2017 Four Continents Men SP

[Interspectator]

When asked about the rink, Yuzu says he likes it, the ice is very easy to skate on.

 

[4everchan]

When asked about the rink, Yuzu says he likes it, the ice is very easy to skate on.

that's good news. Boston and TDF this year were horrible.... these guys risk their health with all these big jumps, ice should be "safe" for them...

 

[Skater Boy]

Really we are lucky to have such a loaded group of men's talent here. Only Javi is the real threat missing. Maybe Donald Trump could have annexed Spain or something? Seriiously, though great talent. I would have thought the Chinese would have had a third man though

 

[Mrs. P]

Really we are lucky to have such a loaded group of men's talent here. Only Javi is the real threat missing. Maybe Donald Trump could have annexed Spain or something? Seriiously, though great talent. I would have thought the Chinese would have had a third man though

They didn't have anyone who had the minimum TES scores.

 

[alia jackson]

Patrick can't go to grad school or do an MBA because he doesn't have an undergraduate degree. Post-secondary education in North America is quite demanding and can be challenging to do if you are winning World Championships and Olympic medals. I think Paul Poirier is the only Canadian National team member who has an undegrad degree.

And few skaters can afford both the training and the education. Higher education can wait but training and competing can't. The Japanese skaters are lucky to have salaries from sponsors.

Yuzuru is one of the skaters that combines training and education, plus sponsors obligations, commercials etc. He entered Waseda University in 2013 studying Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences (Same degree as Yukari Nakano. Machida is also at the same university).

Yuzuru will graduate in March 2017. I hope he finished his final year thesis by now and can concentrate on 4CC/Worlds. It is fascinating when he talked about how he applied some of his studies such as human bioethics, psychology, sensory information engineering to his skating.

 

[Mango]

Yuzuru is one of the skaters that combines training and education, plus sponsors obligations, commercials etc. He entered Waseda University in 2013 studying Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences (Same degree as Yukari Nakano. Machida is also at the same university).

Yuzuru will graduate in March 2017. It is fascinating when he talked about how he applied some of his studies such as human bioethics, psychology, sensory information engineering to his skating.

With all due respect you'll find fewer North Americans doing that because the amount of time post secondary students are expected to put into their studies in North American institutes is crazy. In Asian countries it appears to be that grade school is harder and university is more sane. But at least in Canada it's quite the opposite. Of course, it depends on what you're studying. But someone in the sciences? Well, you're better off skating varsity if you want to skate at all.

To give a relevant example that's neither Yuzuru or Patrick: Jeffrey Buttle had to leave his planned studies for chemical engineering at University of Toronto. By doing so he was able to win a bronze medal in Torino and become a World Champion. If he had not done that he would have been stuck in a lab and far from most international podiums.

There's a reason many Canadian skaters quit skating as soon as they graduate high school. Doing both in Canada, even in an online program, is just not a good idea.

 

[Mango]

Sorry I should have prefaced the previous post with a topic:

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

In light of the quads in the sp does that mean Patrick has to skate clean and hope someone makes an error? Realistically does he even have a chance overall?

Well if Hanyu and Chen go clean in both programs, Chan will be skating for bronze. And even then Uno has a 2-quad advantage to close the PCS gap.

Although you never know, he surprised everyone with his FS at 4CC last year over a clean Jin and had an upset win over Hanyu at Skate Canada. He's also showed a strong FS at Nationals so hopefully that builds confidence.

I just love how this is literally a mini-Worlds save for Fernandez (no shade to the Russians/other Euro guys). I haven't counted up the total quad attempts but I'm guessing this one competition might have more quad attempts than almost the past two Worlds combined.

 

[Elaine666]

topic:Sorry but Jeff went to UofT? I do need to find out how many skater alumni I have in addition to Patrick someday

 

[karne]

With all due respect you'll find fewer North Americans doing that because the amount of time post secondary students are expected to put into their studies in North American institutes is crazy.

Max is due to graduate from his finance degree in May. Per an interview with Mirai, near the start of the season he was still taking 16 credit hours - a full-time load.

 

[TontoK]

Wow. I have a Masters in Finance. If he's doing 16 credit hours of senior finance classes, he's probably putting in 50 hours or more a week in academic study.

I hope some of those are "lesser" academics required to fill out the degree requirements.

 

[alia jackson]

With all due respect you'll find fewer North Americans doing that because the amount of time post secondary students are expected to put into their studies in North American institutes is crazy. In Asian countries it appears to be that grade school is harder and university is more sane. But at least in Canada it's quite the opposite. Of course, it depends on what you're studying.

topic:
With all due respect the amount of studies for a degree (undergraduate) or a master (postgraduate) for universities world wide is almost the same. Just check with students at NUS Singapore, HKUST, University of Tokyo, IISc Bangalore just to name a few. Also from my experience studying 1st degree in UK, 2nd degree Singapore & master in US.

(just adding to page count )

 

[4everchan]

Max is due to graduate from his finance degree in May. Per an interview with Mirai, near the start of the season he was still taking 16 credit hours - a full-time load.

good for max... but do you wonder where he would be without being in school? jeff was a world champion and olympic medalist.

I think Mango's point is that education in North America is crazy hard and many skaters, like Patrick, don't even have their undergrad. Radford quit in 2nd year and was doing a very time demanding (believe me on this) and difficult music degree... he plans to return to his studies after 2018... he will be over 30 entering 3rd year...

It's quite a sacrifice for skaters who aspire to become WC.

 

[Mango]

topic:
With all due respect the amount of studies for a degree (undergraduate) or a master (postgraduate) for universities world wide is almost the same. Just check with students at NUS Singapore, HKUST, University of Tokyo, IISc Bangalore just to name a few. Also from my experience studying 1st degree in UK, 2nd degree Singapore & master in US.

(just adding to page count )

topic:
And may I ask if you were doing online studies? Because the person you're referencing here is doing online studies, designed for students who cannot be on campus. Most programs in Canada are for on campus studies. Any program with bio/chem/physics will also have laboratory work you cannot escape at all. As for how intensive studies are - it will vary by university and program. So I cannot paint all with the same brush. And anytime you have research involved you also have other variables come in (is your bacterial colony growing, did you manage to crystallize that compound, etc.).

karne that's really impressive for Max. I do think some of the US skaters do studies at Ivy League universities and skate. That's got to take a lot of good time management. I know Tessa Virtue was just doing one course a semester in the lead up to Sochi.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Patrick has been training in the US for years and the American university tuition is extremely high. While a Japanese or an American skating star may earn substantial incomes from endorsements and shows, Canadian skaters, even a World Champion, just cannot afford both tuition and high level training. While Patrick may be much more comfortable financially these last couple of years, he used to be supported by his family and the Chinese communities in Canada with a little contribution from Skate Canada .

I always felt Jeremy Ten of Canada missed out a good skating career for financial reasons. Without the very early display of extreme talents like Patrick, he was less fortunate in spite of his considerable talents. He and his family had to shoulder all the costs of his training so he stayed in BC and juggled working part time, going to school and training. A few injuries and his time was up. He continued with his education but retired from skating.

Didn't Michelle Kwan take ten years to complete her under graduate courses while training and competing?

 

[alia jackson]

topic:

@Mango

I did full time courses at Loughborough, NUS and Columbia. My friend's son is currently doing online course from Waseda and my cousin is currently at University of Tokyo full time. I have another friend doing MBA online from Warwick.

There're still online discussions, studying, course works to be submitted and exams associated with an online degree. Time for these in which Yuzu needs to manage with his time for training, sponsors obligation, interviews, commercial shooting, competitions etc.

It is ok if you think that only North American universities are prestigious and only those attending them are impressive. And those attending Asian universities or its online courses are not impressive.

 

[Mrs. P]

I'm confused? Why are we talking about college rankings?

 

[alia jackson]

I'm confused? Why are we talking about college rankings?

To increase page count

 

[Mango]

topic:

@Mango

I did full time courses at Loughborough, NUS and Columbia. My friend's son is currently doing online course from Waseda and my cousin is currently at University of Tokyo full time. I have another friend doing MBA online from Warwick.

It is ok if you think that only North American universities are prestigious and only those attending them are impressive. And those attending Asian universities or its online courses are not impressive.

alia jackson I did not mention prestige. Do not misconstrue my words, please and thank you. I mentioned course work load and time involved on campus. Though if you want to look at world rankings you can go right ahead. Online courses were brought up to talk about how they are designed with busy people in mind, how you don't have to commute and spend time on campus. You see that in Canada with how many new online MBA programs have come out in the past decade. People are too busy working to go to campus for these intensive programs. Why does an online program have to be less prestigious??

My general problem with posts about Yuzuru's education and relating it to other skaters is that not everyone has the opportunities that Yuzuru does. He doesn't have to do a part time job or ice shows for training expenses, worry about travelling here and there for choreography and training, have to worry about running a household, etc. He's also fortunate to be in an educational program that allows him to study and compete. Not everyone has those things available to them. Javier Fernandez is a prime example of that. One size does not fit all, which was my intended point.

 

[shiroKJ]

topic: I took an online class once during the summer and it was really rough for me. Was so worry I would get a B and drop my perfect GPA. You need so much self discipline to do well....something I don't really have lol. Give me a choice and I would never take an online class over on campus. :scard8: