rockstaryuzu

I think if you wrote Yuzu's story as fiction, no one would ever believe it. Especially all the misfortune.

Yes, I think height and strength and a willingness to lift him will definitely be a requirement for any bride of his . . . Have I mentioned that I'm tall for a woman and can deadlift 120lbs with ease?

I think I might go for a hotel this time, even though they're further away... I liked my AirBnB last year but I felt really weird about staying in someone's house like that.

Must have been, because Keegan and Nam were also there.

Yes. However I noticed last year that Gabby went to an even smaller competition in Scarborough or Yorkville (which are both even closer to TCC than Oakville)... can't remember where exactly. So there are other competitions they could use for the purposes of first pancakery.

But the reality is that in Canada and the US, the current system for skater development is something that grew organically over the past 50 - 100 years, with periodic investment from various levels of government. And in Russia, the Soviet system of training athletes the way one might recruit and train an army has shaped the system they have today. And even then, the only one of those three that reliably produces top athletes is the Russian one. And all three countries are winter countries to begin with, where most of the people go out and do things like skating for relaxation and enjoyment every day, and there's a large base of athletes to choose from. If JSF is trying to do it from scratch according to some artificial template of success, they have their work cut out for them and no mistake.

Honestly, who knows? Brian's strategy is to get his skaters out early so they have time to work out the problems with their new programs before hitting big international competitions but it doesn't necessarily have to be at ACI.

Arrgghh. Oakville again? That place is a hotel room desert! Although I am glad they've moved it up a weekend. I notice Cup of China is back. I guess they and the Chinese fed have sorted out their differences. I would have thought they'd stick with Helsinki though.

It's not lost on me that they don't even mention Hanyu's name there, just say 'current era'....just a touch of microaggression there, hmm?

Wow. Do they not understand that a)megastars aren't made, they just happen, and b ) you have to have one first (Yuzu) in order for there to be more? That explains why Shoma's suddenly being pushed forward more... they're hoping for magic lightning to strike a second time. My fear is that they start thinking they can manufacture skating stars like pop idols, Johnny's-style.

There was someone at ACI who gifted him a stained glass feather she had made ( it went in the box for him, not on the ice!). She showed it to me and it was lovely.

Just add the Planet Hanyu logo somewhere and we're done!

He's so excited he got Shuzo all wound up too. Why on earth are we worrying? AS long as the boy can get his ankle back it'll be fine.

Look at us all. 12 hours ago we were all wringing our hands and crying (cue New Jersey accent) "No, Yuzu baby, don't do it! You'll break your legs! Don't 4F, I'm tellin' ya!" ...and now we giving him... Ideas. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance -- we just blew threw them all like an Indy car at a stoplight, didn't we?

Just goes to show, there's always a silver golden lining...

I still have some on my legs. Guess I won't have to shave them any more...

This.

and all our hair....

Maybe if he was British we could nominate him for honours like that. OTOH, the People's Honour Award he got last year is basically that, right? An accolade.

You think so? Money usually talks...and I'm sure they count on ticket sales to fund some things...so it'd have some kind of impact. I can sort of see the fairness argument, but only sort of. For it to be a valid argument, they'd have to ban all tossing of gifts/flowers on the ice at every competition,not just the Pooh rain. Incidentally, I understand maybe a little bit why Raf made his comment about the Pooh rain as I have been a coach (in a different sport though) myself. If your athlete knows the crowd is cheering for another and not them, it can be hard to deal with. On the other hand, it's not like Yuzuru is asking for fans to do this so as to gain advantage. It just happens, like soft ice conditions. It's the job of the coach to prepare his athlete for all the things that just happen, including Pooh rain. And Nathan seems to revel in it, it certainly hasn't psyched him out any. IMO the JSF commentary has nothing to do with any real effect the Pooh rain may or may not have had on Nathan and has more to do with other things.

There's a glitch in every plan...doesn't mean it was a bad plan LOL.

You know, the quickest way to get JSF's attention would be for fans to stop buying tickets to any events they organize. I'm pretty sure it would only take one boycott of, say, NHK Cup, and they'd change their tune on fans and Pooh's.