Does anyone else think Ashley should lose the floppy ponytail?
NO, I love itDoes anyone else think Ashley should lose the floppy ponytail?
Wow.
I dunno, if I started playing golf, I'm pretty sure my arms would be flailing all over the place and that would "work" for me. Somehow, I doubt that my "difference" in technique would be a good one.
I am not a skater myself. I am curious if 2A problem has something to do with long legs. Radionova is not good at it either, and Christina Gao...
I don't dislike it, she has gorgeous hair, it just seems to flop around a lot as she skates. If that were me it would drive me nuts. I agree the ponytail fits well with the music and the style of the program.
Except Mao's 3A would never deserve -2. For a jump that is <, the range is -1 to -2, and -2 is only deserved with jumps that are close to <<. Which Mao's 3A was not.
If it WAS going to get called, then it definitely should NOT receive -GOE.
Double fail on the part of the judges. Par for the course.
^ ^ What's "good" anyway...is there even a standard? ...
Would you call Patrick Chan's 3A technique good? Plushenko's air positions during the last OG left a lot to be desired, but it was crazy to see him adjust himself to land those things, so I would call his technique good.
I think Mao's triple axel technique is better than Patrick's, and if his' is gonna get ratified, then Mao's should be too.
Completely agree (especially about Wagner and Sakhanovich)! This should be posted in the spins thread...I am very about the reactions to Asada's 3axel downgrade. The cheat was clearly noticeable in real time, without the need for slo-mo, as the jump was hooked on the landing.
Asada has this slight delay on starting the rotation on her jumps which makes it very difficult for her to fully complete it.
I suspected that all four Asada's jumps were cheated, given the slightly hooked landings and the slight loss of flow on them and the slo-mo confirmed that. 3loop was cheated very slightly, 3flip and 2loop a little bit more. All clearly less than 1/4, which means no < but, following the deductions sheet, the judges should be substracting -1 from whatever base value they arrive at. I guess there is a very easy get out clause from that for them. They can't watch the jumps in slo-mo and they can't be 100% sure whether a jump is cheated without it, so they choose to give the skater the benefit of the doubt. *yawn*
Looking at Asada's GOEs, the judges also missed the break between the steps and the 3flip and the travelling on the second position (which wasn't very well balanced either) in the flying camel.
For the record, I don't have the aim of knocking Asada down. The judging at the (J)GPF has been pretty poor so far, and you could find omissions and questionable judgements for most of the skaters.
For this particular event, the 'blind as a bat prize' should be awarded to the judging panel for Wagner's flying sit which was considerably off-centred throughout (not just at one point but for most of the duration of the spin) and where none of the positions were particularly well extended. +1s and +2s. Right.
My biggest peeve at the moment is the judges giving 'automatic' +1s and +2s for a layback just because a biellmann was executed, regardless of the actual quality of the entire element. It makes me wish biellmanns were banned because the absolutely last thing I want to see is a skater straining to pull their leg up and then just about maintaining the rotation. There are very few skaters capable of executing a biellmann with ease and flow maintaining the rotation speed. The 'maintain your dignity' prize goes to Serafima Sakhanovich for showing a beautifully extended, extremely fast layback spin, executed straight from connecting footwork, without a pointless and strained biellmann.
Completely agree (especially about Wagner and Sakhanovich)! This should be posted in the spins thread...
Mao was great!! Her best ever SP performance to date!
That technician has no soul. He's someone's well-paid pet.
Watching Mao's SP today got me speechless from satisfaction, and thank god I didn't cry (I'm at work!). Her reaction after the performance agrees with me
The 3A did look ur'ed, but quite smooth; therefore I agree with the judges with <, and I would've given +GOE had it not been for that (or +1 even with it with caffeins). For me, it was the first time I saw her get better and better as the program progressed, and most mature of her so far. I see pink roses blooming in the background whenever I replay this SP in my head (so embarrassing). Her combos were the least nervous I've seen from her, so I expect it to be beautiful with more refinement. She seemed perfectly engaged with the music after the second jump, probably due to no major errors to disturb her; shows how psyche affects artistry; even all other elements - jumps, spins - looked much more integrated with music.
I am really, really looking forward to the Olympics now! We can finally have some even rivalry!
* As for the Korean judge thing, don't expect any significant favours for Koreans from her.
and does anyone know why Mao always changes her costume mid season? [i.e. short & long program dresses and the scheherazade costume] Like has she ever commented on this? I hope Mao goes back to her other lilac dress for the Olympics, I'm not a fan of the one she wore for this competition but either way i'm so glad she doesn't wear the over the boot tights anymore!