1 hour ago, Sombreuil said:

Lack of preparation is not confined to Russian commentators - I have been reduced to snarling rage by Eurosport English commentators over the years when they just get things wrong simply because they don’t bother to find out why skaters have been absent from competition or have suffered a loss of form and either speculate or simply make things up. I remember foaming at the mouth once several years ago when they were rambling on about Han Yan's drop in form and hiatus from competition when photos of him in hospital after shoulder surgery were there on the internet where someone as Luddite as me could find them, and were therefore presumably available to them at the click of a few buttons - they just couldn’t be bothered.

 

1 hour ago, Yuzurella said:

 

I really don't get why commentators would be so unprepared. I've also experienced this with German speaking commentators who spread wrong information and appeared like the were not up-to-date. This is highly unprofessional and disrespectful to the audience.

Yeah, it's really unprofessional. Literally, it's their job as commentators to be informed about the athletes and the sport - that's their raison d'être.

Whelp, who am I kidding. They got paid to push agendas. Nothing else.
(I keep going back to this commentator-ship in BWF, who quite literally have binders full of information, historical and contemporary, so that when they comment on any match, they do it with the intention to make it both fun and informative for the audience. They even bother to find out, for example, why muslim athletes sit down when they are on break in between sets in a match. Oma Gil, come help this sorry bunch!)

Can't wait to see Wakaba's debut on Olympic ice tomorrow. I'll wake up and cheer for her. I think it's a good choice that she'll skate the short program, if it goes well it'll give her confidence for the individual event - her free skates are more inconsistent so it'll be better if Kaori skates the FS. I wonder if Wakaba will risk the 3A or not, but if she chooses the 2A and skates clean she can get a good score. 

 

And I wonder if I'll be able to get back to see after that, I'll check the news about Yuzu and if he arrives tomorrow. From his words it sounds he'd like to arrive as late as possible, but tomorrow is already Sunday, just two days before the competition...I hope everything is fine with him and we'll see him soon. 

 

LOL! In this case, we all deserve gold medals.

All support to Wakaba and Kaori. I choose that they have an excellent performance. Go girls! You can! Ganbate!!
As I eagerly await the news about Yuzu I am reviewing all the madness of the Pyeongchang Olympics topic in Planet Hanyu's archive. It was an exciting mission, as it is now.
Ganbate dear satellites! With Yuzu we will win the Beijing 2022 mission.

6 hours ago, KendallKlaire said:

I think Yuzu is going to arrive either tomorrow or the day before the SP. According to that statement from the JOC, he really seems concerned about COVID and I think part of that may have to do with how 2021 Worlds went. He was fine one day, but the next we all know what happened...Part of me honestly thinks he may be in Beijing already but laying extremely low (a true ninja) and I am not sure how helpful looking at ANA flight schedules are. Yuzu has enough power right now to have a private flight arranged for him between Japan and Beijing.

 

On the topic of the Nathan Chen ads...I am so sick of them. Even my boyfriend (who does not know much about skating but knows Yuzu is the GOAT) just laughs when Johnny and Tara exclaim "He's a once in a generation skater". The Nathan hype is so shoved down our throats that it's almost laughable. It makes me wonder if Nathan himself is embarrassed about it.

 

The media's mission to hype Nate into the best thing since sliced bread has clearly not worked out. They wanted to create a star to give a boost to the popularity of figure skating in the US, gain more viewers, and obviously profit from it. But this kind of hype never works if there's no substance behind it.

 

With Nathan, I've always gotten the impression that he only does what's necessary to get the job done and puts in only as much effort and thought into his skating as required. The way he's been overscored for years, he never had any incentive to improve his skating skills, transitions, etc. to get ridiculously high scores and win competitions. But he himself also didn't seem to have an inherent desire to improve. Instead, it looks like he opted to rest on this kind of preferential treatment, knowing he doesn't have to improve to get high scores.

 

Another thing that strikes me is that Nate appears to be superficial and bland in his skating, his programs, his costumes, his music choices, etc. He shows little personality and true passion and emotion. Sometimes, he might emote, mime, and gesticulate dramatically when he's performing, but even this seems to be him going through the motions rather than a true expression of his heart and soul. I also don't feel true joy coming from him when he's skating.

 

I think that's why he has never become a true star despite all the hype. Humans tend to remember the people and things that invoke some kind of emotions in them. Nate's skating is as forgettable as his performances, programs, and costumes. There are no true emotions and there is no depth. No matter how many medals he may win (or rather, be gifted by overly generous judges), it's unlikely that he will stay in people's mind's and hearts.

 

 I try not to be too critical because it’s pointless- everyone here agrees with me on critical matters and I’m not diving back into the horrors of other places where people get shrill and scary if one happens to defend a YouTube vid.  However, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - while he may be a perfectly pleasant all (Chinese) American, Yale attending, heterosexual ( almost forgot that one), ‘kid’ ( he’s 22?) his skating is utterly pedestrian.  If he were - let’s say French ?  - he’d be getting good marks for his jumps, but possibly a bit downgraded on goe for lack of height, and low ones for interpretation etc.  His sit spins might be called and his lack of transitions might be punished.  If he were - let’s say Malaysian - he’d do even worse - kudos but low marks for the jumps and the rest definitely called.  But he’s from a major financial contributor to ISU and IOC and call me cynical but that buys a lot of rose tinted spectacles.

1 minute ago, Sombreuil said:

 I try not to be too critical because it’s pointless- everyone here agrees with me on critical matters and I’m not diving back into the horrors of other places where people get shrill and scary if one happens to defend a YouTube vid.  However, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - while he may be a perfectly pleasant all (Chinese) American, Yale attending, heterosexual ( almost forgot that one), ‘kid’ ( he’s 22?) his skating is utterly pedestrian.  If he were - let’s say French ?  - he’d be getting good marks for his jumps, but possibly a bit downgraded on goe for lack of height, and low ones for interpretation etc.  His sit spins might be called and his lack of transitions might be punished.  If he were - let’s say Malaysian - he’d do even worse - kudos but low marks for the jumps and the rest definitely called.  But he’s from a major financial contributor to ISU and IOC and call me cynical but that buys a lot of rose tinted spectacles.

You're absolutely correct. I struggle so much with the scores he gets for putting out meager programs with basic transitions, steps and almost nonexistent artistry whilst Yuzu gets underscored to high heaven.

58 minutes ago, Yuzurella said:

 

With Nathan, I've always gotten the impression that he only does what's necessary to get the job done and puts in only as much effort and thought into his skating as required. The way he's been overscored for years, he never had any incentive to improve his skating skills, transitions, etc. to get ridiculously high scores and win competitions. But he himself also didn't seem to have an inherent desire to improve. Instead, it looks like he opted to rest on this kind of preferential treatment, knowing he doesn't have to improve to get high scores.

 

Another thing that strikes me is that Nate appears to be superficial and bland in his skating, his programs, his costumes, his music choices, etc. He shows little personality and true passion and emotion. Sometimes, he might emote, mime, and gesticulate dramatically when he's performing, but even this seems to be him going through the motions rather than a true expression of his heart and soul. I also don't feel true joy coming from him when he's skating.

 

I think that's why he has never become a true star despite all the hype. Humans tend to remember the people and things that invoke some kind of emotions in them. Nate's skating is as forgettable as his performances, programs, and costumes. There are no true emotions and there is no depth. No matter how many medals he may win (or rather, be gifted by overly generous judges), it's unlikely that he will stay in people's mind's and hearts.

You've hit the nail on the head.  He absolutely never does more than he has to. The only time when I felt he did more was his FS at the last Olympics because he had nothing to lose.  He knew he wasn't going to medal so he just went for it (and some judges thought he should've medaled regardless of the SP which was also overscored).

 

Throughout this Olympic cycle in his media appearances, Nathan has said again and again he is not an artistic skater yet the American media wagon (NBC, Tara, Johnny, etc) try to make him into one.  I particularly dislike how NBC has the fluff pieces which has Nathan playing a piano and showing him workout to demonstrate FS as a sport that happens to be artistic...

 

Nathan is not passionate and I honestly think if he did get gold in 2018 he would've retired and focused on school.  His heart is not in figure skating, it's just something he's good at (or at least technically). 

 

 

5 minutes ago, Sombreuil said:

 I try not to be too critical because it’s pointless- everyone here agrees with me on critical matters and I’m not diving back into the horrors of other places where people get shrill and scary if one happens to defend a YouTube vid.  However, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - while he may be a perfectly pleasant all (Chinese) American, Yale attending, heterosexual ( almost forgot that one), ‘kid’ ( he’s 22?) his skating is utterly pedestrian.  If he were - let’s say French ?  - he’d be getting good marks for his jumps, but possibly a bit downgraded on goe for lack of height, and low ones for interpretation etc.  His sit spins might be called and his lack of transitions might be punished.  If he were - let’s say Malaysian - he’d do even worse - kudos but low marks for the jumps and the rest definitely called.  But he’s from a major financial contributor to ISU and IOC and call me cynical but that buys a lot of rose tinted spectacles.

 

Absolutely! Even if Nate would represent China, I think each of his SPs would get 15-20 points less and each of his FS would get 30-40 points less. Just look at how Boyang gets scored even when he's clean. Nobody can tell me that Nate's GOEs and PCS should be higher than Boyang's. In fact, Boyang's jumps actually have higher quality when he hits them right.

 

And with Boyang, I have the feeling he's been really trying to improve his skating quality and expression in general. Unfortunately, things haven't worked out for him in the last couple of years. But I hope he'll perform well in this Olympics.

 

Obviously, I don't know how Nathan really is as a person, but I get the impression he's trying so hard to be this (straight) all-American good kid that he always stays on the safe side. He knows what works for him and sticks to his formula. He always gets rewarded in a disproportional manner, so he doesn't have to improve, grow, and change. He doesn't have to take risks and he never does. No wonder his skating and performances are so bland and formulaic.

 

I think that's quite a pity. A couple of days ago, I stumbled over a performance from Nate's junior times and I was blown away. He was so good! It was much more enjoyable than his present performances. His skating looked better than now. And he exuded so much joy and fun on the ice. I couldn't believe it was the same guy. 

He has to arrive today. Right?

 

45 minutes ago, KendallKlaire said:

You've hit the nail on the head.  He absolutely never does more than he has to. The only time when I felt he did more was his FS at the last Olympics because he had nothing to lose.  He knew he wasn't going to medal so he just went for it (and some judges thought he should've medaled regardless of the SP which was also overscored).

 

Throughout this Olympic cycle in his media appearances, Nathan has said again and again he is not an artistic skater yet the American media wagon (NBC, Tara, Johnny, etc) try to make him into one.  I particularly dislike how NBC has the fluff pieces which has Nathan playing a piano and showing him workout to demonstrate FS as a sport that happens to be artistic...

 

Nathan is not passionate and I honestly think if he did get gold in 2018 he would've retired and focused on school.  His heart is not in figure skating, it's just something he's good at (or at least technically). 

 

 

As you've said, Nathan is well aware he is not an artistic skater, he even mentioned in the recent GQS video that "My style of skating is jump based". 

 

Which makes me think that perhaps even Nathan himself is surprised with the kind of program component scores he's getting; while he obviously benefits from the current (dubious) judging system, I sometimes feel a bit bad for him, too. What I mean by that is that I think the criticism should be mainly directed towards the actual culprits of the current situation (ISU/judges), and not him as a person.

16 minutes ago, YuDai said:

As you've said, Nathan is well aware he is not an artistic skater, he even mentioned in the recent GQS video that "My style of skating is jump based". 

 

Which makes me think that perhaps even Nathan himself is surprised with the kind of program component scores he's getting; while he obviously benefits from the current (dubious) judging system, I sometimes feel a bit bad for him, too. What I mean by that is that I think the criticism should be mainly directed towards the actual culprits of the current situation (ISU/judges), and not him as a person.

The problem with this is that Chen himself has not tried to improve his skating so that it can match the score he has been getting. He and his team take advantage of it, cz obviously, he is ‘winning’. That lack of integrity, yeah, I hold that against him. Cz at the opposite end of that attitude is Yuzu, who was a wunder noodly kid in his younger days, but who constantly improve himself, fixing his wrong Flip edge instead of scratching the jump from his repertoire, present programs that are intricate and well-designed, etc., etc. The fact that these two, with opposing views of and attitudes towards FS can be considered ‘rivals’ is only possible bcz of the corrupt judging which, again, Chen and his team take full advantage of. It’s distasteful and a disgrace.