Old Cat Lady

Was shopping on Amazon and saw this saying on a T-shirt and thought I'd make my own versions to wear. Thought I'd throw them on the ice as well. Hopefully whatever charity they donate everything to will have Fanyus there. Though I do wonder about using the images - I believe that as long as I'm not using them to make money it's legal and all that.

Do we know what kind of flowers these are? They don't look like balloon flowers. I'd like to make some hair pins that match. I wonder if I should just use roses. If anyone has a super close up of the costume, I would appreciate it. I'm surprised at how much silver is on it considering it's Yuzu. I could swear I noticed the gold stand out more when I saw it. Are the butterflies purple? I might have to use silver. eta: I'm thinking orchids and black butterflies - read a tweet about it. Not sure if it's accurate but the flowers don't really look like roses either. eta 2: these are balloon/bellflowers

Looked at available tickets for Skate America just out of curiosity. It looks like the majority are still available for men and pairs packages in spite of having possibly the deepest men's field and being in a great tourist city. https://www1.ticketmaster.com/pairs-and-mens-discipline-package/event/17005686936D1E8B I wonder if they're going to discount tickets before the event.

Considering that they were declaring Yuzu the winner before Javi or Shoma even skated makes me think that they were assuming that even a clean Javi/Shoma wouldn't have been able to beat that.

I can *kind of* see where the 4t in combo could be mistaken for under rotated because the toe looked so close to the ice at the quarter mark. I don't think it hit because the ice spray came after the blade turned beyond the quarter, but faster replay or worse angle, I can understand the mistake. But on the other 2 jumps, it looks almost completely backward on the landing! This seems a legendarily bad call. I imagine what happened is that the most experienced person on the panel bullied the call. Since Sasha Martinez is such a newbie, she probably just deferred to the guy who has so much more experience. At least I *hope* that's what happened. I'd much rather believe only 1 of the 3 was corrupt and the other was just not confident enough to assert an opinion. Of course, the latter isn't much better and that completely defeats the purpose of having 3 people on the panel. I wonder if we'll be seeing these in reply to the next ISU tweet. Now that you mention it this way, you're probably right about forward take off vs. prerotation but then the ISU needs to do a better job explaining things. Letting the ambiguity continue is essentially cheating the group of skaters who were trained by coaches who are interpreting the rules to mean that you need to rotate in the air. If the take-off is defined by the weight transfer, then I think Zhou should still qualify as doing forward take offs on his toe jumps. If you watch that video posted by Tom Z., you can actually see his skate blade rock down toward the ice to launch in the air while he's positioned completely forward. There's no question that all his weight is on the blade at take off - though, to be fair, the judges probably wouldn't be able to see the blade action in regular speed.

I admit I really only watched Yuzu when he was on the ice but I made sure to stop myself from cheering for him when it was other people's run through's and made sure to clap when I heard everyone else clapping. I guess I couldn't be sure it was for the person skating their run through without looking but I figure it's mostly about making the other skaters feel like the love is shared. tbh though, I'm not much of a screamer anyway. Actually, the loudest fans I dealt with were screaming for Keegan. I literally had to plug my ears because a couple women seemed to be purposely trying to be louder than the rest of the arena - ironically, in their effort to make the cheering for Keegan louder, it prevented me from cheering for him, which I would have if I wasn't genuinely concerned about my ears

Actually I mentioned both Tursynbaeva and the Koreans as a whole in my initial post about the ladies that I don't expect to threaten to medal at the world podium this year. And OP also mentioned You. With Tursynbaeva, even without the injury, I thought last year's silver was a one shot deal. I'm not sure how serious her injury is, but that puts her more in doubt. I imagine Eteri is going to be focusing more on her skaters that are favored to be world medalists, especially Trusova. Young You is good for someone coming out of juniors, but she has neither the tech of Trusova/Scherbakova nor the polish and presence of the high level seniors. For projected scores, you can use Tursynbaeva's worlds score since the tech panel deemed her clean at that event BV = 96.64 Total Score = 224.26 Young You based on U.S. Classic if she were clean with all her levels and 8.5 PCS BV = 104.34 Actual score = 199.29 Projected score = 228.17 So far she is 0/4 on landing the 3a clean (defined as + GOE) For scoring potential based on the level that you can reasonably expect (as opposed to squeaky clean with all levels) + political pull + reputation points I'd say the top 10 is currently: 1. Trusova 2. Kihira 3. Zagitova 4. Scherbakova 5. Tuktamysheva 6. Medvedeva 7-8. Kostornaya / Sakamoto - really not sure where Kostornaya should be 9. Tursynbaeva (I have her so low because she's less consistent, especially in the first half of the season) 10. Miyahara - Just doesn't have strong enough tech - both in quality and bv I put Kihira above Zagitova because her 3 axel seems more consistent than last year.

For men, I’d say IDF is the toughest, just because, in spite of the world podium, I consider Shoma, Nathan, and Yuzu to still be the big 3 and it’s the only event where 2 of them are going head to head. 2nd most difficult, is probably Rostelecom because Shoma and Vincent are facing off. Sorry, I love Kolyada but Vincent is the bigger threat to the big 3. I don’t put any stock into U.S. classic - Vincent did poorly there last year too. It’s just a question of which tech panel we’re going to get for his events. Also, there’s a much bigger gap between Yuzu and Mikhail than there is between Shoma and Vincent. However, I think Skate America has the deepest field. Short of a melt down, the gold is pretty much a foregone conclusion but it should be a battle for the rest of the podium with Cha, Brown, Aliev, Jin, Brezina, and Messing all contending for the other medals. This event is crazy difficult for the 2nd/3rd tier skaters. All the women’s events are tough at the top. Pretty amazing that Scherbakova, Tuktamysheva, and Tursynbaeva managed to draw each other for both of their grand prix events. If I could only pick one, I’m thinking NHK - Zagitova, Kihira, Kostornaya, and Lim are all reasonable picks to podium and we also have Samodurova. I think Zagitova and Kihira are probably #2 & #3 in scoring potential.

It was a really good read until we actually get to the scoring part. Another one of my patented unpopular opinions - but egregiously biased scoring like this does more harm than good. People who want to discredit any Fanyu effort will point to things like this as to why we're all kooks. As good as the first part was, the author immediately lost credibility as soon as I saw her scoring of the 4 loop. Yes, there is some amount of subjectivity to the bullet points, but we're going to be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks a jump with a severe step out as "effortless throughout". Clearly, there's a struggle if you have to save the landing to prevent falling. Not to mention, the step out is on the landing - how can you give "very good body position from take-off to landing" to a jump that breaks at the waist and never manages to get into landing position?

Made some projected scores Methodology: 1. Used highest PCS from previous year - using a flat 8.5 for those who were in juniors last year, anticipating a rise as the season goes on 2. Only changed the GOE for elements with neg GOE, <, e, or v. Used the GOE of a similar element from the same event if possible. If none landed cleanly, used the highest score from an ISU event in Skating Scores on the element. Used the actual composite GOE (after high and low dropped) for all other elements. 3. If a skater lost a level, I changed it to level 4 but kept the actual GOE for the element. 4. was reluctant to use WTT scores. I used it for PCS but not GOE since Tuk didn't get a chance to skate in the 2nd half season events but she did multiple triple axels in the season Keep in mind that these are based on actual attempted layouts and are not taking into account possible technical capabilities Trusova - Ondrej Nepela - PCS of 8.5 BV = 114.84 Actual total score = 240.27 Projected total score = 243.05 Kihira - Autumn Classic - PCS from WTT for SP, Worlds for LP BV = 105.02 Actual Total Score = 224.16 Projected Total Score = 236.78 Scherbakova - Lombardia - PCS of 8.5 BV = 107.89 Actual Total score = 218.2 Projected Total Score = 230.67 Tuktamysheva - Lombardia - PCS from WTT BV = 104.71 Actual Total Score = 214.38 Projected Total Score = 231.67 Medvedeva - Autumn Classic - PCS from Worlds BV = 95.76 Actual total score = 217.43 Projected total score = 226.28

I had my doubts about Scherbakova because I thought she was all 4lz or bust and she mostly busts, but she managed to stay on her feet in 3 of the last 4 competitions so maybe it's stabilizing. If she manages to string together a few good competitions, I imagine her PCS will rise. The story for the ladies this year is going to be which Russians get left off the world team. Trusova is the one to beat this year. I'm really curious what kind of PCS Kostornaya will get. I'm guessing the Russian team will be Trusova, Scherbakova, and Zagitova, which is really sad because I also expect Medvedeva, Tuktamysheva, and Kostornaya to all medal in both their Grand prix events. I also wonder if Zagitova's PCS will come back down to earth this year since I expect her to get supplanted as the top skater. I think only Rika will be able to break up the Russian podium. Sadly, I don't think Satoko is a true world medal contender anymore - she'd need a lot of mistakes to get on the podium - and I don't see Wakaba making a comeback. Kaori is also hoping for mistakes to make the final. I don't see any of the Koreans being a real threat this year and I think Tursynbaeva is likely a one time world medalist. I also wonder if we're going to see a decent program from any of the ladies. All the ones I've seen so far have ranged from awful to mediocre (but I haven't seen all the competitions yet) but I'm holding out hope that some of them will be good with a little more polish.

uuuh, you do realize that when he skates near clean he gets the highest PCS scores with these "bad posture and weak expression narration" right? The real question is "how can he win these when he won't bother entering a competition like that" but, as I've already said multiple times, I'm looking at it from the ISU perspective, not personal preference or what is likely to happen.

I'm pretty sure strong feds are strong feds because they're seen as sources of money. Perhaps I'm overly cynical (actually no more than you guys, just a different type of cynical), but I think it all comes down to money. From a business perspective, it makes way more sense to provide an avenue for older skaters to stay in the sport. In skating, careers are often so short and it takes years to build up a new following. Medvedeva is still hugely popular but does anyone realistically see her even making the team in Beijing? ISU can either provide an avenue where she still has regular public exposure or just accept that it'll lose at least some of her fans. I'm not immersed in anyone else's fandoms, but I'm guessing anyone who is hugely popular has fans that won't be interested when they're gone. However, if she's still in competition in some form, ISU can still milk her popularity - there are sure to be fans who will buy all event tickets just to see her. No, ISU does not care about preserving skater careers, per se. But they do care about what will make money. Having a combination of older skaters and newer skaters as well as a variety of markets makes more sense for business than putting all your eggs in 1 or 2 very fragile, short lived baskets. ISU does not seem to have any idea about nuances of fandom and sporting philosophies so they're not calculating any of that. From their very limited perspective, I can kind of see why they're pushing this. I personally think the whole team competition makes the sport look more like a joke, but maybe that's not true outside of the serious fandom - maybe from ISU perspective, the team comp is doing what it was intended for and they're just looking for more exposure. I just hope that they can format it in a way that it still has some semblance of respectability, but I don't have high expectations based on what I see of the team comp. Simply the fact that they're calling it an "artistic" competition makes me think that it'll be a farce of a competition. The only way I can see it working is if it's structured like the SP, where there's still a set of technical requirements that are *supposed* to be judged by a set standard, but more limited in number of elements you're allowed to do while giving more time for non jump elements. But then, there's also the issue of judging PCS correctly. Either way, the supposed artistic portion needs to have set standards in order to have any legitimacy as a sport and hopefully they also don't call it the "artistic" competition.

I agree. Anna, and especially Sasha, have much better jumps than Alyssa, though I do think all 3 of them (and Vincent and Aliev) should be getting << on their quads. I think the gif is more about the toe axel than the actual axel. Most people use lack of replay as the excuse for not <<, but in this case, she's not even setting up backward. There's no way you can miss the << unless you're not looking at all.

I don't see Yuzu wanting to participate in a competition like that either, but I don't think ISU knows anything about his personal philosophies toward the sport. They're just looking for opportunities to make more money

random, probably unpopular thought. It's possible that this whole splitting tech and artistic is actually to keep skaters like Yuzu in the sport longer. ISU has to know at this point that without Yuzu, tickets only sell in Russia and Japan, but by having an "artistic" event, skaters that can no longer compete technically can still win but they can still have an American/Russian champion in the "technical" competition. It's a "win/win" by ISU perspective - they can keep milking Yuzu for his popularity while still trying to create champions to market in other parts of the world. I imagine ISU also wants to have more opportunities to crown Olympic skating champions. Most of the public doesn't know how much of a farce the team event is so they buy into team medalists getting introduced as Olympic champions. I never took the proposal seriously so I haven't looked into it, but in theory, my main problem is with how they're going to be able to score the "artistic" portion with any type of competitive integrity - granted, they haven't been particularly successful with that in skating's current format. Right now, I'm imagining "competitions" like the old pro-ams and professional competitions, which screamed cheese and made the sport a joke. If it's like that, I imagine that it'll just further kill the sport.

can I please get some good, clear picture of Yuzu's face while wearing both Olympic gold medals?

@yuzuangel what printing company are you using that's so cheap and would it make sense for the US? I was thinking of making Yuzu tee shirts through Vistaprint but a cheaper option means I can make more. I was also thinking of throwing the tee shirts on the ice instead of plushies since whatever we throw on the ice is really a donation to local children's charities and I figured clothes is practical.

Does google sheets work? I'm pretty busy over the next couple months so I'm not sure how prompt I'll be with it, but I'm also doing a lot of testing at work so I'm sure I can help somewhat. Do you have a template for it? We should make a group to keep each other updated on progress.

But it's good to see a variety of media outlets criticize the tech calls. I haven't seen any media try to defend the calls (though most merely acknowledge that they happened rather than take a stance on them) and the few that have expressed an opinion have said they were wrong.

tbh, I only heard that from other posters so I could be wrong. I never saw it in a rule book. I'm thinking that the ISU needs to start limiting region members in the tech panel. They have a lot more power over the score than the judges and having every single one as well as the referee from N. America was too much. But just because it didn't work this weekend (if I'm correct about ISU choosing them), doesn't mean that the judges/tech panel wouldn't benefit from being appointed by independent organization rather than federations. Though it would be nice if a whole third party chose the judges/tech panel so there's no special interest from anyone at play. What really needs to happen is direct and severe consequences but I'm not sure how to do that without also further encouraging lemming judging. Sometimes the judge that's completely out of line with the panel has completely valid reasons

I used to think that way too but the tech panel is independent of federations and look what happened this weekend

You can't repeat an element so I think you might be able to do it if you only do a 2axel as your axel type jump but it wouldn't be worth it.

Judging by recent interviews, it seems that we were optimistic about the status of the quad axel if it's still in harness. anyone have any stories of how long it takes to get a jump from harness to securely landed without it? I actually think it makes more sense to put the 4 axel in the SP than the LP. Now that there's no footwork requirement, it seems like it would be easier than doing it in the long. Yuzu says that it takes so much of his energy - as Shanshani says, it might be smarter to do it when there's less stamina requirement. I hope he's not serious about skating Origin until he lands the 4 axel on the gong.

Judging from practices and interviews, the realistic upgraded layout looks like FS: 4lz, 4lo, 4s, 4t, 4t-e-3f*, 3a/3t*, 3a/2t* = 98.58 SP: 4s, 3a, 4t/3t* = 46.37 BV = 95.84 + 46.37 = 144.95 Note that he continues to give up .2 in BV for one of his spins. I know it's not much but I have to think that it wouldn't be hard for him to fix without resorting to the Biellman, which I realize he wants to do but since he normally doesn't, maybe have a back up spin that's worth full bv. Who knows if 5 quad fs with upgraded jump content is realistic but that's what he's going for. Not sure what will get dropped if he does 4A. I'm guessing second 4t - that way he can do a second 3a/3t instead of the 3a/2t. FS: 4a, 4lz, 4lo, 4s, 4t-e-3f*, 3a/3t*, 3a/3t* = 104.77 SP: 4s, 3a, 4t/3t* = 46.37 Total BV= 151.14 Autumn Classic attempted BV = 138.25. FS: 4lo, 4s, 3lz, 4t, 4t-e-3s*, 3a/3t*, 3a/2t* = 91.9 If he skated it clean and called correctly, estimated total is 328.04, assuming average PCS of 9.6 and a GOE of 4 on the jumps he missed (all other elements with GOE as scored) Note: I changed all the "under rotated" to GOE 4 Note 2: If he scored GOE of 4 on that Salchow and got PCS of 9.6, he would have gotten 111.73, breaking his own record eta: just realized it makes more sense to add +2 GOE to all the under rotation calls since the guidelines say to deduct 1 to 2. That makes it 322.99 if clean and average PCS of 9.6