Olympic comebacks

pangtongfan · Jul 6, 2013

bestskate8 said:
Since when Plushenko and Gachinsky are not medal contenders? What is so drama about it?
And why Liza wouldn't battle for gold? She has best jumps, presentation, interpretation, her programs full of transitions, and if she skates clean only clean Carolina can beat her. Liza’s presentation/interpretation and energy are 10 times better then both Yuna and Mao together. Liza needs to be judged properly on her second mark.

Adoreable. So a clean Liza would beat a clean Kim or a clean Asada with the jumps she currently plans. Liza has best jumps, presentation, and interpretation in the World. What is next, best skating skills too. :laugh:

Those comments are almost as funny as your other delusional post that Miki Ando has a good shot at the Olympic Gold only since she won the 2011 Worlds. Almost that is....To top it off Gachinsky as a medal contender for Sochi. The perfect capper to your cute fantasy land.

Jaana · Jul 6, 2013

bestskate8 said:
ISU changed the rule?

Please do name one female or male singles skater who has won the Olympic gold medal in figure skating without having medalled at Worlds earlier.

ForeverFish · Jul 6, 2013

Krislite said:
Compared to whom? Liza? Liza does a much better job at listening to the music and connecting with the audience--as opposed to Gracie who barely seems to be aware of the music and the audience. On the other hand, if you mean Yuna, there's no comparison. Here's Yuna at 16: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bYtM0vmtkM. Shows much more maturity and musicality, drawing the audience into her performance, at 16 than what Gracie will likely be at 20.

Gracie is finally coming into her own in terms of connecting to the audience. Her free skate at WTT is a good example of that. Blowing kisses to the crowd, her natural exuberance, etc. It obviously wasn't as musical as Yuna, but it was definitely on par with something that Liza (especially with her hand-shaking choreography this season) could deliver.

A lot depends on music choices, actually. Gracie chooses fun pieces like Hernando's Hideaway, which can easily bring out one's personality. Liza's Adios Nonino is much more complicated, and I'm not sure she did a good job of bringing out the Latin undertones this season. I much preferred her 2011 SP style, which at least offered some smiles -- it doesn't do her much to attempt a serious/sultry demeanor when she looks so young and, IMO, uncomfortable portraying the character.

I wouldn't knock on either of their chances of development yet. Both Gracie and Liza are still very new to the scene, and they have a lot of time for improvement.

prettykeys · Jul 7, 2013

babayaga said:
I listened to one of their videos and I'm not watching it again. It wasn't bad, but I found it was completely empty of any in-depth analysis. They were just saying basic things , making trivial observations, people on forums usually have a lot more interesting things to say than what I heard from those two. So I am not surprised they were borderline insulting to their non-favorite: if you lack substance you have to attract the viewers somehow.

BlackPack · Jul 7, 2013

GF2445 said:
I love the skating lesson but the moments when it feels like they are attacking or seriously criticising someone by Dave are uncomfortable.

babayaga said:
I listened to one of their videos and I'm not watching it again. It wasn't bad, but I found it was completely empty of any in-depth analysis. They were just saying basic things , making trivial observations, people on forums usually have a lot more interesting things to say than what I heard from those two. So I am not surprised they were borderline insulting to their non-favorite: if you lack substance you have to attract the viewers somehow.

Agreed. Nothing they say is more informative than the boards; in fact, I think they just copy what's being said on the boards. I do like their regular updates in the world of skating, but their last This and That with that Michael guy was unwatchable. I had to shut it down after a few minutes. They sounded like a bunch of prissy schoolgirls hollering Pollyana histrionics. I think their comments about Miki being termite were mean, but then all critics are mean. If they keep up this girls' club antics, they're going to lose audiences. The thing is they do have substance and are good journalists when they want to be; their personal interviews with skaters have excellent questions and issues. They just have to save their "girls night out" acts to "girls night out," and be professional when doing interviews. This and That has descended into juvenile territory, and if they want to make it big, they have to stop this crap.

ForeverFish · Jul 7, 2013

BlackPack said:
Agreed. Nothing they say is more informative than the boards; in fact, I think they just copy what's being said on the boards. I do like their regular updates in the world of skating, but their last This and That with that Michael guy was unwatchable. I had to shut it down after a few minutes. They sounded like a bunch of prissy schoolgirls hollering Pollyana histrionics. I think their comments about Miki being termite were mean, but then all critics are mean. If they keep up this girls' club antics, they're going to lose audiences. The thing is they do have substance and are good journalists when they want to be; their personal interviews with skaters have excellent questions and issues. They just have to save their "girls night out" acts to "girls night out," and be professional when doing interviews. This and That has descended into juvenile territory, and if they want to make it big, they have to stop this crap.

I usually enjoy watching TSL, if only because it gives me skating news that I don't find elsewhere, but I agree that their most recent This & That (posted today) was extremely poor in quality and relevant content. :slink:

It made me horribly uncomfortable to hear them laugh at Miki's pregnancy, even though nothing malicious was meant by it. Dave's backhanded comment about Miki possibly having "lactating breasts" that would impede her spiral sequences was really, really uncalled for; I didn't understand what was so hilarious about it. And when they went into graphic detail about the possibility that Jason Brown is the father... :eek:

It's one thing to joke about these things among skating fans, but in a PROFESSIONAL setting (which TSL is obviously trying hard to be)?! How do they imagine Jason will feel if/when he listens to that part? I sincerely doubt that he'd be eager to return to the show in the future.

That episode was trash, pure and simple. Suffice to say I felt like I needed a shower after watching it.

karne · Jul 7, 2013

Their "This and That" is total, brain-cell killing rubbish, but I did enjoy their Max and Jason interviews. It's a much more casual setting than a lot of formal interviews they give, and the skaters are a lot more open than they would normally be. (Except that I get the impression Jason is permanently in "open" mode.)

Sometimes it draws out extra information, too. Max's comments about wanting that Team USA jacket had been elsewhere before - but his rather adorable comments about just wanting two more rings was all new.

lcd · Jul 8, 2013

I have VERY mixed feelings about TSL. While on the one hand they are addressing an interest in having more in depth conversations with people in the skating world, including people who might not ordinarily be given focus or a "voice" (such as coaches), and are utilizing an under-utilized channel (video, YouTube), they are struggling in my opinion to escape (maybe never will) the inherently malicious tone of Dave Lease's many many years of entries as Aunt Joyce from Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream stand.

The blogosphere is indeed an environment for posting one's opinions and the "rules" are obviously works in progress, but it is disappointing to see such a wide bandwidth. Credibility is hard earned and easily lost, whether this be as a "journalist" or "commentator."

Look at the fury created in response to the incredibly harsh comment made by the BBC commentator with regard to the champion Bartolie's "looks." This kind of catty, insensitive and obviously insulting commentary goes "beyond the line" in my book and TSL seems to feel free to cross is often enough that it erodes their credibility as well in my opinion.

Unfortunate.

ice coverage · Sep 17, 2013

Nancy Armour ‏@nrarmour [of AP]

No Sochi for @JohnnyGWeir _ at least as skater. Deadline for nationals qualifiers Sept. 1 and he didn't register. Czisny, @RachaelFlatt did
1:15 PM - 17 Sep 13
https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/380062577159454720

News to me, at least.

Hat tip to @NZaccardi.

SkateOn · Sep 17, 2013

golden411 said:
Nancy Armour ‏@nrarmour [of AP]

No Sochi for @JohnnyGWeir _ at least as skater. Deadline for nationals qualifiers Sept. 1 and he didn't register. Czisny, @RachaelFlatt did
1:15 PM - 17 Sep 13
https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/380062577159454720

News to me, at least.

Hat tip to @NZaccardi.

Rachel Flatt?? That's a surprise to me, I thought she had moved on from skating.

dorispulaski · Sep 17, 2013

Nope. And her programs have been announced. She is listed as her own choreographer, too

Rachael Flatt USA
SP Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber; choreo Rachael Flatt
LP Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov; choreo by Rachael Flatt

karne · Sep 17, 2013

I'm surprised that anyone is surprised that Weir isn't going to compete. I mean, duh.

ice coverage · Sep 18, 2013

karne said:
I'm surprised that anyone is surprised that Weir isn't going to compete. I mean, duh.

I posted AP's tweet because it was the first I knew that Weir officially had let the door close on any possibility of competing in Sochi.
I was not suggesting that the update would come as a surprise to anyone. It did not surprise me.
The "official" part is why I said it was news to me.

aftertherain · Sep 18, 2013

golden411 said:
Nancy Armour ‏@nrarmour [of AP]

No Sochi for @JohnnyGWeir _ at least as skater. Deadline for nationals qualifiers Sept. 1 and he didn't register. Czisny, @RachaelFlatt did
1:15 PM - 17 Sep 13
https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/380062577159454720

Johnny Weir-Voronov ‏@JohnnyGWeir 2h
https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir

I was told to ignore everything, but save the bashing and hate for someone who gives a damn, and wait for MY story, coming soon.

People really need to find something more productive to do than sending athletes malicious tweets/messages on social media.

Skater Boy · Sep 18, 2013

It takes a lot of guts to make a comeback and it takes a lot of guts to call it a day. One can only wonder how legitimate certain cmoe backs are or what drives people. The "odds" are not all comebacks are for pure and good reasons ore even legitimate. It is just hard to distinguish them. I want to give Evan for example the benefit of the doubt and say all these injuries and delays are legit or are they a way saying it is time to move on and Evan can't just let it go.

Like I said we tend to give the glory and honour to those who fight on but maybe it takes more guts to let it go and move on. I think Evan could start a chain of fake and bakes and promote suntan lotions on cruises where he can skate as the lead (smurf or disney character or even as a soloist). I just hope he and Johnny are happy.

plushyfan · Sep 18, 2013

I would have liked if Johnny competes. But I think he's doing a lot of everything else, what can't be done at the same time with the Olympic preparations.

deedee1 · Sep 18, 2013

The current shape of Miki Ando, if any of you interested

source: Yomiuri shimbun http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130912-00000334-yom-spo

Ms Kobayashi of JFS has visited Miki's rink to monitor her on Sep 12th, and admits to J-media that her training has been good/satisfactory enough so far. The report says Miki has gotton back 4 different triples out of 5 including Lutz, and now works on its consistency. Should be 3T, 3S, 3L and 3Lz, I think.

Also landed 3-3 a couple of times already.

IcyEdges · Sep 18, 2013

Skater Boy said:
It takes a lot of guts to make a comeback and it takes a lot of guts to call it a day. One can only wonder how legitimate certain cmoe backs are or what drives people. The "odds" are not all comebacks are for pure and good reasons ore even legitimate. It is just hard to distinguish them. I want to give Evan for example the benefit of the doubt and say all these injuries and delays are legit or are they a way saying it is time to move on and Evan can't just let it go.

Like I said we tend to give the glory and honour to those who fight on but maybe it takes more guts to let it go and move on. I think Evan could start a chain of fake and bakes and promote suntan lotions on cruises where he can skate as the lead (smurf or disney character or even as a soloist). I just hope he and Johnny are happy.

Really skaterboy? Grow up!

Robeye · Sep 18, 2013

dorispulaski said:
Nope. And her programs have been announced. She is listed as her own choreographer, too

Rachael Flatt USA
SP Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber; choreo Rachael Flatt
LP Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov; choreo by Rachael Flatt

Given just these barebones facts, I will guess that Rachel's primary purpose is not competitive result. If she does compete, could it be that she's doing it for other reasons, exploration of her artistic/choreographic impulses, even just personal enjoyment?

I have never been a huge fan of Rachel's skating (although I have always been a fan of her character), but if she were doing it under those terms, I might enjoy it more than when she was skating for podium results in a brutally efficient way.

(The imp in me is also amused by the thought of a contrasting duel of Rach 2's if Rachel and Mao were ever to skate back to back :laugh:

)

karne · Sep 18, 2013

Johnny's aborted comeback becomes an issue because he was, not so very long ago, begging his fans to donate to his training fund. Getting envelope funding from the USFSA. Parading himself around as a lock for the Sochi team. Trash-talking the other American skaters by saying he would have easily podiumed at last Nationals and that the current crop of men is "weak".

Did he really expect that he could officially quit the comeback and NOT get some backlash from that stuff?

Evan's comeback may not be going so well, but at least he's not begging anyone for money or trash-talking the other US skaters. He seems smart enough to put up or shut up. (Unlike his coach.)

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