I don't think it was me - while I respected Jeffrey Buttle as a competitor and admired his ability and musicality, I never was much of a fan. Of the artsy guys, Johnny is my favorite by some way. I think I may have remarked that Chan was not similar to Lambiel at this point. Which he isn't.
The last Canadian man who won the title was Sandhu the roller coaster in 2003. It made a big buzz, and Plushy claimed he lost only because of the new rules.
); Jeff's spin is better controlled and positioned. As he stated in his interview, he admires Lambiel's skating. There's a very detailed interview from Japan skates: 
so mature and independent
The American men have been the most interesting this season!It looks like Elvin hasn't done enough homework, another booboo
The last Canadian man who won the title was Sandhu the roller coaster in 2003. It made a big buzz, and Plushy claimed he lost only because of the new rules.
Patrick's jumps and stroking are more explosive than Jeff (I luv them both, so I can be objective
My friend and I had trouble taking clear pictures of him even when he was just stroking around the rink! There's no denying that he's brilliant for his age, and he deserves to be considered an elite athlete, but IMHO he still hasn't quite reached Jeff's level yet. He will get there soon and I'm sure he'll even exceed it one day, but at least for this season, his marks seem a bit inflated. He really doesn't sound like a 17-year-old at all
In my father's eyes, Patrick actualy appeared OLDER than Jeff!!! When I told him the truth, he replied, "Really? But the blond guy looks like he's 17!" 
So yeah, Patrick is definitely older than his years. :yes:In my father's eyes, Patrick actualy appeared OLDER than Jeff!!! When I told him the truth, he replied, "Really? But the blond guy looks like he's 17!"
Jeff looks 8 years younger then? I thought that Jeff had grown a lot older when I saw his videos as an innocent, adorable 19-year-old. But it seems that he has an eternal boyshness. Being a blond boy may be one of the factors? . When I myself was recently asked out by a highschool boy, it was more shocking than flattering.
Thanks for the answer - I thought as much. I wonder what will make Joubert put in another quad Sal in a program; I'd guess a huge lead + an LP he's confident in.
Oh, no argument about 2005-6 - he was all over the place. But 2005-6 was three years ago, so I didn't count it as recent. And I was thinking of inconsistency that's not explainable by an obvious reason like injuries or such. Joubert's career I'd divide like this: 2002-2004 Europeans up and coming skater; 2004 Worlds - end of 2006 season learning to deal with the pressure; 2006-7 season, everything goes right; 2007-8, something of a lost year; and 2008-future, who knows?
I think the difference is that Meissner's body changed, which led to problems with the jumps and contributed to her losing confidence, whereas in Tomas's case, to quote the great Yogi Berra, "90% of this game is half-mental"
. Mental stuff is fixable, to a degree. And Tomas in top form is amazing.I think that's true for all of them. There's nobody like Plushenko or Yagudin, who seemed to go out there and skate as if they were under no pressure at all (especially Plushy, 2004 Euros notwithstanding).
. And yet still guys haven't learned not to do extra combos!
Thanks for the info - that's great news! I love the music, so powerful and dramatic. Could be a good program for her. She had some time between Cup of China and the GPF - so I guess Morosov decided to do a new long (probably realised that Nakano makes the better Giselle).
I think the difference is that Meissner's body changed, which led to problems with the jumps and contributed to her losing confidence, whereas in Tomas's case, to quote the great Yogi Berra, "90% of this game is half-mental"
Which reminds me - gopatrick , Plushy's mistake at 2003 GPF was an extra combo that didn't count. My memory is hazy on this, but I'm guessing extra combos weren't allowed even before CoP, but because it was a total score rather then 6.0 he took a major hit, not a tenth of a point
Well, I'm usually more than happy to do a bit of research, but I draw the line at looking up old protocols from French Nats
.I don't like the sameness of many CoP programs, but I'm more than happy not to have people make up programs as they go along - and you're right, Plushy was guilty of that at times.
My dad knows next-to-nothing about figure skating, but he was aware that we had a new teenaged Canadian champion and a new World champion in the men's singles this year (although he doesn't know exactly who's who). When he saw a clip of Jeff Buttle and Patrick Chan standing on the 2008 Nats podium (and of course he had no idea which competition this was), he asked me, "Is the Asian man the World champ?"
and a 30-year-old is still very young for her). She may be comparing him to her students that she teaches at college and may think that Patrick looks more mature. I myself would never think that he looks thirty but his skating looks as mature and experienced as a 30-year-old pro skater. Absolutely fantastic
Believe me or not my mom tonight thought that Patrick should be around thirty because he looked so mature (in a good way, of course
Jeff is young at heart while Patrick is an old soul, so people who don't know better are easily fooled by the image they project. My brother (who's also clueless about figure skating) was also shocked to learn that Patrick was younger than Jeff. I'm guessing Patrick is the one who buys alcohol and cigarettes for his underaged buddies because the cashier wouldn't even bother to ask for his ID! 
