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

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

ARipp42014

Medalist
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
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

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
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

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
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

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
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.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
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! :eek:
But then I caught myself and went back to another of my true underdog loves, Patrick. :love:

Medusa said:
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. :frown:
 

Alatariel

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
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 :biggrin: 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. :frown:

:rofl:

Can you see the headlines now? Evan Lysacek suspected as cause for mass death of unnamed crazy people!
 
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silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
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.
 

figuristka

Medalist
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
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.
 

Bennett

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
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?

I am with you in sending the best wishes to Tomas. The list was so crowded that I forgot Brezina. Seriously, there are so many good men this season that whoever that happens to come behind appears undeserving.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
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.


I know. I realize I'm potentially missing some amazing skates. But that's just the thing - "potentially." It's too much tension. I still haven't recovered from Jeremy on Tuesday... If Verner and Carolina go clean, I'll kick myself and watch it on youtube. :biggrin:
 

ARipp42014

Medalist
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
I was looking at the nightmare thread and it seems like the majority of us doesn't want either Plushy, Evan, and Chosen One to win. There were some Gagas and some Jouberts.

As for Czech Buttle (aka Brezina), yeah he'll finish Top 10! :)
 

ademption

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
His second 3A is moved to the second half of the program now.

Oh, thanks so much for that info. That is such good news. I was afraid that Daisuke was leaving some points on the table by having no triple axle in the last half of the program. The big question for DT will he have the stamina to perform all of these jumps cleanly?

I know that he's had some bad practices at the Olympics. But who knows? Anything can happen at the Olympics....

Speaking of practice, does anyone know how the guys did this morning? I went to the nrarmour twitter feed and didn't see anything. I went to Michael Weiss' twitter page and saw this:

At the Men's practices- Chan looked pretty tight, Taka had a pretty good practice again- nice 3 Axel/3toe. Brezina- nice Quads...

Looks like Chan's nerves are getting to him. Despite that, I hope he has a clean skate and performs well for the hometown crowd. I want all the men to skate their best tonight and let the chips fall where they may...

Wasn't clear which Taka Michael Weiss was talking about. D. Takahashi or Takahiki Kozuka? If it's Takahashi, I'm really glad. Hope he doesn't leave it on the practice ice...

Are there any other sites besides Michael Weiss' and the nrarmour twitter pages that report on practices? I guess I'll have to wait for the rinkside segment of the Terry Gannon show this afternoon (if they have it) to hear about what the men did today....
 

Smuusik

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Only 5 hours to go here.

I don't feel nearly as nervous as I felt before the SP. The only thing I want to see is Plushenko skating to his best and receiving the results he deserves. No watering it down and hopefully, hopefully he will be able to feel comfortable on ice (for once I wish the saying "Plushenko's got no nerves" would serve in a positive way). Truly he has already written his name in figure skating history... all the buzz and controversy compared to that is nonsense - it doesn't matter. He has it all. Has had for a long time...

However, I would be so glad if Brezina's LP would be a success for him tonight. He has time to develop in every aspect but he is already showing skill technically and physically, his 3A, height of jumps and something specific which I cannot define simply makes me like him. Another reason to continue watching FS. :)

I felt really bad for Joubert and Abbott. Especially Joubert who simply doesn't seem to get it right when it's most needed. Boy, how bad I felt for him. I hope for a decent LP but should he blow the lp as well... :frown:



It's going to be a long night.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Oh, thanks so much for that info. That is such good news. I was afraid that Daisuke was leaving some points on the table by having no triple axle in the last half of the program. The big question for DT will he have the stamina to perform all of these jumps cleanly?

I know that he's had some bad practices at the Olympics. But who knows? Anything can happen at the Olympics....

Speaking of practice, does anyone know how the guys did this morning? I went to the nrarmour twitter feed and didn't see anything. I went to Michael Weiss' twitter page and saw this:



Looks like Chan's nerves are getting to him. Despite that, I hope he has a clean skate and performs well for the hometown crowd. I want all the men to skate their best tonight and let the chips fall where they may...

Wasn't clear which Taka Michael Weiss was talking about. D. Takahashi or Takahiki Kozuka? If it's Takahashi, I'm really glad. Hope he doesn't leave it on the practice ice...

Are there any other sites besides Michael Weiss' and the nrarmour twitter pages that report on practices? I guess I'll have to wait for the rinkside segment of the Terry Gannon show this afternoon (if they have it) to hear about what the men did today....

http://twitter.com/wilner88

He says Oda had a great run through. Evan skipped some portions of his run through and looked tight in the second half. Wonder how Evan's 3a went. Last night he fell on it. Hope he at least practiced it today.
 

Bennett

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Oh, thanks so much for that info. That is such good news. I was afraid that Daisuke was leaving some points on the table by having no triple axle in the last half of the program. The big question for DT will he have the stamina to perform all of these jumps cleanly?

I know that he's had some bad practices at the Olympics. But who knows? Anything can happen at the Olympics....

Speaking of practice, does anyone know how the guys did this morning? I went to the nrarmour twitter feed and didn't see anything. I went to Michael Weiss' twitter page and saw this:



Looks like Chan's nerves are getting to him. Despite that, I hope he has a clean skate and performs well for the hometown crowd. I want all the men to skate their best tonight and let the chips fall where they may...

Wasn't clear which Taka Michael Weiss was talking about. D. Takahashi or Takahiki Kozuka? If it's Takahashi, I'm really glad. Hope he doesn't leave it on the practice ice...

Are there any other sites besides Michael Weiss' and the nrarmour twitter pages that report on practices? I guess I'll have to wait for the rinkside segment of the Terry Gannon show this afternoon (if they have it) to hear about what the men did today....

I'd assume it's Takahiko. Daisuke could be Dai, but perhaps not Taka.
 

ARipp42014

Medalist
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Yeah when I see Taka, I think of Kozuka. That's why I call Takahashi "Dice-K" like the pitcher from the Red Sox Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Only 6 and lots of change until Verner is on the ice! Who's got the mojitos and Senorita's fresh popcorn ready?
 

ademption

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
http://twitter.com/wilner88

He says Oda had a great run through. Evan skipped some portions of his run through and looked tight in the second half. Wonder how Evan's 3a went. Last night he fell on it. Hope he at least practiced it today.

That's a great twitter site. Thanks so much. It's so interesting to hear about the different ways that the men are practicing today. Some attempting no jumps like Johnny Weir and others practicing the jumps. Not good to hear about Daisuke's fall on a jump. Hope he leaves the mistakes in practice....
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
That's a great twitter site. Thanks so much. It's so interesting to hear about the different ways that the men are practicing today. Some attempting no jumps like Johnny Weir and others practicing the jumps. Not good to hear about Daisuke's fall on a jump. Hope he leaves the mistakes in practice....

Plushenko finished practice before his music even came on. Guess the music really is irrelevant to him. :biggrin:

Well, Plushy knows what works for him. I think he can do whatever he wants in practice on the day of competition ...

The others ... I don't know. I've always been interested in practice reports, too. If it were me, I'd definitely want to practice my jumps, at least some. I wouldn't want the first time that day that I'm doing a jump to be the competition. On the other hand, there's the whole saving strength thing, which I guess is what Evan and Johnny are doing...
 
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