doodlebug January 4, 2019 Share January 4, 2019 22 hours ago, Darknight said: I'm sorry if I sound mean but Ashley should've known they wouldn't choose her for the Olympic team. I think she thought she would be chosen based on her name and laurels. I didn't really like Ashley. Her skating wasn't there for me at all. Even when she was a jr. She never blames herself she always blames everyone else. She probably thought since Gracie was out she was in. She thought it would be like 2014. Her programs last season were a hot mess. I hope Ashley the best, but I'm tired of her at this point. She is a diva and wants everyone else to bend over backwards for her. I was never a huge fan of Ashley's skating and agree that she seemed to have a sense of entitlement re: the Olympic slot last year that was unwarranted. However, I did like that in the article linked above, she was upfront about how difficult it was to figure out what her life would be without competitive skating, that she frankly discussed her depression in the wake of it and acknowledged that getting professional help for her depression was key and has made all the difference. 17 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 4, 2019 Share January 4, 2019 https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/01/04/nancy-kerrigan-tonya-harding-attack-25th-anniversary/ 2 Link to comment
Darknight January 7, 2019 Share January 7, 2019 On 1/3/2019 at 7:22 PM, doodlebug said: I was never a huge fan of Ashley's skating and agree that she seemed to have a sense of entitlement re: the Olympic slot last year that was unwarranted. However, I did like that in the article linked above, she was upfront about how difficult it was to figure out what her life would be without competitive skating, that she frankly discussed her depression in the wake of it and acknowledged that getting professional help for her depression was key and has made all the difference. I agree. The same thing happened with Phelps and other athletes as well. Their whole identity is their sport and they don't know what to do without it. 6 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 7, 2019 Share January 7, 2019 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2019/01/07/former-us-skating-champ-john-coughlin-restricted-safesport/2506060002/ 1 Link to comment
annzeepark914 January 7, 2019 Share January 7, 2019 Geez...that article left a LOT of room for speculation. 1 Link to comment
KittenPokerCheater January 7, 2019 Share January 7, 2019 Yikes. I wonder if we will learn more. Link to comment
Darknight January 8, 2019 Share January 8, 2019 I really can't believe 10 and 11 year olds from (CSKA another skating club that is apparently Sambo 70 biggest competition)are learning quads. Seriously, what is going on? Also Mirai and Karen aren't going to Nationals. Maybe they'll let 13yo Alyssa Lui win but maybe Mariah Bell will get it. 3 Link to comment
carrier76 January 9, 2019 Share January 9, 2019 Gracie has withdrawn from Nationals, per her Instagram. Link to comment
ML89 January 10, 2019 Share January 10, 2019 At this point, it's more who's actually going to Nationals instead of who's staying home. Also not surprised about Gracie. Her coach was on Instagram all rah rah but she still looks miserable. I hope she finds a good situation and some better music too. I'm wondering if Karen Chen will ever be back, either. 4 Link to comment
annzeepark914 January 10, 2019 Share January 10, 2019 Maybe it's time for Gracie to move on with her life. If she looks miserable, then the ice rink is no longer an emotionally healthy place for her. I have a young relative who's a champion cyclist. She's now in her late 20's and her family believes it's time to go back to college and move on. But she refuses to do so, keeps entering more competitions. I'm now seeing, up close & personal, this inability for top sports achievers to move on. In the meantime, I've got my fingers crossed for Mariah to skate at Nationals with confidence and determination. And for Bradie to have a good skate as well. 7 Link to comment
BelleBrit January 10, 2019 Share January 10, 2019 (edited) On 1/2/2019 at 9:16 PM, Darknight said: I'm sorry if I sound mean but Ashley should've known they wouldn't choose her for the Olympic team. I think she thought she would be chosen based on her name and laurels. I didn't really like Ashley. Her skating wasn't there for me at all. Even when she was a jr. She never blames herself she always blames everyone else. She probably thought since Gracie was out she was in. She thought it would be like 2014. Her programs last season were a hot mess. I hope Ashley the best, but I'm tired of her at this point. She is a diva and wants everyone else to bend over backwards for her. Ashley was so clearly used to getting that extra nationals boost in years prior. She should have known that with Mirai's triple axel, Bradie finishing over 200 points in her grand prix event, and Karen's 4th place finish at worlds, that there was blood in the water. It's not like she skated a clean "looking" program and got hammered with unders, she had visible errors in both her short and long. I actually liked her long program because it was a different look for her. In the end it was a close call between her and Karen, and the judges likely went with Karen (even though the technical panel went to town on her) because of her 4th place finish at worlds. Ashley would have had a lot of goodwill for her if she agreed to skate in the nationals gala and be gracious... I'm not feeling nationals this year. There aren't enough storylines with so many people opting out. Bradie and Mariah will likely make the world team even if Alysa wins it all (since she's not yet age eligible for worlds and won't be for a while). I guess it's time for me to stop holding out hope for Amber Glenn... Edited January 11, 2019 by BelleBrit 5 Link to comment
Darknight January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 7 hours ago, BelleBrit said: Ashley was so clearly used to getting that extra nationals boost in years prior. She should have known that with Mirai's triple axel, Bradie finishing over 200 points in her grand prix event, and Karen's 4th place finish at worlds, that there was blood in the water. It's not like she skated a clean "looking" program and got hammered with unders, she had visible errors in both her short and long. I actually liked her long program because it was a different look for her. In the end it was a close call between her and Karen, and the judges likely went with Karen (even though the technical panel went to town on her) because of her 4th place finish at worlds. Ashley would have had a lot of goodwill for her if she agreed to skate in the nationals gala and be gracious... I'm not feeling nationals this year. There aren't enough storylines with so many people opting out. Bradie and Mariah will likely make the world team even if Alysa wins it all. I guess it's time for me to stop holding out hope for Amber Glenn... Her attitude is just disgusting too. Mirai took her experience in 2014 and was determine to make the 2018 team. Even if her 3a wasn't good, she wanted to improve and addsomething. Ashley depended on everyone else failing to win and rested on entitlement. I heard some skaters don't like her. Even RAF said she was lazy at times. The US will not have a huge star in years. Maybe Star if she fixes her technique a bit. US national's is boring. Alyssa needs to fix her jumps and 3a. I hope they don't overhype her. 5 Link to comment
Darknight January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 (edited) Gracie should quit and focus on getting better. She needs therapy. I think she has so much pressure. Her dad lost his job, she still has a few sponsors, her old coach Frank quit on her and she found out via the media. Poor girl can't catch a break. She needs a good treatment plan. Maybe in 2 years she can start skating again at the lower levels but right now, she shouldn't skate I can't believe how far behind she is. I wish she never went to Frank. Her current coaches are terrible. Gracie was seen as the best best thing. This is why I hate it when they over hype athletes especially skaters. Remember Paulina? Where is she now? She was seen as the future of USA skating. Gracie was too. US fed puts so much pressure on skaters who might do well. I hope they don't do this to Alyssa Liu. She still needs to work on her skating skills. And can we please stop thinking every skater is the next Michelle Kwan. There is only one MK. Edited January 11, 2019 by Darknight 3 Link to comment
Sew Sumi January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 Gracie has said that she is in therapy. I hope it helped her after the disaster in Russia. Hell, *I* needed therapy after watching her performance. It was heartbreaking. 6 Link to comment
Darknight January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 1 hour ago, Sew Sumi said: Gracie has said that she is in therapy. I hope it helped her after the disaster in Russia. Hell, *I* needed therapy after watching her performance. It was heartbreaking. USA FED and her coaches should be ashamed of themselves. Gracie isn't in the right mind right now. She doesn't need to compete 7 Link to comment
BelleBrit January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Darknight said: USA FED and her coaches should be ashamed of themselves. Gracie isn't in the right mind right now. She doesn't need to compete EH, is there anything that the US fed could have done since Gracie was entitled to a grand prix under the comeback clause and the assignment came from Russia? Her team is another story. The problem with her committing to compete at a grand prix and nationals is that it set a very unrealistic goal from where she was physically and athletically this past summer, and one of the most triggering things for someone with disordered eating is a deadline that you have to adhere to. I'm not sure that Gracie has any sponsorships anymore like she did last quad, and that's honestly for the best even though it's probably tough financially. I'm not sure how I feel about her new coach, I'm hoping that his comments on Instagram ("it takes me a while to trust someone but I trust you") just come off as odd due to a language issue. Also, her career always had a lot of rocky ups and downs even when she was at her peak physical form, the media doesn't really get into that. Interestingly, she has taught a bunch of seminars with John Coughlin in the recent months... Who knows, maybe USFS will put all of their eggs in Liu's basket like they always do with the prodigies and she won't even make it through the pre-Olympic quad (it's impressive that she has the triple axel but it's jarring when you see/remember how young she is, Mirai basically competed in the Olympics with a battered hip due to the injury that she got learning the jump, and probably won't be able to compete again even if she wants to due to that injury) and Gracie can rise in the ranks again....stranger things have happened I guess....but Gracie will be 26 by the time of the next Olympics. I still wonder about that short time she spent in Michigan in 2017 when she briefly switched to Marina/how much the USFS knew about her mental state at that time. 1 Link to comment
Jeddah January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 16 hours ago, BelleBrit said: Ashley was so clearly used to getting that extra nationals boost in years prior. She should have known that with Mirai's triple axel, Bradie finishing over 200 points in her grand prix event, and Karen's 4th place finish at worlds, that there was blood in the water. It's not like she skated a clean "looking" program and got hammered with unders, she had visible errors in both her short and long. I actually liked her long program because it was a different look for her. In the end it was a close call between her and Karen, and the judges likely went with Karen (even though the technical panel went to town on her) because of her 4th place finish at worlds. Ashley would have had a lot of goodwill for her if she agreed to skate in the nationals gala and be gracious... Stopping in the middle of her long program at Skate America definitely didn’t help either. As for Nationals,I like Mariah Bell. I’d like her to win, but I wouldn’t mind if Bradie wins. I want the world team to be those two. I’m looking forward to seeing how Jason does at Nationals. He has no chance against Nathan, but I’d like him to put in a good showing. I’m also just super impressed with how Nathan’s season is going so far. I thought training by Skype sounded like a terrible idea, but so far it hasn’t been. I hope he keeps skating well. Then I’m cheering for Bartholomay/Stellato in pairs and Hawayek/Baker for dance. I know neither team will win, but I just like them and want them to do well. 5 Link to comment
Sew Sumi January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 I've read that Jason is planning a quad sal in the LP. I hope he pulls it off. Not that he'll score anywhere Nathan, but it will get attention with the international judges. I hope Vincent gets called for any UR issues, but I think the US judges will go easy on him. Which is exactly what he DOESN'T need right now. I don't know which coach is working with him on his quads, but that really is a chronic issue that needs to be fixed ASSP. As it looks now, the US will rely on Nathan and Jason to keep 3 spots at Worlds. So yes Jason, I hope that quad is 90% reliable. 2 Link to comment
annzeepark914 January 11, 2019 Share January 11, 2019 6 hours ago, Jeddah said: Then I’m cheering for Bartholomay/Stellato in pairs and Hawayek/Baker for dance. I know neither team will win, but I just like them and want them to do well. It would make my Nationals experience so thrilling to see these wonderful skaters on the podiums. Both teams bring that "something extra" to their disciplines, that makes it a joy to watch them skate. In addition to excellent skating, they also use appropriate music along with a variety of programs (i.e., they're not one trick ponies year after year). Can't wait for Nationals! 1 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 12, 2019 Share January 12, 2019 20 hours ago, Darknight said: Gracie should quit and focus on getting better. She needs therapy. I think she has so much pressure. Her dad lost his job, she still has a few sponsors, her old coach Frank quit on her and she found out via the media. Poor girl can't catch a break. She needs a good treatment plan. Maybe in 2 years she can start skating again at the lower levels but right now, she shouldn't skate I can't believe how far behind she is. I wish she never went to Frank. Her current coaches are terrible. Gracie was seen as the best best thing. This is why I hate it when they over hype athletes especially skaters. Remember Paulina? Where is she now? She was seen as the future of USA skating. Gracie was too. US fed puts so much pressure on skaters who might do well. I hope they don't do this to Alyssa Liu. She still needs to work on her skating skills. And can we please stop thinking every skater is the next Michelle Kwan. There is only one MK. Polina is in college and has had injuries. She wants to compete next season. Link to comment
Darknight January 12, 2019 Share January 12, 2019 (edited) 15 hours ago, Sew Sumi said: I've read that Jason is planning a quad sal in the LP. I hope he pulls it off. Not that he'll score anywhere Nathan, but it will get attention with the international judges. I hope Vincent gets called for any UR issues, but I think the US judges will go easy on him. Which is exactly what he DOESN'T need right now. I don't know which coach is working with him on his quads, but that really is a chronic issue that needs to be fixed ASSP. As it looks now, the US will rely on Nathan and Jason to keep 3 spots at Worlds. So yes Jason, I hope that quad is 90% reliable. Vicent said he is going to focus on improving his quads instead of just throwing them in there. Thank God..His jumps are awful. Why isn't his coach correcting his jumps? I cringe every time I see him jump. Edited January 12, 2019 by Darknight 2 Link to comment
Darknight January 12, 2019 Share January 12, 2019 21 hours ago, BelleBrit said: EH, is there anything that the US fed could have done since Gracie was entitled to a grand prix under the comeback clause and the assignment came from Russia? Her team is another story. The problem with her committing to compete at a grand prix and nationals is that it set a very unrealistic goal from where she was physically and athletically this past summer, and one of the most triggering things for someone with disordered eating is a deadline that you have to adhere to. I'm not sure that Gracie has any sponsorships anymore like she did last quad, and that's honestly for the best even though it's probably tough financially. I'm not sure how I feel about her new coach, I'm hoping that his comments on Instagram ("it takes me a while to trust someone but I trust you") just come off as odd due to a language issue. Also, her career always had a lot of rocky ups and downs even when she was at her peak physical form, the media doesn't really get into that. Interestingly, she has taught a bunch of seminars with John Coughlin in the recent months... Who knows, maybe USFS will put all of their eggs in Liu's basket like they always do with the prodigies and she won't even make it through the pre-Olympic quad (it's impressive that she has the triple axel but it's jarring when you see/remember how young she is, Mirai basically competed in the Olympics with a battered hip due to the injury that she got learning the jump, and probably won't be able to compete again even if she wants to due to that injury) and Gracie can rise in the ranks again....stranger things have happened I guess....but Gracie will be 26 by the time of the next Olympics. I still wonder about that short time she spent in Michigan in 2017 when she briefly switched to Marina/how much the USFS knew about her mental state at that time. I think Gracie needed someone to say no to her. You're not ready right now. Focus on your health first. I do believe Gracie can be up there again if she really tries. First, she needs to get better mentally. USFed should've stopped her or at least talked to her. Her new coaches sound shady to me. On top of that, people online are cruel. Alyssa's 3a is ok but not great. It's unstable. She is also trying to do quads. She fell on her 4Lz I believe. Her coach should stop her. She said she looks up to the Eteri juniors doing quads. I hope USfed doesn't just push her through to show a USA lady has quads too or a 3a. It's concerning that these coaches aren't stopping young skaters from doing jumps like quads and even 3a. Especially when the technique isn't there. Then we have USFS promoting it. People hate to talk about the injuries especially with the ladies but quads and jumps are hard on the body especially the young body still growing. Tara also had to retire at 15. Nathan had an issue at 16 with his hips. Mirai injury makes me really sad but I guess she thinks it was worth it. I think coaches should be held accountable too. 2 Link to comment
Enero January 12, 2019 Share January 12, 2019 3 hours ago, Darknight said: I think Gracie needed someone to say no to her. You're not ready right now. Focus on your health first. I do believe Gracie can be up there again if she really tries. First, she needs to get better mentally. USFed should've stopped her or at least talked to her. Her new coaches sound shady to me. On top of that, people online are cruel. Who knows, maybe someone or several someone’s did talk to her. We don’t know because we’re not in her inner circle, and she decided to compete anyway. I agree with others though. I don’t think she’s ready to compete, mentally or physically, even if she desperately wants to. And really she may never return to the point where she can skate competitively. I just hope whatever choices she makes, whatever happens, whether she skates competitively again or not, that she can be happy with her life. 7 Link to comment
Ruby Gillis January 13, 2019 Share January 13, 2019 Do you think they would ever consider adding men's and women's single ice dancing? With no jumps? I would love to watch artistic programs where skaters aren't killing their bodies. Bring Michelle Kwan back to do some spiral sequences. 11 Link to comment
surreysmum January 13, 2019 Share January 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Ruby Gillis said: Do you think they would ever consider adding men's and women's single ice dancing? With no jumps? I would love to watch artistic programs where skaters aren't killing their bodies. Bring Michelle Kwan back to do some spiral sequences. Back in the late 80s or early 90s, the Skate Canada (now Skate Canada International) competition, had something like this, called the 'artistic competition', I believe. I remember a young German man named Daniel Weiss winning the men's side a couple of times and a very young American girl called Joanna Ng won it one year I think, with a very grown-up program to Miss Saigon. I tried to find some of the programs on youtube, but failed miserably. Think I do still have some of them on tape as well. Maybe somebody else will have more luck finding them online. The other competition that Skate Canada had that nobody else did was "fours" skating (two pairs skating together, with interesting four-way death spirals, etc. 4 Link to comment
movingtargetgal January 13, 2019 Share January 13, 2019 3 hours ago, Ruby Gillis said: Do you think they would ever consider adding men's and women's single ice dancing? With no jumps? I would love to watch artistic programs where skaters aren't killing their bodies. Bring Michelle Kwan back to do some spiral sequences. Interesting idea. I would love it. I am so tired of watching skaters fall all over the ice because of the scoring being focused on jumps. It is really upsetting to me that these young skaters, whose bodies are not done growing, are causing themselves lifelong injuries and all the pain that goes with it. Why is this being encouraged by the "system", the coaches and the parents? In my mind it is child neglect and abuse. There is such a lack of artistry in skating these days that people are no longer watching like before the new scoring system. Michelle Kwan was so wonderful to watch because she could do the jumps like the other skaters but her artistry is what drew the audience in. 8 Link to comment
Mellowyellow January 14, 2019 Share January 14, 2019 Speaking of ice dancing, Rika Kihira twizzles very well! I just watched her gala video and there was a lot of twizzling which she does beautifully. I am very excited to see how she progresses. There is talk of her doing quads as well though. I like my jumping beans but I really love Rika's general skating so I hope the quads don't take away from that. Her team have done a great job with her so far in terms of technical vs artistic elements. 1 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 14, 2019 Share January 14, 2019 Angela Wang is out with an injury. Link to comment
ChromaKelly January 14, 2019 Share January 14, 2019 23 hours ago, Ruby Gillis said: Do you think they would ever consider adding men's and women's single ice dancing? With no jumps? I would love to watch artistic programs where skaters aren't killing their bodies. Bring Michelle Kwan back to do some spiral sequences. I think there is singles ice dancing, but it's not officially a USFS discipline. It would be a great idea and would open up serious competitive figure skating to those skaters who are not jumpers and don't want to do partnered ice dancing. Once a kid hits this point where they have to have an axel, that's where some end up giving up. A friend of my son's (these are 10 year olds) was about to quit because she can't get her axel. She ended up trying out synchro and loves it, so she switched from freestyle to synchro. She's a very graceful skater and has great footwork and her spins are good, she's just not a jumper. It stinks to have kids like her give up just because they can't jump. Also for females, you have to have a certain body type to be partnered for ice dancing (read: you need to be petite and lightweight). So these two things can really shut out a lot of otherwise good skaters from competing in figure skating. 8 Link to comment
Darknight January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 On 1/13/2019 at 5:25 PM, movingtargetgal said: Interesting idea. I would love it. I am so tired of watching skaters fall all over the ice because of the scoring being focused on jumps. It is really upsetting to me that these young skaters, whose bodies are not done growing, are causing themselves lifelong injuries and all the pain that goes with it. Why is this being encouraged by the "system", the coaches and the parents? In my mind it is child neglect and abuse. There is such a lack of artistry in skating these days that people are no longer watching like before the new scoring system. Michelle Kwan was so wonderful to watch because she could do the jumps like the other skaters but her artistry is what drew the audience in. This. I love the idea of singles ice dancing. I also agree skaters especially young skaters are damaging their bodies. Yet, coaches and the system encourages it. There is a lack of artistry. Now it's who can do x amount of jumps. Maybe the ISU will give thos a try. Singles ice dancing. I would watch. 4 Link to comment
ChromaKelly January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 IMHO, IJS scoring should really deduct more points for falling on jumps. There is no reason that a quad jump that was not landed is worth more than a triple landed cleanly. I hate seeing this push to Must Have Quads, even in ladies' skating. 9 Link to comment
ChromaKelly January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 Apparently, there is a solo dance competition series. Maybe because it's not on an international scale like Singles, Pairs, and partner Ice Dance, it doesn't get much recognition? https://www.usfigureskating.org/programs?id=84172 1 Link to comment
displayname January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, ChromaKelly said: There is no reason that a quad jump that was not landed is worth more than a triple landed cleanly. They MOSTLY fixed it this season... a 4T fall is worth only a little more than a double axel with the fall deduction. All the quad falls with the deduction are less than a 3Lo, although one can argue they should be less than a 3S (it still takes risk to plan and do them than playing it safe and doing a simple, average quality 2A, 3T, or 3S). If the judges actually hand out GOE based on merit than reputation, that's what it will work out to. I am more bothered by the enormous +GOE on the jumps. There's no reason a 4T should be getting nearly 14 points or a 3F getting nearly 8 points for being "perfect" (+5 quality), ESPECIALLY when the judges misuse it. Go back to the regular old +3 system, and scale the values for +GOE like you did back then, but keep the giant percentage deductions for -GOE (say -30%, -45%, -60%). There are still a lot of things to be done (and the judges are too dumb, influenced by literal readings of the rulebook and reputation), but the -5 GOE scale at least has been encouraging. 10 hours ago, ChromaKelly said: I hate seeing this push to Must Have Quads, even in ladies' skating. I get where you're coming from, but if I had to choose between someone beating the PCS reputation scoring by using their jumping talent and "waiting for their due", I'd rather the "jumping bean" every single time. It's not like the "just jumpers" ever just remain jumpers, anyway. Midori Ito was called that, even Michelle Kwan was called that when she beat Lu Chen. The "jumping beans" have prodigious talent in jumping, and remain top skaters because they know what to do for their overall skating. A more recent example would be Boyang Jin. It's just weird hand wringing. Edited January 16, 2019 by displayname 5 Link to comment
displayname January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 (edited) On 03/12/2018 at 9:08 PM, Jeddah said: Actually, in an ideal world I probably would have had it be Sarah, Michelle, then Sasha, Yes!!! Slutskaya's performance was so boring. Her jumping was her asset, but she didn't even deliver that well. Edited January 16, 2019 by displayname 3 Link to comment
displayname January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 (edited) On 09/12/2018 at 7:19 PM, Enero said: So happy for Morgan and Cripes they were fantastic! I hope they can skate that way at worlds. If they do they have the potential to win. I still need to watch the other pairs to compare, but based on what I saw from them earlier in the season I suspect there won’t be much that’s comparable to M/C. Congrats to Nathan on the win, but his program put me to sleep. He has no presence whatsoever IMO. Cha was a little more interesting to watch. I think if his program had more cohesive music cuts it would’ve been quite good. But there seemed to be a change of music every ten seconds, which made it difficult for me to get into and I think for Cha to really interpret the theme. Still he’s a very strong skater who has the potential to make the top of the podium if he keeps improving. Shoma was by far the most interesting to watch IMHO, of the top three. He has a wonderful presence on ice, great spinner and he actually beat Nathan in the free. However, his jumps...most of the time he looks as if he’s underrotating or he’s barely hanging on to his landings. It seems to have gotten worse since the Olympics. Alina continues to rush from one element to the next and not giving the choreography the finesse it needs. Also, some of her jumps still looks as if she’s barely getting through them. The commentators on Eurosport spoke about her not being relaxed and seeming struggle through her jumps that she’s not skating as strong as last year. It’s hard making it to the top but even harder to maintain that spot. Hopefully she can work out the kinks and be better at worlds. Rika’s step sequence early in the program was fantastic. Such a wonderful skater and performance. We were all concerned about the younger Russians overtaking Alina and Evgenia looks like it could be the Japanese ladies. Much deserved win. Tuktamsheva has great jumps and honestly I thought her skate was better than Alina’s. Perhaps she should’ve captured silver instead of Alina. Worlds will be interesting with Hanyu added to the list of competitors for the men and hopefully Evegenia and Tuktansheva, competing for Russia along with Alina and of course the Japanese ladies. Lots to look forward to with that competition, especially with the ladies event. <catching up> Pairs is nothing without Sui/Han. Agreed about Nathan. Not a particularly musical or cohesive skater either, which is sad because he probably has the best conceptual choreography this season. He was more musical as a junior, but clearly the effort is not there anymore. For his jumping, I don't see how they're done with particularly good technique, and I wonder what would happen if he weren't a tiny guy (or wasn't a guy at all, and if the backlash he would get would be more if he were Russian instead). Cha is still too slight of a presence for me, and his programs are awful. Uno is the best performer of the event, and the way he sells his programs is what does it (at least when clean). His jumps are hanging on a thread though, and unfortunately that's where his achilles lies, with the technique he employs. The weight he transfers onto his right leg with the torque both through take off and landing, it's not particularly a great thing to think of. Zagi's been mismanaged, and it's sad. Rika Kihira deserved the win, but her jumps employ the same "modern" technique that Nathan Chen does on his jumps, relying on spinning your body into rotation than jumping up. Not aesthetically pleasing, but consistency, not aesthetics, is the name of the game now. Again, wonder what will happen if there's a growth spurt. Tuktatmysheva deserved silver here, I agree, and Sakamoto likely deserved bronze for all the jumps Zagi underrotated. Tuktamysheva is the best jumper in the ladies field currently, but I wonder what will come of Tomoe Kawabata. That pristine technique is such a wonderful throwback to Yuna Kim. The way the current ladies especially sacrifice their air positions to just tag on a combo is so annoying. Worlds will see the comeback of Hanyu, Kolyada, and Jin. Funny, I find them more exciting this season than any of the ones who made the GPF. Much better jumpers (Kolyada is the overall best there), more entertaining too, in their own ways (although the entertainment I derive from Kolyada is from his pristine basics, than any real personality/artistry). Hanyu's programs are bad though, and I'd like to see him get lower PCS for them. RusNats: Men: Kovtun was rumored to be propped up here, and so this wasn't surprising. Good for Kolyada, though. Women: I expected a quadster to triumph. After the GPF, the Zagi meltdown seemed on the cards, too. JapNats: Men: Expected. Sad that Tomono couldn't get it together. Women: Well done to Sakamoto! Highly deserved, and she is so charming. ChiNats: Nice to see Sui/Han back, and good for Boyang for finally going clean. Would love to see the three of them put up wonderful performances for the rest of the season, and medal at the 4CCs and worlds. On 23/12/2018 at 12:37 AM, honeywest said: I wish Misha Ge would choreograph for Jason Brown. God, no. Not a particularly great choreographer, although Tomono is doing a good work with his programs. On the program change for Med: the program was unsuited, and it's sad that choreography in skating isn't an organic process, that takes into consideration what the skater is capable of. It was completely wrong for her (and the choreo was so bland, typical Wilson crap). Edited January 18, 2019 by displayname 1 Link to comment
Darknight January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 16 hours ago, ChromaKelly said: IMHO, IJS scoring should really deduct more points for falling on jumps. There is no reason that a quad jump that was not landed is worth more than a triple landed cleanly. I hate seeing this push to Must Have Quads, even in ladies' skating. I don't believe quads will be the norm in ladies skating like men. It's sad quads are a requirement for the men because some shouldn't jump quads because they're terrible and others can't do quads. This year they do deduct points for falling on quads. Thank Goodness. As they should. I hate seeing quads just thrown in there just to get points. Kamilla Eteri's 12 yo almost junior skater looks beautiful. I wonder how this will work next season. 4 senior ladies and 3 junior skaters. Plus her boy skaters. Will they hire another choreographer? Team member? 1 Link to comment
ChromaKelly January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 6 hours ago, displayname said: They MOSTLY fixed it this season... a 4T fall is worth only a little more than a double axel with the fall deduction. All the quad falls with the deduction are less than a 3Lo, although one can argue they should be less than a 3S (it still takes risk to plan and do them than playing it safe and doing a simple, average quality 2A, 3T, or 3S). If the judges actually hand out GOE based on merit than reputation, that's what it will work out to. I am more bothered by the enormous +GOE on the jumps. There's no reason a 4T should be getting nearly 14 points or a 3F getting nearly 8 points for being "perfect" (+5 quality), ESPECIALLY when the judges misuse it. Go back to the regular old +3 system, and scale the values for +GOE like you did back then, but keep the giant percentage deductions for -GOE (say -30%, -45%, -60%). There are still a lot of things to be done (and the judges are too dumb, influenced by literal readings of the rulebook and reputation), but the -5 GOE scale at least has been encouraging. I get where you're coming from, but if I had to choose between someone beating the PCS reputation scoring by using their jumping talent and "waiting for their due", I'd rather the "jumping bean" every single time. It's not like the "just jumpers" ever just remain jumpers, anyway. Midori Ito was called that, even Michelle Kwan was called that when she beat Lu Chen. The "jumping beans" have prodigious talent in jumping, and remain top skaters because they know what to do for their overall skating. A more recent example would be Boyang Jin. It's just weird hand wringing. Do you have a link to the scoring for jumps? I found it last night, but now I can't find it again. Ugh. When I was looking at it, I was comparing the same jumps, say a 4S to a 3S. It seemed to me that a 4S with a fall deduction (-3) was worth more than a clean 3S. I wasn't factoring in any other + or -, just going off the base value. My son is about to test to skate at Juvenile, so I need to learn this stuff anyway. He is a bit of a jumping bean, but his landings can be inconsistent. I really want him to get cleaner, and not just go out there and jump for the max points. 1 Link to comment
displayname January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 1 minute ago, ChromaKelly said: Do you have a link to the scoring for jumps? I found it last night, but now I can't find it again. Ugh. When I was looking at it, I was comparing the same jumps, say a 4S to a 3S. It seemed to me that a 4S with a fall deduction (-3) was worth more than a clean 3S. I wasn't factoring in any other + or -, just going off the base value. My son is about to test to skate at Juvenile, so I need to learn this stuff anyway. He is a bit of a jumping bean, but his landings can be inconsistent. I really want him to get cleaner, and not just go out there and jump for the max points. You're looking at the old one. Here's the latest: https://www.isu.org/docman-documents-links/isu-files/documents-communications/isu-communications/17142-isu-communication-2168/file Best of luck to your son! Let them jump I say, as long as it's done properly. 2 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 Results for Canadian Nationals http://vsatech.ca/liveresults/csslive_results.cfm Link to comment
ChicksDigScars January 16, 2019 Share January 16, 2019 I see that Chock and Bates are in the U.S. Nationals field. Is it wrong of me to want to see Carreira/Ponomarenko and Hawayek/Baker finish above them? Hell, I'd like to see an upset at the TOP of the podium, too. ;) 1 Link to comment
annzeepark914 January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 6 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said: Hell, I'd like to see an upset at the TOP of the podium, too. ;) Oh boy - can you imagine the fireworks if that should occur? I'll pop the popcorn...you can supply the beverages!! 3 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 SOI tour dates https://www.starsonice.com/get-tickets.html Link to comment
redpencil January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 (edited) Related to discussion about overuse injuries among young skaters (and really skaters of any age), this from my alma mater just popped up on my twitter feed: https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-researchers-create-fitbit-device-figure-skaters To sum up: Quote A team of BYU researchers, backed by funding from the U.S. Figure Skating Association, have created a prototype device that helps measure jumping performance for figure skaters — kind of like a FitBit for ice skating. The waist-mounted device uses an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer to identify when a skater performs a jump and then calculates the height and rotation speed of the jump. It also does an actual count of the number of jumps (so someone could track how many they're doing during practice). Edited January 17, 2019 by redpencil 4 Link to comment
Jeddah January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 5 minutes ago, redpencil said: Related to discussion about overuse injuries among young skaters (and really skaters of any age), this from my alma mater just popped up on my twitter feed: https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-researchers-create-fitbit-device-figure-skaters To sum up: It also does an actual count of the number of jumps (so someone could track how many they're doing during practice). That’s really cool! I’m a nerd and I’d love to see data on who rotates fastest and who gets the most height. 2 Link to comment
displayname January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 12 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said: I see that Chock and Bates are in the U.S. Nationals field. Is it wrong of me to want to see Carreira/Ponomarenko and Hawayek/Baker finish above them? Hell, I'd like to see an upset at the TOP of the podium, too. ;) I'm quite bored of the US ID field currently, and ID in general. But I realize it's actually because everyone and their mother is with Dubreil and Lauzon. Some of the most boring skating and choreography ever. I am automatically rooting for Carreira/Ponomarenko for at least being very slightly different. Link to comment
displayname January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 Han Yan will be back next season. 4 Link to comment
HartofDixie January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 https://www.france24.com/en/20190117-killers-star-kazakh-skater-get-18-years-prison 6 Link to comment
Darknight January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 Can anyone tell me is it possible to watch US nationals live without commentary? 3 Link to comment
Mellowyellow January 17, 2019 Share January 17, 2019 On 1/16/2019 at 11:45 PM, displayname said: Cha is still too slight of a presence for me, and his programs are awful. What you didn't enjoy "JULIEEEEEEET" being screamed out when he did a triple loop? 😂 That was hilarious and totally brought me on the Cha train. 3 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.