Figure Skating

[Avaleigh]

11 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I have a friend who has known the Chens since Nathan was a novice skater and she says they and he are among the nicest people she knows. Rafe is not exactly known as a  tolerant coach. I have a feeling there is two sides of the story that he is telling.

I didn't get the impression that Raf's story makes the Chens seem like they aren't nice people. I just think that Raf and the Chen family are on two different pages when it comes to what the plan should be for Nathan.

[Minneapple]

I've watched almost all of the figure skating on streaming, with occasional Johnny/Tara breaks. Let me tell you how much better the streaming is than the regular coverage: It's MUCH BETTER. Australian Lady is my new fave commentator for any sport, ever. There's no shrieking, no trashing skaters for personal preferences, no wondering what the hell is going on with Johnny's hair and she explains stuff really well, like they showed what it meant to land "backwards" on a jump as opposed to "forward." She sounded like she had raised eyebrows at Alina's scores last night, like "Seriously, they gave THAT a world record?"

And speaking of Zagitova...if her coach really hates her and favors Medvedeva, then I feel bad for her. She's just a kid. A kid who apparently had a really bad leg injury and her coach told her to leave and doesn't like her much. Her coach can't even smile when her skater got the world record? Although it appears the coach has had plenty of Botox/face peels so maybe that's why she didn't smile -- SHE COULDN'T. 

So, I probably shouldn't hate her. I should probably reserve my irrational hatred for people who deserve it, like Scott Moir.

[Moxie Cat]

NBCSN definitely didn't carry the Daleman/Mirai group, and afterwards, NBC announced coverage would then switch back to NBCSN for the final group. I was shocked that NBC wasn't airing Med, Zagitova, etc. (They didn't say it would be on much later.) That was when I gave up - it was close to midnight already.

All I've gotten from NBC's decision to make the skaters skate in the morning so we can see it start at 8 pm is seeing a lot of lower-ranked skaters who aren't that impressive. I would much rather the skaters skate at a normal time for them and watch it at an odd time or on a slight delay. I often catch up with the results on a delay anyway. It's not always about who won - I watch because I enjoy the performances. 

If their ratings are down, it's because only real fans are sticking with the live feeds post-10 pm. And one last note: most kids are not getting to see the good skaters with this programming schedule either. My love for skating started when I watched the 1992 and 1994 Olympics as a teen. I might not be watching skating now if I hadn't enjoyed it so much then. (Oksana and her maribou and all!)

[Moxie Cat]

In regards to Miner, Rippon, and the quad issue: I have been annoyed over the last year how, whenever Jason Brown skates, Johnny has to bring up the missing quad. But now it's Ok that Adam decided to pull it and all we hear is about "performance ability" being his thing. Somewhere Ross and Jason are rolling their eyes.

[Growsonwalls]

I don't think this means Nathan's parents aren't nice people. I'm sure they are. I think what this shows is immaturity/inexperience on Nathan's part that he thought honoring his parents meant skating a program he couldn't skate because of his injury. 

I also don;t think Overly Involved Skating Parents is an ethnic thing. Back in the day coach Carlo Fassi had to set up a private telephone line just so he wouldn't be deluged by phone calls 24/7 from Peggy Fleming's mom. Peggy's mom (according to Peggy in her own fluffy autobiography, mind you) also ripped up all of Peggy's favorite pictures because she thought it would "motivate" Peggy. 

[wintrygal]

I'm thankful to have CBC coverage here in Canada, it's always good, as is TSN.  I've seen all the skaters in all the disciplines so far.  The replay of the Ice Dance was good as at the end it showed everyone in the kiss and cry, including the French couple, Weaver and Pjoe, Virtue and Moir and some others, congratulating each other, they were all hugging and seemed pretty happy, well at least the French team was smiling and hugging everyone.  (I get NBC also, but don't like their coverage at all, they do skip over a lot of skaters)

[CherryMalotte]

3 hours ago, Bama said:

I'd love to take her out for a Girl's Day and just hang out, get our nails done, get massages and makeovers, go to a chi chi girly lunch place, and end the day drinking wine in bathrobes in a fancy hotel, laughing and talking.

I'd love to come with.  I bet Adam would too.  

Someone would have to refreshen a few of my brain cells, I seem to remember when Mirai left Frank Carroll's coaching it was said to be a distance thing, but he seemed to be not happy with her in some way, not disciplined enough at the time, not a second Kwan, something was 'off' about all that.  I liked Frank, but he seemed to get more crankypants the older he got.

[Bramble]

38 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

NBCSN definitely didn't carry the Daleman/Mirai group, and afterwards, NBC announced coverage would then switch back to NBCSN for the final group. I was shocked that NBC wasn't airing Med, Zagitova, etc. (They didn't say it would be on much later.) That was when I gave up - it was close to midnight already.

I saw Mirai's group on NBCSN. I wasn't watching consistently, but I saw Mirai and Karen Chen.  I didn't end up watching through the final group so I don't know if they ever stopped showing it on NBCSN, but they pretty much stayed with the Ladies Short all evening.

[aemom]

21 minutes ago, LadyKenobi said:

Aussie Lady is awesome.  Does anyone know who she is?  I don't think they introduce themselves at the top of the broadcast?

According to the internet, she is Belinda Noonan: a former Aussie champ, but never cracked the top 20 in Worlds.

Edited February 21, 2018 by AEMom
Typo

[proserpina65]

God, I fell asleep before the figure skating again!  Damn you and your soporific voice, stupid Bode Miller!

[Eyes High]

I have a soft spot for Evgenia--anime fan solidarity--but yeah, her SP was overscored (to the surprise of no one).

I'm definitely dating myself with this reference, but the Kazakhstan figure skater's headpiece was giving me serious Childlike Empress vibes.

Lots of ragging on all the Carmen in the media today.

Edited February 21, 2018 by Eyes High

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

All I've gotten from NBC's decision to make the skaters skate in the morning so we can see it start at 8 pm is seeing a lot of lower-ranked skaters who aren't that impressive. I would much rather the skaters skate at a normal time for them and watch it at an odd time or on a slight delay. I often catch up with the results on a delay anyway. It's not always about who won - I watch because I enjoy the performances. 

If their ratings are down, it's because only real fans are sticking with the live feeds post-10 pm. And one last note: most kids are not getting to see the good skaters with this programming schedule either. My love for skating started when I watched the 1992 and 1994 Olympics as a teen. I might not be watching skating now if I hadn't enjoyed it so much then. (Oksana and her maribou and all!)

And the next Winter Olympics will ALSO be in Asia.  Why don't we just stick a fork into US skating?  It's done.  Young people aren't going to be interested in the sport IF THEY NEVER SEE IT.  Not everyone has NBCSN and not everyone will want to stay up until 2 am watching yet another Moulin Rouge or screechy violin piece.  

Quote

But Brennan isn't wrong: this is the worst placement US ladies have had in Olympic figure skating ever. I honestly don't know why we're having such a tough time producing someone competitive. 

Well, for a start, the kids can't see the biggest show, the Olympics, when it's on.  Football has it right:  have the Super Bowl at 6:30 EST so EVERYBODY can see it!  I wanted to have friends over to watch the skating, but everyone knew we'd have to sit through 20 boring skaters skating to music that was used by Carol Heiss Jennings back in 1956.    

Edited February 21, 2018 by AuntieDiane6

[Growsonwalls]

11 minutes ago, CherryMalotte said:

I'd love to come with.  I bet Adam would too.  

Someone would have to refreshen a few of my brain cells, I seem to remember when Mirai left Frank Carroll's coaching it was said to be a distance thing, but he seemed to be not happy with her in some way, not disciplined enough at the time, not a second Kwan, something was 'off' about all that.  I liked Frank, but he seemed to get more crankypants the older he got.

 

Around 1 hr 02 minutes. He talks about "heavy baggage" in her "personal life." 

Considering we later on found out the "heavy baggage" was that Mirai's mom was battling cancer ... yeah, I don't think Frank Carroll is the world's most empathetic coach.

[caracas1914]

1 hour ago, Growsonwalls said:

I don't think this means Nathan's parents aren't nice people. I'm sure they are. I think what this shows is immaturity/inexperience on Nathan's part that he thought honoring his parents meant skating a program he couldn't skate because of his injury. 

I also don;t think Overly Involved Skating Parents is an ethnic thing. 

Amen.

Surya Bonaly’s mother, ditto Tara Lipinski’s , the list goes on and on.

 

However for the life of me I can’t ever recall anything similar to a skater informing his coach the morning of his Olympic SP skate he was unilaterally changing his jumps.  

Edited February 21, 2018 by caracas1914

[Daisy]

1 hour ago, Avaleigh said:

I definitely understand the frustration over the war horse music. I'm tired of all of the above too but I'm not quite sure that I want them thrown onto a list of forbidden music. Ultimately I want skaters to have the freedom to choose the music that feels right for them. 

Rachmaninoff's Concerto #2 has been done to death but it worked so much better for Tarasova and Morozov than something new like Candyman. 

Virtue and Moir had a terrific Carmen and to me, it was nice to see their take on it. Mirai absolutely shined when she skated to Carmen. 

Swan Lake has possibly been done more than any other piece of music but it's still cool to watch when it's done well just as the ballet is fun to watch even though countless performances have been done. one of Ashley's best programs was to Swan Lake. The same with Sasha. Ilinyk and Katsalapov's free dance in Sochi was a thing of beauty. These programs wouldn't have been allowed if the music in question was thrown onto some arbitrary list. 

Carolina came alive with Bolero and even though it wasn't my favorite program, most prople loved it and the response was positive. 

Mao skated to a long list of war horse music (Swan Lake, Concerto #2, Liebestraum, Carmen, Clair de Lune, Masquerade Waltz,  Scheherezade, etc) but she made each one of those programs special.

Back to Virtue and Moir, fair enough that they used music that's been done to death for this Olympic season. But isn't it also fair to say that they made it their own and it ended up being an exciting and memorable performance that will go down in skating history? Moulin Rouge music has been trending since their skate and the audience was into it. Sometimes familiarity can be a good thing. 

This doesn't mean that I don't think skaters should try new things, I just think that they should be allowed to do their own take on a classic piece of skating music. 

 

OHo ignore me. LOL i'm grumpypants. :)
it doesn't bother me per se, but it just gets really tiring when you hear 10 carmens in one event.  I know there's a reason why they are chosen (because you can really make it amazing etc), but there is that grumpy part of me that goes. out of all the music in all the world.. ___________ again? I do think (and agree) a part of it is "what gets people into it" and if it's a song you know  - it helps more than a song tht makes you go "wait, whu?"

 

but this was an amazing post, and i totally agree. (hence me just saying- ignore me) LOL

[Cherpumple]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I almost feel like the announcers who praise her are just throwing her a bone because there's something kind of sad about a 30 year-old who won't hang it up and move on to something else in life.

Wow. Considering that a 30 year old woman and a (gasp!) 34 year old woman just won gold medals for ice dancing and pairs, I certainly don't see anything "sad" about Carolina continuing to remain part of the sport she clearly loves. In fact, I enjoy watching her more now than I did ten years ago because it's obvious that she's now doing it out of sheer joy, which has given her a calmer and more expressive skating style than in the past.

[Quiet1ne]

37 minutes ago, Bramble said:

I saw Mirai's group on NBCSN. I wasn't watching consistently, but I saw Mirai and Karen Chen.  I didn't end up watching through the final group so I don't know if they ever stopped showing it on NBCSN, but they pretty much stayed with the Ladies Short all evening.

NBCSN showed every skater live.  They would break away during the warmup/zamboni time and show some hockey or curling.  Maybe people thought they weren't coming back to skating because of that?

[HartofDixie]

2 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

Virtue and Moir had a terrific Carmen and to me, it was nice to see their take on it.

This was a great program!

[Jaded]

3 minutes ago, Quiet1ne said:

NBCSN showed every skater live.  They would break away during the warmup/zamboni time and show some hockey or curling.  Maybe people thought they weren't coming back to skating because of that?

That could be a reason. Another reason could be viewers were used to how NBC had been choosing to air skating all the nights before. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Jaded

[displayname]

17 hours ago, PoshSprinkles said:

I can't wait to see what the judges do after Alina and Evgenia fall off the face of the Earth after this Olympics just like their predecessors.  

Reward the quad-landing Russian girls?

[methadonna]

16 hours ago, LadyKenobi said:

Eh, I don’t miss Sasha Cohen at all. Always much preferred Kwan. Anybody know what ol’ Vagina Hinge is up to these days?

Stoicism.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

I didn't think to DVR NBCSN later on last night after the usual first groups of skaters aired because I thought most of the rest would air on NBC. I've seen that the ratings keep dropping for these Olympics and wonder if it's all the channel hopping NBC is making people do.

Possibly. It could also be that the US doesn't perform as Well here as the Summer Games and we've been trained in homerism and expecting to see USA always.  

But I think they took it too far when training and qualifying coverage (except for the most popular sports like snowboarding) make prime time coverage while other live events that matter are on cable.

[specialj67]

Just finished watching the final flight from last night and holy hell, Carolina was overscored for that performance. No triple-triple and a hand down on the solo triple and she’s basically tied for fifth place? I like her skating a lot, but I’m giving mega side eye to that. Just based on performance and cleanliness, I’d rather Dabin Choi be in the final group for the long.

The only 2 skaters I’m pulling for in the top group are the 2 Japanese ladies. If Sakamoto could replicate her 4CC performance, that would be great. Miyahara is just the loveliest to watch—her hand...posture, I guess?...is wonderful to observe. I’d be pulling for Daleman too if I wasn’t so worried about her iffy track record with long programs this season.

[CeeBeeGee]

1 hour ago, Growsonwalls said:

 

 

Around 1 hr 02 minutes. He talks about "heavy baggage" in her "personal life." 

Considering we later on found out the "heavy baggage" was that Mirai's mom was battling cancer ... yeah, I don't think Frank Carroll is the world's most empathetic coach.

He seems like kind of a jerk sometimes. Dropping Gracie Gold via media was pretty classless. Plus I think someone here mentioned that Kwan's split with him had something to do with his wanting a cut of her endorsements--like, are you not already very well compensated for the training you provide? I don't think coaches should ever try to get a cut of their athletes' outside money--that has nothing to do with them.

 

39 minutes ago, Cherpumple said:

Wow. Considering that a 30 year old woman and a (gasp!) 34 year old woman just won gold medals for ice dancing and pairs, I certainly don't see anything "sad" about Carolina continuing to remain part of the sport she clearly loves. In fact, I enjoy watching her more now than I did ten years ago because it's obvious that she's now doing it out of sheer joy, which has given her a calmer and more expressive skating style than in the past.

Calling Kostner "sad" for continuing to do what she still does very well--she is still among the best in the world, even if not quite as good as before--and bringing up her age smacks of ageism. I think she's still a gorgeous skater and it's not as though Italy has a huge stable of skaters ready to take her place.

[anniebird]

4 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Oh, yeah, I'd be long gone, under the table.  There's something about Johnny showing off his Russian pronunciations of those hard to pronounce names that makes my skin crawl.  I'd be happy with a replacement team of Tanith and Adam (if I couldn't get Tanith and Ben).  And now even Terry's doing the Rrrrrrrrrrussian pronunciations. Makes me wanna hurl.  I'm ready for the O's to be over (and to think, in the past, I'd get so sad the last few days of the O's).  I'm not even watching any of the other sports (I used to love the men's downhill) cause I'm tired and cranky ;>(

It's like listening to Giada di Laurentiis say "spaghetti."

[Growsonwalls]

40 minutes ago, Cherpumple said:

Wow. Considering that a 30 year old woman and a (gasp!) 34 year old woman just won gold medals for ice dancing and pairs, I certainly don't see anything "sad" about Carolina continuing to remain part of the sport she clearly loves. In fact, I enjoy watching her more now than I did ten years ago because it's obvious that she's now doing it out of sheer joy, which has given her a calmer and more expressive skating style than in the past.

Hmm. Aliona Savchenko and Tessa Virtue have kept up their athletic prowess. In fact, i think Savchenko vastly improved in areas of stroking, speed, and overall presentation. Her compatibility with Bruno Massot shows: there is a harmony to their skating that was not present with her previous partners. Tessa Virtue has also kept up the athletic side of her skating, overwrought O-faces or not.

But when I saw Carolina I was shocked at how much her skating had declined since Sochi. It seems as if she barely has two or three triples in her programs. Even her style seemed to be a pale shadow of her former self. It;s been a rough couple of years for Kostner. There was that doping scandal with her boyfriend in which she did not come out looking like roses. 

[anniebird]

Has anyone skated recently to Slaughter on 10th Avenue? I was listening to it today and I think it's the perfect piece - it has both fast and slow movements so little manipulation would be required. I could see ice dancers (but not the Shibs please) do a really smoldering number to this.

[HartofDixie]

Nathan’s exhibition at 2010 Nationals

[MostlyC]

Did Alina Zagatova hurt her knee last night during the warmup or something??  It looked like one of them was bleeding through her tights.

[peachmangosteen]

I noticed that too. I thought maybe it was a bruise.

[sweeks]

7 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

That video of Med's Sailor Moon made me on the Free Evgenia train. She looks like a rather hearty, healthy, fun-loving 18 year old forced to fit into the Russian baby ballerina skater mold. I'd like to see her go to a coach who can design programs that suit her better. Plus she survived an interview with Andrea Joyce without punching Andrea in the face. She gets brownie points just for that.

I'd actually like for her (or anyone) to punch Andrea in the face :). 

Edited February 21, 2018 by sweeks

[Daisy]

1 hour ago, LadyKenobi said:

Daisy, I hear you, because now with lyrics, we have hideous music with lyrics and the weariness that comes with the one billionth iteration of Carmen. And then, with Moulin Rouge, we get both. I mean I know everyone's going with what they think will please the judges, but... come on.

 

lol to be fair I'd rather one billion and one Carmens, vs. Lyrics. as much as I try, skating has fully become an Olympic viewing event for me, so the lyrics in programmes totally threw me. some programmes make it work,but for the most part - lyrics take me out of the programme completely. 

[Thumper]

Back to that interview with Nathan's coach.  I think he really threw Nathan under the bus in a public forum!  I would expect my coach to keep the "issues" behind closed doors.  Why would Nathan want to keep him as a coach with public criticism and "airing of grievances" ( tm Seinfield) like that????

[stealinghome]

I took that interview as the coach greasing the wheels for an exit. You don’t give an interview like that if you don’t want out (or change, I suppose).

I’m sure there are two sides to the story, but regardless of how one cuts it, doesn’t seem like a super healthy coach/athlete relationship.

[specialj67]

24 minutes ago, MostlyC said:

Did Alina Zagatova hurt her knee last night during the warmup or something??  It looked like one of them was bleeding through her tights.

I think her tights are just wet. She starts her program from some sort of ballet-type kneeling position on the ice.

[MaKaM]

Quote

RA: Yes. Adam Rippon was training well - he went out there with 2 axels, made it to the top 10, made it to the team event and got a bronze medal. I can tell Adam always listened to me very carefully, trained well and did all I told him. We wrote down a detailed plan how to make it to the Olympics and do the most there. Everything worked out. For me it was a personal coaching bonus. 

EV: Why doesn’t your `bonus' do the quad jumps?

RA: Because he is an adult - he is 28. He is heavy - that's the way he is built. When he is attempting the quads in the practices his feet hurt so badly we can't train the next couple of days, never mind jump. And we have to. I work with what we have and all Rippon and I achieved is a result of hard world. Ashley, on the other hand, as I mentioned, is not practicing so well. It's hard for her to convince herself - she is an adult woman with a woman's body. With such a body she has to be very strict with herself and noe everyone can do it.

So Adam is built like an adult and doing the best he can with the body he has, but Ashley doesn't diet enough to keep herself jumping clean aka, she fat.

Nice coach you got there. As for Ashely's making the team or not being a political decision, well, why not? PCS is pure bullshite anyway and if USFSA is done with Ashley and wants to invest in new talent, well, thems the breaks. At least she got, what 8+ years? These Russians get maybe 2 years before they are tossed out for the next new shiny.

[basiltherat]

Regarding Carmen, et. al.:  these 15 year olds do not remember that 30 years ago, Katarina and Debi had a battle of the Carmens.  They and their coaches don't care that us old fogeys remember everything!  I have problems with the screechy singing distracting me from, you know, THE SKATING!!  And, with Carmen and all the sexy tunes, one has to be an adult woman to pull that off, rather than a gangly teenager.  That's just creepy.  Katarina can pull it off because she was (and looked like) a grown woman.  Bradie, though she is an adult, is gangly and it would look creepy.   Virtue and Moir can pull off the sexy, but the Shibs EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT SIBS, wouldn't be able to pull it off because they are "cute" rather than "sexy."

[selkie]

26 minutes ago, basiltherat said:

Regarding Carmen, et. al.:  these 15 year olds do not remember that 30 years ago, Katarina and Debi had a battle of the Carmens.  They and their coaches don't care that us old fogeys remember everything!  

On the other hand, figure skating programs are a nice length to be a you tube video, and the 15 year olds with even a mild interest in the history of the sport are a few clicks away from the grand archive of famous programs. And many of them do seem to have a look. 

[HartofDixie]

[Tippi]

Just musing here...I wonder if Nathan and his family were hoping for a Lipinski type of win.  Win the Olympics gold and retire.  The wear and tear on Nathan's body is obviously enormous.  Can he sustain this for another four years?  I can kind of see what they were going for.  Nathan was not going to beat Hanyu on PCS, so he had to try and max out the tech to attempt to stay close.  He often changed up his long program elements/order of doing quads so in theory it should work in the short.  I can't imagine the dynamic between Nathan, his family, and Raf going forward!

I have read that Nathan scored a perfect 800 on the Math SAT and wants to be a doctor.  I imagine the pull of getting on with his life beyond skating must be on his mind.

(Nathan, ditch the Vera Wang costumes!  I don't think they did a thing for you.)

[Avaleigh]

2 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Hmm. Aliona Savchenko and Tessa Virtue have kept up their athletic prowess. In fact, i think Savchenko vastly improved in areas of stroking, speed, and overall presentation. Her compatibility with Bruno Massot shows: there is a harmony to their skating that was not present with her previous partners. Tessa Virtue has also kept up the athletic side of her skating, overwrought O-faces or not.

But when I saw Carolina I was shocked at how much her skating had declined since Sochi. It seems as if she barely has two or three triples in her programs. Even her style seemed to be a pale shadow of her former self. It;s been a rough couple of years for Kostner. There was that doping scandal with her boyfriend in which she did not come out looking like roses. 

This is how I feel about Carolina. She could be 18, 20 or 35 and I'd still feel the same way. Her skating hasn't improved. She hasn't maintained either, she's only declined IMO. Her programs are so watered down that I don't understand why she doesn't just start touring. She'd still be able to participate in the sport she loves. Aliona and Tessa both seem like they're just as good or better than they were two Olympics ago. They continued to do what it takes to remain competitive. The same with Mirai. I'm not seeing that same level of competitive drive from Carolina.

[MaKaM]

So, I am tired of the old warhorses too but I have to say, I didn't think the Beyonce for Meite worked all that well. I don't know if it was the cut or it needed a louder beat added or what, but it was just kinda there. (maybe it was the feed? I was on the app with the aussie lady) So even new stuff has to be chosen carefully. (If I wanted something to rock out that has a killer beat, I'd pick something by Within Temptation like "Ice Queen" myself, but maybe that would be too on the nose)

[Moxie Cat]

1 hour ago, MaKaM said:

So Adam is built like an adult and doing the best he can with the body he has, but Ashley doesn't diet enough to keep herself jumping clean aka, she fat.

Honestly, I'm not sure that's the way to take it. Raf sounds very pleased with Adam and what he sees him doing. I take that to mean he works closely with him and knows how he's training - and that Raf recognizes that there isn't any more Adam can do to make himself a better athlete.

That might not be true with Ashley. Pure speculation here, but maybe she doesn't put in the hours training, or doing cardio/strength, that Raf thinks she should. Maybe she doesn't eat very nutritionally and he knows it. There is a difference between eating disorders and eating healthfully. I like Ashley's skating, but I have wondered sometimes, before this interview, what her training is like. She's a great performer, and I'd rather watch her than somebody blah, but she doesn't seem to have the top ability in her anymore.

I know this is a sensitive issue and let's be clear, Ashley and Adam are both slender, healthy-looking, athletic individuals. But they are not sticks like, say, Zhou or Zagitova or the little girls we swear are 12. Part of that is just being an adult approaching 30. You just don't burn calories in the same way and it IS a lot harder.

I enjoyed reading this interview and vastly prefer it over fluff or boilerplate answers, even if some of it could be interpreted as a little non-PC.

(And if Raf really is perpetuating eating disorders with his skaters, I take it all back. I just didn't get that from the interview.)

[HartofDixie]

12 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Update

[Quickbeam]

4 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

This is how I feel about Carolina. She could be 18, 20 or 35 and I'd still feel the same way. Her skating hasn't improved. She hasn't maintained either, she's only declined IMO. Her programs are so watered down that I don't understand why she doesn't just start touring. She'd still be able to participate in the sport she loves. Aliona and Tessa both seem like they're just as good or better than they were two Olympics ago. They continued to do what it takes to remain competitive. The same with Mirai. I'm not seeing that same level of competitive drive from Carolina.

Is it possible Italy asks her to represent?

[displayname]

I think it needs to be taken into consideration that figure-skating isn't a gravity sport. You do need to make sure that the muscle you have can support your weight when you're jumping. Adam and Ashley are healthy individuals, so if Raf is saying something about Ashley, it's probably his professional opinion as her coach.

Edited February 22, 2018 by fan94

[displayname]

13 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Update

I would take Jackie Wong's technical analysis with a grain of salt.

 

Also, both Russian ladies are prone to under-rotate their so called "3-3-3". It's more likely that they did a 3-3<-3<<

[galaxygirl76]

39 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Update

That's a lot of jumping for the final two minutes :P

 

Speaking of which, I just can't wait for a boring first half and jump jump jump jump second half for both Not! Russians.  

[Moxie Cat]

For those in the know: do the powers-that-be recognize that jump backloading is a real manipulation of the system, or do you think they are inclined to keep things the way they are? We've complained about the points given for rotated-but-fallen quads for years, but no change to the point system yet.

[meep.meep]

6 hours ago, vixenbynight said:

Well after midnight EST. I also missed the final top group. 

I feel your pain.  It is what the network did to West Coast viewers during Vancouver, despite the fact that we were in the same time zone.