Flutterby

You said swimming trunks and my brain instantly supplied "speedos" And now I'm dead. Help.

Not an expert either. But that would be my guess as well. The softer deeper knee bend would allow you to absorb more slowly (relatively speaking. Its still darn fast). Whereas stiff knees just jolt you to a halt. Oh I know the feeling. I was just thinking I need to check the date of JNats 'cause they must be coming up and here we are. Countdown begun. At least I have holiday shopping to distract me.... Actually no reverse that I need skating to distract me from holiday stress.

My crunchy knees agree with you.

Fun fact time: Nomura Mansai (aka Seimei) made his film debut in Kurosawa's last film, Ran

Just got around to watching NBC's coverage of GPF and they're still pushing the "College-Student vs the Two-Time-Olympic-Champion" angle. This is just getting silly now. I mean I get what they're going for. Trying to portray it as some David and Goliath struggle. But its weird to me?? They're both university students. So Yale versus Waseda. Or they're both champions. Two worlds versus two OGs. They are equals. I know its a small thing but it just bugs me for some reason. Probably from the run up to PC where it was all Chen adverts all the time and now two years later we're supposed to pretend he's some young innocent ingenue, just starting out, being picked on by the older veteran. IDK its just strikes me as weird somehow. That and the way I found out the results was Olympic Talks "Chen crushes Hanyu" article. Crushes?? That sounds so violent. Why not Chen skated well and won. I know, I know. Its more dramatic. Sigh the media spins wear me out. I wish I could watch skating without commentary but you really have to seek those out, often its piecemeal (ie individual performances) and usually after the fact. If I want to see the results in real time I get this nonsense.

Old fart here. I actually started following Yuzu because he's a student of Brian Orser whom I remember watching during his competitive career when I was very young.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know who he was. So I looked him up on asianwiki only to find out he 'made his debut at the age of seven on the NHK television drama "Agri.' -- also starring one Nomura Mansai, aka Seimei. Is he one of these kids, maybe?

Fun Fact time: Ran (1985) was Nomura Mansai-san, aka SEIMEI's film debut. He was 17 years old. https://binged.it/2K7lrOq Sorry the pic isn't great. He supposed to be a blind flute player (with a terrible wig hiding most of his face).

Are you talking about the celebration toast? I believe that is correct.

That's the thing I've been wondering about the stats - how do they relate to body type? What if a skater has excellent technique but is of a small (ie short) body type. Are they still able to get the same height? OTOH I think its fairly apparent when a jump is just skimming across the ice rather than getting proper lift off.

I think that really is it in a nutshell. With all the young skaters coming up she really has no choice but to add a quad if she wants to continue competing. The same goes for Jason. I love his skating but he needs quads to stay relevant.

I love Semei, but I also know I enjoyed it a lot more after seeing the movies and hearing the music in context, but how many Westerners would have seen those movies, especially before Yuzu skated to the music? Like would you know Javi was doing a drunken pirate if not for the popularity of the POTC movies? Or would you think he was just being sloppy? Chaplin - another well known crowd friendly character that the casual viewing public can grab hold of. So while Yuzu may be more unique and innovative, Javi can be easier for the audience to grasp. And judges are after all members of the audience. (on a side note, I've now been converted to a huge fan of Nomura Mansai and Ito Hideaki. Thank you, Yuzu)

I saw a comment like that too, possibly the same one. That someone preferred the simpler jumps-focused program without the transitions because too many transitions makes it looks busy or cluttered, but then a skater shouldn't get points for that stuff that isn't there. EDIT: To me, crossovers are the on-ice equivalent of walking. So if you went to the ballet, and the guys spent most of time just walking back and forth across the stage, would it still be considered dance?

I actually really like Javi's style as well. It's very different from Yuzu's style to be sure, but it has its own appeal. I'd say Javi tends to be more character driven (which can be more relatable for the casual viewer) and he projects outward to the audience. Whereas Yuzu is more abstract and internalized. (at least in competitive programs, as opposed to his EX) On related note, I admire the fact that TCC doesn't try to force skaters to fit to one particular model or to be cookie cutter copies of each other. I like seeing different styles.

Yuzu's posture has greatly improved. Occasionally it drops when he's tired, but that's true for everyone. The only problem I see is that he will still occasionally drop character (and posture) when a performance isn't going well and so telegraphs his frustration. But that usually only lasts for a second or two before he regroups.

I'm preaching to the converted here obviously, but FS wants to be viewed as a technical based sport, in addition to the artistry. We want specific points to be assigned to specific elements. Rewatching would help. Especially, as i take it, judges usually only see one angle of an element which may be misleading. I think the reason ISU resists this is because they think it will add to judging time. But if we can get a set up where computers accurately determine such things as pre-R and UR I think it would help considerably.

Yes that would be a pet peeve of mine as well. I like Yuzu's graceful flowing arms. Unfortunately in the west, particularly in the US, stiff arms seems to be the norm. (certainly in the past). It's why you'll hear Dick Button comment about a skater's "noodle" or "spaghetti" arms, as if flowing arms are a mistake. In his day the arms were always stiff. That was the style, but it just looks so uncomfortable to me. I think the curve of the arms and the upper body is a much better complement to the curves one makes on the ice.

Thank you! I'll make a note of that. I've been trying to teach myself Japanese (very slowly) but I know some things don't always translate - like hand gestures.

Well said

I have no problem with Nathan himself. As you say he's still just a young kid really and still coming into his own as an artist. But he has improved, that's true. I just find his score inflations to be symptomatic of problems across the sport. How are younger skaters supposed to improve if the judging makes no sense? How do you know what aim for if the judges just make it up as they go along? As to emotional connection to the music, I feel the same way about Boyang. he just wasn't connected to anything. And I really do like him. I feel like he's fallen by the way side because he hasn't found the proper vehicle yet. Its why I was so hopeful for him to move to TCC. I thought maybe they could help him with that. I thought if he found music he could truly relate to and new choreographers maybe he could return to form. But sadly that hasn't happened yet.

That last one though??😂 "Yuzuru Hanyu has been off of competitive ice for FOUR months ...and can't snag the gold every competition." I take it someone only started watching figure skating after the Olympics cause I'll be damned if that isn't exactly what the boy did at PC!

Like I'm fine if someone loses because they popped a jump vs someone who didn't. I can understand the overall placement. I preferred Yuzu's skates but what happened, happened. Its the finer points of the judging that are the issue. Like say any random skater does any random element. They receive a near perfect GOE. That specific element should look darn near textbook perfect to get that score. You should be able to take a clip of that element and show it to new skaters and say, "This is the epitome of this element. This is how this element should be performed." That element should be able to earn the same score regardless of whether its a national or international competition. It should get the same score regardless of who else is in the competition. Or where we are in the skating season. Or how long a skater has been at senior level. There shouldn't be any finessing of the scores to give the "correct" or expected placements. The score for that element should be consistent no matter what. But it doesn't work that way in FS. And that's the real problem.

We'd probably just get ridiculed and dismissed as being hysterical fan girls rather than sports fans with legitimate scoring concerns.

Random question for the native Japanese speakers: Do you have an equivalent gesture for sarcastic air quotes? Like I thought the judging at Saitama was "perfect" when I mean it was the total opposite. https://tenor.com/view/quotation-marks-chris-farley-air-quotes-supposedly-quote-gif-6227358