Hi SkateFiguring,
I did not say there was a similarity in the way Plushenko and Chan skate. I believe that they both use jumps and the number of jumps to their advantage. In addition, Plushenko was one of the first or at least the best skater of his era to milk the system. Patrick and his team look for ways to increase the value of his elements in every way possible.
MRoz is um.. how can I put this... lacking in a lot of ways. His jumps are not consistent, the technical difficulty is not there, he is not artistic, and he is not mentally tough.
Bradley was really only a collegiate athlete with a great personality and amazing jumping ability. He did not have the experience, he did not dedicate the hours and he did not participate in many of the international events.
To say that the judges are not enamored with Chan would be to ignore the obvious-- gigantic scores in the more subjective PCS portions.
No, I absolutely can not speak for others but I can speak for myself. Chan elicits nothing from me, nothing at all. Again, it is my opinion. I apologize if it was expressed as undeniable fact.
As far as I am concerned, all of my favorites should go ahead and beat Chan and Plushenko at milking the system. There should be no shame in it.
Skating is not easy, quads are not easy, difficult transitions are not easy, glorious spins are not easy, interesting footwork is not easy... earning the respect of the judges and the admiration of fans is not easy. No one is saying that Patrick is a terrible jumper with easy transitions that my three year old niece could perform at the local rink. Would he be earning the scores he is without having become a jumping machine? Is it awful that he is a jumping machine? No. Are there more talented, more complete (minus the jumps), and more artistic skaters out there? My opinion is that yes, there surely are.
I just wish that skaters that move
me could some how add the technical difficulty necessary to win gold.
I am prompted to debate the following statements just for the illogic and the prejudicial unilateral declarations.