Jason Brown | Page 596 | Golden Skate

Jason Brown

So i know we are not supposed to compare scores across events... but we do it anyway.

Jason's score at SC would have got him the Bronze at SA... he still has the second highest score of any American man. As bad as he did, he did not actually do that bad!

He seems to have really bad luck about getting well skated events... maybe it is just his joy that he brings, but this is not the fist time we have seen stuff like this.
 
MGstyle said:
Who will be present at IdF in Grenoble?? Surprise Alert! Jerry Solomon approved a casual little M&G - all the details still to be worked on, location, time/day, how many people will be involved etc. Anyone interested? :hap10:
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:yahoo: for you and for organizing this group!

Do you need a translator to French; if only my Star Trek transporter were working:drama:

(Truly, Jason, Deniss and Kevin A. in the same comp... and a Fan Club meetup. :dbana:)
 
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In case anyone was interested, here's my 1080p fancam of his SCI LP Thursday afternoon practice (sorry for the wait, but the competition and the crazy-long commute left me exhausted each night)---I sat in the second row from the boards: [Removed dead link]

ETA: The Vimeo link is now dead, so here's a Streamable one: https://streamable.com/q6kb3 Unfortunately, the site refuses to display it in 1080p, so you'll have to settle for 720p.
 
Ruthypegs said:
I'll be there - would love to come along. I met Jason at Skate Canada last year - in fact, he and Patrick Chan were the reasons that I travelled thousands of miles from Sheffield to Saskatchewan for my first figure skating event. When I met Jason, my nerve failed me, and all the things I wanted to say to him (about how he'd inspired me, got me hooked on figure skating, and brought me so much joy), never got said, and all I managed was a feeble "well done". It would be good to have another chance!
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Ha! Ha! I think we all get so star struck when we see skaters we like! Last year, Jason was on my plane from Calgary to Regina. I debated whether I should say something to him and decided I would never forgive myself if I didn't! I wished him good luck and he gave me the biggest hug. I was so happy! :love:
 
Okay lots of Skate Canada thoughts coming your way, mainly about the free skate, but also a few miscellaneous things.

I honestly didn't have high (or much of any) expectations for the free skate, especially given his struggles with it at ACI. In fact, i made good on my promise that i wrote here that I wouldn't go to practice, but I also opted not to even read anything about Jason's practices (or just skating in general) online either here or on Twitter. I decided to kind of use it as an opportunity to enjoy more of Montreal -- I ran around Mount Royal Park (the view of the city is amazing!) and vla13 and I went to brunch and toasted to Jason and Zhenya having better performances.

We then decided to visit toy stores and see if we could up our plush game for Jason and Zhenya. As you probably saw, somebody gave Wakaba Higuchi a big shark after her SP. We were inspired by that. We visited a few places. We ended up splitting the purchases -- vla13 bought a nice big ladybug for Zhenya (if you follow her you'll know she's a big fan of nature's creatures, including squirrels and ladybugs) and I bought a good-sized Catboy doll for Jason -- it's from the show PJ Masks. I bought it knowing that a kid would get it eventually and I know that show is really popular (ask my kid :laugh:) so I'm hoping it will bring a kid some joy. :)

At the men's free skate there were some empty seats around us and we actually ended up sitting with a Canadian student who was involved with the Wakaba shark purchase. We laughed and told him that he inspired us to buy some nice plush toys for our faves. And it also turned out he was the guy who randomly saw Jason at a local dollar store in Toronto.. We ended up watching the free skate together and had a great time commentating on music, jumps and things.

Anyway, onward to the free skate. During the free skate, we wondered if Jason was taking out the quad because he didn't attempt it all during most of the warm-up. He finally did ONE attempt of the 4S at the end and fell on it, so I obviously wasn't feeling too optimistic about him doing much with it and sure enough, he popped it again, just like at ACI. I was prepared to see him unravel, but he ended up getting stronger! The 3A-3T! It was impressive to all of you at home and it was definitely impressive to me in person -- it was right in front of me, so it was cool to see that. But all the jumps looked, 4S aside, really great.

I love the SP (especially the solo 3F -- i honestly cannot rave about that jumping pass and the transitions in and out enough), but I am surprised how connected I became with the FS. I think part of it was that he skated better. But it was obvious Jason was more comfortable with the program. You probably heard him talk in the K&C about not feeling like he was as "checklisty" with his performance, which can really explain why it fell flat at ACI, even without accounting for the jump issues. But here, in person, I did sense more a connection, both between Jason and the music and Jason with the audience. I also sense a lot more nuance in his facial expression and arm movements. As I mentioned the other day after seeing the practice version, I actually think this will be a great program with a few more months of seasoning -- it already looked much better than ACI, namely cause there was additional choreography. It's too bad he popped the 3A combo int he second half because as you saw in the run-through, he did it perfectly there (3A-2T-2L). The 3Lo looked great and i love the exit of the jump. The step sequence was great -- great ice coverage, good edges and variety of movement.

I think the free skate is an interesting challenge because he has to show vulnerability and sadness in a way that's engaging with the audience. I feel like he hasn't really done that with many of his programs. But I came away from the FS thinking that the program still have plenty of potential and i like Jason stretching his range.

Overall, it was a bit of a mixed bag -- the SP was problematic and he didn't medal -- but i came away positive given the incremental improvements in his jumps and overall skating. I think it's not fully soup yet, but I think he's getting there --I can tell you that the 3A fall in the SP and the 2A pop in the FS were the ONLY attempts, pretty much. that were not successful. The 4S was pretty much MIA at SCI. I'm not sure why, but I hope they keep working on it.

It was also fun to see him interact with Brian and Lee. I also thought it was really interesting to hear Brian urge Jason to skate with his heart rather than his brain, which is kind of a weird comment given that Jason's known for that -- but I think it goes to show what you all said, change is tough and it's really energy draining to have to think of what to do next in a program -- losing more than a decade of muscle memory and then regaining it is no easy task.

Also after having to sit through his Nationals FS, it's nice to have a more recent positive competitive memory of Jason. I 'll post more if i have additional thoughts, but this is coming to mind right now. :)
 
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Ruthypegs said:
I'll be there - would love to come along. I met Jason at Skate Canada last year - in fact, he and Patrick Chan were the reasons that I travelled thousands of miles from Sheffield to Saskatchewan for my first figure skating event. When I met Jason, my nerve failed me, and all the things I wanted to say to him (about how he'd inspired me, got me hooked on figure skating, and brought me so much joy), never got said, and all I managed was a feeble "well done". It would be good to have another chance!
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LOL I know how it goes oh, so painfully well, been there done that with every skating idol I have ever met :palmf: And with Jason it happens in a way all so unique, because he actually starts bouncing around with joy upon seeing you, as if he just met a long lost BFF, the exuberance rubs off right on and I start bouncing around with him and the rest is history, with what I wanted, meant to say all flying out of my brain as I bounced around :o: At a M&G we should have a chance to sit down and settle down at least for some minutes, so hopefully I will manage a little better! :p
 
Some other misc. thoughts on Jason that occurred to me since I wrote my post above.

* Brian - Jason interactions. In general, I always get annoyed when people judge a coaching relationship on a few minutes at the K&C. That pretty much goes for any skater, not just Jason. The cool thing about being at practices outside of competition, is that you get to see a different dynamic. Jason didn't do the whole "laughing cause I'm not used to different coaches at the boards" thing that apparently he did at ACI. He was pretty cool with Brian and Lee. There was a lot of joking around and smiling but generally it was all business. I also think that Jason tends to be more high-energy during competition because there's an audience and he basically sucks in all that energy. When you think about Brian's other prime students -- he hasn't really had anyone like that before, so I'm sure that will be getting used to. But I don't it should be interpreted that Brian doesn't think much of Jason or whatever. Listening to the mic at the K&C, I think that Brian actually thinks more highly of him than people seem to think.

*I feel like the FS gives me the same vibes of Davis and White's Tango FD from the 2010-2011 season. It never was an iconic program for them nor have I really watched it much since that season, but it really truly was a growth program. It forced D&W to work more on their connection with each other and on their lines and sharp movement. I think it paid dividends for them throughout the Olympic quad leading up to Sochi. The FD got similar criticisms as Jason's FS did here -- that it didn't fit their style, they didn't have the chops to pull of the style, etc. I think it's OK if this program doesn't become absolutely iconic and amazing, but if Jason is able to gain other things -- like a better ability to express vulnerability to the audience -- then it was worth doing it this season -- and it's a good season to try new things. That step sequence, however, is really good. Speaking of which, Jason has some of the highest StSqs among the men, which isn't surprising.

ETA:
One more thought. I think the FS as performed here had shades of "Classic Jason," i.e. you didn't care that he popped the second 3A or 4S because he had an ability to make a moment with the program. He indicated that he felt more like he was performing and not trying to make sure he was doing the new technique with the jumps. He took Brian's advice, basically, to skate with his heart, just as he done before.

It made me realize that he hasn't been really able to do that in a while. When you look back at last season, he was nervy all season long , though he had a few special moments (like the 4CC FS when he went back to the Piano). But as he talked about in Phil Hersh's piece, that he felt pulled in so many directions -- it was clearly that those things were constantly on his mind for much of last season. Now he's kind of dealing with a different version of that since he's dealing with new technique. I think it will take a while for him to skate with the freedom we've seen before, but I'm encouraged that we saw some of that in the FS here.
 
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Mrs P., thanks so much for all your thoughts! I agree about not always judging relationships by what happens in the kiss n cry. But I actually found it really interesting to watch the knc interactions between Jason, Lee, and Brian. I didn’t see anything negative or any sense that they weren’t 100% behind him. But I could clearly see kind of a cultural clash - I don’t mean US-Canadian, or anything that simplistic. It’s more at a personal or maybe a familial level. For Jason, hugging everyone, male and female, family or new acquaintance, seems pretty much as natural as breathing. You could see that for both Lee and Brian, though, that kind of physical expression isn’t natural, at least in that particular situation (ie on camera in knc with a male student they don’t yet know as well). They both offered Jason their hands - intending a more formal handshake- when he came off the ice, and neither of them knew what to with the hugs (Brian did a bit better than Lee). :). And of course Jason clearly didn’t expect the handshakes. There was nothing at all wrong with any of them - but you could clearly see that they don’t know each other very well yet. So it will be interesting to see how they navigate those differences over time. It’s also interesting to see Lee and Brian coaching him by the boards, laughing and joking.

I kinda have the feeling that Brian may never have coached anyone like Jason. My sense (maybe I’m wrong) is that most people come to him with both relatively strong jump technique and the confidence that comes with winning. I wonder if Brian has ever rebuilt someone’s jumps from the ground up before, or if he’s had to deal with someone whose confidence needs rebuilding after a really tough season (maybe Gaby as to confidence l?). Anyway, it may be a learning experience for him coaching Jason, even as part of a team.

Regarding the program, it has also been growing on me as they’ve added more stuff. I was wondering if seeing it on the stream with closeup camera views (vs being in venue) might have influenced that, so I’m glad to hear that you liked it more live. I’m still not quite clear what the “theme” is, but I do agree he’s starting to show more vulnerability. It’s especially clear at the beginning and I really like how he moves in the opening 20 seconds or so. I don’t think it will ever be one of my favorites like Piano - but I agree that’s not so important this year. I am looking forward to seeing it in another month, in France!
 
Tavi... said:
Mrs P., thanks so much for all your thoughts! I agree about not always judging relationships by what happens in the kiss n cry. But I actually found it really interesting to watch the knc interactions between Jason, Lee, and Brian. I didn’t see anything negative or any sense that they weren’t 100% behind him. But I could clearly see kind of a cultural clash - I don’t mean US-Canadian, or anything that simplistic. It’s more at a personal or maybe a familial level. For Jason, hugging everyone, male and female, family or new acquaintance, seems pretty much as natural as breathing. You could see that for both Lee and Brian, though, that kind of physical expression isn’t natural, at least in that particular situation (ie on camera in knc with a male student they don’t yet know as well). They both offered Jason their hands - intending a more formal handshake- when he came off the ice, and neither of them knew what to with the hugs (Brian did a bit better than Lee). :). And of course Jason clearly didn’t expect the handshakes. There was nothing at all wrong with any of them - but you could clearly see that they don’t know each other very well yet. So it will be interesting to see how they navigate those differences over time. It’s also interesting to see Lee and Brian coaching him by the boards, laughing and joking.
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I mainly was responding to the various posts that Brian "treated" Jason differently in the K&C or that Brian seem "standoffish" relative to his other students. But I agree that they're still getting to know each other. It's interesting how quickly Brian has taken to Zhenya -- I don't think Jason would have felt comfortable asking Brian for a pep talk at 1 a.m. Maybe Tracy?

When I got to Montreal, I went to meet a friend who lived in town. We actually had never met in person -- we had taken an online class together many years ago and had stayed in touch over the years. Anyway, I got to our meeting spot and he saw me and I gave him a hug. I think I was excited to see a familiar face and I won't say I'm a major hugger, but most of the time, with friends, I generally give them hugs. Anyway, after we hug, he admitted that he doesn't usually hug people, but he was happy to see me. When we said goodbye, I made a point just to wave and not hug him. :laugh:

Brian is a friendly person. When I was at Skate America 2012, I ended up at the bar where all the skaters stayed namely cause the person I was with wanted to see skaters. I was new to this whole thing, so I thought it was weird, but sitting at a bar drinking help me feel at ease (I ended up returning for a second time later in the weekend, lol). Anyway, we ended up sitting next to Brian, who was talking to a few people, eventually they left and he was alone. We made eye contact and we started talking, mainly about Hanyu, because it was after the SP when he made that SP record with his Parisian Walkways program. Brian had no qualms about talking about Hanyu, how he was doing, his strengths and flaws and what they were up to. He was super down-to-earth, you'd never know he had coached an Olympic Gold Medalist.

I think my favorite part of the conversation was when I asked him about carrying the Pooh tissue box and he quipped that he used to make fun of it and now he has to hold it. Makes me confident that Brian will get used to Jason's quirks, just has he did for Yuzu.


I kinda have the feeling that Brian may never have coached anyone like Jason. My sense (maybe I’m wrong) is that most people come to him with both relatively strong jump technique and the confidence that comes with winning. I wonder if Brian has ever rebuilt someone’s jumps from the ground up before, or if he’s had to deal with someone whose confidence needs rebuilding after a really tough season (maybe Gaby as to confidence l?). Anyway, it may be a learning experience for him coaching Jason, even as part of a team.
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I think the whole TCC only does polishing is a bit of a myth. While we can look at all these skaters now with all their achievements, they came in with some major issues. Yes, Yuna had amazing jump technique but she also had suffered from chronic injuries that really kept her from winning very often during those early years at TCC. In the early part of the Olympic quad, Mao Asada had edged out Yuna during most of their meetings. It wasn't until 2009 Worlds when Yuna asserted dominance, which was about two seasons after she started at TCC. Yuzu had raw talent, but he had a major stamina problem. In fact at that same Skate America competition, Yuzu dropped to second after struggling in the free skate. Yuzu was a World medalist, but he wasn't training at his optimal peak -- he had asthma and he only was training and hour or two on the ice. Actually Javi is similar to Jason in that he was also a top 10 skater. But the word was that Javi had struggle to be consistent in his practice discipline. My point is all of them had some major issue, so Brian and Co. is no stranger for having to guide a skater through major changes.

All that said, you're right that it's a bit new for them to work with not just one but two (Zhenya's essentially in the same boat) skaters who needed retooling of their jump technique. I think the big challenge is to make sure that they preserve already world class qualities, like his basic skating, spins and steps. I'm a bit concerned that he keeps missing the levels on his combo spin at both ACI/SCI (not drastic, but should easily do a level four -- he got level 3V in ACI and it was level 3 in SCI. Jason cannot afford to lose silly points on not doing enough rotations on a combo spin.

Regarding the program, it has also been growing on me as they’ve added more stuff. I was wondering if seeing it on the stream with closeup camera views (vs being in venue) might have influenced that, so I’m glad to hear that you liked it more live. I’m still not quite clear what the “theme” is, but I do agree he’s starting to show more vulnerability. It’s especially clear at the beginning and I really like how he moves in the opening 20 seconds or so. I don’t think it will ever be one of my favorites like Piano - but I agree that’s not so important this year. I am looking forward to seeing it in another month, in France!
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I don't think this is an intentional plan, but honestly the three songs are actually quite biographical to Jason's life at the moment. Kinda about the passage of life, loss of innocence, lamenting about what was not achieved in the past. Hazy Shade of Winter is actually about the struggle to come to terms with past failure. The way the songs are cut, it isn't dead obvious that this program is autobiographical, but I wonder if Jason will tap into those past feelings/sentiments. That seems kind of scary and hard to do....but from an artistic standpoint, I can see a lot of value of using last season's struggles in a way that provides more meaning or opportunities for interpretation. I agree it's still early days, but I think it will be exciting for people to connect to a more introspective Jason then the super charismatic, dynamic perky ball of sunshine most people know him for. Jason's challenge will be to tap into those feelings while mastering new technique in those hard jumps. Tall order. :biggrin:
 
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Mrs. P said:
We then decided to visit toy stores and see if we could up our plush game for Jason and Zhenya. As you probably saw, somebody gave Wakaba Higuchi a big shark after her SP. We were inspired by that. We visited a few places. We ended up splitting the purchases -- vla13 bought a nice big ladybug for Zhenya (if you follow her you'll know she's a big fan of nature's creatures, including squirrels and ladybugs) and I bought a good-sized Catboy doll for Jason -- it's from the show PJ Masks. I bought it knowing that a kid would get it eventually and I know that show is really popular (ask my kid :laugh:) so I'm hoping it will bring a kid some joy. :)
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Catboy was very visible at the RMHC!

https://twitter.com/jasonbskates/status/1057616398208372737
 
On the subject of his RMH visits, I just found out there is a RMH also in Grenoble. So we can be pretty sure he will visit there too. So anyone present at IdF, make sure to bring a stuffed toy!
 
StitchMonkey said:
Catboy was very visible at the RMHC!

https://twitter.com/jasonbskates/status/1057616398208372737
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Ha yeah, smart of me to buy a brightly color stuffed animal.

Funny story: When I'd get my daughter ready for bed, she kept saying what i thought pajamas over and over again. Except she said it like this (to me) "P! J! MAS!" I was like, why is she saying pajamas like that? I was so confused. But then my husband was like, "Oh, she's trying to say PJ Masks. She watches that show at my parents' house." And it was also on Netflix, so she watches it a lot there.

(I actually thought of buying the doll for her originally, LOL, but luckily there was another plush toy there. I had to lug it to the area back to my rental through several airports, but it was worth it cause she loved it so much!).
 
Just came to Golden Skate to make my Helsinki predictions y of course had to speed read my favorite thread. Tavi, I am very impressed by your answering summary! Here is my substandard version.

Thanks to everyone for all the pics y videos! and insightful comments. To the new person, WELCOME to Jason's fan page! I'll learn your name soon since this is the BEST thread. Mrs.P - I am suitably jealous of your trip to Skate Canada, saw Pajama Man in Jason's charming Halloween twitter of McDonald house visit. Most of all, dorispulaski, LOVE the stats. They highlight all I love about Jason, I'll take any win, even in bits and pieces. I'm sure I have forgotten alot but I have to rush to watch as many videos as possible!
 
Oh! This will be my 100th post so I must make it about Jason Brown!

Guess I will comment a little about his FS at Skate Canada. Others have made insightful comments, all I can add are shallow thoughts comparing it to Autumn Classic. His shirt seemed to be tailored to fit better this time, not so loose, which helped the look. The sound system made the music sound better (according to karne, marginally so!). More choreography, I think, making a much more interesting program. Love his impeccable posture, even heard Ted Barton mention it, makes Jason instantly recognizable even in practices.

Finally, his Hair. Terrific! Was it NOT slicked back, unlike the SP? I think this is the first time he has worn it this way in competition. I hope he has fun styling it different ways, different looks for different programs. ( I LOVED Javier Fernandez and then Misha Ge when they had the unshaven SP versus shaved FS look!) Have not seen the exhibition yet.

Oh, that is my final thought. I did not know Jason got invited to the Gala. How exciting! I want Evgenia, Junhwan, y Jason to do an exhibition skate together.

Last Last thought, meet y greet in France, wow!
 
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