Xen

12 weeks so he should be alright. Knock on wood, pray, he should be alright. Trust in his abilities, his technique, his team and above all, his own determination and willpower. =) @gladi and @yuzuangel, @Hydroblade: I'm wondering if gladi would object, and if it's possible to have the banner suggestion and maybe the tumblr post pinned separately at the top? Or at least moved to "our picks"? That way people can easily be aware of the project and find the information, instead of browsing through general chat. I can access the forum fine from China, but getting to tumblr involves VPNs. =(

Actually, it is really good PR when he comes back. Think of the narrative-even people who don't really watch him that regularly will get behind a "return from adversity/rise from the ashes" story, which he, Javi and even Patrick now share. They all had an irregular season, only to pull themselves up from the boot straps. As for music videos, I like this one using "Hall of Fame": https://youtu.be/SQJUpyThHj0 just to remind myself that he has achieved so much. And I find the lyrics for "Superheroes" quite appropriate for Yuzu (https://youtu.be/WIm1GgfRz6M) All the hurt, all the lies All the tears that they cry When the moment is just right You'll see fire in their eyes 'Cause he's stronger than you know A heart of steel starts to grow When you've been fighting for it all your life You've been struggling to make things right That's how a superhero learns to fly (Every day, every hour, turn that pain into power) So let's just believe in him and then there is that Banner project Gladi is organizing. So let's make that damn banner blanket size, at least!

Actually I'm thinking the opposite of you guys. I think the 4Lz is going to come out, but a 4Lo might be harder to practice. The area he injured himself would affect all his landings, but any take off that involves twisting his right leg side (ankle, knees) would be harder. And guess which jump relies completely on the right leg for take off? Yup, loop. But given what it is, I think he could afford to go with the layout he had at ACI for the SP. Even if judges do not pile on the +3 GOE, if Yuzu goes clean, he could still score around the 109-112 range, which most of the other guys have not received yet. As for 4Lz, my feeling when watching him practice is he puts TOO MUCH energy into it. So part of me even wonders if 4Lz as a second jump would actually help calm him down? Maybe I'm just being crazy since I'm still affected by the WD news even today.

So the stupid question to Raf. Artyunian was from NYT? Classy, NYT, classy.

*sigh* I'm frankly freaked out a bit...it's like a weird injury/sickness thingy has been spreading out among the top 6 men, first PChiddy and then Javi, now Yuzu. And they are all just weird, freak incidents. I'm going to knock on wood and hope that the younger guys stay alright, well at least Mikhail's in without a freak incident.

My thoughts on this? 1) I don't think limiting the number of quads will do that much. So long as people have to train quads, train any jump in figure skating actually, the danger of physical injury is always there. When I was little, practicing figure skating, I saw a girl hit her head on the ice training a double salchow. She had landed her 2S quite well that season, but that one slip was all it took for them to ship her to the hospital and probably never skate again. She had already stabilized her 2 Lutz by then, but fell on an easier jump. Then again, we usually joked about hitting our chin on the ice when even starting off camel spins, and I've had my fair share of landing on my chest when starting camel spins. I've seen people nearly faceplant when trying spirals too. I've had worse falls practicing footwork than doing jumps-and a rinkmate whose worst falls are practicing spins. Everyone's mileage varies. The ice is slippery, so risks exist regardless of what you do. 2) The issue is not how many quads, but how a skater trains, how good their technique is. Unpopular as this opinion is, not all skaters are going to make it, not due to just injury, but timing, physical build etc, will at some point put a hard cap on how high you can go on the technical side. But its again, not quads specifically, but just the technical side of figure skating itself that can lead to injury regardless. 3) As for the issue of why people do quads, or any technical jump in general-unfortunately, even under the COP system now, TES and the technical side is the closest we have to an objective way to get points. While we debate about GOEs and technical panel calls all the time, I think we'd have more debates if we reverted to the old 6.0 system, with ordinals, or relied on just PCS scores alone (PCS debates are even more furious, go check out some other known forums for reference). If a skater from a smaller less powerful fed, wanted to score really well, unfortunately TES is the way to go, and naturally the jump BVs will need to go up. Maybe it's a pity, but under the old 6.0 system, such a skater may not even see the light of day. 4) Correlating to the above, reducing the number of quads, but with skaters trying to prove objectively they are top, they may go for riskier quads, packed in the second half, with combos etc, all of which could be even riskier. The theory to why more guys are doing 4Lutz instead of 4Loop, is that 4Loop might actually be harder, but also 4 Lutz has a higher BV. Would re-balancing BV fix this? Maybe, maybe not. But even easier jumps such as a loop also cause other strains to the body (hips, right leg and ankles etc), so even after re-balancing, risks would still exist. 5) Do quads diminish the value of artistry? No-what is diminishing the artistry is how judges have been applying the scoring system. If we look at some of the programs that have been coming out these days under the COP, against the older programs with less quads, I don't know how one could say we've reduced in the number of artistic programs. Figure skating is a combination of tehnical+artistry, and usually the ones who are technically sound have a better shot of delivering on the art (Yuzu, Patrick anyone?). There are plenty of artistic skaters who can perform quads, Yuzu being one of them, Yagudin did pretty well too, Kurt Browning had a quad, Stephane, Oda etc. You can be artistic or not, but it does not matter whether or not you have a quad. 6) Why are there less boys-hmm why indeed. Figure skating is a minority, rather expensive sport. Not even that many girls practice it objectively speaking. There are just more popular sports around-football, baseball, tennis, basketball, hockey that all compete for attention, and are much more approachable than figure skating not due to technical hardness, but just due to price alone. And the diminishing numbers as we get higher up-well it happens in all sports. No matter what sport you do, if you want to do well you just have to put in the hours, bear with the injuries and pain. As for less boys than girls-well, figure skating has an image of a ballerina in tutus spinning on ice, it's viewed as effeminate, which less boys want to be associated with especially in North America. But that's an issue about how we market the sport, and how a culture defines masculinity/femininity than figure skating alone.

Hydro, you are a founder of the planet, the existence of which is plenty useful. =) Let us other satellite think and take care of stuff once in a while, alright? Just a small suggestion. =)

Thank you gladi! I'm debating whether I want to write (in english, chinese?) or draw something more elaborate. Speaking of which, are we going to do anything for his birthday? This is probably the first bday he's had in a while that did not fall on a GPF. It might be a nice break for him and celebrate it like a normal human for once.

Someone decided to be human too?

No rush, we need to all cry a little and get it out of our system first.

May I jump on the bandwagon and suggest a swan theme?

Well I didn't follow FS in depth as much before, but honestly, I don't think so. Illnesses are par the course, and in men's there's quite a history with Plushy, Yagudin and so having issues, what with Plush having surgery late in the off season, skating with groin injuries etc. But this season, maybe due to more media hype, attention etc, it certainly feels like there is just more injury than normal. I still have fingers crossed for Shoma and Nate, because I haven't heard of any injuries yet. BUT both are the type who will keep very quiet, and given Nate's interesting history of surgeries, knock on wood all around.

The bright side : we are getting news of his injuries, instead of having to wait till end of season to drag it out of him. Some tears now, for us, is better than complete silence from him only for major heart attacks later.

So it was one of those treat now or fear the consequences types, where previously he may have just muscled through? If yes, then him withdrawing is progress.

alright, but I suck.at this....

I am starting to get worried for the top men this season, since injuries are just coming out of the woodworks like crazy...

Well, I am keeping my mens prediction, regardless, because I know who is, should and will remain no. 1.

And discuss about the legendary pimples over a nice cup of tea and cookies, yes? We're still missing a sonnet or at least a limrick to The Pimples.TM

About this....if we think about that golden swan carrying our feelings, like a conduit to him, maybe we should think positive thoughts? I really would not want him to feel our nerves on top of his existing ones.

Hm, yeah, and there is a 4 minute cut version already. Death by Ina Baeur or hydroblade? Turandot, carmina burana and swan lake are the warhorses that would go well with him. Gabriel Oboe and moonlight sonata would also be good for him.

Nah, P&G is smart. They just go after the idea that every older mum would want a cute, adorkable son or son-in-law like Yuzu, quietly appreciating all they do. Then he smiles and stuff start movong off the shelves... Only us fans shake our heads over his finicky picky nature. We understand the terrifying truth, though most of us would still consider trying to cook or take him out for a meal. Just smart enough to drop the long term idea.

Yuzu has observable patterns when it comes to his jumps, and I still think.he is behind his original schedule. As for his lies, he does have some physical tells, subtle, the smile and laugh combo for me, but there.

I need some of his skill to do the pr bit of my job. Tell us, oh great memelord, how do we practice to get to half you levels at this?

hmm, I think Misha may have a shot after this season, Zhao and Shen might be more open. And China gov is going to start pitching money into skating, and figure skating training centers are.easier and less demanding than speed skating. I do not see why they would invest less into Boyang.

Guys, seriously, we just need to hand Brian a pair of pooh gloves, where the head covers his hands, then Yuzu just squeezes pooh's head when he does his customary handshake with Brian. And it can be a knit fan gift so they cannot say anything.