Neenah

I have been seeing Shoma's brother a lot lately.. Is he a celebrity? I don't think he is an athlete, or is he?

Try this channel, it has a lot of videos from WC18 cut into warmup groups (not sure if all groups are there though) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_2Zs8zU2EvhU1WIby7VGog

Congratulations of finishing your thesis and graduating.. Glad we both managed to overcome our bad times and succeed

As usual, my results are as bad as the scores of an inconsistent quadster under the new rules Maybe I should really use darts to decide my predictions .. It probably have the same chance of being accurate and I will at least I be having more fun with it

I have done a lot of things only because of being a Yuzu fan - Started following FS when I didn't even know there was such a sport before - Went on a trip alone to a foreign country for no other reason than to attend an fs competition he wasn't even in - Learned how to wake up and go to sleep at weird hours just to watch competitions and practices on dodgy streams - Learned how to find said dodgy (and not so dodgy) streams and even paid for on - Learned the rules of the sport and added the technical panel's handbook to my studying schedule Most importantly, Yuzuru helped finish my thesis and overcome a very bad period of my life by showing me it is possible to come back from any misfortune. His fight at 4CC and Worlds 17 was the inspiration and motivation I desperately needed when I was ready to give up on my studies. Back then I was depressed and stuck thinking it was over for me, that I was not good enough and that I should just quit, but he showed me how believing in yourself and fighting till the end is the way to go. I am graduating in two weeks and I would really love to be able to send Yuzu a copy of my thesis and to tell him "Thank you"

The federation used the same tactic last year. They told us he wants to be at Nationals and then kept on giving us small details about the injury and only announced his withdrawal a week before the actual competition. Then we found out that he wasn't even on the ice the whole time and there was no chance of him competing at all. So, I will not believe anything they say this time since they have a reason to hide the truth and pretend he will compete (advertisers, broadcasters, tickets, etc.). Yuzuru is on churches now and even if it is a small injury that will only need few days to heal (very doubtful from what we can see), he will not have enough time to get back in form and compete at his best. I think it is safer and more healthy for us and him if we assume that he is not going to GPF or Nats and act accordingly.

In addition to what @Moria Polonius said, I think Yuzu's past stamina issues is helping him now. He learned how to manage his energy and control it so that he wouldn't run out of steam by the end of the program like he used to, so now he is better equipped to handle the new arrangement. Shoma on the other hand always had very good stamina. It was never an issue he needed to worry about so he is learning now how to handle the strain.

Wow, this was my worst result yet I totally blame ice dance and pairs.. They were the most predictable last year and always saved my scores and now they are killing it

I think the new themes could all use an icon.. I keep losing the planet between all my open tabs

This round was a mixed bag for me.. I am not sure what my score would be but I am positive I did not get any podium right

Wow, the bonus questions saved it from being a complete disaster for me As for the winners of this round, that is some good quality crystal balls you have there.. Mind sharing for a bit, I need to recover my losses

With how bad most of us are doing you can easily start again and catch up no problem

RIP my predictions Not that I really care. I got my gold for men prediction (and wish) right and that is more than enough for me

I woudn't call him a lier for this. When he said these things it probably was the truth at the time. It is very possible that he didn't plan on including the 4Lz because it wasn't ready but things changed during the summer. The same for the 3F which he did not want to include it because of his ankle but now it is better so he is going for it. I actually think it is smart for him not to commit to anything in front of the media because they will keep on pressuring him if he give them anything (case in point the 4A craze). This way he can decide what to do based on his condition and what he want to do rather than to meet expectations.

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing is a PR campaign to counter Vincent's reputation of URs? I may be pessimistic but this doesn't feel like a genuine concern especially since Tom Z and those "Americans" (whoever that is) know all the problems that could come up and that Vincent's jumps deserved the calls they got. Regardless, putting a process in place for skaters to challenge wrong calls is a good idea but it must be designed very carefully to prevent abuse. I don't know how exactly that can happen but it is worth thinking about. Though from what we have seen from the ISU and holding judges accountable, I am not expecting much

Have fun at Helsinki and make sure to cheer Yuzu extra loud for all of us who can't go

I just hope that Yuzuru will ignore the others and the pressure form everyone (including us) and take his time with it. Being first is great but being safe and delivering a quality jump is much better. The 4A is his dream and dreams should be enjoyed. I personally don't care if he didn't try it this season as long as the reason is him being careful and the jump is not ready (please not an injury or pain). I would rather he is comfortable with it and is truly ready to bring it to competition than him rushing it because he said he would do it this season or because he feels pressured by others attempting it.

Me

Using broadcast video would be useful but it is only available in the biggest competitions. which means that for these competitions the TP will be working with a totally different setting and equipment. How would the ISU train them on handling this when it is such small subset of the judging they do? and what of the issues that may arise from their unfamiliarity with the different approach. We may end up seeing more mistakes (of different kind than usual). These is also the fact that different networks broadcast different competitions so it would be even harder to come up with a universal solution to link their equipment with the ISU's own software and systems. IMO, a second camera is a must, but is should be a solution that can be used in the majority (if not all) of the FS competitions to avoid more problems. The last thing we need is a confused Technical caller

I think I can help you guys in this discussion about Yuzu's new programs by offering a comparison Here is H&L at ACI, the first performance of the program and here is the program at Worlds You can see how much the program changed and grew throughout the season (not just the jumps). I personally did not like it until NHK

@Joey, could you please change the font for the questions next time, it is a bit hard to read Also, may I suggest putting the name field at the end of the form (or both start and end), this may help solve the problem of people forgetting to put their names in

Never thought of that before..What do you think it could be replaced with to get more points?

Yuzu knows how to optimise his layouts while keeping the artistry intact. So even if he did change things around to get more points, he will make sure that it works perfectly with the music and that his and the choreographers vision for the program is realised. I don't think that he would do anything just to win because he has made it clear over and over again that he wants to win with great performances and programs. It is not only about points for him. For the SP, I do see the possibility for a change to move the combo to the second half but I think that he is more likely keeping it the way it is now. Yuzu likes to complete what he starts so he may not want to change anything unless he does it perfectly first. The FP is a different story because he announced different layouts and made many mistakes at ACI so we wouldn't even know if he changed it . All we really know is that he really wants the 4T3A seq (I want to see it to ). I think he will try it at his first GP and maybe take it out later if the layout did not work. Overall, I don't think any of his layouts are bad. Yes he can have higher BV if he moved things around but with the new system it is more important to be clean than to have backloaded combos or difficult elements

My prediction were a disaster this round..I think I have only one correct name per podium Lets hope the bonus questions help rather than sink me Most embarrassingly, I totally forgot about Satoko (one of my favourite ladies) in the warm up round