Grand Prix: Chan's big challenges | Page 8 | Golden Skate

Grand Prix: Chan's big challenges

That is because in the past the best skaters like Kwan, Slutskaya, Yagudin, Plushenko, and many others practically ALWAYS could do both the difficulty with the execution time and time again. Today you get skaters who try quads or triple-triples and keep falling and still doing well, or others who do dumbed down programs with 80s or early 90s content just to skate clean. We even have the embarassment now of skaters winning majors events who dont either have either technical difficulty or artistry (eg- Lysacek and Ando), along with Chan sweeping through the Grand Prix last year with 4 falls plus per event. Which goes back to my point that currently we have a really weak field in all the disciplines, except for pairs to some extent. The TV ratings reflect this.
As Wallylutz correctly pointed out, Chan did not sweep through the 2010 GP season - though the second place finish at CoR is attributable to a combination of falls and a Zayak violation. I know who the last skater to sweep a season is, and it's not Patrick Chan, with or without falls.

The TV ratings in the US are low. That does not mean skating is struggling elsewhere. And as others have noted, maybe if the American commentators actually bothered to explain the scoring system and give the viewers necessary information, that would help. After all, football (the American variety) can be far more complex than the IJS, and baseball sabermetrics are, too - and yet people seem to have no problem with that. Or is it that skating usually appeals to women, and girls can't do math? :sheesh:
 
Last time I checked, in merely 3 GP events so far in 2011, men have attempted all kinds of Quads from Toe loop to up the Lutz, except the Quad Axel. If some genius can point to me the last time men have done all of the above, please wake me up. It's also not until 2011 that ISU has finally ratified the 1st 4Lz performed, surely men in the Yagudin era must be doing this jump all over the place but the ISU just didn't ratify them. :rolleye:

Today, men are doing Quad-Triple in their SP and some even do two types of Quads in the SP, what did the men is the so called by gone era did?

And unlike that so called golden age era, men today actually pay attention to non-jump elements, my guess is to some, this is also step backward, right? :unsure:

Please, all by means, don't let facts stand in the way of bubbles or irrational rants.
 
Yes and 31 year old Sandhu would be beating Chan on PCS too right. Please stay on your own little planet which nobody except you will ever understand and leave serious skating talk to people from Planet Earth.
 
Shocking, eh? When logic and facts fail, there is always childish insults which doesn't require logic. See people, Chan really is Satan reincarnated and all the men skating today are really doing ladies' skating. You have to believe all this or you are a Martian in disguise, about to launch an invasion of Earth. :laugh:
 
Some facts:
IIRC, both Michael Weiss and Plushy attempted 4Lz. Definitely Weiss, who two-footed his attempt at 1998 US Nats (ETA: yes, Plushy tried it too).

Quad-triple combos were incorporated into SPs as soon as the ISU allowed it. You are welcome to watch the 2002 Olympic SPs for a nice trip down memory lane. Were two quads even allowed until last season?

From Wikipedia: Timothy Goebel did two different quads in an LP as early as 1999 (and three altogether). Min Zhang landed three quads in his Olympic LP

As of this writing, Brian Joubert remains the only skater to do three quads in an LP under the current system.

An opinion:
Skaters today may be doing more difficult step sequences and spins than those in the past, but it often comes at the expense of other things, such as originality and musical interpretation - the artistic aspect of skating is secondary right now to the athletic, rather than a combination of the two. Aranjuez is a showcase for Patrick Chan's skating skills, not an artistic masterpiece. And skaters today also don't have to train and compete figures. If they did, Trixie Schuba could make a comeback and kick their collective behinds (note my G-rated language!). 2011 skaters can change edges, but can they hold and control their edges? Not always.
 
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Some facts:
IIRC, both Michael Weiss and Plushy attempted 4Lz. Definitely Weiss, who two-footed his attempt at 1998 US Nats.

Neither were ratified. Weiss's wouldn't even be ratified by the USFSA.

Quad-triple combos were incorporated into SPs as soon as the ISU allowed it. You are welcome to watch the 2002 Olympic SPs for a nice trip down memory lane.

By how many men back then vs. now? Did you count?

From Wikipedia: Timothy Goebel did two different quads in an LP as early as 1999 (and three altogether). Min Zhang landed three quads in his Olympic LP

Awesome, except I specifically mentioned SP. None of them did two Quads in the SP. Granted, the rules wouldn't allow it but such evolution today seem to be a strong evidence of progress, not the other way around.

As of this writing, Brian Joubert remains the only skater to do three quads in an LP under the current system.

And Joubert is still competing today or has someone forgot about him when ranting about the "by gone era"?

An opinion:
Skaters today may be doing more difficult step sequences and spins than those in the past, but it often comes at the expense of other things, such as originality and musical interpretation - the artistic aspect of skating is secondary right now to the athletic, rather than a combination of the two. Aranjuez is a showcase for Patrick Chan's skating skills, not an artistic masterpiece.

I cannot agree with this. The so called artistry on ice that is not done through the work of edge and skating is not conducive to advancing performance in this sport. If you want to argue that, then Katarina Witt must be an ideal example because her 1988 Olympic Gold consisted of rolling and playing dead on ice. So what distinguishes this sport vs. ballet then? Figure Skating is a sport done on skates and edges. The emphasis on subjective personal taste and preference are things that hopefully we won't go back to. It seems Amodio is trying to do that but I am glad to see he is being penalized for it.

And skaters today also don't have to train and compete figures. If they did, Trixie Schuba could make a comeback and kick their collective behinds (note my G-rated language!). 2011 skaters can change edges, but can they hold and control their edges? Not always.

Neither did Yagudin or Plushehnko. Both of them would have been 9 or 10 year old when the Figures were eliminated. Hence, there is really no point here. Most of those men doing Quads in the late 90's and early 2000s, have never competed under Figures. So it seems your criticism of not being able to hold and control edges would apply to them as well but I don't think that was your intention, you just forgot how long ago the Figures were eliminated.
 
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Neither were ratified. Weiss's wouldn't even be ratified by the USFSA.
Because back then, you had to land a jump on one foot to have it ratified. OTOH, you did not have to rotate it, which is why Miki Ando has landed a 4S. I'll remind you that the 4R, 4F and 4Lz may have been attempted, but they have still not been landed in international competition. Using the attempts to argue that today's skaters are superior is pretty silly. A quad fall does not equal a quad.

By how many men back then vs. now? Did you count?
No, but you're welcome to. Maybe in the process you'll realize that not all late-6.0 skaters were soulless jump machines.

Awesome, except I specifically mentioned SP. None of them did two Quads in the SP. Granted, the rules wouldn't allow it but such evolution today seem to be a strong evidence of progress, not the other way around.
Yes, and it was a pointless argument (not the first one you've made), because skaters were not allowed to attempt two quads in the SP until last year. So it is very relevant to see what the guys did when they were allowed to do more than one, that is, in the LP. And until recently, none of the current skaters were doing two different quads in the LP bar Reynolds and Joubert (who only managed it once internationally).

And Joubert is still competing today or has someone forgot about him when ranting about the "by gone era"?
Bygone skaters are clearly superior by your logic; 2 three-quad skaters > 1 three-quad skater. Especially since Goebel, at least, did it more than once.

I cannot agree with this. The so called artistry on ice that is not done through the work of edge and skating is not conducive to advancing performance in this sport. If you want to argue that, then Katarina Witt must be an ideal example because her 1988 Olympic Gold consisted of rolling and playing dead on ice. So what distinguishes this sport vs. ballet then? Figure Skating is a sport done on skates and edges. The emphasis on subjective personal taste and preference are things that hopefully we won't go back to. It seems Amodio is trying to do that but I am glad to see he is being penalized for it.
Did I bring up Kat Witt or Florent? Skating is also about upper body movement; even the IJS says so!

Neither did Yagudin or Plushehnko. Both of them would have been 9 or 10 year old when the Figures were eliminated. Hence, there is really no point here. Most of those men doing Quads in the late 90's and early 2000s, have never competed under Figures. So it seems your criticism of not being able to hold and control edges would apply to them as well but I don't think that was your intention, you just forgot how long ago the Figures were eliminated.
Figures were eliminated after the 1990 season. My memory is fine. My point, which you missed, is that IJS-driven skating is not inherently superior to past forms of skating; it just emphasizes different things. There were skaters in the past who did glorious programs which showcased both their artistry and their edge work. John Curry and Toller Cranston may not have done quads or counted off the revolutions for a level 4 spin, but they pushed skating forward and had a lasting impact on the sport. Dick Button revolutionized skating far more than Yu-Na Kim or Patrick Chan. Lets see how many of today's skaters end up having any sort of long-term impact like some of the past greats have had.
 
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Because back then, you had to land a jump on one foot to have it ratified. OTOH, you did not have to rotate it, which is why Miki Ando has landed a 4S. I'll remind you that the 4R, 4F and 4Lz may have been attempted, but they have still not been landed in international competition.

Fact: ISU has chosen to ratify 4Lz in 2011, it doesn't matter where it happened, it is now the record book. This alone is a progress vs. the era of Yagudin/Plushenko

Using the attempts to argue that today's skaters are superior is pretty silly. A quad fall does not equal a quad.

Silly to you perhaps, at least they were tried and attempted, which means there are some success in practice at least or else it wouldn't have been tried. Going by the rants by someone here, you'd think men are doing only 3Lz today.

No, but you're welcome to. Maybe in the process you'll realize that not all late-6.0 skaters were soulless jump machines.

What I found out is that a lot of these Quads in the past would have been downgraded today, therefore, not actually Quad.

Yes, and it was a pointless argument (not the first one you've made), because skaters were not allowed to attempt two quads in the SP until last year. So it is very relevant to see what the guys did when they were allowed to do more than one, that is, in the LP.

You also forgot in the 6.0 era, there was no limit on how many jumping passes you could do whereas now, you could easily be hit with a penalty for extra element. In other words, men back then could focus on doing just jumps and without counting them. Even if they fall on it, they can get back up and do it again. They had so much more liberty in how many Quads they could do vs now, so unfortunately, your comparison is flawed due to a clear advantage in the past for the LP, but not in the SP, which is the only segment that is actually comparable between then and now.

And until recently, none of the current skaters were doing two different quads in the LP bar Reynolds and Joubert (who only managed it once internationally).

Let me refresh your memory then because you clearly need some help here. In 2011 Worlds, both Michal Brezina and Javier Fernandez landed a 4T and a 4S. Fernandez repeated such feat again at the 2011 Skate Canada Int'l 6 months later.

Bygone skaters are clearly superior by your logic; 2 three-quad skaters > 1 three-quad skater. Especially since Goebel, at least, did it more than once.

I don't know if they are superior or not, but I disagree with any claim that men have regressed technically and I don't believe you want to vouch for such claim either.

Did I bring up Kat Witt or Florent? Skating is also about upper body movement; even the IJS says so!

Your point seemed to be men today aren't artistic whereas men from the Yagudin/Plushenko era were. I'd say rolling on the ice doesn't count, and Plushenko's so called artistry has been used by ISU as training material for what not to do in PCS, which led to RUS's protest in 2009-10 when he briefly came back. So much for your example of superior artistry, which btw, is not a criterion today in skating anyhow.

Figures were eliminated after the 1990 season. My memory is fine. My point, which you missed, is that IJS-driven skating is not inherently superior to past forms of skating; it just emphasizes different things. There were skaters in the past who did glorious programs which showcased both their artistry and their edge work. John Curry and Toller Cranston may not have done quads or counted off the revolutions for a level 4 spin, but they pushed skating forward and had a lasting impact on the sport. Dick Button revolutionized skating far more than Yu-Na Kim or Patrick Chan. Lets see how many of today's skaters end up having any sort of long-term impact like some of the past greats have had.

It's hard to follow your argument when you held up Yagudin as shining example of performance on ice and then blasted current men for not having to do Figures - yet seemingly forgot that Yagudin never competed under Figures either. Your obvious backpeddaling aside, the influence of each skater on the sport is a subjective opinion. I cannot argue with you on your personal preference so that I will leave it open for each person to interpret as they see fit.
 
along with Chan sweeping through the Grand Prix last year with 4 falls plus per event. Which goes back to my point that currently we have a really weak field in all the disciplines, except for pairs to some extent. The TV ratings reflect this.
I have a problem with this statement that we have seen over and over and over again. Are we counting falls here or should we count the overall skate and package? It's very annoying that Chan's been labeled or known as someone has 4 or 6 falls but still win, instead of his brilliant skate. The judges don't just give him the win if they don't see him deserving it.
 
I have a problem with this statement that we have seen over and over and over again. Are we counting falls here or should we count the overall skate and package? It's very annoying that Chan's been labeled or known as someone has 4 or 6 falls but still win, instead of his brilliant skate. The judges don't just give him the win if they don't see him deserving it.

Don't we all know Pangtongfan always counts falls, and fall equivalents, cummulatively, when it comes to Patrick Chan? They are simpler and easier than big numbers like Guiness records.
 
Your point seemed to be men today aren't artistic whereas men from the Yagudin/Plushenko era were. I'd say rolling on the ice doesn't count, and Plushenko's so called artistry has been used by ISU as training material for what not to do in PCS, which led to RUS's protest in 2009-10 when he briefly came back. So much for your example of superior artistry, which btw, is not a criterion today in skating anyhow.

It's hard to follow your argument when you held up Yagudin as shining example of performance on ice and then blasted current men for not having to do Figures - yet seemingly forgot that Yagudin never competed under Figures either. Your obvious backpeddaling aside, the influence of each skater on the sport is a subjective opinion. I cannot argue with you on your personal preference so that I will leave it open for each person to interpret as they see fit.
Apparently since it's hard to follow my argument, you've elected to make one up instead. I mean, show me where I "held up Yagudin as shining example of performance on ice and then blasted current men for not having to do Figures". Meanwhile, Plushenko was mentioned in my post as a skater who attempted a 4Lz under 6.0, which, um, he did. Now, you could try to argue that the skaters whose artistic achievements I did bring up weren't that special, but I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find much support among skating fans for the suggestion that John Curry and Toller Cranston were not artistic.

p.s. As skating history goes, 2011 Worlds were an event that took place fairly recently, wouldn't you say?
 
Just wanted to say I still like Patrick Chan's Tango de los Exilados SP best and I like to imagine it with a quad inserted in it. :p It's too bad he did that program before he had learned the quad.
 
Yes, I love that program too.
Now I know this season is still early, but to think that Chan may keep this LP for another season....I'm not sure about that. I like this new LP, but I don't want him to become predictible that keeping a SP or LP for more than one season. I think in over time, it may work against him in the judges' eyes.
 
I've been wondering a bit about why a young happy person like Patrick relates so much to a piece of sad bittersweet music about life. Then a few days ago I came across a video of Yesterday, his show program from 2007/2008. I was surprised when he reprised it for the 2010 Olympic Gala and I remember well the part where he did some one foot manuever which was quite impressive. But it was a sad piece and the atmosphere was a bit dark even though it was a big celebration. Now it hit me that it was about Mr. Colson who passed away in 2007. The figure tracing was included in the program to commenmorate his early lessons from the dearly departed coach. Though he doesn't talk much about this loss, he revealed that he visited Colson's grave to talk with him before leaving for Worlds. That and his setting up a scholarship in honor of Colson say a lot about his deep emotional tie and a very special relationship with the elder. Yesterday was replaced by Time To Say Goodbye, another farewell song. After that it was Kurt Browning's upbeat Viva La Vida. But he chose to perform Yesterday with the figure tracing at the Olympic Gala, just that once more. Now I believe it really was a tribute to his beloved old coach. Now I think it was even cooler that it was his grandfatherly mentor who sent him that Belief balloon. It was deemed better that he didn't medal at the Olympics for a larger plan.

All this leads back to Aranjuez and Patrick's connection to it. I suspect it reflects his own life experiences, possibly about the loss of beloved Mr. Colson who believed so much in him and the debacle at the Olympics which was what his coach and himself had set as the ultimate goal, and his eventual triumph over these events. He looks upwards at the begining and the end of the program, and then there is the part near the end when he raises his arms to heavens, followed by a from-the-heart gesture. I really think he feels the music from his heart, expressing his emotions with his skating that he doesn't do with words.
 
On the humorous side, if you're curious as to what the panties given to Patrick looked like:

Panties for Patrick

This reminds me of singer Clay Aiken receiving a bunch of undies on his tour after his 2nd place finish on American Idol. Some fans started throwing Depends on stage to spoof the image of his fans being older women. But red thongs were the most popular items flung at him, so much so Aiken started selling red thongs on his site, first as a joke but continuing as the best seller. In Toronto, his Canadian fans threw him a bright red onesie, reading on its back: 100% Genuine Canadian Winter Thong.
 
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^^^Wondering why some sexier skaters like Joubert didn't get such treatment??:unsure:

From the Panties for Patrick site:

Where it all began....the initial panty-flinging incident to Sir Chan had it's humble beginnings in the incoherent ramblings about the absurdity of throwing stuffed animals onto the ice for grown male athletes...whereas, the idea of throwing lingerie, liquor, and other unthought-of contraband seemed so much more appropriate. A movement was born; a target, uh, victim, uh, unsuspecting recipient was chosen....the World Champion, from Canada, Patrick Chan. He's a great skater; he's legal; and he has a sense of humor....Spaciba, Grazie, Gracias, Thank you, Merci Sir Chan!! (Oh, and if you happen to find this page, the panties were new, with the tag, and came with a gift...buy you KNOW that, right, since we KNOW you went and dug them out of the stuffie pile! ;)

He is legal in Canada. :cool: But is he in the US?
 
Oh, I've heard Alexei Yagudin got some pretty, er, interesting things back in the day....

These days he puts out words that his daughter wants him to bring home stuffies. ;)

I've always thought that skaters' children must have the biggest stuffed toys collections.
 
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