Ladies LP

[bekalc]

Well let's hope Yuna retire after winning the OGM, so the rest of the world and figure skating can move on. I'm sick of hearing how great she is and don't want to see another Plusheko in ladies field. It's more exciting to watch when everyone is fighting for the gold.

At least next event will be exciting to watch.

Or maybe the other ladies can step it up and then Yu-na won't be dominating any more. I'm sorry but Ando is perfectly capable of out jumping Yu-na. But she's inconsistent. And as for Mao, she's perfectly capable of beating Yu-na too. But I think Mao has made a series of some bad choices in the last few years. Like being part time coached by Tarasova, instead of having a strong technical coach guide her. Mao's issues remind me a lot of Kwans decision to go coachless in 2002.

And as for Rochette, she could help herself by actually landing the 3/3s she does in practice.

It was never Plushenko's fault that the other men couldn't get their freakin acts together. And I frankly don't enjoy seeing the rest of the men flounder around in the last four years. And it's not Yu-na Kim's fault right now that the rest of the women don't have THEIR acts together. Although Joannie was looking VERY strong in Japan.

[R.D.]

Whether Yuna retires and evens the playing field, or the other ladies catch her up, I just want a good, close competition.

[Tinymavy15]

kim yu-na, she always get high score not deserved to her performance.
do you guys really think her crazy high score is right?
is there anyone who questions her score?
is she so amazing so that she get the most highest score?

It is a joke. Everybody in the skating world is worshipping her because they finally found somebody who the crazy idiosyncrasies of the CoP do not effect. Whatever she does, whatever rules she breaks the judges find a reason to have her win by unreal margins. Sure she deserved to win. Of course. She was pretty much 100% clean and nobody else was. Her programs are good, but where do the judges find 35 points worth that nobody else had. A world record with only 4 triples? What a joke.

I really don't know the other ladies even bother trying. Yu-a Kim (or shall I make a point of saying Kim Yu-na) will win the OGM and everything else even if she makes more botched elements than Sasha ever did in one program.

[krenseby]

Whether Yuna retires and evens the playing field, or the other ladies catch her up, I just want a good, close competition.

Well that all depends if by Olympics time, the judges decide to sort of level the playing field.

Remember how Slutskaya had a pretty good lead on her competitors in the year leading up to the Olympics?

Also, the more important question for me is why Mao has fallen out of the judges' favor? Has her skating deteriorated a lot? Thing is, I really believe that Mao is the only one that could catch up to Yuna and make ti a close competition. Joannie and Miki won't make it.

[ehdtkqorl123]

Also, the more important question for me is why Mao has fallen out of the judges' favor?

Or maybe her fall is related to recent rule changes before this season?

[Ptolemy]

Well let's hope Yuna retire after winning the OGM, so the rest of the world and figure skating can move on. I'm sick of hearing how great she is and don't want to see another Plusheko in ladies field. It's more exciting to watch when everyone is fighting for the gold.

At least next event will be exciting to watch.

I think it is great when an athlete perform very well - close to excellent. It is even better when multiple athletes perform close to excellent.

A bunch performing mediocre, but close to each other in performance makes me want to move to a new sport.

[woshisunnya]

It is a joke. Everybody in the skating world is worshipping her because they finally found somebody who the crazy idiosyncrasies of the CoP do not effect. Whatever she does, whatever rules she breaks the judges find a reason to have her win by unreal margins. Sure she deserved to win. Of course. She was pretty much 100% clean and nobody else was. Her programs are good, but where do the judges find 35 points worth that nobody else had. A world record with only 4 triples? What a joke.

I really don't know the other ladies even bother trying. Yu-a Kim (or shall I make a point of saying Kim Yu-na) will win the OGM and everything else even if she makes more botched elements than Sasha ever did in one program.

The rule is the rule, its same to everyone. Kim's team did a good job to max her base value by understanding the rule. For example, last season her got "!" marks on her filp several times, so they decided to change to lutz comb to earn more points and do the solo filp because with the solo jump, she can hold the blade into the inside edge better than in the comb and it works. That is what a coach and cheo should do in my opinion, understand the rule and doing their best to max their skaters value with what they can do. It is not Kim's team's fault to understanding how the system works.

By the way, Kim landed 5 triples not 4, 2Lutz, 2Toes and the Sal with 3 combinations, she missed filp.

[Ptolemy]

Also, the more important question for me is why Mao has fallen out of the judges' favor? Has her skating deteriorated a lot?

A great question that Tat and Mao should be asking. Maybe they are spending so much time on the 3x that time spent on other elements isn't sufficient.

[gourry]

A bunch performing mediocre, but close to each other in performance makes me want to move to a new sport.

I agree. Even thinking about it makes me gloomy.
I'll still cheer for the skaters and stick to the sport, but it won't thrill me as much.

[Tinymavy15]

The rule is the rule, its same to everyone. Kim's team did a good job to max her base value by understanding the rule. For example, last season her got "!" marks on her filp several times, so they decided to change to lutz comb to earn more points and do the solo filp because with the solo jump, she can hold the blade into the inside edge better than in the comb and it works.

By the way, Kim landed 5 triples not 4, 2Lutz, 2Toes and the Sal with 3 combinations, she missed filp.

Or she can just skip the flip altogether. after all, why bother? She already did her precious combo that places the judges in the palm of her hand. Funny she would never think of "skipping" a flip last year when she had that triple toe to do.
Okay fine, 5 triples. There are skaters out there doing 7. and all those people saying how unfair it was that Mao was winning without doing all 6-7 different triples in her program. Lutz, Toe sal....hmmmm. that is three. and two of them are the easiest ones in the book.

[bmelanie]

Or she can just skip the flip altogether. after all, why bother? She already did her precious combo that places the judges in the palm of her hand. Funny she would never think of "skipping" a flip last year when she had that triple toe to do.
Okay fine, 5 triples. There are skaters out there doing 7. and all those people saying how unfair it was that Mao was winning without doing all 6-7 different triples in her program. Lutz, Toe sal....hmmmm. that is three. and two of them are the easiest ones in the book.

Good grief, sour much? Yuna already said that the reason she didn't jump was because she felt her body shake and something wasn't quite right, so she decided it would be better to forgo the jump rather than do it and fall (smart choice, IMHO. maybe it seems cowardly or calculating to you, but if she felt something wrong then that's what she felt, no one can gainsay that).
And more importantly, is it Yuna's fault that the judges are giving her the scores that she gets? If you're that riled up about it go ask the judges, they're the ones dishing out the numbers.

Interesting that those incredibly easy jumps Yuna is doing also happen to be the ones that Mao often has trouble with (a few commentators had difficulty distinguishing her lutz from her flip, I recall - while her loop isn't exactly scraping in those GOEs).

And since when did the number of triples become the absolute and only standard of the difficulty of a skater's program? I don't see a whole bunch of skaters out there doing 2A-2T-2L combos, do you?! Since when did fans become so fixated on the number of difficult jumps and the number of revolutions in a jump that they began to ignore the cohesion and intricacy of the program itself altogether?

[CARA]

Originally Posted by Ptolemy View Post
A bunch performing mediocre, but close to each other in performance makes me want to move to a new sport.

I, too, agree. I remember feeling bored watching Pro-tennis when Roger Federer was really dominant during 2006-2007. I'm not an avid swimming fan, but I suspect the same with Michael Phelps dominance.

Anyway, here's my dream wish list for Mao, so we don't get "bored" with figure skating:

1. Ditch TAT;
2. Burn all 6 hideous costumes she got outfitted for this season - she can afford it!
3. Hire a full-time coach who can dedicate his/her time for Mao, ideally someone she can trust, Arturian(?);
4. SP: Heck with the notion that Caprice does not work for SP per TAT. Go for Caprice. It's much more upbeat and suited to Mao;
5. LP: Hire Lori Nicols for choreography and come with light and happy music choice together. Mao should have her own input.
6. Spend next 2 1/2 months abroad to work on her new LP. No media interviews - that's why staying abroad is better.
7. Don't worry about GPF; focus on the Japanese National for the new program unbail.
Sigh - if it's only this easy...

[bekalc]

Or she can just skip the flip altogether. after all, why bother? She already did her precious combo that places the judges in the palm of her hand. Funny she would never think of "skipping" a flip last year when she had that triple toe to do.
Okay fine, 5 triples. There are skaters out there doing 7. and all those people saying how unfair it was that Mao was winning without doing all 6-7 different triples in her program. Lutz, Toe sal....hmmmm. that is three. and two of them are the easiest ones in the book.
__________________

Oh please. I saw Yu-na's interview on NBC afterwards and she sounded upset about missing the 3flip and rather shaken by it. It was not intentional on her part. She thought she saw something on the ground and it threw off her timing. She also did land a gorgeous 3flip in her short program, so she did do 4 kinds of triples at this competition.

and may I point out too that Kim did one of her 3toes in combination with a 3 lutz and the other with a double axel. A 3toe may be an easy jump on it's own but it's not easy in combination with another triple or a double axel.

[kandidy]

Neverending vicious cycle.

Low score, blame the judge.
High score, blame the judge.

[ehdtkqorl123]

Or she can just skip the flip altogether. after all, why bother? She already did her precious combo that places the judges in the palm of her hand. Funny she would never think of "skipping" a flip last year when she had that triple toe to do.

What a funny sarcasm