Your "Best and Worst" of 2009 Worlds list... | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Your "Best and Worst" of 2009 Worlds list...

So in other words, what Chan said was right but he should shut up? LOL You people are funny. :rofl:

No, I don't think he's right. I don't mind him having whatever opinion, but he really went out of his way to make remarks about everthing Joubert, and he was rude IMO. The surprise for me is that people here were expecting Joubert to start saying that he didn't win beacuse the judges and such, and when he was asked, he assume his mistakes. And then Chan continues complaining about Brian's PCS... what does he cares about Brian's scores?? he should worry about his own scores and stop defending Jeff for whatever Brian said before (not even Jeff cares what Brian said, which is the funny part in all this).
 
Woohoo! :rock:
Evan's reaction during his last sit spin
K/S SP (that girl is fierce!)
Yuna on top of the podium
D/W free dance
P/B getting better and better

Good grief :banging:
Nobu and Zayak rules
Kozuka's ever decreasing scores
Brian's fall.

Oh no :cry:
Abbott, Czisny, and M/B performances
F/S free dance. I had high hopes for this dance and it never reached it's potential this season.

I'd throw Czisny's performance into the "Good grief" category. I mean, we all expected it to some degree, but come on Alyssa- falling on a 2A!?

Besides that, Kostner's meltdown- that's easily the worst performance from a top-level skater I've EVER seen. If I didn't know her I'd have thought she was some obscure nth place skater from a country I couldn't even pronounce...Not the then-reigning world silver medalist!!! :eek: And we Americans complain about Czisny being inconsistent!!

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Also, NBC's coverage. I don't think they did a good job with the broadcast at all. No wonder it got awful numbers...let me make it clear, I'm thankful we even got some coverage- but that said, I think it warrants some constructive criticism. This is not even about the commentators/analysts...this goes beyond that.

First of all, if they are going to show only finals to the audience, what about listing the standings for the field (after the SP) upon getting on the air?? :banging: Even ABC did this back in the day when they showed Finals of the GP events. And maybe full standings after the completed segment of the FS? That would have helped "set the stage" for this portion of the competition. And no mention of Group 3 skaters, which were warming up on the ice as Costas and Kwan kept going on about Kim Yu Na, then her comeback. Obviously the group 3 skaters should have at least gotten a brief mention while they were warming up on the ice, as well as the skate order.

They only mentioned Universal Sports coverage later in the broadcast when they mentioned Alyssa's free skate. I think they should have mentioned it at the beginning of the broadcast as well. I also think they cut out too many K&C moments but I don't know if that was necessary to fit in all the commercials or not. Also, I thought it was WEIRD that no interviews were conducted. At least at SA Andrea Joyce interviewed Kim Yu Na- perhaps she was occupied with the Korean press? or they figured the language barrier was too much? But they didn't even interview Rachel (or Alyssa) afterward.

But on a positive note, I'm glad they showed Lysacek's freeskate at the end. Of course, that came at the expense of the ladies' medal ceremony but in this case, I think they made the right decision since no American medaled.

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On a better note, I was impressed by Rachel Flatt. Exceeded my expectations and I'm sure others as well. And although I don't follow or care about men's skating I'm glad Lysacek was able to pull off the win- at home, too. And major props to that French skater, man- for getting up after that nasty fall and going back out there and finishing the routine. I mean, she was clearly in pain and still fought through it. That's what you call NOT GIVING UP.
 
I'd throw Czisny's performance into the "Good grief" category. I mean, we all expected it to some degree, but come on Alyssa- falling on a 2A!?

Brian Joubert fell on a 2A at Worlds, too.


Kurt Browning popped a 2A at the Olympics in 1994


freak things happen to the best skaters/people...
 
Best: Tanith and Ben beating the Detroit crowd. TAKE THAT IGOR!

Worst: Scott Moir whining about not understanding how they were behind B&A, Scott talking about how he and Tessa had the best free dance in the world, basically any time Scott opened his mouth... And then V&M ending up on the podium with sub-par skating. I severly dislike D&W's skating, but I probably would have had them ahead of V&M anyway.
 
Brian Joubert fell on a 2A at Worlds, too.


Kurt Browning popped a 2A at the Olympics in 1994


freak things happen to the best skaters/people...


Well, of course it's bound to happen- but this was the SP, and she ALREADY fell on another jump- she usually hits that. This was a case of crumbling under pressure, simple as that.
 
and again I point to major players who also crumble (Kurt Browning a FOUR TIME WORLD CHAMP couldn't make it onto the olympic podium, pressure gets even those who seem to have it altogether)... I honestly don't see anything wrong with it and she's certainly far from a failure in my book. She's been on the world team twice and how many ladies can say that in the US?

I feel as Mathman does... who would have thought that Paul Wylie or Rudy Galindo could overcome their demons and go on and make the statements they did? Paul Beat how many of the 'worlds best' and he was another USFSA decision that didn't sit well with everyone. He kicked the pants off of the reigning world champion (Kurt) as well as the US Champion!

And Rudy came from out of nowhere to win the US title and went on to medal at worlds...

can't blame the USFSA for putting a bit of hope in one of the ladies considered to be an underdog.
 
Best
- M/T's short
- Denis Ten's FS
- eating dinner with agosto and him recognizing me every time we saw each other
- meeting mroz (and him ahead of abbott in top ten)
- Kim Yuna.
- paul poirier smiled at me
- davis/ white's OD and FD
- speaking to all the french speaking skaters
- joking around with schultheiss
- watching the intense glares between joubert and chan during FS practice.
- lepisto's cuteness

Worst
- kostner's FS
- Virtue and Moir.
- Brian Joubert's FS
- F/S's OD
- not seeing any of the ladies competitions
- DELOBEL/ SCHOENFELDER's ABSENCE
 
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No, I don't think he's right. I don't mind him having whatever opinion, but he really went out of his way to make remarks about everthing Joubert, and he was rude IMO. The surprise for me is that people here were expecting Joubert to start saying that he didn't win beacuse the judges and such, and when he was asked, he assume his mistakes. And then Chan continues complaining about Brian's PCS... what does he cares about Brian's scores?? he should worry about his own scores and stop defending Jeff for whatever Brian said before (not even Jeff cares what Brian said, which is the funny part in all this).


Is B****ing officially a canadian thing, Chan and Moir plus all those commentators; this will create interesting Olympics.
 
Best:

Queen Yuna's SP and LP I have not seen near perfect performances like that since the Kween's reign.

Evan for finally putting 2 great programs out there and winning the Gold medal hands down without any controversy.

Patrick for overcoming his 3 axle nemesis and delivering when it counts.

Miki she showed that she is still a threat.

Joannie for finally winning a World Medal and for persevering and working on her technique. Her jumps IMO are the best in the business.

Rachael's SP & LP make room ladies Rachael has arrived at the party.

S/S fabulously performed SP and LP.

ETA: As an old time Michelle fan it was a highlight for me to see Michelle at Worlds. I spent a lot of time lurking over at the MKF reading all of the news stories posted, viewing videos, photos and screen caps of Michelle at Worlds. It was great.

Worst

Brian's fall in the LP.

B/A winning Silver instead of Gold

Caro's complete meltdown.

Mao's less than stellar performances. I was looking forward to a real
dogfight on the ice between YuNa and Mao with maybe just a couple of points separating them going into the LP and the excitement that goes with not knowing who was going to win Gold. Alas the showdown did not happen..
 
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Is B****ing officially a canadian thing, Chan and Moir plus all those commentators; this will create interesting Olympics.

Have you ever listened to the American commentators? If you think the Canadians are bad (which I'm not sure that they are), then listen to Dick Button for a few minutes. That's enough to turn you off of skating!
 
Good topic. I enjoyed reading what everyone else said. Here are some of mine.

Best Moment:
Evan Lysack winning the first world title for the US since 1996 IN the US. :clap:

Best Comeback:
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agusto coming so close to winning the first world ice dance title for America (I hoped they could do it, but after the injury I wasn’t sure it would happen. Being behind only 0.64 after the OD was a nice surprise for me)
The Russian ice dancers are a close second. I don’t like them but after all their injuries and struggles, winning their first world medal—gold—is an awesome comeback.

Favorite Costume:
Ice Dancers are always so stylish but sometimes lack originality—after seeing bunches of Mexican bullfighter costumes in the CD, my eyes started blurring things. The second Candian team wearing all black was a nice relief!
Meagan Duhmal’s SP dress-blue and black. Interesting design.

Surprises: good and bad
Canadian pairs losing their 3rd spot for the Olympics.
Rachael Flatt ending in 5th.
Joannie Rochette winning her first world medal—silver.

Disappointments:
Yu-Na Kim killing the women’s field—she could have missed several jumps and still won. :ohwell:
As most others said, Carolina Kostner’s LP and Jeremy Abbott finishing out of the top 10 (I think)

Michelle’sFan
 
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Wonderful moments:
Aljona & Robin being so gorgeous and winning the second title :bow:
Tanith & Ben's OD and FD and seeing her so emotional-I cried with joy...but then... see below
Pechalat & Bourzat's FD-the first time I really liked it, it was awesome
Yuna Kim winning and Miki Ando coming back so strong
Elene Gedevanishvili back on track-great SP
Sarah Meier-such a wonderful FS despite being not in shape- and she was so emotional
Evan skating both short and long with so much fire and winning(and the crowd already jumping on their feet during his final spin)
Patrick Chan winning silver with awesome skating
Tomas' SP & LP until he started doubling the easiest jumps

Shocking:
Domnina & Shabalin winning. the judging of the dance competition was ridiculous. Neither their CD nor OD nor FD was worth a medal, let alone the gold
Davis & White not medalling with that stellar performances:no:
Carolina Kostner. She certainly has to do something...
Mao not medalling

Disappointing:
Brian...
Tomas missing a medal
Mclaughlin & Brubacker and Dube & Davison struggling-they could have done so much better
Faeilla & Scali's fall in the otherwise brilliant OD and skating a lackluster FD

Whom I missed
Stephane, Jeff, Johnny and Daisuke
Delobel & Schoenfelder-they are the class of the field
Adam :love:

On a side note, thank you eurosport for a lot of coverage!:rock:
 
This is fun! :agree:

Most celebratory moments
Savchenko & Szolkowy winning the gold after two nearly perfect routines
Yu-Na Kim's win, especially the mind-blowing SP with that score :rock:

Breakthrough
Denis Ten

Lightest program of the week
Kozuka's SP :yes:

Worst train of thought in a program (male)
Nobunari Oda when he improvised his combos in the free skate
(a loud HUH? to Sarah and Drew's blog mention of how skaters don't improvise under the new system)

Worst train of thought in a program (female)
Carolina Kostner when her mind must have gone blank after the first jump in the free skate

Best jackets (and capes (?)) in the K&C
Péchalat & Bourzat and the Finnish ladies

Worst rule
Only 3 medals in dance :p

Most missed
Delobel & Schoenfelder
Johnny Weir
Alban Préaubert
 
Highlights

Yu-Na Kim , Savchenko-Szolkowy and Patrick Chan fantastic smooth, technically unbeatable skating.

Davis/White brilliant, virtuos programs.
The Kazah Ten's Long Program.

Disappointments

Domnina-Shabalin Gold medal, which not even worthed a medal with a fair judging.
(Please, remove Ice-dance from the Olympic Games to make judging more fair during the World and Eurochampionships. I hoped that, the Navka-Kostomarov case was the last arteficially created OGM, built up before the Olympic Games to kill the best ones - like Denkova -Staviyski f.e.)

Kostner. It was terrible and sad.

Joubert's expression after the fall in 2A. Even if seemingly it was not the reason of his lost there...

Delobel-Schoenfelder's absance. It was painful and a risk for the next year.
 
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Highs

Yuna winning her first world title.:clap:

Mikki back on the podium after withdrawing last year:biggrin:

Evan winning because Johnny Weir is sure as hell fired up for next season-the season that counts

Tanith and Ben - ecstatic for their silver medal:rock:

Sarah Meier - AMAZING skate after being off the ice for 10 weeks prior to worlds:bow:

Lows

Carolina Koster - not my favorite skater but I would not wish a skate like that on my worst enemy

No Johnny Weir - Worlds was not the same:cry:

Alissa not making the top ten

D/W not snagging the bronze despite a great skate(I still don't like them though)
 
Delights:

I have found myself a new favorite - Samuel Contesti! The Swedish commentators called him 'a breath of fresh spring air' and I couldn't agree more! Actually I discovered him at Europeans and I just seem to like him more and more. What programs he had (all three of them) - SP, LP and EX - what a fantastic performer; I say! What's making him even more interesting is his background story of having been denied competing internationally by the French figureskating association (because they didn't believe in him) and having to wait years before being allowed to compete for Italy instead - oh, what a sweet revenge! I just love stories like that and I can't wait to watch him perform next year!

Thomas Verner's SP, LP and EX - yes, the last tiny bit was missing this time but still, this looks very promising for the future! He's such a wonderful skater with oodles of charm1

Kozuka's SP - a little gem! And that finishing pose - I loved it!

A magnificent Yu-Na Kim - what a beauty in every way!

Mao's EX-tango - now why didn't she choose something like this for the competition?! Also her 3A-2T from her LP - that was a wow!

All French icedancing couples (I especially liked the Edith Piaf-routine, it was so wonderfully French), all Canadian icedancing couples and, as usual, my favorites Kerr/Kerr. Oh, and I also saw Samuelson/Bates for the first time and liked them very much!

That those who had been injured could come back and skate so well: the three medaling icedance couples, Sarah Meier, etc. and great to see Oda back after last year's debacle (he's such a wonderful personality)!

Eurosport's coverage - thank you very much!

Disappointments:

The audience in L.A. - honestly, from all those years of watching competitions I can't remember ever having seen such a subdued and seemingly disinterested crowd. Strange since Americans are, in my view, generally very enthusiastic about things. Maybe people with no real interest in skating or skaters had been given tickets? I don't know, but there seemed to be no buzz or excitement in the arena (and where were the usually ubiquitous banners?).

Carolina K. - just pathetic. I've never seen a skater fall apart like that - and why? She wasn't battling for the gold, was she?

The judging (in the icedance especially) - I got the distinct feeling the placements had been decided before the actual competition. There are so many great couples now that there's hardly any difference between them (if any). And the Kerrs were underscored as usual - what could the judges have against this nice couple?

Patrick Chang, please take it easy with your comments! I was disappointed in Joubert's comments last year (after all, I'm a huge Buttle fan!) but this year I was impressed by his restraint so I'm hoping that Chang too will realize that it's better to do the fighting ON the ice rather than OFF.

Jeremy Abbott not having the kind of competition he would have hoped for. What a divine artist on the ice he is - I wish him lots of success next year because he deserves it!

Johnny Weir not going! He's been a favorite since the first tiime I saw him step on the ice and it just didn't feel right he wasn't there. He's poetry in motion and I can only wish him too sensational success next year!
 
I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but Tomas Verner! To be honest, I would have had him in the lead after the SP, and definitely somewhere on the podium in the end. He didn't have his best LP, but it was one of the better ones from him in awhile. Such a great skater, and you can just tell how much he enjoys skating. I could never make up my mind as whether or not I was a fan of his, but I was convinced this week.

His exhibition made me laugh so much! And actually, the gala was pretty decent. 2008 Worlds the Gala was kinda Zzzz if you ask me, so it was definitely more interesting/exciting this year IMO.

Also forgot to mention Denney/Barrett I think. What a debut! Can wait to see them as they become more polished!
 
Best -

Yuna shedding a happy tear on the podium.
Evan's FS, especially towards the end.
Dennis Ten's FS. I'll be watching this young man closely!


Worst -

Takahashi missing from the show.
The look on Joubert's face after the FS.
Carolina's meltdown. There's really no excuse for that kind of performance.
 
I have found myself a new favorite - Samuel Contesti! The Swedish commentators called him 'a breath of fresh spring air' and I couldn't agree more! Actually I discovered him at Europeans and I just seem to like him more and more. What programs he had (all three of them) - SP, LP and EX - what a fantastic performer; I say! What's making him even more interesting is his background story of having been denied competing internationally by the French figureskating association (because they didn't believe in him) and having to wait years before being allowed to compete for Italy instead - oh, what a sweet revenge! I just love stories like that and I can't wait to watch him perform next year!
Well, in hindsight this was obviously a mistake by the French federation. In their defense, however, it's not like Contesti was getting great results (not reaching the LP at 2005 Worlds, not much GP success, etc.). By the time they let him go, it must have seemed as though Yannick and Alban had more potential. And really, if Yannick ever sorts out the mental side of things, he still does.
 
Best Costume
Davis/ White, Mao Asada, Ponsero

Worst costume
Khokhlova/Novitski, KVDP,Savchenko/ Szokowy SP

Best Comeback
Yuko/Alexander


Best Program
Savchenko/ Szokowy lp, Davis/White FP, Domnina/Shabalin CD, FP, Yuna,

Best judging
Pairs SP, CD ice dancing

Worst Judging
Ladies sp

Program i missed the most
Ponsero's Skiing Ex number :love:

Worst PR stunt
PATRICK CHAN
 
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