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OriginalCyn

By OriginalCyn
in Sports

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ChicksDigScars
ChicksDigScars

“I wish the Shibutanis were [in Milan] because last year I gave them my medal,” Donohue said, “and I don’t plan on doing that this year.” Uhhh..what? Yeah, and they gave you their National title

absnow54
absnow54

I get that figure skating is a jumping sport right now, and Alyssa Lui is the best chance for competing with the Russians, but damn, Mariah Bell’s free skate is the reason I find this sport so compell

Jeddah
Jeddah

I do love the Shibs, but it still would have been an obnoxious thing to say about any team, not just them. It implies that they didn’t earn their medal. That they didn’t work for it. That their two cl

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Jeddah

Jeddah

22 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

Wasn't there an ice dancing team that did two versions of Romeo and Juliet for the short and long? I might totally be misremembering. 

I vaguely remember an ice dancing team doing it too. The girl was a showgirl or something and the guy was a nerd? Not a great theme to begin with, much less build two programs around.

Jeddah

Jeddah

4 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

In addition to Denis's friends and family, my thoughts immediately went to Frank Carroll, imagining how awful this must be for someone of his age who has devoted his life to coaching.  I believe he was still Denis's primary coach, wasn't he?

Phil Hersh’s article has some comments from Frank Carroll. He shared some very sweet memories of Denis.

http://www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com/home/2018/7/19/a-sad-untimely-farewell-to-denis-ten-iconic-as-the-artist-on-ice

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EVS

EVS

1 hour ago, Jeddah said:

Phil Hersh’s article has some comments from Frank Carroll. He shared some very sweet memories of Denis.

http://www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com/home/2018/7/19/a-sad-untimely-farewell-to-denis-ten-iconic-as-the-artist-on-ice

Great article. Thanks for posting the link. The last story/paragraph was so sweet, I was fighting back tears after reading it. 

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doodlebug

doodlebug

7 hours ago, Jeddah said:

Phil Hersh’s article has some comments from Frank Carroll. He shared some very sweet memories of Denis.

http://www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com/home/2018/7/19/a-sad-untimely-farewell-to-denis-ten-iconic-as-the-artist-on-ice

Thanks for sharing that, what a lovely article.  Dennis Ten was a really special skater, both artist and athlete.

  • Love 4
honeywest

honeywest

10 hours ago, Jeddah said:

I vaguely remember an ice dancing team doing it too. The girl was a showgirl or something and the guy was a nerd? Not a great theme to begin with, much less build two programs around.

Zhiganshina and Gaszi, the German ice-dance team. They also had a zombie number and a Carmen in which she wore a housedress and he wore an undershirt.

annzeepark914

annzeepark914

11 hours ago, honeywest said:

Zhiganshina and Gaszi, the German ice-dance team. They also had a zombie number and a Carmen in which she wore a housedress and he wore an undershirt.

Now this ^^ I wish I had seen!  A housedress on her, an undershirt on him.  Sort of like Stella and Stanley on ice.  He could've been yelling, Stelllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaa across the rink, as the Carmen music blasted away.

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Enero

Enero

^ It really is amazing that Candeloro was able to medal in any competition considering his wild technique and clunky skating. I guess he was entertaining enough though. Also, I think his career peaked at the perfect time, when there really weren't any consistently strong contenders for silver and bronze for a couple of seasons. Him managing to defend his OBM in 98' was surprising, but considering how others skated at that event, I guess he managed to have a better skate i.e. not end up on his ass. 

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doodlebug

doodlebug

(edited)
16 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

I'm pretty sure I've said it here or int he Olympics thread but that steps sequence is a thing of beauty that is rarely seen anymore (imo of course), artistically he was so much fun to watch.

I was fortunate enough to see him skate live in Lillehammer.  He wasn't always the most graceful, but he knew how to connect with an audience and bring them into the skate.  He had a charisma and warmth that so many skaters today lack.  He also did have beautiful, intricate step sequences the likes of which we almost never see these days.

Candeloro had a tremendous ability to connect with the character and the music and tell a story with his skating.  Just so fun to watch.

Edited by doodlebug
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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

I'm trying to think of which skater(s) pulled in an audience like Phillipe did with that sword fight.  Jason Brown sure did with his Riverdance program (loved that choreography & music).  Possibly Michelle Kwan at Worlds 2003? where attendees said that 2/3's of the way through her LP, the audience was applauding and making so much noise that she said later she couldn't hear her music.  I want to add Mishkutenok/Dmitriev's '94 Olympic Rachmaninov LP as I recall the audience was applauding it before it ended (but that could've been just me going wild over it at home). Oh wait...a more recent audience puller-inner was the bronze medal winners Black Swan FD at the 2014 O's in Russia (and I don't think it was just home crowd rapture). Figure skating, as it's become more technically difficult, has lost a lot of that creativity/artistry.  I'm sure there are more heart-stoppers...just can't think of them right now.

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ML89

ML89

Candeloro has presence and charisma, which you can't teach, and thrived on performing. That sword step sequence is so good - I miss those big highlight sequences where they weren't trying to rack up every point and the skate could just breathe. I wasn't the biggest Yagudin fan but his step sequences were terrific. Now most seem to skate within themselves and try to rack up all the points. It gets really dreary after awhile. 

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

13 hours ago, ML89 said:

It gets really dreary after awhile. 

This sentence says it all, IMO, about today's figure skating competitions.  Most of the skaters do skate within themselves (even in exhibitions where you'd think they'd let it all hang out and go wild...they pick some sad piece of music that "speaks" to them but not to the rest of us).  I remember Yagudin's 2002 LP step sequence and how exciting it was.  There's another skater who got the crowd worked up.

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Crs97

Crs97

I know my Boitano hero worship is showing, but he drew people in not because he played to them, but because he was just simply fantastic.  Watching him in person, you couldn’t help but marvel at his power and technique and speed.  I swear he could cover the length of the ice with one push of his skate and still be faster than anyone else.  His clean lines, his height on jumps that flowed with the program - no one seems to be able to do that anymore.

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ombelico

ombelico

5 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I know my Boitano hero worship is showing, but he drew people in not because he played to them, but because he was just simply fantastic.  Watching him in person, you couldn’t help but marvel at his power and technique and speed.  I swear he could cover the length of the ice with one push of his skate and still be faster than anyone else.  His clean lines, his height on jumps that flowed with the program - no one seems to be able to do that anymore.

And that spread eagle. God, that spread eagle.

  • Love 10
SeanC

SeanC

For Canadian skating, one of the more interesting/important storylines for this season is going to be Stephen Gogolev's long-awaited debut on the international junior scene.  He (along with the other notable Canadian junior men) were all at the Minto Club's recent event.

The junior men aren't doing quads in the short program this year, apparently, so his short is on the lower end in terms of technical content (I expect they'll all put quads in for Canadian nationals):

 

The free skate was a bit erratic (it was a problem for everybody, due to the short amount of time between the SP and the FS), but still, he's a 13-year-old with a quad Lutz.

  • Love 1
Jeddah

Jeddah

Phil Hersh’s article about Frank’s retirement:

Frank Carroll: At 80, he retires from a “frozen life” of transcendent coaching success in figure skating

There’s quite a bit in this article that I hadn’t heard before. He seems to have had a falling out with about half of his skaters, but it sounds like most of them reconciled at some point!

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Enero

Enero

23 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Her general skating skills have improved imo ....The music cuts are ghastly and sabotaging her!

I agree.  Her carriage and skating skills appear to have grown leaps and bounds overnight. Her jumps look more effortless as does her basic skating skills. That said, it still feels as if she's rushing through a lot of positions. Some things could be held just a half a second longer. IMO. 

And I agree the music cuts are horrible. It's not helping that POTO is so very tired. Wish it would be banned for at least 10 years along with Carmen.

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

15 hours ago, Enero said:

And I agree the music cuts are horrible. It's not helping that POTO is so very tired. Wish it would be banned for at least 10 years along with Carmen.

Not Carmen!! No, no, no.  There's so much drama to Carmen, provided the right skaters use it (e.g., Cappellini & Lanotte, V/M).  Wish the powers that be could stipulate that only strong, artistic skaters could use these warhorses (with the ability to tell a story while skating). Ah, well.  Like that'll ever happen.

  • Love 1
ML89

ML89

Ban Carmen, POTO, anything Rachmaninoff, Tango De Roxanne and Your Song (Vincent Zhou and the Australian lady at least skated new cuts so they get a pass), half a dozen others I'm blanking on but I read in people's lists of new programs and I just sighed. I'm so tired of all of them. Hell a season long rest would be enough.

I loved Toth to AC/DC, there's a novice I just saw skating to "Look What You Made Me Do," Adam to his club song - anything new, please? 

  • Love 2
HartofDixie

HartofDixie

15 hours ago, ML89 said:

Ban Carmen, POTO, anything Rachmaninoff, Tango De Roxanne and Your Song (Vincent Zhou and the Australian lady at least skated new cuts so they get a pass), half a dozen others I'm blanking on but I read in people's lists of new programs and I just sighed. I'm so tired of all of them. Hell a season long rest would be enough.

I loved Toth to AC/DC, there's a novice I just saw skating to "Look What You Made Me Do," Adam to his club song - anything new, please? 

Add in Les Mis, Chicago, and Despacito!

  • Love 3
SeanC

SeanC

The Quebec summer skate event just concluded.  These are always a bit weird to watch, what with the elite international skaters mixed with people who are basically hobbyists (especially at the adult level).  Most of the Quebec-based elite skaters came out for at least a short program, though several (Moore-Towers/Marinaro and Soucisse/Firus, notably, withdrew rather than skate the free).

One of the new pairs teams, Justine Brasseur and Mark Bardei (Justine is Isabelle's niece), debuted.  A lot of work to do there, of course, given that they're a very new team, but they already have a great twist.

The most interesting action was in the dance field, the highest concentration of prominent international-level competitors.  This being a Quebec event, Team Gadbois was all over the place, not just the Canadians, but also the French team of Lauriault/Le Gac and a Bulgarian team (who had the single most eye-catching element).  Of the most immediate interest, in terms of what events are coming out, is probably Marjorie Lajoie and Zach Lagha, Canada's #1 junior team, who'll be aiming to bring home some major hardware in their final junior season:

These are taken off the Skate Quebec livestream, so they're a bit erratic in places, but overall I like the look of both programs.  A little stumble from Marjorie in the free, but otherwise good execution too, particularly this early in the season.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen and Soucisse/Firus both competed in the RD (the latter withdrew after, as I previously said), so we also got a preview of the bronze medal hunt at Nationals this year.  F-B/S placed 0.87 points ahead of S/F.

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SeanC

SeanC

(edited)

First day of the JGP Slovakia, the beginning of the Junior Grand Prix.

In the men's short program, the lead goes to Canada's Stephen Gogolev (poor audio quality here compared to the video I posted earlier).

In the ladies' short, the lead goes to Russia's Anna Shcherbakova.

And in pairs, the Russian team of Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galiamov.

Edited by SeanC
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displayname

displayname

Both Shcherbackova and Gogolev's 4Lz have technique issues, and Gogolev's 4Lz shouldn't have been ratified as being clean. 

Gogolev is the first skater whose technique has been built by TCC coaches pretty much from base-up. The best technicians from that camp were Yuna and Yuzuru -- both of whom learnt basics from their childhood coaches. There are a LOT of issues there, and Gogolev's an interesting case for TCC's approach to basics. There is no reason for him to have such messed up jumps at his age, and there was certainly no reason for him to do an incorrect 4Lz in the LP, and there is even less of a reason for him to even be practising a 4Lz at all when he gets unclear edges on his 3Lz (which was also ratified clean).

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