sweetwater

Welcome to Japan! Have a safe trip! I found an announcement on their official site. It says they will ship the ordered chocolates on Nov. 25-26th as scheduled. http://lotte-shop.jp/shop/t/t1186/

It was Yuzu's decision to do R&J 2.0 in the 2013-2014 season. I think David said that Yuzu wrote him a letter and asked him to choreograph R&J in that TSL interview. Yuzu also said in a radio show hosted by Shizuka that he chose the music because he wanted to skate to a musical piece that he could empathize with (I guess NDDP was a bit hard to relate to...) Another reason he revisited the theme was that he saw Sochi as the culmination of the preceding 4 years including the life-changing 2011. Brian's decision Yuzu responded with "I LOVE IT" was to do POTO in 2014-2015. Rest is a response to the current topic: As to the choice to skate Ballade No.1 instead of LGS, Noriko Shirota's book backs up the Yuzu's comment translated by wherespacepooh. As to keeping Origin and Otonal, I don't even think it is "recycling." He is still competing and he is still doing it aiming to win, but I don't think what he is doing now is completely the same as before PyeongChang. He has already won two Olympics. He has been sacrificing many things including his health. Does he have to give up two programs he wants to present in complete forms with win to please judges? Just because he has already used it for a season? At this stage, to compete that way doesn't pay at all, I think. If his choice makes him feel motivated or fulfilling, that, in the end, should be the strategically best choice as well.

Congrats on winning tickets!! I applied for 20th and 22th and lost... I think there will be one or two more sales like before past Nationals, but they will be fierce battles since many people have lost in the first lottery and are still trying to get a ticket. As to whether they will sell standing tickets, I have no idea. The venue of Japanese Nationals this year is Yoyogi First Gymnasium. It has gone through a renovation recently and I only know its old shape, but unless it has been drastically renovated, there will be nowhere to stand except the aisles behind the last row of the spectators' seats. However, unlike in other venues in which they provided standing areas before, the aisles in Yoyogi gymnasium are not flat. They are a bit like mildly humpbacked slopes curve between the second floor and the ceiling of the building, so some might think it is dangerous to let people stand there during a long competition. This is how were the second sales in the last three years: Year Announcement Sales/application period Style 2016 (Probably on) Nov. 30 Dec.3-6 Lottery 2017 Nov. 24 Dec.1-3 Lottery 2018 Nov. 16 Dec.1-4 Lottery *There were also third sales in mid-December in the last three years in the first-come-first-served style. *Nationals this year is scheduled earlier than in the past few years, so if there is the second sale, I think they will announce it earlier. ETA: Fixed some typos.

The reason why Asahi didn't air SCI live is simple. Singles events were held in early in the morning or around noon. It is opposite to prime time so they cannot sell the ad spots at a preferable price if they air it live. In a way, they are doing the exact opposite of what NBC does regarding the Olympics although they are both pursuing profits. Asahi aired CoC2014 live since men's events were held in the evening in Japan. They also aired TEB2013 live in the morning and it was before Yuzu became this famous... As to the way Japanese media treat our athletes, most of them are just opportunists. Last year, after GPF, they were praising Rika as undefeated and showing Alina as who passed her prime. There are some reporters and sports journalists who are always supportive of any athletes, though. In many cases, they are former athletes. Just to clarify, but to compete in SCI and TEB in 2013 was not Yuzu's choice. When you finish in the top 6 at Worlds, you can request the competitions you want to take part in. However, it is the organizers who decide whether to invite you or not, and they often decline your requests. For example, Nathan requested NHK this year since it was convenient for him but NHK did not invite him since they wanted Yuzu. (Podium finishers at Worlds normally don't compete with each other in GPS until they qualified to GPF) In early 2013, Yuzu was injured and there were many strong men's singles skaters in Japan. Yuzu could not afford to choose 2 GPs with Patrick risking the chance to compete in GPF which was a qualifying event for Sochi. It is just Yuzu and his team accepted the assignment as an opportunity to learn and did their best. As to the capacity of competition venues,I agree with others. He doesn't decide where to compete based on the venue's capacity. The arena in which NHK 2015 was held has only 5000 seats. Makomanai arena in which NHK 2019 will be held has about 6000 seats, although they will make some arena seats in addition to this.

Haha! That's nice. Enjoy your Sunday then! It's Sunday evening here. I started watching the gala in sunlight and now it is completely dark outside the window so it feels like Sunday is over now. But no regret!

That was fun! Watching a gala with Sui/Han was a nice way to close a Sunday...

Well, they'll eventually find them by such things but it is hard especially when you are sitting away from the ice.

Must be hard to find your faves when they are in the same T-shirts

Anna is cute but I don't get this program. What is the aim of this program, Danil..

Their costumes looked very effective at the end of the program...

HAN YAN!!!

She skates so smoothly and beautifully...

She has beautiful spins

Second half is starting!