Wow. Guru SF was off the "puter for a couple of days and all the newbies came out of the woodwork. I appreciate that concerns for Patrick (and/or the OGM for Canada) has induced so many to come out of lurking. Welcome all, be you the worry wart, the cheer leader, the Jewish mother, the nervous nelly, the rink-side critic, Patrick's secret coach, or even a double agent!
Welcome to the fest, one and all! FYI, on this thread, besides stalking and analyzing Patrick, we do two things regularly. We celebrate and we ohmmmmmm.
Patrick has been discussed and criticized to death in various threads which I don't participate so much anymore as I like to let the facts do the talking. However, facts are often ignored or distorted and occasionally I do bring them as reminders, such as post #40 on
this page.
I also like to look at the big picture. Yes competition is more intense now partly because Patrick has raised the bar and partly because of young new talents rising rapidly. As well, scoring has become more generous and records are being broken regularly even with flawed programs. But all in all, who has the best skating skills in the world, most dependable quads, best performance and execution with the most difficult programs, and very importantly, the most winning experiences?
Everyone here has declared themselves as a Patrick fan with accompanying emotions for and about him. However, some of the feelings are counter productive and even unfair. I thank Patrick for bringing me and many people joy and pride and wish the OGM for him and for Canada. He has put it upon himself along with many fans and Canadians to do just that. That is a big pressure but he does not owe anybody the OGM. With or without that piece of hardware, he has done so much for the sport and for his country. Let's not forget that.
Is Patrick a better skater now than when he and Krall parted way? Difficulties arose before Krall's surprise resignation and Patrick was depressed and contemplating quitting before Nice Worlds. Does anybody really believe that situation would have been good for his skating and competitions? He continued to dominate the sport and became the first 3-time World Champion under the new system under which a repeat champion has been very rare. He had answered the critics with the most successful quads since Vancouver and he answered the critics again with sublime artistry while doing the most technically challenging programs in the World. I am glad Patrick is able to stay with the big picture and stick with his long term plan for the OGM. He suffered set backs and criticisms when he first acquired the quads, then when he focused on the artistry and performance. This is the season he is focusing on the mental aspect and we saw the brilliance when he put everything together at TEB.
Patrick can't stop the criticism however intentioned. He was condemned for falling when he always went all out for all the jumps. This season he went completely clean but now the criticisms are on the occasional popped jumps as if he's lost whichever jump he happens to not have done perfectly.
So I just do what Patrick should do, which is ignore all the complaints, criticisms, advice, etc. Stick with what you know that works for you, Patrick, and believe you can put it all together better than anybody else at Sochi.
As for fans who can't hold on to the belief, here are two things for you to remember:
1. All the other skaters have their own difficulties and the Olympic nerves. Most contenders don't even have any Olympic experience, at least not as contenders.
2. Ohmmmmmm.
Here are my thoughts in relation to figures.
