General Skating Chat

[Forcefield]

Not really OT because it has to do with Vincent, (but not Romeo), I know when talks about BV and jumps came around people were speculating that with the push from US more edge calls, cheated take offs and URs might be called if they don't want Nathan to fall behind Shoma BUT if the US is trying to push Vincent with his bad jumps as well...what if scores really do get crazy this Olympic cycle? As always it's the skaters (including Hanyu) who has taken care and time to improve that are getting the short end of the stick. 

[fluffypooh]

4 minutes ago, Forcefield said:

Not really OT because it has to do with Vincent, (but not Romeo), I know when talks about BV and jumps came around people were speculating that with the push from US more edge calls, cheated take offs and URs might be called if they don't want Nathan to fall behind Shoma BUT if the US is trying to push Vincent with his bad jumps as well...what if scores really do get crazy this Olympic cycle? As always it's the skaters (including Hanyu) who has taken care and tine to improve that are getting the short end of the stick. 

I don't think US would push Vincent when they have Nathan, who actually has a chance on the podium.  really hope they start calling jump tho..

[CiaoCiao]

With all these quads and these ugly jumps around, I realize more about what a good coach Brian is.

[SparkleSalad]

11 minutes ago, CiaoCiao said:

With all these quads and these ugly jumps around, I realize more about what a good coach Brian is.

 

He's wonderful and seems like a genuinely good person. That Fuji footage we got of him talking about his coaching style and how he spends all his time thinking about the physical and mental health of his students was wonderful. Huge Brian fan. Pity the poor children who don't have that support.

[Forcefield]

26 minutes ago, CiaoCiao said:

With all these quads and these ugly jumps around, I realize more about what a good coach Brian is.

Aside from jumps, although Hanyu is levelheaded and knows what he needs to work on to get his ideal skate, I'm also glad Brian seems to have a similar goal in that he wants Hanyu to be a complete skater with attention to skating skills and performance and thus he tries to make Hanyu focus on that when the kiddo gets too eager or intense with his jumps. I like this approach better as better skaters makes better programs even if the end goal is a medal its not the only thing to strive for.

[Yolo3a]

2 hours ago, CiaoCiao said:

I just realized that in my opinion not just the music belongs to Yuzu, but also the character of Romeo belongs to him.

Aww yes. He dressed for the part first of all, then displayed all the turbulent teenage struggle with his tiny body and fierce artistry. Truly a Romeo to figure skating of our times. 

[xeyra]

Errr. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Romeo is a character that belongs to Yuzu. I mean, I'll fight you on that because I loved the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, okay!?  

[SparkleSalad]

10 minutes ago, xeyra said:

Errr. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Romeo is a character that belongs to Yuzu. I mean, I'll fight you on that because I loved the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, okay!?  

I loved that movie to death and still listen to the soundtrack regularly but this year went to rewatch it after Hanyu RJ1 overdose. Dear god, he was so, so dreadful in it! Us little girls were blinded by his looks when it came out (and probably didn't fully understand all the words he was butchering.) I did appreciate Paul Rudd a million times more this time through, though, so I'm glad my childhood wasn't completely ruined.

[Forcefield]

6 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

I loved that movie to death and still listen to the soundtrack regularly but this year went to rewatch it after Hanyu RJ1 overdose. Dear god, he was so, so dreadful in it! Us little girls were blinded by his looks when it came out (and probably didn't fully understand all the words he was butchering.) I did appreciate Paul Rudd a million times more this time through, though, so I'm glad my childhood wasn't completely ruined.

Then I should probably rewatch it as I saw Leo's version while I was in college (yep I was an adult by then) and it was the first time I got on the Leo train - plus I even cried at the end which I didn't do for the other version I've seen. At least my childhood will remain intact. 

[Murieleirum]

Watching Vincent's FS was painful. There really is no comparison whatsoever. The program is empty from more than one point of view. Did Vincent speak about the music choice, by chance? Does it have nothing to do with him? 

[SparkleSalad]

2 minutes ago, Forcefield said:

Then I should probably rewatch it as I saw Leo's version while I was in college (yep I was an adult by then) and it was the first time I got on the Leo train - plus I even cried at the end which I didn't do for the other version I've seen. At least my childhood will remain intact. 

 

I think I was around 11. I remember we were all just so happy to be able to see a violent and bloody movie with Leo in it because it was educational and cultural and Shakespeare.  

 

I think I felt like crying too but I remember there was a big controversy that the ending was changed and Juliet woke up to see Romeo before he died which is extra emotionally manipulative (in true Hollywood style, I suppose.)

[Forcefield]

18 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

Watching Vincent's FS was painful. There really is no comparison whatsoever. The program is empty from more than one point of view. Did Vincent speak about the music choice, by chance? Does it have nothing to do with him? 

Here is a link to the article that talked about his music choice: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2017/06/23/238251138/creating-the-program-zhou-makes-music-selection

 

I understand the reasoning behind it because most of us can also agree that Romeo suited a young Hanyu > age-wise, passion and the unpredictability. But y'know I'm a cynic and petty and I don't believe, even if his ubers say otherwise, that Hanyu's version didn't cross their minds for at least a moment when they made the music cuts and choreo.

[Murieleirum]

31 minutes ago, Forcefield said:

I understand the reasoning behind it because most of us can also agree that Romeo suited a young Hanyu > age-wise, passion and the unpredictability. But y'know I'm a cynic and petty and I don't believe, even if his ubers say otherwise, that Hanyu's version didn't cross their minds for at least a moment when they made the music cuts and choreo.

 

Same. The way the music is cut? It's like they told the music editor "Do it like THAT version... but make it a little different so that it's still original". Or maybe they didn't pinpoint Yuzuru's version to the editor, but it was the editor who liked Hanyu's version and built the piece accordingly. 

 

[Murieleirum]

Also, I can't help but comment on this piece in the interview you linked me:

 

Quote

"We wanted to show how amazing it is that he's 16 years old and able to do four different quads. Vincent is eager to grow and he wants to improve his components so badly." 

 

Hint: it's gonna be hard to improve your components when you're 16 and you have to focus on landing a high number of extremely difficult quads in a short amount of time. Oh, did I say hard? I meant impossible. And, guess what? You can see it if you watch his FS. He's got nothing on his mind but quads. When he's not jumping, his mind is restoring energy for the next jump. And there would be no other way. 

 

[yuzuangel]

I don't think Vincent thinks of himself as Yuzuru's competitor for gold, but at most a medal contender. In fact, he's not even a shoo-in for the team. So it makes sense for him to focus on his strengths now since PCS takes a while to increase the "normal" way. It's like, what are the chances of him winning a medal with 3 quads and a slight bump in PCS working on skating skills? Probably lower than his chances of winning a medal with 6 quads and a slight bump in PCS from having 6 quads, lol. What do you think his average placement at the Olympics is gonna be in each case? Probably the same, but one of those choices has a higher variance.

 

Anyway, I think Vincent is a very smart and nice kid and I wish him the best of luck!