24 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Update from Reuters, as the date approaches. The ladies lead the story, natch:


http://www.reuters.c...24&pageNumber=0

[Funny Face]

Y'all may want to check out the Blades on Ice website as well for additional information.

There's some unfortunate news on there as well, I fear. You'll know what I'm talking about once you tune in to that site.

On the up side, it looks like Oksana may be conquering her demons. She looked wonderful in her interview in the recent tv magazine special "Second Acts" in which she discussed at length coming to terms with a lot of issues in her life, not the least of which was her estrangement from her biological father. The reunion was videotaped and I don't think anyone could watch that with a dry eye. However she fares on the ice, it appears she is well on her way to being a much happier young woman.

I'm looking forward to Worlds -- it's been a while since we've seen much skating broadcast.

[rkoretzky]

More info please. I can't find the "bad news" to which you allude. Another hint--ok?

[mom2]

I hunted around the site and found an article about the new scoring procedures...so I assumed this is what the "bad news" was about??

[dirac]

I think the new scoring system is indeed bad news, but I'm not sure if that's what you were referring to, Funny Face. I took a quick look at the site and didn't see anything, but it was just a quick look.

It has been a long stretch between skating broadcasts. It may well be partially intentional – the networks may be backing off because a) ratings have been down and B) there were a few years of skating overkill and they're cutting back.

Good to hear that Oksana is finally getting it together.

[Susanne]

I noted that Takeshi Honda was not in the results from the qualifying round. Has he turned pro?

[Funny Face]

Petrenko has joined Yagudin and Baiul as skaters arrested for drunk driving.

[Susanne]

Not unexpected, Plushenko took the lead today after the short program. Joubert is placed second. Both of them did flawless programs. The biggest surprise was Stefan Lindemann from Germany, who did as far as I can remember, his best skate ever! His quad-toe loop triple-toe loop combination was higher and cleaner than Plushenkos! He ended up in third place.

The biggest dissapointment was Sandhu's skate doing a 2 toe-loop instead of 4 and he fell on his 3 axel. Nevertheless he does have a wonderful style. He ended up in 11th place.

Another surprise was the Russian Griazev, very young and loads of potential. All that energy! But then he is coached by Tarasova and Yagudin, with a solid base built by Mishin!

Even though Lambiel did some mistakes, I still think that he is THE figure skater among the men of today. When he skates, he becomes the music and movement! Every fiber in his body is dancing!

[dirac]

Thank you for the report, Susanne. I have to go home and watch my tape! Unless something really unexpected happens, the competition is Plushenko's to lose, but it's nice to see Joubert do well. I admire Lambiel, too.

It's too bad about Sandhu, but not unexpected, I regret to say.

[Susanne]

Wow the final of the pairs long program turned out really thrilling!

Even though Totmianina/Marinin delivered a flawless program with the usual Russian precision and grace I must say that Shen/Zhao's program to Nutcracker really touched my heart. It is funny, because I remember the first time I noticed them and they ended 4th or 5th in worlds. Back then they had the technique but there was a lack of presentation. (Just as the other two Chinese couples, no matter how good they technically are, there is still something missing if compared with the Russians). I think htat Shen/Zhao have developed tremendously just as Lu Chen did. I really think they deserved to those 6.0s that they got for their free skate! Nevertheless Totmianina/Marining deserved to win the whole competition as their free skate and short program were wonderful, but without the "skating their hearts out" feeling.

[Old Fashioned]

A few quick notes after watching the pairs' and mens' competitions tonight.

Shen and Zhao's performance and program were exquisite. I thought a skate to the music of the Nutcracker would be corny if not pulled off by the right couple, but they did an excellent job.

WHOA! What a night for the mens'. Johnny Weir was perfection. I didn't find a trace of nerves in him. What beautiful, pure, clean skating. Brian Joubert had one of the best performances I've seen from him yet. I'm glad he's raising the bar in mens' figure skating, for awhile there it seemed no one would be able to reach anywhere close to Plushenko's level. It was touching to see Stefan Lindemann have the crowd going wild for the underdog, the home team. Plushenko did not have a flawless skate, but the wonderful thing about his freeskate was the building tension and excitement he created and those facial expressions! I never know what to expect from him. I wish they would have aired Stephan Lambiel, another skater I truly enjoy to watch.

[MakarovaFan]

I loved Shen & Zhao's free skate. Their choreography and rapport beautifully matched the Nutcracker PDD music and they deserved those great scores.

[dirac]

Very annoyed that Lambiel wasn't shown. I assume that ABC was calculating that, as the lowest-ranking skater not from the U.S., he could be omitted. Instead, we got Weiss, and were told that he was "in the medal hunt." Uh-huh. However, ESPN will be repeating the competition, I'm not sure of the date, and maybe we'll get to see Lambiel then.

Weir had a beautiful skate – I was very happy for him, and Lindemann, too. As Button said on the broadcast, what ballon the latter has! He really gets into the air, and stays there. The men certainly distinguished themselves as a group -- generally fine skating all around.

As for Plushy – okay, he was good, and the fall didn't bother me, but all those 6.0s – and for presentation ??? I thought he was a bit overmarked, although I like the program. Maybe the judges are tossing out as many sixes as they can before it's too late.

I nodded off on the sofa and missed the pairs!!! I woke up just in time to see the house coming down for Shen and Zhao. Does anyone have more details?

[Old Fashioned]

The beauty of Shen and Zhao's performance was that it was truly from the heart and showed their passion for skating. It said to me "This is why we do it." Very rarely is there such a performance. Too many times skaters become too focused on the prospect of winning when they get out there on the ice. This seems to be the reason why the most prepared skaters sometimes crash and burn even if they've landed ever jump in practice.