Moria Polonius

I don't mean to rain on the parade, but do you guys think judges actually watch skaters' press conferences?

I'm a bit disappointed, I thought TE would do Yuzu good. But on the bright side, now I'll be able to sleep during team events and not be a zombie the next day!

Hmmm. If he had calculated correctly, he'd have decided on the Prince SP.

Do we know already whether Yuzu will be participating in Team event? Practices in Pyeongchang for the Team Event start on Feb 1st. I'm thinking it'd be actually a great opportunity to get adjusted to time difference and familiarize oneself with the place. The downside would be that ice-time would be limited to under 2 hours a day.

Probably my favorite theme! I hope it stays default forever! Edit: if you click on "who's online - full list" an the starter page, lots of people have the default icon. Talk about the murderface!

Jeff. I think his works for Yuzu are absolute masterpieces, original concept of Chopin and LGC in particular. He didn't let any note of music go to waste. Some of David Wilson's works too. (Javi's SP this year is amazing) I need to say that I enjoy Kenji Miyamoto's style too, a lot. I think Camerlengo committed a few pieces I enjoyednas well.

Pro: it's his second rodeo, whereas for his (probably) greatest rivals, Nathan and Shoms it's the first one. Of course that doesn't shield him from Javi and Patrick. On the other hand experience hasn't exactly helped Patrick and Yuzu is going to put more pressure on himself than anybody else. But it's not like Nathan with the American hype behind him and Shoma won't put pressure on themselves, with Hanyu's status unknown there's a possibility of winning the whole shebang in their minds. (Just watch Boyang being the only chill one up there, lol.) I think Yuzuru's focus will be similar to that of Helsinki FS - he will be catching up but not just for a disappointing SP but for the entire season he's missed. I believe he will be in the zone. (Well, most of my pro reasoning could eveasily argued as a con, I'm so bad at this.)

Omg, how could I have missed this jewel? Enrique CoMa is the spirit animal of this entire fandom, his sniffling while calling the jumps is just too precious! Off topic: Seeing the comments on the TCCs skill concerning the recuperation of skaters, I looked up Junhwan's nationals and his 4S is just out out of this world butter smooth. I rewached it 5 times and I still find it hard to believe it was a quad. /offtopic

It might be reasonable managing of expectations if Yuzuru's rivals were presenting a better form. As it is, Yuzu's chances, despite everything, are no lesser than theirs.

Huh. I find it a bit sad thst Yuzu's massive "scope", as Misha calls it, prevents him from doing what he wants, that it's difficult to break out of the machine that keeps his career in motion. Oh well, some sacrifices have to be made, I guess. I hope we will be able to see the collaboration though.

That's true as well, there are both pros and cons of doing the FS. It's probably in the hands of the federation though.

I don't know.... There are 6 days between the team FS and individual SP. It could be enough to have a rest and Yuzu might indeed use some competition practice with his FS. In Sochi he skated SP in the team event and did brilliantly with it in the individual one. However, what are the chances of Japan advancing to the team FS? In Sochi they had a pretty strong Pair which they do not have now. I think who will skate the SP will depend on who is more likely to place higher, Yuzu or Shoma and Shoma's been quite consistent with his SP, hasnt he? There's no going around the "no day of rest between SP an FS" though, I think this will impact everybody's skate much more than whether they skated in team event or not. I'm wondering now whether the fact that the events are earlier this year will not a be a blessing in disguise for Yuzu. Skaters in the last flight will have more time to do press conferences and drug tests, and perhaps they'll have some time to wind down a bit and actually catch some sleep. (I pity the skaters in the early flights though, they will have to either skip the practice or compete on no sleep at all.)

Mods, if you think the topic is too hot, just delete it. Well, sad news: Russia as a country has been excluded from the 2018 Olympic Games. The athletes will be allowed to compete under the neutral flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia". The big question is, will they though? Will all of them give it a pass? Will some of them choose to go? If they do choose to go, what rules will apply to who can compete, will "Olympic Athletes from Russia" inherit Russia's slots or will they be treated as a new country with one skater allowed? Something else entirely? If they choose not to go, which seems very likely, will their slots be redistributed to skaters from other countries? Is there an alternate list?

I think so... In Poland education is compulsory until 18 meaning a person must remain at school until that age, unless they finish all 12 grades earlier. No dropping out for us. And a full master's course at uni takes 5 years in most fields, so people are usually not fully graduated until 23/24... I never knew that in other countries you it could be done by the age of 19/20!

In my country (Poland) compulsory pre-uni education takes 12 years, which normally makes applicants 18/19 years, like in the UK.

That's pretty harsh - risking a top skater like that. Damn. I never thought I'd feel sorry for Med. "Go skating on your fractured foot because Russian Fed /our school wants medals, never mind that you might bomb because of your injury, get no medals, damage your reputation and risk your Olympic chances." Argh. I hope I'm wrong and Eteri and Russian fed will be reasonable and not pressure her unnecessarily.

I'm confused, why would it make a difference who takes her place? Zagitova's most likely to win in Med's absence anyway. Edit: Thanks Yata, I'll move my question!

I wonder what ratings other competitions with Japanese skaters get. I kinda understand that lots of people would tune out if there's no chance their skater would be on the podium, but what about competitions with Shoma, for example?

I like them, right up my alley... The arrow one though, omg.

Nah... The more I think of it Brian must be Dumbledore. I mean, Brian's even in charge of a school! Tracy can be McGonagall. But then secondary parents Brian and Tracy are fitting. Lol, that's the reason I never read fusion fics, the characters just don't fit exactly.

Not Brian? The wise mentor who teaches him everything? Then who is Brian? I guess there's not a Snape around Yuzu though, a teacher who hates him but is secretly a good guy who saves him. Unless we force David Wilson in that role, minus the hate.

Are you guys still writing that Yuzu/Harry Potter fusion fanfic? Who ended up being Dumbledore and Snape?

The only way Yuzu won't be going into Olys as a favorite is if he loses GPF and Japanese Nationals, but even then he'll be co-favorite if he wins NHK, which he will because his only competition is Patrick who doesn't seem in best shape. Before the Olys, only results will determine the hype, not propaganda. But I also believe that no matter what, whether Yuzu enters Olys as an absolute favorite or a bit of an underdog, the pressure will be the same, just different type. It will be either "he's the best in history" type of pressure or " take back your rightful place" type of pressure. (Well, unless GPF in general is a mess and Yuzu wins be being the least terrible, because then the hype in general will plateu.) But anyway, IMO there is no scenario where some of the pressure will be taken off Yuzu. However, there are scenarios where tremendous pressure will be put on others, Nathan and Shoma specifically. If Nathan wins GPF? Whoo boy. If Shoma wins GPF? Similar. That extra pressure may very well affect their performance, like I believe pressure affected Yuzu's performance in Sochi. Paradoxically, I think Nathan or Shoma winning GPF might screw them over, not Yuzu. So, overall, who knows where the chips will fall.

Isn't there some "varied air position" bullet towards the GOE though? I saw an explanation somewhere that tanos and rippons are a way to satisfy this bullet, and therefore potentially raising one's GOE.

Is this what they call it these days?