WinForPooh

It's like Brian is singlehandedly taking on the entire USFS PR machine. And winning like a champ right now.

The whole undefeated season bit about Nathan must be more annoying to Shoma and Boyang. I mean, Shoma's score at 4CC was higher than Nathan's top international score this season, and Shoma didn't even win that one, Boyang did! That was with a strict tech panel, too. But the way they frame it, Nathan is the anointed prince who shall defeat all and have the gold medal crown put on his head. Shoma has beaten Nathan's highest international score (twice at least thrice, I forgot he crossed 300 at Skate Canada too) this season. Even Javi did, at the Euros (295.55), even if the judging there was very generous. Even taking Yuzu out of the equation - which even the US media would have to be totally nuts to do - Nathan being 'undefeated' is a nice catchphrase but doesn't really reflect where he stands when you consider all the performances of the season. ETA: Me looking at Nathan's wiki and realising that he has crossed 300 in international competitions a total of once. That was 4CC 2017. The other two times were US Nats.

Wow, those are some fighting words from Brian. Throwing out the reference to Worlds Helsinki and how they are preparing the same way. Saying Yuzu's stamina is better than before because of the intensive conditioning he had to do. The extra runthroughs. His toe and sal are even better than before. And how Yuzu's speed, flow, charisma and distance on ice during jumps are far better than anybody else's. Brian is in full PR fightback mode, and media seem to be lapping it up.

*sigh* I hope 4Lo behaves because I want two 3As and that will only happen with a four-quad layout with 4Lo.

The 2A fail part made me laugh. I bet that was a delayed single that he managed to do, too. And is that around the time that 3A came back for quite a few men, to celebrate? And then he started jumping quads and 3A decided to make its displeasure known by leaving all the men? This should be unsettling for his competition. Nobody has beaten Yuzu's total with four clean quads. Hell, beating Yuzu's Seimei with three is difficult enough. Odds of going clean go way up if he jumps two sals and two toe loops. If Yuzu is clean with four quads, skating to Seimei, and clean with two skating Chopin... How many quads will they have to jump to catch up? With every quad after four, their GOE and PCS might go down with a strict panel. Risk of mistakes goes up. Yuzu might be less competitive if he tries five or more quads, if his stamina isn't back up properly, judging by how this season has gone and how everybody else has performed so far.

I tried before I saw you'd already tried and it couldn't detect faces. I'm sure it would've said F though, if it could've detected his face.

I downloaded the TCC video to watch it. It wouldn't load otherwise. And the last shot they took of Yuzu, it is 110% impact and give-me-Seimei-NOW!!!! feelings inducing. I'm a crier, I cry about everything, watching everything. I'll be muttering 'damn tears, blurry, must see, I'll miss something, vision compromised' for about two hours before and after he skates, I expect.

I think Hydro posted it earlier.

Ahh, yes, wouldn't that be a lovely gesture? They deserve the appreciation.

Yep. Though I think Tracy would also be very, very good at handling media with poise and many perfectly polite but very pointed and accurate comments, if she decided to do it.

I seem to remember him saying something about how he knows there are some people who hate him, but there are a lot more people who love him and wish him the best. Or something along those lines. A good way of looking at things - accepting the negative, but focusing on the positive. Smart young man. OT I rescued my origami swans from the dogs, but I don't think that's a sign...

*cough* Kara *cough*

Ah, it would be a pity if there are Yuna fans who probably appreciate her technique who don't also recognise Yuzu's efforts in developing good technique. She's a beautiful skater. Though I do understand those who are salty about her records being beaten in part because of PCS inflation. Yuna skating now would get more in PCS than she did then, so it doesn't seem fair because standards have shifted a bit. Hell, I get salty when I compare Yuzu's PCS in his first and second senior years with what people routinely get now! Too bad there's no inflation factor applied to older scores to even the field when comparing. But anyway. Haters will always be there. But he is loved far far more than he will ever be hated, and he knows that. So it's fine.

What an adorable bb he is. So scary, so cute.

That video is set to loop or my browser settings need changing. But I watched it three times in a row now and had to force myself to stop!

I think 4A will need less persuasion than that. Practically waiting to jump him, Nessie is. Or for him to jump Nessie. That's destiny. ETA: Excellent, what you did with the anonymous there.

That's him seeing if he can get 4F to glance in his direction.

Yes, on balance I'd say you've got your probabilities right. I don't really expect him to do a 4Lo combo, it might not fit with the choreo to his satisfaction, and debuting something he hasn't tried out yet in competition at the Olympics, that's the step from challenging to boy-wtf. He wouldn't. It just popped up in my head that the loop is traditionally a preference for combos and then my mind went there.

He wouldn't, would he? Not at the Olympics. He wouldn't. Would he?

So do I. I'm already weeping in anticipation of his 3A.

He'll Zayak if he does two 4S, two 4T and two 3A. With three quads, a 3A will have to be sacrificed for a five-quad layout.

He did Seimei with 4Lo as his first jump as well for runthrough, didn't he? He's used to doing it as his first jump for H&L, he might do that, with 4S as the second jump. He was comfortable subbing 4S for 4Lo for ACI Chopin, too, so maybe that works. Not changing those last few jumps would make sense, too. There's just no time for improvisation there, it's all planned down to the millisecond. Might depend on just how well 4Lo is behaving. He seems to prefer to get the unruliest jump out of the way first. Though... Wouldn't it be something if 4Lo is the one he repeats.

It would be good, really. The 4T is very reliable for him, it could make sure the skate flows from it. No worrying too much about landing that first jump, and that's long enough for muscle memory to kick in, nerves to settle, and skate the rest on autopilot. But I'd sacrifice the second 4T for a 3A in a heartbeat. The impact of two of his 3As could stun judges into giving him all the PCS after all the shaky wobbly 3As we've had since he went ninja!

He's probably already decided the layout unless 4Lz miraculously behaves perfectly all of a sudden. That's unlikely. But I don't think we'll see that 3Lz in the beginning layout. It messed up his entire rhythm. The first two jumps have those long setups, so they'll probably be quads. Maybe the the fifth quad/second 3A decision might be made depending on his stamina. With the GOE he gets on 3A, it won't make too much difference, really.