What is this,
4everchan? You're asking moi the questions? :eeking:
Actually, I became Patrick's fan about two weeks before SC 2015. Going into SC15 I was more concerned about how a rematch with Hanyu might affect his spirits (after his Olympic heartbreak), and even though I was shocked and thrilled with his winning Chopin performance, we now know that he was crying from stress right before that skate.
I was a skating fan in the 1990s (when Patrick was a kid), but then my interest waned and life took over, so I had no interest in the sport until last year as I said, when I became interested again in the strangest way.
Throughout the past season I did get a vague sense that there were a lot of people who disliked Patrick, and I thought it was a shame that some of the opinions were so fixed against him as to be unchangeable. Currently due to time and energy constraints I only focus on Patrick, but there are no skaters that I hate or have a fixed bad opinion of. But I think the turning point here on GS was when he won Four Continents. Remember that interesting conversation in the 4CC thread?
Patrick has said that he is a different person and a different skater now than before, and I believe him. I think his year off did him good, and the re-learning experience did him good. Despite his fear that he didn't belong in the top echelons of figure skating anymore, he proved that his is still top talent this past year.
Still, I wondered besides us, where the bulk of his fans were? Before I started my site, it amazed me that there was no full fan site out there for him. There's an instagram fan page, a defunct Tumblr fan page, and various skating forum threads, but that's it. I used to visit Heather W's
Michelle Kwan Fan Page a lot in the 90s and 2000s and her site inspired the title for mine. Of course she was a much more involved fan who went to a lot of Michelle's events, whereas I am admiring Patrick from afar (and spending $$ on high quality photos of him rather than on his events). Still, I do the best that I can, and that's why I interview those of you who have met him in person, like Happylife. :agree:
As far as Elegy goes, it was a piece of music that I loved as soon as I heard it. When I look through Patrick's older programs, much of the music that he skates to is music I like and resonate with. The only exceptions are MTK (sorry, Calica) and Mess Is Mine. But then I understand that one of the goals of his comeback was to expand his repertoire and become a more versatile skater. That's why I hope to see him skate to hip hop and K-pop soon!
Hope that satisfies your curiosity,
4everchan. I'll be asking you for that music blog post after we see Patrick's new FS in competition.
I'll tell you a little secret. I also fell in love patrick´s skating at that time.
I see FS for years and although I know he is a wonderful skater, he never excited me, until TEB 2013.
Thats competition made me change my opinion of him but by that time, I did not have favorite skaters. I liked Yuzuru, Javier and many more but none had my absolute devotion.
When Patrick retired, I did not feel happy or sad. Unfortunately canadian skaters do not have much echo in forums like the russians,japanese and american, so I was hoping to see him only in japanese shows.
And Suddenly, without too many expectations and being absolute fan of Hanyu, I ended up crying watching mack the knife and wondered me what changed in his skating because now i liked.
And this is my short history with patrick
PS:Sorry for my baaaaaaaaaaad english XD
Awesome, Calica! We're in the same class of Patrick fans, then! You're English is fine, no need to apologize. I didn't know that you were a fan of Hanyu, either. Patrick has continued to grow as a person and as a skater, and I think in the next two seasons he will become even more popular.
I would be interested to get your take on why Canadian skaters don't get as much publicity or discussion on your forum(s). Always interesting to get another viewpoint!
I reversed the roles... we are interviewing you here
