pm: Ladies Free Skate

UNIVERSAL HD

Friday, Nov. 4 - 8:00 pm: Men’s Short

Friday, Nov. 4 - 9:00 pm: Ladies Short

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 8:00 pm: Free Dance

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 9:00 pm: Pairs Free Skate

NBCSN

Sunday, Nov. 6 - 10:00 pm: Men and Ladies Free Skate

CBC (CANADA)

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 4:00 pm: Free Dance, Men and Pairs Free Skate

Sunday, Nov. 6 - 3:00 pm: Ladies Free Skate

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13 hours ago, WhitneyWhit said:

I can't find this interview, but are they still complaining about Meryl and Charlie claiming that the world is just so unfair to them?

 

I think this is the link for the interview.  I'm at work with no sound, but the video looks like it's the right one.

I finally watched all the short programs in all the disciplines for Skate Canada and am not impressed with the singles at all.  The spins aren't anything special and I'm tired of seeing everyone do a Biellman spin.  It used to be a unique thing but now it's overused by both the women and men.  Spinning used to be an art form, but it's now looking like it's something thrown in to fill up time.  Looks like much hasn't improved either for artistry or not making things a jumping competition for the men at least.  I've totally forgotten what any of the women did.  Master the basic jumps first and then move on to the quads.  I'm really disappointed that so many of the men had issues with a triple axel. 

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I am not sure why a sport needs to be made easier for others to compete . There are lots of ways to add points to a program.  Medvedeva does it her way . If the others can't find a way to compete with her , I think they have bigger problems than how their competitor's program is choreographed. It's like saying that a hitter shouldn't be able to use a perfectly legal batting stance because his power is improved by it, and others can't compete with him if he keeps using it. If this is a sport , then difficulty should be rewarded every time, and the person who does the most difficult program should win . If it's not, it should be removed from the Olympics. 

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Late on this, but last night I found the recording of Skate America on my PVR and finally watched it.  I think if Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès can skate a clean program, they have a real shot at some medals.  Their routine is, for lack of a better phrase, really cool.  At least it is to me.  I was thrilled for our Canadian pair, but was disappointed for Vanessa and Morgan.

Tried to watch the rest of the singles' long programs from Skate Canada and it's proven to me once again why I don't watch them and won't bother to for the rest of the season unless I hear of something remarkable happening.  Both the men and women's competition have turned into a jumping contest with very little artistry and quite frankly I find them boring to watch.   Maybe I'm too old, but give me a great routine like Toller, Kurt, the two Brians and even Elvis used to give us and I'd watch that any day.  I also enjoyed watching Phillippe Candeloro.  These men had skills and personality.  Not finding that in today's skaters or maybe I haven't been watching the right ones.

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23 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

I am not sure why a sport needs to be made easier for others to compete . There are lots of ways to add points to a program.  Medvedeva does it her way . If the others can't find a way to compete with her , I think they have bigger problems than how their competitor's program is choreographed. It's like saying that a hitter shouldn't be able to use a perfectly legal batting stance because his power is improved by it, and others can't compete with him if he keeps using it. If this is a sport , then difficulty should be rewarded every time, and the person who does the most difficult program should win . If it's not, it should be removed from the Olympics. 

I agree to a point, but , say, just because someone can do 3lutzs flawlessly there is a reason why they can't do 4 or 5 in a program.  So yes, it is within the rules  (for now)for her to get bonus points for executing a jump with a hand over her head 7 times. I can't see a reason why they can't limit the number of jumps you get credit for doing it.

As it is, they already limit any number of moves which result in more bonus points.  

Edited by caracas1914
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1 hour ago, HartofDixie said:

What happened to Yulia Lipnitskaia?

She has numbness in her leg. I can't read Russian, so I don't know if this is a recent occurrence or an ongoing injury.

Color me underwhelmed by the season so far, but I haven't gotten to watch a lot of it either. *glares at NBC*

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I am not sure why a sport needs to be made easier for others to compete . There are lots of ways to add points to a program.  Medvedeva does it her way . If the others can't find a way to compete with her , I think they have bigger problems than how their competitor's program is choreographed. 

That's not really what I meant. As caracas1914 pointed out above, there are already rules in place that you can't do the same jump over and over again. So if you put a double toe loop on the end of every single jump you do, you don't get bonus points for it every time you do it. I don't see why the same shouldn't apply to jumping with your arm(s) over your head. If you do that seven times it's just a gimmick. And if they're going to award bonus points for all seven times she does it then all the other girls are going to have to start jumping with their arms over their heads and it will just become the default way of jumping. I don't want to see that.

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I noticed that too, carrier76. So we don't get to see any of this latest weekend of skating here in the US, do we? Sigh. Maybe I'll just forget about watching skating on tv and just go straight to YouTube. Probably easier that way anyway.

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The next stop on the Grand Prix is the Trophee de France, which will be held in Paris this weekend.

Icenetwork posted an interesting interview with Eric Bompard about why his company is no longer sponsoring this Grand Pix event. Bompard explained that he had an agreement with the French Federation that the event would return to Paris after one year in Bordeaux while the rink in Paris was being renovated. But instead, the French Federation decided to keep the event in Bordeaux for 2015. After the event was cut short last year because of the terrorist attack in Paris, the French Federation was supposed to refund some of the sponsorship money but never did. Then, Bompard said, he tried several times last spring to contact French Federation president Didier Gailhaguet about this year’s event, but Gailhaguet was too busy campaigning to be ISU President to get back to him. At that point, Bompard decided to end his company’s sponsorship of the Grand Prix event.

Once again, there is no NBC broadcast of this event; all coverage of Trophee de France will be on UniversalHD and NBCSN. Also, the Pairs Short and Short Dance again are being ignored completely. Canadian TV is showing only the Free Skates from Paris. But icenetwork will live stream all the skating at this event, and at decent times too.

Here’s the broadcast schedule for Trophee de France. All times listed are EASTERN. Check your TV schedule for the times and channels in your area.

Icenetwork

Friday, Nov. 11 - 9:30 am: Pairs Short Program

Friday, Nov. 11 - 11:00 am: Short Dance

Friday, Nov. 11 - 12:40 pm: Men’s Short Program

Friday, Nov. 11 - 2:40 pm: Ladies Short Program

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 7:30 am: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 9:25 am: Free Dance

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 12:15 pm: Men’s Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 2:30 pm: Ladies Free Skate

UniversalHD

Friday, Nov. 11 - 8:00 pm: Men’s Short Program

Friday, Nov. 11 - 9:00 pm: Ladies Short Program

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 8:00 pm: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 9:00 pm: Free Dance

NBCSN

Sunday, Nov. 13 - 4:00 pm: Men and Ladies Free Skate

CBC

Saturday, Nov. 12 - 3:00 pm: Pairs, Dance and Men’s Free Skate

Sunday, Nov. 13 - 2:00 pm: Ladies Free Skate

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I have this headcanon that every time Terry Gannon watches these struggling skaters, he thinks "If I could just have V around so he could talk to them..."

Gracie needs to get away from Carroll yesterday.

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On 11/4/2016 at 9:05 AM, Shades of Red said:

Late on this, but last night I found the recording of Skate America on my PVR and finally watched it.  I think if Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès can skate a clean program, they have a real shot at some medals.  Their routine is, for lack of a better phrase, really cool.  At least it is to me.  I was thrilled for our Canadian pair, but was disappointed for Vanessa and Morgan.

 

You called it- they got closer to it in France, and, while the edges are still rough, there's so much potential there to do a show-stopper. Do have to say I do not love the emo 'Sound of Silence' but at least it's not Broadway or Bolero or something.

While I understand that it probably benefits a skater in the winter to show the judges a bunch of things during the fall Grand Prix season, I think it would have been better for Gracie to at least have bailed from Skate America if not the whole GP season. Some athletes can start a season undertrained and compete their way to peak form, but she's not part of that group, and it would have been better for her shaky confidence to pull back and find an event, even a second tier one, later on the calendar when she had her legs back.

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I wish Ryan Bradley and Tracey Wilson were the commentators on the NBC broadcasts instead of Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinsky. I'm just so over Johnny and Tara, and Ryan and Tracey were so professional during their commentary on the pairs in France on Universal HD. Johnny and Tara always seem to find a way to make it all about them and their biases are so glaring. 

Who won men's and ladie's in France? I only saw pairs and dance.

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On 11/7/2016 at 9:22 AM, iMonrey said:

That's not really what I meant. As caracas1914 pointed out above, there are already rules in place that you can't do the same jump over and over again. So if you put a double toe loop on the end of every single jump you do, you don't get bonus points for it every time you do it. I don't see why the same shouldn't apply to jumping with your arm(s) over your head. If you do that seven times it's just a gimmick. And if they're going to award bonus points for all seven times she does it then all the other girls are going to have to start jumping with their arms over their heads and it will just become the default way of jumping. I don't want to see that.

I want this rule to be put into place before the Olympics. 

I agree that two times should be the max. Evgenia does it so often that it went from special to being annoying and tired trick. Gimmick is a perfect way to describe it. 

I'm disappointed that Elena still has the Titanic program. I've said it before but I feel for any rinkmates of hers who have to hear it every day.

Anna Pogorilaya has definitely improved. I was pleasantly surprised and hope that she keeps it up.  

The Canadian ladies have also been a nice surprise this season. Looking forward to seeing how that nationals turns out. d

I feel terrible for Gracie and don't understand what's happening there. She seems miserable. 

Another person who strikes me as unhappy is Julia. Her face also looks very different to me. I can't tell if she had something done or it's just makeup but I thought it was a noticeable change.

It's hard to watch Mao and Mirai struggle. 

Once again, Russian nationals is going to be one of the most exciting competitions of the year. I'll admit that I look forward to it just as much as I look forward to US Nationals.

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Carolina Kostner's suspension for lying to anti-doping officials about the whereabouts of her idiot boyfriend is just about up and she's set to return to competition in December. (Idiot boyfriend is currently serving a 8 year suspension from racewalking competition for an unrelated second doping offense)

http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1043739/olympic-bronze-medallist-banned-for-aiding-doping-of-schwazer-to-return-next-month

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Cup of China is this weekend. Once again, there will be no NBC broadcast; all coverage will be on UniversalHD and NBCSN. Canadian TV will be showing only the Free Skates. Icenetwork, as usual, will live stream the competition from China. However, most that live streaming will occur in the wee hours of the morning because of the time change between Beijing and the Eastern U.S. You will have to decide if sleep is highly over-rated if you want to watch the competition live.

Here is the broadcast schedule for Cup of China. All times listed are EASTERN. Be sure to check your local listings for the times and channels in your area.

ICENETWORK

Friday, Nov. 18 - 2:30 am: Short Dance

Friday, Nov. 18 - 4:10 am: Ladies Short Program

Friday, Nov. 18 - 6:05 am: Men’s Short Program

Friday, Nov. 18 - 8:00 am: Pairs Short Program

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 1:30 am: Free Dance

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 3:30 am: Ladies Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 5:45 am: Men’s Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 8:00 am: Pairs Free Skate

UNIVERSAL HD

Friday, Nov. 18 - 8:00 pm: Ladies Short  Program

Friday, Nov. 18 - 9:00 pm: Men’s Short Program

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 9:00 pm: Free Dance

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 10:00 pm: Pairs  Free Skate

Monday, Nov. 21 - 8:00 pm: Re-Broadcast of NBCSN telecast of Men and Ladies Free Skate

NBCSN

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 11:00 pm: Men and Ladies Free Skate

CBC (Canada)

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 2:00 pm: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 19 - 4:00 pm: Free Dance, Ladies and Men’s Free Skate

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This weekend is the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan, the last event in this season’s Grand Prix series.

The broadcast schedule for this week is a bit complicated. First, because of the schedule in Japan and that whole international dateline/time difference thing, live streaming on icenetwork will occur in the morning and in the evening. Also, NBC is not only going to show the Men and Ladies Free Skate from Japan but also recap the results from the Rostelecom Cup and Trophee de France, which happened a few weeks ago. So there will be all kinds of skating on TV this week; you’ll just have to sort out what you are watching.

Here’s the skating broadcast schedule for this week. All times listed are EASTERN. Check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.

Icenetwork Live Streaming

Friday, Nov. 25 - 12:10 am: Pairs Short Program

Friday, Nov. 25 - 2:10 am: Ladies Short Program

Friday, Nov. 25 - 5:11 am: Men’s Short Program

Friday, Nov. 25 - 10:45 pm: Short Dance

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 12:35 am: Pairs Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 2:57 am: Ladies Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 5:30 am: Men’s Free Skate

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 9:45 pm: Free Dance

UniversalHD

Friday, Nov. 25 - 8:00 pm: Ladies Short Program

Friday, Nov. 25 - 9:00 pm: Men’s Short Program

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 8:30 pm: Pairs Free Skate

Sunday, Nov. 27 - 3:00 pm: Free Dance

NBC

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 4:00 pm: Recap of Rostelecom Cup

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 5:00 pm: Recap of Trophee de France

Sunday, Nov. 27 - 4:00 pm: NHK Trophy: Men and Ladies Free Skate

CBC

Saturday, Nov. 26 - 2:00 pm: Pairs, Ladies and Men’s Free Skate

Sunday, Nov. 27 - 2:00 pm: Free Dance

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Maybe I'm too old, but give me a great routine like Toller, Kurt, the two Brians and even Elvis used to give us and I'd watch that any day.  I also enjoyed watching Phillippe Candeloro.  These men had skills and personality.  Not finding that in today's skaters or maybe I haven't been watching the right ones.

I disagree and I'm old too!  I think Brian Orser is doing an amazing job with his skaters.  Yuna Kim, Javier, Usuru and Patrick Chan -- all are artistically equal to any of the past champions.  If Jason cleans up his routines, he could be a Phillippe too!  And let's remember, for every Brian there was a Jan Hoffman (or as the NY Times called him, "An oak tree on blades.")  I never found Scott Hamilton's competition routines very artistic.  And often, the artistry was the very corny routines of the Russians like Ilia Kulik or an Alexei Urmanov.  

I think that we only remember the great ones and forget all the champions who won because they were great in figures or the artistic ones fell.

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I wish Ryan Bradley and Tracey Wilson were the commentators on the NBC broadcasts instead of Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinsky.

They just did a great job with NHK coverage ... Johnny got back to being a serious commentator and pointed out that Jason Brown's problems were due to his flexibility and why flexible guys have a difficult time with some jumps, he and Tara talked very intelligently about Usuru and how he, unlike other prior Olympic champions, continues to grow as a skater and isn't afraid to fail while trying new jumps rather than stop his skating growth at the point of his Olympic performance.  

Edited by AuntieDiane6
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Crap. We just don't have any contenders in the ladies discipline, do we? Why is that? Is it because too many American skaters just don't train as hard as their European or Japanese counterparts? Is it because they try to balance college and training whereas the Europeans and Japanese just live and breathe skating and do nothing else?

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36 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Crap. We just don't have any contenders in the ladies discipline, do we? Why is that? Is it because too many American skaters just don't train as hard as their European or Japanese counterparts? Is it because they try to balance college and training whereas the Europeans and Japanese just live and breathe skating and do nothing else?

I have no idea. Someone with more figure skating knowledge would probably have better insights. To me it seems like Gracie has the talent, but is not in a good place emotionally. I think Ashley has always been somewhat inconsistent.  I wish Mariah Bell could have skated in a second GP event. I was at Skate America and the reaction to her FS was so awesome. If she could have skated that well a second time, maybe she would have made the finals. 

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For the first time in a very long time, I have to say the number of talented dance pairs is astounding.  I do have my favourite team - Andrew Poje and Kaitlyn Weaver, but am appreciating the talent and skill many of the other couples are bringing to the table.   In this case I like the new scoring system as it really is almost anyone's game to win.  I remember when it was a foregone conclusion on who would medal and rarely was it a surprise for what colour the medals were that were won.

I do laugh every time I watch Tessa and Scott being interviewed and how diplomatically they are presenting themselves.   Not sure how long that will last, but it is funny to watch.

Shame on CBC for not showing any of the pairs' routine this past weekend.  I'm not sure how or why that happened, but they need to make sure any guide doesn't say they will as they've been wasting good PVR space for skaters I don't want to watch!

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I'm loving watching the Shibutanis, Hubbell/Donahue, Papadakis/Cizeron, and Weaver/Poje.  But I have one request:  no more hip hop for a required style in the SD?  It just doesn't translate well to the ice, IMO.

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I'm a Tessa and Scott uber. Pleasantly surprised they beat the French at NHK. I do love their programs this season. Tessa is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. STUNNING!

As far as the American ladies go, we haven't had a strong one since Sasha retired. There was that 10 year drought at Worlds. Ashley has issues, fundamentally. And she isn't getting any younger. Gracie is a hot hot mess emotionally. That is almost impossible to change, especially at this point in her career. Sad, but true. I'd just be happy if we can get 3 girls to the Olympics and I pray one of them is my girl Mirai. And even though she is fitter than she has been in years, she still struggles with nerves and underrotating her jumps. So much of skating at this level is mental.

Edited by delicatecutter
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