Men Skate America 2013 Short Program | Page 12 | Golden Skate

Men Skate America 2013 Short Program

Fozzie Bear

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
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 agree. Even though the jumps were MIA, I love how he moves to this music. The spins are better than they were at the Japan Open and the footwork gives me goosebumps. Hopefully it'll be the opposite of last season, when he rocked the first half and won the GPF then faltered in the second half.

Brown and Rippon were terrific! I'm glad they got the PCS they deserved over Aaron. Rippon looked like a completely different skater than I remember him. Faster, bigger movements.

I'm more worried about Kozuka than I am about Takahashi. Takahashi has a history of fighting back from his slumps, whereas Kozuka hasn't had a good skate in over a year. :/

Machida was great. Wow on those jumps! Though perhaps I've been too spoiled by Michelle Kwan, because I couldn't help but think that the crescendos in the music aren't as well interpreted as they could have been...
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
You know if you look at the scores Max has nothing to worry about; he hits those quads and he is fine. They didn't bury him like Irina Slutskaya at the Japanese Open. Now that was a melt down. It wasn't his best but he certianly isn't pounded; and he could be because yes, without his quads this program shows his weakensses and it isn't really pretty. Forget the bad outfit:)
 

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
You know if you look at the scores Max has nothing to worry about; he hits those quads and he is fine. They didn't bury him like Irina Slutskaya at the Japanese Open. Now that was a melt down. It wasn't his best but he certianly isn't pounded; and he could be because yes, without his quads this program shows his weakensses and it isn't really pretty. Forget the bad outfit:)
Good point, Skater Boy. However, I actually think the costume highlights his lack of line and edge quality since you can see the shape of his legs and arms as they move and his hunched-over quality is accentuated.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Poor Max. He does all this work on his artistry after being blasted year after year, time after time for needing more "artistry"; he tries new things and pushes the artistic boundaries the way everyone was screaming for him to, and suddenly it's not good enough and he should just go back to last year and give up on the artistry.

He really can't win. Go on, Max. Have a ripper long and tell the haters where to shove it.
 

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Poor Max. He does all this work on his artistry after being blasted year after year, time after time for needing more "artistry"; he tries new things and pushes the artistic boundaries the way everyone was screaming for him to, and suddenly it's not good enough and he should just go back to last year and give up on the artistry.

He really can't win. Go on, Max. Have a ripper long and tell the haters where to shove it.

I actually love Max and root for him. I think that I and the others on here are expressing our legitimate concerns for him rather than hating on him. If we hated him, we'd dismiss him. Offering ideas and suggestions is a way of showing care and concern. I like his long program a lot better than his short program, btw.
 

ghislaine

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Poor Max. He does all this work on his artistry after being blasted year after year, time after time for needing more "artistry"; he tries new things and pushes the artistic boundaries the way everyone was screaming for him to, and suddenly it's not good enough

That's because it isn't good enough. The results of his work on his artistry have been subpar, and he's being handled badly. Max's style is very powerful and explosive, which I like in theory, but his choreography is frankly terrible - not enough transitions, not enough attention paid to the music. It's very generic, which, coupled with the fact that he isn't nuanced enough to pull off anything that isn't a BIG, OBVIOUS emotion, makes for a boring watch. His spins and footwork are also mediocre and his edges are nothing to write home about. I watched his SP twice last night, once with the sound off (Icenetwork's doing) and once with the sound on, and compared to the top guys he's doing a lot worse. He needs to drill, drill, drill his stroking, he needs serious posture work, he needs to put the quads on the back burner and send serious time on spins and footwork and transitions. Otherwise he'll end up in positions like today, where a fall on a (rotated) quad puts him out of medal contention and fifteen points behind the leader and nearly ten points between a quadless Jason Brown.

Is he a hopeless case? Absolutely not. He has talent, but it's not being fostered properly.
 

80sskatergirl

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
That's because it isn't good enough. The results of his work on his artistry have been subpar, and he's being handled badly. Max's style is very powerful and explosive, which I like in theory, but his choreography is frankly terrible - not enough transitions, not enough attention paid to the music. It's very generic, which, coupled with the fact that he isn't nuanced enough to pull off anything that isn't a BIG, OBVIOUS emotion, makes for a boring watch. His spins and footwork are also mediocre and his edges are nothing to write home about. I watched his SP twice last night, once with the sound off (Icenetwork's doing) and once with the sound on, and compared to the top guys he's doing a lot worse. He needs to drill, drill, drill his stroking, he needs serious posture work, he needs to put the quads on the back burner and send serious time on spins and footwork and transitions. Otherwise he'll end up in positions like today, where a fall on a (rotated) quad puts him out of medal contention and fifteen points behind the leader and nearly ten points between a quadless Jason Brown.

Is he a hopeless case? Absolutely not. He has talent, but it's not being fostered properly.

Right on ghislaine. 100% correct. He lost a lot of points on his spins, which are frankly, terrible. I do enjoy his speed and jumping ability, but there is more to this sport than jumping, as proven by the current standings. He needs to go back and work on basics, and Tom Z is not the coach for it I'm afraid.
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Max has the same sp music of Daisuke's past sp and thats a mistake from start, on the other hand I almost didnt recognise Rippon, he grew up so much and he gained so much more speed I was really impressed. Also Sotnikova could use his music for her sp instead of what she chose.
I though I would see a mess of Kozuka, but I really think this program is great, i always like he doesnt chose warhorses and easy stuff and I have really missed him. About Machida, i dont know what to think, he skates like this and then he comes sth like 9th at japan nationals!And then Daisuke is out and you forget the rest, this program is genius, is it choreographed by Miyamoto? I think none carries himself on ice like Daisuke does.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Max has the same sp music of Daisuke's past sp and thats a mistake from start, on the other hand I almost didnt recognise Rippon, he grew up so much and he gained so much more speed I was really impressed. Also Sotnikova could use his music for her sp instead of what she chose.
I though I would see a mess of Kozuka, but I really think this program is great, i always like he doesnt chose warhorses and easy stuff and I have really missed him. About Machida, i dont know what to think, he skates like this and then he comes sth like 9th at japan nationals!And then Daisuke is out and you forget the rest, this program is genius, is it choreographed by Miyamoto? I think none carries himself on ice like Daisuke does.

Yes it is!
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
So often we hear a sub par performance excused on the grounds that it is the first competition of the season or early in the season. There is no way anyone can know for sure that this is the cause of the bad performance. It could be any of a number of other things. Even the skater himself may not know, so how in the world can a viewer know.
 

Becki

Medalist
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
I actually almost teared up remembering it's Daisuke's last competitive season. Despite the errors in his short program, I really enjoyed it!!! I hope he can skate a perfect short at the Olympics!!
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
And another thing-I am VERY glad that I did not post my predictions in the game (Takahashi, Aaron, Kozuka, Brown, Machida...)

Machida was the only guy consistently landing Quads in practice. I predicted him to win after seeing that. I thought Max Aaron would do a clean SP, though.

Takahashi's programs this year are so bad. He should really go back to Moonlight Sonata for the SP. That program didn't get enough mileage and it's gorgeous.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Max has the same sp music of Daisuke's past sp and thats a mistake from start, on the other hand I almost didnt recognise Rippon, he grew up so much and he gained so much more speed I was really impressed. Also Sotnikova could use his music for her sp instead of what she chose.
I though I would see a mess of Kozuka, but I really think this program is great, i always like he doesnt chose warhorses and easy stuff and I have really missed him. About Machida, i dont know what to think, he skates like this and then he comes sth like 9th at japan nationals!And then Daisuke is out and you forget the rest, this program is genius, is it choreographed by Miyamoto? I think none carries himself on ice like Daisuke does.

I'm with you, Seniorita. When Takahashi skates, I can't take my eyes off him. This is why he's such a favorite of mine. Normally I'd be completely rooting for Chan, because I'd love to see a Canadian man get gold at the Olympics, and he has so many great traits. But I can't put anyone ahead of Takahashi and haven't been able to since about 2006.
 
Top