2014 NHK Trophy Mens Short Program 11/28

[elee63]

Now that I think about it, do you people think that the early hour might have had the slightest bit of affect on how sensitive we were to Joanne's barbs? But then again, it was only considered "early" for some of us...

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I've just came back from school and... What the hell? Happened? Fine, I predicted Mura first. But Jeremy second? Murakami third? Hanyu fifth? I don't know what to say.

Btw. Your comments about ski jumping made me angry a bit. :sarcasm: I understand, you guys want to watch skating but ski jumping has been my favourite sport for three years and although it is figure skating now, I stil adore the sport. It's not as bad as you think!

I was biting my tongue there just in case people turned on me. But I am a big fan of ski jumping too.

Because ski jumping is pretty much unknown in America, people over that side of the Atlantic just don't realise how popular it is in parts of Europe.

Did you watch that documentary about Thomas Morgenstern that Eurosport showed before the LIVE qualifying yesterday?

It is such a shame that Morgi has retired, but you can totally understand why. Those 2 big falls so close together would make you sit back and ask yourself "why am I doing this?" Plus, he has got other priorities in his life now, now he is a father.

An interesting thing I took from that programme was that he had had another big crash back in 2003. I only started watching in 2005, so I never knew about it.

You have to admire Morgi's honesty. Not many sportspeople would admit that they are scared.

Getting back to skating, and hearing this makes you wonder about Yuzuru. What is going through his head now when he is on the ice? Does he get scared now of other people being around him during the warm-ups? Does he worry going into his jumps?

I'm not saying that the collision in Shanghai has had an impact on the way Yuzuru thinks about things, and about how he goes about his skating. But, it does make you wonder if he sees things differently now.

We'll probably never find out!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[yay]

That's JSF for you. I doubt that they even care for the kid's battered body at all. My friend in Japan said JSF encouraged Yuzuru to skate at NHK. Of course it's rumors, but still...

There is no skating fed. which would persuade a skater to withdraw when the skater WANTS to compete. With respect, I'm not sure whether you intended to make it sound like he was almost forced to do it or just expect his fed. representatives to act like his parents.

 

[YesWay]

As for Mark, I was surprised that a few people suggested that he was brought back, because there was quite a lot of criticism when he was in the booth the other week. But nothing like what Joanne has been getting.

Personally, I didn't really like Mark at the start, but he grew on me as the weekend went on. There again, it was his first time commentating after all, so you can forgive him for it taking a while to settle into it. But once he did, I thought he was fine. Although, he still has a long way to go to be as good as Simon, Chris and Nicky!

I thought he was very knowledgable, was good at calling out the jumps/elements (in an unobtrusive way), offered good explanations and insights, and seemed to speak well and fairly concisely (no dragging out sentences the way Joanne does, or occasional rapid-fire the way Nicky does). He seemed fairly laid back, generally positive and good humoured - which I think makes him a good "fit" for the Eurosport team.

The only issue I see with him is the Glasgow accent, which I personally have no trouble with - but it's a new one for my wife and she struggled to understand him.

Hanretty is obviously nowhere near the level of King Simon... but personally I'd rate him as good as Chris Howarth, and actually - better than Nicky Slater. (Having said that, Nicky with Simon is an unbeatable combination, they work SO well together).

In any case: almost ANYBODY has got to be better than Joanne Conway

 

[HanDomi]

I was biting my tongue there just in case people turned on me. But I am a big fan of ski jumping too.

Because ski jumping is pretty much unknown in America, people over that side of the Atlantic just don't realise how popular it is in parts of Europe.

Did you watch that documentary about Thomas Morgenstern that Eurosport showed before the LIVE qualifying yesterday?

It is such a shame that Morgi has retired, but you can totally understand why. Those 2 big falls so close together would make you sit back and ask yourself "why am I doing this?" Plus, he has got other priorities in his life now, now he is a father.

An interesting thing I took from that programme was that he had had another big crash back in 2003. I only started watching in 2005, so I never knew about it.

You have to admire Morgi's honesty. Not many sportspeople would admit that they are scared.

Getting back to skating, and hearing this makes you wonder about Yuzuru. What is going through his head now when he is on the ice? Does he get scared now of other people being around him during the warm-ups? Does he worry going into his jumps?

I'm not saying that the collision in Shanghai has had an impact on the way Yuzuru thinks about things, and about how he goes about his skating. But, it does make you wonder if he sees things differently now.

We'll probably never find out!

CaroLiza_fan

Well it propably depends on person, but for sure a lot of things go trough your mind after something like that next time. You can start think in warmup - ok it happened once, it can happen again, I must be extra careful, I must look more around, and doubts starting, but as I said it depends on person

 

[Meoima]

There is no skating fed. which would persuade a skater to withdraw when the skater WANTS to compete. With respect, I'm not sure whether you intended to make it sound like he was almost forced to do it or just expect his fed. representatives to act like his parents.

I already said it's rumors and it's my friend who told me. And who knows, maybe my friend who is in Japan also read from an unreliable source. If anything I am sorry for the unreliable information, gossip. I was kind of angry at the point because I do think Yuzuru shouldn't have skated with pain in both legs.
Just saying I am not surprised if indeed JSF would love to see him compete.

 

[Ryusa5]

I feel like,despite what he said,Hanyu felt obligated to participate here since in the japanese press he is the star, ticket seller&ratings attraction.

I doubt it was a coincidence that he was assigned China and Japan and that men's competition was last, broadcasting both competitions in prime time.It's all about the ratings and sponsors.So I guess in a way they got what they wanted since in CoC Hanyu brought ratings even higher than when Mao won in Saitama.

If it was any other GP than those 2 I doubt Hanyu would have competed at all since he even admitted that he's not phisically fit.Also the fact that Japan brought rights to Finlandia and in the end he didn't compete probably made him feel responsable and that he had to make up for their loss

 

[demarinis5]

I just watched Jeremy's program, absolutely breathtaking! To see a performances like this
is why I continue to love this sport. Off to watch the rest of the videos.

 

[Alchamei]

I was biting my tongue there just in case people turned on me. But I am a big fan of ski jumping too.

Because ski jumping is pretty much unknown in America, people over that side of the Atlantic just don't realise how popular it is in parts of Europe.

Did you watch that documentary about Thomas Morgenstern that Eurosport showed before the LIVE qualifying yesterday?

It is such a shame that Morgi has retired, but you can totally understand why. Those 2 big falls so close together would make you sit back and ask yourself "why am I doing this?" Plus, he has got other priorities in his life now, now he is a father.

An interesting thing I took from that programme was that he had had another big crash back in 2003. I only started watching in 2005, so I never knew about it.

You have to admire Morgi's honesty. Not many sportspeople would admit that they are scared.

Getting back to skating, and hearing this makes you wonder about Yuzuru. What is going through his head now when he is on the ice? Does he get scared now of other people being around him during the warm-ups? Does he worry going into his jumps?

I'm not saying that the collision in Shanghai has had an impact on the way Yuzuru thinks about things, and about how he goes about his skating. But, it does make you wonder if he sees things differently now.

We'll probably never find out!

CaroLiza_fan

The men ski jumping is rather unknown, but the American women were very loud about their fighting the compete in Vancouver but the request was denied.

Oh yes, the documentary brought tears to my eyes. One of few Austrians I liked, even though he wasn't perfect. I know he really care abour his daugher. Too bad he left her mother.

I totally respect Morgi's decison and how brave he was when he jumped in Sochi. I'm glad his final jump of his carrer was in the Olympics.

However, shortly after his second fall, people in Czech forum wasn't very kind to him. In that sence they wished him to be fine, but they compared him to other Czech jumper who also had had a very serios fall and subseqently retired. In their opinion it was clear he would do the same. In the end they were right, but the hope always exists. They didn't expect him in Sochi.

Yuzu is also affected physicaly so that played a role there and I agree he is still not fully recovered. I wish him the best but I hope he will not retire. As long he is healthly enough and in a good shape, I want him to compete as long as he can. But his happiness is the most imporatnt thing.

 

[Meoima]

I feel like,despite what he said,Hanyu felt obligated to participate here since in the japanese press he is the star, ticket seller&ratings attraction.
I doubt it was a coincidence that he was assigned China and Japan and that men's competition was last, broadcasting both competitions in prime time.It's all about the ratings and sponsors.So I guess in a way they got what they wanted since in CoC Hanyu brought ratings even higher than when Mao won in Saitama.
If it was any other GP than those 2 I doubt Hanyu would have competed at all since he even admitted that he's not phisically fit.Also the fact that Japan brought rights to Finlandia and in the end he didn't compete probably made him feel responsable and that he had to make up for their loss

I agree. It's so sad that he couldn't say NO even when his body is not fit. Actually I don't think JSF forced him to do so or anything. It's just in Yuzuru's case you don't need to read newspapers to know that all FS fans in your country, and your fed expect you to compete in an event in your home ice.

Anyways I am fine with his placement. My only wish is to him to not get into GPF so he doesn't have to strain his battered body even more.

And someone said it I don't remember who. They said JSF might not care much about GPF since it will be in Spain. But NHK and Nationals in Japan are...in Japan.

Yuzu is also affected physicaly so that played a role there and I agree he is still not fully recovered. I wish him the best but I hope he will not retire. As long he is healthly enough and in a good shape, I want him to compete as long as he can. But his happiness is the most imporatnt thing.

yes...

 

[silverfoxes]

I feel so bad for the pressure that he puts on himself - let alone his federation. It would be horrible if he would get burned out this early, or injure himself in a way that he can never fully recover. I think we all want to see him skate for as long as possible, but he must learn to pace himself, and the Fed should be concerned about his long-term career, not just whatever they can wring out of him now. Poor kid.

 

[YesWay]

I feel so bad for the pressure that he puts on himself - let alone his federation. It would be horrible if he would get burned out this early, or injure himself in a way that he can never fully recover. I think we all want to see him skate for as long as possible, but he must learn to pace himself, and the Fed should be concerned about his long-term career, not just whatever they can wring out of him now. Poor kid.

He is where he is, and he is who he is... because he has a burning desire to compete and to win.

I do not condone the pressures put on him by federations, sponsors, fans... and yes, Hanyu's own sense of obligation.
BUT... even without all of that, I don't think things would be any different. He's a fighter.

Just to keep things in perspective - the way I see it, at least. The only thing I don't like is the demands put on his time by too many shows, media, sponsors etc - to the point where it affects his training and wears him out.

 

[yyyskate]

I just watched Jeremy's program, absolutely breathtaking! To see a performances like this
is why I continue to love this sport. Off to watch the rest of the videos.

I also just watched Jeremy, totally agree, just wanna add his speed is so so fast and so difficult transitions.
I think Joshua will be a great successor for Jeremy, Can someone please enlighten me who choreographed Joshua's SP?

 

[chezzu]

Haven't finished watching everything, but I went straight to watching Hanyu because I wanted to find out why he was so low in the rankings.

He deserved his low score because of his jump mistakes, but wow, his step sequence was really amazing. Everything was synchronized so beautifully with the music and his edges were so clean. I loved it so much. Crazy Judge #7 for the 7.75 in SS heh.

 

[jenaj]

I just watched Jeremy's program, absolutely breathtaking! To see a performances like this
is why I continue to love this sport. Off to watch the rest of the videos.

Can someone explain the time deduction on Jeremy's program? I agree it was breathtaking.

 

[HanDomi]

He deserved his low score because of his jump mistakes, but wow, his step sequence was really amazing. Everything was synchronized so beautifully with the music and his edges were so clean. I loved it so much. Crazy Judge #7 for the 7.75 in SS heh.

Ye, I agree. I watched video again and step sequence was just superb. In COC it wasn't so much , maybe he forgot there or something, but here it was just

 

[moonkat]

Abbot's performance was beautiful. I guess Americans can go strong at 29.

Hanyu's SP was in-sync even with those mistakes, and his spin positions are the best among the few I watched.

Jeremy Ten skates so smoothly when he's not jumping. I though he was gonna make his jumps, until he slowed down for each one...
:shocked: Why dude?

And you go Tahahito! Nice clean program!

Ready for my double dose of Phantom!

 

[laire]

Can someone please enlighten me who choreographed Joshua's SP?

Jeff Buttle did.

 

[yyyskate]

I am just wondering is Yuzuru's sprained ankle effected his jump landing? his ankle positions in those landings are so painful to watch. is it the landing foot ankle?

 

[yyyskate]

Jeff Buttle did.

Thanks, I heart Jeffery :