Jeff ditches his LP

He is crazy to be trying to quad when he is obviously so far from mastering it. His results this year, without skating clean performances clearly indicate he has a chance at a bronze, or maybe even a silver at the Olympics, with no quad, if he skates clean, even if the level increases greatly from the season so far. He clearly cant do the quad, and it severely impairs the rest of his performance when he misses it. In addition even in the very unlikely event he mastered a quad, and was able to still do the other jumps(something he hasnt been able to do this year fully in the long program even without the quad)there is no way the judges will give anybody but Plushenko 1st place this year, that is very obvious by the PCS and the jumping GOE scores Plushenko gets, so in the 5% chance of him succeeding in what he is trying he only slighly improves his position of where he could already get it with another plan, while giving himself a 95% to fail and sabatoge his performance and chances. So he is best off focusing on gaining his consistency of his jumps, especially in the long program, and further polishing the little nuances of the long program and tweking spin/footwork levels, those sorts of things(his biggest strengths anyway). His best chance of an Oly medal is to work hard to master the consistency of all of his triples, put the quad off for the summer.

Maybe it's his pride that makes him keep trying that quad. Like Todd Eldredge, or Michael Weiss. They don't want to be known as the wimp with the bronze medal.

MM

Mathman said:

Maybe it's his pride that makes him keep trying that quad. Like Todd Eldredge, or Michael Weiss. They don't want to be known as the wimp with the bronze medal.

MM

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I also read Evan Lysacek wants to try the quad. It will be interesting to see if he ends up falling apart after blowing the quad too.

Aye, number Evan, too, among those valiants "who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
Shakespeare, Henry V

Or, "'Tis nobler to quad and splat, than never to quad at all".

Personally, I loved the Glen Gould tribute and feel Jeff would have the program under his belt by the Olympics, however, it is probably better for him to change programs now and become familiar with this program early. I loved his Samson and Delilah program as well, so I am looking forward to seeing it once more.

I hope he does not completely abandon the Gould program. It would be great to see it again when he is not under pressure. I remember the struggle S&P had with their Orchid program just before the Olympics. They recently skated it again using different music and it was awesome.

I think the Gould program would work in a show. It is very intricate and showcases Jeff's amazing edge work. Of course, Gould and Buttle together - brilliant!

Mathman said:

Maybe it's his pride that makes him keep trying that quad. Like Todd Eldredge, or Michael Weiss. They don't want to be known as the wimp with the bronze medal. MM

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Buttle is one of the front runner in the mens race for the OGM, so it's natural for him to play it safe and want to go back to a LP that worked rather than gamble on a programme he still hasn't mastered, like the Glenn Gould programme. A recycled programme isn't the most ideal of choices, but at least he's choosing a programme from 2 or more years ago like S/P. The Phillip Glass programme was a gem, but prolly still too fresh in the judges' minds, which wouldn't have the best of reactions.

It also seems like, with only Plushy, Joubert, and Lambiel really pushing the quad, that Jeff is going with a strategy of "PCS wins the day", especially with Plushy not 100% (it's true; he isn't). I think he should go for the quad at CanNats, but play the Olympics by ear.

I still say don't be surprised if only 1/3 of your podium has the quad

Matt said:

especially with Plushy not 100% (it's true; he isn't).

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And Evgeni's problem would be?