Davis & White to regain World title? | Golden Skate

Davis & White to regain World title?

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
It looks pretty clear to me Davis & White will regain their World title and set themselves up as the likely gold medalists at the Sochi Olympics.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
Not sure about that. D/W and V/M seem to alternate being on top every other year so who knows what will happen next season.
 

emdee

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
There is no Guarantee that D&W will regain their world title.

V&M were third the year before Olys.
Ice is slippery
VM have a very challenging program.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
V&M are a great team but I really think D&W are finally pulling ahead in the rivalry. They have beaten V&M in PCS in every head to head program this year, including the one they lost. I would be surprised if they dont win Worlds this year. I didnt guarantee them winning the Olympics next year, just that if they win Worlds (which I think they will) and conclude a season of 3 straight wins over V&M, they will enter the Olympic season as the favorites.

As for ice being slippery, the one event it is not slippery is ice dancing. How often do you see a fall or major mistake, 3% of the programs maybe. It comes down to who is dancing the strongest, who has the best programs, and which program and team the judges like more.
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
It would certainly make for an even more Uber! Dramatic! Olympic Year! if D/W do. To quote Willy Wonka (from the wonderful version with Gene Wilder), "The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last."
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
One thing is for sure Charlie and Meryl have Sochi in their sights and are putting the medal to the metal. I love how they never rest on there laurels.
 

leil

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
why is it that when a team wins, fans act like they will now always win and when they lose, fans act like they will always lose. i remember last year, v/m win and there was a thread just like this, saying that d/w are hasbeens as v/m have pulled ahead. get a grip people.
 
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icebeauty

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I think after Vancouver, Meryl and Charlie sat down and made a plan for Sochi. 4 years ago, they were where many of us thought was the top of ice dance at least from a packing a program with difficulty standpoint...there was a moment where I think we thought "so now what? where do they go from here? how do they raise the bar?" And they've gone on a step by step process season by season to improve little things. They've always been good storytellers on ice with their athleticism/speed and intensity, but they have really pushed themselves. First there was upping the technique and technical skill in their tango, then there was interpreting a program to be a full performance from start to finish that transports the audience to a specific time and place with Die Fleidermaus, and this year they've focussed on the nuance of emotion and using choreography to their advantage. When you put this all together, you can see all the things that they have worked on seemed a little risky/pushed their boundaries, but every year they've delivered, and it's really benefitting them. They've been so consistent, that it's amazing that every skate they do it has been an improvement...and with Sochi a year away, I think it's safe to say, that V/M and D/W rivalry is as strong as ever. V/M have the advantage in some regards (having won in Vancouver, having the better "look" on ice, being better performers, also being the more naturally gifted partnership), but D/W have pretty much done everything they can to make sure that the gap (that 0.04 pt gap from 09 Worlds) really doesn't exist anymore. I adore Tessa and Scott, but the skating they've been putting out on the ice doesn't show that they want it as much as Meryl and CHarlie. I still love watching them, but i just dont' think they have the advantage anymore. D/W have been winning the PCS battle all season, and I think they've been more successful with the SD since it was introduced than V/M so I can't wait!!!
 

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Reynolds just won the Men's title, ice is slippery, don't get all clairvoyant on us, some of us want to be somewhat surprised:biggrin:
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
So much of ice dance results depend on picking good music and having a good program to it. I wouldn't make any predictions till after the GPF next year (I expect both teams to avoid 4CC's 2014).
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I do think D and W will world and oly gold. The momentum is with them; it appears with pcs that is key the judges like them. However, V and M could regroup. I don't think D and W will take any huge risks but wheras V and M have; I hope Both teams put out their best. VandM are prone to injuries and errors so they need to really want it. Losing might be good; rework their technique and stroking and lifts. Get a real jammed pack program; stay right behind D and W like in a race and then shock them at Oly.s that's the strategy. i give V and M credit for trying different stuff.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
As for ice being slippery, the one event it is not slippery is ice dancing. How often do you see a fall or major mistake, 3% of the programs maybe. It comes down to who is dancing the strongest, who has the best programs, and which program and team the judges like more.

One team does not have to make a major mistake for the other team to win.
With Virtue/Moir and Davis/White so closely matched, minor mistakes from either team can determine their placements.

The gap in their Four Continents SD scores was not even half a point.
http://www.isuresults.com/results/fc2013/SEG007.HTM

Ice is slippery.

Question for mods:
Is the OP's thread title kosher??
"Davis & White to regain World title" is the OP's opinion, not a fact.​
ETA: Adding a question mark would make all the difference.​
 
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Joined
Aug 16, 2009
why is it that when a team wins, fans act like they will now always win and when they lose, fans act like they will always lose. i remember last year, v/m win and there was a thread just like this, saying that d/w are hasbeens as v/m have pulled again. get a grip people.

I always think of the saying "One swallow does not make a summer." When it comes down to D/W and V/M, one can't make a prediction from one day to the next because both are just about neck and neck. Some of you may prefer the style of one or the other, or some of you may be able to detect that one of the teams has strengths in certain aspects of skating in which the other team is marginally less strong (I would never say "weaker" in the case of either of these splendid teams), but there's nothing to choose between them in terms of sheer excellence.

I happen to love both of them, and I feel just incredibly lucky to have such skating riches laid out before me for not one but two Olympic cycles, so maybe I'm not the one to ask. (Besides, I'm no technical whiz when it comes to analyzing each step and element.) One reason I'm rooting for D/W this time around is simple symmetry: I want both of them to have the satisfaction of an OGM. Also, I lost my heart to D/W because of Die Fledermaus. But if V/M win at Sochi, I'll be thrilled for them as well, because they're also astounding. I wish they could just tie every time they skate. (I feel just about the same for YuNa and Mao. I'm probably no use at all as a fan.)

This was a bad week for V/M and not for D/W. It was a bad week for Daisuke. It was a banner week for Mao. Next month may be different. But make no mistake, all of the skaters I've cited here are gems of the first water, wherever they end up at any competition. We are so lucky right now just to get to see skating like this.

My only wish for them all is that they stay completely, totally healthy, every last molecule of them, so we can see them all at their very best in every competition from now on. Yes, I'm greedy.
 

leil

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
it's like technically you guys admit that these two teams are soooo close to each other, but you're just desparate to assert the dominance of one over the other and desparate to declare hasbeen status.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
V/M's problem is their Carmen FD. They just don't seem to have a concerted vision of what the program should be. There are ugly parts of it----Scott grabbing at Tessa's crotch, Tessa lunging at Scott's groin---which are controversial, to say the least. IMO, some of the older judges on the panel might find those moves distasteful, which can tend to dampen PCS scores. V/M are continually making changes but the program still seems to lack cohesiveness. The program doesn't build up well to the climax where Tessa rejects Scott; instead, the climax is abrupt and makes one feel "Huh?".
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Well in some ways Carmen is a story with some ugly parts to it. But as I wrote earlier today, I think the overt sexuality may make some judges nervous. It's certainly a long way away from the ooey gooey romanticism of Mahler and Funny Face!
 

Eislauf

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
V/M's problem is their Carmen FD. They just don't seem to have a concerted vision of what the program should be. There are ugly parts of it----Scott grabbing at Tessa's crotch, Tessa lunging at Scott's groin---which are controversial, to say the least. IMO, some of the older judges on the panel might find those moves distasteful, which can tend to dampen PCS scores. V/M are continually making changes but the program still seems to lack cohesiveness. The program doesn't build up well to the climax where Tessa rejects Scott; instead, the climax is abrupt and makes one feel "Huh?".

I can only imagine what Dick Button must think - in the past he's commented negatively on vulgar positions like some of V/M's as they do cheapen the program's elegance, an element that he admires greatly. The first time I saw V/M's free program, their overtly sexual moves made me think of 'Blades of Glory'.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I've always found it interesting that Carmen as an opera has the most gorgeous, tempting music but really no sympathetic main characters. Carmen and Don Jose have what can safely be called a mutually toxic relationship, and Escamillo is a vainglorious self-absorbed hunk. (Michaela is probably sympathetic, but she's never portrayed in any skating programs). In some ways, it's more practical to use the music but not the storyline, at least in a judged program. We don't really expect a Carmen skating program to be about, well, Carmen, any more than we expect a Samson and Delilah program to feature an actual bacchanal. This makes any choreography tricky. I hope Tessa and Scott iron out the last wrinkles in this program before Worlds.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I don't think you can minimize the effect of a dramatic piece of music on a choreographed freedance. As many have been saying, Carmen has been overused to the point that I can barely listen to it and certainly can't appreciate it anymore. I'm also glad someone else has commented on the seemingly vulgar aspects of V&M's freedance. I didn't like the program from the first time I saw it and wondered why they not only chose that piece of music but it was choreographed the way it is. I think they are very, very talented people but I don't see the connection between them anymore like I used to. Maybe it's the music.

As for Charlie and Meryl, I said elsewhere that I think the Notre Dame de Paris program is the most well-rounded program I've seen them deliver. It has passion and drama and athleticism and the two of them seem to transport themselves to another world while they're skating. It allows the audience to get caught up in it and I was disappointed when it was over - I wanted it go on!

I sincerely hope Charlie and Meryl gain their title back.
 
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