Youtuber

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Ah, Koola King... aka what happens when a disgruntled Russiaphobe with a questionable sense of humour acquires basic iMovie skills.

If she were a figure skating element, she would definitely be a waxel.

 

[Imagine]

If she were a figure skating element, she would definitely be a waxel.

More like a loop jump...cause its brain is loopy with conspiracy theories . An under-rotated loop with a fall and negative GOEs.

 

[karne]

That's terrible and kinda crazy

And also beside the point

It's actually not.

It is batshoot people like Koola who fed and continue to feed that particular brand of crazy, who reinforce that everything Adelina (and then Evgenia) did was wrong and so the actions that those who send death threats take is okay, because ONLY QUEEN YUNA CAN WIN etc etc.

It would not at all surprise me if Koola was numbered among those who sent the threats or abuse to Adelina.

 

[herro]

hey, not that I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with pre-rotations and stuff, but I think we need to differentiate between a message and a way to deliver a message.
Koola was downright obsessed with bringing Evgenia down, perhaps because she beat Yuna’s record, and thus was seen as “another Adelina” in her eyes. I think around 80-90% of all her videos were about Evgenia, which is quite telling. This isn’t technical analysis anymore, it’s bullying.
Besides, her technical information was not accurate (more often than not). For example, she was insistent that Evgenia has a toe-axel. She might not have had a great axel, but it wasn’t a toe-axel. I personally find that there’s a lot of bias and manipulation in her videos.

what happened to her? I would say she probably moved out of college/school, entered a new phase of her life and had less time to obsess over Evgenia’s pre-rotations. Honestly, good for her, but I won’t say her presence is greatly missed.

I think you make a great point on the need to differentiate between the content of a message and the way of delivering that message. I agree with most on this forum that the delivery on the YT channel was far from ideal on most videos. The content, however, wasn't always as insane as some people make it out to be. The channel called out skaters with sloppy technique, although I do agree that it targeted a select few skaters in a bullying way, despite there being a lot of skaters out there with poor technique.

I actually thought the channel was often right on technical information. I know the toe-axel is just one example, but a toe-axel isn't referring to her axel technique... it's referring to her toe loop technique. Back when I used to skate competitively, it was one of the key things my coach warned me not to do. Skaters shouldn't swing around a lot on their toe pick before taking off... a lot of skaters to do this, especially now with triple-triples becoming common.

 

[halulupu]

Agree the technichal information given was just correct. Picking only/mostly on one skater not so. However, zhenya was the dominant force back than and she got away with all her flaws

 

[Mista Ekko]

It's actually not.

It is batshoot people like Koola who fed and continue to feed that particular brand of crazy, who reinforce that everything Adelina (and then Evgenia) did was wrong and so the actions that those who send death threats take is okay, because ONLY QUEEN YUNA CAN WIN etc etc.

It would not at all surprise me if Koola was numbered among those who sent the threats or abuse to Adelina.

That's super weird, Like what did Adelina do beside compete really well?
Most people weren't shook about this outcome only because their queen is Yuna or whatever
Like, Be honest...

But since it was a dirty, cheating, no-good Russian obviously it was shonky, because Russians can't win anything fairly am I right

I think this is a very manipulative and defensive take on what happened with the judging of the ladies
event in Sochi, It worries me that this is some people's take away...

 

[bostonskaterguy86]

I actually thought the channel was often right on technical information.

Agreed - I always felt like Koola didn't know everything about skating, but knew enough to be dangerous, if that makes sense.

For example, they weren't wrong in how they explained what flutzes are, and they weren't wrong that Evgenia has a flutz that was seldom called during the height of her competitive career - but they very much ignored the fact that there were plenty of examples of other skaters not getting called for their flutzes, in order to portray Evgenia in the worst light possible. As they say, the best lies have elements of the truth in them.

I could also absolutely see how their videos could be very convincing, especially to newer fans of the sport. It can be exciting to feel like you're being let in on a secret, or that you're hearing about a newly breaking scandal. It doesn't help that IJS is so complicated for a casual fan to understand - so these videos that reference the tech handbook and use slick graphics and picked-apart slow-mo seem like they're coming from a place of expert knowledge.

I remember watching skating coverage in the '90s, and commentators were often given time to discuss rules and judging on air- especially during big events like the Olympics. There would often be entire segments of TV coverage dedicated to explaining how certain elements were performed and judged. I feel like, at least in the USA, we've lost that as figure skating has become less and less popular, and gets less air time. I think for a lot of people, videos like Koola's seem like they're filling that gap, and that's part of what makes them attractive.

 

[Mathman]

I could also absolutely see how their videos could be very convincing, especially to newer fans of the sport. It can be exciting to feel like you're being let in on a secret, or that you're hearing about a newly breaking scandal.

I think that this is why conspiracy theories can always attract an Internet following, no matter how goofy, psycho or dangerous.

 

[karne]

That's super weird, Like what did Adelina do beside compete really well?
Most people weren't shook about this outcome only because their queen is Yuna or whatever
Like, Be honest...

Are you pretending, or are you really this dense?

The horrible crime that Adelina committed was to have the skate of her life (and actually look like she wanted to be there) and then get scored above precious Queen Yuna. And then, you know what Adelina did then? She had the audacity to be happy that she won Olympic Gold and she didn't fawn and kiss Yuna's boots and hand over the medal.

It is literally only this. Adelina received abuse and death threats because she won. You cannot reason with people like Koola that Adelina did nothing wrong. They don't accept it. To them, Adelina did do something wrong because she didn't hand the medal back (!!!). Because she was excited during the medal ceremony and press conference.

 

[Mista Ekko]

Are you pretending, or are you really this dense?

The horrible crime that Adelina committed was to have the skate of her life (and actually look like she wanted to be there) and then get scored above precious Queen Yuna. And then, you know what Adelina did then? She had the audacity to be happy that she won Olympic Gold and she didn't fawn and kiss Yuna's boots and hand over the medal.

It is literally only this. Adelina received abuse and death threats because she won. You cannot reason with people like Koola that Adelina did nothing wrong. They don't accept it. To them, Adelina did do something wrong because she didn't hand the medal back (!!!). Because she was excited during the medal ceremony and press conference.

Good, So we agree

 

[karne]

Good, So we agree

So I don't understand. You are trying to suggest that the abuse Adelina suffered is not relevant to discussion of Koola King. I have just presented to you why it is.

 

[Mathman]

So I don't understand.

Mista Echo's post had a weird sort of dpoiuble negative in it. I think he meant to say that loyalty to Yuna Kim was (rather than "wasn't") the reason for the animousity.

He went on to say that critisizing the judging is crazy., keying off your sarcasm: "But since it was a dirty, cheating, no-good Russian..."

I am pretty sure you are both saying the same thing. Peace.

 

[gsk8]

I know it's off-season, but surely there are better things to discuss than this?

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Her videos were interesting to discus and debate.
But "silenced by the ISU"
Erm...
This is turning into a movie about a secret organisation like the illuminati silencing the "truth seekers".

If we want to discuss about her videos it's one thing, but no need to turn everything into an outrageous conspiracy theory

 

[cornelussen]

I know it's off-season, but surely there are better things to discuss than this?

I'm new on this app and i had no idea i started this.
sorry

 

[lyverbird1]

Koola King is an is a toxic, awful blot on the skating landscape. I suspect they have posted under other names on YouTube because other videos I've seen under other names carry the stench of the same old rubbish clips interjected of eyerolling daytime TV hosts when casting aspersions on (usually) Russian skaters. Their cheap shots reek of bitterness and it's a shame they could never get past that one result because a decent basic knowledge has gone to waste in the desperate rush to slap off the Russians. I hope they have stopped and I hope that they read these boards so they can see the contempt that their derision is rightly held in.

 

[formersk8ter]

I couldn't STAND Koola King and her hate videos. She was downright poisonous.

As for her being off of YouTube, I'm almost as happy about that as I am about a certain orange person being banned from Twitter/Facebook.

 

[kwanatic]

I don't think there's anything wrong with criticizing a skater but it should be constructive--not catty, petty and mean for no reason. Negatively picking at a skater without acknowledging anything positive is a good way to guarantee that no one other than people who completely agree with you are going to get anything out of what you have to say. I'm critical of skaters but I always try to be constructive with my criticism and present it in a way that someone who may not agree with me can at least see where I'm coming from.

Koola King had some valid points at times but the validity of her argument was overshadowed and tainted by the extremely biased and sarcastic way it was presented.