- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
Sadly, it struck me hard as well. Also the reaction of Mone....
2025 Kinoshita Group Cup Women's Free Skate
- Thread starter dorispulaski
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2020
Yes, it was Mone's reaction that made it really hard to watch...
Don't worry. Be happy.
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
She made me cry!
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
On the Japan TV stream, the video switcher person repectfully refused to show her getting off the ice and in the kiss and cry at all. I assumed it was the gut wrenching tears of what happened...did anyone's stream show her limping? JMTC, this was more than a case of nerves where you fall apart. I hope the best for her.I was afraid she was going to be sick on the ice
Hopefully it was just a bit of anxiety and she's feeling better already
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2013
The edge jumps looked ok except for that last 2A, but I think every toe jump was popped. It's a shame. Holding on for a medal would have been difficult in this field, but falling to 10th?
I'm getting more bullish on Gabby and Sara Maude. The Canadian Fed is going to switch horses if this keeps up.
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2018
Oh not a good picture.
One thing we need to remember is that much of the pr we see if performative, I know fans like to think they are all lovely people and chummily get on like houses on fire (except Plushy and Yags who would have liked to throw each other into said the house on fire and pretty much said so to everyone's great enjoyment). With the rise of social media it's also become rather overdone. None of which said they are not nice and sportsmanlike for the most part, but we should take when they are posing for the photographer, or saying the Right Things in interviews, for what it is, more performing.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2018
It's a great reminder of how we really don't know skaters personally. and like you said, they are still "performing" in front of the media. There are skaters who are cordial with each other but mostly share space because they have the same competitions, and there are skaters who spend most of their time together regardless of profile / skill level, because they are training mates or even off-ice friends. The latter one especially happens a lot behind the scenes and not in front of cameras, so sometimes it can catch fans off guard that some skaters are a lot closer personally than others.
My guess is Mone was caught off guard unfortunately
It probably hits harder especially because Mone just shared quite a lot of podiums with Kaori last season + WTT, some really big ones too (GPF, Worlds) as the 2 Japanese skaters (usually with an American) and Kaori doted on her like a little sister / daughter whenever that happened, and it didn't happen here. And Kaori is in her last season too, so maybe a lot of skaters want to spend longer time with her, including Mone 
But yeah I can't blame Kaori because it's really not a given to share a podium with a training mate, especially one who bloomed so late like Saki. And they made it just in the nick of time too, right before Kaori retired. I mean as you know, it was so hard for Saki to get an international assignment (and if Japan didn't start hosting a challenger, she likely wouldn't been sent) so there may be no other opportunity after this. I hope she enjoys every moment of this last season the way she wants to, not how she is expected to by others.
My guess is Mone was caught off guard unfortunately
It probably hits harder especially because Mone just shared quite a lot of podiums with Kaori last season + WTT, some really big ones too (GPF, Worlds) as the 2 Japanese skaters (usually with an American) and Kaori doted on her like a little sister / daughter whenever that happened, and it didn't happen here. And Kaori is in her last season too, so maybe a lot of skaters want to spend longer time with her, including Mone But yeah I can't blame Kaori because it's really not a given to share a podium with a training mate, especially one who bloomed so late like Saki. And they made it just in the nick of time too, right before Kaori retired. I mean as you know, it was so hard for Saki to get an international assignment (and if Japan didn't start hosting a challenger, she likely wouldn't been sent) so there may be no other opportunity after this. I hope she enjoys every moment of this last season the way she wants to, not how she is expected to by others.
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We haven't figured it out yet.
For Maddie, this is close to what she was scoring around this time last season. In 2024/25, she had a 155.52 at Cranberry Cup (49.84/105.68) and 172.22 at Nebelhorn (60.61/111.61). It's early and it's hard to call based on the start of the season. I'll wait until Skate Canada International to see how she's doing then.
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2007
To answer this question I must explain the plot of The Mission for those who have not seen it.
Per Wikipedia:
In the 1750s, Jesuit priest Father Gabriel (played by Jeremy Irons) enters the eastern Paraguayan jungle to convert the Guaraní to Christianity. He sends another priest to make contact with them, but the man is thrown to his death from Iguazu Falls. Father Gabriel travels to the falls and plays his oboe. One of the Guaraní grabs the oboe from his hands and breaks it in half. Father Gabriel does not react, and the remaining Guaraní, captivated by the music, take him to their village.
Captain Rodrigo Mendoza (played by Robert DeNiro) is a mercenary and slave trader, and a guest of the Spanish governor, Don Cabeza. His fiancée Carlotta confesses that she is in love with his brother Felipe. After Mendoza catches them sleeping together and kills Felipe in a duel, an act that leaves him riddled with guilt. Father Gabriel, a friend of the governor's, challenges Mendoza to undergo penance. Mendoza is forced to accompany the Jesuits to their mission while dragging his heavy armor and sword behind him. The natives recognise their persecutor, but soon forgive a tearful Mendoza. Father Gabriel's mission is depicted as a place of sanctuary and education for the Guaraní. Moved by the Guaraní's acceptance, Mendoza wishes to help, and Father Gabriel gives him a Bible. In time, Mendoza takes vows and becomes a Jesuit.
With the protection offered under Spanish law, the Jesuit missions have been safe. The newly signed Treaty of Madrid reapportions land on which the missions are located, transferring it to the Portuguese. The Portuguese have no interest in converting the natives, viewing them as animals fit only for slavery. Aware that the Jesuits would likely oppose such efforts, Papal emissary Cardinal Altamirano, a Jesuit, is sent to survey the missions and decide which, if any, should be allowed to remain.
Under pressure from both Cabeza and the Portuguese emissary Hontar, Altamirano is forced to choose between two evils. If he rules in favour of the colonists, the indigenous peoples will become enslaved; if in favour of the missions, the Jesuit Order may be condemned by the Portuguese, and the Catholic Church could fracture. Altamirano visits the missions and is amazed at their success in converting the native peoples. At Father Gabriel's mission, he tries to explain the reasons behind closing the missions and instructs the Guaraní that they must leave because "it is God's will".
The Guaraní question this and argue that God's will is to develop the mission. Father Gabriel and Mendoza, under threat of excommunication, state their intention to defend the mission even at the cost of their lives. They are, however, divided on how to do it. Father Gabriel believes that violence is a direct crime against God. Mendoza, by contrast, decides to break his vows by militarily defending the mission. Against Father Gabriel's wishes, he teaches the Guaraní the European art of war.
When a joint Portuguese and Spanish force attacks, Mendoza and a Guaraní militia resist them. Their heroic defense is quickly overcome by the superior weaponry and numbers of the enemy. After breaking through and mortally wounding Mendoza soldiers encounter the Jesuits of the mission leading the Guaraní women and children singing in a religious procession. Father Gabriel is at the head, carrying a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament. The colonial forces organize a firing line and discharge their guns directly into the procession, killing the priests. After Mendoza sees Father Gabriel die before succumbing to his own wounds, a Guaraní man picks up the Blessed Sacrament and continues to lead the procession. Most of the natives are subsequently captured to be sold as slaves, but a small group of children manages to escape into the jungle.
In a final exchange between Altamirano and Hontar, the latter notes that what has happened was unfortunate but inevitable: "We must work in the world; the world is thus." Altamirano rejoins: "No, thus have we made the world. Thus have I made it." Days later, a canoe carrying the surviving children returns to the pillaged and burned mission, retrieving their belongings and departing up the river.
Bradie is dressed as an indigenous Indian skating partly to the theme Soundtrack of the Mission and the Lyrical Nella Fantasia sung by Sarah Brightman loosely based on The Mission that pretties up the story.
The lyrics to Nella Fantasia are as follows (again per Wikipedia)
In English, the song means:
| In my imagination I see a just world Where all live in peace and honesty. I dream of souls that are always free Like clouds that soar Full of humanity; deep in spirit. |
| In my imagination I see a bright world. There even night is less dark. I dream of souls that are always free, Like clouds that soar. |
| In my imagination there is a warm wind That breathes over the cities, like a friend. I dream of souls that are always free, Like clouds that soar Full of humanity; deep in spirit.[3] |
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Many people forget these are competitive athletes in one of the dirtiest sports there is when it comes to influence and politics affecting results. It's not a sport for shrinking violets. At least Mone is on the podium. It's better to get the cold shoulder from competitors than the judges and the fed. Look at the way Wakaba has been treated her whole career and you won't be feeling sorry for Mone. Lol
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- Joined
- Apr 23, 2018
Which is... really not a good idea, Bradie. I hope to god she get advised to scrap it before her next appearance.
Yes. She was reportedly taken to the hospital. I just watched her skate and saw how ill she looked and felt horrible for her. When she gets better, I think it will be wonderful. How she even pulled off what she did is amazing.
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2020
Except I don't think it was about Mone wanting to spend time with Kaori at all... It was her moment to be at the centre of attention, not the odd one out, she just won the gold. Kaori could have celebrated her friend when the three of them got off the ice. And she's way too experienced a skater not to be able to handle it better. And something tells me she would have unless....It's a great reminder of how we really don't know skaters personally. and like you said, they are still "performing" in front of the media. There are skaters who are cordial with each other but mostly share space because they have the same competitions, and there are skaters who spend most of their time together regardless of profile / skill level, because they are training mates or even off-ice friends. The latter one especially happens a lot behind the scenes and not in front of cameras, so sometimes it can catch fans off guard that some skaters are a lot closer personally than others.
My guess is Mone was caught off guard unfortunately
But yeah I can't blame Kaori because it's really not a given to share a podium with a training mate, especially one who bloomed so late like Saki. And they made it just in the nick of time too, right before Kaori retired. I mean as you know, it was so hard for Saki to get an international assignment (and if Japan didn't start hosting a challenger, she likely wouldn't been sent) so there may be no other opportunity after this. I hope she enjoys every moment of this last season the way she wants to, not how she is expected to by others.
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- Joined
- Aug 16, 2018
If you said it that way, it's likely why Kaori ran ahead with Saki, so Mone can have her moment as the centre of attention in the rink being photographed and get her video taken by the media! It is her first challenger title after all, and the title sponsor of the competition is Mone's sponsor too. But I get you, Mone seems very shy and need someone to pull her in and point her out, so it must have not been easy for her to assert herself and her win among such exuberance. I feel bad for her as a fellow introverted person.
It really can't be helped that Kaori is too excited sometimes and very affectionate with people she is close too
You have to see Mao Shimada awkwardly third-wheeling Kaori and Wakaba last Nationals.
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