rockstaryuzu

I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through so much pain, My condolences on your aunt. I hope your grandfather and your friend recover fully and things improve. As for the Yuzu - Apollo comparison, very interesting! I find Greek mythology is interesting in that its gods are often depicted as behaving in very human (and sometimes inhumane) ways, in addition to having divine powers, with all that entails. Anyway, good catch on the similarities, it's a fun observation.

Welcome! the more, the merrier!

This is actually a much better term. You do not have to be a scientist to have a scientific mind. Some of the most observant and analytical people out there are artists, performers, and writers, for example. Or our own dear boy...if he's not a scientist of skating, I don't know who would be.

STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math ... I see @barbara beat me to it

Nothing wrong with that. I hope he decides to recycle Hip Hip Chin Chin too. That was really fun and he seemed so relaxed and comfortable doing it.

I don't know why but her doing this makes me feel uneasy. It shouldn't, but it does. It makes me feel like she's not planning to stick around skating very much more.

That's because so many of us are in STEM careers...seriously, I was blown away by the company I was in in Kelowna...the only satellites I met who were not in STEM, healthcare, or academia worked in finance. Oh, and one is a lawyer :). We are smart people and it cannot be denied.

Well, if they don't send their skaters out, then how are those skaters going to get points and standing for the bigger international comps? Yes I mean that they could try and do something to compensate for not being able to send their athletes to Challengers. And frankly, the ISU needs to start thinking about ways to accommodate such situations, because Japan won't be the only country making this choice. Far better to send a couple of international judges to Japan than a whole team full of athletes all over the world. Also, the total number of skaters entered in a competition only matters if the judges are scoring the skaters relative one another (a la 6.0 system). If the judges are following the actual rulebook on scoring, there could be only one entrant in the whole competition and in theory the score would still be accurate, objective, and valid. That's how it's supposed to work. Of course we know it doesn't, but a satellite can dream...

No, I don't mean as selection for Nationals. I mean as the equivalent of Challenger series.

Well, if they stop giving points, no one will show up, but if they give prize money, then they could be held liable for luring skaters into an unsafe situation, I guess? I'm sure it was something like that anyway. GP doesn't start til October, might as well wait and see if the situation improves. For now. I thought China was cancelling all international sports events? I think they said they weren't going to Budapest, either? ....I dunno, guys. Ever since the beginning of April, I've had this weird hunch that SCI is going to end up being the season opener...and that feeling keeps on getting stronger. I cannot picture any federation willingly sending their skaters to the US at this time, the virus is galloping out of control there. But SCI could happen, if the 14-day quarantine requirement is dropped in time. At the moment it's in effect until Aug 31 here, so, who knows? But I don't want to make any predictions. It's just a strange gut feeling, is all. The details about entries for Worlds and so forth: that truly sucks for some. For example, it means Nam, Keegan, and Roman have to duke it out a second year in a row for the same solitary spot. I had high hopes Nam could have won that second spot back for us... oh well. Small potatoes in the grand scheme of things I guess. Shouganai.

Realistically, I doubt they will allow an audience at ACI this year anyway. The seats would be empty either way. So, I wonder if JSF will be doing something different for their skaters, like adding some extra, senior-level competitions that are local to Japan. I mean, it's not just Yuzu who's an elite international skater: on the men's side they have Keiji, Shoma, Kazuki, Shun, Sota, Yuma etc etc. The JNats men's roster read like a who's who. On the women's side is Rika, Kaori, Wakaba, Mai, Marin, and many more. (not including skaters currently known to be training abroad. (who could well return to Japan, who knows)). they could do their own series of elite seniors Challengers just within Japan without too much trouble. It's only in ice dance and pairs that it becomes an issue.

What better way to set the spirit free when your body is caged in?

SSsssssurrrreeee, Roman, stick to that story. No one can resist the allure of The Waist.

To be smothered in fanyu love and drowned in Poohs, of course! How else do you put a fire out?

So that's that for Autumn Classic then. Logically this means they won't be sending Yuzu. Makes me wonder when Yuzu will be leaving Japan now. Also, what does it mean for Japanese skaters already training in the countries in question, like Satoko?

Here I was getting so excited for him...but maybe Yuzu is one of those perma-student types who just keep going back to study more.

There's that. To my eyes, the article reads like an opinion piece, so I personally wouldn't take it as fact, because opinions aren't facts, but there might be readers who would see it that way.

I didn't get that. More like they were implying that Yuzu only got MVS because of fanyus, and that Nathan was somehow above the fray b/c he concentrates on skating. I wouldn't get too hung up on it - the whole thing reads like the kind of journalism that tries to make one thing seem like another by careful re-arrangement of words and facts.

Epic burn.

What? have we? I feel like we should do something appropriately Darth in return I find their lack of faith in Yuzuru...disturbing.

We can take it in turns to be The Fanyu - a different one of us each day. Or maybe it's like being Tribute? Someone has to 'volunteer'? Oh Katniss Everfanyu, wherefore art thou?

I read that article, and it doesn't seem like it was written by our usual Oly-chan. Reads more like it was written one of the NBC hacks.

Which speaks even more to my original point: don't sell the tickets until the event is properly planned, with all the scheduling and content details nailed down and set in cement.

Yes, exactly. pitchforks, indeed!! And there's also torches:

Okay, here are my two cents about the awards. I was going to post this in General Skating Chat but since everyone seems to be talking about it here: My main takeaway from this: the Awards would be best done as a stand-alone event. Even doing it virtually, getting through the six awards took more than an hour. I can't picture grafting that onto any arena event such as a Gala or even ice-show type performance that came at the end of a week of competition, when everyone's weary and their butts are sore from stadium seats and their hands are sore from clapping and skaters just want to get home . If it has to be held in any way that's connected to a competition, such as Worlds, then it should still be a separate event from the Gala. For the skaters' and audience sakes, both. Literally schedule it apart from the other stuff, and sell separate tickets to it. Or, keep it virtual. The format works pretty well and probably costs less to stage. It should NOT replace a Gala exhibition. Why? Because the Gala exhibition is an important opportunity for skaters to show their stuff in a non-competitive setting, as performers. It's a stepping stone to landing professional ice show contracts as far as I can tell. Especially for non-medal winners, this could be key to their future careers. Don't take it away. On top of that, every year skaters retire, and the Worlds Gala is the swansong for some of them...they and their fans deserve that opportunity to say goodbye. Now, as for the awards themselves, I agree with everyone else that the lack of transparency around the nomination process, voting, criteria for the awards etc are problems. To that I would add that costume designers should be getting equal billing for the Best Costume award (and maybe this award isn't really all that appropriate anyway? seems a bit like an elementary school Halloween party idea to me. 'Achievement in Costume Design' would be a better approach), that they need to have awards categories for every discipline (pairs being left out of the nominees is a problem!), and that 'Best Coach' seems like a nightmare to judge (another award that would be best switched to the 'Achievement in' approach instead). I am very pleased that Yuzu got MVS, he's put more bums in seats at competitions for the last ten years than any five of his competitors combined. And I feel mildly ashamed that as his fan, I haven't been able to live up to his level of class and graciousness in regards to these awards. On the other hand, unlike some of us, Yuzu didn't spend $1300 dollars (or more) on an all-event ticket only to find out six months later that he wasn't going to be getting what he paid for. So while I will try to emulate his wonderful manners in future, I still will give voice to my reality here. Which brings me to the crux of the problem: the reason we all hated the very thought of these awards is because they were introduced to us by means of a trick. Worlds 2020 all-event tickets were sold including a traditional two-hour gala. Long after the deadline for purchasing and paying for the tickets has passed, we were then told we would not be getting the Gala but something entirely different. It doesn't matter one iota that the 'something entirely different' turned out to be something sort-of okay. What matters is that we were tricked initially and will not forget it. I ask one thing of the ISU and all future Worlds organizing committees, and one thing only, from here on out: Be upfront about what you're selling us. Every time. When people are investing the equivalent of a monthly mortgage payment in the ticket price, it is the rock-bottom least you can do.