2015 Skate America Mens SP Oct 23

[Blades of Passion]

Adian Pitkeev won this. HE WON.

Max Aaron's inferior skating skills, performance, and interpretation can take a seat. TAKE A SEAT.

 

[daphenaxa]

no. do you have that footage? for a friend

 

[Mista Ekko]

Adian Pitkeev won this. HE WON.

Max Aaron's inferior skating skills, performance, and interpretation can take a seat. TAKE A SEAT.

He could've gotten higher components, But i'd call winning a little far fetched, Still
surprised he didn't get a deduction for finishing after the music

 

[wordsworthgirl]

I have never been a Max fan, but Wow Did He Bring It Tonight! That combo! That gorgeous delay on his Triple Axel! Speed, power, and much better line and extension than in the past. He won this fair and square.

Sad about my fave Jason. and Denis!

 

[chuckm]

My 2 cents: Anyone who understands what Nessun Dorma is about (I mean the aria meaning) should recommend Max Aaron to skate in pajama.
It's technically "nobody shall sleep" aria.

Max wears black and white regardless of what music he uses, and most of the time, the white top is either blousey or a t-shirt.
My point is he is short with short legs and the white on black look is he worst possible choice he could make. It just makes his short legs look even shorter.

 

[karne]

I wish Max Aaron would wear costumes like Shoma Uno's --- dark, all one color, and with a V neck. That would make him look taller and more impressive. The white-on-black look just cuts him in two and makes Max look a bit chunky, and the blousy tops actually makes him look as if he has a bit of a gut.

He's done that before, and people whinged about how plain/boring they were. Probably his best costume (IMO) is still the Gladiator one.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

He's done that before, and people whinged about how plain/boring they were. Probably his best costume (IMO) is still the Gladiator one.

Karne! You must be over the moon about Max! See my post above.

 

[Interspectator]

Very entertaining Mens prorgams all around.

Yay for Max, very impressive and much more 'feeling' than when I saw him at WTT.

I'm sad Shoma didn't get the 4T this time, but on the bright side, it will give the Japan Media time to calm down and Shoma can concentrate on his Free program without the hype. He can still win this.

Mura has worked hard, like Max on his presentation this season and it is showing in his skating. I'm happy about that...it's going to take a bit of time before the judges notice though.

Menshov, impressive!

So happy that Han Yan had a good skate...he also has a chance to win this. Love to watch him skate; always cringe at his music.

Denis was...Denis. :hopelessness:

Tomorrow will be exciting!

 

[karne]

Max wears black and white regardless of what music he uses, and most of the time, the white top is either blousey or a t-shirt.
My point is he is short with short legs and the white on black look is he worst possible choice he could make. It just makes his short legs look even shorter.

No, he doesn't. He wore red for West Side Story, had a black-and-white Tron onesie, the all-black Carmen and the white-with-black tight Samba, the tight white-with-maroon-bowtie-with-black for Footloose, the all-black with grey breastplate for Gladiator. People whinged about the tight costumes and now they're whinging about the blousy ones...

 

[Blades of Passion]

He could've gotten higher components, But i'd call winning a little far fetched, Still
surprised he didn't get a deduction for finishing after the music

What did Max Aaron do better? I suppose quality of jumps was a bit better, but Pitkeev went with the more point-worthy layout so that cancels out.

Spins: Pitkeev wins. His flying camel is better than Aaron's.

Everything else: Pitkeev wins. Smoother edges, better lines, extension, usage of arms, movement to the music.

Loved his side-eye in the Kiss and Cry. He knew that score was a sham. If he "had a name" he would have scored high 80's.

 

[Meoima]

I agree Adian was robbed a bit, he should have been higher. But I still think he should have been below Max.

 

[karne]

Did you see that practice video where his pink underwear was riding up on a spin?

Oh yes. And the shirt was flying up as well.

no. do you have that footage? for a friend

Ask and you shall receive. (TSL posted the video in three parts, and all three provide some excellent viewing.)

Karne! You must be over the moon about Max! See my post above.

I most certainly am. And very proud of Brendan too, even if he did biff the combo.

 

[Franklin99]

Max wears black and white regardless of what music he uses, and most of the time, the white top is either blousey or a t-shirt.
My point is he is short with short legs and the white on black look is he worst possible choice he could make. It just makes his short legs look even shorter.

Max = no fashion sense...he must be straight.

 

[EdgeCall]

What did Max Aaron do better? I suppose quality of jumps was a bit better, but Pitkeev went with the more point-worthy layout so that cancels out.

Spins: Pitkeev wins. His flying camel is better than Aaron's.

Everything else: Pitkeev wins. Smoother edges, better lines, extension, usage of arms, movement to the music.

Loved his side-eye in the Kiss and Cry. He knew that score was a sham. If he "had a name" he would have scored high 80's.

Interesting, that's what I initially thought, too. I think Adian was a bit underscored in PCS. And Max' well deserved TES aside, but compared to the others his CH and IN marks were a bit much ...

 

[Mista Ekko]

What did Max Aaron do better? I suppose quality of jumps was a bit better, but Pitkeev went with the more point-worthy layout so that cancels out.

Spins: Pitkeev wins. His flying camel is better than Aaron's.

Everything else: Pitkeev wins. Smoother edges, better lines, extension, usage of arms, movement to the music.

Loved his side-eye in the Kiss and Cry. He knew that score was a sham. If he "had a name" he would have scored high 80's.

The judges pretty unanimously didn't go for it, Dunno man,
Even if he had the PCS Aaron got he'd be a few points short

 

[Sabrina]

Max spins were quite bad. His jumps were awesome, but he could have skated to any music as he did not seem to skate on the music. I love opera, but don't use it if you don't understand it. Adian should have scored much better than he did. OMG so good at 17. Shomo was awesome but the fall was bad...I loved Menshov. I liked the music, and his jumps were amazing...he didn't look like being 32. I think Menshov was better than Max today, both technically and artistically. And Han Yan's 3A, WOW

 

[gruesome]

they should give him a 5 point bonus for age lol

Shoma is not the youngest here.

 

[tsuyoboogie]

Aww, gotta work during the Men's free tomorrow so I won't be able to jinx my favorites.
What I'm gonna miss most though is Mura's costume reveal! Will he or won't he?

 

[Art&Sport]

As usual, PCS marks are way off. Just because skaters skate clean, doesn't mean their PCS should be so high. I think Han Yan has super SS, but his PCS marks in other categories are overdone; he's more of a mid to high 8s in SS, and mid to high 7s in most other PCS, in my opinion. Actually, Shoma, despite his fall, should have PCS at least in the low 8s, as opposed to Han Yan having PCS over 8.0. Unbelievable! It doesn't make sense to me. Clearly, political factor at play somehow.

Menshov is a fabulous jumper and he's even improved a bit with his performance quality. Still, Menshov's PCS are a bit overcooked in low to mid 7.0s -- he should be in only mid to high sixes in some categories.

Adian is a nice looking skater, but rather boring presentation-wise. Of course, he has some good jumping skills, but he doesn't possess enough stretch or polish in my opinion to have received so many marks in the low 7s. I just don't see giving skaters better PCS than they deserve for simply attempting and generally rotating quads with poor landings.

The problem with men's division is the over-rating of quads and the idea that if a skater doesn't attempt quads, he doesn't have good technical content.

Denis' PCS should have been way higher. Han's way lower. Max has improved, but maybe he was slightly gifted in a few PCS categories. Still, Max has worked so hard to improve aesthetically and it shows so he does deserve some credit. Plus, Max's overall skating was clean and confident. I think Ross Miner has a bit more refinement and somewhat less boring skating here than Adian.

Jason Brown made a silly error on his combo (second jump), but it appears he paid for it rather heavily. Although Jason has the highest PCS, I think Jason's transitions, choreo and interpretation marks should be even higher, closer to 9 or at 9. However, it seems that unless Jason lands quads cleanly and regularly, he will be low-balled with mid-8s. With Denis' mistake on the spin, it looks like the judges decided to slam him heavily too. I think Denis' and Jason's PCS are comparable -- that means close to or at 9.0 in several categories. Usually highly rated guys such as Denis, Yuzu and Javi are gifted on tech and PCS, even when they make mistakes on their quads. But I guess with Denis' mistake on the spin the judges decided to knock down his PCS marks too.

 

[karne]

Shoma is not the youngest here.

Pretty sure the reference was actually to Old Man Menshov who at 32 was DEFINITELY the oldest guy here.