---- Anna Kondakova <annakond@...> wrote:
> > Skating to unfamilar russian folk music, Bobrova & Soloview are dressed in
blue sailor suits with nice Russian Navy white hats ....
>
> LOL, this is actually one of the most popular/recognizable music
> pieces in Russia. It has been used in skating before (Abt and
> Borodulin did SPs to it, and Borodulin is still using his as an
> exhibition piece this year) and ISU usually lists it as R. Glier
> "Russian Sailor Dance", but it is most commonly known as "Yablochko"
> ("The Apple"), because of the lyrics.
>
> The problem, however, is that few people in Russia would count it as
> "folk". The song itself is quite old, but it was long associated with
> Russian/Soviet navy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erfs3G3UDpM) and
> later it was became a hit as a sailor dance and one of the signature
> pieces for Moiseev Dance Company
> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcQVv4j6p1o).
>
> But unless you count "navy" as a separate nation, it's not a exactly a
> folk dance.

Then again, doesn't that fit in with my theory that technically, if it's not art
music, it's folk music, and therefore legitimate for use in the OD? I don't see
why a "Russian navy dance" is not a "folk dance."

Trudi

---- herios <herios@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, <tmarrapodi@...> wrote:

[snip]

> > I believe it--or at least I hope it's so. Where have the Czechs been hiding
this guy??
> >
> They were not hiding him. He was runner up to Adam Rippon at the junior worlds
earlier this spring and now he just beat him (because of the 3 axel).

Read it like this: Well, obviously this kid has been a skating genius since he
learned to walk, why didn't we know about it? :-)

Seriously, though, it's nice to hear that he's the son of a former competitor of
Sabovcik and Barna. Always cool to see a family skating tradition continued.

> Check this exhibition piece, where he dances and jumps (on slo-mo his 3 axel
is reminiscent of Kulik imo):
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duVMIytPAbw

> Joseph

Thanks, I will watch!

Trudi

> Skating to unfamilar russian folk music, Bobrova & Soloview are dressed in
blue sailor suits with nice Russian Navy white hats ....

LOL, this is actually one of the most popular/recognizable music
pieces in Russia. It has been used in skating before (Abt and
Borodulin did SPs to it, and Borodulin is still using his as an
exhibition piece this year) and ISU usually lists it as R. Glier
"Russian Sailor Dance", but it is most commonly known as "Yablochko"
("The Apple"), because of the lyrics.

The problem, however, is that few people in Russia would count it as
"folk". The song itself is quite old, but it was long associated with
Russian/Soviet navy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erfs3G3UDpM) and
later it was became a hit as a sailor dance and one of the signature
pieces for Moiseev Dance Company
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcQVv4j6p1o).

But unless you count "navy" as a separate nation, it's not a exactly a
folk dance.

Anna.

Trudi wrote:
>>>Honest question here: Isn't it a little strange that Huang/Zheng are skating
to "Zorba the Greek" in costumes that suggest classical Greek dress rather than
Greek folk-dancing dress? I mean, isn't that kinda like skating an Italian
tarantella wearing Roman togas?>>>
 
I had to laugh out loud at those costumes.  Headband, one-shoulder tunics with
criss-cross bands, complete with borders in a greek key pattern?  All they were
missing was a lyre.  These costumes are almost as idiotically cliche as
Dav&Whi's quasi-Indian getups.
 
don






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

herios wrote:

>After watching it on CBC, they have mentioned that ...
>
>Also that they have never landed the throw 4sal
>
I assume they meant never landed it in competition.  Does anyone know
how often they land it in practice?

Susan McC


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

They didn't show any Ice Dancing at the NHK.  At least, not on the channel that
I watched.

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, <tmarrapodi@...> wrote:
>
>
> ---- herios <herios@...> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > I will post this chinese team Huang / Zheng OD, who were put ahead of
Bobrova and Soloviev as well, they have a well polished zorba dance, some of the
most beautiful costumes and this is another Linichuk piece. They are just a
little to slow:
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApNtftNc44Q
>
> [snip]
>
> Honest question here: Isn't it a little strange that Huang/Zheng are skating
to "Zorba the Greek" in costumes that suggest classical Greek dress rather than
Greek folk-dancing dress? I mean, isn't that kinda like skating an Italian
tarantella wearing Roman togas?
>
> Trudi
>

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "Kelley" <moonvine@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "kgorkrj" <Kathy.Godfrey@> wrote:
> >
> > Has someone with IceNetwork access
> > checked on Emily Hughes' programs
> > at Regoinals a couple of weeks ago?
> > The protocols suggest that she's
> > still having problems on her flips
> > and lutzes, and I notice the
> > lack of any loops.
> >
> > She placed 2nd behind Samantha Cesario,
> > a new Senior-level skater
> > who was 6th in Juniors at 2009 Nationals.
> >
> >
> What does this mean to her in terms of Nationals?
>
I attended Regionals and yes, Em is still having trouble with her 3F and 3Z -
underrotating and flipping out.  The loop is gone never to be resurrected. 
She's left out her 3 jump combo, and only has two, not four triples planned
after the halfway mark, losing valuable points. They also rechoreographed so
that her combo is 3Z/2T not 3F/2T.   Emily landed the combo in the SP but not in
the FS.  Nice SP by the way.

She has a lot of work to do before Sectionals.
In a couple of weeks Emily does Sectionals to qualify for Nationals.  it should
be pretty much of a lock as most of the ladies do not have reliable triples. 
Her biggest competition should be Melissa Bulanhangui, Kristina Musademba and
Samantha Cesario.  AS long as Emily makes the top four she will go to Nationals.

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, <tmarrapodi@...> wrote:
>
>
> ---- herios <herios@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "ncurrie40" <ncurrie40@> wrote:
> > >
> >
> > Hey you are channeling me and Scottie:)
> >
> > Indeed wow Suzuki and now wow Brezina
>
> Suzuki, LOL...here I am calling her Kawasaki...next week I'll be calling her
Yamaha...after that, Honda...hey, at least THAT's a skater...LOL!!!!
>
> Suzuki, yes...must remember to keep my motorcycles straight!!! :-)
>
> > > Mikal Michael ... Mihkhail ... However.
> >
> > > he spells it.
> >
> > None of the above, is Michal and you better learn this spelling, because is
going to be a fixture going forward
>
> I believe it--or at least I hope it's so. Where have the Czechs been hiding
this guy??
>
They were not hiding him. He was runner up to Adam Rippon at the junior worlds
earlier this spring and now he just beat him (because of the 3 axel).
Check this exhibition piece, where he dances and jumps (on slo-mo his 3 axel is
reminiscent of Kulik imo):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duVMIytPAbw

Joseph

I turned the program on in the middle of Joubert's skate (after the quad) and
thought it was some guy just up from juniors or a mid-ranked skater. Then it
slowly dawned on me that it was Joubert. Can you say slow? Clunky faux-Yagudin
footwork, with posing (dead giveaway it was Joubert). Poor spin positions. Did I
mention he was crawling across the ice? At times his footwork seemed to come to
a dead stop -- I didn't think he was ever going to finish his circular footwork.

Arrrgh! They should make the skaters skate anonymously wearing masks.

--Ruth

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, Cleo <mcleomarie@...> wrote:
>
> s
> p
> o
> i
> l
> e
> r
>
> s
> p
> o
> i
> l
> e
> r
>
> http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn09/CAT001RS.HTM
>
> Yikes, though taking place in Japan, that must have been Czech ice as Brezina
was the only man to skate clean and almost won the FS.  Joubert was overmarked
in the PCS (reputation scores, what's new), Johnny was clean aside from singling
the loop (he barely got off the ice) yet still only scored 139, Kozuka was
really bad, Takahashi fell twice and had a couple more jump errors (but still
scored 136 thanks to high PCS), Jeremy fell on his opening quad try and then
fell twice more and also singled one of his 3Xs. 
>
> As good as the SPs were, the LPs were a mirror image.  Too bad and time to
re-group, guys!  (Aside from Brezina.)
>
> 1 Joubert
> 2 Weir
> 3 Brezina
> 4 Takahashi
> 5 Abbott
> 6 Rippon
> 7 Kozuka
>
> Of all of the programs, I really only thought three were interesting because
of the intricate choreo, music, and the quality (though not completely evident
here!) of skating:  Takahashi, Abbott and Rippon.  All musical skaters with
great line and expression.
>
> Cleo, who loves her "artistic" skaters
>
> --- On Sat, 11/7/09, Cleo <mcleomarie@...> wrote:
>
> From: Cleo <mcleomarie@...>
> Subject: [SkateFans] Re:  Men LP first flight
> To: SkateFans@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 12:07 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       s
>
> p
>
> o
>
> i
>
> l
>
> e
>
> r
>
>
>
> First flight was kind of a mess aside from Rippon (who was only slightly a
mess).  Lots of missed jumps overall.  Adam hit his first 3X/2T, but later
fell on a second 3X attempt, then singled his 2X.  Argh.  He told Orser that
he "tried to hard on the second one... and the double".  It's all a learning
experience.  Brezina just skated lights out, hit all his jumps and is in the
lead by 20 pts.
>
>
>
> Cleo
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

After watching it on CBC, they have mentioned that Yuko could've dislocated her
right shoulder.
Joseph

~~~

Kawaguchi/Smirnov didn't skate in the Gala which I assume means she is injured
or at least being cautious.  Hope she's OK.  After they re-started their LP it
was like nothing had happened.  Yuko is a tough cookie.

Cleo






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

And Rippon...Adam, Adam, Adam, you really need to go back and work on
that axel, because it's gonna be the death of you. Everything else is
so beautiful. Don't let the axel ruin it all.

Trudi

~~~~

As Adam came off the ice he said to Coach Orser that he "tried too hard on the
second [triple] axel... and the double" (axel that he singled).  He knows, and
he's in good hands with Mr. Triple Axel as his coach, right, Trudi?  The first
one was a beauty.  IIRC, this is still a fairly new jump for him (at least in a
program setting)... he'll be fine.

I'm more concerned with Jeremy Abbott's being convinced that he needs the quad
in his program when he doesn't.  Jeffrey Buttle won a world championship without
one, and with triple jumps that were not as good as Jeremy's (I love Jeffrey, so
no flaming please).

Cleo


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, <tmarrapodi@...> wrote:
>
>
> ---- Stinger2007@... wrote:
> >
> >
> > S
> >
> > P
> >
> > O
> >
> > I
> >
> > L
> >
> > E
> >
> > R
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Leonova skated very well and clearly deserved to win the LP. Her only
mistake was falling out of the second jump in her opening 3t/3t combination.
Isn't that a new combination for her or no? Leonova stands a good chance to be
this year's European champion. The rest of her jumping was very good especially
both of her 3-flips.
>
> To me she looks like the most solid European skater in the bunch. She's very
much a "skater's skater"--in the Sato/Dunfield tradition, bizarrely
enough--seems to perform fairly consistently from what little I've seen, and
aside from that, puts a lot of personality and charm into her performance. She's
just fun to watch. Of course, "fun" don't mean a thing if she ain't got those
moves, but she does.
>
Absolutely. The girl can jumps, that is the first condition to be a good figure
skater. Check her 2 axel, she's got spring, very easy.

On top of it, she performs well, even rough around the edges, she is the
exuberant type who looks to have fun doing it.

She will take leadership of european ladies skating as David said, which was
pretty much dreadful since Slutskaya retired, except here there a Kostner
appearnace, who overachieved due to her speedy skating.

Joseph

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "herios" <herios@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, Cleo <mcleomarie@> wrote:
> >
> > s
> > p
> > o
> > i
> > l
> > e
> > r
> >
> > s
> > p
> > o
> > i
> > l
> > e
> > r
> >
> > I only got to see the end of Denney/Barrett, none of the Chinese (streaming
was freezing on me so I restarted my computer) and all of Kaw/Smirnov.
> >
> > Final standings:
> > http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn09/CAT003RS.HTM
> >
> > 1 Pang/Tong (scored 132.35 in FS)
> > 2 Kaw/Smir
> > 3 In/Bald (3rd in FS)
> > 4 Den/Bar (5th in FS)
> >
> > On Yuko and partner's first element, a throw triple something, Yuko took a
really bad fall; she basically got the wind knocked out, hit her face and hurt
her right arm.  Got up, skated a bit, then stopped to talk to the referee,
shaking her arm out.  They decided to continue and didn't make any major
mistakes the rest of the way.  These pair ladies are tough!!!
> >
> > Cleo
>
>
> That was a rough moment. If is anybody who can shake something like that off
is Yuko. She was stonefaced, like nothing happened.
>
After watching it on CBC, they have mentioned that Yuko could've dislocated her
right shoulder.

Also that they have never landed the throw 4sal adn they chances with trying it
in competition, under the pressure to keep the russian olympic gold legacy in
pairs intact.

I question that strategy, because we know how that worked out for Shen and Zhao
in Salt Lake, but at least they ended up with a bronze, while Kaw / Smi could go
in a free fall in the standings, as the pairs event will be more crowded as
ever.

They also were assessing Dube / Davison chances in the field and they mentioned
so far they have only the 6th best score this season after their first event and
they have only marginal chances for a bronze at best.

Joseph

---- ncurrie40 <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
>
>
> >
> > Face it, Evgeny, your score LP score was beaten by a Nobunari Oda who didn't
even attempt a quad and who outskated you, outspun you, and had honest to
goodness choreography in his program.
>
>
> Honest and to Goodness? A  short Japanese man in a black suit coat (looking
oddly like the ambassadors aboard the Missouri in late '45)skating to a theme
centered on Charlie Chaplin a mid-century anti-fascist leftist .... an odd
chocie to be sure, given that in the era the program ostensibly depics the US
and Japan were at or on the verge of war.

Oh, yeah, because, I forgot, what judges take most into account when judging
"character" skating programs is the political views of the character the skater
is portraying on the ice vis-a-vis the nationality of the skater doing the
portrayal, as well as the historical period of the character being portrayed
vis-a-vis the political climate of the skater's home country at that point in
time, and from there, they determine whether the program is "appropriate" for
the skater or not.

Silly me. How could I forget? (knocking self on head)

> The odd cultural-hisorical clumsiness aside,

You know? I didn't think of it as having any cultural-historical clumsiness.
Maybe if he were skating to music from the soundtrack of "Pearl Harbor," dressed
in a US Navy uniform, yeah, but...really, I just saw it as "a skater portraying
the character of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp from the movies." And I regard
that as being culturally accessible to all. Just like I didn't think Philippe
Candeloro had to be an Italian-American (or even an Italian-Frenchman, had he
not been) to skate to "The Godfather." And Kurt Browning didn't have to be
American to portray Rick Blaine from "Casablanca." Go figure.

> the program is  tad one dimensional

I guess Todd Eldredge's Charlie Chaplin program was, too. I don't know, I guess
I missed it.

> and actually enhanses his immaturity instead of disguising it.
>
> Honest to Goodness
>
> Ben Currie

He looks cute and charming. Todd looked cute and charming, too. "Immature"? Only
if you associate being cute and charming with immaturity. I say there's a
difference between "childlike" and "childish," though.

Oh well, different strokes!

Trudi

---- Stinger2007@... wrote:
>
>
> S
>
> P
>
> O
>
> I
>
> L
>
> E
>
> R
>
>
>
>
>
> Well the curse continues.....GROAN!! No American lady has ever won the NHK
Trophy and today Ashley Wagner
> had a chance but she faltered in the last 2 minutes of her program, making
several mistakes, and she finished 3rd behind Miki Ando and Elena Leonova. Based
on the SP and LP here I think CoP got the podium right. On the whole this ladies
event was disappointing.

Yeah, could've been a lot better skating all around. Wagner has solid programs
but she let this one slip out of her fingers. I still think she's looking good
to make the Olympic team, and I would give my guess that the other spot will go
to either Flatt (if she can get her plodding consistency back, and especially if
she does well at Skate America) or Nagasu.

> Leonova skated very well and clearly deserved to win the LP. Her only mistake
was falling out of the second jump in her opening 3t/3t combination. Isn't that
a new combination for her or no? Leonova stands a good chance to be this year's
European champion. The rest of her jumping was very good especially both of her
3-flips.

To me she looks like the most solid European skater in the bunch. She's very
much a "skater's skater"--in the Sato/Dunfield tradition, bizarrely
enough--seems to perform fairly consistently from what little I've seen, and
aside from that, puts a lot of personality and charm into her performance. She's
just fun to watch. Of course, "fun" don't mean a thing if she ain't got those
moves, but she does.

> Miki Ando wasn't great in the LP. She had a couple of mistakes but overall she
probably did just enough to win. She definitely played it safe not going for
either 4-salchow attempt or the 2A/3t combo which was 2A/2t. She also did a
3-sal/2t combo (I think....if I'm remembering correctly) and she all but fell on
the second jump putting both hands down on the ice. From a music and
choreography standpoint I wasn't too impressed with her program. Kind of dull if
you ask me.

Well, it's actually a good thing she didn't score highest in the OP or she
would've been able to go last and possibly skated even more conservatively,
assuming Wagner gave the same quality of performance. If there's anything that's
going to prove to be bad in the long run about this "skate in reverse order of
the standings" stuff, it's going to be that skaters in the lead, going last,
will already know how well or poorly their rivals have done and if everyone with
the best/only chance of catching them wipes up the ice, you can bet that they're
going to play it safe and give very, very conservative skates that do "just
enough to win." They will do the same if their closest rivals give decent skates
but still end up so many points behind them that losing is a very remote if
impossible danger. That kind of strategizing wasn't as easily possible under the
factored placements system; true, it popped up once in a while as a reasonable
approach, but I think we're going to see more and more of it in the future and
it's going to make for duller competitions. The skaters can hardly be blamed;
using smart strategy and doing only what you need to to win makes eminent sense.
It's just not going to be popular with audiences who love real contests with the
top contenders putting it all on the line and taking chances to come out on top.

[snip]

> My computer screen froze up some during Yukari Nakano's performance so I'm not
sure exactly what she did. She did have problems on her first lutz jump,
under-rotating it and falling out of it. With a 3rd and a 4th now she won't make
the GP final which will hurt her chances to make the Japanese Olympic team.

I think under-rotations are becoming a big "ding factor" for Nakano, which is
one reason she might want to really try dumping that wrap, but damn, this is
awfully late to be working on that. For some reason, other skaters don't get
dinged as much when they under-rotate (Ando cough cough cough)...

> Lepisto was disappointing. I think this girl is very overrated. Her jumping is
not good. She doubled her lutz and didn't even try the flip. She also singled a
jump (loop I think) and did 3t/2t instead of 3/3. She has nice carriage and
musicality but unless her jumping can improve she won't ever sniff the podium at
big events. I thought she was a little overmarked in the LP.

Can't argue with that.

> Phaneuf landed 5 triples but nothing harder than a loop. Fell on her lutz and
didn't try a flip. Not a disaster but then not great either. I definitely
thought she should have beaten Lepisto in the LP here.

I could see that.

> Sarah Meier withdrew with an injury. No idea what it was.

Interesting thing to me about that was that Phaneuf got such a long time to warm
up after the WD was announced. Is that a new ISU rule too? When a withdrawal
makes a skater have to go on earlier than planned, they get extra warmup time?
It seemed rather bizarre; it was like they gave Phaneuf a whole new warmup all
by herself. Or was that someone's idea of keeping the event from running any
shorter than planned?

Oh, and then the English announcer confuses her with the next skater and says
"Representing China, Cynthia Phaneuf!" ?????

> The rest of the ladies were forgettable and a new low was reached with Annett
Dytrt who in 7 jumping passes only tried 2 different triples. The program was
soooo repetitive. Annett really needs to retire. The Germans need to move on in
their ladies program. Hopefully they'll send Sarah Hencken to Olympics or some
other skater.

Definitely underwhelming.

> Both Miki Ando and Elena Leonova clinched spots in the GP final. AshleyWagner
looks like a good bet now with a 2nd and a 3rd in her two events.
>
>
>
> Overall this was not a good event.

True. So, who are we looking at as our likeliest contenders at GPF for ladies?
Ando, Leonova, Kim (assuming she doesn't blow Skate America), Wagner and who
else has a good chance given we have two competitions left? Rochette? Korpi?
Suzuki? Flatt?

Trudi

---- herios <herios@...> wrote:

[snip]

> I will post this chinese team Huang / Zheng OD, who were put ahead of Bobrova
and Soloviev as well, they have a well polished zorba dance, some of the most
beautiful costumes and this is another Linichuk piece. They are just a little to
slow:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApNtftNc44Q

[snip]

Honest question here: Isn't it a little strange that Huang/Zheng are skating to
"Zorba the Greek" in costumes that suggest classical Greek dress rather than
Greek folk-dancing dress? I mean, isn't that kinda like skating an Italian
tarantella wearing Roman togas?

Trudi

---- herios <herios@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, <tmarrapodi@...> wrote:
> >
> > --Japanese ladies. I know I'm one of those who would love to have Santa give
me access to this one for Christmas. The addition of Kawasaki as a contender
really makes this one interesting. Again, five contenders for three spots.
>
>
> If Santa will be generous with you Trudi and get you 2 tickets instead of one,
give me a shout if you'll be lacking a better company:)

I'd be delighted to watch with you, were it possible. :-)

> > If we are lucky, the Olympic men's event won't be a Plushy cakewalk or a
splatfest, but a steel-cage death match.
> >
> > Trudi
> >
>
> We could have actually a splatfest, like we had yesterday at NHK, because all
the guys who pretend to have a quad will put it in, thinking they might get
lucky and they will probably implode.

Let us pray we don't. Either that, or someone has to hide the can of
Jumps-B-Gone from the skategods prior to the competition.

> I am hoping for a better outcome, perhaps to see a "battle of the Brians"
revisited. The scenery is set in Canada after all.
>
>
> Joseph

SHHHH, don't say that too loud...you know, "Battle of the Brians"...you're
making Orser nervous. I mean, it's bad enough his girl looks as if she's fated
to go into the ladies' event as the favorite...don't make it worse. :-)

Trudi

My cynical soul tells me Sasha never intended to return to competition at all;
that it was all just an IMG publicity stunt to help sell SOI tickets.

You know; now they need no longer sell her as a skater who splatted while trying
to win Olympics and worlds four years ago, they can sell her as a skater whose
long-awaited comeback for the 2010 Olympics was unfortunately cut short by
injury. But that's OK, 'cause she's healthy now and here to entertain you...who
knows what she coulda done in Vancouver if only she'd been healthy...she mighta
won...yadda yadda.


> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, lbo3@... wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I agree completely.  Cohen never floated my boat, so it wouldn't upset me
terribly if she weren't there ..... except that if she pulls out late, it would
reduce the field of competitors.
> >
> >
> >
> > I, too, am off for Lake Placid next week ..... arriving Wednesday night,
ready for days camped out in the arena watching practices.Â
> >
> >
> >
> > Now all I need to do is find a small, portable, easy, knitting project to
occupy me during the ice makes .....
> >
> >
> >
> > Â Â Â Â Â  janet
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "denbydilbert2001" <denbydilbert2001@...>
> > To: SkateFans@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Friday, November 6, 2009 3:29:09 PM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain
> > Subject: [SkateFans] Re: After three-year layoff, Cohen begins comeback -
Skate America
> >
> > Â
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Since I am going to L.P. next week I will believe it when she steps on the
ice for the s.p. Until then all bets are off.
> >
> > Meagan Leigh
> >
> > --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com , Ruthann Biel <bielra@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Here is the link in one piece..
> > >
> > >
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/vancouver/figureskating/2009-11-02-cohen\
-comeback_N.htm
> > >
> > > or
> > > http://tinyurl.com/y9l92oz
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>

Sorry for the double-send.

Anyway...how about another topic? Like how, for the sake of those who want to
remain unspoiled and can't watch till later, it would be a really good idea for
Ice Network to try to avoid illustrating the links to its video archives of
competitions with pictures of the winning skater...they do it almost every time.

Just sayin'.

Trudi

---- "Anne K. Donze" <donze3@...> wrote:
> Well, what did you think of Miki Ando's costume this week?  I think I liked
this one better.  And she actually SMILED during one of her footwork sequences,
in the latter part of her program.  That was nice to see.

[snip]

I liked this week's costume better too. The design is creative and a little
different than just the straight "dress her in something that looks like
Cleopatra herself would've worn, only short enough to skate in" thing...we've
already seen that done to death in previous seasons, after all...by skaters
performing to "The Mummy."

Also, have to say that I am thankful her choreography doesn't include too many
stereotypical flat-handed arm motions...that's another thing we've seen done to
death over the years, in any program supposed to be even remotely Middle Eastern
in theme...Ando keeps it to a blessed minimum.

Trudi

---- "Anne K. Donze" <donze3@...> wrote:
> Well, what did you think of Miki Ando's costume this week?  I think I liked
this one better.  And she actually SMILED during one of her footwork sequences,
in the latter part of her program.  That was nice to see.

[snip]

I liked this week's costume better too. The design is creative and a little
different than just the straight "dress her in something that looks like
Cleopatra herself would've worn, only short enough to skate in" thing...we've
already seen that done to death in previous seasons, after all...by skaters
performing to "The Mummy."

Also, have to say that I am thankful her choreography doesn't include too many
stereotypical flat-handed arm motions...that's another thing we've seen done to
death over the years, in any program supposed to be even remotely Middle Eastern
in theme...Ando keeps it to a blessed minimum.

Trudi

---- herios <herios@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "ncurrie40" <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
> >
> > I had heard some disturbing (for me) commentary from Tracy W. today. She
said she spoke with Jeremy who thinks he needs the quad in order to win the
Olympic gold. >>Joseph
> >
> > Olympic Podium. that's premature. he's done very poorly in two consecutive
worlds. If I were him, I'd start by worrying about how to make the US team, he
is up against 3 men who are better jumpers than him.
> >
> > Ben
>
>
>
> Exactly, first he has to get his programs out for the judges to see how much
are they worth (without the quad), because he has enough technical content
anyway. Replace the damn thing 11 points worth with a 3/3 combo, and try to get
the balance with extra GOE points, because that is possible. Once the judges see
a clean program with a high artistical content, they are more willing to adjust
upwards everything. This is the strategy they should use if their name is not
Joubert or Verner or Plushy, because they CAN do the quad, the rest of the guys
as we saw yesterday....not so much.
>
>
> Joseph

Sounds like a workable strategy. It would be tragic if he let chasing after the
almighty quad ruin his chance to give a clean performance of a program like
that. I mean, his short is sheer genius (I forgive the way it chip-chops the
passages of "A Day in the Life" because it really has to...not much choice), and
the long is beautiful, but not when he's sprawling all over the ice.

And Rippon...Adam, Adam, Adam, you really need to go back and work on that axel,
because it's gonna be the death of you. Everything else is so beautiful. Don't
let the axel ruin it all.

Trudi

---- herios <herios@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "ncurrie40" <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
> >
>
> Hey you are channeling me and Scottie:)
>
> Indeed wow Suzuki and now wow Brezina

Suzuki, LOL...here I am calling her Kawasaki...next week I'll be calling her
Yamaha...after that, Honda...hey, at least THAT's a skater...LOL!!!!

Suzuki, yes...must remember to keep my motorcycles straight!!! :-)

> > Mikal Michael ... Mihkhail ... However.
>
> > he spells it.
>
> None of the above, is Michal and you better learn this spelling, because is
going to be a fixture going forward

I believe it--or at least I hope it's so. Where have the Czechs been hiding this
guy??

[much other praise I agree with snipped]

Yeah, he's really got it and is a delight to watch--especially on a night when
it looked as if most of the skaters' boots had been sprayed with a can of
Jumps-B-Gone immediately before their performances.

> > with skaters like this .... Mroz, Rippon, eventually (I think) grigoriev,
etc .... the Jouberts weirs lambiels, Plushenko  should be looking over their
shouldes at a very fine crop of 19-22 year olds .....
> >
> > Lets hope the judges can adjudt their thinking (er, that would be their
pre-conceptions) in time for new young skaters to get their due.
> >
> > Maybe this is 1994 .... the young turks sweep away the established stars
....
> >
> > Be fun.
> >
> > Ben

I'm with you on that. I can't think of anything much more boring than seeing
Plushy or Joubert win. Just about anything else will actually be interesting,
doesn't much matter who. There's a lot of talent out there. It just wasn't
showing itself off to its best in this men's event. Ouch.

Trudi

---- ncurrie40 <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
> NHK ODs ..... semi-soiler
>
> s
> p
> o
> i
> l
> er
>
> s
> p
> a
> c
> e....
>
>
> The Kerr's OD is just fabu!  Their mid-line step seq is terrific and the entre
program merges w/ the music the way ice dancng is supposed to.

[snip]

Well, see...what I said about "first pancake" turned out to be right...they've
obviously been working really hard since the beginning of the season, and
practice is making perfect.

Trudi

---- "Anne K. Donze" <donze3@...> wrote:
>
> >
> >> How come so many audience members are wearing face masks?
> >
> > I haven't seen any video from this event, but I assume you're referring
> > to "face masks" as in surgical-type masks?  In Japan many people wear
> > them in public places to avoid spreading/catching colds and flu.
> > Japanese culture is a lot more fixated on hygiene and sanitation than
> > we're used to in North America.
>
> Thanks Sandra and Peter.  Very interesting.
>
> Anne

The frequent use of surgical masks during the cold and flu season can also be
viewed as reflective of the value the Japanese place on courtesy and politeness;
i.e., if a Japanese person is sick, that person will often wear a mask so as to
better avoid infecting others. It's not just a matter of healthy people trying
not to get sick; it's a matter of sick people doing what they can to prevent
spreading whatever they have.

I read a book by an American woman--I can't remember what her main line of work
is now--but she said in this book that she always wears a mask when flying to
avoid breathing the concentratedly germy air of the average plane cabin.

Not very common in some parts of the world, but common in others. To me it seems
less like an "obsession with sanitation" on one people's part than a different
FORM of the obsession. I mean, in the USA not many people wear surgical masks in
public, but we have a million "antibacterial" products that people in many other
countries might be amazed to find on their store shelves--and that actually may
be endangering us by helping to develop more resistant viruses by killing off
everything that's not hardy enough to fight them. I can't help but think
sometimes of polio and how that epidemic got so bad in "hygienic" Western
societies when it did in part because kids were growing up "cleaner" and less
exposed to viruses in a way that helped them develop better resistance to stuff.

Anyway, that's a lengthy diversion...back to talking about stuff like how, it
appears, props like fans are OK to use in these ODs so long as they are
appropriate to the expression of the dance. I'm sure there's an ISU
chapter-and-verse rule that can be cited.

Trudi

This morning I was trying to find Crone and Poirier Fd on youtube from NHK, but
yet again the music was disabled by WMG (Warner music group).

This is quite frustrating, because the Lucia Micarelli's violin concert is
retrievable (same music). So what I am missing, the same music can be left on
youtube if in a concert, but not as a musical background for figure skating?

Good work officers from Warner group, you are watching through the night over
copyrights! (or this folks are figure skating fans)


Anyway, Vanessa and Paul skated a lot better than at Rostelecom, getting a lift
in their score of almost 6 points and even got higher TES than the Kerr's. Very
good job done by the youngsters.

Joseph

PS. I have hard time understanding those atronomical scores for D/W for running
around the rink chased by the POTO.

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "ncurrie40" <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
>
> Just checking the scores .... it seems that on elements Brezina out-pointed
Joubert by around 8.00, but was given PCS commensurate w/ his .... er,
reputation and/or general world rank, so Joubert won the Free. Absurd. Joubert
cannot sakte that wel, and hasn't done it a single time as far as I can recall.
>
> Ben
>



This will change very soon. If he skates like this of course, consistently. His
PCS will be given a boost.
The judges say something like this:
" oh, so this guy can jump? Hm, OK, I will add 1 to his SS, enough transistion
so +0.5 there, let me take a better look at his choreo, not too bad either +
0.75, etc."

Joseph

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "ncurrie40" <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
>

Hey you are channeling me and Scottie:)

Indeed wow Suzuki and now wow Brezina

> Mikal Michael ... Mihkhail ... However.

> he spells it.

None of the above, is Michal and you better learn this spelling, because is
going to be a fixture going forward
>
> Brezina is a fine new talent who jumped up a storn in nagano this week ... two
of finest rriple flips I've ever seen .... no t-t combo but 2x TAs plus 5 or 6
assortment triles .... this program should easily have beaten Joubert and Weir,
indeed have left them in the dust esp. on the component scores .... its fresh,
is intricate, its amazingly difficult choreography .... all done perfectly to
the music ..... the PCS should have been 7.75/8.00 range at least ... and
propelled him past his same-ole same-ole competition.

His jumps are mighty fine. He has so much height, that I can hardly remember
anybody similar, perhaps Sabovcik ?
Kurt Browning was so impressed, he usually decomposes technically the skaters
programs, he observed Michal's arms were not even close to his chest in the air
when he rotated his 3 axel, meaning he could rotate even more if he would
tighten them.
And his air position is so perfect, that you can feel he will land them. His
flips are unbelievable textbook.
>
> This is how music suggests choreography .... ksiten to it, d.o what is says to
do, and there's your program ..... The Gershwin is great, and he danced to it
like Gene Kelly.  also, my fav, a legit fwd fly sit spin, that got high enough
to achieve the classic air position ....


The music selection was also a very good choice.
>
> with skaters like this .... Mroz, Rippon, eventually (I think) grigoriev, etc
.... the Jouberts weirs lambiels, Plushenko  should be looking over their
shouldes at a very fine crop of 19-22 year olds .....
>
> Lets hope the judges can adjudt their thinking (er, that would be their
pre-conceptions) in time for new young skaters to get their due.
>
> Maybe this is 1994 .... the young turks sweep away the established stars ....
>
> Be fun.
>
> Ben
>

Maybe this year will be too early, but for next few years, watch out for this
guy, he will be in that Yagudin or Plushenko category.

Welcome to the big stage Michal, who knows maybe you are the next Nepela

Joseph

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "ncurrie40" <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
>
> I had heard some disturbing (for me) commentary from Tracy W. today. She said
she spoke with Jeremy who thinks he needs the quad in order to win the Olympic
gold. >>Joseph
>
> Olympic Podium. that's premature. he's done very poorly in two consecutive
worlds. If I were him, I'd start by worrying about how to make the US team, he
is up against 3 men who are better jumpers than him.
>
> Ben



Exactly, first he has to get his programs out for the judges to see how much are
they worth (without the quad), because he has enough technical content anyway.
Replace the damn thing 11 points worth with a 3/3 combo, and try to get the
balance with extra GOE points, because that is possible. Once the judges see a
clean program with a high artistical content, they are more willing to adjust
upwards everything. This is the strategy they should use if their name is not
Joubert or Verner or Plushy, because they CAN do the quad, the rest of the guys
as we saw yesterday....not so much.


Joseph

Really enjoyed it and since I'm such a night owl - it fit right in after
the golf in Shanghai  :-)

Tiger blew up, Michalson won, but that was totally fun and also really
enjoyed the skates of the Kerrs and  Davis and White.

Johnny - too over the top for me, but interesting.

barb