General Yuzuru Chat

[mokjakarma]

5 minutes ago, Sombreuil said:

Better that media stays out of it until the investigation is complete.  There is nothing worse than a case of this sort being compromised by irresponsible reporting.

Now that you say that, yeah I agree.

[KatjaThera]

16 minutes ago, kiches said:

Doug Haw may not be able to stop TSL from gossiping, but clearly Brian and the Cricket Club know that he's been speaking to TSL. I'm sure if he wanted to Brian could turn to Doug and tell him to stop (why they have allowed this to continue since last season is beyond me), or stop feeding Doug info to relay to TSL. Likewise, I don't understand what Brian hopes to gain by giving the type of interview he did to Phil Hersh of all people about the subject of why he wasn't at the GPF. To me, what he said just makes it the look like whole team and club were not on the same page when it came to preparation for the GPF, whatever happened there I hope all sides learn from it.

 

Either way, Brian and Ghislain have a long and strong friendship as Fay mentioned (saw them casually having lunch together between practices at Skate Canada and they seemed as chummy as friends would be). I think Yuzu and Brian have a much more professional relationship, although I do think they have their own unique bond just like Yuzu had with Javi despite the fact that they didn't really hang out outside the rink. Is it the same type of bond that Brian had with Javi or that Yuzu has with Ghislain? Probably not. Does it need to be? Not really, so long as everyone is professional and keeps the skaters best interest in mind.

If Doug is a TCC member - no idea if he is, just saying

 

- then I'm not sure there's much Brian can do to prevent him from going there and speaking. As long as he doesn't reveal actual, strategic info - which he doesn't seem to have access to - I think he's fairly harmless. All fans know better than to take that stuff too seriously anyway. As for Phil, Brian refusing to speak to him would likely only make things worse and Phil would be able to make a bigger story of it, saying Brian won't talk because there really IS trouble in paradise. Brian can't really win here. Maybe he hoped that fans would know to read between the lines of Phil's article and ignore the crap.

 

3 hours ago, quadaxelwin said:

 

 

Didn't Brian also call Yuzu "very sensitive" when he had that practice drama incident with Denis Ten at 2016 Worlds in Boston? I heard Denis used to purposely disrupt Yuzu's practice, and Yuzu got annoyed because it was getting repetitive. Then Orser opened his mouth by calling Yuzu "sensitive" and didn't defend Yuzu from the backlash that followed. This isn't the first time I've seen him open his mouth to the media in ways that was like "wah?"

However, I do feel Yuzu has chemistry with all 3 coaches at TCC; Tracy, Orser and Ghislain. Seeing as how Eteri camp also has 3 coaches for each top skater, maybe 3 is a magic number. I think whether or not Yuzu has a favorite coach doesn't matter, as long as all 3 contribute to coaching Yuzu, and as long as Yuzu feels happy at TCC.

I cannot imagine Yuzu training anywhere else, because he's been in TCC for almost 9 years now. It's his second home. 

 

Also I think TSL trying to create drama between Ghislain and Orser is not helping. Doug Haw should seriously text TSL to stop creating necessary drama about Yuzu's coaches. 

IMO, the way Brian handled the Denis Ten issue was a mistake, but I think his heart was still in a good place. I think it was the same kind of reaction a parent has towards a child who falls but doesn't actually get hurt, just scared, by saying "Come on, it's not that big a deal, get up." (And no, I'm not saying Brian is treating Yuzu like he's a child. It's just an attitude people sometimes take to things like this, in an attempt to lower the tension, and the parent-child example is the one that comes to mind quickest). Trying to make the issue seem less like a big deal in order to diffuse the moment, precisely to take away the attention from Yuzu and put the whole thing behind. Giving the example of Max and Javi as a way to handle the issue and that entire attitude were wrong and I'm sure Yuzu did not appreciate it, which perhaps made him shut himself inside himself even more, which only made the whole Boston mess worse. I hope they eventually spoke about it and Yuzu was able to explain why the incident upset him so much. From what I remember reading, Brian did understand Yuzu was upset, but was trying to force him to move on, rather than dwell on it, because there wasn't really time for that, hence pretending to have a more flippant attitude. It backfired, possibly, but the intention was good. And I'd like to think he learned from it.

 

I think Yuzu didn't handle that season very well either, because it seems he didn't communicate much with his coaches - I'm sure his struggles with English were part of it, too, and maybe that's part of why he's been making an extra effort to improve his English - around then. And perhaps even before. There's footage - in the first DVD, I think - of Yuzu practicing in 2013, ahead of Worlds and asking Tracy for a break, but, at least in that footage, he failed to tell her that the reason why he needed a break was because his leg was hurting, although you can see from her expression that she knows something is not right (we all know he competed at Worlds with a bad knee and then sprained his ankle on top of it, too). Also, ahead of Boston, Brian was saying in interviews that Yuzu had been injured, but was all healed by then. Which I always wondered if he was just playing Yuzu's game - we know Yuzu insisted he was fine ahead of Olys, too, only to later reveal he wasn't at all - or if he was really kept in the dark until right before the event (because I think he did know during the competition, at least). So I think there are communication issues on Yuzu's side, too, whether they come from him, his team, or his fed.

 

But at the end of the day, everyone makes mistakes and, especially when those who make them pay for them simply through the immediate consequences, I think learning from them and doing everything possible for those mistakes not to happen again is more important than pointing fingers and throwing blame. If Yuzu ever says otherwise, I'll re-analyze my take, too, but until then...

 

45 minutes ago, cuddlebuggy said:

In lighter news, is there a Yuzu abs appreciation thread? If not I'd love if we could start one

 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/863354191041498993/

I'm not sure if it's an official stance on the planet, but aside from the occasional marveling, I think we try to avoid focusing too much on Yuzu's physical attributes, as good and pleasant to admire as they are. In my case at least, it's because I want to make it clear that the reason why I admire is Yuzu is for his skating and personality, and his looks are just a bonus. Especially since many non-fans are quick to dismiss Yuzu fans as fangirls who are only into him because of his looks. This is still a public forum, for Yuzu fans, and if we focus too much on his looks, antis will find yet another reason to attack and dismiss us. Even media often tries to make it look like we mostly love him for his looks - it's happened to many fans who have been interviewed, I think, to have the reporters try to turn the conversation to how good looking he is and many of us having to say: but that's not the point. But that's just IMO. (Actually, this reminds me, when I was in Helsinki, a Japanese lady behind me actually talked to me in English a bit - her English was very good - and at one point she asked me if I think Yuzu is handsome and I told her that sure, he is, but that's just a bonus etc. what I said earlier, and she looked at me and said something like: "as a Japanese fan, I want to thank you for saying this." Which made me think that Japanese fans are probably sick of that approach, too.)

[Old Cat Lady]

14 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

Nathan landed a 4Lo in competition?

 

14 hours ago, Fay said:

Twice. 

 

I think Nathan's only ever landed it once at 2017 U.S. Classic.  I know he had hip surgery (due to growth issues) in his junior days but no reason was given for why he dropped it after that.

 

 

 

14 hours ago, Henni147 said:

 

In fact Shoma has landed 4Lo more often than 4S so far. His first successful 4Lo was in the second half of the 16/17 season, when LOCO was his free program. In Helsinki 4Lo was his opening jump, too. If I remember correctly, Shoma changed his boots and positioned the blades off center to land the Loop properly. In the 18/19 season he gave up on the 4Lo for whatever reason. Maybe the unusual position of his blades caused him problems in the long term. Does anyone know?

 

 

Folks, I just found out how the ISU headquarters look like 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Literally every 4s that I've ever seen Shoma land has been ur around a quarter and I think most of his attempts are either popped or fall. 

 

He landed the 4lo 7 times in 2017 and 2018 but not since JPN nats and I heard he had to change the position of his blade in order to do it and has since changed it back.  I feel pretty confident that loop is completely gone. 

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, quadaxelwin said:

On the side note about ice shows next year. Maybe what Yuzu needs is a break during off season. Doing Faoi shows back to back and not having summer break at all might be a heavy toll and heavy schedule. Or maybe he should focus on training 4A in summer? I think shows in Japan are great, i would love him to do Continue with Wings again. 

But Faoi national tour seems a bit too much sometimes.. 

 

 

 

I thought Yuzu wasn't in Faoi this coming year.  But that's offset by all the things he'll be doing for the Olympics so not sure if he'll be any less busy

 

 

3 hours ago, quadaxelwin said:

One of the main attractions TSL has is 

 

1. They do long discussions, ones where they explore skaters in depth, in detail

2. They both know the sport, they know the sport history and they know the politics behind the sport, which makes it interesting to hear from a newbie perspective.

 

As long as TSL exists, and as long as no rival podcast can get into the level of depth, length as TSL, it will always have an audience.

 

I admit to listening to them but only because I have a masochistic compulsion to listen to anything that might be Yuzu related. 

 

But one of the things that struck me is how poorly they understand the scoring system.  More than the average fans, but I really cringed a lot last year when Dave would explain the scoring system to the fans.  Jonathon at least doesn't pretend to know.  However, I think Jonathon has improved a lot over the years (in the past, he was really just a casual fan that happened to be friends with Dave - clearly knew nothing about scoring and didn't watch all the events) and tends to at least ask the more insightful questions and is more fair in his observations.  Dave I think is obviously influenced by his bias but I've noticed that when he gets enough feedback he eventually can bend his views (though he never acknowledges that he may have been wrong previously).  E.G. last year, Dave would score Nathan's spins +4 but in this recent video, he talked about how awful Nathan's flying camel is for a skater of this level.  He also went from talking about how Shoma deserved a +4 (?) for his 4flip and defended that score in the comments when people inevitably disputed that score but in a later video he talked about how he had to reduce the GOE because of the poor entry

[lila]

can they be anymore shameless? look at isu refusing to acknowledge all the claims of unfair judgments and only treating yuzu like a cashcow. now commenting in Google rewind about yuzu when they are the least relevant there 

 

*don't know how to insert image here so can't show the screenshot but check the newest comments in Google rewind clip

[KatjaThera]

9 minutes ago, Old Cat Lady said:

I thought Yuzu wasn't in Faoi this coming year.  But that's offset by all the things he'll be doing for the Olympics so not sure if he'll be any less busy

There were some rumors among fans about Yuzu and FaOI, but honestly, I'd be very surprised, since he is the star of the show. If he stops doing FaOI, it'll crash and burn, as there is no one to fill in. I think it's been said that one of the regulars will stop attending FaOI, but if that's Yuzu, they might as well put an end to it. Tessa and Scott won't be going, either and Plushenko does multiple shows anyway. Johnny I think is retiring next year as well, and many are saying Jeff might be retiring soon, too.

 

On top of that, I'm not sure Yuzu will be doing much for the Olympics? Even the rumor that he might be the final torch bearer is for now just a rumor and while he might do it for Sendai at least, that's not much. I doubt he'll get too involved otherwise, partly because he won't want to take away the spotlight from the actual athletes and such. And also, the Summer is an important time for him to train. He can still train while doing ice shows, but not so much if he gets involved in the Olympics. Of course, unless he decides to retire after Worlds, but I'd still be surprised if he did.

[IULIANA]

Nathan had a hip surgery due to a fracture from a bad fall in a  gala quad contest, IIRC, not due to growth spourt. And yes, he hates the 4Lo and declares himself not happy to try it anytime soon or ever.  Like he already dismissed any  intention to try the 4Axel as long as he definitely  questioned himself on the stability of his 3A. That tells you enough about his eagerness to push the limits of the sport and of his comfortably happy with his scores self. There, I said it!

[yoloaxel]

Re - Doug Haw - TSL actually said last season when there was some Evgenia drama that Brian had gotten mad at Doug for going on TSL and saying the usual gossipy stuff and he had asked Doug to stop (which he hasn't, but he's an adult and it's not like Brian can do much about it). However, since being scorned by Brian TSL has been particularly nasty towards both Yuzu and Evgenia

[Old Cat Lady]

As a side comment, it's hilarious when Yuzu gets mentioned in famous mixed company platforms.  The Google year in search is overrun with majority Yuzu comments with a few befuddled "why is everyone talking about this Yuzuru Hanyu guy?" comments.  I wonder what people running these things think when the reaction is mostly about a 1 second clip of this guy that most of them have probably barely heard of.  

 

ISU has a comment there too - how do they not know at this point that the reaction is going to be bad any time they get involved with a Yuzu thing? 

[tuyettu]

6 minutes ago, Old Cat Lady said:

As a side comment, it's hilarious when Yuzu gets mentioned in famous mixed company platforms.  The Google year in review is overrun with majority Yuzu comments with a few befuddled "why is everyone talking about this Yuzuru Hanyu guy?" comments.  I wonder what people running these things think when the reaction is mostly about a 1 second clip of this guy that most of them have probably barely heard of.  

 

ISU has a comment there too - how do they not know at this point that the reaction is going to be bad any time they get involved with a Yuzu thing? 

 

ISU commented? What did they say?

[Old Cat Lady]

12 minutes ago, tuyettu said:

 

ISU commented? What did they say?

 

Nothing controversial. They just explained who he is:

1:02 Yuzuru Hanyu - Japan (Figure Skating): 2x Olympic Champion, 2x World Champion, 4x Grand Prix Final Champion. 🙌

 

[tuyettu]

45 minutes ago, Old Cat Lady said:

 

Nothing controversial. They just explained who he is:

1:02 Yuzuru Hanyu - Japan (Figure Skating): 2x Olympic Champion, 2x World Champion, 4x Grand Prix Final Champion. 🙌

 

 

Thank you. 😘

 

Btw, I think ISU would probably know about this in advance since they had to agree for Google to use the video?

[fyere0]

10 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Why, why, why did you use this turn of phrase? My brain went some really strange places on that one. 

 

Joking apart, at least in a Speedo we'd get to see just how big those thigh muscles really are. In a spirit of academic inquiry, I mean. 

 

Cut for horror 

 

Spoiler

 

[MatchaBeans]

1 hour ago, fyere0 said:

 

Cut for horror 

 

  Hide contents

 

[BWOZWaltz]

1 hour ago, fyere0 said:

 

Cut for horror 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

Yeah the exact photo I was thinking bout when I was reading @rockstaryuzu's comment.  But I didn't want to disturb innocent fanyus so I didn't post but you did! Btw, Australians call speedo budgie smuggler and don't side eye me that's true!  

 

 

[quadaxelwin]

5 hours ago, lila said:

can they be anymore shameless? look at isu refusing to acknowledge all the claims of unfair judgments and only treating yuzu like a cashcow. now commenting in Google rewind about yuzu when they are the least relevant there 

 

*don't know how to insert image here so can't show the screenshot but check the newest comments in Google rewind clip

 

 

If Yuzu doesn't win that ISU most valuable skater award even after being featured in 2019 Google Rewind (and being the only figure skater to be featured), then that whole awards is a joke show and I won't bother voting next time.