Jason Brown

[Mrs. P]

Just re-read this great essay by Scott Adams, who created the well-regarded Dilbert comic: http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626104579121813075903866

Key points:

Just after college, I took my first airplane trip, destination California, in search of a job. I was seated next to a businessman who was probably in his early 60s. I suppose I looked like an odd duck with my serious demeanor, bad haircut and cheap suit, clearly out of my element. I asked what he did for a living, and he told me he was the CEO of a company that made screws. He offered me some career advice. He said that every time he got a new job, he immediately started looking for a better one. For him, job seeking was not something one did when necessary. It was a continuing process.

This makes perfect sense if you do the math. Chances are that the best job for you won't become available at precisely the time you declare yourself ready. Your best bet, he explained, was to always be looking for a better deal. The better deal has its own schedule. I believe the way he explained it is that your job is not your job; your job is to find a better job.

This was my first exposure to the idea that one should have a system instead of a goal. The system was to continually look for better options.

Throughout my career I've had my antennae up, looking for examples of people who use systems as opposed to goals. In most cases, as far as I can tell, the people who use systems do better. The systems-driven people have found a way to look at the familiar in new and more useful ways.

To put it bluntly, goals are for losers. That's literally true most of the time. For example, if your goal is to lose 10 pounds, you will spend every moment until you reach the goal—if you reach it at all—feeling as if you were short of your goal. In other words, goal-oriented people exist in a state of nearly continuous failure that they hope will be temporary.

And finally what if the strategy/system doesn't work:

My system of creating something the public wants and reproducing it in large quantities nearly guaranteed a string of failures. By design, all of my efforts were long shots. Had I been goal-oriented instead of system-oriented, I imagine I would have given up after the first several failures. It would have felt like banging my head against a brick wall.

But being systems-oriented, I felt myself growing more capable every day, no matter the fate of the project that I happened to be working on. And every day during those years I woke up with the same thought, literally, as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and slapped the alarm clock off.

Today's the day.

If you drill down on any success story, you always discover that luck was a huge part of it. You can't control luck, but you can move from a game with bad odds to one with better odds. You can make it easier for luck to find you. The most useful thing you can do is stay in the game. If your current get-rich project fails, take what you learned and try something else. Keep repeating until something lucky happens. The universe has plenty of luck to go around; you just need to keep your hand raised until it's your turn. It helps to see failure as a road and not a wall.

I think I'll let Mr. Adams speak for himself on why I posted this. Advance apologies if this sounds too self-help for you all.

 

[TMC]

That sure IS something to be proud of!!



Something we all heard--right at the beginning of TI, the female commentator said that Jason had the most "technically easy" program. I don't recall hearing that last year's Riverdance was in any way "easy"-- in fact, it was so complex, it was hard to keep up with it. So is TI considered simple compared to Riverdance? There were fewer jumps (I think) and the pace was much slower and perhaps more grand and sweeping than Riverdance but being a novice, I don't know precisely how one would compare the two. I suppose technical elements would head the list??

No I don't think it's easier - if anything it's harder for being more backloaded. They're just trying to say "he doesn't have the quad" in a different way for variety's sake I guess.

 

[alabhaois]

OK, dumb question... what does "backloaded" mean in this context? Thanks!
:

 

[StitchMonkey]

OK, dumb question... what does "backloaded" mean in this context? Thanks!
:

Jumps get an extra 10% base value in the second half of the program. So backloading in this context means loading the end (or back) of your program up wit as many jumps/high value jumps as possible for more points. I believe Jason only did 3 Jumps in the first half the rest were in the second half for extra value.

 

[Mrs. P]

Jumps get an extra 10% base value in the second half of the program. So backloading in this context means loading the end (or back) of your program up wit as many jumps/high value jumps as possible for more points. I believe Jason only did 3 Jumps in the first half the rest were in the second half for extra value.

Actually he only did two, the 3A-2T and the 3Z. Everything else (3Lo, 3A, 3F-3T, 3Z-1L-3S, 2A, 2A) was in the back half.

Moving the 2A to the back half added an extra .36 points.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Jumps get an extra 10% base value in the second half of the program. So backloading in this context means loading the end (or back) of your program up wit as many jumps/high value jumps as possible for more points. I believe Jason only did 3 Jumps in the first half the rest were in the second half for extra value.

I didn't know you spoke gangsta

Dat backloaded jump crap is Wack

In all seriousness. I can respect a backloaded program more than a front loaded program. Especially if the StSeq precedes the back loading. I don't think there is anything a skater can do though free of criticism. So why not get the points?

 

[StitchMonkey]

I didn't know you spoke gangsta

Dat backloaded jump crap is Wack

In all seriousness. I can respect a backloaded program more than a front loaded program. Especially if the StSeq precedes the back loading. I don't think there is anything a skater can do though free of criticism. So why not get the points?

I think a lot has to do with how it is loaded. Jason does 2 2As right at the end, so the program still feels balanced to me. He has jumps throughout the program. It is not like he does 6 jumps right in a row at the halfway way point. I love the ending here, I think it actually adds something to the program. It is great that it adds points, but it would still work even without the bonus.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Actually he only did two, the 3A-2T and the 3Z. Everything else (3Lo, 3A, 3F-3T, 3Z-1L-3S, 2A, 2A) was in the back half.

Moving the 2A to the back half added an extra .36 points.

I think i knew that. . . I am trying to decide if this was a type or a brain fart.

 

[alabhaois]

Ah, thank you StitchMonkey-- that makes sense.

I noticed that some of his elements were identical to those in Riverdance-- is it not unusual for skaters to "recycle" (for lack of a better term) moves done in previous programs?

 

[TMC]

I think i knew that. . . I am trying to decide if this was a type or a brain fart.

I think you were thinking 3 jumps because he did do 3 jumps, only he did them in two jumping passes which I believe Mrs P is thinking of. So you're both right!

Is it me or has anyone else noticed that the use of the phrase "brain fart" has increased quite a bit on this forum?

 

[TMC]

There were fewer jumps (I think) and the pace was much slower and perhaps more grand and sweeping than Riverdance but being a novice, I don't know precisely how one would compare the two. I suppose technical elements would head the list??

Forgot to add that a change in tempo is a requirement for the free skate, so the music has to have "slower" and "faster" parts. In Riverdance this was perhaps the first 1:50 minutes (2A, 3A-3T, 3A). I remember this because the 2:15 midway point came about 2/3 into the step sequence. The rest was pure mayhem of course ;-)

T&I on the other hand starts slow and builds up, then gets slow again and builds up, and finally slows down again at the very end, so the "slow" sections combined may be longer than in Riverdance. But that's just my feeling, I haven't watched with a stopwatch in hand

I didn't know you spoke gangsta

Dat backloaded jump crap is Wack

Thank you for a belly laugh after a depressing Men's free event at Euros!

Where, by the way, our quadless, non-competitive, fake artist Jason would have won silver with two clean skates :sarcasm:

 

[StitchMonkey]

Where, by the way, our quadless, non-competitive, fake artist Jason would have won silver :sarcasm:

So I'm not the only one that did that comparison as soon as it ended.

How long is it going to take for people to figure out not enough guys are good enough at quads to be doing them this much!

I am almost to the point I want to see quads banned. . . maybe just for a season, I want to see people actually skate and try and compete, not just cross their fingers and throw quads.

 

[el henry]

Forgot to add that a change in tempo is a requirement for the free skate, so the music has to have "slower" and "faster" parts. In Riverdance this was perhaps the first 1:50 minutes (2A, 3A-3T, 3A). I remember this because the 2:15 midway point came about 2/3 into the step sequence. The rest was pure mayhem of course ;-)

T&I on the other hand starts slow and builds up, then gets slow again and builds up, and finally slows down again at the very end, so the "slow" sections combined may be longer than in Riverdance. But that's just my feeling, I haven't watched with a stopwatch in hand





Thank you for a belly laugh after a depressing Men's free event at Euros!

Where, by the way, our quadless, non-competitive, fake artist Jason would have won silver :sarcasm:

Not to mention immature and childish.

Not only do I want to see Jason do well at Worlds because I want to see Jason do well at Worlds, but maybe tone down some of that vitriol that's out there.

 

[Mrs. P]

I didn't know you spoke gangsta

Dat backloaded jump crap is Wack

In all seriousness. I can respect a backloaded program more than a front loaded program. Especially if the StSeq precedes the back loading. I don't think there is anything a skater can do though free of criticism. So why not get the points?

He'll take the points.

Now Sam, I think you need to do a new Jason video to this song. (Your gangsta language made me want to listen to 1990s rap, lol).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hiUuL5uTKc

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

He'll take the points.

Now Sam, I think you need to do a new Jason video to this song. (Your gangsta language made me want to listen to 1990s rap, lol).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hiUuL5uTKc

Lol...I was walking around the ice rink the other day with "South Central does it like nobody does" "This is how we do it" stuck in my head and then realized I was actually saying it out loud. :

I'm definitely doing another Jason video once the busy season dies down and all of my snowboarding adventures get edited down. But the longer I wait...the more quality footage is bound to come out from Jason. Ever since that last video I made I've really grown to like him more and more along with Kori and Mariah. I've got my Russian Crew with Eteri and now my much sought after American crew has been found

 

[TMC]

[/B]
Not to mention immature and childish.

Not only do I want to see Jason do well at Worlds because I want to see Jason do well at Worlds, but maybe tone down some of that vitriol that's out there.

Actually, I wouldn't want Jason to do too well at Worlds. If he does really well, I'm afraid the vitriol will only increase a hundredfold.

I did the math with a friend who's also a Jason fan and we came to this conclusion:

Regardless of how the other two do, the best placement for Jason is 5th (or 4th with a caveat). That is high enough that he shows it was worth sending him, but low enough that he's not the imaginary cause of someone else being robbed. If 1-3 get 270+ points and 4-6/7 get 245+ points, then 4th would also be okay.

If he medals (bronze being feasible), he will not be forgiven for doing it without attempting a quad. No matter how well he does and how many mistakes the other competitors make. He will forever be accused of getting there due to politicking and an unfair PCS boost (never mind that much poorer skaters regularly get a PCS boost for attempting quads).

Of course Jason wants to medal and he can and has every right to, but I worry that he'd be torn to pieces on social media. So really what I've written is not the best placement for Jason, it's the best Jason placement for me, because I don't want to be very very sad yet again

No but seriously I worry he'll become another Evan, who seems to be so universally despised for no good reason at all.

 

[Mrs. P]

Lol...I was walking around the ice rink the other day with "South Central does it like nobody does" "This is how we do it" stuck in my head and then realized I was actually saying it out loud. :

I'm definitely doing another Jason video once the busy season dies down and all of my snowboarding adventures get edited down. But the longer I wait...the more quality footage is bound to come out from Jason. Ever since that last video I made I've really grown to like him more and more along with Kori and Mariah. I've got my Russian Crew with Eteri and now my much sought after American crew has been found

You guys are getting snow!!! There is a lack of snow in my end of Washington state. Not that I'm snowboarding all that much anyway. I went once and kept falling on my butt, so I sort of gave up, LOL. Maybe I'll try again sometime....though obviously not with a baby, LOL.

 

[Eloyse]

Having watched Euros, I believe Jason has a big chance for a bronze at Worlds this year
If Yuzuru recovers fully, he will probably win gold. But who's next? Javier got huge inflation today. With that performance he should have gotten 250+ normally. If Javier continues to skate like this, even silver is possible for Jason to grab
But even if Jason doesn't land on podium, it's still very likely to secure 3 spots for next year's Worlds.
PS. I think that Team US boys have the most correct strategies regarding quads

 

[TMC]

Having watched Euros, I believe Jason has a big chance for a bronze at Worlds this year
If Yuzuru recovers fully, he will probably win gold. But who's next? Javier got huge inflation today. With that performance he should have gotten 250+ normally. If Javier continues to skate like this, even silver is possible for Jason to grab
But even if Jason doesn't land on podium, it's still very likely to secure 3 spots for next year's Worlds.
PS. I think that Team US boys have the most correct strategies regarding quads

I like your thinking!

I was just pondering this in the Euro Men's FS thread.

Perhaps the best strategy, if you truly have a quad, is to do one beautiful quad or quad combo in one or preferably both segments. As a highlight at the very beginning. Get +GOE and yet have enough energy to rotate and stick your other jumps and throw in some performance and interpretation as well.

 

[Mrs. P]

Going to get away from the quad/medal prospects discussion for a moment.

This totally cracked me up -- totally made good on that whole doing laundry thing, LOL.

https://twitter.com/jasonbskates/status/561329779551375360

And #twinning! (BTW, he looks really good in this photo; his cardboard cutout doesn't look to bad either, hehe)

https://twitter.com/jasonbskates/status/561007042064695299