Skaters who are not "your cup of tea"? | Page 12 | Golden Skate

Skaters who are not "your cup of tea"?

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Alba

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Feb 26, 2014
i thought that was a list of skaters you didn't like, i was like damn you have no taste in anything...


:laugh: No, it's just that the list of NOT it could be very long.


i'm not on the i/k train though. i think she's very good but he's terrible. he's lucky he's kind of white boy good looking or he'd add nothing to the team.

There is something about them that makes me love. The first time I saw them, I thought I like this couple.
Yeah he's cute but I like him because he's got vivacità (it doesn't come to my mind in english, verve maybe?).
I think he can improve and be very good, don't you think?
 

pangtongfan

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Chan's skating doesnt do anything for me. No heart, emotion, or soul, doesnt feel the music through his fingertips, kind of sloppy positions and not very elegant or graceful, spins not very good, and jumps very inconsistent and kind of small. Yes he has skating skills and does quads, but the rest meh, and his joke scores and results done endure me (or many others) to him either.

Hanyu's skating I find immature and also lacking heart, emotion, and soul. The technical merit is impressive, and skating skills are very good too, but artistry not really there, and he is inconsistent as well. As with Chan many of his inflated scores are offensive as well, although he atleast doesnt have a controversial big event (grand prix final, Worlds, Olympics) medal yet.

Sotnikova I was never a fan of with the mishmash array of arm movements, ugly looking jumps, ugly looking spins with heavily controrted positions which travel alot, plain bad choreography, and oversold facial expressions. The Sochi scandal which harms and endangers the whole sport make me like her even less of course.

Bobrova is someone I was never a fan of. Her posture is horrible and akin to an old lady with a serious back problem who cant even stand up straight. Their twizzles and technically abilities are suspect at best, and most of their programs are awful too (although I liked their Mad program).

Megan Duhamel is someone I want to cheer for as she is such a sweetheart and a bubbly and energetic personality, and she clearly works hard and wants it badly. Her skating is a huge eyesore though. She is the epitome of a truck driver on ice, although she has some impressive technical capabilities which should be acknowledged and respected (and certainly are by the judges) but as far as enjoying watching her, no.
 

skatedreamer

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The HUGES sisters--hopefully no more or them pop up in the skating world.
Patrick Chan--too much sour grapes attitude.
A. Urmanov--something about him was annoying, both on and off ice.
Plushenko

I understand what you mean about Urmanov. Never saw any interviews, etc., but his on-ice persona always got on my nerves for some reason, even though there were things in his style that I appreciated. To this day, can't really explain what it was about him that bugged me... :confused:

And one more: Tara Lipinski. I've long since made my peace w/ her Nagano OGM but she was just so OTT cloyingly cute!
 

pangtongfan

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Some from the past:

Lysacek- the definition of completely average and generic. The only thing extraordinary about him is his remarkable competitive abilities and determination to win, and also amazing luck and timing. I cant even really disagree with her World and Olympic titles too much, but simply amazing such a garden variety type skater could ever have a career like he had. Wow.

Butyrskaya- I had a soft spot for her due to her determination and overachieving. She has to be by far the least talented skater to ever win a major title. However she wasnt a natural in any aspect of skating. Jumps were all hard fought and landed with a huge swining free leg usually. Spins, spirals, and other elements were always weak. Artistry was stilted and clunky. The amazing thing is through sheer determination and hard work she made herself into a skater who could have done even more, for instance she could hae easily won the bronze at the 98 Olympics and won another World title in 2000, but on top of all those other weaknesses she suffered from a case of anxiety and nerves under pressure too.

Ilya Averbuhk- I found his skating vulgar and he was part of the worst era (98-2003) of ice dance judging in history.

Marizio Margalio- the guy had two left feet. I cant believe Barbara and Ottavio Cinquanta could drag him to a World title and Olympic medal.

Galit Chait- foot stambling, couldnt straighten free leg to save left, no basic skating skills at all, and mafia father bought their world medal.
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
I agree about Evan and in part with Butyrskaya. But she did have a womanly maturity and sophitication about her. Her spins were fine. She had far more interesting qualities than say Kimmie Meissner, Sarah or Emily Hughes,
 

MoonlightSkater

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May 17, 2011
Perhaps I'm blind but I've never understood people that panned Patrick for not connecting with his music. I think he has a great connection with his music and I see nothing robotic about him. I guess it's popular to criticize and hate him these days though. Too bad because he has done alot to erase the abject physicality of figure skating for men and introduce some grace and smoothness. Before Patrick it was too often all about the jumps (Plushenko, Stojko) and the music and choreography just seemed secondary sometimes.

I've also never cared for Kostner. Didn't like her Ave Maria OR her Bolero.

Different strokes and all that..........................

I think Patrick connects intellectually very well with the music. I don't know that he feels it, though, and certainly not in every performance.

I loved Carolina's "Ave," but I, too, don't particularly like her "Bolero," though she skated it well. I will say she is the best attempt at Bolero since Torvill and Dean.
 

Violet

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Aug 2, 2010
Was gratified to read the comments about Evan. My 'distaste' for him came originally based on his arrogant manner. Then his comments about Johnny Weir, I thought were unprofessional and uncalled for. But I realized I just didn't care for his skating. Someone upthread mentioned his flailing arms and that always bugged me. I was glad he won the OGM for the US but could not warm up to him.

Perhaps I'm blind but I've never understood people that panned Patrick for not connecting with his music. I think he has a great connection with his music and I see nothing robotic about him. I guess it's popular to criticize and hate him these days though. Too bad because he has done alot to erase the abject physicality of figure skating for men and introduce some grace and smoothness. Before Patrick it was too often all about the jumps (Plushenko, Stojko) and the music and choreography just seemed secondary sometimes.

I've also never cared for Kostner. Didn't like her Ave Maria OR her Bolero.

Different strokes and all that..........................

I can't agree more with your comments on Patrick. I used to be a Chan hater for the last three years. until recently I realized how artistically amazing he actually is. You just have to watch him with a very calm mindset in a quiet environment.
 

skatedreamer

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I think Patrick connects intellectually very well with the music. I don't know that he feels it, though, and certainly not in every performance.

I loved Carolina's "Ave," but I, too, don't particularly like her "Bolero," though she skated it well. I will say she is the best attempt at Bolero since Torvill and Dean.

Hearing "Ave" @ the beginning of a program normally makes me cringe, but Carolina's rendition knocked my socks off.

Your comment re: Chan's intellectual connection to the music is interesting. Can you elaborate a little?
 

moviechick

On the Ice
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May 7, 2008
Whoever explained Chan's artistry as "and now my arm goes here" is exactly how I feel too. It feels very calculated.
 

hyperinflation

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speaking of teams whose aesthetics don't match - chock and bates. she's a much more dynamic and interesting skater than he is, but she's also about a million times more attractive facially than he is. he looks like the mouthbreather who used to sit behind me in algebra and who kept trying to show everyone his pokemon cards
 

anyanka

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Jul 8, 2011
Surya Bonaly ... except for her back flip which she landed on one foot, right in front of the judges at the 1998 Olympics as an "eff you" to them for slamming her her entire career. THAT is bad***.
 

usethis2

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Feb 11, 2014
I wouldn't exactly call it artistic but Patrick's skating skill is amazing indeed. Even to my untrained eyes, the quality of edges, speed, command on the ice are amazing.
 

pangtongfan

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I agree about Evan and in part with Butyrskaya. But she did have a womanly maturity and sophitication about her. Her spins were fine. She had far more interesting qualities than say Kimmie Meissner, Sarah or Emily Hughes,

Sarah had very good basic skating, edges, stroking, spirals, and spins though which you cant really say about Maria. She was also a far more consistent jumper, even if Maria's technique was better and she got more height, Sarah could crank those jumps around and had a natural sense of timing unlike Maria who couldnt control her jumps when she was at all nervous.

Kimmie was a flash in the pan who took advantage of the small window she could crank around those cheated 3-3s which werent called, and then coast on her rep as new World Champion with grossly inflated PCS for a couple years, then once that phase passed predictably retired.
 

chuckm

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speaking of teams whose aesthetics don't match - chock and bates. she's a much more dynamic and interesting skater than he is, but she's also about a million times more attractive facially than he is. he looks like the mouthbreather who used to sit behind me in algebra and who kept trying to show everyone his pokemon cards

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many think Scott Moir is good-looking, but to my eyes, he is repulsive, with his long nose, receding chin and frequently fake smiles. Ugh! And he has the unpleasant personality to go with his looks.
 

sky_fly20

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many think Scott Moir is good-looking, but to my eyes, he is repulsive, with his long nose, receding chin and frequently fake smiles. Ugh! And he has the unpleasant personality to go with his looks.

Scott Moir is not attractive by any means at all
attractive men would be Andrew Poje, Nikita Katsalapov,
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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Jan 25, 2013
Whoever explained Chan's artistry as "and now my arm goes here" is exactly how I feel too. It feels very calculated.

It's choreography, of course it will look somewhat calculated. While he's not as emotionally involved as other skaters and goes for histrionics on his face, I think he creates artistry with his body and movements, which is much harder as well as much more important to qualifying the artistic aspect of the sport. I don't think skating should be dramatics on ice, and for example appreciated skaters/ice dancers who create lines and visual artistry rather than contrived faces. I think intellectually involved is the perfect way to describe Chan's artistry... he's focused on presenting the technical aspects of skating in the most aesthetically pleasing way. To him, artistry is in the skating and the skater's body, and not in the face... which makes sense, since most people can't see a skater's face in the detail that the judges can.
 

moviechick

On the Ice
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May 7, 2008
Lbr, I/K are really the only Hollywood level attractive ice dance team.

Everyone else is varying levels of basic/plain.
 

apgold

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Jan 10, 2014
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Many think Scott Moir is good-looking, but to my eyes, he is repulsive, with his long nose, receding chin and frequently fake smiles. Ugh! And he has the unpleasant personality to go with his looks.

Yes, and he has that whiny nasal voice to boot. But being with Tessa makes him more attractive on the ice, IMO.

I have tremendous respect for what all skaters do, but sometimes you just don't connect to them, for various reasons. Here are mine from the past 4 or 5 years:

- Davis & White - something about them rubs me the wrong way, and I don't like the way they "hop" into their twizzles
- Miki Ando - she seems like a sweet person, but aside from her jumps, I could never get into her programs
- Evan Lysacek - for the reasons stated upthread
- Patrick Chan - for the reasons stated upthread
- Kanako Murakami - it must be the donkey kick
- Max Aaron - great jumper, but that's about it
- Alena Leonova - she's got spirit but never looks like she has it quite together
 

hyperinflation

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Jan 19, 2014
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many think Scott Moir is good-looking, but to my eyes, he is repulsive, with his long nose, receding chin and frequently fake smiles. Ugh! And he has the unpleasant personality to go with his looks.

scott's goofy looking as hell, only a blind person would argue he's the looker in the team between him and tessa. but he's also a much better skater than evan will ever be. so i guess evan being so much less attractive than madison wouldn't bother me if he were a better skater
 

Nadya

On the Ice
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Mar 22, 2004
Emily Hughes, with that "look at me!" cheerleader look and thunder thighs. Sarah is unlikeable too but she at least had glimpses of good skating, I liked her Bayadere routine.

Most of too-perfectly-packaged American ladies with their dentist-approved smiles. They all look the same.

Whoever has a look of constipation during a spiral, you can make faces during jumps or spins, people understand, but a spiral is a money move, better look pretty.
 
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