Javier Fernandez

[evergreen]

After watching TSL' interview with Valentina Marchei, I would not complain crazy Morozov made Javi perform 3 different SPs in 2010' Euros, Olympics & Worlds, since she had to do 8 different SPs within a short period of time when she trained with Morozov :eeking:

It was so sweet when Valentina called Javi her little brother in name calling session of the interview; she moved to train with Morozov in Ice House, New Jersey in September 2008, shortly after Javi joining the team; these two used to stick together all the time, since Javi spoke little English at that time and Valentina, an Italian, speaks the closest language to Spanish. When Morozov moved his camp worldwide in 2010-11 season, Javi lived in Valentina's house in Italy for a while and Valentina's mother treats him as one of her own children.

 

[Crossover]

After watching TSL' interview with Valentina Marchei, I would not complain crazy Morozov made Javi perform 3 different SPs in 2010' Euros, Olympics & Worlds, since she had to do 8 different SPs within a short period of time when she trained with Morozov :eeking:

It was so sweet when Valentina called Javi her little brother in name calling session of the interview; she moved to train with Morozov in Ice House, New Jersey in September 2008, shortly after Javi joining the team; these two used to stick together all the time, since Javi spoke little English at that time and Valentina, an Italian, speaks the closest language to Spanish. When Morozov moved his camp worldwide in 2010-11 season, Javi lived in Valentina's house in Italy for a while and Valentina's mother treats him as one of her own children.

Thanks for the summary. The story about the friendship of Valentina and Javi is really sweet. I'm sure Valentina's mother was very pleased to see Javi's success.

 

[cathlen]

I think all team Morozov is on very good terms, as we can see during comptitions, even if they trained together long time ago As a fan of Vale I watched that interview when it came up last year and it was one of the best thing TSL did that I have seen. Other than language, the culture of Italy and Spain is also similiar, both are 'lazy' nations So no wonder they became a close friends

 

[evergreen]

I think all team Morozov is on very good terms, as we can see during comptitions, even if they trained together long time ago As a fan of Vale I watched that interview when it came up last year and it was one of the best thing TSL did that I have seen. Other than language, the culture of Italy and Spain is also similiar, both are 'lazy' nations So no wonder they became a close friends

Valentina is one of my favorite lady skaters:luv17:, but somehow I missed her TSL interview until very recently (save the best to the last )

I would rather regard people of both Italy and Spain know the best how to enjoy the life Unfortunately, I spent my past 10 years in New York and Hong Kong, two of the most workaholic cities :sad21:

I was sort of surprised that Vale considers Javi a hard worker, whilst Miki thinks him the opposite

 

[cathlen]

Valentina is one of my favorite lady skaters:luv17:, but somehow I missed her TSL interview until very recently (save the best to the last )

I would rather regard people of both Italy and Spain know the best how to enjoy the life Unfortunately, I spent my past 10 years in New York and Hong Kong, two of the most workaholic cities :sad21:

I was sort of surprised that Vale considers Javi a hard worker, whilst Miki thinks him the opposite

I like the term 'enjoy the life' I'm not suprised, it's the cultural differences we're talking about. Both in Spain and Italy working 10 hours a day is a lot for example, but not in Japan. Japanese tend to overwork themselves I think. I read that until recently Shoma Uno didn't even took one day rest in a week. He trained even on Sunday. So no wonder Miki didn't consider 'hard-working' what Vale did

topic: I never heard of New York being workaholic city, instead many people consider Singapur as one. But I've never been in either of them, so I just take it that there are sadly many workaholic cities nowadays

 

[honghe]

I also get the sense that those who trained with Morozov seem to get along quite well. Maybe moving from place to place so often actually brought them closer?

Valentina mentioned that sometimes Morozov's skaters had to train in the middle of the night (because the rink would be busy during the day) That's some crazy schedule.

 

[eppen]

Well, there are differences between Italy and Spain - in Italy you can actually get your breakfast at 6 o'clock in the morning just about every day of the week almost anywhere (and I've done exactly that in a town of 500 or so inhabitants), but in Barcelona it was far more difficult even later in the morning on workdays Plus Valentina comes from the north which is much more similar to Central Europe than to the rest of Italy...

But it was cool to know that Javi probably understands at least a bit of Italian. :luv17: I have had to learn Italian because of work and am able to understand a fair amount of Spanish based on it, but was very surprised on my visits to Spain that Spaniards tend not to understand Italian - and it seems to be not just because of my poor language skills as quite a few native Italian speakers have had the same experience Then I thought of my own language and my inability to understand one of its closest relatives, Estonian, so I guess I should not be so surprised after all.

e

 

[tzazu]

Maybe it's more: working to live or living to work? Which one makes somebody happier? That's a very personal matter

 

[eppen]

Kind of an interesting thing this: results and video of the performance visible side by side:

http://www.rinkresults.com/skater?skater_id=32

I'd also love to see the heat camera patterns for guys that they did for ladies in Boston! And step by step, turn by turn, non-listed-element-by etc. analysis with video of all the transitions, step sequences, choreo sequences

And Danny Boy from Stars on Ice Japan (finally!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20P-ArLbMNY

(Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUBsRg8iyQ and Finale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Ln2HkdTbg)

E

 

[honghe]

Well, there are differences between Italy and Spain - in Italy you can actually get your breakfast at 6 o'clock in the morning just about every day of the week almost anywhere (and I've done exactly that in a town of 500 or so inhabitants), but in Barcelona it was far more difficult even later in the morning on workdays

I think I read somewhere that When Javi first came to Brian, Brian asked the Spanish Federation what some of Javi's weaknesses were, and they said: "Well, he's Spanish." lol

But it was cool to know that Javi probably understands at least a bit of Italian. :luv17: I have had to learn Italian because of work and am able to understand a fair amount of Spanish based on it, but was very surprised on my visits to Spain that Spaniards tend not to understand Italian - and it seems to be not just because of my poor language skills as quite a few native Italian speakers have had the same experience Then I thought of my own language and my inability to understand one of its closest relatives, Estonian, so I guess I should not be so surprised after all.

e

I only have reading knowledge of Italian, and I can read some Spanish football news without too much trouble. Maybe spoken language could be more difficult to understand?

A friend of friend said that at one point she was learning both Spanish and Italian and she often got things mixed up. I also remember hearing a recording of Tosca with Carreras in the tenor role. I was pretty sure he mispronounced some of the Italian "e"s, using "y" instead lol.

 

[evergreen]

I think I read somewhere that When Javi first came to Brian, Brian asked the Spanish Federation what some of Javi's weaknesses were, and they said: "Well, he's Spanish." lol

Poor Brian, I don't think he had ever worked with a Spaniard before Javi. Then suddenly he got his hands full and had to take care of everything for him, but I feel he enjoyed it, otherwise he would not regard Javi as his poster student of his coach career.

Brian recalled in his book that he had watched Javi's competition performances, whilst he was impressed with Javi's raw talent, he did not think that Javi would pose any threat to his student,(Adam Rippon, I assume) because of his inconsistency & restlessness; it appeared to him that Javi did not care about his talent at all. Nonetheless, Brian thought it would be much straight forward to work out a training plan for Javi when he knew his weakness.

eppen thanks for the links :agree:

Miki was doing a Prince Ice World show in Oita last weekend and it seems she brought little Sunflower and Javi with her

 

[evergreen]

I also get the sense that those who trained with Morozov seem to get along quite well. Maybe moving from place to place so often actually brought them closer?

Yes, this is one of the main reasons. When Javi was asked by his fan why Voronov and he became such good friends, he said that there was a period of time that they lived in the same house in Latvia & New Jersey (for the summer training), they did almost everything together.

Valentina mentioned that sometimes Morozov's skaters had to train in the middle of the night (because the rink would be busy during the day) That's some crazy schedule.

Not only because of the ice time, I read somewhere that Morozov prefers to do choreography with his skaters in the midnight, this is when the rink is less crowded and he can get more creative.

 

[honghe]

Brian recalled in his book that he had watched Javi's competition performances, whilst he was impressed with Javi's raw talent, he did not think that Javi would pose any threat to his student,(Adam Rippon, I assume) because of his inconsistency & restlessness; it appeared to him that Javi did not care about his talent at all. Nonetheless, Brian thought it would be much straight forward to work out a training plan for Javi when he knew his weakness.

Adam did appear to be way ahead of Javi before 2011. I got the feeling that Javi probably did not really know how good he could possibly be. In a sense, his early success with Brian in the first half of the 2011-2012 season probably was very important to him mentally.

Miki was doing a Prince Ice World show in Oita last weekend and it seems she brought little Sunflower and Javi with her

It's great that little Sunflower and Javi appear to get along quite well with each other:luv17:

Not only because of the ice time, I read somewhere that Morozov prefers to do choreography with his skaters in the midnight, this is when the rink is less crowded and he can get more creative.

Morozov prefers to do choreography in the midnight? AND he likes to change things... I wouldn't blame his skaters if they have difficulties remembering their programs lol.

 

[evergreen]

Adam did appear to be way ahead of Javi before 2011. I got the feeling that Javi probably did not really know how good he could possibly be. In a sense, his early success with Brian in the first half of the 2011-2012 season probably was very important to him mentally.

2010 Worlds was Adam's first senior worlds' and he ranked the 6th, which was quite impressive, I recalled that Adam was considered as the promising star of USA men back then. But somehow I have never enjoyed his skating and most of his programs very much; when I watch competitions live, I found Max Aaron more exciting for his energy, speed and athleticism, despite his rough edges and flailing arms. Speaking of basic skating skills, forgive me, Adam's fans, but I honestly do not think he excels at this department. But I also don't get why USFSA sent him to two consecutive junior worlds, wasn't he suppose to move to senior when he won his 1st junior world title? It made a lot of difference if he could had been in the senior field one year earlier. Forgive me again for topic:

 

[Sol]

After reading so many post repeating the same stuff about spanish people i was compelled to resgister just to explain that those things you are saying about spanish people being lazy and working less hours are just stereotypes, it may be funny to joke about it but i hope you realize unfortunately thats not the reality for people in Spain, this is not a paradise where we can afford to live without working or working so little, here the wages are low and the fortunates to have a job(unemployment is high)have to work hard to keep it.

Spanish schedule is different because we are in a wrong time zone (the same as Berlin despite Spain being far west), so we wake up later than in other places because we also go to sleep later. If you couldnt find a place to have breakfast at 6 am maybe it was because at 12 am some restaurants are still open serving dinner.
Also if shops close during noon it's not because we lazy spaniards are all sleeping our nap, thats another false stereotype, only small children take naps.
Napping was done back in the day by people working in agriculture because at the midday it was so hot outside they couldnt work so instead they would wake up at sun rise take a rest in the middle of the day and go back to work until the sunset. Nowadays lots of places close at noon so the people working there can go eat lunch and then get back to work until late in the evening working the same hours as in any other country(or even more hours compared with countries that have more efficient working schedules).

So if Javi is lazy( i dont know him enough to judge if he was that lazy or just had a lack of motivation) its because his personality and not because he is from Spain.
I hope that you understand.

 

[honghe]

After reading so many post repeating the same stuff about spanish people i was compelled to resgister just to explain that those things you are saying about spanish people being lazy and working less hours are just stereotypes, it may be funny to joke about it but i hope you realize unfortunately thats not the reality for people in Spain, this is not a paradise where we can afford to live without working or working so little, here the wages are low and the fortunates to have a job(unemployment is high)have to work hard to keep it.

Spanish schedule is different because we are in a wrong time zone (the same as Berlin despite Spain being far west), so we wake up later than in other places because we also go to sleep later. If you couldnt find a place to have breakfast at 6 am maybe it was because at 12 am some restaurants are still open serving dinner.
Also if shops close during noon it's not because we lazy spaniards are all sleeping our nap, thats another false stereotype, only small children take naps.
Napping was done back in the day by people working in agriculture because at the midday it was so hot outside they couldnt work so instead they would wake up at sun rise take a rest in the middle of the day and go back to work until the sunset. Nowadays lots of places close at noon so the people working there can go eat lunch and then get back to work until late in the evening working the same hours as in any other country(or even more hours compared with countries that have more efficient working schedules).

So if Javi is lazy( i dont know him enough to judge if he was that lazy or just had a lack of motivation) its because his personality and not because he is from Spain.
I hope that you understand.

Thank you very much, Sol, for your patience and for your detailed explanation. I am sorry for having made you uncomfortable.

I am sure that most Spanish people work very hard and are not lazy at all. If I am not mistaken, Javi's own parents had to take extra jobs to afford the expenses needed for his skating.

As for Javi's "laziness", I think it's for the most part due to his laidback personality and that for a while he probably did not have the kind of guidance he needed--Brian did mention that Javi was somewhat lost when he first arrived in Toronto.

I can't speak for other posters here, but as far as I am concerned, I thought the comments on laziness were made more or less in a joking way. However, now that I've thought about it, I realize that some of the posts I made were not carefully thought about, and that I was perpetuating an misleading stereotype. I apologize about that. And thank you very much for pointing it out.

Last but not least, welcome to the forum! I am sorry that you were compelled to register in this manner, but I hope you can have a good time whenever you visit the forum in the future.

 

[evergreen]

After reading so many post repeating the same stuff about spanish people i was compelled to resgister just to explain that those things you are saying about spanish people being lazy and working less hours are just stereotypes, it may be funny to joke about it but i hope you realize unfortunately thats not the reality for people in Spain, this is not a paradise where we can afford to live without working or working so little, here the wages are low and the fortunates to have a job(unemployment is high)have to work hard to keep it.

Spanish schedule is different because we are in a wrong time zone (the same as Berlin despite Spain being far west), so we wake up later than in other places because we also go to sleep later. If you couldnt find a place to have breakfast at 6 am maybe it was because at 12 am some restaurants are still open serving dinner.
Also if shops close during noon it's not because we lazy spaniards are all sleeping our nap, thats another false stereotype, only small children take naps.
Napping was done back in the day by people working in agriculture because at the midday it was so hot outside they couldnt work so instead they would wake up at sun rise take a rest in the middle of the day and go back to work until the sunset. Nowadays lots of places close at noon so the people working there can go eat lunch and then get back to work until late in the evening working the same hours as in any other country(or even more hours compared with countries that have more efficient working schedules).

So if Javi is lazy( i dont know him enough to judge if he was that lazy or just had a lack of motivation) its because his personality and not because he is from Spain.
I hope that you understand.

Sol , very welcome to the forum I am so sorry that you have to come up in somewhat unpleasant circumstance.

Many thanks for take your time to clarify controversial stereotypes about Spain, and going back to my posts, I have to admit that some of my comment about Spanish life style were not well-thought-out, I hereby express my sincere apologies for my insensitive words.

As to Javi, well, I believe that myself and some of fellow fans teased him about his old "lazy" days in an affectionate way. He may not be the hardest worker in comparison with some of his peers in his early career, but I am sure that he worked hard enough, otherwise he wouldn't had qualified for 10' Olympics, as matter of facts, both his family and he had to make a lot of scarifies pursuing his skating dream. When David Wilson disclosed in his TSL interview that Javi's sister had to give up her skating with no regrets or resentment because their parents were not able to afford expenses for two, I was deeply moved, since I could clearly tell Laura has special talent like Javi and she loves skating so much.

Nowadays, Javi has worked his butt off to achieve what he has achieved. In the Kiss & Cry area after 16 worlds' free skate, while thrilling for Javi's marvelous performance, David Wilson told him that "you work hard you deserve it"; I am sort of concerned about his injuries the past season, as it seems that most of the injuries may be caused by overtraining/fatigue. Pray for him staying healthy so as he could accomplish his Olympic dream:luv17:

 

[cathlen]

I also apologize if my posts ofended you, Sol or any other Spanish who read my posts. As honghe said, the comments about lazines were in jokingly manner. I even put word 'lazy' like that so it would be understood, I don't really think any nation is lazy. There are lazy and hard working people everywhere. I actually always thought that siesta in hot countries was totally logical. I have family who makes living from agriculture, and as you said in the noon sometimes it's so incredibly hot they also make a break then. Instead they work in early morning or even night. And I understand how it is when your country minimal pay isn't close enough you need to make a living, not to mention raising children... :disapp: So yeah, working overtime isn't something extraordinary in my country either.
So I want to clarify, that when I use 'lazy' in connection to any skater, I mean it in affectionate way, as evergreen said. We all realize how hard working Javi is right now, not o mention his parents, and they are all real Spaniards afterall

 

[Jaana]

Sol, welcome to the forum!!!

 

[evergreen]

I just booked all-event ticket for 17' worlds since I got a quite decent deal from Qatar Air; the last time I visited Helsinki was back to 1999' worlds, I had a hard time to take it was the last century

I look forward to meeting fellow fans in Hartwall Arena 'soon'

I have yet made my mind for going to GPF and Euros next season