2022-23 Coaching, Country and Discipline changes

[el henry]

This particular statement from TSL was non-conditional on their Twitter: Davis and Smolkin have been released.

I am no fan of the "Oh it must be this, oh it could be that" wink wink nudge nudge of Dave Lease. But when TSL says something unconditionally (as in five years ago, Jason Brown is going to TCC), they are usually right. Note the use of the word "usually".

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

This particular statement from TSL was non-conditional on their Twitter: Davis and Smolkin have been released.

I am no fan of the "Oh it must be this, oh it could be that" wink wink nudge nudge of Dave Lease. But when TSL says something unconditionally (as in five years ago, Jason Brown is going to TCC), they are usually right. Note the use of the word "usually".

TSL then went on to tweet this, with regards to D/S's likely country of transfer. I'm guessing the mention of Israel is due to previous speculation that they may switch to there?

 

[cheerknithanson]

This particular statement from TSL was non-conditional on their Twitter: Davis and Smolkin have been released.

I am no fan of the "Oh it must be this, oh it could be that" wink wink nudge nudge of Dave Lease. But when TSL says something unconditionally (as in five years ago, Jason Brown is going to TCC), they are usually right. Note the use of the word "usually".

So they're like TMZ?

 

[cheerknithanson]

TSL then went on to tweet this, with regards to D/S's likely country of transfer. I'm guessing the mention of Israel is due to previous speculation that they may switch to there?

Wait a minute? Why Israel? Is one of them Jewish?

USA makes a bit more sense cause Diana was born there.

 

[el henry]

So they're like TMZ?

Is that what TMZ does? I'm afraid I don't know much about their reporting. But if they are right when they say "This happened" and the rest of it is all winking and nudging, then yes.

 

[el henry]

Wait a minute? Why Israel? Is one of them Jewish?

USA makes a bit more sense cause Diana was born there.

Sorry for the double post, I didn't see this until after I had posted.

Galit Chait is famous for finding skaters with "Jewish grandmothers" (in quotes deliberately) to skate for Israel. That said, and I have no idea because I do not follow them, I think I heard Gleb may have Jewish ancestry.

Presumably Davis/Smolkin want to return to the Olympics. That is a long shot in the US, given 1) where Gleb is in the citizenship process and 2) more importantly, the strength of US ice dancing. No guarantee at all they would be in the top three.

 

[cheerknithanson]

Is that what TMZ does? I'm afraid I don't know much about their reporting. But if they are right when they say "This happened" and the rest of it is all winking and nudging, then yes.

Sometimes they're the first to report stuff like celeb deaths...and they have ended up being right.

 

[gleungc6]

Isabella Flores (USA) announced that her Belarusian ice dance partner Ivan Desyatov can’t be released from the Belarus fed without them paying BSU 25k USD. She is crowdfunding. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtFPMDyxgyV/

 

[Diana Delafield]

Wait a minute? Why Israel? Is one of them Jewish?

USA makes a bit more sense cause Diana was born there.

I took a romp through my shelf of names dictionaries left over from grad school linguistics, and the consensus is that Smolkin is an eastern Ashkenazik Jewish surname from western Russia and the eastern Slavic countries. Take your pick as to whether it was originally the diminutive nickname for someone from the town of Smolensk, or who was a burner/distiller of pitch, or who had black hair. These days it's statistically more often found in Israel than in any other country. Not that that means he considers himself Israeli, but it's a peg to hang his affiliation on, so to speak.

 

[icewhite]

Isabella Flores (USA) announced that her Belarusian ice dance partner Ivan Desyatov can’t be released from the Belarus fed without them paying BSU 25k USD. She is crowdfunding. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtFPMDyxgyV/

That is very unfortunate for them, but I hope they don't pay the Belarussian fed any money.

 

[surimi]

Isabella Flores (USA) announced that her Belarusian ice dance partner Ivan Desyatov can’t be released from the Belarus fed without them paying BSU 25k USD. She is crowdfunding. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtFPMDyxgyV/

Poor Isabella, she can't seem to catch a break from bad luck. Fingers crossed for her...

 

[cheerknithanson]

Isabella Flores (USA) announced that her Belarusian ice dance partner Ivan Desyatov can’t be released from the Belarus fed without them paying BSU 25k USD. She is crowdfunding. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtFPMDyxgyV/

$4,000 in 3 hours!!!

 

[yesterday]

That is very unfortunate for them, but I hope they don't pay the Belarussian fed any money.

I wonder why you don't know things like this before partnering up.

 

[el henry]

I wonder why you don't know things like this before partnering up.

According to Isabella:

We have been negotiating the terms of his release for a while now, and after meeting many demands, Belarus Skating Union struck its final deal: the federation requires 25,000 USD to grant Vanya’s release.

Her IG Post:

 

[4everchan]

figure skating is already expensive.. then it gets more expensive...

regarding davis/smolkin... honestly, i am not happy. So many Russian skaters won't get their release, even some who have never competed internationally... but then, a team that has had its successes on the international scene gets released??? Shows how powerful some skating moms are

 

[cheerknithanson]

They already reached 20% of the goal in 4 hours!

 

[icewhite]

The ISU should put an end to this practice and force feds that haven't release pairs' or dance partners after two years by fining them, but of course it won't.

 

[4everchan]

The ISU should put an end to this practice and force feds that haven't release pairs' or dance partners after two years by fining them, but of course it won't.

and releases should be automatic for those who really have never competed internationally.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

This particular statement from TSL was non-conditional on their Twitter: Davis and Smolkin have been released.

I am no fan of the "Oh it must be this, oh it could be that" wink wink nudge nudge of Dave Lease. But when TSL says something unconditionally (as in five years ago, Jason Brown is going to TCC), they are usually right. Note the use of the word "usually".

Yeah, I don't at all question whether this is true or not regarding Davis/ Smolkin. Dave tends to have good sources. He also still loves to gossip, name drop, and snark in a sly way sometimes, though he's cleaned up a bit of his nastier tendencies.

Since TSL tends to get scoops, I have been expecting to hear more about where Danill Parkman might land. Someone posted the U.S. pair skater partnership rumor on another forum, but they provided no evidence to back it up. So it might be more about a tryout that hasn't come to fruition yet.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Isabella Flores (USA) announced that her Belarusian ice dance partner Ivan Desyatov can’t be released from the Belarus fed without them paying BSU 25k USD. She is crowdfunding. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtFPMDyxgyV/

Wow. Is this legal for BSU to demand payment? I realize U.S. fed also tried to get payment from Pfund/ Santillan when they wanted their release to skate for Switzerland. I thought federations are required to release skaters who have requested their release, after a designated period of time. Ivan Desyatov is Russian by birth. He was released from Russia to skate for Belarus in junior ice dance.

I see from Bella's post that they are being given a hard time by BSU. I suppose Bella/ Vanya don't want to go the legal route, which could be time-consuming and probably also expensive, unless they are backed by their federation and the ISU.

I wish them both good luck. They are such a promising team. I will certainly donate to their cause.