Ice skating confessions

Forgot one - I think Carolina Kostner is a rapidly rising star! Her SP at Worlds was wonderful.

The most serious and longest running crush that I have ever had on a celebrity was Kurt Browning. It started when he won his first Worlds in 1989 and didn't end until I found out he got married. He's still my favorite skater of all time and he'll always have a special place in my heart.

I don't like Brian Boitano that much. I prefer Brian Orser.

Speaking of Canadaians . . . Except for the ladies event, even though I like Jennifer Robinson, I usually prefer the Candian skaters. Please don't say that that makes me un-American.

Okay,okay,I think Elizabeth Manley looks much cuter as she gets chubbier,especially from the rear!Happy?

Okay here goes nothing...

Even though I'm a HUGE Michelle fan...Lyra Angelica is one of my least favorite LP's by her. I only like The Red Violin less. *hangs head in shame*

I don't get the hype over Carolina Kostner

Alexander Abt bores me. zzzzzz

I think Michelle Kwan is the greatest skater ever...both on and off the ice

I like Naomi Lang better than Peter T. (and I'm a girl!)...I just don't think he's that hot.

I think B&S are the best pairs skaters. I've watched the tapes over and over and they deserved the Gold medal.

Ina and Zimmerman should have placed higher at the Olympics

I want Yags to kick Plushy's butt this season

and my biggest confession.....
I've actually become optomistic about the CoP! (runs for cover)

Oooups, sorry, this is getting long:

I truly believe Russian skaters are the best! (Well, at least most of the time! )

Actually I think Michael Weiss, at least his skating, is not that bad. He's elegant and musical, to me he's still the best us-american male skater recently (prefer him over Goebel and Eldredge any time!). His personality, his scary wife and his even more scary Dad, well, that's another story! If I'd have them in my staff, I'd screw up my double axels as well! Poor Mike!

I've never seen Johnny Weir before, but I'm looking forward to watch him next season. It seems to me he and Sasha Cohen are the first really interesting skaters coming from the USA after a long, long time.

With the exception of a few skaters and a few famous competitions the Ladies-event is always the most boring to me. Only a few real personalities, but mostly bloodless, over-anxious Ballerina-wannebe's, skating to blabla music.

I don't have any problems to get the difference between Axel, Lutz and Loop. But Toeloop, Salchow and Flip? OK, maybe in slomo ...

Oksana Baiul deserved to win Gold in Lillehammer without any doubt. But from what we know now it was the the worst thing that could happen to her. Too soon, too much to cope with. IMHO she was one of the most charismatic and natural gifted female skaters ever and I don't wanna even think about it what she could've given to skating world for maybe another four years without this early Olympic victory. This is such a sad story and a sheer waste of pure talent!

And here some news to you : I simply don't get all that ado around Kwan. She's pretty consistant, but zzzzzz..., non-versatile and, most of all, hyped and overrated to death. I'm quite sure she's a nice girl but somewhat blah and lukewarm in always doing- and saying the "right" things. IMHO she could only win with a little less Disneyland and little more courage to risk something totally different. And who knows, maybe she could even gather a few more fans outside her homecountry then? And now off with my head!

Strange thing with Plush: I can't stand his choreography, I can't stand his costumes, I can't stand his music selections/cuts and I'm still waiting for the ultimative Plushenko program (it shouldn't be "Sex bomb"!). But I really like HIM and always love to watch him skate! Of course we'll never know, but if he remains healthy, I don't see anyone who can really touch him.

It's possible to love Yags and Plush at the same time (okay, Yags a little more and Plush a little less), just look at me! They couldn't be more different, but they're still twins somehow. And I truly believe neither of them would've became that great without the other one nipping at his toes. I rarely agree with Mishin, but he's totally right here: "Envy is good in sport. It makes both of them great."

I'm really wondering what guys like Goebel, Stojko, Restencourt are doing in a sport called figure skating.

I couldn't care less about Surya Bonaly's backflips, if I want to see something like this, I watch circus.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for Jeff Buttle to make the Canadian Worlds team. I want to see him here in Germany.

And I hope the Skating Gods send some wisdom and understanding to a guy called Elvis Stojko! And in time, if possible!

Todd Eldredge is a technical fine skater, but his performances always put me into sleep. Did he ever skate to something which is not cheesy, histrionic or kitschy?

I really don't give a damn how recent German skaters are doing. Well, maybe Winkler/Lohse a bit ...

Last, but not least: I want Yags' return to eligible skating, but I don't see it happen! : o ( And yes, his rolling-on-the-ice-movements are always v-e-r-y ... uhhmm ... well ... stimulating ... somehow!

Anke

sk8tngcanuck

My confession:

I think Plushenko is far from attractive, in fact, I find him peculiar looking.


Running from forum dodging rotten eggs and tomatoes...........

Canuck

I confess that when I'm rooting for my favorite in an important competition, I hope that the other guy or gal falls down.

MM

Ooh, another "outcast" thread! I always enjoy these.

First of all, ITA with all of the following:

"I'm a professional skating fan more than an amature one... meaning I would rather watch Ice Wars than the worlds championships"

I don't know if I'd rather watch Ice Wars than Worlds, but I do miss pro competitions in general. Sure, some (okay, most of them!) were pretty cheesy, but they were still a great opportunity to motivate pro skaters to keep up their technical skills, create programs that were both entertaining to an audience and technically difficult (not just jump-wise), and not have to kill themselves or sacrifice artistry to add seven triples plus a quad in order to win.

"I finally just gave up on dance. I used to love T&D and R&P and K&O, but it's just spun too far out of control for my patience. Civil Rights leader's speeches as music, fake terrorist tragedy dust in over coiffed hair, disco classics. This is art? This is sport? Leave me out of it."

ITA--and as thrilled as I was to see B&K finally win Worlds this year, that free dance took quite awhile to grow on me and I can't help thinking they had to sacrifice quite a bit of their original style in order to win.

"I think Tara's Sense and Sensibilith/Much Ado About Nothing was a much better program than her Rainbow one, despite being very similar choreography wise."

"Jumps bore the bejesus out of me, I'd much rather see intricate footwork, graceful extension and spins than "triple triple triple!"

"I thought Takeshi Honda's Riverdance LP was boring! Yeah the footwork sequence was ok, but the rest was empty and bland, IMO. He didn't use the music. And I like Takeshi."

I've been a big Takeshi fan for years and I'm thrilled to finally see him land those #$@% jumps consistently enough to stay on the podium, but I think it's a shame he had to sacrifice so much of the wonderful in-between stuff in his programs in order to fit all those jumps in.

"The most serious and longest running crush that I have ever had on a celebrity was Kurt Browning. It started when he won his first Worlds in 1989 and didn't end until I found out he got married. He's still my favorite skater of all time and he'll always have a special place in my heart.

With the exception of a few skaters and a few famous competitions the Ladies-event is always the most boring to me.

mine is that I bought front row all event tickets to the nationals in dallas instead of going to playa del carmen, was it worth it? yes but I still want to go to playa del carmen.

And as if my first post on this thread wasn't long enough, here are some of my own "confessions":

I stay out of all the flamewars involving Michelle, Tara, Sasha, Sarah, Irina and most of the other top-ranked female skaters simply because I don't feel strongly enough one way or the other about any of them.

As much as I respect Alexei Yagudin's talent and agree he's probably the best all-around eligible male skater out there today, his style doesn't do much for me (I find him a little too over-the-top dramatic for my taste). I don't find him at all sexy, either (ducking flame throwers)

I much prefer Ilia Kulik's pro programs over anything he did during his eligible career. I have a feeling I might feel the same way about Yagudin over time...

In fact, I'm not a big fan of Tarasova's choreography (or taste in costumes!) in general. (ducking even more flame-throwers)

I wonder how much influence Skate Canada had over Elvis' decision to come back next season.

I'd love to see Elena Sokolova and Evgeny Plushenko work with a top-ranked North American choreographer like Sandra Bezic or Lori Nichol...or Marina Zoueva...or almost anyone else other than whoever choreographs their programs right now!

I thought Langlois and Archetto "wuz robbed" more than any other skaters at Worlds this year--I definitely would have given them the bronze medal ahead of Petrova/Tikonov.

To me, the most disappointing thing about the SLC pairs scandal was all the fallout completely overshadowed the fact that was the best-skated and most exciting pairs competition in years!

While I completely understand why S&P themselves would feel differently, I still would have liked to see them stay eligible for at least a few more years. Both them and B&S would have given S&Z a real run for their money at Worlds this year!

I really dislike pro-ams! To me, they combine the worst of both worlds: the emphasis on jumps and restrictive rules of eligible skating with the dodgy judging, cheesy formats and "seeing the same two programs from the same five or six skaters" complaints people have about pro skating. Plus, I think turning most of the already-existing pro competitions into pro-ams back in 1998 did just about as much damage to skating's popularity as the SLC pairs scandal did years later.

Okay, here goes:

Men's events are more interesting than the other ones, IMO.

Galas are nice to watch, but I prefer comps anytime.

Like Germanice, I don't pay attention to nationality.

I adore Carolina Kostner and Jenna McCorkell.

I don't like German tv commentators.

Plush is an amazing technician, thus I always enjoy to watch him, but I don't like his choreographies, and I can't for the life of me understand why he is considered as being porny? .... sorry

As much as I would love to watch Yags skate in Dortmund (life), I don't want him to compromise his health.

I am a fan of Tatiana Anatolievna Tarasova.

I adore figure skating discussions with open minded fans.

Last but not least: I don't like discussions about the skaters' sexual orientation.

rachelstarlet said:

I really like the part in Yags' "Overcome" where he... comes in contact with the ice...

Click to expand...

Quote from my daugher (4) watching this part:

"Mom, he falls! He has to get up now. Mom, he has to get up! Get up!!!!! Mom, he can't get up, he is frozen solid to the ice!!!!"

My confessions:

I simply can not understand when people call Michelle boring. I confess I think it is simply resentment and jealously.

I do not think ice dance is a sport and think it should not be in the Olympics.

As much as I loved Michelle Kwan's Salome at 1996 Worlds, I thought Lulu should have won gold.

I hope the new code of points system falls flat on it's face.

I simply can not stand the way Irina Slutskya swishes around on the ice before getting into her starting positions.

I liked Plushy's LP music from last season! (but I don't really like his skating)

Tim Goebel's floppy arms and hands drive me nuts (but I do like his skating as a whole)

I see nothing special about any of the Japanese ladies skaters (except Fumie) or Elena Sokolova.

-I can't stand Plushenko's flailing arms, and think his "artistry" is vastly overrated.

-I don't get the hype about Carolina Kostner, Sasha Cohen, Belbin/Agosto, Elena Sokolova, and I think they're all overrated.

-I don't think B/K ever deserved to win an olympic medal

-I think Alexei Urmanov totally deserved to win the 94 olympics

Okay,

I can't stand Michelle Kwan, her skating bores me, she has no versatility in her programs and her interview are very plastic and show no personality

While Elvis is one of my Favs I think he should have staied retired.

L & A should have gotten the bronze at worlds 2003

Jamie and David should have gotten the gold.

I don't get the gushing about figure skaters looks, most if not all are average, and a few are down right scary

I can't wait to see all the new programs

Mispelling Even my own.

I think jumps, in general are *under* rated by the fans and I love that they separate the champions from the rest of the pack.

I don't think jumps in themselves cause injuries, I think over training, incorrect training, and training that is inappropriate to the skaters age causes injuries.

I think most fans root for (or against) skaters for what they do, not what country they are from. No reason to pat yourself on the back for doing so, either.

It shocks me when fans seem to feel they know better than the skaters what decisions they should make in their careers. We don't know who would be the best coach for them, or when they should retire, or anything else that would make them happy and fulfilled in life. Maybe they don't either, but they have a much better shot of getting it right than some dolt sitting comfortably at his or her computer.

BA

Aside from the two SP's he made for Yagudin, Morozov's choreography has no depth and is incredibly overrated. I don't get Arakawa's techno Swan Lake SP. It has nothing interesting in it besides her costume. And Takeshi Honda should go back to Lori Nicol before he loses all his musicality and interesting choreography through Morozov.

Lu Chen's Rachmaninoff LP was a good program, but no way was it the best ladies LP ever. The first time I watched it after hearing endless praises I was totally underwhelmed. Her Butterfly Lovers was a much more interesting/beautiful program for me.

Michelle Kwan needs a real choreographer, period. David Wilson and Tom Dickson are my suggestion. Aranjuez should not even be called a program for it was merely a routine of elements with music playing in the background. If she can't have an interesing program, at least make it coherent.

Brian Joubert is overrated and overhyped. I don't want to be too critical on him because he's still young and developing. But for now he is a French skater without the French flair and a Yagudin wanna-be yet lacking Yagudin's flamboyant showmanship. With his clean lines and more classical look he should be going another route that's better and more suitable for him.

I love B/S more than M/D, and M/D more than G/G. And Anton is the most beautiful male pairs skater ever.

As deserving as S/Z were at winning their 2003 world gold medal, I thought that particular performance was way overrated. I do agree that they've made a lot of improvements throught the years but I still don't think 6.0s should have been given to them at this level of their skating. Again, I found myself underwhelmed when I finally got to watch their program after reading posts after posts filled with gushing and praising. They were slow and tentatve at the beginning and, at places, still unpolished and rough. I think the 6.0's were given in the sudden explosion of excitement by the judges who were agitated by the crowd reaction themselves, rather than awarded to the best of presentation.

Despite his charming smile and majestic programs, I have yet to fall in love with Jeff Buttle. There's just something about his expression that I don't like. Maybe it's his perkiness, if it's possible for a male skater to possess such quality. And I don't find him to be nautrally musical as people say he is. Sophisticated and interesting, yes, but not musical.

Lawrance of Arabia should have been retired after Klimova and Ponomarnko's 1991 FD. It was THE LoA.

I love it when the men do quads, but I cringe when I see the ladies try quads and the 3axel. Yes, I do hold double standards...

I actually find the U.S. men equally interesting as the Canadian men, only if Goebel and Weiss weren't the two who always get to go out there and give the world an impression that the U.S. men have nothing interesting to offer. In my wildest dream I would have Matt Savoie, Ryan Jahnke, Johnny Weir and Derick Delmore as my 2004 mens podium.

And Anton is the most beautiful male pairs skater ever.

Click to expand...

Amen!

Ok, now I'll get serious.
Loved M & D, even that spin at the end.
Plushy is a good skater but I have a hard time with the costumes and music and the fact that he comes over (to me) thinking he is the greatest. And I'm sorry but I think he is ugly.
Like, Yagudin, MK, T&D, B&A, (isn't she pretty?), Especially like Kulik, K Browning, B Boitano, Hamill, Jill Trenary, T. Cranston, G&G, Robin Cousins, that French dance team - can't think of their name - but he's a hunk.
My brain just quit.
Although they were good just didn't care for the over the top dancing, especially Bestamonia (sp) & Bukin. I could tolerate K & O better.
Like Klimova & P, Eliz. Manley, Orser, Bobek, Eldridge, S. Cousins, Bowman, Fleming, P & S, Roca & Sur, G & P.
Never really liked Surya, what's the big deal about a back flip?
Might think of more later.