Figure Skating

[Good Queen Jane]

2 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Judging from the Ladies short scores, Gracie's return must not have gone well. 

She did a double Lutz/double toe for her combination, which got all -5 GOEs, fell on her triple Flip, singled her Axel, and got Level 2s on her step sequence and spins. Her component scores went from 4.75 to 7.75. So, yes, I think you can safely say it did not go well.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Good Queen Jane

[Enero]

10 hours ago, carrier76 said:

This is shallow, but I am also super eyerolly at his Intense!, I-AM-THE-BEST! faces that he makes at the end of every performance.

That’s the nature of the beast. When you ARE the best you act like...you’re the best. Lol. Plushy used to do the same in his era like how dare anyone challenge my reign as king on ice. I personally find it hilarious. The confidence and command, but I understand how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. 

Regarding COR, I just can’t with Atonal - the music, but I think the choreography for this program is fantastic and very different from the brilliant Ballade1.  He skated great. IMHO. I thought it was so much better than what he did in Helsinki. 

1 hour ago, Good Queen Jane said:

She did a double Lutz/double toe for her combination, which got all -5 GOEs, fell on her triple Flip, singled her Axel, and got Level 2s on her step sequence and spins. Her component scores went from 4.75 to 7.75. So, yes, I think you can safely say it did not go well.

 

I’ve never been a fan, but I must admit I was intrigued by the idea of her returning. I knew she wouldn’t be blowing the roof off and upsetting Alina or Evgenia, but I expected her to at least make top 5. I hope this disappointment doesn’t send her into a mental setback and she’s able to push forward. 

Edited November 16, 2018 by Enero

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

   10 HOURS AGO,  CARRIER76 SAID: 

This is shallow, but I am also super eyerolly at his Intense!, I-AM-THE-BEST! faces that he makes at the end of every performance.

That’s the nature of the beast. When you ARE the best you act like...you’re the best. Lol. Plushy used to do the same in his era like how dare anyone challenge my reign as king on ice. I personally find it hilarious. The confidence and command, but I understand how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. 

I love his attitude.  And remember, when he lost to his training mate, Javi, at Worlds, he was nothing but gracious.  

[Mellowyellow]

I hope Gracie does well and enjoys her comeback but I wonder if it's the best thing for her with her struggles.

Surely in a world where people are predicting that Evgenia is in big trouble or that Alina will be pushed aside next year, this come back can't be healthy for her.

***

I like Yuzuru but I hope to see Nathan give him a run for his money. 

[specialj67]

Eeesh, that Rostelecom Cup men’s short was rough, aside from Hanyu. 

[BelleBrit]

It was a little painful to watch Gracie in the kiss and cry with her new coaches sit in silence, and them not say anything or even making eye contact with her (Vincent Restencourt and the other male coach...not sure what his name was...shared a few looks with each other).  Gracie had supposedly met Vincent earlier this year and had a connection with him/decided to go train with him and make a go at a comeback, but the whole thing was just so awkward to watch. The performance itself was not surprising at all.  Gracie basically lost all of her triples and her double axel in spring of 2017, and just started training to get everything back in the last 6 months (so it's been a physical journey in addition to a mental health one).  She was able to do a bit more in the practices but it's going to be a long road, and it's hard enough to get that stuff back outside of putting jumps into a program.  Figure skating is not like some of the other sports where the athlete can sit out for a few years and just get their skills back easily due to their raw talent.  Gracie is doing the grand prix because she wouldn't be able to get to this year's nationals through regionals at this point, but this whole week has got to be so mentally triggering for her. She gave an interview where she basically said "I wouldn't have started out with doing a smaller competition first because that would have been too easy and it's my personality to go to the hardest grand prix without having competed at all in two years or being fully trained"....which, I get her point, but seems a bit intentionally self destructive. 

I guess that as long as she is able to stay physically and mentally healthy, that's all that matters. I'm guessing that perhaps she will be able to put out a few more triples in the long program than she was able to in the short, which would be a victory at this point.  I'm not particularly looking forward to the awkward experience of watching her on the nose long program set to She Used to Be Mine, even though it's a beautiful song and very fitting.  It reminds me of how awkward it was to watch Gracie's exhibition after 2016 worlds with the lyrics "everybody loves a winner...so nobody loves me...". 

[specialj67]

I just checked the start order for the RC women’s free skate, and it seems Gracie Gold withdrew? That’s disappointing but not entirely surprising.

[SeanC]

Hanyu apparently injured himself during the practice session, which would explain the rough free skate (albeit one where he still landed three quads).  He was on crutches afterward, and said he's taking three weeks off.  So his participation in the Final is an open question.

Pairs event, I really like the Austrian team (Ziegler/Kiefer) who finished fourth (third in the free).  I see that Bruno Massot is on their coaching team now, so hopefully he can help them move to the next level.

[honeywest]

Zagitova gold, Samodurova silver, Lim bronze. Gracie Gold withdrew.

[SeanC]

Zagitova obviously wasn't in danger of losing this event, but her jumps are definitely starting to go.  Increasingly laboured, and she's getting UR calls even in Russia.  At this point her TES is actually lower than her PCS, which is the opposite of last year.  At this point I'd say that it's not just Rika Kihira who's a threat to her internationally.

Lim Eun-soo becomes the first (and probably only) ladies medalist of the Grand Prix who isn't from Russia or Japan.

Switzerland's (really America's) Alexia Paganini finishes fourth with a career-best (by like 25 points) at her first Grand Prix.  She looked delighted with the result even though she didn't medal, understandably.

[Avaleigh]

I'm a big Gracie fan so it was really hard to watch that short program. So many unkind things were said about her back when she was legitimately competitive and now that the quality of her skating has declined, some of the comments are even worse. Now that she's nowhere close to being ready to be back in the game, she's basically been permanently written off as though there's no way in hell it's possible that she could maybe, just maybe make a comeback of sorts. It's obviously not happening this season but I like to think that if she's able to focus, properly train, continue to manage her eating disorder, and remember what she loves about this sport that maybe she can at least leave the ice with a performance that makes her feel proud as opposed to a performance that makes people feel sorry for her. 

It bums me out though that she's likely to leave this sport without achieving a world medal especially when I think of how close she was in 2016. At least she has her Olympic team medal and national titles. Those are huge accomplishments for her to be proud of and the sport will always remember her for them.

I can't help but think of the list of skaters who have dealt with body and confidence issues over the years and it makes me sad because this sport can really do a number on a person psychologically. 

[BelleBrit]

13 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

I'm a big Gracie fan so it was really hard to watch that short program. So many unkind things were said about her back when she was legitimately competitive and now that the quality of her skating has declined, some of the comments are even worse. Now that she's nowhere close to being ready to be back in the game, she's basically been permanently written off as though there's no way in hell it's possible that she could maybe, just maybe make a comeback of sorts. It's obviously not happening this season but I like to think that if she's able to focus, properly train, continue to manage her eating disorder, and remember what she loves about this sport that maybe she can at least leave the ice with a performance that makes her feel proud as opposed to a performance that makes people feel sorry for her. 

It bums me out though that she's likely to leave this sport without achieving a world medal especially when I think of how close she was in 2016. At least she has her Olympic team medal and national titles. Those are huge accomplishments for her to be proud of and the sport will always remember her for them.

I can't help but think of the list of skaters who have dealt with body and confidence issues over the years and it makes me sad because this sport can really do a number on a person psychologically. 

This sport is pretty brutal.  Only 4 out of the women who placed in the top 10 at worlds in 2016 even made it to the Olympics this year.  Most skaters who I have loved have had a devastating moment in the kiss and cry at some point (the whole name of the kiss and cry seems so fitting yet antiquated).  Especially with the technical demands increasing on skaters, it seems like elite figure skating has got to be so physically and mentally damaging that these skaters have got to really love it to put themselves through this.  From a physical standpoint, I'm not sure that a comeback for Gracie would be impossible. She is a bit rare in that she did not even start skating until she was eight, I don't think that she could have come this far without having immense raw talent.  Kaetlyn Osmond came back from some pretty horrific injuries. Akiko Suzuki, among others, came back from an eating disorder.  I didn't know that we would ever see Liza Tuktamysheva landing the triple axel on the grand prix circuit again. I think the main question will be whether  Gracie will have the mental space for it. But even if Gracie never is able to make a comeback the way she wants to, I agree that she at least has accomplished a lot and should be proud of it. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by BelleBrit

[MostlyC]

I am sure there are Behind the Scenes/Rules/Political Reasons why she chose a Grand Prix to make her comeback, but I wish she would have skated some smaller events- less pressure, less competition, less scrutiny- and time to figure out the new scoring system (and hell, I don’t quite understand it- it seems the judges are pretty arbitrary). 

But I salute her for coming back to skate, and I hope she continues, assuming her health is in a good place.

[HartofDixie]

3 hours ago, MostlyC said:

I am sure there are Behind the Scenes/Rules/Political Reasons why she chose a Grand Prix to make her comeback, but I wish she would have skated some smaller events- less pressure, less competition, less scrutiny- and time to figure out the new scoring system (and hell, I don’t quite understand it- it seems the judges are pretty arbitrary). 

But I salute her for coming back to skate, and I hope she continues, assuming her health is in a good place.

By accepting a GP she skipped regionals. Since Rostelecom was the same time as sectionals she gets a bye to Nationals. I think she should have done a senior B to get the nerves out. I hope NBC skips her short.

[Darknight]

On 11/17/2018 at 1:08 PM, honeywest said:

Zagitova gold, Samodurova silver, Lim bronze. Gracie Gold withdrew.

I'm not shocked but Alina is way over scored. I don't know what happened to her. Puberty is hard but her coach should work with her. Her program is a mess. I love Alina but I can't stand her program or skating this year. 

I don't understand why Gracie was there. Her coaches should've said no. Skating isn't like swimming or other sports where you can take off for years then go back in. 

Not a big fan of Tatiana Trusova but I love the relationship between her and Hanyu

[displayname]

<insert generic lament of boredom here>

[Mellowyellow]

I thought after Russian test skates, in the first two competitions Alina did really well. The jumps looked good, some of her entrances and exits were amazing. 

Then she kind of started to lose it a bit at the last two competitions. She looks really tired and exhausted or something. Every skate feels very tense. I wonder if she's still growing and it's taking a toll on her or her practice regime is too much. I read they with Eteri they do a lot of run throughs over and over again. I remember this because people were suggesting Evgenia wasn't doing enough run throughs with Orser and forgetting choreography. 

***

Speaking of Gracie and Evgenia I was doing a little Evgenia stalking and browsing her old programs. Her 2016 Worlds LP was gorgeous, as was Gracie's SP at that same event. 

[specialj67]

6 hours ago, Darknight said:

I'm not shocked but Alina is way over scored. I don't know what happened to her. Puberty is hard but her coach should work with her. Her program is a mess. I love Alina but I can't stand her program or skating this year. 

I don't understand why Gracie was there. Her coaches should've said no. Skating isn't like swimming or other sports where you can take off for years then go back in. 

Not a big fan of Tatiana Trusova but I love the relationship between her and Hanyu

Alina won’t change anything as long as she’s coached by Eteri and team. There’s no immediate incentive for her to do so right now, since she’s still regularly winning competitions. I also like aspects of Alina’s skating but can’t stand that they’re being overrun by iffy technique, choppy/busy choreography and terrible music choices.

 

As for Gracie, I put at least some of the blame on USFSA. They could have done something to stop the Rostelecom Cup organizers from inviting her when she’s clearly not ready for that level of international competition. They could have insisted that she do some of the lower-level sectionals and regionals events in order to make her way back to nationals.

[Avaleigh]

I just wish that Alina wouldn't rush through her choreography. For example, her bauer is beautiful but she holds it for a second before she moves on to the next thing. She really needs to allow herself to show off her extension and line. As good as she is I feel like there's a lot of untapped potential with her skating. She could really flourish with the right choreographer.

Still, I'm impressed with the way that Alina is maintaining her jumping ability with this obvious growth spurt. She's doing an awesome job and she goes for everything no matter what. She has determination and charm and overall I really like her skating and think she's exciting. 

As far as the ladies skating, Russian nationals is the competition I'm most looking forward to this year. I never thought I'd look forward to Russian nationals more than US nationals but this has been the case for me for the past three years or so.

Japanese nationals should be exciting too as far as singles. Any thought from anyone on why there haven't been any top Japanese pair teams? Talk about untapped potential. 

Edited November 19, 2018 by Avaleigh

[SeanC]

12 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

Japanese nationals should be exciting too as far as singles. Any thought from anyone on why there haven't been any top Japanese pair teams? Talk about untapped potential. 

Japan’s weakness in pairs and dance is kind of a vicious circle, in that their lack of medalists serves not to inspire people to pursue it.

I’m surprised though that you don’t see more parents putting their promising kids into dance, since elegant bladework is a huge deal in Japanese training anyway, and with the paucity of entrants currently a talented young dance team could rocket to the top of the national standings very quickly and get 10+ years of prime international assignments.  As opposed to trying to climb the singles ranks, which are packed, and somebody like Mai Mihara struggles to stand out.

Admittedly, in respect of pairs, the Japanese male skaters you see internationally tend not to have the pairs body type.

Now, if Satoko had come up through a federation with any kind of pairs tradition, I expect they’d have tried to funnel her into pairs, because she’s so itty-bitty.  She’d be super easy to throw and lift.

[specialj67]

Re: Japanese pairs

Japan did have an up-and-coming pair in Takahashi/Tran 7-8 years ago. However, he (Tran) is Canadian, so getting Japanese citizenship so they could compete at the Olympics was always going to be an issue. They won the bronze at 2012 Worlds, then Takahashi had an injury that meant missing most of the next season, and they split up in late 2012. Bummer. 

[Tippi]

One thing to think about regarding apparent rushing through programs:  the length of free programs has been cut.  I am relying on hazy memory here, but I think the LP has been cut by 30 seconds.  That was done, plus cutting out most of the backloading, and limiting quads.  There is also a +5, -5 range in GOE.  It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.  I am very interested to see what happens in Dance.  P/C will be on top, no doubt, but it seems like competition is fierce for positions 2 and 3.  I haven't caught a lot of top programs, but I was impressed by Stepanova/Bukin.  He just goes for it, full out.  US Nationals should be very interesting too.  H/D seem a secure number 1, H/B a likely number 2, who will get bronze?  Will Chock & Bates be back?  Or will the Parsons or Lorraine/Quinn grab the bronze?

[Mellowyellow]

I hope they do something about Quads in the ladies. In general I am more geared towards jumping beans than the super artsy skating but I like clean programs above all. 

 

Trusova did not look good still winning while she fell and stuffed up a jump. I'd rather a clean program not someone who splatted winning because they tried all kinds of quads.

[SeanC]

28 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I hope they do something about Quads in the ladies. In general I am more geared towards jumping beans than the super artsy skating but I like clean programs above all. 

Trusova did not look good still winning while she fell and stuffed up a jump. I'd rather a clean program not someone who splatted winning because they tried all kinds of quads.

Trusova falls less than most of her rivals who only do triples, it must be said.  She hasn't won any event over markedly cleaner skaters, either.

Under the judging system in place this season quads that you fall on aren't worth a lot, so it's entirely possible to beat Trusova if she makes several errors and somebody else skates clean (or mostly clean). 

[redpencil]

7 hours ago, Tippi said:

One thing to think about regarding apparent rushing through programs:  the length of free programs has been cut.  I am relying on hazy memory here, but I think the LP has been cut by 30 seconds.

I believe men's was cut, but ladies hasn't changed.

[HartofDixie]

On 11/19/2018 at 6:37 AM, specialj67 said:

As for Gracie, I put at least some of the blame on USFSA. They could have done something to stop the Rostelecom Cup organizers from inviting her when she’s clearly not ready for that level of international competition. They could have insisted that she do some of the lower-level sectionals and regionals events in order to make her way back to nationals.

TSL discuss Gracie for about a half hour.

[Darknight]

22 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I hope they do something about Quads in the ladies. In general I am more geared towards jumping beans than the super artsy skating but I like clean programs above all. 

 

Trusova did not look good still winning while she fell and stuffed up a jump. I'd rather a clean program not someone who splatted winning because they tried all kinds of quads.

They probably will.  It should be clean and balanced. Also, technique should be there. Russia along with other countries over score their own skaters so it's no shock she was over scored. They didn't even call some of her quads as under rotated. 

On 11/19/2018 at 10:19 AM, Avaleigh said:

I just wish that Alina wouldn't rush through her choreography. For example, her bauer is beautiful but she holds it for a second before she moves on to the next thing. She really needs to allow herself to show off her extension and line. As good as she is I feel like there's a lot of untapped potential with her skating. She could really flourish with the right choreographer.

Still, I'm impressed with the way that Alina is maintaining her jumping ability with this obvious growth spurt. She's doing an awesome job and she goes for everything no matter what. She has determination and charm and overall I really like her skating and think she's exciting. 

As far as the ladies skating, Russian nationals is the competition I'm most looking forward to this year. I never thought I'd look forward to Russian nationals more than US nationals but this has been the case for me for the past three years or so.

Japanese nationals should be exciting too as far as singles. Any thought from anyone on why there haven't been any top Japanese pair teams? Talk about untapped potential. 

Russia has so much talent. I don't have a favorite USA lady skater. I just don't. I'm a fan of Japan and Russian ladies. USA nationals is a snooze for me. 

On 11/19/2018 at 6:37 AM, specialj67 said:

Alina won’t change anything as long as she’s coached by Eteri and team. There’s no immediate incentive for her to do so right now, since she’s still regularly winning competitions. I also like aspects of Alina’s skating but can’t stand that they’re being overrun by iffy technique, choppy/busy choreography and terrible music choices.

 

As for Gracie, I put at least some of the blame on USFSA. They could have done something to stop the Rostelecom Cup organizers from inviting her when she’s clearly not ready for that level of international competition. They could have insisted that she do some of the lower-level sectionals and regionals events in order to make her way back to nationals.

Apparently, from what I heard Gracie didn't want to do low level competitions. She should've came back next year and started off slow. Not throw herself out there like that. 

[alexa]

I watched a video of Gracie’s performance. Eek, that was not good, and she is not close to her normal fitness. It was kind of like watching someone with an older figure take over her body. It was all just weird that she did this. 

[legaleagle53]

Adam Rippon is retiring from competitive skating.

[HartofDixie]

Gracie’s FS from a Rostelecom practice session.

[BelleBrit]

On ‎11‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 8:57 PM, Darknight said:

They probably will.  It should be clean and balanced. Also, technique should be there. Russia along with other countries over score their own skaters so it's no shock she was over scored. They didn't even call some of her quads as under rotated. 

Russia has so much talent. I don't have a favorite USA lady skater. I just don't. I'm a fan of Japan and Russian ladies. USA nationals is a snooze for me. 

Apparently, from what I heard Gracie didn't want to do low level competitions. She should've came back next year and started off slow. Not throw herself out there like that. 

I think that Gracie's team knew that she wouldn't have been ready for the smaller competitions, since a lot of them happen in the summer. She's done small competitions in the last quad. I'm guessing that at the time of the GP assignments, this seemed farther away and they thought she could be further along, if not in top shape.  I'm not sure if she could have used the comeback clause next year to get a GP assignment.  I'm not sure why her team is so focused on her needing to do nationals this year. Honestly, the depth is so insane in the other countries, there is no guarantee that Gracie could have been a contender at this past Olympics even if she was in top shape, even though the judges have always been generous with her.  It's going to be really interesting to see how Alysa Liu is scored at this US nationals, but it's also depressing that the "hope" for US skating isn't even going to be eligible to skate as a senior internationally until the Olympic year. 

[HartofDixie]

Results link for France GP

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gpfra2018/

[Darknight]

3 hours ago, HartofDixie said:

Results link for France GP

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gpfra2018/

I was not a huge fan of Evegenia before.Now, I really hope she pulls through everything and makes the podium. Bradie is getting better. 

[Mellowyellow]

I'm stressing about them keeping 3 Lutz's in Evgenia's  program. She's getting called on them (rightly so) so for goodness sakes practice another time and stop putting them in!

I hope she makes the final. She needs a silver to make the final (and a certain score but all the calculations went over my head).

I have a soft spot for Bradie and Rika (want to see her land that amazing 3A combo again) too.

I'm excited about the France because there are a few that I like so while I'll be hand wringing and freaking out over Evgenia, I'll enjoy the others. 

[ML89]

I can't even watch that FS from Gracie - who in the hell picked that music for her? Right into the first chorus "she's imperfect" and going on about not remembering the girl she used to be. Her short with that awful "I Put A Spell On You" music was malpractice, this is worse. Get her something upbeat. If I were her coach, she'd be skating her short to Linda Ronstadt's "That'll Be the Day" and then, why not just play into it? I've heard a fantastic mash up of I Will Survive with Survivor from Destiny's Child - do that. Or go right for the cliche and use Katy Perry's Rise or Rachel Platten's Fight Song. How in the world can you project a comeback and being strong to that sad thing?

I was so glad to hear Tanith saying how much she enjoyed Fear/Gibson's disco free dance and how she was happy it wasn't another adagio program. I thought the ISU put in some rule about happy programs - very few people seem to have gotten the memo. If you get the audience on your side, that's half the battle.

[Good Queen Jane]

Jason Brown's score for the short at the France GP shows what the changes in the scoring system can do. He didn't try a quad but got 4s and 5s in his GOEs for his triples and other elements and 8s and 9s in his component scores. He is in first place over the quad jumpers by almost 6 points. Of course, it helped that both Nathan Chen and Boyang Jin each had falls on their single quads. Still, the downgrading of quads is really changing the scoring.

By the way, is anyone else getting Adam Rippon vibes from Jason's new (ponytail less) look?

[honeywest]

24 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Jason Brown's score for the short at the France GP shows what the changes in the scoring system can do. He didn't try a quad but got 4s and 5s in his GOEs for his triples and other elements and 8s and 9s in his component scores. He is in first place over the quad jumpers by almost 6 points. Of course, it helped that both Nathan Chen and Boyang Jin each had falls on their single quads. Still, the downgrading of quads is really changing the scoring.

By the way, is anyone else getting Adam Rippon vibes from Jason's new (ponytail less) look?

I thought “Adam Rippon” as soon as I saw him.

Go, Jason! (But grow that ponytail back.)

[specialj67]

I’ll admit, I’d kind written off Jason Brown for this season. But his performance proved me wrong, at least for today. 

[le bordel chaud]

I've been a huge fan of Zhenya since she won the Jr Grand Prix Final. It feels like the Twilight Zone to see her making multiple mistakes in programs. 

Hopefully it will all work out in the long run.

[Mellowyellow]

Evgenia had this death stare for her sassy fun program. What the devil is going on?

Selling routines was always her strong suit. She looked so nervous and angry. 

It wasn't good but it could have been worse. She's so tense though and they need to fix her spins which have gone haywire.

Come on Evgenia I'm rooting for you!!!!!

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

Evgenia had this death stare for her sassy fun program. What the devil is going on?

I think that's her Fierce Determination Face, which unfortunately doesn't jibe with the vibe of the program.

Fantastic short program from Jason.  Maybe his best ever.

[specialj67]

I don’t doubt P/C were the best in the dance field for this competition, but can someone explain how/why they are scored SO MUCH higher than the other top teams? The judges stratospheric scores for them continue to baffle me.

[WhitneyWhit]

I’m so bored by P/C. As soon as I saw their opening with their trademark generic contemporary arm movements I said oh I saw this program last year and turned it off. 

[HartofDixie]

Yikes Med not going to GPF.  Missing will give her time to get ready for Russian Nationals.

[Mellowyellow]

Oh Evgenia *sobs*

Congrats to Bradie for doing so well though so there's a bright spot in that at least.

I'm so upset about Evgenia but at least the other two that I was rooting for (Rika and Bradie) had good skates. 

[Enero]

Evgenia not going to GPF is shocking. Looks like this season will continue to be an uphill battle for her. I think she has zero chance of beating Alina at Nationals, but hopefully  she can at least capture silver.

It usually takes a couple of years for the transition to Brian to exhibit full on positive results. However, I wonder if by the time that happens (if it happens) others, specifically the younger group of Russian and Japanese ladies, will have surpassed her. 

[Darknight]

I was never a fan of Evegenia but now I'm rooting for her. The big issue is she has been over scored and getting away with poor technique for years. Now it's getting called out. This is the reason why I'm not a fan if Eteri or her skaters. They can get away with poor technique. I'm happy the judges are strict. I feel bad for Evegenia. I hope the Russia Fed doesn't drop her just because she had a bad season. It takes time to improve. She could also speak to a sports therapist. 

 

 

 

And I was screaming when Jason was second and in first in the short. This is why I like this judging. It's not all about quads. It should be clean. 

On 11/23/2018 at 12:35 PM, Good Queen Jane said:

Jason Brown's score for the short at the France GP shows what the changes in the scoring system can do. He didn't try a quad but got 4s and 5s in his GOEs for his triples and other elements and 8s and 9s in his component scores. He is in first place over the quad jumpers by almost 6 points. Of course, it helped that both Nathan Chen and Boyang Jin each had falls on their single quads. Still, the downgrading of quads is really changing the scoring.

By the way, is anyone else getting Adam Rippon vibes from Jason's new (ponytail less) look?

I'm happy with this. I hate seeing people throw in things and can't land them or it's sloppy. I like this system. It's not perfect but I like it. 

[ombelico]

On 11/23/2018 at 12:02 PM, honeywest said:

Go, Jason! (But grow that ponytail back.)

Disagree  - I always hated that greasy thing. He looks so much better with short hair. YMMV of course.

I hadn't realized that the scoring system changed to downgrade the quads - I certainly hope this means that we will see cleaner programs, with people planning jumps that they actually have an expectation of landing, rather than just chucking things to get the points for trying. I'm also glad that this means that someone like Jason, who has so many good qualities, can once again be competitive even without a quad jump (last season I was thinking that he should just move on to be a show skater because he was never going to be competitive, which was true under the previous system).

[specialj67]

13 minutes ago, ombelico said:

Disagree  - I always hated that greasy thing. He looks so much better with short hair. YMMV of course.

I hadn't realized that the scoring system changed to downgrade the quads - I certainly hope this means that we will see cleaner programs, with people planning jumps that they actually have an expectation of landing, rather than just chucking things to get the points for trying. I'm also glad that this means that someone like Jason, who has so many good qualities, can once again be competitive even without a quad jump (last season I was thinking that he should just move on to be a show skater because he was never going to be competitive, which was true under the previous system).

My understanding of the new rules is that the judges/callers/technical specialists are no longer awarding full base value for any jump if it’s not fully rotated before the landing blade touches the ice. Before, skaters could get full credit if the blade was up to 1/4 of a turn from being fully rotated. Now, that 1/4 turn cushion is supposedly gone. Of course, as with other things, like edge calls, we’ll have to see if the callers actually call skaters consistently and judges score skaters appropriately for things like being a 1/4 turn under. I’ve been looking at the scores of some of the singles skaters after events, and I do see a fair number of marks for underrotated jumps this season, including for Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva.

The new -5/+5 grade of execution rules also mean there is a greater point penalty for falls on required elements. A fall on a jump is an automatic -5 GOE, which translates to losing 50% of the base value of the jump. Plus the -1 point off the final score for the fall. The judges now have greater leeway to reward great elements and penalize bad ones.

Personally, I’m also a fan of the changes, and hope the judges and officials apply them consistently in an effort to raise the overall quality of skating. 

[SeanC]

11 minutes ago, specialj67 said:

My understanding of the new rules is that the judges/callers/technical specialists are no longer awarding full base value for any jump if it’s not fully rotated before the landing blade touches the ice. Before, skaters could get full credit if the blade was up to 1/4 of a turn from being fully rotated. Now, that 1/4 turn cushion is supposedly gone.

Not quite.  Previously if it looked to be around 1/4 under you got the jump credited.  Now if it looks to be around 1/4 under it’s UR.  A lot of skaters have always been landing around 1/4 around, so previously they got the benefit of the doubt, now they don’t.  But, say, 1/5 under is still credited.