Men Skate America 2013 Short Program | Page 11 | Golden Skate

Men Skate America 2013 Short Program

obalamus

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 6, 2013
His last competition for Russia was Coupe de Nice, so since the end of October he can skate for Italy. AFAIK, he is planning to participate in Merano Cup. And one more change in his life: now his coach is Oleg Vasilyev.

Sorry for off-top. :confused2:
 

snowflake

I enjoy what I like
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
I agree. The presentation was much more confident and he didn't stalk the 3A like he's done in the past. Also, I'm not sure if it is just his costuming but does he looks more solid and muscular?

Agree, Adam even looked taller :laugh: a new person. I love when an athlete who has struggled comes back with such confidence. All three in the lead were amazing. Majorov has also improved, both technically and as a performer. Happy for these and sad for the other four. Hope they skate better today.

It's heartbreaking to hear about Daisuke. If they show him tomorrow on TV, I don't know how I can watch. At least this is Skate America and not Japanese Nationals or the Olympics, but it's bad enough. Does anyone know if he has an injury?

He didn't seem that bothered in K&C though. He was talking and laughing a lot :eek:hwell:
 

GGoldberg

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 18, 2013
Adam's Quad lutz looked almost too easy. Half the audience probably did not even register that he did a quad

For Max, he has to do the Quad or the balance of the program just flattens out it seems
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Wow, wonderful performance by Machida! :clap: And a decent 4Z attempt by Rippon. Brown was of course lovely to watch... I especially love the sequence going into his 3Z.

Too bad about Max... he really got hammered for that quad even though the rest of the program was decently executed. I would have certainly had him ahead of Daisuke -- it's the technical program and Dai had errors on all three jumping passes (and is lucky his quad wasn't <<). The judges were especially generous to Dai on the PCS mark - last year at the GPF with a clean performance his PCS was 43.15, and here with a fall and two other errors he received 42.25.

Poor Daisuke though... I haven't seen him skate that poor an SP in a while. Hopefully he isn't injured and can recover in the FS. I think he was just laughing and smiling because sometimes it just isn't your day and instead of beating yourself up you can just smile it off, which is a good attitude. As long as it isn't JPN Nationals or the Olympics. Although a poor placement/not making the GPF would certainly not help his case for the Japanese Fed to do him any favours if he's off the podium at Nationals.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
It's heartbreaking to hear about Daisuke. If they show him tomorrow on TV, I don't know how I can watch. At least this is Skate America and not Japanese Nationals or the Olympics, but it's bad enough. Does anyone know if he has an injury?

Honestly it wasn't the disaster that some make it out to be on this thread, IMO. It was a very BAD skate jumpwise, but really nothing to be overly distraught over. I don't think he's injured and he seemed happy enough after the skate. So I am not concerned. It's just the first skate of the season.
 

bigsisjiejie

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
Just watched videos of the men. Random thoughts:
--Appreciated that all the programs had wide variety of music and feel. As if the skaters had all collaborated in the preseason and purposely went in different directions—one classic warhorse, a jazzy number, a traditional folk tune, a Latin piece, a modern anthem, funky modern, etc. LOL. With one exception, I thought the men had something that suited their styles and abilities, even with the mistakes made and the typical early-season program glitches for some.
--Machida did a great job with “Michelle Kwan’s music” and reinterpreted it suitably for him. Won't repeat many of the kudos already proferred by other posters.
--I fell off the Rippon bandwagon a couple of years ago but this program might have me chasing that wagon again. I normally dislike Carmen music and programs but this was quite wonderful and well choreographed. It's nice to believe that Rippon has taken the next leap forward with his skating.
--Jason what can I say, everyone has said it above!
--Kozuka’s program I liked but he looks like he needs to knock the rust off and get it into shape. When he nails those jumps, it’s going to be great.
--Takahashi program disappointed me a bit. I was expecting something more “off center” from him since he’s capable of pulling off odd music that few others could do. I think this program could be competent if he fixes the mistakes. But for me, the music is almost too continuously dramatic and seems it needs something softer or differently-paced in the middle of it. Not the greatest of short programs for an Olympic season. I also found myself wondering if he's got some injury.
--Majorov’s never been much on my radar screen, he’s one of those skaters that, like the solid middle class, fills out the roster but unlikely to hit a major podium. Still, an enjoyable program and if done clean, a good match for his persona.
--Gachinski’s jump mistakes set a blah tone for his program, and I thought he skated the first half of the program pretty generically—any music could have been playing in the background. Second half I like better but I kept thinking that he and Takahashi needed to switch music selections, and I’d like the music-skater matchup better. I also don’t see this vehicle putting Gachinski on major podiums this year.
--Aaron. Oh boy, my biggest disappointment. Not talking about the missed elements which were bad enough, but this music is a complete miss for him—he is not the skater to pull off a Latin interpretation and I can tell won’t ever be able to even “fake it” competently. It really highlights all the weaknesses of his skating. The shirt is a distracting miss also, probably the single most aggravating costume misstep I saw of this group. I have no idea what Team Aaron was thinking and IMO even a successfully landed quad is not going to be the lipstick this pig needs to make it a winning program vehicle and pick up the needed PCS. I'd have handed out 4.5's for IN, CH, PR. I’d go so far to suggest he dump this and rechoreograph a past SP quickly in time for US Nationals. Definitely not a shoo-in to repeat as US champ, based on this.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Ditto. I'm sure Max is a really nice guy and I'll cut him some slack for being first out of the box for this new season; however, his quads are what made him stand out last year, and without those, he's way down in the pack with everyone else and not really all that special.

ITA The energy sadly comes from thoses quads - he doesn't have the transitions, skating skills or interpretation of Dai, Hanyu or the charm of FErnandez. Hopefully he will develop it as he is only in his sophmore year after the break through last season.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
It's heartbreaking to hear about Daisuke. If they show him tomorrow on TV, I don't know how I can watch. At least this is Skate America and not Japanese Nationals or the Olympics, but it's bad enough. Does anyone know if he has an injury?

On the positive side about Dai he is still within striking range of the silver and bronze and if Machida falls apart gold is still a possibility.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Honestly it wasn't the disaster that some make it out to be on this thread, IMO. It was a very BAD skate jumpwise, but really nothing to be overly distraught over. I don't think he's injured and he seemed happy enough after the skate. So I am not concerned. It's just the first skate of the season.

I think an SP with errors on all the jumping passes constitutes a disaster. However, the program was otherwise performed decently and indeed it is one of the first skates of the season (if we count Japan Open). It's apparent though that his jumps are deteriorating but you never know. He won the GPF last season, after all.
 

SaraM

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Country
Norway
Max needs to dump this SP, he really cant skate to that music it looked akward... and just go back to last years Tron, re-choreographing it...
Jason my goood!! i just cant stop watching that step sequence, and Adam!! i didnt even at first realize it was a 4lutz, it looked soo smooth and easy! :D
 

lilshorty

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
I have to say I really see the improvement in Adam Rippon under Rafael Arutunian's tutelage. His skating skills have improved tremendously from what they were and he is much more of a showman and a fighter out there on the ice. He has become more extroverted and more watchable, IMO. A very impressive showing in the SP! YAY ADAM!!! :biggrin:

Yes, I agree. Of the top three performances I prefer Adam's. They were all good in their own different ways, but Adam skated with more speed, power, and cleaner lines imo. I wish him and the others well in the LP.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
On the positive side about Dai he is still within striking range of the silver and bronze and if Machida falls apart gold is still a possibility.

Machida would have to have a real meltdown. He's 14 points ahead of Dai. I don't think Dai has any shot at gold (I think Kozuka stands a better chance), however, he should certainly make up ground on Brown (since Brown isn't going for quads) and he's essentially tied for bronze right now. A decent skate should win him bronze unless Kozuka does really well.

Brown with a clean skate definitely has a shot at staying in 2nd.

As a side note, I'm really impressed that all the guys (save for Brown, which is understandable) went for quads in the SP, even if Machida was the only successful one. There's the temptation at the start of the season to skate an easier program to ensure a solid result and hope the other guys falter, but it's nice to see them pushing themselves.
 

80sskatergirl

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
Max needs to dump this SP, he really cant skate to that music it looked akward... and just go back to last years Tron, re-choreographing it...
Jason my goood!! i just cant stop watching that step sequence, and Adam!! i didnt even at first realize it was a 4lutz, it looked soo smooth and easy! :D

I couldn't agree with you more. That short program of Max's is not well suited to him. That latin dancey footwork reminds me of Florent Amodio, who i enjoy somewhat, but it's simply NOT Max's style. As much as I disliked the idea of skating to "Tron" last year, it suited Max. He is fast and powerful, not dancy and flamboyant. He needs to trash the short and start over I'm afraid.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
I couldn't agree with you more. That short program of Max's is not well suited to him. That latin dancey footwork reminds me of Florent Amodio, who i enjoy somewhat, but it's simply NOT Max's style. As much as I disliked the idea of skating to "Tron" last year, it suited Max. He is fast and powerful, not dancy and flamboyant. He needs to trash the short and start over I'm afraid.

I still think the music screams for a parody. Something along the lines of Ryan Bradley... but didn't Ryan do a parody to this exact music?
 

bigsisjiejie

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
I still think the music screams for a parody. Something along the lines of Ryan Bradley... but didn't Ryan do a parody to this exact music?

I don't recall Ryan Bradley doing this but he might have. Ryan Jahnke did a great latin medley complete with campy costume and it worked well. But I'm not sure Max has parody in him at this point in his skating.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Bradley used the music in... 2006 or 2008... one of the national championships I attended he did it...
 

Mao88

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 9, 2011

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
You are talking US right???? Fernandez, Takahashi, Hanyu, Chan, Ten (Denis not Jeremy of course lol), Kozuku, Oda are all better all around skaters.

Yes, yes, yes! US- my comment was in response to someone who said Aaron was in danger of being left off the US Olympic team, and I agreed and said Jason and Jeremy were the best all-around US skaters (assuming Evan cannot come back).
 

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
I couldn't agree with you more. That short program of Max's is not well suited to him. That latin dancey footwork reminds me of Florent Amodio, who i enjoy somewhat, but it's simply NOT Max's style. As much as I disliked the idea of skating to "Tron" last year, it suited Max. He is fast and powerful, not dancy and flamboyant. He needs to trash the short and start over I'm afraid.
I agree with you both, SaraM and 80sskatergirl. and I also agree with those who said Max's costume is dreadful. My 11 year old stepdaughter commented "he looks like he's wearing a long underwear top." Poor Max. I think he is a really nice, positive guy, but he is not in a good place right now mentally or style-wise. The hair-cut has got to be grown out as well.
 
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