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micaelis

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  1. This is getting pretty close to what I said in my very first post here and the major reason why I so admire him. Yuzu is more than a figure skater. He's a human being whose actions on the ice and off the ice have him transcending the sport. There are few in sport like him. There are standard GOAT's like Michael Jordan, who are great only as far as they are seen just as athletes excelling in their sport. Then there are those athletes who are more than their sport, and for me the prime example there is hockey's Wayne Gretzky, who never lost his sense of where he came from and why he became whom he became. Wayne Gretzky is a great human being and that is why his status as the greatest in hockey will probably never be lost, not because he pretty much owns the hockey record book, but because the odds are overwhelming that anybody will come along who can top the records Wayne set and at the same time be the very admirable human being Gretzky was and remains. The truly greatest in anything are great not just because they so excelled in their life's work but also because in so doing they never forgot they were human, were part of humanity, and owed back to humanity the adulation they were receiving. Yuzu is great because he takes seriously the responsibilities that such greatness demands of him, whether it be pinching the cheeks of a little girl who skates up to greet him at the Sendai rink right after it had reopened following the quake, whether it's visiting a kindergarten (or very young class, at least) and answering their questions, or doing the same for a group of elderly, or getting down on his hands and knees and crawling behind Shoma who was answering questions at a press conference (Yuzu didn't want to attract attention away from Shoma), or at a photo op reaching behind Shoma's head to pinch his cheek and make him smile for the cameras, or... I could go on and on but all these things show Yuzu's humanity and in so doing show clearly he is more than a figure-skater. The takeaway from this is that most of us would value Yuzu as a friend even if he weren't a world class athlete. That's what makes him truly great.
  2. I don't know about skaters competing nowadays but there is a skater-to-be who idolizes Yuzu, according to something I read a while back. That's Alexander Plushenko, Plushie's son. If you have a chance, pull up that video of him doing a short routine on YouTube. There's no jumping and most of the moves are elementary, but the fact is he remembered a program that was around two minutes in length. That's pretty good if you're a boy just 4 years old. That Alexander is doing this stuff before he's even old enough for kindergarten indicates he's got a full load of his dad's DNA. Expect to start seeing things about him in a decade or so.
  3. I fully concur. There is no way that anyone can say that Yuzu is not the dominant skater competing today. That has been the situation since the 2013-14 season, when he took his first GPF, his first OG and his first WC. From that point on Yuzu has been the one to beat, and even in this year's Olympics, despite the fact that he had not competed since last fall, every major contender out there was trying to figure out how to beat Yuzu and not each other. Yuzu has also transformed skating itself, but not by pushing forward on the TES element. He's let others pioneer there and he's just kept up with them. His transformation has been in keeping his sights on the artistic element, having programs that are rich with detail, and reminding everyone, particularly the judges (although I feel most of them don't need reminding) of the role that PCS plays. His major achievement has been in keeping things in such a way that quads were not the sole criteria for a win. The new rules coming into play this season will simply validate that. I know some might think that the raising of possible GOEs to 5 might make the TES stronger. Actually, it does the opposite since the judge's will have a means of fine-tuning their judging (and remember while there are 5 possible pluses there are also 5 possible minuses) and the skaters will realize that the potential of losing points because of sloppy jumps will tend to make them jump 'safer'. (I also think that the situation can be improved by making the penalty for a fall steeper. I'd keep the one point deduction for a fall, but for a second fall make it two points, and three points for a third. I think you can see my rationale for this. It means that falls can potentially be disastrous, especially if there's more than one.) The major factor, though, is the shortened program-length. That helps Yuzu immensely since he's able to combine PCS elements into the preparation of his jumps (as was pointed out by a poster several days ago). My argument, however, is that Yuzu is challenging the sport in more ways than simply skating, where he is the dominant figure today and will probably remain so until he retires. He's also remaking the culture and if he is successful that will comprise a major part of his legacy. If he manages to deliver on those other aspects his ranking as the GOAT will be unassailable.
  4. I agree with you there. GOAT is, actually and ultimately, an apples and oranges thing simply because there is disagreement on what constitutes a GOAT. That's why I've gone on record as saying Yuzu's ultimate assessment may be a result of his achievements being not simply in competition but in what he brings to other aspects of figure-skating culture. A term, often used in a narrower context, suggests itself to me, and that is that Yuzu might, in terms of what he accomplishes in his competition, in potentially remaking ice shows and in the impact he might have on coaching, in that sense Yuzu would be truly the 'Complete' skater.
  5. Of GOAT and apples and organges - Some thoughts. Right now a lot of those on this forum are thinking about GOAT. Is Yuzu the GOAT? I'm going to disappoint most of you and say 'No', but I will add, 'Not Yet'. In the article from IceNetwork above there was a good, level-headed discussion that brought out some issues that all of us have to deal with when discussing GOAT. The first, and most importance, is historical context. All those who might be cited as GOAT are products of their times. Figure skating back in the late 1890s, when the first world championship was held, was very much a different sport. I don't know if there were any jumps, but one has to realize that figure skating was an outdoor sport then. The technology for indoor rinks had yet to be invented. This meant that the weather had a significant impact on the skaters. Also there was no technology for providing the music. Even if they had music, it would likely have been a piano or a small instrumental ensemble. When the technology became available figure-skating indoors was initially part of the summer games. Then it joined the rest of the winter sports and became, in fact, one of the prime attractions of the winter games. At the same time the sport was advancing as far as the creation of moves and the increase of the difficulty of established moves. Twice during the 20th century the Olympics were canceled, due to the two World Wars. During this time there were a number of male skaters whose careers justified calling them the GOAT, with Dick Button having probably the greatest claim. However, as one person noted, he was competing at a time when figure skating in Europe was nearly impossible due to the damage from the war and the depletion of the pool of qualified skaters and figure-skating in Asia wasn't even a distant dream. In short, with Dick Button we are seeing essentially the 'big fish in a small pond' factor. He certainly did not face the kind of competition that exists today. On the other hand his record is remarkable due to the fact that he just never lost. During his time the competition was for number 2. But still, we have to realize the reduced nature of the competitive pool. Today is very different. So now we have Yuzu and the contemporary situation. The sport is much changed in that compulsories are a thing of the past and there is a new scoring system in place. It was noted that Plushenko established more records than Yuzu, but that is to be expected. With the new scoring system starting up almost any skate had the potential to set a record back then. There were a lot of records being set back then, I'm sure. But since the beginning of this decade the record setting has stabilized. The records being set now are much more significant since they are being set against a past where there are significant enough non-records to provide a valid pool of comparison. In that sense Yuzu must be seen as truly the record-setter and we must not forget that except for Patrick's breaking Yuzu's short program record in the French GP in 2013 (which Yuzu then topped a couple weeks after) that nobody today has broken a record Yuzu has set. There are those who have topped his recird scores, but that's only after he went and set a new record. Eight of the twelve records Yuzu has set have involved him breaking his own records. At least on the score issue, Yuzu is the pace-setter. I have a feeling even Plushie would agree. The major factor arguing against Yuzu's being the GOAT is his inconsistency. Every time Yuzu takes to the ice there is the very real suspense over what he will do. Johnny Weir, one time, when asked if Yuzu could be beat, said simply, 'Nobody can beat a perfect Yuzuru Hanyu'. The qualifier there is 'perfect'. The thing is that Yuzu is imperfect enough of the time to make every one of his skates a matter of high suspense. Undoubtedly, I must say, Yuzu is definitely the greatest skater of the decade and I would even say, of the current century. If he should go on to win a third time in Beijing, as one of the commentators stated in the IceNetwork article, there would be no doubt of his GOAT status. That's why I'm saying 'Not yet'. In the seasons that follow the one just completed there will be plenty of opportunities for Yuzu to show his stuff and there are two factors that I think will clinch the GOAT if he follows through on them. One is his stated intention to compete as much as possible (dependent on his ankle condition). The other thing is his statement that he now will not be designing his programs to win, but will instead the programs he truly wants to skate. He'll probably still win often enough to maintain his one-to-beat ranking. We must remember that a GOAT designation is not solely the product of wins, but rather the result of the nature of those wins. Yuzu has won more than any other skater this decade by being the dominant quadster out there. Sure, there are those who are doing more quads and those who have more quads in their arsenal, but as Johnny Weir put so clearly, 'It's not just the quads, it's the quality of the quads'. Yuzu dominates in the quad competition by picking up more GOEs than the other skaters. There are, however, aspects of Yuzu's ongoing career that while they may not qualify him as the GOAT certainly place him potentially as amongst the most consequential skaters of all time. First, the new scoring rules. I think they are the result of the figure-skating administrators seeing the quad thing getting out of control. The imbalance that is now being seen between TES and PCS they're trying to adjust. I don't think they've found the magic formula but they're trying. I think a major part of that move is attributable to Yuzu. The artistic side of his accomplishments makes those who value that aspect of figure-skating ready to do what is possible to make sure the PCS is not buried by the TES. I don't think they've gone far enough but I really do feel that the new rules as they now exist work to Yuzu's advantage, as I've pointed out in previous posts. Another thing is that Yuzu's fans are something never seen before in figure-skating, at least as far as I've been able to discover. Yuzu has acquired, quite simply, rock-star status. In Japan his picture on the covers of magazines are a guarantee of the sellout of those issues. It's not that way around the world, but Yuzu's presence on the ice at any event, no matter what part of the world it's in, is a guaranteed sellout. The Poohvalanches are a phenomenon never before encountered in figure-skating, indeed, in any sport. Yuzu has redefined what athletic fandom can be (Actually, his fans have). Add to that the heavy hint Yuzu provided this past weekend that he might attempt to redefine ice shows in the same manner he's redefining figure-skating itself, what we can see is that Yuzu might be providing a new way to define what a GOAT is, basing it on more than wins and record scores, basing it also on the effect a skater has on the culture of the sport. In that sense I think Yuzu is already the GOAT, but I think it'll take a while before the rest of the world agrees. Yuzu's status, right now, is as a claimant to the GOAT title. There's nobody around currently who is even close to challenging Yuzu on that score. The fact that even his harshest critics are having to go so far into the past to find those who they think challenge him for the title is itself an argument for his current stature. One thing everyone here must recognize, though, is that the GOAT title is one that is always threatened whenever a new skating phenomenon appears. Even if Yuzu can firmly claim the title everyone must remember that the GOAT is not etched in stone, that it only remains until the next convincing claimant comes along, and that will be the case if his record only on his competitive success. In the annals of sport there is only one person holding a GOAT who I feel will never lose it, and that's baseball's Babe Ruth. Why? Most people think of him only as the supreme hitter. No, that's not the reason. The other is that he's one of the greatest pitchers of all time. There are those who may exceed his achievements as a hitter, and those who do so as a pitcher, but there will never be another who'll do both. That's security. To a certain extent, if Yuzu successfully redefines ice shows, and then is able to put into practice theories about coaching that are actually successful (theories he's currently developing in his university studies), he actually might acquire an unassailable GOAT, as the most consequential skater of all, the one who had an effect on the rink, on the nature of ice shows, and on coaching. If his accomplishments are found in all three, then, yes , he will be the Babe Ruth of figure-skating.
  6. I can - Stephen Gogolev. He's got the jumps but he needs to work very very hard on his general skating skills, that 's why I hope Brian has Stephen and Yuzu training together as much as is possible and practical. Stephen, who I'm sure has had multiple opportunities to see Yuzu in training, would now be seeing himself in direct comparison with Yuzu, and with Yuzu saying now that he wants to build his programs so as to bring out the aesthetic qualities as much as possible and forget trying to win (he probably still will anyways), Yuzu's example will be just about ideal to bring Stephen around. Realizing, of course, that Stephen is a growing boy and will encounter problems because of that (remember Nam way back when), I think that will give Brian the rationale to put the emphasis in Stephen's training on basic skating skills, step sequences, choreographic sequences, spins, all the stuff that doesn't involve taking to the air. Stephen's major disadvantage seems to be a lack of musical sensitivity, quite the opposite of Yuzu's ability to lose himself in the music, although this could be poor choice of music in Stephen's case (Mozart is not a composer who lends himself well to skating music, IMO). I think Stephen needs music that is more over the top, the sort of music that Yuzu's had repeatedly (RJ1, PW, POTO, LGC). The thing is that Yuzu, according to what he said in a recent interview, seems right now to be winding down the competitive aspect of his skating and seems to be setting his sights on programs that are programs for the ages, the kind of programs that people ages from now will still be watching with awe. Yuzu, we can imagine, is not at all intimidated by Stephen, as Stephen won't be coming onto the senior scene until the 2020/2021 season, a time when Yuzu will probably have a fully working 4A in his arsenal and also have perfected his moves into and out of that, gaining a scoring advantage comparable to that he enjoys with the 3A nowadays. The person who should be terrified of Stephen is Nathan Chen, since Stephen at age 13 has all the jumps others are doing in his arsenal and if in these next couple years Brian's been working him hard on skating skills, using Yuzu as the prime example of how it's complete skating that usually wins the battles, Stephen will be a formidable competitor, although never in Yuzu's league (nobody is right now and even looking into the near-future). Stephen, then, who begins competition on the junior level, is blessed by having such proximity to a skater who increasingly is being touted as the Greatest of All Time. He has much growing to do, both physically and in terms of overall skating skills. Yuzu will be marvelous fertilizer. I think it possible that a relationship will develop which will have analogies with the Javi/Yuzu relationship, but only analogous, since there is the significant age difference, but for the two of them it's not as if they're strangers to each other. They both began their training with Brian about the same time. The problem with Stephen may be the development of a damaging hubris (ie, Patrick Chan), but Yuzu there is also an example, since Yuzu is in many respects an ideal example of the virtue of humility. I say that because in Canada Stephen's rapidly becoming the BMOC. After all, in competitions strictly within Canada, he's skating on the senior level and ending quite high in the standings, which could generate a damaging overconfidence. It will be interesting to see how he does in Junior competition this coming season, since there are probably very few junior level skaters (if any) with such an array of quads to choose from when competing.
  7. I don't know how to set up a poll so perhaps someone skilled in such things could do it. It's a simple question I have - How do you watch Yuzu online? Do you have anyone with you or is it a solo affair? Do you watch it in standard definition or high definition (if the vid is in HD)? With me it's a solo endeavor despite my talking up Yuzu with those around me. It is, however, a really grand experience since my monitor is a Vizio 43-inch ultra-high-definition (4K) TV that I watch from about 3 feet away. I try to use that as part of my pitch to have other people see Yuzu. Like everyone here I try to spread word about Yuzu wherever and whenever I can. I am really waiting for the days when Yuzu's skates start appearing in 4K. Then my pitch will have even more attractiveness. I think, however, that being solo can at times be advantageous since in watching CiONTU last night using the link that was placed here there were a number of times I found myself with tears in my eyes and I think there might have been more if I'd had a translation of what was being said. I do know this - there are probably very few skaters out there who have the innate skills Yuzu apparently has to lead the program the way he did. He's a natural master of ceremonies (as he is in so many other things). It's probably due to the fact that he's been on so many talk and news shows over the years, probably many times more than any other Japanese skater or indeed skaters from anywhere. All that experience stands him in good stead since I'm sure he has a lot more coming up this weekend for the celebration in Sendai. If I were those in charge of the rink Yuzu did his initial training on I'd be preparing for an onslaught of visitors this weekend since so many of his fans (particularly those coming from outside of Sendai) will want to see where Yuzu started. At least for this coming weekend the rink will attain the status of a place of pilgrimage (it probably is already on a 24/7 basis). I really do think that once Yuzu retires that rink will be renamed after him.
  8. Seeing this makes me remember the remark of one of the British ESP commentators, 'take out the jumps and it's a masterpiece', meaning that even with no jumps the program retained all its artistic merit. The fact that Yuzu can deliver without the jumps has to be very discouraging to all the other skaters who know that it's their jumps primarily that give them the points. The thing is, if Yuzu can match them with his jumps (which he can easily) there's no way they can beat him.
  9. The lesson of what we're seeing this weekend? Yuzu is quite capable of putting together a team to produce a quality ice show on very short notice. Unless he was thinking about it before PC getting all these pieces functioning as they were was a testimony to what his organizational prowess and star power can do. Even if he was thinking of this beforehand, he evidently kept such thoughts to himself, knowing the whole thing could crash if he didn't get the gold. Getting the gold gave him the stature to recruit those needed to make the project real and then it was simply a matter of turning to some of his off-ice sponsors and they provided the money, realizing that it was money spent to further elevate their most prominent endorser. Money well spent, in other words. I have posted in the past that I feel that Yuzu might turn to the production of ice shows after retirement and before taking up coaching. This show is one way he is showing potential financial backers that he is capable of getting the job done. There are certainly ice shows in Yuzu's future but they are those with his name on then. One thought though, and it's one that does immense credit to Yuzu, and that is I see him taking pains to not directly impact those Japanese shows he's been a part of since the summer after the earthquake/tsunami. That means he'll probably schedule them right after the competition season ends but before the ice show season begins and also that he'll take the show outside Japan so as to avoid competition with the Japanese shows. Taking the show out of Japan also is a means of helping strengthen the skating culture in places where the skating culture has been languishing, name the US and some of the European countries and perhaps China (are there ice shows in China?). All this is speculation, of course, but with Yuzu's declared intention to continue to skate in competitions, but to skate to programs he's put together to satisfy his ultimate judge (namely himself) and not to garner points, I think Yuzu is laying out what he considers to be his life's ultimate goal, to make figure skating more than an athletic competition but an artistic enterprise. By showing the world what figure skating can accomplish in his competition programs and then what it can accomplish in terms of an ice show committed to showing figure skating at it's aesthetic best, he will, in fact, become one of the true titans in the history of figure skating. He has spent the many years of competition paying his dues so that he can then turn to the project of making figure skating conform to his dream of what he thinks it should be. It's a dream he's not probably articulated to himself over a long span of time. It's probably a dream that came in bits and pieces but now that he stands in the eyes of many as the greatest skater ever, it's a dream he can actually realize. What is happening this weekend is his showing the world and the potential backers that he can make it happen. PS - A thought just occurred to me, and that is that he might have the show confined to three performances at just one city (as he's doing right now) and having it seen as a gala introduction or gala finale to the competition season. That would keep him out of competition with the established ice shows and also be a means of highlighting the season about to commence or the season just finished. A further thought - the post-season placing would be the best and he could make it extra-special by inviting those skaters who had the best programs (in his eyes and as such a means of influencing the direction of figure skating) in the season just finished. It would be a sort of Oscar ceremony for figure-skating.
  10. Yesterday I came upon a vid of a skater in a competition sometime in the 70s. I was blown away. In a negative way. There were plenty of jumps there, though nothing like the jumps we see routinely today from the elite skaters. What so appalled me was that there was virtually nothing going on between the jumps. No spins, no steps, just plain nothing. Everything involved getting set for the next jump. I don't even remember the name of the skater or the competition, but all I can say is that if Yuzu had been transported back in time to that competition and did what he can do, they'd have thought he was somebody from another planet. Wow, has figure skating come a very very long way since then.
  11. Just a short thought on the 4A. It's beginning to look like a competition that took place back in the 1960s when the United States and the Soviet Union were seen as racing to be the first to the moon. That race, a race in technological prowess, was won by the US and the results were that the US even today remains the only nation that has managed to land a man on the moon. So in skating we are seeing the race to the 4A with Yuzu the obvious leader since he's the King of the 3A, a jump he had trouble in very early in his career but which became his own and more, since his ascendancy there is secured by his patented entries and landings. The thing is that Yuzu might already be there and it was only his abbreviated season that hid that accomplishment from the world. In any case Yuzu definitely has the lead in the race, based on his awesome command of the 3A. If next season he shows it in competition and decorates it with his patented entries and exits of the 3A, he will not only have a TES advantage but a very commanding psychological advantage. His competitors would see him executing a 4A with embellishments and wonder why even bother to remain in the fray. A command of the 4A with his already present command of non-jump elements and his very superior skating skills, well, if that is the Yuzu we're seeing then, the competition will be for number 2.
  12. Definitely true. There is a poster on GS that lives in Toronto. She’s seen Yuzu a few times and said she wants to respect his privacy so does not try to talk with him. I would hope that everyone would do the same. I think it likely that in Toronto he can be out on the street where very few would recognize him. Outside of Japan Yuzu is primarily known only by the skating community (skaters and fans) and so he can be basically simply another Japanese [admin edit]. In Japan, however, I think anonymity is for him at this time almost impossible to achieve. His face has to be one of the top ten most recognized faces there. On the other hand Japanese etiquette would require most people, even when recognizing him to stay a respectful distance (by that I don't mean spatially distant but socially distant). On the other hand if such an encounter were to take place near an ice arena or such, where his presence would be not very surprising, there would be looser etiquette involved. One might approach him and exchange greetings and wish him luck on whatever is coming up (at least that's my reading, although I don't have a great acquaintance about such things beyond what I learned when I read The Tale of Genji). I doubt they would be brash enough to ask for an autograph or such. Japanese etiquette is really much to be envied by us here in the West. However, if Yuzu is encountered in a formal situation where he is essentially 'on display', then the interaction could be more complex. I think it all depends on context in Japan. Unfortunately Western manners are such that so many people really don't know what is proper or improper. In the West Yuzu is basically protected by his relative anonymity.
  13. Just looking at all the stuff going on right now. The ice show is this weekend, the Sendai celebration next weekend, the traveling exhibition is getting set to be launched. I realize all this is happening in Japan, but is there any other athlete in any sport on the planet who is responsible for what essentially is a bona fide industry? The number of books being published, the TV attractions, the travelling museum, all this testifies to the fact that Yuzu, at least in Japan, is virtually a god there. There are, of course, groups in that country who are the partisans of other skaters and, indeed, other athletes in general. We are seeing what is essentially a full-blown industry that has come into being primarily to feed a huge fandom's incessant hunger for things Yuzu. I would say, though, that outside of Japan there are those in figure skating whose admiration for him is just as passionate, but they are essentially loners, since figure-skating is not a widely followed sport there. I've tried to think of any athletes outside of Japan who might have inspired as much widespread devotion as Yuzu. I don't know anything about soccer (except knowing that everywhere outside the US it's called 'football'), so I can't say anything about soccer stars, so going over a mental list of prominent athletes (Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, etc) the only person I could come up with was Wayne Gretzky, who like Yuzu is considered a Canadian national treasure. One of my real interests in the Yuzu world is the breadth and intensity of his fandom, which spills well beyond the borders of Japan and is found all over the world (at least in those places where there is some awareness of figure-skating). In looking at the Yuzu phenomenon the best analogy I can come up with is Beatlemania, which to most of those here on the Planet is something that took place well before they were born. I was living in the midst of it (although never part of it, my music has always been classical) and so can say while the details were different the dynamics were the same. There was something like that also, but not to the extent of the Beatles, with the emergence of Elvis Presley. Basically, though, I have to go along with Kurt Browning in talking of Yuzu as a 'rock star'. That is what he is and there is no skater of the present or the past who has even come close to matching Yuzu in terms of a personality-cult phenomenon. All Yuzu fans should be aware that they are part of a phenomenon that is unique in the annals of sport. Years to come, I think, there will be social-historical studies of the Yuzu era. All of us can say we were a part of that history.
  14. I agree on this. I really hope the rules change will take some of the aerobatics out of the programs. I can see that the shorter time will be an aid there, despite there being only four jump passes allowed. The thing is most of the skaters require time to set up for a jump. Not Yuzu, though. He whips his jumps seemingly out of nowhere, which means that he can put more effort in the step and choreographic sequences, plus his spins, which are a real strong point for him, keeping the skating between elements also filled with detail. That's how he gets the high PCS points. The other skaters, if they hope to compete with Yuzu, are either going lighter on the jumps, because they need the time for the non-jumping elements, or they'll go as heavy on the jumps as possible and to hell with steps and choreography. It will show. Of the proposed rule changes, I think the shorter time will be the change that most benefits Yuzu, since he doesn't need that much time to set himself up for the jumps. The one who'll be most hurt by the changes will be Nathan. He's not much more than a jumping machine and if, as they say, he's had some ballet, as far as I can tell it hasn't really helped. It's Boyang who's shown the growing maturity since those days when Kurt Browning would call him 'Boing-Boing'. He's learning and I wish that rumor I once heard about him were true and he would change coaches and go over to Brian. Brian would do wonders for him. As for the past of figure skating, I am old enough to remember the past, far enough in the past to remember John Curry, who as a skater had a philosophy close to what I think Yuzu's is, seeing the skating as a unified artistic piece. John was very much influenced by ballet and he tried to incorporate ballet moves into his programs. I don't think they were successful in that way, but his basic avoidance of the strictly athletic in order to enhance the aesthetic did win him the gold medal back in 1976. I do also remember the battle of the Brians in 1988. But after that I more or less drifted away from skating until last year when I became aware of Yuzu. The present scoring system I feel is an improvement over the old system as it allows both the audience and, more importantly, the skaters to see where a skater's particular performance was strong and where it was weak. The old system frequently left everybody wondering why a particular skate was scored the way it was.
  15. My apologies everyone. Somehow I got the impression Continues with Wings was in mid-July and have just learned it is actually quite imminent. So mea culpa. I will still insist, however, that the venues will sell out. I think all the dynamics are there. You have Yuzu hosting the event and while not skating he still will be the main attraction. Knowing the relatively low ticket price and also that there are millions of fans in Japan who will not be able to make it to Sendai the weekend after this weekend, I think many of them will see this as an opportunity to thank Yuzu for all he has done for Japan and for figure skating. His triumph at PC, overcoming horrendous obstacles, is a narrative that almost certainly is playing very well in Japan. He is the hero of the day and the hordes expected at Sendai are one testament to that. The hordes who will throng those 66 theaters will be another. Looking at the Sendai event, I am reminded of what one of the Chicago Cubs baseball players said when being interviewed as the bus on which he was riding moved along flanked on both sides by huge, super-enthusiastic crowds, cheering loudly. When asked how he felt about all that was happening right then he ended his answer with this - If you're not here you're in the wrong place. That, I think, will be exactly the situation with both Yuzu's ice show and the following weekend's celebration of Yuzu. It isn't every day one is offered a chance to cheer a genuine hero.
  16. For me, a final thought about the sellout/non-sellout question. Coming shortly down the pike (April 22 to be exact) will be what everyone expects to be a huge day in Sendai when the city celebrates its Number One citizen. There is almost certainly going to be live TV coverage of the event and it's only to be expected that the forthcoming ice show under Yuzu's direction coming in mid-summer will be mentioned. If there is anybody in Japan who doesn't know about the show right now, they will probably learn about it while watching the victory celebration. I wouldn't be surprised to see some major Japanese non-skating heavy-hitters there, such as the prime minister and even one of the members of the imperial family (not the emperor, though perhaps Crown Prince Naruhito). Yuzu is a rarity in public life in Japan, indeed almost anywhere, being totally non-controversial, unattached to any controversial movement or opinions. As such, he's very desirable for other public figures to be seen in his proximity. This does not mean he's a conformist in what he thinks but that he conforms to Japanese norms in terms of action and etiquette. But getting back to the celebration which, based on stories about hotels booked solid and such, makes me fully expect that this time there are going to be a lot more than 90,000 people there. Part of what is happening that day is bound to consist of references to the quake and tsunami in 2011, particularly with the story of how Yuzu was practicing on the ice and had to flee the rink, fearing that it might collapse on him. Hollywood could not have come up with a better scene. With the quake raised as a subject, then it would be logical to connect ongoing quake relief to Yuzu's forthcoming ice show. In that context it would not even be seen as an advertisement unless one wishes to see it as a very sophisticated product placement. I have no ways of knowing (and perhaps some of the Japanese here could confirm or deny) but I suspect that Yuzu might be one of the most prominent quake survivors and so be a symbol of resilience in the face of the disaster. Of course much of his time since has been in the geologically stable environs of Toronto, Canada, but all the evidence is that he has never been reluctant to do what he can to aid those still in Japan in dealing with the quake/tsunami and the aftermath. Remember, it was guilt that by going to Toronto he was turning his back on what was needed to aid in the recovery that had him seriously contemplating leaving skating. Fortunately wiser heads prevailed and the world has been celebrating the fruits of his decision to stay the course since then. In any case the framing of Yuzu at the event we are quickly nearing will be emphasizing not simply his skating skills but his human achievements, his humility and willingness to go to schools and senior citizen centers and such and interact with those there. Yuzu realizes that he is not simply a skater but one of the most highly-placed public figures in Japan and he takes the attendant responsibilities very seriously. That is one of the reasons I so admire him. I know there are some who have said that it is very unlikely that those 66 theaters will be filled this July. But the thing is that there are millions of Yuzu fans in Japan and the ice arena will only hold considerably less than one percent of them. The victory celebration coming up will be a major advertisement for the show and it will remind those fans just how much joy he has given them over the years. It will be worth it to fork over the small amount of money to get into those theaters to watch him, even though he's not going to skate. The show offers all of those who have been unable to see him live over these past few years an opportunity to thank him.
  17. The worries about 'will they sell out or will they not' are essentially groundless. Since we know that part of the proceeds are going to help the earthquake victims who even after all these years may still not be in the same situation as before the quake, that alone will guarantee sellouts. While the quake is distant news for those outside Japan we have to realize that the quake produced the most damage seen in Japan since World War II. Also remember the damage was not so much from the quake itself (there was some, of course), the thing is Japanese building codes are the most rigorous in the world and after the Kobe quake several decades ago they were strengthened even further. The Japanese take earthquakes very seriously. It was the tsunamis that really did the damage, though, leaving the Japanese coast in certain areas looking like landfills, but landfills mile after mile in length. Recovery from situations like that are not overnight events so it's quite believable that the Japanese still regard the earthquake damage as a current problem needing addressing. For Americans, just think how long it took for the affected areas to recover from Katrina, and the Japanese tsunamis were a disaster of much greater proportions. Remember also, nowadays the Japanese are a mobile society, so that families are frequently spread over large areas. The chances are that most Japanese know people directly affected by the quake, so the quake is an event that personally involves a large portion of Japanese society. The end result, if you add Yuzu's star power to the Japanese consciousness of the earthquake, you can be sure there will be no empty seats anywhere.
  18. There can be little doubt about Yuzu's masculinity. Watching him on ice interacting with other skaters in unscripted moments there is no doubt he's male but one also sees still lurking about a definite boyishness, just as we see in his spontaneous exuberance in the kiss and cry. What one also sees when he's on ice with others is a definite alpha male quality. Frequently he's organizing things out there when playing and others go along with him, and I don't think it's because he's the one on top of the skating world. Actually in those times I think of him as a sort of 'Peter Pan' figure, the boy who doesn't want to grow up, although there is also his intense maturity when approaching his skating and education. It's almost as if he's letting himself go in the playtime of galas and such, recognizing that there's time for play and there's time for work and right then is a time for play. As far as his costumes are concerned, I see them not as effeminate but rather as 'fantasy', a sort of super-hero or fairy tale dress. With Yuzu's penchant for gadgets (at least headphones) he has the sort of personality that were he in the United States he would be into the whole comic book super-hero, Star Wars, Star Trek culture. He's precisely the sort of person who would not be out of place as a character in Big Bang Theory. By and large Yuzu's costumes, in my opinion, are his means of framing his performance as a 'fantasy' enactment, a reflection of those very significant boyish elements that are always lurking under the surface and which come out when the stress levels of a particular situation are suddenly released (kiss and cry good scores revealed) or essentially absent (galas). I think many of those seeing Yuzu's costume frills as effeminate are essentially projecting their own gender insecurities onto him and he's hardly the only skater out there garbed exotically. Shoma's following Yuzu's lead there. In many ways I think Yuzu's costumes reflect his approach to his skating programs. He's not just out there doing a series of skating moves. He's not a skater, he's an actor out there performing, and his program is not an athletic routine but the script for a drama and of course such a drama requires an appropriate costume.
  19. I agree on that and it's no accident that Yuzu has undertaken an extremely difficult major for his college studies. Cognitive science is a field that requires acquisition of knowledge in psychology, sociology, linguistics, semiotics, computer science, even hardcore philosophy. I'm not sure how it plays in Japan but in the US high-profile athletes generally (with numerous exceptions I'll say here) go into major fields that are relatively easier on the brain. If any potential Japanese supporters look at what Yuzu is doing and know what his field demands of a person, they cannot but be impressed. I'm impressed and despite my English PhD I'd be reluctant to take on somebody even with just an undergraduate degree in the field Yuzu's undertaking. Which makes me think, knowing he's already applying some of what he's learned to skating, that he probably plans some books in the future. All this goes to further impress me about Yuzu. The lad is no lightweight when it comes to using the gray matter. The fact is that it's becoming increasingly apparent to me that Yuzu is wanting to do more than just redefine the athletic and aesthetic aspects of the sport. He wants to know and act in the sport all the way to the top levels. I can see him in the future being a real power in the ISU and other skating organizations, and not just as window-dressing. Beneath Yuzu's charm and affability is a first-class politician, a person who strategizes carefully to attain the aims he wants. I don't think he'll ever enter conventional politics but I can see him becoming a major force in the politics of figure skating and perhaps in sports in general. He already knows close at hand that figure skating is not the only sport around, as his father was at one time a baseball player (at what level I don't know but Kurt Browning says, after playing some catch with him one day, that Yuzu can really throw a ball), which gives him the perspective to see situations in sport from a vantage point where figure skating is part of the picture rather than the whole picture. Another point I would make is the rationale of the upcoming ice show. Yuzu seems to be making of it a sort of retrospective not merely of what and whom have influenced him but I think he's also taking the enforced clamp on his training to make an assessment of himself and decide what's next and where does he see the rest of his life going. He's also using it to mark a major point in his biography, to formally begin the next chapter. Up to now his life has been defined by before the earthquake and after it. Now he's added a new dividing line, signified by the injury and the 2nd Olympic victory, using those to frame his actions to come, clearly labeling now as the beginning of the next chapter. When Chapter 4 begins in the distant future, I cannot say. I don't even think Yuzu can say either.
  20. Skate Canada? Yes, the land of Patrick Chan. He'll win it eventually and I hope when he does he sets SP, FS and Combined records to really put his stamp on the event. Of course when he does so he'll just be resetting his own records.
  21. I can see this as plausible. Just as plausible is a thought I've been entertaining for a while, and that is Yuzu going into the production of ice shows. He's got the name so he'll get the money and with him in control of the show he can promote the same high artistic standards that he follows in his own skating. I think the coming show this off season Yuzu is using to create the bona fides to potential supporters, to show that he has the knowledge to put together a production team that can make a plan into a finished production. I know Yuzu is interested in coaching someday, but just as he's done what he can to advance the sport and art of skating I think he might now be tempted to do the same with ice shows and turn them into full-fledged theatrical events. Once he's succeeded there he'll then turn to coaching. We'll have to wait and see. And incidentally, I disagree on THE KING. Rather, THE EMPEROR
  22. You can be sure he knows it. Remember, this is the guy who strategizes on a level qualitatively higher than his competition. He's a chess player, not a checkers player. As for my ideal season for him, the way to exit in full glory - A sweep. Gold everywhere - Skate America (Nathan's home turf), Skate Canada (even IF Patrick is skating), GPF, Japanese nationals, 4CC and Worlds. Looking, instead, at a four year trek to Beijing, don't have to do everything in one season, but during the course I'd like him to win gold in all six different GP events and in every GPF, getting back to old habits there. Then 4CC, and multiple times, getting gold for every silver from there he now has. Setting a new set of records (in FS) to take into account the new parameters there. Of course he'll need to make a Japanese nationals gold an annual event for him. All in all, I'd like to see him dominate these next four seasons (if he goes the distance) even more thoroughly than he has these last four. If he finishes with that record even the doubters (except for a very few who doubt on principle) will proclaim him GOAT. Does Yuzu himself want to be GOAT? Perhaps, but I think for him it's more important just to be perfect. PS - A 4A also, and maybe the first quint.
  23. I can see about the other skaters, but does anyone know if Nanami will be there? When looking at very early Yuzu she's the major influence although even then I have a feeling he was working to define himself rather than let others do it for him.
  24. Well, since it appears that Yuzu is back at TCC the pressure on Brian is starting to grow. Is Yuzu back on skates yet? Everyone knows that he is impatient since I have a feeling without skates on his feet his legs seem incomplete. Then on the ice, what can he get away with? Yuzu is going to be like a child or teenager, constantly testing Brian's limits. I think, though, that the recent brush with a potentially career-ending injury may have tempered Yuzu's ambitions a bit. But if he's on the ice and others around him are doing jumps Yuzu is going to want to get in on the fun. I'm thinking particularly of young Stephen G. If that pubescent kid is doing the kinds of jumps Yuzu does when in full strength Yuzu's going to be really anxious to start the aerial acrobatics. Brian's solution? Make sure the two are never on the ice at the same time or make sure that Stephen's wearing an anchor that keeps him glued to the ice. Stephen, more than Javi or Cha, will be a real goad for Yuzu because of the age difference and Yuzu remembering he wasn't doing those jumps at that age. Even though Stephen has tons of stuff to learn about the other elements of skating he's still doing the quads everyone else are doing. Yuzu's major fear here, and I'm serious, is that of all those at TCC Stephen has the best chance to beat Yuzu to the 4A, perhaps being the first anywhere to do it. Can you imagine the sensation if the first skater to nail a 4A in competition is a kid on the junior circuit? But back to Yuzu and impatience. During these weeks (and even months) of relative inactivity I do think Yuzu's been busy. We can't know for sure but he is probably already plotting his programs for the upcoming season. Considering that he does his own music editing I have a strong feeling that the music has already been chosen and even perhaps edited. He might also have the major structures of the programs mapped out if the music is finished (the sequence of jump passes and stuff). Perhaps he's already in conference with choreographers. I'm just hoping that he'll consider Misha, at least for an exhibition piece. The one thing that one can be sure is that there is not a choreographer on the planet who will turn down a Yuzu request to do a piece for him. Yuzu is the one skater who can make anyone's choreography look good. And Brian, what is his challenge outside of keeping Yuzu on good behavior and keeping the outside world informed enough to keep it at bay but leaving enough questions unanswered that the skating world will not divert its attention? I think Brian is looking at the rearrangement of his stable of skaters. Javi is pretty much gone. He says he might return at times to consult with Brian but basically as far as Brian is considered Javi is no longer a 'work in progress'. Yuzu is very much a work in progress and I think at this point he is Brian's number one project, at least until the ankle is back to normal and there is some sense of which direction Yuzu's life and career are headed. Cha and Stephen are now the ones moving into Brian's spotlight (not that they haven't been already), the two of them starting to make their presence known to the world. Cha did extremely well in his first Olympics, especially when taking into account his age and experience. Stephen begins competing on the junior level this season although in strictly Canadian competitions he will be skating against the big boys on the senior level. For Brian, though, this is an embarrassment of riches. Right now, at least as far as training of the men is concerned, he is the most successful coach on the planet, and indeed might be moving towards a GOAT of his own. I mean, the guy just had two of his athletes on the same podium at the Olympics. Looking at Brian's skaters, while Cha is fairly recent at TCC Stephen is a veteran. He's been there as long as Yuzu has and unlike Yuzu Stephen is pretty much a product of Brian's coaching, having been working under him since age 7. That is why I see Stephen as the major act following Yuzu in the next generation. The thing with Stephen though is that he has to learn that there's more to skating than keeping oneself in the air as much as possible. He needs his programs to be loaded with more choreographic detail. That's how Yuzu gets so many of his points because his programs are far more than just a series of jumps. I really feel that Yuzu is superior to Patrick as far as skating skills go since unlike Patrick Yuzu so seamlessly welds his jumps into the choreography rather than shaping the choreography around his jumps. He's as much concerned with the time he spends on the ice as the time he spends in the air, and with this recent injury I think he realizes that he really needs a fully loaded choreography to keep him in competition when his jumps aren't cooperating. Back to Brian. Brian's real challenger now is to keep Yuzu on good behavior. Yuzu, in essence, misbehaved when trying that 4Lz back at NHK when he wasn't quite warmed up enough to do it. In essence Yuzu grounded himself and I have a feeling that Brian has not been reluctant to point out to Yuzu that careless behavior can have very bad results. For all of us, who unlike Brian cannot see Yuzu's progress from day to day, Brian's challenge is keeping us informed enough to let us know how things are going but not enough to let the competition know what Yuzu they will be facing come this autumn. I can live with that.
  25. PC was yet another example of when Yuzu is at his best. He does his best when his back is to the wall and it's a do or die situation. Think back to Helsinki. Remember GPF 2014. The FS there is in my opinion his greatest skate ever, even though he fell once late in the skate. He missed setting a FS record then by just a sliver but salvaged a season that up to that time had been a disaster. There have been other times though when he was just simply on top going into the skate and was even more on top coming out of it. I'm thinking now of those supreme two weeks back in 2015 when Yuzu made it impossible for any responsible skating fan not to think of him as a potential GOAT. I do remember one remark, and I think it was CBC. One of the commentators remarked that Yuzu was moving to become the GOAT at which point Kurt Browning(?) said, "Guess what. You're too late." I've tried to analyze the situations which result in Yuzu turning in a perfect (or near-perfect) skate and those where he just makes too many mistakes to take the gold. I could be wrong but it seems to me his best skates come in those situations where he's so far ahead he can skate without any pressure and then there are those like I've just mentioned, where his back is to the wall, and where his only recourse is to just go out and forget the pressure and just skate the program. The problematic ones seem to be where his lead is such that he can be overtaken. I'm thinking here of his two World Championship losses to Javi. Those are the times where the other skater doesn't so much win as Yuzu loses. As for the lessons of this season, I think for the first time Yuzu realizes that he is not physically invulnerable. In the past he's always surmounted his injuries but, as he observed in the interview, this is the fist time his actual career was threatened by an injury (It was threatened way back by the earthquake but the situation there was wholly different.). If anything, I think this enforced time off the ice has given Yuzu a lot of time to look at things very long term, and by that I mean not just next season, not just next Olympics, but basically what is he going to do the rest of his life and when is he going to do it. He's already made known he wants to coach someday. But that is more what one does after one's passed those times when one can skate competetively and when the ice shows become a grind. I do think, though, that Yuzu might be tipping his hand with HIS ice show this summer. Is he thinking of putting together his own 'Fantasy on Ice' type show? His name behind it seems already to be drawing a number of legends his way and with these big names coming forward I think there might come a point fairly soon when a number of today's prominent skaters decide they can't afford NOT to be in the show. The point though is that Yuzu is showing any potential backers that he has the skill and the influence to put together an ice show that is just packed with talent and one that could, because of the worldwide nature of Yuzu's celebrity, actually tour internationally. What we have right now, though, is a Yuzu who's scared enough by what's happened to him that he is going to follow doctor's orders to the letter. He might not like it but he's realizing that there are a lot of things we have to do in life we don't like but they're necessary so that we can get to the times in our lives when we can do the things we want to do. In these next few months I at least hope that the powers that be at TCC will keep things open enough that Yuzu's fans don't have to spend months agonizing over how things are going. Keeping the lid on things as Yuzu and company were approaching PC was good strategy. It kept the other skaters unsure of which Yuzuru they would be facing and hoping it would not be the Yuzu of NHK and GPF 2015. With Yuzu's SP at PC we got a taste of 2015 and there was plenty of reason for all the other skaters to feel, going into the FS, that the Yuzu of the world record scores was facing them. After all, he'd missed setting a new record in the short by just fractions of a point. Right now, though, his fans need Yuzu's handlers to be more open with how things are progressing, at least in the weeks leading up to what everyone hopes will be a successful return to the ice with full powers restored. Once Yuzu's fans have assurance that this coming season will see Yuzu competing I think they will be willing to go along with a renewed clampdown on news coming out of TCC. At least I will. What this season has meant for Yuzu's fans is something else. What we've learned is that Yuzu is never short of keeping the suspense ratcheted up. Life worshiping Yuzu is a life that is an alternating process of nail-biting agony one minute and mind-blowing ecstasy the next. Yuzu's greatest consistency is his inconsistency. We never know when something will not go as planned or go even better than planned. Of course I think most of Yuzu's fans wouldn't have it any other way. Yuzu's wins are always sweetest when we know what he has gone through getting to those wins. Think about it. Would you like an unending repeat of those two weeks in late 2015 when Yuzu rewrote the record books? I wouldn't.
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