Campbell's Cup - on TV TODAY!

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I believe in Speed only if it is controlled - not because it deserves more points. All jumps are easier with speed but one has to prepare for a jump. Slutskaya who has a reputation for speed will pause before a jump and be certain that she is doing it according to the text book. For me, it takes away from the performance but hey, it's a competition and points are points.

Now skaters who have speed and skate with abandon. If they take off and land their jumps correctly without the pause, they should indeed get +3 GoE. There are very few skaters in this category, if any,

Joe

 

[chuckm]

About D/L: What is not a good idea is presenting the exact same type of program two times IN A ROW. Many people who saw the broadcast said they liked the program, but also said it wasn't as good as last year's. If you're going to repeat a theme, you must TOP what you did before. This program is not going to do the job.

 

[mzheng]

MZHeng,

You are absolutely right about Caroline Zhang. She is a spectacular skater. Right now at her young age she is showing such amazing potential. I believe she is a more graceful skater with better presentation skills than Michelle Kwan showed at that age. If Caroline can stay injury free, I believe she has amazing potential in the years to come.

In my opinion, she out performs Kimmie by a landslide.

Dizzy

Hey, I'm not the one take absolute fancy on Caroline Zhang just yet. She is definitely the one to watch in future, but it is way too early to say what her body type (believe it or not the coaches dose chose their skaters according to certain body type) will turn out to be once she passed the puberty. She is only 13 now. Remember Bebe Leung?

 

[KwanFan1212]

Speaking of fans, did you notice how empty the stands were? What a shame. Were they just charging to much or is Cincinnati not a skating town.

Cincinnati is actually a football/baseball town but the crowd was great all afternoon. Since I was there on Sunday, I feel like I can say that the crowd wasn't any bigger or smaller than any other cheesefest that's happened in the last few years. They responded appropriately to whatever they saw on the ice. They saw a poor performance, they didn't respond as much. They saw a great performance and everyone cheered and clapped a lot. The audience was full of people who know skating (Miami University's national champion synchro team did an exhibition after the competition) and I thought they were really great all afternoon. That probably didn't come through on the TV though which is a shame because now everyone thinks Cincy sucks.

I did take a lot of pictures at the competition but it will be a few days until I can get them online. I was also at Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate show in Toronto this weekend so I have a LOT of pics to go through this week. I'll be sure to post them whenever I manage to get through them all. :agree:

 

[Mathman]

They saw a great performance and everyone cheered and clapped a lot.

Which performances did the live audience like the best?

 

[brinababy87]

Which performances did the live audience like the best?

Sasha, Johnny, Emily, and Evan. Sasha had her young fans, Johnny had his Angels, and a lot of girls were crazy about Evan. LOL, I remember someone screaming to Evan, "I'll give you my number!" during the warmup. Emily seemed to also have friends there, because they called out to her before her skate, something like "all for love," and they cheered loudly for her.

There were quite a few Japanese-speaking people there though that were screaming "ganbatte!" to the Japanese skaters, too.

 

[Alsace]

Re: Scott Smith's costume

I would never have believed that Mike Weiss' horrible fake tattoo shirt would be a skating fashion influence. Unfortunately, it was.

 

[antmanb]

The protocls are up for the event at the USFSA page...looks like the judges were doing their usual thing and tried desparately to give Sasha the nod over Miki...her 3Lz/2T got +1 GOEs from all but one judge who gave it 0...now either Sasha's worked her arse off over the summer to clean up the horrendous flutz...or...actually i was about to say or all but one of the judges thought the jump without a flutz would have been a +2 or +3 and deducted accordingly, but isn't there a rule that an error like a flutz means the most you can get is 0?

Oh well...if you want people to view it as a competition then get judges who actually know what they're doing...in any event I don't think Sasha's jumps are ever +2 or +3 worthy - they're not secure enough

Ant

 

[Oscilla]

I agree with you, antmanb, about the scores. Still, it was to be expected from a cheesefest. To be honest, I expected them to be even more bloated.
I thought Takahashi's PCS were a bit low, though, but well, even high PCS wouldn't save him this time. I just hope he won't turn into Japanese Sandhu.
I also expected higher GoE's for Oda's jumps... but they weren't bad for the beginning of the season.

 

[Mathman]

I would never have believed that Mike Weiss' horrible fake tattoo shirt would be a skating fashion influence. Unfortunately, it was.

:agree:

 

[MKFSfan]

The protocls are up for the event at the USFSA page...looks like the judges were doing their usual thing and tried desparately to give Sasha the nod over Miki...her 3Lz/2T got +1 GOEs from all but one judge who gave it 0...now either Sasha's worked her arse off over the summer to clean up the horrendous flutz...or...actually i was about to say or all but one of the judges thought the jump without a flutz would have been a +2 or +3 and deducted accordingly, but isn't there a rule that an error like a flutz means the most you can get is 0?

Oh well...if you want people to view it as a competition then get judges who actually know what they're doing...in any event I don't think Sasha's jumps are ever +2 or +3 worthy - they're not secure enough

Ant

I'd have to rewatch, but I thought Sasha struggled with her combo a bit? Miki's combo was huge and flowed, plus I think she did a 2lp, and she got a +1 GOE as well. I don't get it. Sasha did a nice 2axle, but obviously popped the flip. I thought technically this was a weak showing for her-her spins look labored and her spiral wobbly. Not saying Miki outdid her in those categories, because she did not. I think Sasha still deserved the highest PCS of the bunch, IMO, based on the way everyone else was thinking too much through their programs and had steadyness issues. Again-IMO!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Depending on the number of fans in the arena determines the screech volume a skater gets. The only country I noticed that gives equal applause to all skaters is Canada. JMO.

Joe

 

[rain]

Just got a chance to see D/L's new FD on YouTube — thought it was absolutely fabulous. And I don't get the comments that it is too much like last year's program. I thought the mood and music were entirely different prompting a totally different quality of movement out of the skaters. Their new dance is sultry and sensual while last year's was, for want of a better term, more of a love story on the ice with some light parts, then tragedy.

Still a few areas for improvement, of course, but one expects that early in the season. I would LOVE to see this team finally make it to the top of the world podium this year and I think their FD is one that can take them there.

What's the OD rhythm for this year?

 

[Wolfgang]

In response to a much earlier comment, I really don't think we have to worry about Johnny Weir becoming a 'he-man' all of a sudden......
I like his skating style, and so was quite happy to see that he didn't dress like a circus freak (like he usually does), and the new program certainly has potential.
Sasha is prolly either getting ready for the ice shows or some sort of 'icy' movie project, you cannot take a year off to 'explore different options' in figure skating.
She's great, but she's done.
Too bad Kimmie either had a bad day/cold/upset tummy or something else wrong with her, not to worry, she can skate 10 times that good, we saw that earlier this year.
Now this Miki Ando lady (who I had not seen previously) is definitely worth watching.....cute.....
I'm starting to be able to just tune Dick Button out, heretofore I was always torn between getting mad over the BS the blowhard was spouting and just laughing at him.......

 

[Mathman]

Now this Miki Ando lady (who I had not seen previously) is definitely worth watching.....cute.....

Is this really the first time you saw Miki Ando? Although still only 18, Miki has been around for several years, her best performance coming at 2004 worlds where she got fourth just a whisker behind Michelle Kwan. Everyone expected great things of her, but the next couple of seasons were not so good for her (she only finished 15th at the Olympics).

She remains the only lady have done a fully ratified quad, and was practicing it again over the summer, so maybe this will be her year to shine.

Cute? Well, everyone in Japan thinks so, LOL. She has all kinds of endorsement and public appearance opportunities based as much on her looks as on her considerable talent.

 

[Tonichelle]

Depending on the number of fans in the arena determines the screech volume a skater gets. The only country I noticed that gives equal applause to all skaters is Canada. JMO.

Joe

I have a hard time believing they don't cheer harder for their fellow Canadians... Jamie and David at worlds comes to mind... the roar is so stinking loud on the TV it's insane.... way more than what the other pairs got, from what I remember

but *le sigh* I have yet to attend a Canadian event... they do get excited for skating though... so it's not just the big names that get attention, which is cool...

 

[dfj]

I have a hard time believing they don't cheer harder for their fellow Canadians... Jamie and David at worlds comes to mind... the roar is so stinking loud on the TV it's insane.... way more than what the other pairs got, from what I remember

but *le sigh* I have yet to attend a Canadian event... they do get excited for skating though... so it's not just the big names that get attention, which is cool...

Canadian audiences are well known for being well-educated fs fans and supporting everyone that steps onto the ice - Todd Eldredge at Worlds 2001 is a prime example (the place went nuts for him (x3)).

Of course Jamie & David were huge - a gold medal was on the line, but believe me the crowd gave more standing ovations to more teams from more countries that I had ever experienced. But what was really great was the fans (not just Canadians either) who clapped and cheered for skaters who weren't doing so well. Geez, that was an awesome competition - one I'll never forget.

Go Vancouver in Olys 2010.

 

[Kasey]

Depending on the number of fans in the arena determines the screech volume a skater gets. The only country I noticed that gives equal applause to all skaters is Canada. JMO.

Joe

Interesting. It seemed the exact opposite at Skate Canada last year, at least in the short programs. Perhaps it was less applause during the program...when someone lands a jump or does an amazing spin...and less "pity applause" to boost a skater who's made a mistake. It seemed almost like a tomb at times compared to Skate America the week before.

Rain, the OD this year is Tango.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

:scratch:

Interesting. It seemed the exact opposite at Skate Canada last year, at least in the short programs. Perhaps it was less applause during the program...when someone lands a jump or does an amazing spin...and less "pity applause" to boost a skater who's made a mistake. It seemed almost like a tomb at times compared to Skate America the week before.

Rain, the OD this year is Tango.

I think I am being misunderstood. My fault! :scratch:
Of course the Canadian fans root for the Canadian contestants, but they seem to have a more appreciative respect for good skating from wherever it comes.
In St. Johns last year, Joannie got a huge ovation while stepping onto the ice,but it was Alyssa who got the ovation when her skate was finished.

Joe

 

[MinnMan]

Some of you noticed how empty the stands were at Campbell Cup. I think there were a lot more at the Campbell Clasic at the Xcel Center in St. Paul last year. I know there were more the year before. I was there. I remember the guy holding the big sign ---- Michelle will you Marry me!!!

MinnMan