General Yuzuru Chat

[WinForPooh]

Ah, we melted down a little, did we? Kind of glad I slept through it!

 

Well, I think it'll be fine. What would be the point of all of this secrecy if he just gave it all away at the team event and lost the advantage, too? Now his competitors will have absolutely no clue about his actual competition layout when he does turn up. How much can they adjust if all they see is him in practice, and not during competition? They won't know what to adjust to.

 

And if Yuzu made the decision that he's not doing team event, it must mean he is confident that he can be mentally in the right space without that competition time. He might not be the best judge of whether his body is up to landing a quad when he has a fever, but he is the best judge of his state of mind.

 

At the end of the day, if he was going to have a bad skate at the team event, he would've lost that mental edge of feeling prepared. If it was going to be a good but not great skate, the fear of Yuzu's comeback would've come down. If there was a great skate in the stars, he might not have been able to replicate it again. And worst case scenario, if he's not a hundred percent still, he can power through anything for one short and one free. No point risking himself for more.

[KatjaThera]

1 hour ago, PomeloPooh said:

I read the sports hochi article and also refered to some translation I saw. The wording is that his recovery is a lot later than expected, and they’re opting out of TE to avoid extra burden on his body. So it is for the reason that we fear. Nevertheless, all the pros discussed above still stands. Also, Yuzu as we know, heals slowly but peaks fast.

Honestly, for this part, I'll believe it when JSF or someone from Yuzu's team says it. (I haven't read the actual article, but depending on the wording, it could also mean the recovery ended later than expected, as in he's recovered, but as it was later, he had less time to practice than initially expected...)

 

I also personally wonder if he might not have skipped TE even if the injury had never happened. He's in a completely different position from Sochi and it makes sense to focus just on the individual event. A week between team and single is too much and not enough from many points of view. Not enough if you think of them as two competitions, and too much to go without a proper chance to train - aside from official practices, which IMO are not ideal. Also, remember Javi said that his coaches had already decided he wouldn't do the GPF even if he had qualified for it. Of course, they wouldn't do that with Yuzu, who is very adamant about making his own decisions, but I'm sure Brian & co. would have suggested he sit out the TE with many valuable arguments. TCC was obviously in a 'conserve energy for the events that matter the most' mode. So I tend to think he was never going to do the TE, but it became a maybe after the injury if they decided to use it as practice time. But in the end, it just wasn't worth it.

 

I also don't think not doing the TE has anything to do with convenience. For someone as patriotic as Yuzu, it wouldn't be an easy decision. But in all fairness, Japan would benefit much more from a second OGM than simply having him on the team, even if he broke records or whatever. It's just a pointless waste of energy better spent training. But you can be sure he stressed a lot before accepting that. On the other hand, I think he trusts Shoma to do as well as he himself would have done to help Team Japan as much as possible (or they could totally spin it like that to counter the rivalry stuff )

 

And I understand the panic that he might not be fully healed, but I don't see the point in speculating about that, either, when there are cons to doing the TE even if he were in 150% shape, that others have already mentioned. I think a lot of it has to do with us not being used to knowing he was badly injured while he was actually injured and knowing he has competed while injured, so we always worry he might be injured or not in top health. We probably won't know the truth for a while, though, so maybe we should try to learn from TCC and not waste energy worrying about things that may or may not be true and that, in any case, we can't do anything about. (Although admittedly, I refuse to think he might still be injured because if he is, then Milan would quite definitely be a waste of energy, too, and I can't do that twice...)

[SuzyQ]

Image training for fans 

 

 

[kaeryth]

3 hours ago, souyouki said:

I would be very curious to see if Yuzu did figures under Nanami-sensei, and did he do them under Brian...?

 

Anyone read Aoi Hono and if Yuzu said anything about figures? But here's PJ's podcast (this was in 2017) where @ 14:48 PJ asks about the training in Japan (as oppose to Canada). Takeshi says, "We don't have much ice time in Japan because all the facilities have to do public ice to make some money for the buildings and stuff like that because [it's] a lot of cost." Then @16:58 Takeshi was talking about when skaters are practicing during public ice time they don't do jumps, instead they do "edges, and stroking, and compulsory figures..." When Yuzu was training at Ice Rink Sendai we could see that he sometimes had to train during public ice time so I would assume he would sometimes have to do compulsory figures like Takeshi said.

[KatjaThera]

1 minute ago, kaeryth said:

 

Anyone read Aoi Hono and if Yuzu said anything about figures? But here's PJ's podcast (this was in 2017) where @ 14:48 PJ asks about the training in Japan (as oppose to Canada). Takeshi says, "We don't have much ice time in Japan because all the facilities have do public ice to make some money for the buildings and stuff like that because [it's] a lot of cost." Then @16:58 Takeshi was talking about when skaters are practicing during public ice time they don't do jumps, instead they do "edges, and stroking, and compulsory figures..." When Yuzu was training at Ice Rink Sendai we could see that he sometimes had to train during public ice time so I would assume he would sometimes have to do compulsory figures like Takeshi said.

I don't know about that, but in Team Brian, Yuzu says he pretty much focused on just jump training and hadn't worked on skating skills since he was a child (which would mean he did do it at some point and I'm not sure when the switch happened, but if I were to guess, I'd say when he started doing quads). I'd look up a more precise quote, but I just realized I left my copy at the office >_<

[WinForPooh]

30 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

Honestly, for this part, I'll believe it when JSF or someone from Yuzu's team says it. (I haven't read the actual article, but depending on the wording, it could also mean the recovery ended later than expected, as in he's recovered, but as it was later, he had less time to practice than initially expected...)

 

I also personally wonder if he might not have skipped TE even if the injury had never happened. He's in a completely different position from Sochi and it makes sense to focus just on the individual event. A week between team and single is too much and not enough from many points of view. Not enough if you think of them as two competitions, and too much to go without a proper chance to train - aside from official practices, which IMO are not ideal. Also, remember Javi said that his coaches had already decided he wouldn't do the GPF even if he had qualified for it. Of course, they wouldn't do that with Yuzu, who is very adamant about making his own decisions, but I'm sure Brian & co. would have suggested he sit out the TE with many valuable arguments. TCC was obviously in a 'conserve energy for the events that matter the most' mode. So I tend to think he was never going to do the TE, but it became a maybe after the injury if they decided to use it as practice time. But in the end, it just wasn't worth it.

 

I also don't think not doing the TE has anything to do with convenience. For someone as patriotic as Yuzu, it wouldn't be an easy decision. But in all fairness, Japan would benefit much more from a second OGM than simply having him on the team, even if he broke records or whatever. It's just a pointless waste of energy better spent training. But you can be sure he stressed a lot before accepting that. On the other hand, I think he trusts Shoma to do as well as he himself would have done to help Team Japan as much as possible (or they could totally spin it like that to counter the rivalry stuff )

 

And I understand the panic that he might not be fully healed, but I don't see the point in speculating about that, either, when there are cons to doing the TE even if he were in 150% shape, that others have already mentioned. I think a lot of it has to do with us not being used to knowing he was badly injured while he was actually injured and knowing he has competed while injured, so we always worry he might be injured or not in top health. We probably won't know the truth for a while, though, so maybe we should try to learn from TCC and not waste energy worrying about things that may or may not be true and that, in any case, we can't do anything about. (Although admittedly, I refuse to think he might still be injured because if he is, then Milan would quite definitely be a waste of energy, too, and I can't do that twice...)

I would also not completely believe anything about his injury and recovery being said by anybody right now.

 

It makes absolutely no sense to give that information away when the Olympics is as much about mental strength as physical conditioning. Nobody who wants their athlete to win and have an advantage would come right out and say 'yeah his ankle is, like, totally fucked and we're considering cyborging the shit out of him' unless the athlete was withdrawing. It is completely nonsensical to give his opponents that kind of a mental boost! And I'm sure every camp knows it. Whatever statements come out now about his injury, we can't really believe that it'll be true. It might be because they want somebody like Nathan to underestimate Yuzu's condition and use a lower BV layout. If they say he's perfectly recovered, it might be because they want to put the fear of Yuzu in his competitors.

 

They're not going to tell the whole truth. This is part of the game, too.

 

ETA: We might have seen something different in the way of a PR strategy if Shoma hadn't been beaten by both Nathan and Boyang this season. Yuzu has gone back to being their great medal hope and he's currently both the best and the wildcard. It's a weird combination, but keeping him and his condition completely under wraps makes sense considering his performances are so unpredictable.

[kaeryth]

5 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I don't know about that, but in Team Brian, Yuzu says he pretty much focused on just jump training and hadn't worked on skating skills since he was a child (which would mean he did do it at some point and I'm not sure when the switch happened, but if I were to guess, I'd say when he started doing quads). I'd look up a more precise quote, but I just realized I left my copy at the office >_<

 

If Brian does have them do compulsories it's prolly because he knows how important it is. It may also be saltiness Brian's actually not good at compulsory figures - he lost the gold medal at Sarajevo to Scott Hamilton despite placing 1st in the short and the long program because he came in 7th during compulsories.

[KatjaThera]

Just now, kaeryth said:

 

If Brian does have them do compulsories it's prolly because he knows how important it is. It may also be saltiness Brian's actually not good at compulsory figures - he lost the gold medal at Sarajevo to Scott Hamilton despite placing 1st in the short and the long program because he came in 7th during compulsories.

Well, maybe he wasn't then, but was then super kuyashii and perfected himself just because? lol He did say his younger self had a lot in common with Yuzu. But yes, I'm pretty sure that is the case and it's one of the things he's learned from his own experience.

[SuzyQ]

Figure Skate Magazine.  I love to buy this 

 

https://twitter.com/yuzu_kyun_mami/status/958930811075506176

 

[SSS]

2 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

of course  but i leave next tuesday

i can go to the disney store and buy you one, if you want

morning? evening? isn't just 3 days that I can reach you by US mail? I will go send you pooh tmr.

[Xen]

9 hours ago, Hydroblade said:

I think we should have a bit more faith in him, if there's one thing he excels at is at coming back even stronger than before after a difficult situation. We will panic the first time we see him/get word of him falling during practice, or if he has a not so good practice because we will be all "what if he had a bad practice because he still isn't in a good condition". It's like when you're telling scary stories and every single sound out of the normal makes you flinch.

There's no one who wants this more than him, let's have faith in that he has done everything that was within his control to maximize his chances of obtaining that dream.

Yes, agreed. Just woke up and....what a news to wake up to! 

For those who mentioned that TE doesn't really do much for momentum: 

- Well I think TE works as a way for him to get a feel for competition, and personally I think the LP is more important than SP for him, since he's been able to hit SP with almost no practice as ACI demonstrates. But if Team Japan does not make it to the free, then true there is no point. 

-He could get a feel for competition by watching the TE SP for men's. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think every team would be sending their first seed/medal hopeful for the SP, in which case. ii data.  *cue Inui smirk*

- @Sportymags mentioned flu being a problem. Considering that he will need all the precious practice time possible, catching the flu is the last thing he'd want. He might want to wait a bit and hear if there are any cases popping up in Team Japan's section of the village, and once assured there are none, he can move in. Though I'm worried if he goes there too late, so guess he's moving in on 12th or 13th? Give himself a small buffer. 

-Well, if you're going to be the international man of mystery, might as well take it to the extreme no? But in TCC, with the focus being on Olys and the TE, he has less media scrutiny and pressure. Not something he can avoid, no matter how JSF and his team tries to protect him, once he arrives in PC. Better to go in with little to none, get the events over with, and only take on the media later. 

-Tracy and Briand should both be still at TCC with Yuzu up until the 10th to whenever Yuzu arrives in PC, plus Brian should be reachable at hours outside the TE. So training wise, I'm not too worried? I keep on thinking of that one time Yuzu mentioned having homework from Brian, and how he worked hard to not disappoint his sensei-wonder what homework Brian left for him this time. Especially since Tracy is around monitoring the execution of said homework.

 

Assuming for TE, all the countries send our their strongest, men's SP will be interesting. Patrick, Shoma, Mikhail, Boyang, Nate-if the lineup-are all capable of scoring well over 100 there. One little mess-up and you could lose position from the top 3. There is a distinct possibility that the highest SP could go to either Patrick or Boyang, if Shoma or Nathan are not careful. Add in Cha, Bychenko all with quads and capable of messing up the rankings further. 

 

As for momentum- after 4CC, the only one in the TE event with some international momentum is Boyang. The other guys are at next to none. Shoma sure, has JNats title, but that can get overshadowed by the fact his three recent international outings he has had unclean skates and lost 3 in a row (IdF, GPF, 4CC). Nate has won GPF, but does anyone want to be reminded of how he won? He hasn't won the free skate against either Shoma or Yuzu, winning by tiny margins from his SP points. I also don't think the continuous rubbing of "Nathan is Balletic" does him any favors-if you hype expectations up on his artistry, some judges may be disappointed, some may also not enjoy having "artistry" rubbed in their faces-politics wise, thanks for the giant bull's eye on the back since there's no one else on team USA they need to really maneuver for/against. 

 

On the other hand...my colleagues won't get to see me freak out in the office. 

[WinForPooh]

All of what @Xen said, too.

 

I'm not panicked because... I didn't expect to see him in the team event, honestly. It looks like the men's individual event is being seen as do or die. That's the sense I've been getting from the complete ninja-ing. Well, he'll do or we'll die, I suppose. Nothing we can do except believe that his mind is in the perfect space, because if it is, he can skate on phantom feet and still win. The lad has been as Extra about the whole mind over matter philosophy as about anything else.

[yuzuangel]

18 minutes ago, SSS said:

morning? evening? isn't just 3 days that I can reach you by US mail? I will go send you pooh tmr.

night...if you send it tmrw then i should be able to get it 

[Xen]

7 minutes ago, yuzuangel said:

night...if you send it tmrw then i should be able to get it 

I will send my spiritual/mental pooh to PC with you guys. =) Please scream at the top of your lungs in our stead when he skates. 

[SparkleSalad]

I think this is all just a ploy to keep us dry and desperate enough to buy up all the recycled CoR and white-shirt magazines.