barbara

He has Pooh.

Yes, it is.

Then this must be his perfect world. I love that he gets to keep it to himself - how often has he been able to do that? I expect to be floored.

Join up with the forum [2020] Japanese Nationals (23-27.12) - Practice, Fluff and All the In-betweens.... If you get the iSakura deal, you can watch it live but also go back and watch it again. I went with a 7 day membership. Get it now so any bugs can be worked out (and I had several...)

Hooray for an actual Japanese reader seeing that tweet and giving us better news. I do hope he competes but also want him to not worry.

"Some skaters" have seen? I should think that "some" is pretty much exclusively Jeff, Brian, Ghislain and possibly a couple of skaters training at the rink in Sendai (but even that is unlikely).

I don't know, but now that I've seen it, I've commented, too. Ha!

I don't think he'll go for the 4A at JNats - he doesn't need it to win this and I would think he would like to have Ghislain helping him perfect that before debuting it. Or not. Maybe he'll surprise us, but he wants to win so badly that I don't think he'd risk adding this new element that isn't even worth very many points. Unless he plans on this being his last competition, but I'm thinking, no, this is not his last.

He really, really, really wants his title back.

I'm pretty sure that Jeff Buttle confirmed that he had done choreo for the new SP, and that was months ago. Plenty of time for him to personalize and perfect it. I'd guess Shae-Lynn for the long, and they have worked remotely before, for ice shows, but who knows. I really want him to compete and to win this - but I'd feel a lot better if the JSF kept the competition spectator-free.

While I agree that JSF certainly doesn't have the kind of respect for Yuzu that he merits (and think of all the skaters inspired by him -that's who are in the pipeline for Japan's skating future), I really don't think that they would do something so nefarious regarding the safety of the atmosphere inside the rink. And he wouldn't be the only one impacted, either. I do hope he skates and takes back his title with a performance that will blow our collective socks off (and be so great that even the JSF can't take #1 from him).

Let me share my opinion - I think he is technically the best - when he skates clean. He is almost always underscored on his spins and it's as if judges just don't even notice how complicated and smooth his transitions are. His stamina has been building over the last decade and maybe the shorter long program, while missing time enough for some bits of artistry, is just what he needs to do a skate even he is satisfied with.

The US gov't continues to be embarrassing, at best. Pfizer - a company that took zero money from the government for vaccine development - offered up additional doses (100-200K) in late summer, also at no cost. What did trump do? They turned it down, in spite of the fact that they were already in phase 3 trials and there was no cost to the government. That's when Pfizer offered up the supply, and it was was purchased and committed to the EU and Japan. Absolutely a dereliction of duty and actual complicity in people dying. Hoping Moderna is already ramping up production and that when Biden takes over the WH, we will have a far better chance of receiving actual federal leadership in this. So, I am hopeful that I, as an unfortunate American, will be allowed to travel to Canada, etc., by fall because I am even more hopeful that the 2021-22 season happens and that Yuzu is part of that. I cannot wait to see him on the ice again.

The vaccine will be the start but it won't realistically make any sort of world attendance competition possible this season. March? Most in the US will not be immune by then, let alone all the countries with athletes competing. And 4CC? No way Australia is going to allow travel there this year. Best all around if we accept that international competition is over for this year, hope we get to see Yuzu at JNats, if it's safe and he wants to go, but otherwise, best to put this year behind us. Once he has been vaccinated and Toronto is safe - he can travel there and train seriously for next year, with his coaches and supporting skaters. They all skate better when they have training mates.

A couple of neat tweets - and

You can't practice ear wiggles, though. You can do it or you can't. It kind of gives him an unfair advantage. (Though I have said before that even his ears have muscles - and I didn't know about the ear wiggling then.)

Fortunately, there are literally hundreds of hours of videos you can now watch and be blown away with every one. Not just competitions, but his shows, too. And interviews. Competitions is a good place to start, though his junior years ('til 2010) are remarkable. Be warned about COC 2014 where there's an ugly crash - but it is example of one of his most admirable qualities, that inspires me. He doesn't give up. He comes back. He gets better. He sees every set back as an opportunity. He is kind and generous. But you'll find out about all that. First, watch him evolve. I'm a little bit jealous of seeing him for the first time....

I can see that Yuzu is maximum muscle. All lean muscle. His chest and shoulders and back (etc, etc) are nothing by muscle. Even his ears have muscles. If he wanted to skate pairs, he could (and would, no doubt) do what he'd need to to bulk up so he could easily lift another skater. I truly believe he will always be a singles skater and that when he does retire, he'll coach.

1452 days? But who's counting? I admire your precision. I'd say there was life before him and life after. I barely remember before because he's made such a difference in my life, though I have to say an appearance right about now would boost this year a lot.

I don't see him doing pairs just because he really doesn't have the size or body type for it. Have you seen the workouts the Canadian pairs guys do, off the ice? They are all pretty tall and all have very built up chest and shoulder muscles. The only one I know of who doesn't fit that is Jean Luc, though he skates for the US.

Sorry

I think that the info in this tweet pretty much guarantees that Yuzu will not want to chance going to Nationals...

No way - twice as long at GPFinal as they took for NC - trying to find a way to NOT give Yuzu the points he deserved. The results were pre-destined. And the poohs get picked up pretty quickly. 4CC - yes, it took a while to get those poohs off, but I think even the coaches were trying to figure out what was taking so long. Way longer than it took to get the poohs off the ice.

I'll send a tweet about this directly back to the PH tweet, but I need to inform everyone that Dec 7th is not next Sunday. It's a Monday. I don't know if that is going to impact anything in particular. The thing is that most of us would be watching and celebrating on Sunday the 6th, but it would already be the 7th in Japan.

That attitude by the JSF just seems to be discouraging prolonged excellence. I don't recall the Canadians begrudging Scott and Tessa or Kurt a long and successful career. Japan's skating cannot do anything but benefit from the continued presence of Yuzu, the GOAT.