Top / Bottom Ten List! | Golden Skate

Top / Bottom Ten List!

Ravyn Rant

Totally 80s Dance Party!
Medalist
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Someone posted recently about it being the off-season, and now that it's here, I think it's time for what I hope will become an annual tradition:
Ravyn Rant's Raves and Rants for the Season!

We'll start with the raves:

10. Biggest shock: Michael Weiss' Henry V program at Skate America made me cry. Maybe it was just the music and I was having a Paul Wylie flashback, but I have to be fair. I had a Michael Weiss moment. Who'da thunk it?
9. Belbin & Agosto: The best smiles on ice. I can't wait to see those smiles on the top of an Olympic podium, and I'm fully confident that it will happen eventually.
8. Sasha's silver. You held on. You didn't (exactly) fall. You're #2 in the world. You're beautiful! You go!
7. Michelle at Nats: She was da Kween. And the princesses on her heels ensure that the American ladies will be a factor internationally for years to come. Yay!
6. Johnny Weir! Can it be, at long last, a return to artistry in American men's skating? I sure hope so!
5. Plushy's Najinsky program showed me an evolution in his unique, quirky artistic style. I finally learned to appreciate the boy this season. No matter what he does, he commands attention.
4. The Japanese ladies have such a deep field of talent that their #3 skater (she did come in third at Japanese Nats, right?) can win the World Championships. Wow.
3. Julia Sebestyen at Euros, Stefan Lindemann and Winkler and Lohse at Worlds, and the crowds that supported them while they had their best skates ever at home. You could feel the love through the TV. Those moments are some of the happiest in the sport. Good for them!
2. Shen & Zhao's Nutcracker. Sigh. :love: If the CoP system had been in use, they'd have won the gold. What a skate, what a program, what a team!
1. All you folks at Golden Skate for providing a new way to love this sport. I've been lurking all season, and it's been a blast. I've learned a lot, and I've laughed a lot. Thanks!

And now...the rants.

10. Michael Weiss. The Pike, the tired Civil War program concept (yawn), the lackluster choreography, the exhibition(istic) nonsense on the ice...Mike, Mike, you really are better than that! We have one Phillipe Candeloro. We don't need another.
9. So just what is it with Team Canada wearing fuschia and black all the time? Are they the team colors now? It's become a standing joke at my house. Maybe it's time to re-think the color scheme, kids.
8. Naomi & Peter. Heavy sigh. I'll miss them.
7. Biggest personal bummer :cry: : No Takeshi Honda. Hope you come back strong next season, Ichi-ban!
6. American pairs skating: bet you really miss Ina & Zimmerman providing a standard to aspire to, eh? I know I do!
5. Skater-bashing. This has been my first season with an internet skating resource, and while it's been lovely, I have to say I'm discouraged at some of the less complimentary posts. I'll just leave it at that. :(
4. The judging, as usual, and at Worlds in particular. Great skating, lousy judging. No wonder viewership is down.
3. Security at Westfallenhallen and that stupid online casino paying some schmuck to shatter a competitor's concentration like that. Shame!
2. American television coverage - I feel so cheated.
1. Skating injured, skating sick, skating after surgery...this is such a disturbing trend. Are the more spectacular jumps worth the physical price these kids are paying?
But that's a whole 'nother thread!
Thanks for your kind attention.
Rave
 

icenut84

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Great thread! :)

Raves:

10. Sasha Cohen holding it together enough to win World silver. You go girl! Terrific achievement. I wish she'd kept the original Swan Lake though - I didn't see it, and people were raving. I didn't like her Worlds version as much as I thought I would. Fantastic SP performance though.

9. Julia Sebestyen and Viktoria Pavuk at Euros. Both being able to cope under the pressure of the hugely enthusiastic home audience and both delivering great performances. And the commentators saying Pavuk, following her LP, was a superstar. :) One to watch for the future, without a doubt.

8. Stephane Lindemann winning a World medal! Talk about a dark horse - who would have predicted that?

7. Plushenko's reaction to winning his third world title. :)

6. Michelle Kwan, and the way she kept her composure after the tutu guy on the ice. Kudos to her, and for getting another World medal to add to her ever growing collection.

5. Irina Slutskaya! I'm so glad she was able to compete at Worlds, not to mention making the top 10. Fantastic comeback. I hope she can compete next season when she's back in shape and more prepared and ready.

4. Sinead & John Kerr :D A British dance team coming out in their first major season (Euros/Worlds wise), winning Nationals, and coming top 10 at Euros and 14th at Worlds, getting standing ovations for their Matrix free dance. Loved their reactions after their FD at Euros. Hopefully they'll go on and up :)

3. The audience at both Euros and Worlds. They were wonderful - so supportive of the skaters and enthusiastic.

2. Stephane Lambiel's LP at Worlds! He was FANTASTIC. The look on his face at the end of his programme was adorable. Same for Massimo Scali (of Faiella & Scali) at the end of their wonderful FD - he couldn't stop crying as all the emotion came out. I just wanted to give him a huge hug.

1. The fantastic skating at Worlds this year, in all the events. The fields are so deep. Everyone is improving so much. Before, it was likely that a couple of skaters were at the top, and lower down the standard was much lower. The standard of skating at Worlds this year was superb.

Rants:

10. Lang & Tchernyshev breaking up. I liked them. Also Bourne & Kraatz breaking up. Not that I would have had many opportunities to see them pro on TV anyway. I'd be interested to see Bourne solo (or possibly Bourne & Tchernyshev?) in the future though.

9. Ilia Klimkin withdrawing :(

8. The frankly bizarre (and often extremely annoying) camera angles during Worlds - e.g. zooming in on just a foot or a hand during a spin, so you can't even see their position. Closeups like that should be saved for the slow-mo replays. Also the way they kept shrinking the screen during a performance to show someone backstage doing nothing.

7. Simon Reed going on and on (and on) about Plushenko's 6.0s at Worlds. Grr! Leave him alone! He fell, yes. But if you give Joubert 5.9 and you think Plush was better - what are you meant to do? The judges were marking very highly in all the events, possibly because of the excellent standard of skating, so inevitably kept finding themselves boxed in. His going on ruined what should have been a great moment.

6. Stephane Lambiel not getting a medal at Worlds. :( Don't get me wrong, Stephane Lindemann was fantastic. Lambiel's one of my favourite skaters though, it would have been fantastic to see him medal - but at the same time, it was great to see him do so well even though he didn't medal. I hope he gets on the podium next year.

5. The person who recorded the ladies SPs for me at Worlds missed the first part, and it came on just as Fumie hit her finishing pose! Hmph. That SP was the one I was looking forward to seeing the most. I'll have to get a copy from someone.

4. Fumie Suguri being so low after the qualifying. Her freeskate was beautiful though, I'm glad she was able to pull up in the rankings.

3. Tutu guy at Worlds. Totally unfair on Kwan. I'm just glad it wasn't a more sinister motive, but there was a major lapse in security there, which should not have been allowed to happen. Could have been much worse.

2. The judging at Worlds. I'm not talking about the 6.0s (although they were excessive), or the placements. But when someone performs and the range of ordinals is as wide as 10 places, it's clear that the judging needs to be improved.

1. The injuries. :( Is it getting worse? There are so many skaters who have suffered injuries recently due to the high demands of the sport, or through skating accidents. Best wishes to every injured skater.
 
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berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
In no particular order:

1. Stefan winning bronze! I was rooting for him. To come out of the nether regions to pull off a medal with 3 brilliant skates on home turf. Yeah.
1. Stefan winning a bronze. Sorry, as proud and thrilled as I was with his clean LP, Stephane was better and wuz robbed IMHO.

2. Everything I said in #1, but substitute W&L for SL.
2. Everything I said in #1, but substitute G&G for SL.

3. Kwan. To show the class and determination to keep it together during what can only be described as worlds-from-hell. To get at least 4 1st place ordinals for a brilliant LP.
3. Kwan. A 5 triple LP with no 3/3. Honey, you've been getting that wake-up call since Nagano, isn't it time you got your fanny outta bed already.

4. The Russians. Took 3 out of 4 events and are sending the biggest team to next year's worlds.
4. The Russians. What the heck was that Gala all about? Sorry, but artisticly, the current crop are poor substitutes for the many greats of Russian skating history.

5. S&Z. Their LP was amazing!
5. S&Z. To pull off an LP like that and not win, it's a travesty. Now I know how people felt back in 72 when Scuba beat Lynn. I know it's how the rules are, but it still doesn't hurt any less.

6. The Russian Federation. What a great season for them. Kudo for keeping it together long after their demise was predicted.
6. The Russian Federation. Was there anyone on their world team who wasn't injured, sick, or pulled from semi-retirement?

7. Sandu. 1st international win and great start at worlds.
7. Sandu. Maybe you and Sasha can brainstorm on where to find good sport's shrinks!

8. COP. Skaters getting marked for what they actually do, not who they are, or when they did it.
8. COP. Plushy losing because he had too much tech content? Jubert off podium at Lalique? What is this bs?

9. Germany. Well, at least no one died or was injured this time.
9. Germany. Why exactly should we ever let you host an event again?

10. Me. I behaved myself and dispite the season starting and ending with me witnessing live Sasha beating Kwan, I didn't burn either staidum down in a blind rage.
10. Me. Chill out man, it's just a friggin game. :laugh:
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
BG, indeed chill out. The season does not end until the spring cheese fest on Tues. in Rhode Island. Michelle gets the chance to tie the score on cheese fests with Sasha.
 

BravesSkateFan

Medalist
Joined
Aug 7, 2003
The scores' already been tied in Cheesefests. Michelle won the winter cheese and sasha the fall cheese. The spring cheese will be the tiebreaker :D
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
To continue Berthes' list.

11. Sasha. She finally became a World Medalist!
11. Sasha. She still cannot perform up to her full potential.

12. N&K winning Worlds. I love this team!
12. N&K winning World despite having less difficult program that D&S.
 
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