General Yuzuru Chat

[Katt]

 Brian said they separate Yuzuru and Javi to different rink sometimes, so it doesn't mean the whole season, they still share some sessions together each week. I think its a good idea. You  don't want to show all your tricks/training progress to your direct rival. Olympic is a different beast and I'm sure coachs at TCC, who watch them for years know enough to come up with that decision. 

I  every single time I look at Olympic's schedule. Some skaters have to practice at 6.30 am, that's mean they have to wake up from ....  3am  or even earlier ??? 

[yuzuangel]

27 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I share at @SparkleSalad's relief. Though I didn't get my picture taken, it was a relief not to be quoted again, as I dreaded what they'd say. And it's actually that first article that put a huge damp on this one. I talked to that writer for at least 10 minutes and all he found worth writing was that I was checking my phone for news every few minutes. I talked to him about why I like Yuzu and while admittedly my answers weren't as emotional as others, it would have maybe helped show the variety among fans. So, I guess, because of my own experience in talking to the guy - and I didn't particularly want to be quoted or named, but I did want him to consider my words more in his impressions - I see it in a not so great light.

 

Overall, the article seems kind of all over the place. He kind of jumps from topic to topic, like he doesn't really know what he wants to say. His words about Yuzu are very nice at times and he seems like he wants to compliment without fawning, but he also seems to completely fall off the wagon at times.

 

I also find the word 'obsession' to be offensive, as it often has negative connotations. Why can't they use 'devotion' or so? As for Yuzu's fixation on quads, I also find that offensive, because it takes ambition and balls to keep challenging. It would be so much easier to settle for what he can do and play safe. It'd also be nice if they mentioned the others' fixation on quads because it's the only way they can try to keep up with him.

 

And lastly, some of the quotes seem plucked from other interviews. Like the "I want to stir something in people's hearts" from the ANA interview last year or when it was. And that bugs me... And also makes me question everything in that article that I haven't heard from other, credible sources. Like the bus and coach pick-up stories. Especially since we've seen Yuzu often being driven to the club, most probably by his mother.

 

Also, and this is left-over from reading a ton of Western media articles about X Japan that made me want to tear my hair out with the inaccuracies, I'm very much against the "oh, it's Western/US media, inaccuracies are fine, just be happy they wrote anything at all." Honestly, from my PoV, if they can't get their facts straight, I'd rather they don't write anything at all.

 

That said, the article wasn't bad. And it got a lot of stuff right. Personally, I'd rather just label it as weird ^_^;

 

On the other topic, thank you, Javi! I feel a bit sad, because he seems to be playing down their friendship/companionship again - or maybe just setting the record straight - which may or may not be a consequence of fangirl comments. But I agree with who said separating them was a bad idea. I can see why it would seem like a good idea, but such a change in training habits in Oly season... but hopefully they know better.

 

Oh and regarding the quiet around Yuzu, my favorite thing in the whole NYT article, and I HOPE this is true, was Kobayashi with the timer, limiting journalists' time with Yuzu to around 5 minutes. It shows JSF - or at least Kobayashi - is looking out for him and will not let the media attention affect him. And remembering Brian said he believed the top three skaters being caught in a lot of media stuff until very late at night after the SP in Sochi played a big part in why they messed up in the FS, as they didn't get to rest much, I find that JSF attitude very encouraging.

 

Thank you for this post and your perspective. I agree with you on all points 

[Lunna]

20 минут назад, Katt сказал:

I  every single time I look at Olympic's schedule. Some skaters have to practice at 6.30 am, that's mean they have to wake up from ....  3am  or even earlier ??? 

Actually it's almost the same schedule as at Helsinki. I remember even in a later groups not all guys were trying to jump at all during last SP open practice (I remember Boyang was mostly skating around, Yuzu was persistent as always...). I just can't get my head around the fact why they couldn't swap Men with Pairs so both will have a rest between SP and FS  

[micaelis]

1 hour ago, Floria said:

Sometimes I think that the lack of news is a part of TCC pre-olympic strategy. It is always more difficult to fight the unknown and for Yuzu it is an advantage now that his rivals (except Javi) know nothing about his current state and possible layout changes.

Actually, I've been thinking along the same lines.  I think back to WWII in the actions leading up to D-Day.  There was a great deal of attention to the pre-invasion strategies, with armaments, both real and fabricated, being located in such a way as to deceive the Germans into thinking the invasion would be at locations on the French coast different from the actual target locales.  Such strategies are frequently encountered in many different contexts.  Here I think Brian is doing just what Floria contemplated - Keep Yuzu under wraps.  Even if he was capable of competing, no 4CC.  Make Yuzu the big mystery.  Javi knows, I'm sure, just what Yuzu is doing, even if they aren't training together right now, although I think Brian might have some training sessions with the two together, since they seem to feed off each other's efforts.  I think this is also a means of bringing media attention on the competition - having the world's number one skater off the ice by injury and training back to full form all in secrecy.  The great mystery then is - How much has Yuzuru Hanyu recovered from his injury and is he back to skating as excellently as he used to?  If he skates in the team competition I can guarantee that the eyes of the skating world will be on that performance.

[Danibellerika]

12 minutes ago, Lunna said:

Actually it's almost the same schedule as at Helsinki. I remember even in a later groups not all guys were trying to jump at all during last SP open practice (I remember Boyang was mostly skating around, Yuzu was persistent as always...). I just can't get my head around the fact why they couldn't swap Men with Pairs so both will have a rest between SP and FS  

I was a zombie in Helsinki getting to those practices and then you have long day ahead of actual competition...and I'm just the spectator!  And yeah, I agree with you about how they didn't stagger the days between the two. It makes no sense.  Ice dance I could understand being back to back, but even ladies gets a day's rest! 

[Katt]

18 minutes ago, Lunna said:

Actually it's almost the same schedule as at Helsinki. I remember even in a later groups not all guys were trying to jump at all during last SP open practice (I remember Boyang was mostly skating around, Yuzu was persistent as always...). I just can't get my head around the fact why they couldn't swap Men with Pairs so both will have a rest between SP and FS  

You're right, its about 1 hour earlier than Men FS in Helsinki ( and Yuzuru also left the last OP early) . Only ladies have a day rest between SP and LP, because NBC  . 

[KatjaThera]

36 minutes ago, Katt said:

 Brian said they separate Yuzuru and Javi to different rink sometimes, so it doesn't mean the whole season, they still share some sessions together each week. I think its a good idea. You  don't want to show all your tricks/training progress to your direct rival. Olympic is a different beast and I'm sure coachs at TCC, who watch them for years know enough to come up with that decision.

I don't think that has anything to do with why they were separated. They respect each other too much to take advantage of each other's weaknesses or actively spy on each other. Or at least I like to think so. I think it had more to do with frustrations when one had a good day and the other not, maybe to avoid the possibility of them second guessing their choices - because they've adopted very different attitudes going into this, and seeing the other succeed might make them doubt their own choices - and to make it a bit easier for the coaches. But yes, they did say it was only two days per week that they were separated. Which isn't really much. But I still wonder if changing that dynamic so close to Oly - from what Javi had said, it had only just started before ACI, so it likely hadn't been the case throughout the Summer - is really a good thing. Something must have broken for them to fix it, though, so I'll trust Brian to know what he's doing...

[beki]

It’s not too surprising that the article didn’t tell us devoted fans anything we didn’t already know.

 

Frank Caroll’s comments were pretty eyeroll-worthy, but I have to give him props for always advancing the American agenda.

 

I don’t necessarily object to the word obsession. He chases his ideal relentlessly, even heedlessly. You could see it as Yuzu’s tragic flaw, or his greatest driver. Kind of depends how it turns out in Pyeongchang. He doesn’t skate safe, but at least he’s never boring.

[Katt]

2 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I don't think that has anything to do with why they were separated. They respect each other too much to take advantage of each other's weaknesses or actively spy on each other. Or at least I like to think so. I think it had more to do with frustrations when one had a good day and the other not, maybe to avoid the possibility of them second guessing their choices - because they've adopted very different attitudes going into this, and seeing the other succeed might make them doubt their own choices - and to make it a bit easier for the coaches. But yes, they did say it was only two days per week that they were separated. Which isn't really much. But I still wonder if changing that dynamic so close to Oly - from what Javi had said, it had only just started before ACI, so it likely hadn't been the case throughout the Summer - is really a good thing. Something must have broken for them to fix it, though, so I'll trust Brian to know what he's doing...

I agreed with this. But even before this, they didn't share all training session together. They have different schedule, different aspects which need more attention and focus. Whether the separation is a good thing or not, we never know. I just trust Brian and other coaches as well, they watch their skaters everyday and know when they need a change. 

 

 

[yuzuangel]

4 minutes ago, beki said:

Frank Caroll’s comments were pretty eyeroll-worthy, but I have to give him props for always advancing the American agenda.

 

Yeah I actually rolled my eyes  like, you can't find a single nice thing to say about Yuzuru? Really? Come on.  

The way he tries to package all of his skaters into a next Michelle Kwan makes me question his taste. He's clearly still living in 6.0 era.

[Forcefield]

1 minute ago, yuzuangel said:

Yeah I actually rolled my eyes  like, you can't find a single nice thing to say about Yuzuru? Really? Come on.  

The way he tries to package all of his skaters into a next Michelle Kwan makes me question his taste. He's clearly still living in 6.0 era.

 

Unfortunately, he's not the only one. 

[yuzuangel]

Just now, Forcefield said:

 

Unfortunately, he's not the only one. 

Well, there are bitter and jealous people in the world. 

[beki]

To me his statements are more strategic than sincere. Hence why I don’t care. Since all the other men have been meh this year, saying Yuzuru’s nothing special doesn’t really land. Who’s special then?

[Hydroblade]

Theme has been reset to the Road to Pyeongchang one, the Happy Birthday and New Year's theme are available to use tho

[Sammie]

Who is one of Frank Caroll skater? Give me an idea of who he thinks is better then Yuzu. Lol