Have you been to any good ice shows lately?

[100yen]

And I have same problem with Yuna in this program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-1gU8vsDOI

This girl is American, American music, American style, American clothes. Where is the Korean Yuna?

Actually the singer is Canadian... hehe

Maybe Yuna really connects with the music and culture? I don't think anyone should be limited to ethnic music from their native country.

[plushyfan]

Could be he is fed up with being seen as a "cute boy" Can't blame him

of course, of course..He has teddy bear on the paling when he competes... sexy man + teddy bear....

Whenever I watch Hanyu I see hello kitty )) he is still junior and cute but he is the most fierce of what the rest were in his age!

Yes, this is the reason why i love him. He has wild passion, when he skates, i wouldn't like to see that he loses it in Canada.

Actually the singer is Canadian... hehe

Maybe Yuna really connects with the music and culture? I don't think anyone should be limited to ethnic music from their native country.

OK, don't misunderstand me, I just like when the skaters have diverse styles, unique programs, own colors. I apologize, I don't know the singer, but he sung in American style or in North-American style.

[doctor2014]

Kanako skated two different programs in two shows, in the second she tried to be lyrical but couldn't. And that's the thing that disturbs me the most. Her skating skills are not that beautiful in the first place, plus this lack of presentation makes things look even worse, which is quite upsetting. She is a very talanted hard-working girl who does need a good choreographer and a better coach who will polish her rough stuff. And she needs it now. In the morning she did 3T-3T, 3F, 3S-1Lo-1Lo, the spyral was awful. She also did rocking camel, the element that is not often performed nowdays, but both legs were < and ^ accordingly. In the finale she did a five-jump combo 3S+4 2Lo. In the afternoon the set of jumps were 3Flutz, 3S-2Lo-2Lo, 3F.

Murakami already has a very good coach, one of the most successful coaches in Japan, Machiko Yamada. Mrs. Yamada has coached elite skaters such as Midori Ito, Mao Asada, and Yukari Nakano, all of whom have 3A. Murakami, on the other hand, only has 3T-3T, not even a 3F-3T or 3F-3Lo. Maybe it’s not the coach’s fault. Maybe it’s Murakami’s own fault—that she either is not talented enough or does not work hard enough, idk. But I don’t think you should blame her coach for her own weaknesses now.

And Mrs. Yamada is much more famous and more experienced than say Utako Nagamitsu and Nanami Abe. Yamada can even politick for her students, which is why Murakami and Uno are overscored while Suzuki, Hanyu, Tanaka, etc. are often relatively underscored in Japan.

[Evgenia]

On Saturday he won the duel. But Monday belonged to Dai.

This is just your impression. I went to PIW everyday and Plush clearly won!

[mikeko666]

Murakami already has a very good coach, one of the most successful coaches in Japan, Machiko Yamada. Mrs. Yamada has coached elite skaters such as Midori Ito, Mao Asada, and Yukari Nakano, all of whom have 3A. Murakami, on the other hand, only has 3T-3T, not even a 3F-3T or 3F-3Lo. Maybe it’s not the coach’s fault. Maybe it’s Murakami’s own fault—that she either is not talented enough or does not work hard enough, idk. But I don’t think you should blame her coach for her own weaknesses now.

And Mrs. Yamada is much more famous and more experienced than say Utako Nagamitsu and Nanami Abe. Yamada can even politick for her students, which is why Murakami and Uno are overscored while Suzuki, Hanyu, Tanaka, etc. are often relatively underscored in Japan.

Nakano acquired her notorious wrapped leg under Yamada, which Sato couldn't fix later. She was a great spinner but had rather poor skating skills, which were later improved under Sato. Asada can not do 3-3T, which Arutunian almost fixed but couldn't because she left him. Nakano and Asada are both fluzters. Yamada was just very lucky to discover Ito, but she can not be a good coach in this COP era. Murakami and Uno are both horrible fluzters, and many fans are worried about them, especially the boy.

Yes, she seems very good at politicking, and maybe that's why JSF keeps allowing her to produce more fluzters. It was Murakami who needed a new better coach but not Hanyu. What he really needed was a better training environment/facility.

[deedee1]

This is just your impression. I went to PIW everyday and Plush clearly won!

Okay, okay everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion. But the thing for me is I am just JEALOUS of you two, Let's talk and Evgenia! If I ever could have been there, I would not have cared at all which one won over the other one. Because I believe it was indeed a feast for every skating fan in the world to see stunning tangos by Dai and Evgeni back to back.

(btw, is the above subjunctive mood is correct??? am scratching my head...)

And "Welcome to Golden Skate", Evgenia! I love your HN♪

[doctor2014]

Nakano acquired her notorious wrapped leg under Yamada, which Sato couldn't fix later. Asada can not do 3-3T, which Arutunian almost fixed but couldn't because she left him. Nakano and Asada are both fluzters. Yamada can not be a good coach in this COP era. Murakami and Uno are both horrible fluzters, and many fans are worried about them, especially the boy.

Yes, she seems very good at politicking, and maybe that's why JSF keeps allowing her to produce more fluzters. It was Murakami who needed a new better coach but not Hanyu. What he really needed was a better training environment/facility.

I agree that Yamada is good at politicking, so her students are usually overscored in Japan. And I agree that most of her students are flutzers. BUT you can’t deny the fact that her students Ito, Nakano, and Asada have 3A. (And even though Asada had no 3-3T, she still had 3F-3Lo.) Really, how many women in this world have 3A? And three of them have been coached by Yamada. That alone proves she is a special coach, especially good at teaching ladies skaters how to do 3A.

Murakami is the odd one out among Yamada’s female students. She has no 3A. She only does easy jumps such as 3T-3T, and even with her easy jumps she underrotates them at so many competitions. Her jumping ability is much weaker than Yamada’s three other female students, so it seems to be more Murakami’s own problem than Yamada’s coaching ability. And if she leaves Yamada then she will even lose the politicking benefits.

[mikeko666]

I agree that Yamada is good at politicking, so her students are usually overscored in Japan. And I agree that most of her students are flutzers. BUT you can’t deny the fact that her students Ito, Nakano, and Asada have 3A. (And even though Asada had no 3-3T, she still had 3F-3Lo.) Really, how many women in this world have 3A? And three of them have been coached by Yamada. That alone proves she is a special coach, especially good at teaching ladies skaters how to do 3A.

Murakami is the odd one out among Yamada’s female students. She has no 3A. She only does easy jumps such as 3T-3T, and even with her easy jumps she underrotates them at so many competitions. Her jumping ability is much weaker than Yamada’s three other female students, so it seems to be more Murakami’s own problem than Yamada’s coaching ability. And if she leaves Yamada then she will even lose the politicking benefits.

I wouldn't call Nakano a strong jumper. She was very hard working, but her jumps never had much height. She tended to underrotate because of the wrapped leg. Murakami's jumps have much more height and speed, and she is a better jumper than Nakano was. Asada used to have 3A and 3F-3Lo but lost them as she grew taller and bigger. The jumping techniques Yamada teaches are not sustainable, and girls lose them when they reach puberty.

It makes a strong contrast to Nagakubo's students, Arakawa and Suzuki. They know how to jump with a mature woman's body. Arakawa still can jump like currently competing skaters at 30. Suzuki once lost her triples to anorexia at 18, and now can land 5 triples and 3-3 at 27.

Arakawa had landed 3A and even a quad in practices. She just never used them in competitions.

[doctor2014]

I wouldn't call Nakano a strong jumper. She was very hard working, but her jumps never had much height. She tended to underrotate because of the wrapped leg. Murakami's jumps have much more height and speed, and she is a better jumper than Nakano was. Asada used to have 3A and 3F-3Lo but lost them as she grew taller and bigger. The jumping techniques Yamada teaches are not sustainable, and girls lose them when they reach puberty.

It makes a strong contrast to Nagakubo's students, Arakawa and Suzuki. They know how to jump with a mature woman's body. Arakawa still can jump like currently competing skaters at 30. Suzuki once lost her triples to anorexia at 18, and now can land 5 triples and 3-3 at 27.

Arakawa had landed 3A and even a quad in practices. She just never used them in competitions.

I agree that Nagakubo is a really good coach, and I admire him very much. He’s not that good at politicking, but his students do have very long careers. But I just think that even though the jumping techniques Yamada teaches may not be sustainable, Asada still had 3A and 3F-3Lo when she was younger. Murakami, on the other hand, never had these jumps even in her pre-puberty years.

And even though Nakano didn’t get much height on her jumps, she still landed 3A. Murakami has never landed any 3As, not even any underrotated 3As. If Nakano showed us how one can work hard to improve her jumping ability, then maybe that’s what Murakami needs to do?

[deedee1]

Here's a short news clip from The Ice this weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLXj1SrYy7c

Mao skated to Mary Poppins! Looks so cute in that white x red costume with parasol.
Narumi is so funny and adorable, as usual , in that dancing competition.

[plushyfan]

Here's a short news clip from The Ice this weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLXj1SrYy7c

Mao skated to Mary Poppins! Looks so cute in that white x red costume with parasol.
Narumi is so funny and adorable, as usual , in that dancing competition.

Mao is too sweet, and Narumi is really a great dancer Narumi isn't a tipically shy Japanese girl! I love her!

[demarinis5]

Thanks dd for the clip. Hope to see some videos posted on youtube, soon. From the clip it looks like a fabulous
show and Mao is looking adorable and very fit I might add.

[Olympia]

If I ever could have been there, I would not have cared at all which one won over the other one. Because I believe it was indeed a feast for every skating fan in the world to see stunning tangos by Dai and Evgeni back to back.

(btw, is the above subjunctive mood is correct??? am scratching my head...)

And "Welcome to Golden Skate", Evgenia! I love your HN♪

I agree with you.

About your question: Darned confusing verb usage, isn't it? My preference would be to use had: If I had been there, I would not have cared at all. But it can also work with could have/would have, although that implies ability or opportunity. (In other words, If I had been able to be there, I would not have cared....) The one word you don't need at all is ever. That implies that the event either is of continuous duration or is repeated regularly. This verb tense is frequently misused by native speakers. I often hear someone say "I wish I could have made the right decision" when what he/she means is "I wish I had made the right decision."

mikeko666, thanks for the explanation of the two coaches' styles and results. The idea of technique that doesn't outlast puberty versus the astonishing skills of Shizuka and Arakawa (who, interestingly, seem to be two very different body types--and neither of them are wispy sprites!), is startling. If I were a skater, I'd want to train with Nagakubo. Though I love Mrs. Yamada's students, especially Mao and Ito, it's difficult to watch, for example, the leg wrap that several of her students have. It's especially distressing to realize that Mao's weaknesses are not due to lack of talent or lack of hard work but to an entirely preventable factor.

[Mathman]

^ What an interesting question about "If I ever could." Besides referring to a continuing or recurring situation, I think "ever" can also mean something like, "by any means possible."

How did they ever manage? How did you ever find out?

"If I ever could have been there," meaning "if I could possibly have found a way to attend," or "If it had somehow been possible for me to be there," or "If only I could have been there!" -- that sounds OK to me.

Then there is the kind of usage that combines "in any way" with duration in time. "How can I ever thank you!" meaning both, "there is no way I can thank you enough" and also, "if I start now and live to be 100 I will never be able to pay you back for your kindness."

Certainly "if ever I could have been there," though somewhat colloquial sounding, has more punch to it than "Had I been able to attend [the white glove tea party...] To me, this construction emphasizes the "I" rather than the "could have gone." You are so lucky! If I could ever have gone..."

[deedee1]

About your question: Darned confusing verb usage, isn't it? My preference would be to use had: If I had been there, I would not have cared at all. But it can also work with could have/would have, although that implies ability or opportunity. (In other words, If I had been able to be there, I would not have cared....) The one word you don't need at all is ever. That implies that the event either is of continuous duration or is repeated regularly. This verb tense is frequently misused by native speakers. I often hear someone say "I wish I could have made the right decision" when what he/she means is "I wish I had made the right decision."

Yes! Now I remember that's the one I learned at school: "If I had been able to be there, I would not have cared at all."
(I first wrote it as; "If I could had have been there..." but it sounded strange I thought, and re-wrote it as previously...)

YOU are my great English teacher, Olympia! I appreciate you and other GS members a lot for always giving me the perfect answer!