Figure Skating

[sweeks]

7 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

2015 Worlds:

 

 

2016 Worlds (was there that night!)

 

Thanks for posting these, HartofDixie! They are lovely skaters (I particularly like their spins), but I don't know if they are the best ever the way the commentators say they are. I do like their lyrical style and the relatively subdued facial expressions though. 

[Daisy]

43 minutes ago, fan94 said:

After the crowd roared like that?

 

The ISU would have been under siege.

 

Had V/M had lost after that routine it would have made the Sale/Pellieter Salt Lake City fiasco look like a stroll in the park. 

[Tanichka]

8 minutes ago, magdalene said:

Well, I wanted the French to win the Gold.  I don't like Virtue and Moir,  Especially him.  He rubs me the wrong way

Both the French rub ME the wrong way!  lol

[specialj67]

Is it me, or did each successive version of Tessa’s free dance dress have more of her back/side and left leg showing. Also, getting 50% sparklier each time?

[HartofDixie]

34 minutes ago, SophiaD said:

If Mirai gets the bronze in the ladies (or even higher), this entire Olympics will be worth it to me.

We should all light a candle for Mirai tomorrow night.

 

27 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

Somewhere the crazy secret baby blogger is probably heartbroken. Not much material she can write about now.

New blog post: http://dubemoir.blogspot.com/2018/02/thank-god.html?m=1

[stealinghome]

I'm watching the Olympic Ice post-performance show, and the more the announcers just gush all over P/C, the more I'm resisting. As a casual fan, if they really are the future of the sport, give me a pass. Their long program was boring as all get out and they came off as slow across the ice in both programs. They're pretty, but is that really enough to justify the "ZOMG BEST EVAR SO AMAZEBALLS!" hype?

I was low-key pulling for the ShibSibs over H/D (don't care about H/D one way or the other and I find the ShibSibs are endearing), but I felt so badly for him in the Kiss and Cry when he buried his face in his hands. You could just see him thinking "I single-handedly lost the medal for us" and beating himself up. I felt for Nathan Chen when he sucked in the men's short, but it has to be worse in pairs/ice dancing because you don't just feel like you cost yourself, you also cost your partner.

[Growsonwalls]

Papadakis/Cizeron's 2016 and 2017 programs were IMO much more content-heavy and appealing than their Olympic program. If you look at their previous programs there was so much more intricacy in the lifts, holds, footwork. Don't know why they chose a watered-down program for their Olympic year. Maybe an injury that we don't know about? But I did see something off about them from the start.

Also, don't think Gabby will be winning "Best Sportsmanship" trophies after her cold treatment of Guillaume after the nip slip and her reaction to getting silver.

ETA: oh dear, Tessa and Scott gave some material for the shippers tonight:

Edited February 20, 2018 by Growsonwalls

[Bama]

I don't know if anyone else watched the Post Ice show on the NBC app but I will give 100 million thanks to anyone who knows where to buy the dress Kristi Yamaguchi was wearing.

So stinking cute!  I'm sure I can't afford it but you never know!

[Libby96]

So happy the Shibs took the bronze!   My love of them is approaching my level of love for Michelle Kwan back in the day, which means I am going to agonize every time I watch them compete.  It's so much easier to watch skating when you can just watch it pan out and not feel so (irrationally) invested in the results!

[Minneapple]

11 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

New blog post: http://dubemoir.blogspot.com/2018/02/thank-god.html?m=1

Her fave team won and yet she is STILL SO SALTY. Maybe she's just pissed that Tessa and Scott didn't even let their poor kids come to South Korea to watch them in the Olympics. AGAIN. Man. I hope they were at least released from the basement so they could watch their parents on the TV in the living room like normal people.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Minneapple

[specialj67]

1 minute ago, Minneapple said:

Her fave team won and yet she is STILL SO SALTY. Maybe she's just pissed that Tessa and Scott didn't even let their poor kids come to South Korea to watch them in the Olympics. AGAIN. Man. I hope they were at least released from the basement so they could watch their parents in the living room like normal people.

Well, they were “robbed” in 2014, so she’ll always have that to fall back on ??

[Growsonwalls]

Just now, Minneapple said:

Her fave team won and yet she is STILL SO SALTY. Maybe she's just pissed that Tessa and Scott didn't even let their poor kids come to South Korea to watch them in the Olympics. AGAIN. Man. I hope they were at least released from the basement so they could watch their parents on the TV in the living room like normal people.

Well the secret baby blog is always salty and bitter. If you read the other blog posts it's clear the blogger has this deep, creepy crush on Scott. And so there's always this resentment that Scott has had THREE SECRET BABIES with Tessa and they still won't acknowledge their love and three secret babies. At least the secret baby blogger is so outlandish as to be funny. The Sergei widows IMO were way more creepy because they were taking a situation that actually was tragic and painful and projecting all sorts of creepy sexual fantasies. I hope Katia never read their stuff. 

[mehtotheworld]

8 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

Also, don't think Gabby will be winning "Best Sportsmanship" trophies after her cold treatment of Guillaume after the nip slip and her reaction to getting silver.

I’m so confused. She seemed fine! Disappointed, but fine. She’s so goofy and charming on social media, I don’t get how people think she’s so cold. 

[Growsonwalls]

1 minute ago, mehtotheworld said:

I’m so confused. She seemed fine! Disappointed, but fine. She’s so goofy and charming on social media, I don’t get how people think she’s so cold. 

I don't think she's cold at all. Her social media is delightful. But you could tell this Olympic experience was basically her worst nightmare. A nipslip on international tv, some very embarrassing interviews afterwards, and then losing gold medal by just a hair. She wasn't able to hide her disappointment.

[Dots And Stripes]

1 minute ago, Growsonwalls said:

I don't think she's cold at all. Her social media is delightful. But you could tell this Olympic experience was basically her worst nightmare. A nipslip on international tv, some very embarrassing interviews afterwards, and then losing gold medal by just a hair. She wasn't able to hide her disappointment.

I don't think disappointment is bad sportsmanship. If she tries to insult Tessa and Scott then sure, that's bad sportsmanship. I'm sure all of these top teams understand what she's feeling.

[AshleyN]

26 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

Also, don't think Gabby will be winning "Best Sportsmanship" trophies after her cold treatment of Guillaume after the nip slip and her reaction to getting silver.

 

I mean, she had her costume fall apart and distract her during the biggest skate of her life, followed by her tit falling out in front of a global audience. I'd probably have been locked in a closet somewhere sobbing if I were her, so I'll give her a pass for seeming "cold".

Edited February 20, 2018 by AshleyN

[HartofDixie]

http://www.rockerskating.com/news/2018/2/19/2018-olympics-results-free-dance

[mehtotheworld]

2 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I don't think disappointment is bad sportsmanship. If she tries to insult Tessa and Scott then sure, that's bad sportsmanship. I'm sure all of these top teams understand what she's feeling.

Exactly! If she hinted that her coach preferred another team over them or that judging was rigged ;) then I can see the bad sportsmanship call. But the girl had a nip slip on live television, which is now living on the internet, so it’s a nightmare scenario compounded by internet trolls. Good on her for killing it in the FD, hope they come back for another Olympics and get that gold. 

[HartofDixie]

[superdeluxe]

1 hour ago, gatopretoNYC said:

Well, I like the French better. Can V/M finally retire for real now? I'm so over them.

That’s exactly what I said.  Can they go sit down now?  I really can’t stand them.

[MaKaM]

8 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

http://www.rockerskating.com/news/2018/2/19/2018-olympics-results-free-dance

Me and the Chinese judge were sympatico except for 1 and 2. And Canadian judge, your nationalism is showing a bit too much. Clean that shit up. But, giving 9th to the notRussians is brave with the ladies still to skate. 

[EllenB]

I've never seen "Moulin Rouge" so I want to know why Cookie Monster was singing in that early part of V/M's program.

[sab85]

13 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

http://www.rockerskating.com/news/2018/2/19/2018-olympics-results-free-dance

Wow, US and Canada, bit of homerism going on there?? (Not talking about the top teams, look further down.)

[Dots And Stripes]

Leslie Jones did commentary with Scott Hammilton and Adam Rippon on Tessa and Scott's short dance.

[Jeddah]

I definitely think there’s a huge difference from being disappointed and being a bad sport. P/C seemed very disappointed, but that’s understandable. Sui and Han, and even Shoma, all seemed disappointed abut getting silver. To me it only turns into bad sportsmanship when they imply it was rigged or that their competitors didn’t deserve it. I didn’t get that vibe from P/C.

Shout out to Maia and Alex who were really restrained when H/D’a score came up. I was a terrible sport, who shouted in glee at my tv. Meanwhile Maia and Alex played it totally cool and didn’t show a hint of gloating or schadenfreude.

[ChicksDigScars]

1 hour ago, MaKaM said:

Wish the Shibs had beaten a clean dance from Hubbell and Donohue but thrilled for them anyway. Didn't like the seedy bar routine. 

Well, what goes around, comes around. The only reason that H/D's Fifty Shades of Sneer won at Nationals was that Alex Shib fucked up a Twizzle.  But even before Zach touched down on the ice, it seemed slow and labored. Not this "slow burn" that NBC keeps pushing.  This is H/D's first Olympics. Maybe the moment got to be too much for them. It's understandable.  This is the second rodeo for the Shib's and Chock and Bates. They've experienced standing at center ice, looking at the Rings and having the "Holy fuck, I'm at the Olympics" feeling hit them. Plus, H/D couldn't have been helped by skating after P/C. That said, I'm not going to say that I fist pumped and cheered when they screwed up. But, I did smile. Hugely. 

 

Watching Madison Chock's tears at the end was so sad. I didn't think that they would seriously challenge for the Bronze, but I hate that they ended like that. 

 

I couldn't even look at this board until it was all over. I was too certain that there was going to be screw jobs for the gold AND the bronze, and WOW. It didn't happen. I think the medals actually turned out the way that they should have.  And count me in with the "I don't get it," crowd. I gotta say, I was a little bored during Moonlight Sonata (and not by the piece of music). I guess I don’t entirely get all the gushing, over the top praise for P/C. They skate pretty...and he IS pretty. Maybe just not my cuppa. I don't agree that their free dance should have beaten V/M (but luckily not enough to beat them for the OGM). 

 

Oh, HAAAAYYYY, Russian Federation! Another podium, another swing and a miss. But we know that won't last. Thursday is coming.  But really, when is the last time that the pairs and dance podiums were BOTH were without Russian and/or Soviets?

[Souris]

I had to take to my bed with a migraine so wasn't able to watch the ice dancing live, which I'm cranky about. But I'm THRILLED that the ShibSibs got a bronze! Though I wish they'd have done it over a clean H/D, as they should've. I haven't watched any program but the Shibs yet. Is it right that H/D messed up on a twizzle? If so, I'm going to pretend it was the Spirit of the Twizzle that manifested and was like "Huh-huh, nope, not gonna allow any judging fuckery to stick my Twizzle Children in fourth."

So sad Chock/Bates fell.

Ah, I finally realized who Papadakis looks like! Stana Katic! It's been bugging the crap out of me.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Souris

[Dots And Stripes]

2 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Well, what goes around, comes around. The only reason that H/D's Fifty Shades of Sneer won at Nationals was that Alex Shib fucked up a Twizzle.  But even before Zach touched down on the ice, it seemed slow and labored. Not this "slow burn" that NBC keeps pushing.  This is H/D's first Olympics. Maybe the moment got to be too much for them. It's understandable.  This is the second rodeo for the Shib's and Chock and Bates. They've experienced standing at center ice, looking at the Rings and having the "Holy fuck, I'm at the Olympics" feeling hit them. Plus, H/D couldn't have been helped by skating after P/C. That said, I'm not going to say that I fist pumped and cheered when they screwed up. But, I did smile. Hugely. 

At nationals, the Shibs had a nice lead after the short dance. Without that lead they needed to do more than just not mess up. It seemed to me like they may have tinkered with their program again after the Team Event. I agree that their experienced served them well tonight.

Charlie White had a good point on Olympic Ice last night. He said that the Shibs would need to skate at 110% to get to the podium past H/D since H/D have been stronger in the free dance this season. He also said that when you put that much effort into a skate, that's when mistakes happen. You have to take the risk though in these circumstances. I think all 3 American teams skated like everything was on the line tonight. Two of the teams couldn't quite control it. Having U.S. Teams finished third and fourth was still a great result for U.S. figure skating.

I am also devastated for Madison Chock. She admitted today she's been dealing with an injury and she and Evan had a fall in yesterday's warm-up. It was a shame to see such a lovely program.

[friendperidot]

Quote

Ah, I finally realized who Papadakis looks like! Stana Katic! It's been bugging the crap out of me.

I see Marlee Matlin.

[redpencil]

Yay, Shibs!! Soo happy for them. I really hate H/D's program, even without that fall. I think the Shibs should have won even without that, but I don't trust the judges, so I'm not going to complain.

Coming in I was hoping for a P/C win (given that it was either them or V/M). And I think their FD is beautiful. Probably helps that Moonlight Sonata is one of my favorite classical pieces (and my favorite to play on the piano--one time I was playing it while there was a thunderstorm outside and the power went out and it was the most perfect moment ever). However, I think V/M absolutely deserved the gold based on their actual skating, and I think they should have won the FD. So, for me the podium was exactly as it should have been.

I'm also incredibly glad there was no Montreal sweep. I'm not sure it's a positive thing for ice dance in general for one studio (or whatever you would call it in skating) to dominate. If they mixed up the styles a bit more, maybe it wouldn't feel that way, but they seem to all gravitate to the same, oft-overwrought style.

Edited February 20, 2018 by redpencil

[HartofDixie]

41 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Oh, HAAAAYYYY, Russian Federation! Another podium, another swing and a miss. But we know that won't last. Thursday is coming.  But really, when is the last time that the pairs and dance podiums were BOTH were without Russian and/or Soviets?

1st time ever for dance, 2nd for pairs (2010)

[leopardprint]

1 hour ago, Bama said:

I don't know if anyone else watched the Post Ice show on the NBC app but I will give 100 million thanks to anyone who knows where to buy the dress Kristi Yamaguchi was wearing.

So stinking cute!  I'm sure I can't afford it but you never know!

It’s a top.

[elle]

58 minutes ago, EllenB said:

I've never seen "Moulin Rouge" so I want to know why Cookie Monster was singing in that early part of V/M's program.

Cookie Monster sings better than that!

El Tango De Roxanne- Moulin Rouge

2 hours ago, voiceover said:

Welp.  I checked, and sure enough: Scheherazade, still made my heart stop.  And that was with those lovely minimalist Down Under announcers, proving that someone licking my ear through a performance, just not necessary.

That was lovely!  The music plus choreography, it was as close to ballet on ice as I have seen in years! 

[Bama]

25 minutes ago, leopardprint said:

It’s a top.

NO WAY!  You are awesome!  One million thanks!

And I most certainly will not be paying $300 for such a distinctive top - I wouldn't get enough wear out of it for $300 but I will be watching for it to go on sale.

Seriously - thanks so much!

[Mellowyellow]

All this ice dancing had me interested in rewatching the ice dancing in Sochi which I didn't watch either for some reason.

Was there some kerfuffle that V/M didn't win? Cuz I thought the people who won gold looked REALLY awesome in their long program, better than V/M but that's just my untrained eye. Seemed like a solid gold to me, not like the Yuna debacle where that awful jumping girl (who looked awful on ice) won.

[NUguy514]

Well, I'm not happy, but I'm not outraged either.  As great as they are technically (and they are great), I felt nothing watching V/M's performance.  Well, that's not entirely true: I felt annoyance because I hate that fucking music so much.  Given both nights of competition, though, I think there's no argument that they don't deserve this gold.  I hope I never have to watch them skate their bland yet forced programs ever again.

I looooved P/C's program.  They make everything look effortless, and their connection and projection are so unforced, which I adore.  I MUCH preferred their performance to V/M's; however, they had no business winning gold with their mistakes in the short program.  2022 will be their coronation.

For anyone who thinks Gabriella has acted like a poor sport, I feel inclined to point out, as others have, that she has not complained about the results or treated her competitors in an unsportsmanlike way.  In contrast, after their silver medal in Sochi, V/M implied (and their crazy fans – those crazy V/M fans are The Worst – hollered) that the results were unfair (the USA was colluding with other countries, Marina ignored them, blah blah blah martyr-cakes), which was and is laughable and unfairly diminishes D/W's prohibitive win; I mean, plenty of those crazies still whine that V/M were robbed.

As far as I can tell, it's V/M who have acted like poor sports, not Gabriella.

In the end, though, I'm here for the Shibs!  I'm THRILLED they won the bronze!!  They skated so incredibly, and it was their performance that brought me to tears!

The judges are 9-9 with the skating medals, and that is astonishing(ly amazing) to me.

[displayname]

3 hours ago, PoshSprinkles said:

Considering they were rated higher in PCS than the Shibs, they likely would have gotten bronze without the fall, which is ridiculous considering their program was kind of trashy. YMMV. 

They were behind the Shibs in PCS for both performances, though.

 

Likely would have won without the mistake, though.

[displayname]

I don't think it's 9-9 for the medals, though... The winners are all right, but Shoma over Javier wasn't.

 

9-9 for podiums, though, for sure.

[redpencil]

Quote

They were behind the Shibs in PCS for both performances, though.

Not in the FD. Shibs had 55.49, H/D 56.00.

ETA: Link to judge's protocols sheet.

Edited February 20, 2018 by redpencil

[mledawn]

I know next to nothing about ice dancing but I loved Tessa and Scott's routine. I thought the top three pairs were fantastic, but I also really enjoyed the Canadian pair that did the James Bond themed routine. As with television show forums, much entertainment was found with this thread!

Whoever came up with the cunniliftus, I owe you because I'm using that from this point on.

[aemom]

I've been a bit out of the loop with watching figure skating the last few years and I was ready to watch this amazing french team that were taking on V/M.

I don't get the excitement.  Their free dance was so boring that I started falling asleep. It did not seem that difficult,  I really thought other teams were better than them. I would have been happy with the Shibs higher than them. YMMV.

[Vera]

P/C are naturally reserved, V/M (or at least Scott) wear their hearts on their sleeves. It's not even a day since the competition, let them feel whatever and however, they want to feel. 

One thing I do think that the Gadbois coaches did that was smart was let each team work with different choreographers of their choice. VM had David Wilson and Sam Choinard and P/C had Chris Dean (SD) and Jeffery Cirio (FD) work with them. Even during the Olympic practices, MF saw to H/D, Patrice to V/M and Romain to P/C. 

[Crs97]

I know almost nothing about the intricacies of ice dancing so just vote on the performances that move me.  The Shibs seemed so fast on the ice.  They had an interesting, exciting program.  P/C seemed slow and boring by comparison.  I am sure it was a hard program, but it seemed flat to me.  A couple of the lifts were downright ugly.  I didn’t think it was the best of the night, much less a record breaker.  V/M were fast; that one lift wasn’t exactly attractive, but it was crazy and exciting to see.

I hate the idea that medal contenders have to be on display in the televised special waiting area.  They should be allowed to go wherever they want; I didn’t need to see Michelle Kwan cry in Nagano to know she was disappointed with the silver.  Sometimes we expect too much from our athletes.

[aemom]

14 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I hate the idea that medal contenders have to be on display in the televised special waiting area.  They should be allowed to go wherever they want; I didn’t need to see Michelle Kwan cry in Nagano to know she was disappointed with the silver.  Sometimes we expect too much from our athletes.

Seriously!  When did they start that crap? Poor Nathan Chen had to sit there for hours knowing he was going to get "pushed" out of those seats eventually. 

[absnow54]

Poor Nathan Chen had to sit there for hours knowing he was going to get "pushed" out of those seats eventually.

I feel bad for Hubbell and Donahue having to sit there for even ten minutes knowing there's a 0.0% chance they're going to get a medal. I haven't been a fan of theirs at these Olympics, but that seems cruel.

[Moxie Cat]

So Zach's little off-balance dip caused H/D to land 5 points behind the Shibs? Is that why Madison said "I'm sorry" to him as soon as they were done? I took it as something she did wrong but I couldn't spot anything. 

Not a fan of hers but I feel terrible for him. 

Did NBC ever show the Shibs happy? I know they were probably trying to stay polite for the cameras, but when the camera showed the green room after H/D's results, I wanted to shout "Did you see? You medaled!" They weren't aiming for gold or silver, were they?

I do give Hubbell credit for saying "Well, that's the way it is" right before the camera went off them. She reacted very maturely to the results. Contrast that with Papadakis, whose eyes looked dead before P/C skated and who sat in the green room with the Shibs like a stone. You won a silver! You weren't that far behind! You have another Olympics in you! And barring another Moir comeback, you have a great shot at winning in 2022! Talk to Nathan Chen - it doesn't always happen. But you DID win a medal!

That green room was so different from the pairs. I never saw the Shibs interact with P/C and when they cut back a little while after V/M's scores, the Shibs were wandering around on their phones while P/C sat there in silence. They should have sent Megan Duhamel in there to hug everyone!

[MaKaM]

12 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I feel bad for Hubbell and Donahue having to sit there for even ten minutes knowing there's a 0.0% chance they're going to get a medal. I haven't been a fan of theirs at these Olympics, but that seems cruel.

And every time you have to work to suppress a sneeze or a fart or whatever, you are sneering. Or if you carefully don't make any expression (or talk to family and friends through text) , you get harassed for being a disconnected, soulless robot.  God help you if you smile because you are pleased with your performance, clearly you are smirking because your competitors screwed up. 

[sweeks]

After watching the awkward top-3 sitting  area during this Olympics, I have a newfound appreciation for the lounge with the puppy at Nationals this year. While it seemed ridiculous at first, you could tell that puppy helped ease the tension. It also gave the people who had competed something to do and focus on. 

[kitmerlot1213]

9 minutes ago, MaKaM said:

And every time you have to work to suppress a sneeze or a fart or whatever, you are sneering. Or if you carefully don't make any expression (or talk to family and friends through text) , you get harassed for being a disconnected, soulless robot.  God help you if you smile because you are pleased with your performance, clearly you are smirking because your competitors screwed up. 

THIS!!  I don't think either Hubbell or Papadakis have acted in any way that is unsportsmanlike--if they start doing interviews where they're blaming their coach or implying collusion with judges, then we'll talk.  So now that Scott Moir has been crowned king of the ice dancing world like he thought he should have in 2014, can he go away now?

I am not a fan of Chock and Bates, but watching her reaction to their falling on that spin was heart-breaking.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I'm very proud of the Shibs for winning that bronze medal--their free dance was a wonderful calm in an emotional storm.

Edited February 20, 2018 by kitmerlot1213

[vixenbynight]

I thought that last night's free skate was pretty terrific. Congratulations to all of the pairs that made it into the top ten rankings and it was absolutely fantastic to see the very different top three competiting teams (and their unique styles) achieve medal recognition at the Olympics.