Figure Skating

[dcalley]

That NBCOlympics url gets me "USA Network is not included in your current Xfinity TV service, but is required to stream most of NBCUniversal's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app." Bummer.

[CherryMalotte]

Choi was exquisite...really between the beautiful soft skating and lovely costume, I am surprised she wasn't placed higher.
 

1 minute ago, Jeddah said:

Supposedly she wasn’t the one who was doping, but she lied to hide her boyfriend’s doping. That’s really sketchy.

I've never been a Kostner fan, I can appreciate that she is still skating at the Olympics but yeah, very very sketchy situation.    

[scarynikki12]

I love Edith Piaf as a music choice but that opening combo was bad. She better fix that if she wants to truly challenge for ladies gold. 

[Shaynaa]

Just now, dcalley said:

That NBCOlympics url gets me "USA Network is not included in your current Xfinity TV service, but is required to stream most of NBCUniversal's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app." Bummer.

Whoops sorry.  I don't have cable or own a tv so I signed up for https://www.fubo.tv/welcome/channels

7 day free trial and then $19.99 for the first month which should get me through games and most of the rest of this of the X-Files..  Then you use that login to sign into NBC's streaming site,

[seltzer3]

How did the Canadian skater get 2nd?  Her jumps are so awkward.  Her spins seem really slow as well.

I don't know how her artistry was that good.

Edited February 11, 2018 by seltzer3

[MaKaM]

I guess if Bradie wasn' aa straight 7s PCS skater instead of straight 9s like anyone around for a few years, she'd be winning. 

[SophiaD]

I'm not crazy about the second half of Osmond's music.  The Piaf seems kind of heavy.  Also, even though Tara, Johnny, and Terry do a great job of explaining why skaters who struggle on their jumps get scored higher than those who don't, it drives my casual skating friends crazy.  Guess I'd better lay in some Advil for lunch tomorrow  ;)

ETA:  Medvedeva's spiral sequence makes me miss Sasha Cohen.

Edited February 11, 2018 by SophiaD

[anniebird]

4 minutes ago, PoshSprinkles said:

Get ready for helicopter arms!

She skated flawlessly but I see what you mean about the arms.

[Bewitched]

Just now, anniebird said:

She skated flawlessly but I see what you mean about the arms.

I actually don’t think it was flawless.  Her 2 axel wasn’t smooth and I really don’t know what she did for the first minute of the program.  Just skated around.  

[Silver Raven]

I hated the Italian dance pair.  They were boring, and their music was annoying af.  That repeated counting just grated on my ears.

[anniebird]

Just now, Bewitched said:

I actually don’t think it was flawless.  Her 2 axel wasn’t smooth and I really don’t know what she did for the first minute of the program.  Just skated around.  

Because she put all her jumps in the back half. It looked pretty flawless to me.

[twoods]

That last spin sequence was ridiculous. She really is in a league of her own. 

[scarynikki12]

This is another boring program. Also it looks like she doesn’t have much speed coming out of her jumps. That may not matter anymore. 

It does bring to light the continued errors in the code of points. Skaters shouldn’t be allowed to hang out until it’s Part 2 before jumping. They should be required to do at least one shortly after beginning. The next code update needs to reflect this. 

[Moxie Cat]

Damn, Bradie was sooo close to beating Miyahara.

[specialj67]

2 minutes ago, Bewitched said:

I actually don’t think it was flawless.  Her 2 axel wasn’t smooth and I really don’t know what she did for the first minute of the program.  Just skated around.  

She’s a better performer than Zagitova, but in my view, that’s not saying much. And yeah, that 2-axel was Not Good.

[Shaynaa]

Anyone have a link to the Pairs free skate skating order?  I didn't realize that also was tonight.

[Jeddah]

It seems weird to have the pairs do their free skate tonight. They just found out who qualified. I know everyone had a very good idea who would make it, but did the other five teams have their pairs teams ready to go in case they did qualify?

[Souris]

I guess Chanflation extends to other Canadians. Osmond had no business being scored that high. I'm sorry, but that wasn't God's gift to short programs like Johnny was trying to sell. And how brutal was that 0.01 difference for Bradie?

[SophiaD]

I'm a retired opera singer and I have to wonder what's going with the background music at the arena right now.   Coloratura soprano singing (which is what I was) can sound shrill over a loudspeaker.

Wow, if this is the way the individual competition is going to go, it's going to be a snoozefest.  I applauded the shift to the Code of Points, because I thought too many shenanigans were going on with the old system, but now, I'm just feeling disappointed and bored.  

Edited February 11, 2018 by SophiaD

[displayname]

8 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

Damn, Bradie was sooo close to beating Miyahara.

Yeah, she should be much further behind.

12 minutes ago, anniebird said:

She skated flawlessly but I see what you mean about the arms.

She skated cleanly. Her technique is pretty bad. Look at how she whips her arms to get lift into the jumps, or how she barely gets any flow out of her jumps.

[healthnut]

3 minutes ago, Shaynaa said:

Anyone have a link to the Pairs free skate skating order?  I didn't realize that also was tonight.

No starting order on ISU’s website. I don’t remember the pairs free skate being the same day as short programs last Olympics, super strange for that quick of a turnaround but based on how far ahead the top five countries are I’m guessing there was no mystery. 

[mehtotheworld]

Medvedeva was exquisite! US ladies really just can’t compete against that, which kind of sucks.

Osmond was boring too, not sure where that amazing step sequence Johnny was talking about came in. In fact, I was bored by most of the competition except for Medvedeva. Kind of sucks. At least the individual competition has the Russian matchup. 

[voiceover]

I admit that vis-a-vis ice skating, I'm like a Christmas/Easter churchgoer.

Okay, experts: Johnny's saying Bradie is at a disadvantage due to lack of face time with the judges.

So how did Sarah Hughes come out of nowhere?  Or was she not really "out of nowhere"?

[HartofDixie]

[BitterApple]

What was the explanation for Osmond scoring so high? I was watching while on the phone and didn't catch it. I didn't think she was anything spectacular.

I'm very proud of Bradie. That's going to give her a huge confidence boost going into the individual event.

[Moxie Cat]

6 minutes ago, Souris said:

And how brutal was that 0.01 difference for Bradie?

 

Yeah, that sucks, BUT I had no expectation that she would beat the four above her, who were all in the GPF (I think) and have much more experience. She placed fine.

In fact, most of the U.S. skaters placed where they should have. Nathan is the only disappointing outlier, by far.

Heh....given that NBC almost never shows pairs during the season, it makes sense that they would program the pairs free team skate during the overnight (EST) hours!

[galaxygirl76]

Carolina Kostner made her senior debut the same year Alina Zagitova was born!

[Jeddah]

6 minutes ago, voiceover said:

 

So how did Sarah Hughes come out of nowhere?  Or was she not really "out of nowhere"?

She had a bronze medal from Worlds the year before. She definitely wasn’t out of nowhere.

[Vera]

Osmond's jumps are big and she goes into them fast, which means she gets a higher GoE. She and Kostner also have far better skating skills which gives their PCS a boost. 

Satoko under-rotates, a lot.

[anniebird]

12 minutes ago, fan94 said:

Yeah, she should be much further behind.

She skated cleanly. Her technique is pretty bad. Look at how she whips her arms to get lift into the jumps, or how she barely gets any flow out of her jumps.

Harsh crowd here tonight - yes, I should have said cleanly rather than flawlessly. But I tend to be influenced by the expert commentators because they're, you know, experts.

[voiceover]

So, Sarah = more known than Bradie, then.

[galaxygirl76]

7 minutes ago, voiceover said:

I admit that vis-a-vis ice skating, I'm like a Christmas/Easter churchgoer.

Okay, experts: Johnny's saying Bradie is at a disadvantage due to lack of face time with the judges.

So how did Sarah Hughes come out of nowhere?  Or was she not really "out of nowhere"?

I just read her bio and she was on the cover of Time the month before the Olympics, so not totally out of nowhere.

[Misslindsey]

Quote

I like women skating in pants in theory, but I'm not not sure how I feel about this outfit. 

For me it was the outfit paired with the white skates. If her skates were darker or black to match her pants it would have looked better for me.

I would love for anyone to shake up what I believe is the designated top two ladies when it comes time for individual events. I must be horrible because I would love someone to knock Virtue/Moir off the top spot in ice dancing. It just feels so anticlimactic and less fun to watch. They could just hand them their medals now at this point.

[voiceover]

Yes. Well, those of us who are Christmas/Easter viewers, miss that stuff.

[ChicksDigScars]

37 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

I love Edith Piaf as a music choice but that opening combo was bad. She better fix that if she wants to truly challenge for ladies gold. 

It would have been nice if she had actually been penalized for it. The combo, not the music, but I couldn't stand that, either. Not a Piaf fan. Like nails on a chalkboard. 

The ISU REALLY needs to address the "backloading of programs" issue. 

And you're not horrible, MissLindsey.  Did V/M put more booty shaking action in their short dance since the last time we saw it? There was a part in the beginning of the program where Scott shimmies and shakes his ass and I burst out laughing. No, just no. Just have Tessa do that shit, please. And now that someone here compared  V/M's lift to an oral sex position, that's all I could think of when I saw it tonight.   STAAAAAPPPPP it!

Edited February 11, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[healthnut]

Sarah also won Skate Canada that year over both Michelle & Irina and got bronze medals in two Grand Prix Finals. 

 

Just posted:

 Warm-Up Group 1  

1SUZAKI Miu / KIHARA Ryuichi

JPN

2MARCHEI Valentina / HOTAREK Ondrej

ITA

 Warm-Up Group 2  

3SCIMECA KNIERIM A / KNIERIM C

USA

4DUHAMEL Meagan / RADFORD Eric

CAN

5ZABIIAKO Natalia / ENBERT Alexander OAR

Edited February 11, 2018 by healthnut

[Vera]

Just now, Misslindsey said:

I must be horrible because I would love someone to knock Virtue/Moir off the top spot in ice dancing. It just feels so anticlimactic and less fun to watch. They could just hand them their medals now at this point.

 

You'll be glad then. The favorites to win ice dance are Papadakis and Cizeron. They just decided to skip the team event and train for the individual.

Edited February 11, 2018 by Vera

[ChicksDigScars]

Why did P/C skip the team event? Would France have made the final five if they had? Sorry, I'm not in the mood to do math right now. 

Edited February 11, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[Dots And Stripes]

18 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

Yeah, that sucks, BUT I had no expectation that she would beat the four above her, who were all in the GPF (I think) and have much more experience. She placed fine.

In fact, most of the U.S. skaters placed where they should have. Nathan is the only disappointing outlier, by far.

Heh....given that NBC almost never shows pairs during the season, it makes sense that they would program the pairs free team skate during the overnight (EST) hours!

It's the Olympic scheduling. Ladies and ice dance had to go earlier in the evening so that we could know which 5 pairs would skate. NBC may show highlights of the pairs tomorrow during prime time. We'll see.

[Libby96]

2 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

It would have been nice if she had actually been penalized for it. The combo, not the music, but I couldn't stand that, either. Not a Piaf fan. Like nails on a chalkboard. 

The ISU REALLY needs to address the "backloading of programs" issue. 

I am so sick of backloading.  SO sick of it.  Johnny mentioned her saving all her jumps for the second half like it's some kind of clever and wonderful idea.  I'd say take your tech points, fine, but your PCS should take a hit since it's not a balanced program.

Also, Med is good, very good and amazingly consistent.  But I'm still not totally sure she is the Second Coming of ladies' skating.  Maybe I'm mean, but I would be so behind something happening to shake up the expected 1-2 finish by Med and Zag (in whatever order).  That would shut up Johnny's Russophile gushing for a while.

[galaxygirl76]

2 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Why did P/C skip the team event? Would France have made the final five if they had? Sorry, I'm not in the mood to do math right now. 

 

The Dutch commentator said they were being rested for the individual event because there were no expectations for the French team and obviously they are one of the favorites individually.

Edited February 11, 2018 by galaxygirl76

[Dots And Stripes]

2 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Why did P/C skip the team event? Would France have made the final five if they had? Sorry, I'm not in the mood to do math right now. 

Based on what's posted above, Italy and Japan tied for 4th/5th with 26 points, France tied for last with 13 points. Looks like they skipped because France knew the team didn't have a realistic shot at a medal. 

[SophiaD]

I know it's a goal to make the sport more consistent and more like a sport, but if everyone gets the expected scores and finishes in the expected order, even if some of the "less well known" skaters skate cleanly and the others don't, what's the point of even having a competition? 

I think I'm going to DVR the ladies' competition and watch the online reviews first, before I decide whether to watch.

[Misslindsey]

1 minute ago, Vera said:

You'll be glad then. The favorites to win ice dance are Papadakis and Cizeron. They just decided to skip the team event are train for the individual.

Thanks for the info!

I used to follow skating closely, but the past couple of winter olympics I have become less enamored with it and more of a casual olympic skating fan. The sport had problems with judging and CoP before, but I hate the emphasis on quad jumps for the men, backloading programs, getting rewarded for attempting harder jumps even with falls, and probably numerous other things that I cannot think of at the moment because I may have drank too much wine. 

[voiceover]

Christ, this place is like opening my junk closet.  One question and all kinds of stuff comes tumbling out?

[BitterApple]

10 minutes ago, SophiaD said:

I know it's a goal to make the sport more consistent and more like a sport, but if everyone gets the expected scores and finishes in the expected order, even if some of the "less well known" skaters skate cleanly and the others don't, what's the point of even having a competition? 

I'm wondering the same. I feel like everyone should be given a clean slate and judged according to their performance on that day, not scored low because they're a newbie or falling but coming out ahead because they tried something more difficult. It seems like 80% of the scoring is based on past history/finagling programs for maximum points/veteran preference and 20% what you actually do on the ice. I like the old scoring system much better.

Edited February 11, 2018 by BitterApple

[MaKaM]

8 minutes ago, SophiaD said:

I know it's a goal to make the sport more consistent and more like a sport, but if everyone gets the expected scores and finishes in the expected order, even if some of the "less well known" skaters skate cleanly and the others don't, what's the point of even having a competition? 

I think I'm going to DVR the ladies' competition and watch the online reviews first, before I decide whether to watch.

Yeah, Osmond and Koster had very visible errors that should, by rights,  affect their program component scores but it never does. 

[specialj67]

10 minutes ago, Libby96 said:

I am so sick of backloading.  SO sick of it.  Johnny mentioned her saving all her jumps for the second half like it's some kind of clever and wonderful idea.  I'd say take your tech points, fine, but your PCS should take a hit since it's not a balanced program.

Also, Med is good, very good and amazingly consistent.  But I'm still not totally sure she is the Second Coming of ladies' skating.  Maybe I'm mean, but I would be so behind something happening to shake up the expected 1-2 finish by Med and Zag (in whatever order).  That would shut up Johnny's Russophile gushing for a while.

The thing for me, more than the 100% backloading, is the “more is better” philosophy Eteri and her team take to building these incredibly busy programs. No position is held long enough or given time to really breathe, because there are yet more features and difficult variations to do. It’s a problem for many skaters now, but it’s something I really notice with Medvedeva and Zagitova.

[Silver Raven]

As much as I really disliked the Italian dance couple, the pairs couple were tremendous.

[anniebird]

I loved their program - very entertaining.