Men's Free Skate - Thurs, 18th 8pm EST

[alekzu]

Starting to get nervous.... Quad or nor quad? Can Disuke make it? I sure hope so. Pleeeeeaaaaaaase let him make it! But whatever happens, don't give the gold to Plushenko. I'm fine with anyone winning, except him. Even Evan Lysacek. Who btw did a fabulous SP, which is a lot coming from me, since I've never really liked him. Hoping for clean skates from everyone, so we can all enjoy the competition to the fullest. And I'm hoping Adrian will be able to pull off another quad as well, maybe a little bit better than the last one. That said, here is my realistic dreampodium:

1. Takahashi
2. Evan
3. Plushenko

No win for Evgeni. If Nobu or Stéphane want up there, fine by me. As long as they don't beat Dai. (Unfortunately I don't think they can get up there....) Go Daisuke!

[figuristka]

Cannot believe it but i will actually be nervous for Plushenko. I was always a huge Yagudin fan so though i admired Plushenko i was not always wanting him to do the best. Now i feel though the PCS of a skater like Lambiel, or Takahashi should indeed be higher, i think Plushenko's PCS should have been judged accordingly at the previous competitions this season and given him more time to prepare transitions if he felt he wanted to adapt more for the new system.

[isask8]

I can't wait! I'm starting to get nervous already. :D
And I hope I can stay awake. Have to wake up when it's 2 am here. But I hope it will be worth it

[Layfan]

Oh dear, dear me... I think I would probably spontaneously combust.

Aww, don't do that! I'd miss the Evan-haters. Boring if we all root for the same skaters.

[Spun Silver]

On the day of, I'm beyond realism - time for desperate hopes, prayers, and cheers!

1-DAISUKE - DO IT! You're the best and you know it!
2-JOHNNY - Kill it, girl! Nothing to lose! (no diva smilie???)
3-PATRICK - C'mon little star, stop talking, pull yourself together, and show your genius!

Go Dai, Johnny, and Patrick! And go Evan, Brian, Jeremy, Stephane, Florent and Nobu!

[ARipp42014]

Only less than 8 hours to go until Verner hits the ice! *spazz* I even tried to call off today from work but to no avail. Hopefully atdhe.net would be kind to me!

[silverlake22]

My prediction:
1. Plushy (I think his jumps are secure enough to put himself here)
2. Evan (May be most likely to go clean, but not totally sure actually because it's the Olympics; yet he's the world champ and judges love him, too, so that he could afford making some mistakes)
3. Nob (if he is calm enough; he seems VERY nervous)
4. Dai (I think that he will impress us, but wouldn't be clean, esp with the success rate on that quad, he'd open the door)
5. Steph (I don't see him go clean; but would stay here with good PCS)
6. Johnny (He seems among the most relaxed one in SP and may be even more relaxed in LP; but just doesn't get enough PCS or have a high base value program)
7. Koz (Looks like he may land the quad; don't see him go clean though)
8. Patrick (He doesn't seem very consistent this season)
I think it totally possible that Joubert and Jeremy come back strong to the top 8. But it is so crowded here that I just ran out of the list before including these two.
9. Joubert
10. Jeremy
I wonder which one will do a stronger comeback game.
Verner. I am not sure where he will place. I wonder how well he is physically this season. He seems like having a slump.

I hope Brian, Jeremy, and Tomas all come back strong and hope the SP hasn't made them too depressed to bounce back tonight. As for Tomas, he has been sick this season, he did well at TEB doing his quads and coming in 2nd, then got the flu during SA, where his slump started and he was 5th. He found out he was going to the GPF at the last minute when Joubert pulled out, and was still clearly feeling sick (he looked really pale and thin) and popped a lot of jumps and was last. Then he was 2nd at Czech nationals and 10th at Euros, he didn't bomb so badly there but was far from his best. I think getting sick this year, on top of his usual consistency issues due to nerves/anxiety/stamina/pressure (probably all those things) have made him have a particularly rough season. He said he plans to continue skating though so I hope to see him bounce back tonight and at worlds so that next season can start on a good note. I feel so bad for him, I love his skating and he is so talented, it pains me to see him struggle this much. Same goes for Joubert.

Also, you don't think Brezina will make the top 10?

[seniorita]

i think Plushenko's PCS should have been judged accordingly at the previous competitions this season and given him more time to prepare transitions if he felt he wanted to adapt more for the new system.

Yes , mark him down since Cup of Russia so he gets the message. In europeans he had less transitions-non existant than now and yet one mark up than now.
The mail should have been sent earlier. He had two international competitions before for feedback.

[Layfan]

Only less than 8 hours to go until Verner hits the ice! *spazz* I even tried to call off today from work but to no avail. Hopefully atdhe.net would be kind to me!

Sigh. I won't be watching Verner. I haven't been able to bear watching him all season. It's nothing against him. It's just that it's been wrenching enough to dare to hold out hope for Sasha, Alissa Jeremy and Mao. No room in my heart for more head cases. That's why I've also been ignoring the existence of Carolina Kostner.

[Spun Silver]

Sigh. I won't be watching Verner. I haven't been able to bear watching him all season. It's nothing against him. It's just that it's been wrenching enough to dare to hold out hope for Sasha, Alissa Jeremy and Mao. No room in my heart for more head cases. That's why I've also been ignoring the existence of Carolina Kostner.

Yup. There are only so many underdogs you can root for. That's why I had Evan on the first draft of my podium list!
But then I caught myself and went back to another of my true underdog loves, Patrick.

I actually predict that Evan will win, which will result in my demise as a figure skating fan.

Me too... and it will be a mass grave. Most of GS will be in there.

[Alatariel]

Aww, don't do that! I'd miss the Evan-haters. Boring if we all root for the same skaters.

I'm not an Evan hater ... I just don't particularly like him Seriously I thought he was great in the SP, didn't like it but he was good and though I thought his PCS was too high compared to some (not Plushenko btw) in general I thought it was a good job by the judges for the first three. I just don't like him. At all.

Me too... and it will be a mass grave. Most of GS will be in there.

Can you see the headlines now? Evan Lysacek suspected as cause for mass death of unnamed crazy people!

[janetfan]

I can't make any predictions coz I'm supersticious - but I like Krist's prediction

[silverlake22]

Sigh. I won't be watching Verner. I haven't been able to bear watching him all season. It's nothing against him. It's just that it's been wrenching enough to dare to hold out hope for Sasha, Alissa Jeremy and Mao. No room in my heart for more head cases. That's why I've also been ignoring the existence of Carolina Kostner.

Carolina and Tomas are so good though! I mean Alissa, she's as big of a headcase as Carolina and Tomas but not as talented from a technical standpoint. Tomas has the best 4-3 of all men right now, I'm actually confident saying that, look at his 4-3 from the GPF, he got a +2 GOE on it! I think if he wasn't so talented I wouldn't care as much...but he is, so I do, and hope he will get it together. I think maybe he needs a coaching change though.

[Buttercup]

I actually predict that Evan will win, which will result in my demise as a figure skating fan.

Me too... and it will be a mass grave. Most of GS will be in there.

I would be forced to turn to a fate possibly worse than death: the ladiezzzzz.

[figuristka]

I would prefer Plushenko to win over Evan, not a fan of Evan but he did skate well in the short and his tears were endearing and made me like him more as a person as it obviously meant so much. Hope also Weir skates well , Lambiel, and Chan. Please nobody fall apart like Verner in the short, they worked so hard to get here, hate to see it happen to anyone.