Mens LP

[seniorita]

.

Many of us know to recognize, appreciate and marvel at something great and rare that just happened. If we get to enjoy additionally haters' implosions and futile pathetic attempts to discredit such an accomplishment, so much the better. Thank you.

Oh people are upset cause with this kind of skate I can see Chan dominating all competitions till Sochi à la Plushy 2002-2006. If he is clean he will be unbeatable. He is going to kick every favorite skater butt we have and rightfully so.

on a side note I m delighted Evgeni got his silver last season and is forbidden to skate now, one butt less to be kicked.

 

[siberia82]

Sorry for the delay in posting Shawn's performance, but I tried to record it in different ways to minimize the "shaky" graphics. I'm still disappointed with the way the video looks, but I can't make it any better. I used to have a YouTube account with 175 figure skating programs, but it was shut down last year, so I'll give you guys the MediaFire download link. Hopefully a better quality video will show up in the near future.

2011 Shawn Sawyer CFSC LP (CBC television) 155.70 MB: http://www.mediafire.com/?aa2d70jqaj47bz1


ETA: You can always shrink the size of your media player so that the movements are smoother.

 

[Bluebonnet]

on a side note I m delighted Evgeni got his silver last season and is forbidden to skate now, one butt less to be kicked.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Oh people are upset cause with this kind of skate I can see Chan dominating all competitions till Sochi à la Plushy 2002-2006. If he is clean he will be unbeatable. He is going to kick every favorite skater butt we have and rightfully so.

on a side note I m delighted Evgeni got his silver last season and is forbidden to skate now, one butt less to be kicked.

I get it if people have different preferences and criteria so Chan is not their cup of tea. These are not "haters" and I see many happily or grudgingly acknowledge his great performance.

Others however have to discredit him no matter what, some in not so subtle manner, some by giving faint praise with a dig, while others wield long winded pseudo logical ultimately self-styled grandioso essays.

Thanks to Patrick Chan bringing it with real action, I can be just bemused by the haters' desperate antics.

 

[lavender]

I thought Patrick's interpretation of the music was great. I've understood the criticism before of him skating through the music in the past, but this time, no way.
I thought he felt every note of the music, as Scott Hamilton would say. Truly. I was completely caught up in the performance.
It gave me the shivers - and my feed was fuzzy. I can't even imagine how sensational it must have been live.
If ONE judge got caught up in his performance and gave him a 10 for interpretation, what is the big deal? How many times does that happen for favorites at nationals? Geez, Sasha Cohen got a perfect six for presenation at U.S. nationals in 2004 from one judge and she fell. And Michelle Kwan never got as many perfect sixes at worlds as she did at nationals. And for that matter, Rachael Flatt broke 200 points last year at nationals.

Under 6.0 I probably would have given him a 5.9 for tech merit and 5.9 for presentation. (As expressive as I thought he was, I don't think he's quite as natural a performer as a Daisuke or a Michelle Kwan or Alexei Yagudin.) But if one judge had given him a 6.0 I wouldn't have hit the roof.

ITA agree layfan but especially the bolded statement and I'm no Chan fan. I just recognize his talent however he has never (even in this amazing performance) moved me to tears.

 

[Tigger]

So (thanks Siberia) Gumby is a green clay figure Is this Shawn's official nickname then?

Oh gosh...Shawn's been called Gumby online for years now. Not sure when it started, but I've been calling him that for years, so it's at least his official online nickname.

 

[museksk8r]

Patrick is not going to 4CC which I think is the right decision.

Best decision for him I think. When an athlete has a performance of the amazing quality as his was, he/she needs to have time to come down from the peak and plateau, so he/she can refuel and (hopefully) rise again. Chan may not move me emotionally, but I'm not a hater without reason, although that doesn't stop some of his fans from labeling me as one, even if I'm just showing some concern for him that he may have had his Worlds performance 2 months too early (whenever he has fallen 4 times and won, I think I have a valid reason to complain). I fully respect how difficult it is to deliver a performance consisting of the technical difficulty he displayed at Nationals, and to achieve it as wonderfully well as he did, and it will certainly be interesting to see if he can repeat it in Tokyo. Great for him and his fans!

 

[Mathman]

So (thanks Siberia) Gumby is a green clay figure Is this Shawn's official nickname then?

The Gumby toy was made out of rubber and you could twist him into all kinds of funny shapes. So one thing people mean when they call somene Gumby is that he/she is extremely flexible. Sasha Cohen was called that sometimes.

The other thing about Gumby is that he had an asymmetrical head, like a hair style that is piled up on one side in front. So someone with that kind of hair style is a Gumby, too.

I dpn't know if either of these applies th Shawn, though.,

 

[snowflake]

^

Th first for sure I am not so sure about the second

It's funny that I didn't know about Gumby. Usually all sorts of weird american shows and stuff end up in Swedish television sooner or later

 

[siberia82]

In addition to the great first three guys I must express how happy I am that Balde is back. Hope he stays healthy and hangs on. And now, being top five, he gets financial support according to other posters.

Elladj is now part of the national team, so he will receive funding and international assignments next season (if we're lucky, the federation might give him a spot at the Skate Canada International).

Will we see him at 4CC?

No; Shawn, Joey and Kevin have already been named to the 4CC team. I'd imagine that Elladj will be an alternate, though.

Somebody please post some of the other LP performances on YouTube - we Canadian skating fans in the US are going crazy trying to see what you are all talking about !!!!! thanks!

I've already posted Shawn's LP on MediaFire (See Post #364), but I can made vids of the other guys as well if you don't mind the not-so-good quality. (Please note that CBC television only aired the final flight.)

 

[evangeline]

In case anyone missed it, here's a decent quality video of Shawn's LP on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2hBOJALYM

 

[jettasian]

Is there anywhere I can download Patrick's LP from yesterday? I really want to own it so I can watch it whenever I want. I know I can watch it on CBC or YouTube, but they can be taken down anytime. This skate will become a classic that many years from now, it will be mentioned again.

 

[rvi5]

Perform a google search for "youtube" AND "download". There are several software/websites which can capture youtube videos, converting them into formats which can be played on a PC.

 

[Layfan]

In case anyone missed it, here's a decent quality video of Shawn's LP on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2hBOJALYM

Thanks, evangeline!

I think this is my absolute favorite men's program of the season. I just love everything about it, from his crazy hand movements to the way he integrates his jumps, to his costume. What a special skater Shawn is.

 

[siberia82]

Is there a video of the program posted yet with Kurt Browning + Tracy Wilson commentary? I can not STAND listening to PJ Wong and Josee Chouinard.

Is there anywhere I can download Patrick's LP from yesterday? I really want to own it so I can watch it whenever I want.

I can make the video, but it won't be a good quality one. If that doesn't bother you too much, just let me know and I'll begin creating it.

 

[Puchi]

In case anyone missed it, here's a decent quality video of Shawn's LP on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2hBOJALYM

I think I'm in love!

 

[siberia82]

here's hoping the US sees the same sort of skates from Ryan Bradley this week...

Interesting that you should mention Ryan. I was just telling a friend that Shawn's story this season is somewhat similar to Kristoffer Berntsson's, but I should've included Bradley as well. All three are "old" skaters with great presentation skills who failed to make the 2010 Olympic and World team, and they were expected to retire. Instead they decided to give it one more shot, not wanting their amateur careers to end on a low note.

Most FS fans underestimated Shawn and Koffe before their national events, but both proved the detractors wrong. We'll have to wait and see what will happen with Ryan, but it would be really cool if he exceeded people's expectations.

 

[jlmart]

The video of Shawn's LP is fabulous siberia82. I have yet to see the Kurt/Tracey version of Patrick's skate so if you decide to make one I will be first in line to download it!

 

[bibi24]

On a serious note, while I think in that competition Patrick deserved to win, his ridiculous score is nothing more than a Canadian political trick for Japanese and French: "Look, our guy's score is waaaaayy better than yours' at your nationals!" And we all know that the Worlds will be in Japan.

Btw, does anybody know why Canadian commentators can't shut up during the skating? Is it the local TV audience's requirement or something else?

"Political trick"? Oh please spare us the controversy. Plushenko broke 100 points last year in his Russian Nationals SP. Not every country is 'modest' like the Japan nationals.

You talkers need to quit bashing on Canadian commentators. First you get Barbara Underhill fired from her long time post where her contract wasn't renewed, now we have a new sweetie Josée Chouinard, who's hometown girl with Joanne Rochette, please leave her alone!!

 

[siberia82]

The video of Shawn's LP is fabulous siberia82. I have yet to see the Kurt/Tracey version of Patrick's skate so if you decide to make one I will be first in line to download it!

You're far too kind; the vid isn't as clear as I'd like it to be, but I'm glad that you liked it anyway. Kurt and Tracy talk a lot less during Patrick's performance than on the CBC bold version, so I'm sure you'll appreciate that! I'm uploading his LP as I type this, so you will have it soon.

While I'm waiting, I guess I should mention my thoughts about our national champion since I've been neglecting him so far. People generally seem to love or hate Chan's skating, while my feelings were somewhere in the middle. Over-all I like him, but depending on how he performed, sometimes I leaned towards the fan-gushing (though I wouldn't call myself a fan), while other times I was more inclined listen to what the haters said (though I could never despise him).

For this competition, I definitely agree with his fans that he was absolutely Chan-tastic this past weekend!!! Patrick's free skate was so mesmerizing that it always surprises me when it ends because it felt so short! There were moments in his career when I felt that he wasn't fulfilling potential the way I hoped he would, but WOW, what we saw at Canadians was out-of-this-world!!! For the first time, I finally saw how untouchable he truly is when he skates his best (I'm talking performance-wise, not points-wise).