Irina Slutskaya will win in Torino | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Irina Slutskaya will win in Torino

Donna ML

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Michelle is 25 and in 1994 Nancy was 25. Therefore Michelle is not older regardless of this being her third Olympics.
 

tripleflutz

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Michelle, whose skating may be in decline, will have a lot more serious competion in Torino, than Nancy ,who was at her peak, had at the 1994 Olympics. Michelle has Irina, Sasha, Shizuka and others, while Nancy only really had Oksana and LuLu as real threats. But LuLu derailed in the SP and Tonya had self destructed with the controversy about the attack, Yuka didn't have all the jumps and the others were somehow all flawed or not yet ready for the top step on the podium.
So in spite of the similarities, I think Michelle is going to have a much tougher climb than Nancy had.

Also Irina needs to be careful that she doesn't peak too soon. That's happened to her before, if it happens again it could open the door for Shizuka, Sasha or Michelle.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Also Irina needs to be careful that she doesn't peak too soon. That's happened to her before, if it happens again it could open the door for Shizuka, Sasha or Michelle.

Very true. ITA. But look at last year- she was dominant in the beginning, stumbled a little at Euros, and then came back with the skate of her life at Moscow to close. So you never know. Even the best have off nights now and then. You just gotta make sure it isn't on THE night.
 

Mafke

Medalist
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
Irina seems to be the current golden girl of the judges as the qualities they (en masse) seem to prefer are her strengths (fast, high jumps, combinations) and her weakness are things they (coincidentally, I think) don't much care about (line, posture, well-centered spins). It's called the luck of the draw, Kristi Yamaguchi was in a similar position (though her stengths and weaknesses were a lot different than Irina's).

Anyway, my point here: How many Biellmann positions is Irina currently doing and can we _please_ have Zayack-style rule for Biellmann positions? I think the world of Irina as a person and a skater, but another weakness the judges don't seem to care about is her horrible Biellmann position (only slightly better than Plushenko's)
 

cianni

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
realistic51

Couldnt agree more . You said it all. The ques. is will Irina WIN the OGM or will it be GIVEN to her? I want Michelle to win but if Irina really wins without inflated marks I will be Happy for her. Now I must say the competition this weekend showed how a surprise can come upon us when least expecting it. My hope is that another surprise awaits us and the best skate wins or the sport goes in the coffin. Im not betting on anyone winning but being given the Gold is another matter and that could well happen. Ya know the old saying Life happens while your making other plans. Im not counting anyone out.
 

swannanoa54

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
You'd think some people would use Moscow as a backdrop when forming such conclusion as "Irina will in Torino no matter what".
I know the best-skater will walk away with the gold medal in Torino, the integrity of skating depends on it.

If that first sentence was directed at me, it went right over my head. Must have been on the phone again. Frankly, I find there is no comparison between her programs in Moscow and her programs this season. I liked BOTH of her programs last year, I detest both of them this year. Like you said, excidra, different strokes for different folks. I tend not to like powerhouse skating because I think it takes away from the innate overall beauty of figure skating wherer someone will pull themselves into their music and pushes that emotion out there to everyone. For me, I was riveted watching Irina skate last season at Worlds. I ain't so riveted now.

And if the integrity of skating depends on the best skater walking away with the gold medal, then I hope someone has informed the judges of that. Right now there is no one to challenge Irina, IMO. That could change and I'm not saying it can't. But if the Olys were held next week with a healthy Kwan, Cohen on fire, Arakawa on fire, I still believe Irina would win with her powerhouse skating. Might as well take away the music. What's she using it for anyway? She isn't skating "with it", "to it" or "feeling it", so she doesn't really need it.

And this coming from someone who thought Irina should have won the Olympic gold medal with a crappy LP at the '02 Olys. I also thought Kwan should have won. I didn't think Sarah should have won with one skate-of-a-lifetime, but hey, what else is new?:rofl:
 

kyla2

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Ita

ITA Realistic51 completely. This years programs (Irina's) are not nearly as good as last years, and why have music indeed. She doesn't use it at all. It's just background noise for all intents and purposes. You are absolutely right about the current trend destroying the beauty of figure skating. Figure skating has changed and not for the better. Forget about how the d--n sport is judged and look at what has happened to the beauty of it. It borders on the tragic. There would have been no LYRA ANGELICA, RACH, TAJ MAHAL or SALOME under this new system. I mean why bother when you don't need to put out a program with depth and beauty. I hate what's happening to this sport.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Actually, if you ask me, you could say skating is actually becoming more of a "sport" with this new system. The athletics of skating are being rewarded more.
 

swannanoa54

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
I always thought of figure skating as a "sport", RD, even with the music. Maybe others have thought this makes it more of a sport, but it doesn't. It's like watching gymnastics now. And since gymnastics doesn't have music except on floor routines, let's do away with the music and just have the skaters go out and do their "tricks", rack up the points and go home. And I love gymnastics and realize it would be hard to do routines to music on the apparatus, ie balance beam, rings, etc.

What is happening, although it's very good for Irina, is the musicality of the sport is leaving. There are things I'd rather see: I'd rather see a huge 3A from the men then ugly quads. I'd love to see huge death drops a la Brian Boitano. I'd love to see classic spins again without all the contortionistic properties that rack up the points. Beautiful spirals, classic laybacks, headless spins, fast scratch spins, all the things that made this sport beautiful and separate from any other sport in the world. I'd love to see all of that correspond with the music as if the moves and the music were made to be together. But it isn't like that right now except for a perfunctory few. And that saddens me.

So maybe you want the sport to be a sport in the strictest sense possible. That's fine, too. But I don't. It's not why I started watching figure skating anyway. I watch snowboarding and skiing for pure athleticism along with boxing, football, basketball, tennis, etc. And there's beauty in the athleticism in those sports because that's what they've always been. Athletically inclined sports. But figure skating, to me, has always combined beauty WITH athleticism in a different way. I'm not saying this right, so I'll quit now.:laugh:
 

nymkfan51

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
No, realistic ... you said it exactly right! :clap:

That is what, IMO, has always made figure skating so much better than gymnastics.
There is no reason that it has to be athleticism OR musicality ... how great that there used to be both. :cry:
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
What I think might happen is that this sentiment will lead to a firmer division between "eligible" and "professional" skating, and maybe even give a shot in the arm to the latter.

Suppose the current crop of Olympians "goes pro" and spearheads a serious effort to organize meaningful pro competitions. There could be a two-tier set-up. The teenagers could practice their jumps and spins, win a bunch of medals, and go to the Olympics. Then the best of them would graduate to the "big leagues" where the emphasis would be on the "complete package."

MM :)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
How much interest will there be in figure skating once Michelle leaves the sport?
is a more apt question, imo than pro v. eligible.

Joe
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Good question, Joe. Interest in figure skating is in decline, through forces that are really beyond anyone's power to control. For a decade Michelle has done her best to stave off disaster by holding her finger in the dike.

That's why I hope we have not seen the last of her once she retires from eligible competition.

MM :)
 

nymkfan51

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Joe, I think skating will always have an audience ... but I do think if Michelle were to take part in a rebirth, of sorts, of pro skating, then THAT would definitely gain a larger audience.
For me, I enjoy the eligible skating more, or at least I have thus far. But if MK were to be doing pro comps, you can bet your sweet bippy I'd be watching! ;)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
OK guys - If we get away from the outlandish costumes and gimmics in pro skating competitions and silly routines, maybe pro competitions will win over a general audienes. But if little girls are going cry out things like Oh was so and so just hilarious in that outfit skating to that xzylophone music. It will chase the adults away and bring back those wonderful cars going round and round that cylindrial track.

Joe
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Joesitz said:
How much interest will there be in figure skating once Michelle leaves the sport?
is a more apt question, imo than pro v. eligible.

Joe
:whatever:

People have been watching skating long before Michelle and they will long after. It's ironic that skating has been falling off in popularity the longer the USFS continues to hang its hat on this bore.
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
IMO, what happens when Michelle turns pro may well result in changes to the CoP, if that event shows that people like to watch programs with the "Kwanliness" element (not only things like passion, emotion, connection with the audience, but things like simple things done well, rather than difficult things done sloppily) Making skating more "athletic" or more like other sports sounds well and good, but, as I have said before, figure skating, unlike many other winter sports makes its money from people wanting to buy tickets to the competitions or watch the competitions on TV -- so the competitions have to provide what people want to see.
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
soogar said:
:whatever:

People have been watching skating long before Michelle and they will long after. It's ironic that skating has been falling off in popularity the longer the USFS continues to hang its hat on this bore.

Why would it be the fault of the USFS hanging on to Michelle that causes the decline in popularity, when the decline in TV viewership is equally strong (if not more so) when Michelle isn't at an event? Insofar as the decline in viewership is blamed on defects in the programs, as opposed to an incomprehensible new judging system that no one believes will fix the underlying problem of corrupt judging, why wouldn't the decline be due to Sasha or Irina?
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Red Dog said:
Very true. ITA. But look at last year- she was dominant in the beginning, stumbled a little at Euros, and then came back with the skate of her life at Moscow to close. So you never know. Even the best have off nights now and then. You just gotta make sure it isn't on THE night.
According to the interviews they run around the time, her 'stumbled' a little at Euros was the time she stopped the medicine she has been taken for her sickness. Her doctor prescribed her medicine as 'pulse dose' because the consistant dose of this type medicine cause long term bad effect to bones. By the time worlds around, she was put back on the medicine again.
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
realistic51 said:
And this coming from someone who thought Irina should have won the Olympic gold medal with a crappy LP at the '02 Olys. I also thought Kwan should have won. I didn't think Sarah should have won with one skate-of-a-lifetime, but hey, what else is new?:rofl:
:fonfused: So who really thought should've won?:rofl:
 
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