barbara

Roman is using a BTS song for his 2021-22 season Gala. And there are plenty of great ones Yuzu could use (they have Japanese versions of quite a few songs) - including two new ones (Butter being one of them, but Permission to Dance, just out last night, is super upbeat and happy.)

That is one short crumb. 22 seconds. But he looks good and it's great to hear his voice.

Also - Yuzu really likes BTS and it's the #1 group in the world. Roman is doing his new Gala program to BTS and I'd expect you'll see more skaters following. They have a very Yuzu attitude towards hard work and excellence. And, seriously, we have been experiencing an 18 month long Yuzu drought with very, very little Yuzu content available. I suggest you watch some BTS on YouTube (especially their more recent stuff) and enjoy. They are also very socially conscious and are extraordinarily influential in helping different charities globally.

Yet, hockey players are protected. The ISU should implement safety protocols. Period. Ted can really be an idiot.

I may squeak a little during the actual performance - and even the practices - but am more the silent, jaw-dropped-open fanyu.

it wasn't Brian's decision and no one NO ONE should have left the decision to skate to an injured teenager who is known to shake off injuries. Someone with a concussion does not know they have a concussion. Period. Your brain can get snapped around inside your skull and consequences of that injury are unlikely to appear immediately but can be devastating. I am grateful that Yuzu doesn't seem to have suffered any permanent damage from that collision but everything about how that was handled was wrong (and not because of his coach, who, oddly, had no influence over the decision to skate anyway.) Today (and in almost any other sport) he'd be sent to a hospital to be properly evaluated.

Not at all....I also have video from ACI 2019, but we had to shoot through the thick puck-marked hockey glass.... Thanks. Edit: I tried - I got a message saying the file is too big (?).

I think that today this kind of collision, and the force of it, and his immediate disorientation, would be enough for him to not allowed back on the ice. But then the ISU has demonstrated less regard for the health (especially long term health) than any sports organization I can think of. I think of Natasha Richardson (actress, Vanessa Redgrave's daughter, Liam Neeson's wife) who had one spill while learning to ski and hit her head. She seemed fine, didn't go to the hospital and ended up dead. I don't know if she'd have been okay if she'd immediately gotten medical treatment but it was a wakeup call for a lot of people. It really is amazing that Yuzu could skate and continue getting up, fall after fall, and do so well. He is tenacious and refuses to give up. But I hope people are paying more attention to head injuries these days.

And heard.

Okay - I've never uploaded anything to Google Drive and am clueless if this will work... To be fair to the other PW poster, the lighting was very weird in the arena for the SCI Gala, so clarity isn't magnificent. Also, I stopped recording as soon as he was done so I could scream appropriately and not be messing with my iPhone (and, yes, this was with an iPhone6). For me, it's especially sweet to know who those loudest screams are from (just behind me). https://drive.google.com/file/d/12d3pMeNNkKEb8VpAV7W83O1Tlz7GQz2n/view?usp=sharing

My video is actually clearer, but I don't have a YouTube channel, so, oh, well.... It was magical.

It's also been reported that all hotel accommodations anywhere near the venue were instantly booked 100%, so getting a place to stay that would be able to provide that documentation required looks pretty difficult, if not impossible.

He's never been better. If he's anything less, it might be speed in and out, but I don't even see that. But he still needs to get back to his jumping coach.

That is definitely a portrait of me. Just so fine.

You also need a visa. If you really plan on going, find out now how soon you need to apply for one and where to do that.

I just do not have faith that Yuzu will be skating in the 2022-2023 season. Unless he gets back to his coaches and has actual training, his chances at the Olympics (and a successful 4A) are hurt. If he doesn't have a stellar season, I don't think he'd come back.

Well, my plans for the upcoming season just went to hell. NC at SCI? He just ruined it for me. Sure - he gets to pick two close cities because he won last year's Worlds (unfair scoring, as we all know), but... ISU is about to find out what a huge mistake they've made by choosing who they thought would be the popular guy and making everything easy for him and not backing the GOAT. Disappointment hardly describes how I feel. My only hope of seeing Yuzu skate live again is if he does go back to TCC (and I hope he does, for this training and not just for me) and does ACI or possibly Nebelhorn or Finlandia that I could possibly get to. For those who aren't aware, trying to get tickets to any FS event in Japan is a near impossibility for anyone not in Japan or knowing someone in Japan. So NHK and the Final are out. And Russia requires a visa. And it has to be applied for and secured in advance - not that I want to go to a country that has paid such disregard for their athletes' health. So Russia is out. No Yuzu for me. I am crying.

Well, may he who pulls in ratings rule the day!

China has been changing their travel restrictions based on outbreaks in assorted provinces. I can't imagine anyone traveling to China for a Challenger event, but I imagine there will be Russians there. I'm sure he'd like to try to actual rink, but, depending on where he is training (and hoping it's Canada), I can't see him going there. (I'm just a wishful thinker....)

If Yuzu is vaccinated and tests negative on arrival, I suspect his quarantine would be much shorter that 14 days (3 is what I'm thinking). Of course, we still don't know what his plans are but I have hope he'll be back at TCC because he's said his 4A is temporarily on hold (I think he wants Ghislain to help with that). And, fingers crossed, just because tickets aren't on sale for ACI now doesn't mean they won't be in a month.

The reason that Japan lags behind most advanced countries in getting their population vaccinated has nothing to do with "vaccine hesitancy" unless you mean hesitancy by the government. The authorities did not approve almost any of the otherwise globally approved vaccines for many, many months, and wanted to do their own testing (which I can understand a little). There simply didn't seem, to observers, that there was any sense of urgency. It isn't the people of Japan who are displaying the hesitancy - the vaccines have simply not been available or offered and they won't even be able to inoculate residents 65 and older until the end of July! And residents 16 and older into the fall.

My presumption regarding Yuzu putting his 4A on the back burner is that he probably wants to have some proper in-person coaching to push it to perfection. And he doesn't want to get injured working on it on his own. He can have that as his goal this coming season and I hope he breaks it out, but not while risking injury. As to the vaccine - he is a very literate and science-based person and I have no doubt he will be vaccinated ASAP. He wants to skate; he wants to train; he wants to compete. And, of course, he wants to stay healthy. (And also insure he doesn't in anyway jeopardize the health of the older members of his family, who I hope will become eligible for vaccinations very soon.)

This is your tipping point? Wow - you held out tipping a lot longer than me. I tipped years ago.

Currently, Canada is remaining closed to most until July 21, but they are also far further along in getting the population vaccinated. 64% have received at least one dose, though close to 15% of all people 12 and older are totally vaccinated. The 52-59% of the population that is "partially" vaccinated will be getting their additional doses probably by mid to late summer. And I remember that Shoma and Yuzu had to quarantine upon returning from Worlds last spring. The situation in Japan hasn't really gotten any better. Also, Yuzu's coaches are in Canada - he can only have Zoom coaching while he remains in Japan and that is SO far from ideal, especially heading into an Olympic season. The decision is his, of course, but I hope he does return to Canada as soon as he can (and a fully vaccinated Yuzu should have no problem returning there at the end of summer, if not before. (Not quite the same topic, but if he is involved with the summer Olympics, he will have been vaccinated. All staff and support people and Japanese participants are supposed to be getting vaccinated.)

I would think one of the principal issues for junior skaters at those early events is their inability to travel back to Japan because there will likely still be quarantine requirements in place. Of course, until Japan gets large proportion of their population vaccinated, even senior skaters will have problems with travel - unless they start in another country. Shoma will be in Switzerland. Hopefully, Yuzu will evaluate all this and decide to get back to TCC ASAP. He'll be vaccinated - but would his mother be? If Yuzu is based in Toronto, he will be able to travel to any of the GP cities and end up back in Japan for JNats (and maybe NHK). Just hoping.