liv

I continue to not to read Twitter, so anything there I remain blissfully unaware of... lalalala.....

Yuzu in his black one sleeved faoi opening outfit is exactly why I wish he'd embrace that look more often. His frothy blue or pastel costumes are nice, and he's done that look a lot, but the darker and sleeker, streamlined style is just, well, perfect.

SCI is at the same venue as it was the last time in Mississauga, but it has a different name. Yuzu was competing so I HAD to go since it was within driving distance. Good memories.

Nice to hear from you @Fay. Hope you are as well as can be expected.

I was never in any doubt about it. If he'd not done any of those practice performances in Beijing I might've wondered, but he performed those as if he had no injury. I've been through too many seasons of him and injury and FaOI participation and only once was the severity so great he couldn't skate. It'll be nice to see him again, doing what he loves so much.

@rockstaryuzu lol, re: That guy...

Do we know what Mai took in school? I think I read before what department it was, but what specifically was the field?

I am convinced that if Yuzu had been here and skated as well as he can, he would have been in first with much better scores than these, and Shoma probably would not have gotten what he did. At competitions like this where the top competitors are missing, higher scores than normal are often given to the remaining top competitors to make it more interesting and make it look like nothing is missing. I am not kidding, I've seen it before in my 35+ years of watching skating. I am absolutely not surprised to see these scores.

I also watched that Nadal Alcaraz match. Nadal 's physicality on the court would seem to indicate that he would have a short career, and he's had his share of injuries as a result, but he loves tennis. His love for the sport is what keeps him going, despite a new marriage, incredible wealth etc. He has every reason and means to retire, but why do so if you love it? Federer too, with 4 kids... but he's now rehabbing again at 40, just for one last chance to play for a Slam. And Andy Murray, also 4 kids, terrible hip problems... after his latest return after surgery when he was always losing said " don't feel sorry for me, I'm doing what I love." Sports training and rehab is so different now, you can compete for a long time. I love that age isn't a reason to retire anymore, if you're still capable of doing what you love. Another great example, Oksana Chousovitna ( my spelling way off) in gymnastics. 8 Olympic Games. The difference in skating is that it's judged. That gives a certain amount of power to others over your career if they don't support you. But, if you love the sport, that will not matter. I hope Yuzu follows his heart and does what he wants to do, not what others want him to do. You get one life.

Yuzu now has a lot of control over those around him, and what is revealed about him, or at least that is my impression. Perhaps he has asked that no one say anything. Didn't that recent interview with Ghislain mention that it had been done with yuzu's approval? That is telling. I think the lack of " talk" is a combination of respecting that and him being in Japan for 2 years. I'm sure if given a green light (and he communicated) and if they knew what he was doing, TCC would say more because they used to do it. But how much defense does a 2x Olympic champ need without certain quarters feeling it's whining? Especially one more often injured than not. He wouldn't tell them his health status while he was in Toronto so now they're even more in the dark. I think he prefers to let his skating speak for itself, but the occasional " never underestimate Mr.hanyu" wouldn't hurt. Let's see what noise TCC will make now that they have a big talent with Rika being there... she definitely needs some PR, so I'm waiting to hear what the next season willbe like.

I thought his arms looked odd when he landed, but now I can see he upped the difficulty. I bet the judges didn't even notice other than thinking it looked odd somehow Too... and remember, he'd already missed the 4S so he wasn't going to be getting any extra credit anywhere after that. That's how things work if you are no longer the annointed one. This is when doing PR helps. If he'd had a coach, that coach could have talked up that extra difficult arm position, and then it would be talked about. Back in 1988 when Boitano did his short program 2A (back then 2A was mandatory in the sp)he landed it with both arms crossed. It was talked about, noticed...made a big deal over... I know, yuzu does things differently but, while admirable, that can be detrimental when up against those who play the game.

Yuzu is always there, other than the ultra dry year 2016 where he stayed in Canada all summer due to his lisfranc injury and had to stay off of it. They alway announce him last, so unless something major happens, he'll be there. I'm more interested in finding out if any Russians are going to be invited. It's a big payday to go on Japanese tours, very coveted. Well see how the conflict goes.

I think we all knew he'd withdraw. I knew nothing about an injury before, I pay no attention, but the entire post Olympic time filled with engagements, plus uncertainty in Europe (yes, the continent is big), made his participation doubtful to me from the beginning. I think he realized he wasn't in great shape. Why risk losing and getting tarnish on his gold? Worlds will be very interesting. A gold up for grabs now. Love it. Hope yuzu wasn't too rattled by that earthquake. I would be, but I didn't grow up with earthquakes, or experience a massive trauma inducing one either. Hope all that us near and dear to him remained unscathed.

My gosh, Estonia is certainly stepping up to host the big competitions this year!! I hope that in the sometime future we see a really good Estonian skater too.. there are good ones, but I mean a TOP one. All of this support for competitions shows they are really interested in this sport now.

Not sure I'd call it a revelation. I think this is the summary, leaving out little details: Javi commented on Yuzu's sp jump mistake , saying that the " there was a hole in the ice" explanation might have been an excuse, or something like that, and many people got upset thinking he's showing his true colours and isn't a real friend, has been jealous, how dare he say that on tv. etc. He got a lot of online flack. So, he posted an apology that many interpreted as insincere. Then Brian and Tracy basically hit like buttons on this apology. Then some people have taken that to mean that Brian/Tracy agree that Yuzu was using it as an excuse. Others think they were just supporting Javi for making an apology. And now it's seen as a whole betrayal by everyone at Tcc. I think that's it in a nutshell.

Yes, I see it's tcc... i wondered since it said 'throwback' that I'd missed this release from years ago. I wish they'd posted that awhile back... so the naysayers could understand why his dream was based in reality and not some crazy idea. I remember it was said he'd landed it in harness and required virtually no assist from the man with harness, so it's nice to see evidence of it. You can see it's clearly around... so beautiful. Hope yuzu willbe happy it's out there now for all to see... darn ankle injury... again.

When was that 4a done? I don't think I've ever seen that footage... and that's proof it canbe done. More attempts in the harness leads to better attempts solo...

It should be universally acknowledged that Yuzu's 3Axel is the best anyone's ever seen. And if it isn't, it should be. Other candidates who have one with that ease? No one. Chiddy knows a good axel when he sees one...he was not that good at them, so i"m sure he studied them all for tips!! It was Yuzu's axel that first made me stop and take notice, apart from everything else. I remember being stunned at how easy it was for him, even when he was 17. I knew then good things were coming... and this was before knowing all the behind scene work and devotion he put into his skating.

No, I agree with you. I posted a message a while back where I was trying to say that we should not make judgements when we don't know private details. I think sometimes people love Yuzu so much they feel the need to defend him more than might be required.

A petty part of me wishes that it would be possible for him to hurt JSF where it hurts them ( the wallet) by declining to skate in competitions in Japan so that TV ratings and ticket sales would decline. He could do shows so the public still sees him. But, I know that's unrealistic. He would hate that because he's so devoted to his fans, and loves his country, and with injuries that's already been the case over the years (and skating is so popular that even without him they have good attendance.... in Japan). I wish they could somehow care about what he means to the public, instead of resenting his fame and popularity. His success is their success if they only had the brains to embrace him rather than resent him and wish to push him out. . You don't have to throw one under the bus to embrace the future. Years ago Canada had Brian O, then Kurt, then Elvis, overlapping each other in quick succession, and I don't think those skaters suffered at the expense of the other because of Fed games. From what I remember, each one was embraced by SC, they were adored by fans and there wasn't obvious favoritism on the world stage. No one was pushed out. At least, to the best of my recollection. Oh, JSF. You won't see one like him again.

Those were his choices...and not easy ones. I"m sure he's happy to be home now, definitely not alone! And definitely not alone in support.

And that's not even going into the political arena.

If he continues to compete, i would love for him to go to TCC ( for some of the time anyway), and see his coaches after 2 years b/c If he needs inspiration and help with loneliness, surely training with Rika Kihira and finding inspiration together would be beneficial. I always wished they could train together. I think they'd train well together, actually.

I'm sure Yuzu is aware of who his friends are and who uses him for popularity in order to get skating jobs in Japan. We are not privy to the private details of his interactions with anyone, so we don't know how much he actually invests in these relationships. I'd be wary of making any assumptions based on tv commentary. He would know what was or was not real over the years he dealt with people. But, that's just imho. Best not to jump to conclusions.