Joubert still miffed about worlds finish

[gsk8]

Brian Joubert came back disappointed from Gothenburg, Sweden. Even though he skated his best competition of the year, he had to surrender his world crown to Jeffrey Buttle of Canada. Joubert skated a perfect free program, and strongly claimed afterwards that he was "mad to be defeated by someone who [had] not even attempted a quadruple jump in either of his programs."

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[Winnipeg]

Brian Joubert came back disappointed from Gothenburg, Sweden. Even though he skated his best competition of the year, he had to surrender his world crown to Jeffrey Buttle of Canada. Joubert skated a perfect free program, and strongly claimed afterwards that he was "mad to be defeated by someone who [had] not even attempted a quadruple jump in either of his programs."

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get over it IMO

 

[sillylionlove]

Since I can't read the article because the computer gods that be at work deem the site where this article is "not business related" all I can say is this....what a sore loser. Second in the world is still pretty good to me. But this just adds another reason to my book as to why I don't like him.

 

[Tonichelle]

ok a news site is not allowed, but a message board is? that's funny!

and yeah, gotta love them sour grapes.

 

[calica]

Since I can't read the article because the computer gods that be at work deem the site where this article is "not business related" all I can say is this....what a sore loser. Second in the world is still pretty good to me. But this just adds another reason to my book as to why I don't like him.

Excuse me, Have not you read the article?Then you cannot add any reason, since the heading that they have put is a part of the interview that they did to him after the Lp in Goteborg.
It is an article he only speaks about the plans for the following season, about the rules of the skating and of the tour that he is doing for France :agree:
You can read here:
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080407&content_id=47004&vkey=ice_news

 

[Brandi_DeLain]

I'm not sure how he thinks he is advancing the "technical level of skating" when his World LP's big tricks consisted of one solo 4T, one solo 3A, and two combos (one of which was a 2-1). That is not exactly pushing the technical envelope.

I think he did great at Worlds considering his recent health problems. I just wish he didn't have to be so ungracious about his silver medal.

 

[Bennett]

He makes several points about technical development of the sport.

On the one hand, he says that rewarding the quad better contributes to enhancing the technical level of the sport.

You seemed quite mad when you heard the final result at worlds. How do you feel two weeks later?

Actually I still am very mad. Not so much against my competitor, who had the perfect championship. What is at stake is the future of figure skating. Sport is meant for athletic prowess. What I see now is a decrease of the technical level of skating, so I am very worried about that.

On the other hand, he comments on his weaknesses in other areas.

Don't you fear this might cost you other titles?
Taking risks does not mean ignoring the rules. You know, I carefully studied the results I got in Gothenburg. I lost about five points on my spins, and six points because of my two triple flips. I did not have a triple to triple combination, so I lost some points there too. However, my component marks were excellent, and that is a great encouragement for me. I also made points on my steps, compared to my main competitors.

So, the direction to take is quite simple. I will keep working on the component part and choreography. Kurt Browning and Dominique Molina really helped me last season, and we will keep working together. The toughest part may be the flip, as I learned to take off that way years and years ago, and it is my most consistent jump. Yet, it was considered valid at the last European championships, so I suppose it is not so bad.

What about your spins?
Indeed, I clearly need to work more on my spins.
With whom do you plan to work on them? Let's say I will work with someone who is very gifted at spins, and with whom I have already worked in the past. This, however, has yet to be finalized.

I have honestly never understood why Joubert could consistently get such high PCSs despite his not-so-well reputations in this area. Although he had much improvement this season comapred to the past seasons, I think that I could still say that he has not been the skater who would win in PCSs if the criteria were applied more consistently to the definitions in rules. But I am happy that he seems to be aware of some work for him to do in this area and is going to keep working on it.

Judging by the way he lost possible points that he could have gotten with a more strategic program on top of the missed jumps in SP and LP, I also have had an impression that he and his coach haven't studied COP as much as some other skaters and their coaches may have done. That also may be one of the reasons why his comments at the press conference sounded so out of place. He couldn't have won the game even with two more quads to compensate for such a large margin. But I didn't feel that he really understood the rules. He appeared to be too much focused on the big jump far more than it deserved. Judging by the way he was so happy about his performance, he did not seem to have cared about jumps that he missed (combo etc). He might have thought them to be just small mistakes. But these add up. Now that he is more aware of the strategic problem and does all these studies at home, I think he will become stronger.

Finally, he also acknowledges the importance of other elements and the current system that pushes one to be a complete skater:

So this means that you are going to take risks and follow the rules at the same time?

Yes. The rules have become far stricter this past season, everything needs to be perfect; spins, steps, jump edges. You need to make sure that your body positions are correct, etc. The one great thing with the new judging system is that it forces you to be a complete skater and perform in every part of skating. I like this very much.

I am very happy to hear this from Joubert.

BTW, does he do these interviews in English? He keeps making comments that could lead to controversy. I feel that he may be better off having them bring an interpreter so that he could make himself understood more fully. Compared to Jeff and Johnny who had a command in sound argumentation with more sophisticated language, Jourbert sounded a bit too naive and too straightforward out there.

 

[Mathman]

I'm not sure how he thinks he is advancing the "technical level of skating" when his World LP's big tricks consisted of one solo 4T, one solo 3A, and two combos (one of which was a 2-1). That is not exactly pushing the technical envelope.

I totally agree.

I think Brian is opening himself up for a lot of criticism for comments like that, and also for saying (does he really believe this about himself?):

Anyway, I will keep taking risks myself, just like I have in the past.

Risks? At 2007 Worlds, Brian found himself comfortably in the lead after the short program, so in the long he wussed out with watered down tech (earlier in the year, at Cup of Russia, he did 4T, 4T+2T and 4S). Both Takahashi and Lambiel cleaned his clock in the LP, but BJ coasted in for the win.

At 2008 Worlds, I'll cut him some slack because of his health concerns, but still...his attitude going into the LP was, ha, Lambiel and Takahashi just messed up, only puny Buttle is yet to skate, all I have to do is show up, technically.

He claims to want "technical prowess" rewarded more in the scoring system, yet only greatly inflated Program Component Scores kept him in the game. (79.36 for Joubert, 78.78 for Buttle).

 

[Buttercup]

I think Brian is opening himself up for a lot of criticism for comments like that, and also for saying (does he really believe this about himself?):Risks? At 2007 Worlds, Brian found himself comfortably in the lead after the short program, so in the long he wussed out with watered down tech (earlier in the year, at Cup of Russia, he did 4T, 4T+2T and 4S). Both Takahashi and Lambiel cleaned his clock in the LP, but BJ coasted in for the win.

At 2008 Worlds, I'll cut him some slack because of his health concerns, but still...his attitude going into the LP was, ha, Lambiel and Takahashi just messed up, only puny Buttle is yet to skate, all I have to do is show up, technically.

IIRC, Joubert injured his foot about a month prior to 2007 Worlds and was not yet 100% in Tokyo - at the very least that would have messed up his training. He may have felt that doing the full tech content in the LP was too much for him in the shape he was in and took the calculated risk of doing a bit less in the hopes that skating clean + his SP mark would help him. It worked for him in 2007 and didn't in 2008. Maybe next year he'll try a different strategy . As for risk, I think when he's able, he does go for difficult jumps. He knows what he needs to work on, and hopefully he'll do that and come back in good health next season.

Also, I have to point out that he has commented on the quad being undervalued pretty much since CoP came in - you can look up the interviews he's done at Golden Skate since then, and I think there's even reference to it in one of Johnny Weir's interviews. This is hardly something new that he came up with in response to Jeffrey winning. I wasn't crazy about how he expressed his beliefs at Worlds, but I do think he has a point - and it's not as if he's the only one who would benefit if quads got higher marks.

The bottom line is that Jeffrey Buttle skated the best competition. Joubert acknowledges in his interview that Jeffrey had a perfect competition, and says he himself did well in some areas and not as well in other areas. So I'd love to know, Sillylionlove, how that makes him a sore loser, exactly.

 

[Mathman]

Thanks for the measured response, Buttercup. Now I feel bad for teeing off on Brian like that.

Actually, I've been a fan of Brian's ever since I had a chance to see him perform live at 2003 Skate America (he won!).

 

[Buttercup]

Thanks for the measured response, Buttercup. Now I feel bad for teeing off on Brian like that.

Actually, I've been a fan of Brian's ever since I had a chance to see him perform live at 2003 Skate America (he won!).

Oh, I like Brian as a skater but I think he does open himself to criticism with his comments sometimes. But since to me he'll always be the adorable 17-year old from 2002 Europeans, I still like him .

Anyway, while I was watching the Gala, the Eurosport guys said something to the effect that Brian thought he'd done enough and was probably really frustrated, especially after the music deduction in the sp - and that it was ok to speak out as he did in regards to the system, but that having done that, he needed to get over it and let his skating speak instead. I think that pretty much sums it up.

I wish I could see competitions live. All we get here is shows, and even those are few and far between.

 

[calica]

Oh, I like Brian as a skater but I think he does open himself to criticism with his comments sometimes.

Well,in part yes and not.......
Evidently any opinion is open to criticism, and Brian is a so vehement boy but also it depends of if a critique is done or is insulted.
call someone loser without at least to read what has said seems to me to be a bit inadequate.

 

[Ladskater]

Well nothing is worse than a poor loser. Jeff did what was required and his program was more artistic than Joubert's. I don't remember Joubert's program being skated "perfect" by any means. Even Kurt (who choreographed Brian's program) commented on that.

Oh well..."tough" Brian!!!

 

[Bennett]

Oh, I like Brian as a skater but I think he does open himself to criticism with his comments sometimes. But since to me he'll always be the adorable 17-year old from 2002 Europeans, I still like him .

I have noticed that he sometimes makes unbelievably naive, adorable comments in public. For example, he said in an interview that his fans like his "face". I wouldn't deny that, but still..... I don't know if that's because of language barriers or because of his nature. Perhaps the combination of the two??? Who knows? To me, the whole "miffed" comments seem to be a prime example of those adorable comments. But I still believe that he would benefit by having an interpreter.

 

[calica]

Well nothing is worse than a poor loser. Jeff did what was required and his program was more artistic than Joubert's. I don't remember Joubert's program being skated "perfect" by any means. Even Kurt (who choreographed Brian's program) commented on that.

Oh well..."tough" Brian!!!

I do not understand . Why you insult him? Brian has not said not bad about Jeff in the interview, is more, has said: "Not so much against my competitor, who had the perfect championship. "

If you do not like his skate, ok.
If you know him personally, and you don´t like hi, ok.
But open a thread to insult whom you want, do not use one that is dedicated to an interview.

Bennett,You to seen the tv on Brian after the world ? (26 min )

 

[blue dog]

I actually don't mind Brian's openness. He is human! Other skaters have said or done far worse things than that.

 

[Antilles]

I don't understand skaters who think that pushing themselves is only about doing harder jumps. Trying harder spins, footwork, element placement etc is also a difficult thing to do. I'm glad Brian at least makes mention of these things.

I also find it interesting when skaters complain the athletic side of the sport isn't emphasized enough. If you want something purely technical, why on earth would you choose figure skating? There are tonnes of sports that are all about the athletics, with no worries of artistry.

 

[Bennett]

I actually don't mind Brian's openness. He is human!

ITA. He was just being too honest to pick a right timing and a right place to say what's in his mind, which I've found to be adorable.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

As my ballet teacher would say: It's not enough to be pretty, you need to Verk, Verk, Verk.

There is only one medal in figure skating and it is the Oly medal. Joubert should consider his Worlds Gotenborg as a step in the right direction. He's a contender. As for Worlds, he has LA yet to come for the last time, though.

He happens to be part of an exciting field.

Joe

 

[jennylovskt]

I like Jeffrey Buttle's skating a lot more than Brian Joubert's. I can call myself a Buttle fan but I cannot say I'm a Joubert fan. However, I do feel for Joubert. He has come a long way battling the illness this season and finally skated with impressive musicality and still with technical difficulty. He skated great but not enough that night, as he himself said in the article. It would be a great story if he ended up the season with a gold win, but life is imperfect most of the time. It's OK to express his feelings. As some has said before, to continue dwelling in it will open himself to more criticism. Brian should let it go. Considering how much Brian has been through, I am disappointed that some Buttle fans are attacking him.