WTT Free Dance

[heyhey]

Barely a week after the thrill of T/T's pairs bronze in Nice, Mervin Tran philosophized via Twitter, "If they say there's no rest for the wicked, then figure skating must be a nefarious sport; the reason why these past two seasons are so long."
He later elaborated, "Nothing bad has happened. Just having long seasons, but still going well." (T/T also competed at 4CC, etc.)
Seems that his good-natured comments probably could speak for plenty of other skaters too.

The coming season offers no rest for the wicked()/weary: The ISU has announced that the dates of the next WTT are April 11-14, 2013 ...

Well I guess it's great for the fans...more events....not so much for the skaters....perhaps we will see Weaver/Poje next year for Canada or even the Shibs next year for the US at WTT...because I can't see both D/W and V/M keeping up this pace....

ETA: I have met and seen Mervin Tran train here in Montreal and he is a great guy....

[golden411]

Have finally looked at the on-demand video (after missing the livestream). For those who listened repeatedly to Scott in the K and C:

Am I the only one who heard him say, "Good luck," to Marina as she was departing the K and C? I presume that she was on her way to D/W for their FD, and that his words by extension were in support of D/W too.

I hope that my ears were not deceiving me. Yes, Scott takes every competition very seriously, but his instincts for good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty are strong too.

[blue dog]

I hope that my ears were not deceiving me. Yes, Scott takes every competition very seriously, but his instincts for good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty are strong too.

He may be very "candid" with what he feels, but Scott has always been a nice guy, especially to those he trains with.

This isn't like the old days of ice dance, when Oksana Baiul and Maia Usova had a brawl.

[chuckm]

Wasn't it Oksana Gritschuk who had a brawl with Usova? Oksana G had an affair with Zhulin, who was married to (and skating with) Usova at the time.

[chuckm]

Have finally looked at the on-demand video (after missing the livestream). For those who listened repeatedly to Scott in the K and C:

Am I the only one who heard him say, "Good luck," to Marina as she was departing the K and C? I presume that she was on her way to D/W for their FD, and that his words by extension were in support of D/W too.

I hope that my ears were not deceiving me. Yes, Scott takes every competition very seriously, but his instincts for good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty are strong too.

Sorry, but after all the dramas with Scott's off-the-cuff remarks and sour facial expressions, I'm left with the impression that to Scott, winning is paramount, and "good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty" are little more than an afterthought.

[Trewyn]

However, I think I read somewhere that skaters could claim exhaustion, and opt out with no penalty.

I think they can, as long as they don't skate in shows during the time of event (and maybe a week before and after or something?)?

[CAS]

Agree. His real drama is the way he lifts Tessa- with the face expression as if he lifts the heaviest stuff in the gym, then he just puts it on the ice, the blade hits the ice with some ugly sound. That wasn't good at all. Meryl&Charlie delivered probably one of their best performances in their career. The whole dance was one big generous fest for the honor of His Majesty Dance. Right on music, light, elegant, fast and beautifful. They got an ovation that they truly deserved and left me/us in a good spirit.

We don't agree. You misunderstood my post (or were being funny).

[gold12345]

I doubt most of these skaters will ever want to miss the WTT. Even the last place team is going home with a very nice amount of prize money.

[macy]

why is there such a big gap between D/W and V/M?

[chuckm]

V/M skated at 90%, D/W at 110%. V/M were tentative and not as sharp as they were at Worlds. D/W gave their best performances of the season.

Hence the gap.

These teams are thisclose in talent and ability. Each one has to skate full out, and the team that skates the best on the day is going to win. At WTT, it was D/W.

[blue dog]

Wasn't it Oksana Gritschuk who had a brawl with Usova? Oksana G had an affair with Zhulin, who was married to (and skating with) Usova at the time.

You're right, Chuck. Oksana Baiul won women's singles, whereas Oksana Grischuk won the dance.

[PatC]

Have finally looked at the on-demand video (after missing the livestream). For those who listened repeatedly to Scott in the K and C:

Am I the only one who heard him say, "Good luck," to Marina as she was departing the K and C? I presume that she was on her way to D/W for their FD, and that his words by extension were in support of D/W too.

I hope that my ears were not deceiving me. Yes, Scott takes every competition very seriously, but his instincts for good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty are strong too.

No, he said good luck, I heard him as well.

[wallylutz]

I understand that it was said in a moment of exhaustion and frustration. But fact remains he should not have said. Japan has put a lot of effort into this competition, not only financially. The crowd is bigger than at Worlds! It's also in part a team event, wanting to exude positivity and team spirit. What he said went against all of that. I personally don't think it's 'Lots of drama over nothing'. I would be willing to give Scott al the benefit of the doubt if this had been the first time he'd acted (seemingly at least) as a sore loser.

Anyway; I hope Scott gets himself a nice holiday to recover from this long season, he deserves it. Team Voir has done really well!

Sometimes, I feel FS crowd can be a little too politically correct to the point that it makes wonder whether some people truly believe what they are saying or writing, or do they just pretend to be so because it seems "right", not referring to anyone in particular. You can't force someone to like or dislike something. If Scott dislike this event, he is entitled his opinion. It's not as if he holds a press conference just to deplore how much he dislikes being there. That would be inconsiderate to the organizers indeed. And assuming he did say what some think he said, why does that make him a sore loser for disliking an event. Many skaters skip 4CC or never attend it because they think they are too good for it, wouldn't that be a stronger dismissal of the event being unworthy yet why no one ever called Michelle Kwan a sore loser? I guess I am not seeing the connection between disliking / not attending an event and being a sore loser.

Then again, I am quite skeptical of all righteous defenders of good ethics and high moral standard that seem to particularly overpopulate certain parts of WWW. I know I am far from such high standards because I am an average human being so I wonder how come so many saints seem to congregate here?

Finally, all said and done, I don't believe Scott really hates this event. He is joker, you can't take what he says seriously half of the time. Charlie White said as much after the GPF and given the two of them know each other so well, I think Charlie is probably far more credible than some self-claimed saints on internet, just my $0.02

[DobrinFan]

Oh he said it. I rewatched it several times just for the entertainment value
It was as funny as Team France/Italy antics in the K&C. At least he's not fake with his feelings

[icefan1005]

Sorry, but after all the dramas with Scott's off-the-cuff remarks and sour facial expressions, I'm left with the impression that to Scott, winning is paramount, and "good sportsmanship, friendship, and loyalty" are little more than an afterthought.

Well we don't really know Scott as a person. Some lines from a person caught at bad moments don't really define the person fully.

ETA: lol @ Eric's "I love this competition." in the pairs KnC