2014 Olympics Mens Free Skate

[BrentWolgamott]

Jason Brown is over. He is going to be the Brandon Mroz of our day. A has been that never was. One thing I hate about his skating is he skates and acts like a girl. His jumps aren't that good. He is as common and ordinary as Johnny Wier wishes he was not. He is done and over and in two year fortunately we will not remember him.

Homophobic and angry much?

He acts like a girl?

Seriously, get a life.

 

[Skatetomusic]

This was like the saddest long program competition that I have witnessed. Gone are the days of Todd Eldredge, Alexie Yagudin, Timothy Goebel, Elvis Stoyko and others. Come on guys you can do better with your musical choices.

 

[Silvia451]

Does anyone have a video with the press conference/interviews after the event?

 

[Ophelia]

Does anyone know if Orser will be getting a huge bonus from the Japan federation? I hope he does. Orser is 2 for 2 now.

I'm more interested in knowing if Hanyu will stick with Orser for the next 4 years.

Haven't seen Praise on Orser from those who hated him so much when Hanyu first went to him.

Yes, I remember when Hanyu switched to Orser everyone was so pessimistic about the change.

 

[zschultz1986]

Jason Brown is over. He is going to be the Brandon Mroz of our day. A has been that never was. One thing I hate about his skating is he skates and acts like a girl. His jumps aren't that good. He is as common and ordinary as Johnny Wier wishes he was not. He is done and over and in two year fortunately we will not remember him.

Poor trolling is poor.

 

[Ophelia]

I feel like Jason Brown was the only skater in the last Group that looked confident and happy when he went on the ice. Everyone else looked like they were being led to the guillotine.

 

[Frenchie]

This was an exhausting competition to watch.

In terms of beautiful moment, rise to the challenge and "this is what watching an Olympic skate should make me feel", my podium would be:

1 - Jeremy Abbott
2 - Denis Ten
3 - Misha Ge

Sad about Daisuke Takahashi's mistakes, but he was the most refined of them all in an artistic sense imo - but I agree that this Beatles medley wasn't my favorite program of his. I'll miss him an awful lot.

 

[moviechick]

This was like the saddest long program competition that I have witnessed. Gone are the days of Todd Eldredge, Alexie Yagudin, Timothy Goebel, Elvis Stoyko and others. Come on guys you can do better with your musical choices.

Honestly, I would still rather watch a Hanyu splat program than Timothy Goebel who is literally painful to watch when he's doing anything other than jumps.

 

[Angryyew]

Honestly, I would still rather watch a Hanyu splat program than Timothy Goebel who is literally painful to watch when he's doing anything other than jumps.

Whatever happened to Timothy Goebel anyway? Did he get hurt or just fizzle out? I remember him being billed as the next big thing then just kinda dropping off the face of the Earth.

 

[moviechick]

Whatever happened to Timothy Goebel anyway? Did he get hurt or just fizzle out? I remember him being billed as the next big thing then just kinda dropping off the face of the Earth.

He had some injuries and really lost the quad, which is basically all he had to begin with. Either way, there was no way he could truly compete with Plushenko in his prime.

 

[lady_bee]

Missing him an awful lot and realizing "this was it" made me enjoy Brian Joubert's program a lot, despite the flaws. 10th or 13th won't really make a big difference to him, but if he hadn't wobbled at the beginning of his final spin, he'd have finished 10th instead of 13th.

Here's the moment where it hit him that it's all over now, a reporter asks him about his mom, and he starts to cry.
.

Frenchie,

Thank you very much for your post #1480 & translation.
Brian Joubert is always one of my favorites, because he has his own style.
I will miss him so much.

 

[Frenchie]

Frenchie,

Thank you very much for your post #1480 & translation.
Brian Joubert is always one of my favorites, because he has his own style.
I will miss him so much.

You're welcome
I guess since the rest of the evening was mostly underwhelming, I deflected most of my emotional energy on this instead!
Brian has really been put through so much crap by Gailhaguet (withdrawing him from this season's GP events without even informing him, criticizing his every move, ...) and the French media have had unrealistic expectations and were really nasty at times too.
When he said "j'ai besoin de me reposer" (I need to rest), he really sounded like a traumatized sad pile of misery. He's such a proud guy, to break like this in front of cameras must really mean he was exhausted. Mentally more than physically.
He's awesome and has always kept it classy, one thing that Gailhaguet - probably the next ISU president - doesn't even know how to spell.

 

[Kelly]

Haven't seen Praise on Orser from those who hated him so much when Hanyu first went to him.

I think Brian Orser has successfully helped Yuzuru on closing the PCS gap between Patrick and himself. Just half year ago, I couldn't see anyone with 2 falls whose PCS would be only a couple points lower than Patrick's.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

This was an exhausting competition to watch.

In terms of beautiful moment, rise to the challenge and "this is what watching an Olympic skate should make me feel", my podium would be:

1 - Jeremy Abbott
2 - Denis Ten
3 - Misha Ge

Sad about Daisuke Takahashi's mistakes, but he was the most refined of them all in an artistic sense imo - but I agree that this Beatles medley wasn't my favorite program of his. I'll miss him an awful lot.

Frenchie, I am with you on everything! You and I have the same taste!

 

[wordsworthgirl]

Totally correct. Even with mistakes! It's not a cleanest wins contest!

I'm with you guys. Moonkat, I too would have given Patrick the win- Hanyu was sloppy and his mistakes detracted more from the overall performance. Chan IS a stronger all-around skater. But it wasn't a glaring error on the judges part.

Denis deserved the bronze.

Jeremy was underscored.

 

[Mrs. P]

Jason skated rather tight. His program has lost the magic he once showed at the Nationals.

YMMV. Seniorita noted earlier that "Jason saved the day," as in, even with the mistakes, he still entertained the audience. And Robin Cousins on BBC said the same thing: That he didn't give up on the performance. I do agree it didn't have the same magic, but more because of the mistakes not because Jason didn't give it his all.

Now that I've read Jason's comments to the media as well as hearing reports that he was eager to hear how other skaters did (because he sincerely wanted to know), I'm starting to think the mistakes were not nerves but rather a lack of focus. I mean he was probably a bit nervous too...but the mistakes he made, such a the 3A, seemed to be more a reflection of him being overwhelmed by the whole experience. He seem so enamored by the whole experience....wanting to take in EVERYTHING....that sometimes you lose focus. I know I've been like that in certain situations.

Lack of focus is an issue, but it's something that can be fixed.

Anyway, just a thought.

 

[ks777]

Honestly, I would still rather watch a Hanyu splat program than Timothy Goebel who is literally painful to watch when he's doing anything other than jumps.

I'd rather watch Timothy Goeble than Kevin Reynolds.

 

[Mista Ekko]

Missing him an awful lot and realizing "this was it" made me enjoy Brian Joubert's program a lot, despite the flaws. 10th or 13th won't really make a big difference to him, but if he hadn't wobbled at the beginning of his final spin, he'd have finished 10th instead of 13th.

Here's the moment where it hit him that it's all over now, a reporter asks him about his mom, and he starts to cry.

"I'm pretty happy with these Olympics. The SP was great, and the FS... the beginning was good with 2 quads! But that killed me for the rest of the program. I had nothing left, no more "juice", my legs were shaking. It was pretty tough but I'm really happy."
Q: Emotionally, you're starting the first minutes of the rest of your life as a retiree. When you saluted the crowd, you seemed "elsewhere". What was going through your mind?
-Starts to cry
"I was moved. The Russian public has always been cool with me. I'll see them again in exhibitions, but it'll be different.
And then I think about my family."
- Really difficult for him to keep talking.
"They have always supported me and I say to them "thank you"."
- The reporter sees there's an opening for more tears and mentions his mom who couldn't be here. She gets what she wanted. Really emotional, gutwrenching.
He can't answer.
She asks one last question: "Will we see you again as a pair skater?"
"I need time. I need to rest. I have a character that's not easy. So I don't know if I'd find a good partner." (Philippe Candeloro says "If you want you and me can skate together" - thankfully, I don't think Brian heard it.)
He just ends with "je vous embrasse tous". (I hug you all)

That was emotional, you should all watch it, even if you don't speak french. A great guy leaves the scene.

This is great,
Thank you so much

This was like the saddest long program competition that I have witnessed. Gone are the days of Todd Eldredge, Alexie Yagudin, Timothy Goebel, Elvis Stoyko and others. Come on guys you can do better with your musical choices.

I think fans of Eldredge and Stojko would mostly want to cry when thinking of them in Olympic context

Jason Brown is over. He is going to be the Brandon Mroz of our day. A has been that never was. One thing I hate about his skating is he skates and acts like a girl. His jumps aren't that good.
He is as common and ordinary as Johnny Wier wishes he was not. He is done and over and in two year fortunately we will not remember him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_pReTcnLHk

 

[moviechick]

I'd rather watch Timothy Goeble than Kevin Reynolds.

Yeah, but at least Reynolds is nowhere near the podium here.

 

[ks777]

I am so glad that Yuzuru went to Orser.