Ice skating confessions

[shine]

I also think they are much more romantic on a deeper level than Sale/Peltier.

Amen right back at ya! They express their romance not only with facial expression but with their entire body. The tension and excitement coming from the beautiful forms they create with their body and the speed their blades sail with across the ice are incredible and mind blowing.

 

[Grgranny]

And how could I forget one of my most favorites, Lulu?
I also like S&P and B&S. Probably B&S a little better.

 

[maxell1313]

-I don't get ice dance. Never have. I can appreciate it, but I don't care for it. I think they should replace it at the Olys, Worlds and Nats with synchronized skating.

-Sarah Hughes' win at the Olys was a fluke. Sorry, but it just was. There were too many factors going into the LP that had to take place and for all of them to happen?? What were the odds on that? That being said, the freshman year at college is a real eye-opener and I hope Sarah has an absolute blast at Yale. Should she stay pre-med and not change her major, I have no doubt she'll be a great doctor someday.

-Sasha Cohen is overhyped, overpraised, and overflexible. I thought her Malaguena program was great, but Rach was awful. Shallow edges or none at all, she needs to practice basic skating skills and do FULL runthroughs of her programs. And lose the V necked costumes.

-Angela Nikodinov needs to come out this season with all rockets firing or retire. I have an awful feeling this is the last chance the USFS(A) is going to give her and it's a shame as she's such a gorgeous skater. Go Angela!!

-Michelle Kwan needs to tell Vera Wang that while the dresses of the last few years have been lovely, there are other patterns. Sleeves are not bad things. Other than that quibble, I think she's taking her skating in the right direction.

-Other skaters I really like watching: Fumie Suguri, Yebin Mok, Jenny Kirk, and Elena Sokolova.

-US pairs teams are in serious trouble

-I like watching the men jump, but think the emphasis on quads is getting out of hand.

 

[dorispulaski]

Todd Eldredge is a technical fine skater, but his performances always put me into sleep. Did he ever skate to something which is not cheesy, histrionic or kitschy?

Well, he skated a very interesting routine to Chaplin that I really liked some years ago?

But as to my own true confessions:

I hate skate covers. They make the skaters look like they have stuffed animal legs. And I am not crazy about beige boots.

I really like ice dance but have no one except on line that can bear to hear me talk about it (and most on line can't either)

I would spend my last $ going to see live skating. Any time. Any where. Any skater.

I truly don't get the fuss about Fumie Suguri. I far prefer Shizuka.

I like Li better than Takeshi. (Love that offbeat stuff every time).

I love to see beautiful high jumps that take off on the right edge, land on the right edge and just flow into and out of the choreography.

It's skating, I could almost care less what they do with their arms and hands, but let a skater telegraph, leaving the foot hanging like a sausage off the ankle, it drives me crazy.

I wish no one would ever skate to Sing, Sing, Sing.

I don't think that Jeff Buttle is the next incarnation of the divinity.

I would rather watch eligible competitions than pro.

I reallly, really love T&D.

I quite like Tim Goebel.

Plush is a great skater, but between his costumes and his nose, he reminds me of cartoon characters. Even more so when he dresses up like them in his exhibitions.

I would rather watch Yags than either Tim or Plush.

I so dislike the Weiss family that I can't be fair to Mike's skating.

(Run Doris Run)

I love to see the dark horses and upcoming skaters, especially if the routines are unique.

I wish no one would try to put genocide on ice ever again. I don't want to see the Holocaust, Sarajevo, or the Twin Towers on ice. It has all the tastelessness of Mel Brooks ad for the History of the World Part2 at the end of History of the World part one, when he has a Hitler On Ice sketch.

I think Mishin should be banned from choreography.

I think Carol Heiss should be assigned a choreographer/artistic coordinator by USFSA and should not be allowed artistic control of her students.

I love Moskvina's programs!!!

I really liked Punsalan and Swallow's Race Cars program to Yellow. I really loved Brian Boitano's Les Patineurs SP. I loved Tonya Harding's and Midori Ito's superb jumps.

I have yet to see a Belbin and Agosto LP that I liked and I don't expect to like their new West Side Story.

Enough humiliating grovelling.

dpp

 

[Rachael]

I love Michelle but Lyrica Angelic is probably my least favorite program of hers.

Tim Goebel is my most favorite male skater ever.

I thought Oksana deserved her Olympic win.

Meno and Sand are my most favorite pair team ever, with S/Z a very close second.

 

[Lucy25]

I confess that when I see a ladies skater with skate covers and any color skate beside white I negatively judge them before I even see them skate. I can't help it - they are so ugly!

I also admit to liking M&D the best out of any pairs team ever and thought they deserved the gold medal over G&G in '92.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I thought of some more...

Although I do think Oksana is a more talented skater than Nancy overall, I still can't see how Oksana beat Nancy with that program in 1994.

Speaking of 1994, no matter how much M/D amazed with with their Rachmaninoff 2, I still would have given gold to G/G's Moonlight Sonata.

From what I seen of their eligible programs, I prefer Debi Thomas's skating over Kat Witt's.

I don't really like Kat Witt's style of skating, for some reason it really leaves me cold.

I love Shizuka's upbeat Swan Lake...dominatrix costume and all.

I would have placed Ina/Zimmerman third at the Olympics LP ahead of S/Z.

 

[lulu]

Even MORE confessions

When I first became a big fan (after SLC 2002) I thought the posters on the boards knew everything about skating.

When I first started posting-I was too influenced by other posters.

I used to be an Olympics only fan-meaning I would just watch skating during the Olympics and forget about it the rest of the year.

I have never actually seen a full playing of T&D's 1984 Bolero. I saw a 1 min clip. The Skates of Gold performance version, and the Lilliahammer exhibition version. But never the full 1984 tape.

I have never once cried or gotten teary eyed watching a skating performance, even though I am a sensitive person.

I stay out of flame wars-because I will get burned if I don't.

Brother and sister teams creep me out.

I find most ensamble numbers very corny.

I too don't understand a thing about ice dance judging-but I do like ice dancing!

I almost always root for the underdog.

My opinions on skating are not set in stone and can change.

Even though I prefer M&D to G&G. I liked G&G's short program better.

I don't get the big deal over Shen & Zhou's 2003 skate. It should have won the gold. But I don't think it was worth all those 6.0s. Maybe it is because I read the boards with everyone saying how their skate was the best pairs LP of all time and that S&Z were one of the best teams of all times. Then I saw it-and it was good but didn't live up to my exepectations. But I was happy that Shen landed all of her jumps with her bad foot.

I&Z should have been either 4th or 3rd at the Olympics.

 

[paintbrushhh]

Forgive me Dick Button, for I have sinned:

I have yelled "YES!!" when skaters have falllen.

S&Z moved me to tears at Worlds last year.

I believe EP is the secret son of Snoopy's pal Woodstock.

I think the focus on jumps detracts from choreography & other elements.

I think the CoP is a step in the right direction. I admit it needs tweaking (there should be no points for failed jumps and less points assigned to jumps). But anything is better than the current 6.0 system where judging shenanigans can be cloaked behind "I liked it better" or "I thought it was clean" or "I know he's better than what he skated" or "His presentation saved him" rationales.

On the topic of judging, I cannot understand why doing the hard jumps without any other redeeming skills can earn a 5.8/5.7. I always wondered why we never saw 5.8/4.2 scores. Or conversely, 4.2/5.8 scores. The two scores have/had independent factors.

I don't understand why speed is the skill du jour for ice dance. I thought the idea was to dance on ice, not race around the ice. And speaking of dance, I agree with DORISPULASKI: genocide on ice themes are inappropriate. To me, it smacks of using the pain of others for selfish "I can win over the audience with this" reasons. I really wonder if A&P or L&A would have used the same dances if the Olympics had been in, say, Latvia.

I prefer professional performances over amateur. The past plethora of pathetic pro-ams and predetermined winners events killed professional competion IMHO. I would love to see a convincing, non-cheezy professionally judged pro competition circuit (though it would probably kill the amateur cash cow and Scott Hamilton would never see a "10" again).

I allow Sandhu and Nikodinov to break my heart every year. But I'm thinking... this will be their year...won't it?

There's more, way more, but I'll hold it inside since I'm newto you all.

Paintbrushhh...

 

[Babyskates]

My confessions:

I enjoyed reading this thread

I love Michelle's skating. She's the greatest ever IMHO.

I like Timmy and his skating. He has improved his presentation and is always so honest. Not much patting himself on the back.

I like Mike and his skating. He was extremely nice when we met him. I think he is quite a good performer, too. I do wish someone would teach him about how to present himself when interviewed.

I wish Sasha would just go out there and have a little fun. I feel strained and like I need to stretch after watching her. Don't get me wrong. I think she is gorgeous and getting better all the time but I could enjoy her much more if she could make it look as if she was enjoying herself.

Sarah's profound flutz should have cost her the gold in SLC. I also can not stand her endless professions of how much better she can and will do and how much potential she has.

If it is true that the field of senior women is deep then why do we already know going in who is going to be in the top 3, regardless of how they skate????

I hope women never, ever master and incorporate the quad into their programs.

I really like live skating - From the little ones to the elite! I just wish competitions were judged a bit more fairly...

And speaking of fair judging - While S&P were wonderful at the Olympics, B&S were, too. It's a shame their joy was stolen and their gold is tarnished with a scandal and having to share the title of Olympic champions. If I were S&P, I wouldn't feel like Olympic Gold medalists.

 

[dewet]

For some reason, I don't like Sasha's skating.

I also root for the underdogs.

Pro comps bore me.

I don't understand the difference between pair lifts.

I wish people would stop working endlessly on jumps long enough to have a balanced program.

I like this thread too.

 

[Antilles]

I love this topic, and I've written the stuff I want to say on post-its so I wouldn't forget them.

First off, A&P are my favourite dancers of all time, and the reason ice dance has gone from my least fave discipline to my fave. I think they're Romeo&Juliet, MITIM and Carmina Burana programs are three of the best ever. I also think the MITIM reverse lift is the coolest skating move I have ever seen. All that being said, I think they're Liberta program was simply awful, and it made we want to cry or puke any time I saw it. I also think they needed more footwork in a lot of their programs.

Even though it was nice to see B&K finally win this season, I think their program was a cheap knock-off of A&P style programs. They have always been known for great footwork, but this season they had more basic progressives and two footed skating than ever, and this is the type of program the judges consistenly reward. I think D&S had a much better program, and they should have won gold. I also think N&K should have been on the podium in second, and B&K third.

I wish K&O had been able to come back in 2002. They have talent and skills, and needed to show everyone that year how to dance, because almost eveyone's programs sucked, and they were the worst Olympics for ice dance I have ever seen.

I think A&P deserved their bronze in Nagano. I liked their program and B&K's Riverdance much better than G&P.

 

[Antilles]

I have more non-dance stuff:

Sandhu breaks my heart. He has so much talent, and the complete package, if he could just get it together!

I think Sasha's Malaguena is the best ladies SP ever.

I really don't enjoy ladies skating for the most part. There's something boring about most of it.

I think all of Morozov's footwork looks the same.

I also think I&Z desrved Olynpic bronze. I think the judge's tried to make up for it at Worlds, even though they had a sub-par performance, and should have ended behind P&T. I think the judges then made it up to P&T this year by palcing them third, when they had no business being there.

I can't stnad ensemble numbers. They are cheesy, and often there is too much going on to really aprreciate anyone's skating.

I think S&P are boring, and lack versatility. I think B&S deserved that gold. I love their Meditation, Chaplin and 2000 LP (can't remember the name)

I think B&E are the best professional team ever.

I love M&K, and think they deserved gold in 1994. I think G&G are very overhyped, and I think some people feel they should be legends to make up for their tragic story.

I never cared for Boitano, and even though he deserved to win in 88, I felt horrible for Brain Orser, who is wonderful

I like Phillip Candeloro. He's not afraid to do what he wants.

I think yags MITIM costume is the best male costume I have ever seen, and Winter is the best male SP of all time

I like PLushy, but think he's kind of odd.

 

[Antilles]

Oops, I meant M&D. Natalia and Oksana never skated together. Forgot to spell check too.

 

[Norlite]

A few more thoughts

I want compulsory dances at competitions televised. At least top 4 or 5.

I'm always amazed that people use moves like spread eagles, ina bauers and, to a lesser degree, spirals to prove their favourite skater has good edges. And from a photo yet! My grandmother has good edges doing these moves. Show me basic stroking, connecting moves (3 turns, mohawks, choctaws) and jumps.

Although Shen and Zhao were amazing at World's, I thought their FS at 4CC was more inspiring. I don't have a tape, so I can't argue technically, but I remember thinking that I had never seen anyone skate with such joyous abandon.

I am worried about Elvis, and I think Skate Canada is too.

I too have found Michelle boring in the past, but not this year. Many skaters like to skate in sleeveless dresses. It is quite common.

I am also looking forward to COP. I agree it will need some tweaking, but I think it has promise.

I could watch Lucinda Ruh spin all day.

Chris Mabee is the most under-rated skater in Canada.

I too hate boot covers and can't understand why someone would wear them at the senior level. If your skates are a mess, apply some skate tape.

I understand the Russians and their gloves. It hurts to fall on the ice (think ice burn, as in carpet burn). But it is only 4 or 5 minutes in a competition, and it is televised. Lose them.

I wonder if the USFSA is ever going to publically announce their name change to US Figure Skating? Or are we just suppose to notice on our own.

 

[Rachael]

I didn't feel sad when K/P broke up. He gave her a long time to learn how to land jumps. He deserves a partner who can land them. *ducks*

I know Sarah flutzes bad but Sasha's flutz is just as bad but why doesn't she critized for hers. I'm not trying to start a fight or anything but if one skater flutzes badly, then they should get critized for it too. Just like the other skater.

 

[Mathman]

I confess that I like Barbara Fusar-Poli.

MM

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I confess that I like Barbara Fusar-Poli.

MM

Me too. I actually really do enjoy a lot of FP/M programs mostly because of Fusar-Poli.

 

[Antilles]

Barbara is a great personality. I admit, her reported clashes with Marina spiced things up a little. It's funny looking back, after the GPF in 2000, those two hugged each other and looked happy about it.

 

[lulu]

I have never even heard of Jason Mabee.

I think the CoP has some good things going for it.

I don't think getting a 6.0 is always that big of a deal, because when you skate usually plays apart.

One of the things I don't like about ice skating that it is really expensive-I would like to see children from economically disadvantage homes get just as much opportunity to skate as they do to play sports like basketball.

2002 Olys was the first time I actually liked ice dance.

I hate the one piece rubber spandex suits the men wore back in the 1980s.

I think Anton S. Chaplin suspender outfit (Euros 2001?) was the greatest man's outfit I have seen.

I know more about the Sasha-Pasha-Maya thing than I ever did about the programs of U/Z and G/P.

I know more "skating gossip" than I do about the technical aspects. Although I know more than I used too.

All skaters to one degree or another are underrated and overrated.

I like Carolina Kostner but fear she might be one of those skaters who always makes a mistake (hope I'm wrong).

I think Elena Sokolova is a breath of fresh air. But I didn't really care for her LP. However, she was so charming-I was cheering for her.

I think the difference between the technical ability of M&D, G&G and B&S is very small.

I used to think the "Human Zamboni" was a compliment.

I found that I can improve the speed of skaters but watching them in the "fast-forward" mode on my VCR.

My feelings towards G&G are inconsistant.
1. I think they are technically(when it comes to doing things textbook) the best. Actually I think B&S have better speed, jumps,etc-but they were inconsistant in their early years, so for doing things textbook-I would have to go for G&G.
2. On the other hand-I do think they are somewhat overrated.
3. Some of their programs I find boring.
4. There are some G&G programs that I really like.