2010 Olympic Preview to Men's Figure Skating

[Figure88]

http://www.people.com/people/article...342694,00.html
Sasha Cohen says:
1- Plushenko
2- Lambiel
3- Lysacek

hmmm, maybe this should go into the predictions thread

Interesting. Jeremy's not on the list and they are all former/current world champions. I wonder if that will play a role.

[Joesitz]

future idol - I picked Johnny out as special in the 2003 Sr. US Nats, whidh I thought he should have won and watched him develop into a fine musical skater. It was no surprise to me to watch go from Group 3 Q to Group 2SP to Group 1 and finishe 4TH in his Worlds debut.

He hasn't lost any tech but he hasn't gained any since then. he's definitely a showman and why not. That is his style. Being realistic, I do not see many CoP points for it. If he would do two 3x3s and something uniquely difficult and different to make up for the missing quad I could see him on the podium. his competitors will gather the CoP points.

[futureidol]

Well technically Weir's FS is supposed to have two 3-3s and a 3-2-2 or 3-3-2 in the second half, but he hasn't done the program to it's full potential jumping wise yet. I also heard that he has indeed been training the quad all season and has allotted today to work on it in training in Vancouver. So he may do it in the Olympics, despite what people say.

[silverlake22]

I have this theory that if Tomas was clean he would win.

I don't know if this would actually happen though because he's never been clean in the SP and LP before. BUT there's a first time for everything. I'll really be rooting for him

[Tonichelle]

future idol - I picked Johnny out as special in the 2003 Sr. US Nats,

how'd it feel to be late to that party???

[Joesitz]

how'd it feel to be late to that party???

Well, maybe it was 2002 US Nats,and it felt like the Americans finally got a musical skater. No one in the Forum had anything to say, It was all about Timothy, Michael, and Trifun (remember him?) In 2003 after being 2nd in the SP, he went into the boards in the LP. I had to coax fans to send him well wishes. It was in 2004 Nats, he placed 1st in the Nats and went on to place 4th behind Lindemann and ahead of Weiss. some people began to notice him. Toni, I believe you were a diehard Ryun Jankhe fan who never seemed to medal in any comp. I know how you felt. so sad.

[Tonichelle]

Toni, I believe you were a diehard Ryun Jankhe fan who never seemed to medal in any comp. I know how you felt. so sad.

Nope, that was Kwanfan1212 - I was more into Mike Weiss and Timothy Goebel before 2005... then went to my first nationals and fell hard for Evan Lysacek, Jeremy Abbot (or was his breakthrough year in juniors 2006), Matt Savoie, and a couple of others... don't remember Trifun... but then before 2004 I didn't get to watch a lot of skating coverage (you may remember my complaining about crappy tv reception now that I'm not living at home my parents got sattelite TV... go figure)

[Bennett]

I've come to feel that Nobu may do well. He looked so happy at the opening ceremony. It is nice to be so relaxed and smile happily.

IMO, Dai has sounded putting too much pressures on himself. He has gotten a lot of attention and has received many interviews (Dai is not only popular, but also one of the "symbol athletes" of the Japanese Olympic Committee, so that he has to make a lot of appearanaces for the sponsor cooperations that borrow his portrait rights from JOC). He does say that he really loves getting attention and expressing himself and that he cares whether or not he receives the loudest cheering from the audience (source: Asahi Beer long interview. http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/dream/201...shi/page2.html). He has talked in a heroic, dramatic manner that are good for those who need to sell those stories. He does connect with the audience in the same way on the ice. I think it helps for skaters to have some diva quality that translates into charisma.

This is the last chance for him to compete at the Olympics and it is understandable that he may try to accomplish everything that he has wished for so that there will be no regrets.

But I have an impression that he has sounded a bit tense. In particular, it seems rather rigid to announce that he'd absolutely try the quad that he lands once with a hand down out of nine attemps less than a week before the comp. That seems like a black/white thinking that not only is most likely to fail (sorry), but also could sacrifice other strengths of his. One of the medal favorites, Evan, probably wouldn't try it and still remains a medal contender. I also think it likely that Morosov would tell Nobu not to do the quad when he finds it a better strategy.

I see Dai as an emotional skater, which may help him in many ways, but it could get in the way when competing against those who go for more strategic decisions in the game.

[miki88]

I've come to feel that Nobu may do well. He looked so happy at the opening ceremony. It is nice to be so relaxed and smile happily.

IMO, Dai has sounded putting too much pressures on himself. He has gotten a lot of attention and has received many interviews (Dai is not only popular, but also one of the "symbol athletes" of the Japanese Olympic Committee, so that he has to make a lot of appearanaces for the sponsor cooperations that borrow his portrait rights from JOC). He does say that he really loves getting attention and expressing himself. He has talked in a heroic, dramatic manner that are good for those who need to sell those stories. But I have an impression that he could be a bit tense. This is the last chance for him to compete at the Olympics. But it seems rather rigid to announce that he'd absolutely try that he lands once with a hand down out of nine attemps less than a week before the comp. That seems like a black/white thinking that not only most likely to fail (sorry), but also could sacrifice other strengths of his. One of the medal favorites, Evan, probably wouldn't try and still remains a medal contender.

I hope Dai does well~. He's so talented

[Soldier of Love]

I'm really rooting for Evan & Johnny.

[jennylovskt]

I'm really rooting for a lot of skaters, Plushenko, Joubert, Lambiel, and Abbott. Rooting for Joubert, Lambiel, and Abbott is not easy. So I 'm pretty sure that by the end of men's LP, I would be suffering heart exhaustion, and half dead.

I do not worry about Plushenko. He was the king and he will still be the king. His goal, and my for him as well, is to get on the podium. I cannot imagine the Olympics podium without him. (...... unless he misses the bus. ... Oh, well, the bus will wait for him.)

[miki88]

I see Dai as an emotional skater, which may help him in many ways, but it could get in the way when competing against those who go for more strategic decisions in the game.

Hey Bennett,I know this is off topic but I was wondeirng if Mao is also an emotional skater who seems to think in a fixed way about her axels instead of going for more strategic choices in her layout? Their choices seem to be really do or die. Sigh. It's really frustrating because both Dai and Mao are such talented skaters.

[ARipp42014]

I have this funny dream that one of my picks (either Stephane, Jeremy, or Daisuke) skated the skate of his life and won the gold... only to truly reveal himself as the one and only Alexei Yagudin! God, I wish that was a reality!

Anyway, since NBC doesn't have their other golden girl (Sasha), they are pimping the men's event as "the most highly contested Men's event ever!" Let's put it this way, I would not be surprised if NBC (especially Scott) pulls a massive pro-Johnny/Evan/Jeremy, anti-Plushy bias during the LP.

[MK's Winter]

I am rooting for Johnny, I would really like to see him on the podium along with Stephane Lambiel, georgous skaters the both of them

[Justafan]

I am rooting for Johnny, I would really like to see him on the podium along with Stephane Lambiel, georgous skaters the both of them

Me too! I would love to see Johnny just go out and skate likes he loves it and throw the quad in whether he lands it or not. I really like Stephane as well and would like to see him medal. It would be nice to see both these guys do well at this point in their careers since this is probably the last Olympics for both of them.