Old Cat Lady

Was just wondering if donations have been covering or at least getting close to covering the cost of running this site. Also if there's any way to donate where a third party doesn't get a cut.

eta: nevermind. I was looking at the wrong thread

hmm, I didn't get that at all. Unless I missed something, all they did was show the negative features and comment that there were a lot more reductions than before. The only automatic -5 is the SP: Jump element not according to requirement, not that they ever adhered to the auto max deduction rule before . Judges don't want to follow the guideline... I know, we'll just get rid of the requirement for steps before the jumps rather than actually sanctioning the judges! As far as I can tell, in both the old and the new system you're supposed to deduct for falls like normal errrs, by adding positives then subtracting the negatives. That's why Kolyada often gets -2's for falls on his quad lutz from judges. But judges rarely give less than the maximum for a fall and don't recall them ever giving the automatic -3 for no steps before a jump in the short program.

My principled side says that it was a major faux pas to use current skaters - it will cause greater likelihood of pre-judging. I admit, even when I was judging to learn the system, I pretty much gave Patrick +5 for his step sequences without really looking at what he was doing and I often subtracted from +5 rather than adding then subtracting when judging Yuzu's jumps. With them having to make snap judgement, the skaters being used in the examples are much more likely to get that bullet. My selfish side is ecstatic that Yuzu got used for one of the core bullets, especially since I think it's the vaguest of the elements. one of my 2 biggest fears with the judging is that skaters won't get credit for +4/5 no matter how much they deserve it. Maybe he'll actually get some +5's next season after all. I'm also cackling a little on the inside that some skaters got used twice while others didn't get used at all. Really, they should have used multiple examples with a variety of skaters, but I suppose that emphasizes even more who DOESN'T fulfill these bullets. So fun watching that axel just get bigger and bigger!

Ahh. thanks. I suppose I'll just copy and past once that thread gets active again

haha. Sorry for the confusion! I imagine the earliest we'll ever see a 4 axel by Yuzu is in a competition for practice and the general chat thread will go up by at least 50 pages in one day.

How do you guys make these banners? What materials do you use? Or is there some company where you can get them made?

Skate America Men: 1. Chen 2. Zhou 3. Voronov Ladies: 1. Miyahara 2. Sakamoto 3. Tennel Dance: 1. Hubbel/Donohue 2. Zagorski/Guerreiro 3. still thinking about it Pairs: 1. Tarasova/Morozov 2. Yu/Zhang 3. Knierems Skate Canada Men: 1. Uno 2. Brown 3. Messing Ladies: 1. Medvedeva 2. Higuchi 3. Daelman Dance: 1. Hubbel/Donohue 2. Gilles/Poirier 3. Smart/Diaz Pairs: 1. James/Cipres 2. Moore-Towers/Marinaro 3. Peng/Jin Helsinki Men: 1. Hanyu 2. Jin 3. Kolyada Ladies: 1. Zagitova 2. Kostner 3. Sakamoto Dance: 1. Chock/Bates 2. Stepanova/Bukin 3. TBD Pairs: 1. Sui/Han 2. Zabiako/Enbert 3. Della Monica/Guarise NHK Men: 1. Uno 2. Zhou 3. Aliev Ladies: 1. Miyahara 2. Sotskova 3. Daleman Dance: 1. Papadakis/Cizeron 2. Stepanova/Bukin 3. TBD Pairs: 1. Sui/Han 2. Zabiako/Enbert 3. Moore-Towers/Marinaro Rostelecom Men: 1. Hanyu 2. Kolyada 3. Messing Ladies: 1. Zagitova 2. Higuchi 3. Tsurskaya Dance: 1. Chock/Bates 2. Stepanova/Bukin 3. Muramoto/Reed Pairs: 1. Tarasova/Morozov 2. Della Monica/Guarise 3. TBD France Men: 1. Chen 2. Jin 3. Brown Ladies: 1. Medvedeva 2. Kostner 3. Sotskova Dance: 1. Papadakis/Cizeron 2. Gilles/Poires 3. Hawayek/Baker Pairs: 1. James/Cipres 2. Yu/Zhang 3. TBD GPF Qualifiers Men: 1. Hanyu 2. Chen 3. Uno 4. Jin 5. Zhou 6. Kolyada 1st Alt: Brown Ladies: 1. Zagitova 2. Medvedeva 3. Miyahara 4. Higuchi 5. Kostner 6. Sotskova 1st alt: Sakamoto Dance: 1. Papadakis/Cizeron 2. Hubbel/Donohue 3. Chock/Bates 4. Gilles/Poirier 5. Stepanova/Bukin 6. Muramoto/Reed 1st alt: Hawayek/Baker Pairs: 1. Han/Cong 2. Tarasova/Morozov 3. James/Cipres 4. Zabiako/Enbert 5. Yu/Zhan 6. Moore-Towers/Marinaro 1st alt: Monica/Guarise GPF Podiums Men: 1. Hanyu 2. Uno 3. Chen 4. Kolyada 5. Jin 6. Zhou Ladies: 1. Zagitova 2. Medvedeva 3. Higuchi 4. Kostner 5. Miyahara 6. Sotskova Dance: 1. Papadakis/Cizeron 2. Hubbel/Donohue 3. Chock/Bates Pairs: 1. Han/Cong 2. Tarasova/Morozov 3. James/Cipres Kolyada got so screwed. He can skate above average and still be on the bubble while Chen and Uno can have mini melt downs and still comfortably make the final. If he skates at least average, I still expect Kolyada to make the final based on tie breakers. Had a hard time deciding between him and Jin for silver at Helsinki.

I was thinking it would be fun to have a game for the off season. Maybe we can even have a prize; My first thought was everyone put in a small amount of money to a paypal account for a prize but with how international membership is that might be difficult and is probably considered gambling, though in the US fantasy sports are legal on the basis that it's a skill based activity so not sure. My 2nd thought for a prize would be buying some sort of membership perk, which would have the added benefit of helping fund the site, but as far as I can tell there aren't different membership levels or anything. Until someone can think of something feasible, right now prize will just have to be bragging rights Rules (we can alter if people have better ideas) 1. For purposes of fairness and giving me time to collect them, predictions are due by October 12th. (aww man, just occurred to me now that we still have to wait 3 months ) 2. 1 point for every correct podium guess. If you predict beyond the podium and someone withdraws, all places below the withdrawn skater will automatically move up so it is recommended. Only 1 guess per placement; multiple guesses for the same placement will be worth 0. 3. 2 additional points for guessing all 4 gold medalists. 4. 3 additional points for guessing all skaters that podium (in any order) 5. 5 additional points for guessing all medal winners in correct order. 6. 1 point for each GPF qualifier (alternates will be used if a skater withdraws from any competition, list alternates in order that you think they'll qualify) 7. 3 additional points per discipline if you guess all qualifiers in the order that they qualified 8. 5 additional points if you guess all the qualifiers in all the segments (in any order) 9. Points awarded for GPF competition will follow the same point system as 2-5. (just realized that if a skater withdraws, it messes up GPF competition predictions. Out of fairness, if a skater's withdrawal affects anyone's finalists, then everyone can redo their predictions for the competition.) Of course, discussion is encouraged, but please keep predictions organized in 1 post. If you change your prediction, please alter your original post rather than making a new one.

Thanks for the links! It's good to know that there's at least 1 official source to point to. I came across this Plushenko article a couple months ago. When I read it, I thought, "hmmm, maybe the old sensei Yuzu keeps referring to is Plushy" (not really, but this sounds so similar to something Yuzu said in an article I can't find right now) https://healthylivingmagazine.us/Articles/419/ I am very grateful to those athletes who, after the Vancouver [Olympic Games], started to jump quads and included several...After some time they’ll learn all of the quadruple jumps; five quads in a program will become the norm, and it will be a real thing, true figure skating, as figure skating is not only an art, a ballet, not only beautiful skating; first of all, it is a sport… I think there are no limits in sports. They always move forward. First, the athletes will learn all quads, then 4.5 quads, and in some 50-70 years there will be a quintuple jump, I’m sure. Maybe in 100 years, but it will happen. There will be combinations of two quads. I know because I was training a 4.5 axel and two toe loop quad combination. If I jumped it, I think guys will jump it too—after some time maybe. There will be different athletes, different gear, lighter boots and blades. One hundred years ago folks used to jump a single jump; now a quad is a norm. Just give it time.

http://ohlovesosweet.tumblr.com/post/44974002927/ten-years-from-now-i-think-ill-have-landed-a Just found this in my bookmarks. So he's been talking about it in interviews since at least 2013

So I've slowly been going through the old posts of the general Yuzuru talk thread and I've seen references to multiple people who have claimed to have seen him actually do it. 1. Does anyone have any links to sources? 2. Have they said if they were in or out of harness? So far, I think I've seen people mention Plushenko, Arakawa, Miki Ando, Massimiliano Ambessi. For some reason I thought that either Brian Orser or the guy holding the harness said something about him landing it in harness but with no weight on the harness. Also, any idea of when Yuzu first started talking about it? I know it's been a few years but it seems like there's a lot more talk about it - I'm wondering if it's because he already has it or if it's just because he's getting asked about it more.

I feel the same way. I was hoping that was just the way he was going to do it from now on but looks like that it's this program specific judging by his H&L performance. And I'm not sure if his Ina Bauer in this program is more beautiful than ever or if I'm just falling more in love with him.

Awwwww, I'm melting Is Javi really this affectionate with all his "not friends"?

Heck, even since Semei. And it's probably just the angle or the fact that he squeezed himself into a costume from when he was 15 years old, but I could swear that he's gotten more shapely even since 2018 Olympics. He's been working hard in that gym! I've always been curious about Kikuchi. I thought I read somewhere that he moved to Toronto as well. Tracy called him a personal trainer but he seems to be something more, especially if he really does have that level of devotion.

I'm the opposite of most everyone else. I want him to keep all the pink and ruffles and sparkles. In fact, I'd like to see him take it even further and wear the full face of makeup and then I'll laugh maniacally as I watch the media melt down

Random thought... what if Haru yo koi is actually an excerpt from his free skate? He said that it was mostly done except for some adjustments for new rules. At first, the time of the program made me think maybe it's the short but they would have to change the whole program to make it work with the elements. I just watched it over and over and over and I can't believe that it's just a simple collaboration for the show... the program is more detailed and intricate than most skaters' competition programs. His previous collaborations tended to be more generic in their choreography - in this one, every nuance of the music is highlighted. I believe someone said you can do a single axel for the choreo sequence - to me, the part from the hydroblade through the ina bauer could be the choreo sequence, going right into that difficult spin entry, and the footwork into the (future quad) loop look like competitive choreography. Probably his exhibition, but if it is his free skate, I get a giggle out of the idea of him wearing pink lingerie for competitions - he just needs to switch to tights to make it perfect.

How embarrassing. I totally forgot that he already skated to a version of this song when I wrote that. But I've never seen this before. Thanks for sharing.

The first thought that popped into my mind was that this would be a great song to skate to, especially in Japan. I'm imagining it starting with a lone child singing a capella and then the program would crescendo into a full choir. I can picture the entire crowd singing as Yuzu ends the program. As for the singing, admit it, you're even more curious about his singing voice now! Perhaps he's masterminded a scheme to slowly ratchet up anticipation for his true idol debut. but naw, as someone else said, I'm guessing he either didn't have time to record or he's too much of a perfectionist to display his only average singing voice. I was also even more curious to see Shoma singing - I was rather shocked when I found out he was taking part since I can't imagine him publicly singing so it wasn't a surprise but it would have been so fun. I've also come to terms today with the fact that I'm not actually a skating fan. I like skating, but I was up last night, about to join in on the marathon when I realized that I was exhausted and sitting through all the non-Yuzu stuff just felt like a chore. In the end, I just watched a bunch of Yuzu programs before bed and hoped I'd be able to depend on the kindness of Fanyus for the only parts that I honestly care about.

I have previously not always been a fan of the hydroblade - I think I have a bias against it because it always reminds me of Bourne & Kraatz. But these FaOI hydroblades have completely won me over. Yuzu has made the move completely his own - I've never seen it done this spectacularly by anyone!

This exhibition is beautiful - so much better than WoW. And I even like the costume - I think the colors look good on him and it goes well with the music. Love how the crowd would cheer over the little pauses in the choreography

After Shanshani posted his/her spreadsheet I made my own worksheet and have been playing around with numbers all day. I'm super excited for the new system. I really think Yuzu will break both records next year For those who want to play as well, here's a link to my worksheet. for .5 loop combos I just add .5 to the value of the 2nd jump rather than create another column. Choreo seq doesn't go up by percentage like everything else so you have to change the value manually. Please let me know if you see errors. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TKbJiEwnufGja09v0LPhvOutMgEnmtEAdrCEBOMk4Os/edit#gid=182646993

While 2017 worlds was iffy, outside of national bias and an occasional jump here or there, I found the 2018 world or Olympic GOE scoring to be pretty fair. It's the components that always seems completely out of whack.

I recall from some articles from the way back machine that Alexander Fadeev once wore sheer white tights with just a dance belt underneath and Brian Boitano wore tights with a clear VPL . The P does not stand for panty in this case. And of course, there is the long history of trying to butch up figure skating. But it's a pretty silly rule. Hanyu's UA is pretty much tights and while purple LGC was technically not tights, I would say it was more revealing than Yuzu's practice gear. As for the other new rules, most of them seem ideal for Yuzu. He can pretty much just do his original planned 2018 layout, drop his worst triple, makes 3 axel more important, he already does his combos in the back half so he won't have to adjust, cuts Nathan's tech advantage significantly, while more potential reward with GOE. When was the last time Nathan even landed 4 loop? Does he still practice it? If he doesn't get it back while Yuzu gets all his quads back, Yuzu and Nathan will have similar BV. There's a lot of potential to hammer Shoma with the GOE's. If actually applied, I think Shoma and Nathan are hit pretty hard by new rules. I am disappointed at how they're restructuring GOE's though. Yuzu doesn't have nearly the advantage that I thought he would - looks like in new system +4/+5 are easier to get than +3 in old system while taking away advantage for doing difficult exits and delayed rotation/varied air position

Sorry if I'm repeating something already discussed, but the more I think about it, the more I think the "no repeating quad" rule is actually good for Yuzu. His loop, toe, and salchow, were fairly stable and the lutz was beautiful when it was landed. Realistically, this limits Shoma and Boyang to 4 quads and Nathan to 5 quads at most (but hasn't he only done the loop once?), while making the 3 axel even more important. It also means Nathan can't repeat the higher value quads to try to out TES Yuzu. Yuzu can make up a 1 quad difference with other things but a 2-3 quad difference might become too much combined with the other 3's rising PCS marks. On a selfish level, I kind of hope it passes, but I think it's bad for skating since it will cause more skaters to not be able to compete and might cause increased injuries.