Ladies SP Saturday Nov 14th 7:00 p.m. EST:

[DarkestMoon]

Does she have 3l-3t???? Wow!!!

ETA: You mean she planned it and practiced it in her practices? What she did in the program was just 3-2.

I think she might have planned a 3-3 by the way she was rotating in the air. She's a lot faster on ice and her rotation in the air is much more quicker than the previous seasons.

There are skaters who do shadow other skaters in practice as a form of gamesmanship. I think that a lot of the youtube videos are ridiculous....

Of course. The problem is that the bots are acting like it's a brand new phenomenon done only to Yu-na when it's happened many, many times before. The bigger problem is that the bots targeting particularly Japanese skaters. They also can't differentiate between accidents as a result of 5 other skaters being on the rink and purposely running her down. It's like anyone coming within two feet of her on the rink is purposely running her down.

[cosmos]

She said she was SICK. (Note that in my post I said "sick / injured")

Internet is part of the media.

I'm not exaggerating it. How many US or European athletes had to leave their home countries because of the media intrusion? Yuna left in part b/c the media wouldn't let her practice in peace.

P.S. I understand that Korea does not have a rink for figure skating, but given her talent and international competition results, they would've given her a rink if she'd insisted on it.

She said she got cold. So, you are saying that if she hadn't said so, Korean media would have crucified her. Really? Then, you don'tneed to worry about her. If she fails to win OGM, she can just say she got cold. No problem. How easy!

You are not only exaggerating it but distorting it. YuNa didn't go to Toronto because of media intrusion. Three years ago, she was not that popular. She went there, because Orser, Wilson are there in addition to nice Cricket club.

I think it's gotten more attention than necessary b/c some Korean rags decided to run a story on how Suguri interrupted Yuna right after SA SP. It's just getting ridiculous.

This is another exaggeration. Some Korean media just quoted what some fans were saying on boards. They never stated it as a fact or as a report. Obviously, they don't know what happened.

[Nadia01]

This is another exaggeration. Some Korean media just quoted what some fans were saying on boards. They never stated it as a fact or as a report. Obviously, they don't know what happened.

Why is it an exaggeration? I've read the entire article in its native Korean. Yes, in case you're wondering I can read Korean and understand it very well. The title said Suguri interrupted Yuna. If the media didn't want to turn it into a big deal and they DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE they shouldn't have reported some comments off of Youtube.

Basing articles on inflammatory fan comments w/o checking facts does not absolve the media for reporting it. If they do'nt even know if it's true, why report it?

She said she got cold. So, you are saying that if she hadn't said so, Korean media would have crucified her. Really? Then, you don'tneed to worry about her. If she fails to win OGM, she can just say she got cold. No problem. How easy!

You are not only exaggerating it but distorting it. YuNa didn't go to Toronto because of media intrusion. Three years ago, she was not that popular. She went there, because Orser, Wilson are there in addition to nice Cricket club.

You are welcome to your own interpretation of the events. But do respect that I have my own interpretation of how things were based on the media coverage and reports from the States, Canada, JP and Korea.

I do find your assertion that I'm distorting the situation unfair and uncalled for, as I believe you're trying to protect the Korean media and their image. I don't know what motivation you have for that, but I'd like to end our discussion at this point.

And do avoid putting words into my mouth.

[chloepoco]

During Yuna's official rehearsal,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZztPum8skM

Something DANGEROUS happened to Yuna at 00:16, and she failed on flip. This has happened to her many times before during her official rehearsals in the previous competitions. What do you think? (I heard Yuna telling her coatch that she was nervous at the kiss & cry zone after the short program).

Just another accident? like many others that've happened to her before?

After all that hullabaloo that happened last year about Yuna's practices being impeded by other skaters, I really don't think any skater, and especially a Japanese one, would intentionally interrupt Yuna's practice. I would think they would know the backlash that would arise out of that.

The skating rink is small when six skaters are practicing at the same time. Near collisions do happen.

[diotima]

She said she was SICK. (Note that in my post I said "sick / injured")

Internet is part of the media.

I'm not exaggerating it. How many US or European athletes had to leave their home countries because of the media intrusion? Yuna left in part b/c the media wouldn't let her practice in peace.

P.S. I understand that Korea does not have a rink for figure skating, but given her talent and international competition results, they would've given her a rink if she'd insisted on it.

As far as I know, when Yuna moved to Canada to practice with Mr. Orser, she was not much popular like these day and there is a little media attention.
I think that media intrusion was not the main reason in her leaving home country at that time.

Also, to making ice rink is not a simple job in S.Korea.
It's involved with many administrational problem, budget thing and political oriented mayers.
Please don't overestimate Yuna's power.
No matter how popular she is, eventually she's just a figure skater.
Well, if Yuna get a OGM, it would become quite easier.

When Yuna got 2nd in last GPF, I remember that Korean people (including media) didn't being disappointed or blamed on her. I guess it's because of relatively low expectation compared with post World championships era, not her catching a cold. (And of course her fan always love and support her whaterver the result is.)

I have no idea what happen if Yuna don't make a good result in Olympic. There would be some disappointment. But I guess it would be not that bad.
I work at media field, I know how the media works. It's quite predictable.
The real problem would be some anonymous crooked internet users and the low leveled internet media.

[Tonichelle]

can we PLEASE talk about something other than the seemingly age old "evil media" slant... seriously, these girls do more than get surrounded by controversy.

[demarinis5]

I actually preferred Julia and Fumie's program over Racheal's. Julia was just great and was very visibly pleased with her performance, so too was Fumie until the score came out.

Hope these two veterans can have a got free skate (good luck to others as well) and i wish Japan had like 5 olympic spots rather than 3.

Glad I am not in the minority here. Not many points separating 2nd, 3rd and 4th especially 2nd and 3rd. But I feel Rachael has the advantage in the LP as Julia and lately Fumie have not been consistent in their LP. I also was quite suprised at Fumie's low PC's score, should have been higher. IMO Racheal was a bit overscored.

Congrats to Queen YuNa for another beautiful performance.

[silverlake22]

Same here!

I hope Julia does better in LP. I know her previous GP was a big let down.

P.S. Does anyone know why Rachael scored higher than Julia?

I think Rachael was attempting a 3-3 when she fell, so she could have completed 2 rotations before falling. If you look at the scoring breakdown, http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpusa09/SEG003.HTM , Rachael's TES is about a point and a half higher than Julia's, my guess is one of her jumps was downgraded for UR and that's why Rachael won by a hair. Julia's jumps didn't seem UR but these days it seems like everyone is getting UR calls. Either that or Rachael just got high GOEs for the jumps she landed

[ImaginaryPogue]

Fumie's Short
Julia's Short
Rachel's Short

I wonder if Fumie got dinged on levels.

And for Tuggy fan... Tugba's short

[krenseby]

Sasha Cohen, with both John Nicks and Tatiana Tarasova, milked the crap out of the CoP. While she didn't win, Sasha's team figured out how to use the code to her abilities and make up for her technical limitations. The US skaters should have taken note instead of trying to become the Next Whoever.

Eta: Welcome to the board!

I think it's really sad that the U.S. ladies aren't taking advantage of COP to maximize their points. Joannie Rochette, on the other hand, apparently does. I don't understand the specifics, but I heard that she packed her programs with lots of transitions that really boost her score even when she doesn't outperform the other skaters on jumps. I think Rachael and Caroline could really benefit from that approach. Both of them, under ideal conditions, could up their SP score by about 10 points. I am not sure where Wagner is, but I would wager that even she is far from maximizing her SP scores. (As for LPs, I don't really know how many more points the U.S. ladies could squeeze out of them.)

[sleepyjl]

The Youtube Video War started (or perhaps it was always there but intensified) b/c SBS reported that Yuna blamed JP skaters for interrupting her practice. The only problem was that Yuna NEVER said it. She just mentioned that sometimes it can be hard to practice b/c other skaters can be in the way and that at some competitions it's disruptive / too much, but she never named anyone or mentioned nationality, etc.

Since SBS is a big media outlet in Korea, the JP media picked up the story, and a lot of JP fans, etc. became very upset. The JSF requested clarification from their counterpart in Korean Federation, and eventually the JSF told all their skaters to avoid doing anything that can cause misunderstanding overseas.

SBS apologized to Yuna, but as far as I know, they never apologized to the JSF or the JP skaters.

Absolutely right. What non-Koreans need to remember is that SBS is EVIL. For you American fans, they're like the Fox News of Korea. They are notorious for employing tabloid reporting techniques and sensationalizing otherwise mundane stories. They also love to play on and even inflame Koreans' biases (i.e., the anti-Japanese sentiment) for ratings. Other Korean news outlets can be sleazy too (often pulled down to the lowest common denominator in order to compete with SBS and a couple, similarly sleazy newspapers), but SBS is exceptionally so.

In fact, it's SBS that is causing Yuna a lot of stress by hounding her across the world, demanding exclusive interviews after every practice and following her every move. They feel like sponsoring Yuna gives them the right to treat her like chattel. You'll find the occasional SBS defender, but you should pay them as much attention as the Fox News nation.

So please keep that in mind before demonizing the Korean media as a whole. That'd be like watching Fox News and concluding that American media consisted of nothing but Bill O'Reilly's and Sean Hannitys.

[Tonichelle]

REMINDER: Golden Skate does NOT approve bringing the youtube wars onto this board. It's not a suggestion, or a plea. Just don't do it.

[CARA]

Absolutely right. What non-Koreans need to remember is that SBS is EVIL. For you American fans, they're like the Fox News of Korea...

That's too bad. I'm Korean-American, and I love watching Fox News Channel.
Oh, incidentally, I grew up in Japan before I came to US. And I know some Japanese are biased against Koreans just like some Koreans are biased against Japanese.

Just let go already!

[DarkestMoon]

I think it's really sad that the U.S. ladies aren't taking advantage of COP to maximize their points. Joannie Rochette, on the other hand, apparently does. I don't understand the specifics, but I heard that she packed her programs with lots of transitions that really boost her score even when she doesn't outperform the other skaters on jumps. I think Rachael and Caroline could really benefit from that approach. Both of them, under ideal conditions, could up their SP score by about 10 points. I am not sure where Wagner is, but I would wager that even she is far from maximizing her SP scores. (As for LPs, I don't really know how many more points the U.S. ladies could squeeze out of them.)

The funny thing is that they all share the same choreographer, either David Wilson or Lori Nichol. It makes me wonder if they're getting empty programs because their skating is not on par to be able handle the transitions. Transitions into and out of jumps is a tough thing to do. Joannie Rochette admitted to struggling with her Aranjuez when she first got the program because of all the transitions and was only able to land two triples in her practices. She was going to dump the program but decided against it. Lori's best programs in 6.0 and CoP were for Michelle and Joannie. Both ladies have good skating skills. Mao had good programs from Lori too.

[Bennett]

I wish if the protocol were up already!

I think she might have planned a 3-3 by the way she was rotating in the air. She's a lot faster on ice and her rotation in the air is much more quicker than the previous seasons..

I recall her saying that she practiced 3-3 before going to Morosov. But it was never materialized in comp and Morosov told her not to, but to focus on what she already had, which turned out to be a good strategy for her.

But then she switched the coach and I wonder what her current strategy now is.

The Flip and the Lutz may be among better jumps for her so that these might be the jumps she would try 3-3, if not Toe-Toe. Between the Flip and the Lutz, the Flip might be a more promising one to work on 3-3 because she flutzes. But the success rate on the Flip had not been that high lately. She had significantly URed the flip (way beyond by a half rotation) several times.

I think that Morosov was right in his advice. The most important things for Fumie are to land and rotate every jump, not to flutz, to increase speed, and to get as high levels on spins, steps, and spirals as possible for her. Then she would place much higher without 3-3.