2016-2017 State of Canadian Figure Skating

[mrrice]

KABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! When are you moving to Canada mrrice... If I recall, Osmond4gold has offered you honorific citizenship

You have no idea how seriously this idea has been discussed amongst my friends and I/Me ( I never remember which is correct) someone here will know. We are waiting to see how things turn out in the first few Months of Trumps Presidency. There was a new headline today, that Donald may be considering failed VP Candidate and former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin for a cabinet position. A bonus for SNL and Tina Fay but a huge loss for the rest of Country. http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...consideration-to-head-veterans-affairs-report

 

[lyndichee]

From what I've read or heard about in Russian articles or commentary, Maxim's remarks about D&R have been no worse than Patrick calling his competitors "nothing special" when he took time off or saying they display no versatility (pot meet kettle...). They've received fair critiques from Trankov about how their lines don't match and hence don't have the classic pair look, how Meagan doesn't have the best skating skills, or how her lift positions aren't the nicest to look at. All valid points.

I won't defend the crap that Meagan deals with on social media because it's inexcusable, but it's no different than what other skaters have to put up with. How many times was Ashley called degrading things after being put on the Sochi team? Or Madison Hubbell being called chunky? You must live under a rock if you think this "special" criticism is reserved only for D&R or any Canadian skater (since so many on this forum have tried to pin this on a worldwide anti-Canadian conspiracy).

It's certainly fair to call out the crap people throw at them, but when playing the victim is such a strong focal point for them even after they do well, they become sore losers themselves as Eric once called Volosozhar & Trankov. They're seriously delusional if they ever think they're gonna reach a point where everyone loves them and their programs and only have nice things to say to them because no one in the skating world is at that level.

Welcome to the upper echelon of skating. Criticism awaits everyone.

Maxim's comments are particularly egregious because he is a commentator for figure skating and as someone who should be impartial and educational, has chosen to focus on D/R. He even advocated for changing the rules of the sport beacuse of their rise to prominence.

It seems like everyone wants to argue pedantics on this forum so I'll simplify my stance.

Regardless of whatever scoresheet you come up with about what is worse or not, a lot of the comments online are not appropriate! I don't condone them and I think skaters are bada$$ for confronting them and not trying to be diplomatic.

Patrick's comments were out of line but he never advocated for change of the sport. In fact, he is trying for the 4S which has failed in his competition and practice attempts (he didn't land a single one at SC practice). He is still trying to change. Trankov literally wants to limit the very element (quads are already devalued in pairs anyways) that makes one of his competitors successful, which I see as different.

Ashley occassionally calls out people on Twitter too. She shared she does it to show people that they can't do whatever they want online. Is she thin-skinned too?

D/R aren't whining, in fact they are calling out an issue with fans online. Meagan also comments on Skating Protocol's instagram page and says that some of her performances are not good. Most skaters won't be that direct to acknowledge their weak moments so I respect her honesty. Is D/R my favourite pair? Nope. But I'll give respect where respect is due.

 

[lyndichee]

Actually, Tessa Virtue, with Scott Moir's support, has confronted the criticism of her weight and body image....

She is currently a spokesperson for the Dove soap #MyBeautyMySay campaign to challenge what people say about female athletes......

Basic principle: Being a female athlete should not make you fair game for comments and remarks about your body that male athletes do not face.

http://www.dovehaveyoursay.ca/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urp3ufkIqvo

http://www.marketingmag.ca/brands/dove-challenges-how-the-media-portrays-female-athletes-180289

http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/...ghter-bc?qt-qt_sidebar_content_blog_by_user=0


Here is a Huffington Post article "Tessa Virtue is Sick of Being Told She's Too Fat and Not Good Enough"

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/07/27/tessa-virtue-body-image_n_11194928.html

I am very familiar with Tessa's online activity as I follow her on everything. She doesn't directly call it out on social media like Meagan does.

The French fans needs to stop calling her derogatory names though. You don't like the score? Blame the judges!

 

[Osmond4gold]

KABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! When are you moving to Canada mrrice... If I recall, Osmond4gold has offered you honorific citizenship

As I said have said previously, ...we would be lucky to have him

 

[TGee]

SID LEE has just tweeted that they have become the creative agency for Skate Canada....

https://twitter.com/SidLee/status/803992442831831040

Expect edgy and innovative video messages and branding ....


For those for whom the name isn't familiar, SID LEE is the agency that created the Toronto Raptors "WE THE NORTH" campaign

http://sidlee.com/en/work/Raptors/We-the-North/HeroShotLine/Hero_Video_Raptors

Or this one for the Canadian Olympic Committee "ICE IN OUR VEINS"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h1WZGJp9vw

 

[lyndichee]

That I agree with. Always offering your cheap whine that no one asked for. :sarcasm:

Can members please stop making generalizations about the Canadian population? Canada has a reputation as a friendly country who is generous and has less extremism as other countries, it only seems in figure skating that we are villanized repeatedly.

I think it is very petty and unproductive to make such snarky posts. Instead address our perspectives in detail if you apparently think of us as so wrong. Most of the time we are happy to explain and give just as detailed posts back.

 

[mrrice]

Can members please stop making generalizations about the Canadian population? Canada has a reputation as a friendly country who is generous and has less extremism as other countries, it only seems in figure skating that we are villanized repeatedly.

I think it is very petty and unproductive to make such snarky posts. Instead address our perspectives in detail if you apparently think of us as so wrong. Most of the time we are happy to explain and give just as detailed posts back.

Lyndichee, you are correct! Just check the borders with the US and you'll see that majority of the cars are "Exiting" the States and headed toward Canada and not the other way around. I have looked at housing prices in and around Toronto but, If I can find some old friends from my touring days, I might move to Montreal. If I could find that dude I met in the Coffee Shop in Banff.....I'd move there just hear him say, "Eh" at the end of his sentences. The video below shows people eating pizza in different ways. It's from a food network show called, "You're Eating It Wrong" They ask people what they think of the different ways to eat pizza. The Canadians show up at around 3:00 minutes in. The Canadian says......"That's good, Eh"

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/videos/youre-eating-pizza-wrong.html

 

[gravy]

Maxim's comments are particularly egregious because he is a commentator for figure skating and as someone who should be impartial and educational, has chosen to focus on D/R. He even advocated for changing the rules of the sport beacuse of their rise to prominence.

It seems like everyone wants to argue pedantics on this forum so I'll simplify my stance.

Regardless of whatever scoresheet you come up with about what is worse or not, a lot of the comments online are not appropriate! I don't condone them and I think skaters are bada$$ for confronting them and not trying to be diplomatic.

Patrick's comments were out of line but he never advocated for change of the sport. In fact, he is trying for the 4S which has failed in his competition and practice attempts (he didn't land a single one at SC practice). He is still trying to change. Trankov literally wants to limit the very element (quads are already devalued in pairs anyways) that makes one of his competitors successful, which I see as different.

Ashley occassionally calls out people on Twitter too. She shared she does it to show people that they can't do whatever they want online. Is she thin-skinned too?

D/R aren't whining, in fact they are calling out an issue with fans online. Meagan also comments on Skating Protocol's instagram page and says that some of her performances are not good. Most skaters won't be that direct to acknowledge their weak moments so I respect her honesty. Is D/R my favourite pair? Nope. But I'll give respect where respect is due.

What Trankov has said as a commentator is no more egregious than the bias in Carol Lane's commentary when she's discussing her team's rivals. Trankov never advocated for the banning of quads because D&R were winning, but rather because they were dangerous (stating this as far back as 2010). I wouldn't say he was wrong considering how many pairs are out right now... a lot having to do with quad-related injuries. It's no secret that Trankov doesn't care for D&R's skating, but the only place I've ever read that he wants to ban quads because the Canadians are winning are posters that can't cite a Russian article or video.

And Patrick's comments after he won his national title earlier this year are best summarized as "the skating sucks because people are doing too many quads"; that does count as throwing his competitors under the bus and taking issue with the scoring system. No different than what Trankov has done.

Ashley occasionally calls people out on Twitter, but she's never made a whole story around how many haters she has or played the "woe is me" victim card. And believe me, especially after Boston in 2014 she received some really nasty and horrible, sexist messages that she didn't bother batting an eyelash over. She just stopped using Twitter.

Her complaining crosses the line over being rightfully angry at people who send her ad hominem attacks and taking issue with any criticism of her skating though she has gotten much better with that lately. I do respect how seriously she takes her career though, but girl can use a chill pill once in a while.

---

Can members please stop making generalizations about the Canadian population? Canada has a reputation as a friendly country who is generous and has less extremism as other countries, it only seems in figure skating that we are villanized repeatedly.

I think it is very petty and unproductive to make such snarky posts. Instead address our perspectives in detail if you apparently think of us as so wrong. Most of the time we are happy to explain and give just as detailed posts back.

Funny that the poster who spurred this response from me did the exact opposite of what you asked of everyone [to give well thought out responses] and even liked this post.

I resorted to a snarky remark in response to his childish post explaining he wasn't willing to elaborate on his thoughts. It's fine to end a conversation you no longer want to take part in, but it's annoying if they do it in an immature way which is why I gave said response.

 

[4everchan]

Top 3 after the pre-novice women’s short program:
1. Daria Carr (BC/YK) 39.10
2. Hana Watanabe (CO) 36.95
3. Noémie Célestin-Plante (QC) 36.83
#Challenge17



Top 3 after the novice women’s short program:
1. Emma Bulawka (BC/YK) 43.27
2. Rosalie Vincent (QC) 42.13
3. Catherine Carle (CO) 40.83
#Challenge17

It is surprising to see the age difference among the competitors in pre-novice and Novice.

Thanks, what I like from these early results is that the skaters don't all come from the same province/territory.

Someone had mentioned Catherine Carle earlier in this thread as a huge potential. I see her name here in 3rd. How was her skate? Are there protocols or videos?

Thanks!

 

[olayolay]

SID LEE has just tweeted that they have become the creative agency for Skate Canada....

https://twitter.com/SidLee/status/803992442831831040

Expect edgy and innovative video messages and branding ....


For those for whom the name isn't familiar, SID LEE is the agency that created the Toronto Raptors "WE THE NORTH" campaign

http://sidlee.com/en/work/Raptors/We-the-North/HeroShotLine/Hero_Video_Raptors

Or this one for the Canadian Olympic Committee "ICE IN OUR VEINS"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h1WZGJp9vw

It says Team Canada, not Skate Canada.

 

[TGee]

It says Team Canada, not Skate Canada.

Thanks,....that's what I get for chasing links on skaters' accounts.... [and spending time trying to find mislabelled dailymotion videos...]

Was hoping that the new exec at SC was going for it, but Team Canada will be great too...

 

[4everchan]

it's okay! got us all excited... then we checked and... well we are still relatively excited



Without you, we wouldn't know about these news for team canada ! So that's still great! From the little I know about Sid Lee, we can expect something fun and cool!

Thanks,....that's what I get for chasing links on skaters' accounts.... [and spending time trying to find mislabelled dailymotion videos...]

Was hoping that the new exec at SC was going for it, but Team Canada will be great too...

 

[TGee]

Top 3 after the pre-novice women’s short program:
1. Daria Carr (BC/YK) 39.10
2. Hana Watanabe (CO) 36.95
3. Noémie Célestin-Plante (QC) 36.83
#Challenge17

Top 3 after the novice women’s short program:
1. Emma Bulawka (BC/YK) 43.27
2. Rosalie Vincent (QC) 42.13
3. Catherine Carle (CO) 40.83
#Challenge17

It is surprising to see the age difference among the competitors in pre-novice and Novice.

Dailymotion is posting individual and warm up group videos, but most of the top competitors don't seem to be up yet....was only able to find a few of these, so have given up for the moment.....

Perhaps if Mango and I feel the need to be keeners, we'll try to create a video and results thread for the podium placements in the competition area....

In the meantime, please keep the reports coming syl20c, they are very appreciated.....

 

[4everchan]

oh.. i didn't even check the competition thread... ugh... i have been kept busy tonight. I think i will hit the sack early. I am still on CoC and NHK jet lag. I went to sleep at random hours and then wake up way too early... like at 4am last night... and did some work... and forgot the time and sent an email to a colleague way before sunrise he was like " you are up early" and i said "morning inspiration" but yeah... I think I should block my email server from sending emails before 9am

 

[Mango]

I came back here after a few hours excited to see more pages but this discussion. Did we not used to have them extensively with MaxSwagg? I thought the Duhamel/Radford criticism horse was already beaten to death in that thread.

Frankly I think skaters should do whatever they want. If they want to speak out about something or support a cause then more power to them. If a skater on hiatus wants to change the sport then there may be some concerns but if the ISU is really going to listen to such a skater without consulting others still in the sport then we've got bigger problems than debating criticism.

4everchan I want to give you videos but they are such a mess on the Skate Canada Dailymotion page. Just give me a bit of time I'll organize videos by links and stuff in the Challenge thread. We can keep everything there - videos, results, useless Mango commentary...

 

[syl20c]

Thanks, what I like from these early results is that the skaters don't all come from the same province/territory.

Someone had mentioned Catherine Carle earlier in this thread as a huge potential. I see her name here in 3rd. How was her skate? Are there protocols or videos?

Thanks!

Quebec ended up with something like 16 entries in the Novice ladies. They own the top tier!

Catherine only did a 2T3T for combo (The 3T was over rotated hence the -GOE), not the Sectionals 3S3T. The 3Lo had +GOE, it was nice. Anyone in the top 7 can take this competition. It will be a great finale! Make sure you are watching this one live!

The first group Novice Ladies videos aren't on yet. Not sure why but Joni works hard trying to get it all on soon I am sure!

 

[lyndichee]

What Trankov has said as a commentator is no more egregious than the bias in Carol Lane's commentary when she's discussing her team's rivals. Trankov never advocated for the banning of quads because D&R were winning, but rather because they were dangerous (stating this as far back as 2010). I wouldn't say he was wrong considering how many pairs are out right now... a lot having to do with quad-related injuries. It's no secret that Trankov doesn't care for D&R's skating, but the only place I've ever read that he wants to ban quads because the Canadians are winning are posters that can't cite a Russian article or video.

And Patrick's comments after he won his national title earlier this year are best summarized as "the skating sucks because people are doing too many quads"; that does count as throwing his competitors under the bus and taking issue with the scoring system. No different than what Trankov has done.

Ashley occasionally calls people out on Twitter, but she's never made a whole story around how many haters she has or played the "woe is me" victim card. And believe me, especially after Boston in 2014 she received some really nasty and horrible, sexist messages that she didn't bother batting an eyelash over. She just stopped using Twitter.

Her complaining crosses the line over being rightfully angry at people who send her ad hominem attacks and taking issue with any criticism of her skating though she has gotten much better with that lately. I do respect how seriously she takes her career though, but girl can use a chill pill once in a while.

If you checked my past posts, I actually hate Carol Lane commentary as well. I think it was last year when Gabby Daleman had 1 good LP at Skate Canada and Carol Lane said Yulia Lipnitskaya needs to learn Gabby (I know Gabby was improving, but that is one of the dumbest things I've heard that a struggling Olympic Gold medalist who has a world medal and made the GPF should be learning from someone who hadn't scored past 70 or 120 in SP and FS respectively nor medaled on the GP series) Just because one commentator is just as bad, doesn't mean others are allowed to held just slightly a standard above.

His opinion clearly came from a perspective of not being able to compete on quads during D/R dominance. You might as well ban most of the elements in gymnastics as well since so many young individuals end their careers before they make it to the Olympics.

Again, just because one person made a comment, does mean others are allowed to be just as bad.

I encourage anyone who has received these comments to call it out. They don't need chill pill, in fact some of these fans needs chill pills.

Funny that the poster who spurred this response from me did the exact opposite of what you asked of everyone [to give well thought out responses] and even liked this post.

I resorted to a snarky remark in response to his childish post explaining he wasn't willing to elaborate on his thoughts. It's fine to end a conversation you no longer want to take part in, but it's annoying if they do it in an immature way which is why I gave said response.

Again, just because one person made a comment, does mean others are allowed to be just as bad. Just because I call 1 person out, doesn't mean I don't condone the behaviours of others.

I said this is another thread but having a score sheet about who is worse is very unproductive. Let's all hold each other to a high standard.

 

[4everchan]

thanks Mango

I will make sure to check the Nationals thread. Seems like novice ladies is really interesting. I will always be there to offer support for Duhamel and Radford. Not only they are great skaters, 2 times world champions and silver Olympic medalists but they bring their causes of interests to the forefront. Women should not be bullied out of physical activities because it makes them look "masculine" LGTB members should not be told they cannot take part in a "traditional straight" setting . To me, equating the criticism they have received to those who have made fun of other skaters for petty reasons is not understanding the mission Meagan and Eric have at heart. Meagan and Eric are offering an option to speak up against bullying. Many young girls and gay boys have been bullied out of sport. I think they are great role models for the youth.

I hope this thread can resume its course and focus for a few pages on Challenge! Thanks to you, Tgee and syl20c for input.

I came back here after a few hours excited to see more pages but this discussion. Did we not used to have them extensively with MaxSwagg? I thought the Duhamel/Radford criticism horse was already beaten to death in that thread.

Frankly I think skaters should do whatever they want. If they want to speak out about something or support a cause then more power to them. If a skater on hiatus wants to change the sport then there may be some concerns but if the ISU is really going to listen to such a skater without consulting others still in the sport then we've got bigger problems than debating criticism.

4everchan I want to give you videos but they are such a mess on the Skate Canada Dailymotion page. Just give me a bit of time I'll organize videos by links and stuff in the Challenge thread. We can keep everything there - videos, results, useless Mango commentary...

 

[TGee]

In addition to Novice Women, I'd like to really encourage anyone who likes pairs to check out the Junior pairs SP this evening at 9:10 pm EST.

There are only 7 teams in two groups, so it won't run too late....

While the young Canadian pairs did not make the JGP Final, we have a really promising group, with the top ranked ones hitting scores in the range of our mid level senior pairs. More details in the Challenge thread....

Definitely will be exciting to track them as they develop....

----------------------------------

Editing to add: Don't forget that many of our senior pairs will be competing earlier this evening, with the Senior Pairs SP scheduled to start at 5:25 pm EST, also on Rink 3.

 

[4everchan]

thanks.. i actually MAY be able to do this.