Figure Skating

[HartofDixie]

33 minutes ago, herbz said:

Ah, I can appreciate their sheer versatility and range of programs. I think it's their Rumba I go back to more than Bolero. They really did show a new way of movement on the ice. The Duchesneys weren't really my cup of tea either.

One of my favorites!

[herbz]

32 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

One of my favorites!

 

Will love it forever. Deceptively complex choreography and such a connection. I don't feel like many teams this year- with the exception of V/M and H/D (the Shibs get an obvious pass), are trying to get that across, and Rhumba's the one dance other than Argentine Tango when that really is the vibe you should be going for. 

Really enjoyed that Dave Lease piece. I shouldn't like him, but I can't help but do. And now I really need to know the gossip about Vladimir Putin.

Edited February 15, 2018 by herbz

[MostlyC]

Dave Lease?  I'm going to have to check this guy out, now that I've read the article.  He sounds great (if controversial).

[vixenbynight]

11 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

One of my favorites!

Thank you for posting this clip. I utterly adore Torvill and Dean. They brought a certain skill, elegance, grace, simplicity and sexiness to Ice Dancing that had not been seen before in figure skating.

I haven't gone through the entire thread, but is there really only one US pairs team competing in the Olympics this year?

[HartofDixie]

5 minutes ago, vixenbynight said:

Thank you for posting this clip. I utterly adore Torvill and Dean. They brought a certain skill, elegance, grace, simplicity and sexiness to Ice Dancing that had not been seen before in figure skating.

I haven't gone through the entire thread, but is there really only one US pairs team competing in the Olympics this year?

Just one US team. K&K were 10th at Worlds so we’ll send 2 teams there but only 16 spots for the Olympics are earned at worlds and the countries that finished ahead of us earned 2 or 3 spots so we barely made it. What sucks is France earned two spots but they only have 1 team that could go to the Olympics so that extra spot went to the Olympic qualifying competition rather than going to the US.

[specialj67]

6 minutes ago, MostlyC said:

Dave Lease?  I'm going to have to check this guy out, now that I've read the article.  He sounds great (if controversial).

The overall sensibility of this and the regular figure skating forum here are pretty similar to what Dave does over on The Skating Lesson. The videos are sometimes way too long to watch in one go and leave much to be desired in both audio and visual quality, but he and the current cohost and various guests come at it from a place of genuine figure skating fandom. 

[sweeks]

1 hour ago, CeeBeeGee said:

Interesting article on Dave lease. FWIW I prefer the old blog style rather than having to sit through these long videos.

Thanks for posting this, CeeBeeGee! Lease and TSL are controversial and provocative (and oftentimes catty), and I can see why coaches, skaters, and fans would dislike them. I just started watching the videos this year, and while they are very long, I like having them in the background when I'm working on the computer. I do appreciate that the commentators on TSL make no bones of having favorites, and I've learned to take their commentary with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

[Enero]

Watching the profile on Katia Gordeeva. Even after 20+ years she's still very raw about what happened to Sergei, understandably. Their daughter Daria looks exactly like him.

That said, the streaming on the NBC App appears to not be much better than watching on TV. I thought they'd be showing the entire Pairs FS competition on the app, meaning showing all the pairs programs. However, this does not look to be the case. Very disappointing. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Enero

[herbz]

7 minutes ago, Enero said:

Watching the profile on Katia Gordeeva. Even after 20+ years she's still very raw about what happened to Sergei, understandably. Their daughter Daria looks exactly like him.

That said, the streaming on the NBC App appears to not be much better than watching on TV. I thought they'd be showing the entire Pairs FS competition on the app, meaning showing all the pairs programs. However, this does not look to be the case. Very disappointing. 

 

What happened to Sergei still makes me sad. They were so gorgeous together and they were just so young.

Edited February 15, 2018 by herbz

[sweeks]

1 minute ago, Enero said:

Watching the profile on Katia Gordeeva. Even after 20+ years she's still very raw about what happened to Sergei, understandably. Their daughter Daria looks exactly like her father.

It was so sad watching Katia and Scott Hamilton (who co-hosts Olympic Ice), since it was like seeing them relive that moment again. When they cut to Scott in the studio, it looked like he was crying.

I appreciated how Daria talked about her mother's strength. I was watching Celebration of a Life and some of the network-produced memorials for Sergei on YouTube just before this came on, and I was struck by how Katia managed to hold herself together in the wake of his death.

[irisheyes]

7 minutes ago, Enero said:

Watching the profile on Katia Gordeeva. Even after 20+ years she's still very raw about what happened to Sergei, understandably. Their daughter Daria looks exactly like him.

I turned it to NBCSN and caught literally the last two minutes. I couldn’t even figure out who it was about until they went to Scott Hamilton, and he was in tears. Hoping I can catch it on the NBC app later. I still remember hearing the news. 

[Souris]

Just now, sweeks said:

It was so sad watching Katia and Scott Hamilton (who co-hosts Olympic Ice), since it was like seeing them relive that moment again. When they cut to Scott in the studio, it looked like he was crying.

I appreciated how Daria talked about her mother's strength. I was watching Celebration of a Life and some of the network-produced memorials for Sergei on YouTube just before this came on, and I was struck by how Katia managed to hold herself together in the wake of his death.

Even though it was a pretty short piece, it made me cry. It broke my heart when Sergei died. One of those life moments that just don't seem fair.

Tanith was drying her eyes with a tissue, too.

[Moxie Cat]

Why are these forums offline every night - I might die without my skating chat fix!

[anniebird]

23 hours ago, galaxygirl76 said:

I was reading up on her after I asked that because I got curious if I remembered that right and man, that poor girl had some shitty and one abusive asshole for partners before she started skating with Anton.

This is really terrible but I remember, at the time, her nickname was Skate-In-The-Head.

[specialj67]

I tried watching Olympic Ice just , and I can’t do it! I miss the low-rent fun of Torino. I need Tamara Moskvina and Mary Carillo and the rest of the gang. This current version is too serious. They need to pair Tanith with someone younger (sorry, Scott Hamilton!) and get a host with more and better feigned interest—if they need a non-skating person to host.

[Avaleigh]

1 hour ago, HartofDixie said:

One of my favorites!

 

This is my favorite program of Torvill and Dean. They had passion for sure. I thought Chris was ridiculously sexy back then.

23 minutes ago, herbz said:

What happened to Sergei still makes me sad. They were so gorgeous together and they were just so young.

 

One thing I remember reading when her book came out was her commenting that if she could, she'd like to live her life backwards. She basically wanted to go back through their time together. For anyone who was in the skating community at the time, you totally remember where you were when you found out. 

I'm glad she found some happiness with Ilia even if they've had a bit of a rocky road together. Rumors have swirled about them for years. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Avaleigh

[sweeks]

1 minute ago, Avaleigh said:

I'm glad she found some happiness with Ilia even if they've had a bit of a rocky road together. Rumors have swirled about them for years. 

I haven't kept up with a lot of the skating gossip, so I have to ask about this. What rumors have there been?

[Avaleigh]

4 minutes ago, sweeks said:

I haven't kept up with a lot of the skating gossip, so I have to ask about this. What rumors have there been?

Supposedly he's a bit of a player. 

[MaKaM]

Aw man I want to like the Knerims, but until he learns to jump, this train is going nowhere. 

[Dianaofthehunt]

Sick of hearing about the Knerims and valentine's day...this pair just doesn't send me like Virtue/Moir .

[Growsonwalls]

1 minute ago, Avaleigh said:

Supposedly he's a bit of a player. 

There was also some drama when she went back to Russia to do a reality tv program and there were some paparazzi pics of them off the ice together in sort of compromising positions. I think she and Ilia separated for awhile but are now back together.

Daria also went through a REALLY rough patch a few years ago and it was unfortunately all documented on her very open social media. There were lots of pics of her smoking, drinking, and some drug paraphernalia. And some interviews with Katia where she admitted Daria had a tough time accepting Ilia as a stepfather.

[Libby96]

All I can think of when I see Johnny, Tara and Terry today:  "On Wednesdays we wear pink!"

[Minneapple]

I'm watching the streaming again and I gotta say, I enjoy it. The lady doing the play-by-play is very fair, she explains things really well, they show stuff in slo-mo and break it down. They don't blab unnecessarily. Could they be a little more enthusiastic/add some more humor and personality? Probably but that's a minor drawback. 

ETA: I'm gonna switch over to Tara/Johnny for awhile for a direct comparison.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Minneapple

[absnow54]

The Czech costumes are fug. 

[sweeks]

5 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

Supposedly he's a bit of a player. 

 

1 minute ago, Growsonwalls said:

There was also some drama when she went back to Russia to do a reality tv program and there were some paparazzi pics of them off the ice together in sort of compromising positions. I think she and Ilia separated for awhile but are now back together.

Daria also went through a REALLY rough patch a few years ago and it was unfortunately all documented on her very open social media. There were lots of pics of her smoking, drinking, and some drug paraphernalia. And some interviews with Katia where she admitted Daria had a tough time accepting Ilia as a stepfather.

Thank you, Avaleigh and Growsonwalls! I hadn't heard about Ilia being a player, but I do recall hearing rumors about Katia and some of her reality-show partners. I also remember reading an article where they said that one would go on tour while the other stayed at home with the children, so I'm not that surprised about the nature of the rumors.

That is sad to hear about Daria, but it is good to know that she seems to be in a better place now. 

[Enero]

Glad someone is finally skating to something fast. Though lovely, the love music was getting old fast. 

[irisheyes]

1 minute ago, absnow54 said:

The Czech costumes are fug. 

And I loved their SP outfits. She’s adorable. 

[sweeks]

Just now, absnow54 said:

The Czech costumes are fug. 

I saw the costumes and thought they look like something from a parody of figure skating (a la Blades of Glory). 

[Jeddah]

3 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

The Czech costumes are fug. 

They had a good skate, but I couldn’t get past the costumes.

[sweeks]

Not only is the German couple skating to Romeo and Juliet but they started their LP by forming a heart with their arms. I find this cloying, but I also grudgingly admire their commitment to such an idea.

[Enero]

Tara and Johnny are hilarious. "He's not Romeo." "He's just that guy." LOL. SMH,

[MaKaM]

On the stream, HATE the male announcer saying how much time left. Yeah, some of this shit is boring but none of us are adding the points in our heads so we don't need to know they are in the bonus time. 

[Enero]

I think it was in very poor taste for the U.S. team to use the shooting in Florida to downplay their mistakes. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Enero

[Chaser]

2 minutes ago, Enero said:

I think it was in very poor taste for the U.S. team to use the shooting in Florida to downplay their mistakes. 

 

I don’t t mind them acknowledging the tragedy, but don’t connect it to the skate.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Chaser

[SeanC]

8 minutes ago, sweeks said:

Not only is the German couple skating to Romeo and Juliet but they started their LP by forming a heart with their arms. I find this cloying, but I also grudgingly admire their commitment to such an idea.

They were skating to a selection from the lame 2013 Romeo and Juliet film (the one that "modernized" the prose).  When I first saw the title of the music I figured it must have been an old opera or something.

[honeywest]

Quote

2 minutes ago, Enero said:

I think it was in very poor taste for the U.S. team to use the shooting in Florida to downplay their mistakes. 

 

That left a bad taste in my mouth, too.

The North Korean pair is about to skate (on MSNBC).

[MaKaM]

Well, the US didn't come in last. That's...something. And sad that is the best we can muster up. 

 

Was the interview on msnbc? 

Edited February 15, 2018 by MaKaM

[herbz]

I heard through the grapevine a while back (but pinch of salt, don't quote me on this, it was third hand etc etc) that Katia and Ilia were going to quietly separate. Don't know if it happened. She's had a rough road and I hope she's found some contentment.

[Moxie Cat]

I love the PRK lady's (Ryom?) jumpsuit. Refreshing to see that style again, and it's pretty and sparkly.

5 minutes ago, MaKaM said:

Was the interview on msnbc? 

I saw it on NBCSN. They were with Andrea Joyce. 

[BitterApple]

2 minutes ago, herbz said:

I heard through the grapevine a while back (but pinch of salt, don't quote me on this, it was third hand etc etc) that Katia and Ilia were going to quietly separate. Don't know if it happened. She's had a rough road and I hope she's found some contentment.

I'm not surprised to read they've had issues. Katia and Sergei were so obviously in love I can't help but wonder if Ilia has felt he's been trying to live up to a ghost all these years. Then throw in the usual blended family issues and an elder daughter who struggled and it's a wonder they're still together at all. Like you said, I hope she can find peace at some point. I can't imagine having the rug pulled out from under me the way she did when Sergei died.

As far as the Knierems, yeah, appropriating a tragedy as an excuse for your poor performance is tacky as hell. They seem like decent people but I don't see them making a push to become a top tier pair. It just isn't there.

[SeanC]

That was a nice routine.

Seguin and Bilodeau are on the young side, particularly Seguin, who is only 21. Perhaps they could be real contenders for Canada at the next Olympics.

Edited February 15, 2018 by SeanC

[Growsonwalls]

I am also shocked that unlike Natalia M. or Hongbo Zhao or other former pair skaters Katia Gordeeva IMO has NOT aged well. She was so beautful when young.

 

Also interesting that her instagram has plenty pics of her daughters but none of Ilia. Hmm.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Growsonwalls

[Dianaofthehunt]

Seguin and Bilodeau + a green box tsunami!

[MostlyC]

How old is the North Korean Skater?  She looks about 13.

[herbz]

Seguin and Bilodeau have real potential.

[leopardprint]

I want the North Korean dude’s bedazzled T-shirt.  

Edited February 15, 2018 by leopardprint

[absnow54]

What would you call the first North Korean lift? The Pizza Pie Butt Grab?

[mtlchick]

1 minute ago, herbz said:

Seguin and Bilodeau have real potential.

I think they are the future in Canadian skating.  But they need to be all in for the next four years if they have any chance to medal in Beijing. 

[Growsonwalls]

The N. Korean pair was very charming. A bit juniorish but I definitely like them.

[Minneapple]

I don't think the US skaters were trying to make excuses for their poor skate by naming the Florida tragedy. Bringing it up was kind of hamhanded, though.