i know I'll regret sticking my nose in here and perhaps help to perpetuate this stuff...(sigh) Oh, well.
Apparently, Patrick's 3A had become really quite consistent and he had been training a quad with some success before his injury.. He tried to come back from his injury in time for Skate Canada, which was obviously too soon. He still was not 100 % at Canadians.( Though they tried to put a good face on it ) He lost his coach because he opted for hi-tech training to speed recovery of the Axel. His programs are so filled with point garnering detail , that he might not need as many jumps on a given day as many other competitors might. This can be true for other CoP style athletes as well. So ,in light of his injury, his camp decided not to push for the quad this season, though he still trains it. He hasn't written off the possibility of ever using it. More important in his training, is to restore the 3A to a high consistency. ( He hasn't said no-one should ever do the quad, or that skaters who do the quad are not good skaters. He's said ..somewhat inartfully ..that it's not enough to rely on it alone. )
I wish he would learn a little diplomacy, sooner rather than later, but trust he will, however long it takes. So I can't really get my knickers in a twist when he goofs.
Likewise, I can't summon the outrage of some others when Plushy engages in his "it's not man skating" routine..Even when I see translations of what he says for Russian consumption, which has been a little stronger than what he's said in NA media.. I wouldn't expect anything else, particularly when he's back in the game. ( I'm not so sanguine about the politicking of federations ..)
But ,back to Plushy..like Patrick training the quad, I notice he did try to alter his program a bit for CoP ( too little , too late) : all the while , saying skating is regressing. Evan, whatever his past offenses, put up a sign in his room saying "Mind your own business.", wily old veteran that he is. (Patrick, take note .) Johnny, having learned to couch barbs in graciousness, praises his competitors while pointing out he needs no lectures from flowing gold locks or tanned faces. Brian has made so many excuses , hardly anyone credits anything he says anymore , the poor guy.
I'd rather judge them by their skating. If I cared so much about speechifyin', I'd go to a debate.
I can't say I feel the same about Elvis, though. He's downright venomous. I can't buy that he's being objective. I feel he's wanting to protect his own image. No skater can control the direction a sport takes as it progresses, once they've retired ( Trixi Schuba ), but he won't let go. Do I buy that he really wants to shower Johnny with kudos ? Not on your Nellie. He's trying to prove his own fairness , so we'll buy it when he says it's not personal. Methinks he doth protest too much. He never wanted the sport to be even as balanced as it was when he was in it and I think he resents anything that he feels may make him appear in a negative light. He's not defending Plushenko.. he's using Plushy to prop up his own image.
The press is prone to hyperbole and premature annointings and Elvis has recieved much of this in his career. Recently some sillies ( Rod Black among them, I believe ) have speculated that Patrick holds the potential to become our greatest champion ever. I guess the great Elvis doesn't take that personally, either.
So to those who look to Elvis to rationalize an extreme position..consider the source.
I was just going by reports of the state of the jump before his unfortunate injury . Everyone knows he's had to work at it and everyone should know he has. Irregardless, my point was really that many people are truly spiteful about him as many are about Plushenko , and other skaters at times...ready to pounce on every inadvertant word of their chosen skater to hate, ready to read the utmost meanness ,conceit , disrespect into every comment and extrapolate that into evidence of the person's worthlessness as a skater and even as a human being.
I agree. I have only heard good things about Chan, apparently he's hardworking, sweet, and polite. I believe it too, he seems genuine in all his interviews. He deserves good scores and yeah maybe they were a little high here in the FS but who hasn't been overmarked once or twice in their skating career? It's not like Chan won a medal here with the mistakes he made. All these people suggesting he's a brat and a baby, I don't know why you think that.
Sk8nMama..I'm training to become a mind reader...
