Musings from a lapsed fan | Golden Skate

Musings from a lapsed fan

Old Cat Lady

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Hi. I was one of those crazy obsessive fans through the 90’s until 2006. Then, for various reasons, only followed the sport sporadically. But, except for dance, this past olympics has reignited my passion for the sport. I’ve been meaning to gush about it earlier, but have been on youtube trying to catch up on what i missed in the past 12 years (holy crap I’m old, has it really been that long?!?!), which has been further slowed by watching Semei over and over and over and over.

I remember all the negativity surrounding code of points when it first came out but I’m amazed at how much it has pushed the sport. While I see some of the issues with it and I hate what it did to dance, I’m amazed at how much the sport has moved forward since it began, and even since the Chan era (which I just started watching).

For years, pairs made only minor technical progress. Love Story got gold with a collection of poses and crossovers. Neither gold couple was pushing the boundaries technically. But in 2018, I feel like pairs has become ice dancing combined with the most difficult of elements. Every top couple brought elements I’ve rarely or never seen in previous eras and most combined it with fully choreographed programs. Previous years you saw maybe one top couple push the sport technically, but this year we had quad twists and so many of the more difficult sbs jumps and throws. I still have to catch up on pairs, but previous to this year, the only successful quad of any kind that I saw was a quad twist by G&G way back when and almost all the pairs only did toes, double axel, and salchows. I found Sui and Han to be so dynamic, Savchenko and Massot to be both innovative and beautiful, and Tarasova and Morozov were a reminder of classic pairs skating at its most glorious. Not only were the programs difficult and beautiful, but the quality of the elements were consistently outstanding - so many enormous twists and level 4 everything!

Medvedeva was so hauntingly beautiful. Zagitova seems to have nerves of steel. She skated the most technically demanding ladies program I’ve ever seen almost perfectly while still having strong presentation. I think there should have been more of a gap between her and Medvedeva’s components scores, but both are worthy champions. And Osmond had a wonderful bronze skate with the most beautiful jumps of them all. People complain that the ladies are technically stagnant, and perhaps they are slower to progress, but it was still the most phenomenal group of skates that I can recall ever seeing in a ladies Olympic competition. All skating lovely programs with the most technically demanding content and not one real mistake in the top 3!

Most inspirational of all were the men. Even though there were a lot of mistakes, they are doing things that no one could have fathomed. Not only are the men doing multiple quads, but they skate such full programs these days. While I hope Nathan improves on the performance aspect, he does manage to combine the highest technical difficulty with a solid program and decent presentation. Even though Patrick Chan didn’t skate well, I enjoyed his actual programs more than any of the other ones I’ve seen from him. Misha Ge was mesmerizing. Hated Kolyada’s free skate but still loved watching him skate when he wasn’t falling. Aliev’s jump landings are the most gorgeous of them all. Fernandez is a wonderful performer. Uno vaguely reminds me of Alexei Yagudin. I liked Jin too though I have nothing specific to say about his skate :) It’s also interesting to see the influence of Plushenko - I don’t recall any male skater doing Bielmans and donuts and very few laybacks before him but it was fairly common in this competition.

I missed the men’s competition in Sochi, so this was the first time I’ve really seen Hanyu skate. I literally fell in love with him. I find myself thinking of him every day. And the more I learn about him, the more enamored I am with him - so expressive on and off the ice, such a great sportsman,the desire to constantly improve, a palpable love for the sport, and what a charming personality. The short program was enchanting. The long was so powerful while also graceful and distinctive. I think it’s the best men’s free skate I’ve ever seen - while NHK and GPF were skated cleaner, the performance of the Olympic skate was so strong. I’ve never seen such difficult jumps done with so much finesse while integrated so perfectly into superior performance quality and masterful elements. And charisma out the wazoo to top it off.

The only nitpick I have is that I wish he’d extend better sometimes. But his overall package is the greatest I’ve ever seen.

Most impressive to me of all, is how deep the fields are these days. Strong competition at the top as well as enjoyable skates in every group. In the 90’s, there were times that even skaters in the last flight became painful to watch - just skating around from element to element. In this Olympics, I found enjoyment from first group to last.


whew! long gush but I have no one in real life to talk about skating with
 

Imagine

Medalist
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Medvedeva was so hauntingly beautiful. Zagitova seems to have nerves of steel. She skated the most technically demanding ladies program I’ve ever seen almost perfectly while still having strong presentation.

Ooooooohhhhh! Well, boy have I got some news for you!
 

steiner

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 15, 2014
That’s awesome, that Pyeongchang reunited your love for skating. It was one of the best Olympics I can remember watching as a fan. The top competitors rose to the occasion and gave us some memorable moments.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Normally the old members welcome the new members by saying "post often, post long". You don't need that message :biggrin: Welcome and I enjoyed reading your post, it was full of joy and youth. You are definitely not old :agree: You said you fell for Yuzu so come and visit us in Yuzu's fan fest:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?64806-Yuzuru-Hanyu-2017-18-Season

Of course this is only for 2017-18 season, the previous seasons are archived. Overall you can find latest news about Yuzu and great friends to talk to in this thread :ghug:
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Ooooooohhhhh! Well, boy have I got some news for you!

Oooooooohhhhhhh! That's a burning news! You know what? I think in two weeks in WC after most of men we will say "A 13-year-old girl has a higher technical than this man"! That's a real shock that stroke FS world in last two days, go girls :biggrin:

P.S. I don't intend to insult the men, just so excited, hope to not offend anyone.
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Country
United-States
Loving the positivity!! I totally agree with the OP too. Skating is as good as it’s ever been and we as fans are really lucky to witness the fun and excitement in each and every event. So many characters and so much effort.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Loving the positivity!! I totally agree with the OP too. Skating is as good as it’s ever been and we as fans are really lucky to witness the fun and excitement in each and every event. So many characters and so much effort.

Me too, me too! It was a privilege to witness these two last quads! I know there are always people that are mourning the end of figures, artistry, ... But, I, per se, find lots of athleticism intertwined with mesmerizing performances in today's skating :)
 

Danibellerika

Medalist
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Hi. I was one of those crazy obsessive fans through the 90’s until 2006. Then, for various reasons, only followed the sport sporadically. But, except for dance, this past olympics has reignited my passion for the sport. I’ve been meaning to gush about it earlier, but have been on youtube trying to catch up on what i missed in the past 12 years (holy crap I’m old, has it really been that long?!?!), which has been further slowed by watching Semei over and over and over and over.

LOL You sound similar to me, but I got sucked back in around Sochi and have been on this roller coaster of a quad ever since. I was all in through 2006 then followed more sporadically (nationals and maybe hearing about who won worlds) until 2013 GPF when I saw Yuzu's short program. There was no turning back after that. I had vowed to never become as invested as I was in Sasha Cohen and Plushenko but then...Yuzu's astounding jumping quality, performance ability, charisma, and just all around amazingness had me at hello :laugh::laugh::laugh:. What's fun to do is to look back to Sochi and see how much better he is now, even though back then he was still pretty darn good. That short program will always have a special place for me.

I've also travelled more to see events than I had to means to do back in the day. I only managed Worlds in 2003 because it was going to be local for me, and then a couple of ice shows too. Now I've attended the past 2 worlds, the olympics, and I have tickets to the GPF. Though Yuzu is my fave I do enjoy so many other skaters as well, so the sport has a lot to offer right now.
 

TryMeLater

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Oooooooohhhhhhh! That's a burning news! You know what? I think in two weeks in WC after most of men we will say "A 13-year-old girl has a higher technical than this man"! That's a real shock that stroke FS world in last two days, go girls :biggrin:

P.S. I don't intend to insult the men, just so excited, hope to not offend anyone.

It big news, but it's not surprising.
For the most part of FS history, women and men usually had the same content, although women usually trailed the men by some years.
The first 3S was landed by a man in 1955 and by woman in 1961.
The first 3Lz was landed by a man in 1962 and by a woman in 1978.
The first 3A was landed by a man in 1978 and by a woman in 1989.
The first 3F was landed by a man in 1961 and by a woman in 1981.
The first 4S was landed by a man in 1998 and by woman in 2002.
 

Sam L

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Pyeongchang was the first Olympics I've ever visited. I saw my girl win the Olympic Gold. :D
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Great user name and I really enjoyed reading your post.

Agree with most of it.

Welcome back! Figure skating needs all the fans it can get.
 

Old Cat Lady

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Ooooooohhhhh! Well, boy have I got some news for you!

hehe. I've seen several triple axels landed but I don't consider that one element to trump everything else. heard of quads being landed, but that's why I qualify everything I say with "that I've seen" ;) The sentiment is more that, while I hear people poo poo the ladies development, I argue it has moved forward significantly. Remember when flutzes were everywhere? Top skaters had inside edges deeper than a lot of people's flips - yeesh, at one point do you just call it a flip and apply the Zayak rule? They still happen, but not so egregiously or prevalent. It seems like it took forever for even one 3-3 to become a staple and now I see multiple in one program. Sarah Hughes pre-rotated so badly that she often took off forward on her "toe" jumps.

In some ways, I'm sad that I missed the excitement of being in each of the moments as the skaters developed, but in other ways, I think the break makes you appreciate things more because the contrast is so stark. It's like when people lose weight, if you see them every day, you don't even notice. but if you don't see them for months, you're immediately struck by how different they look.
 

Old Cat Lady

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
1. Best username ever.
2. Please provide your honest thoughts about Ice Dance.

Aww, thanks :) Honestly, I didn't bother watching the free dance this year because I found myself not interested at all based off the original dance and team event. I don't recall one great dance program since code of points (or whatever it's called these days - must not be COP since I see ISJ written). Of course, I realize that's the self feeding monster - i.e. I don't watch because I haven't seen anything appealing. but how do you see anything great when you don't watch?

I'm sure the sport has advanced technically but don't know enough about dance to say. To me, it looks like watered down pairs these days. I cringe when I see these extended "dance" spins - tacking the word "dance" on the name doesn't change the fact that it's a pair spin with a few restrictions. These days sbs is required when it used to be restricted.
To me, dance is about interpreting music by having the bodies work together. Dance used to be skating's greatest art but now I feel like they just mash a bunch of elements while music plays. Just like I find quad after quad with no expression to be boring, I find dance spin followed by sbs step sequence followed by twizzle to be boring.

I realize that people make the same complaints about the other disciplines. The difference is that all these extra requirements added to the programs - there used to be a lot of empty programs back in the day - so overall, the quality of the programs has improved. In dance, you never saw couples just doing crossovers from element to element so breaking it down like this took away from the discipline.

I do like that more people seem to understand it more and that people don't create a big controversy at every event - though the cynical part of me wonders if that's just because North Americans are winning instead of the Russians.

I don't know. perhaps dance just hasn't produced any great artists and that's why it's so uninspiring but it seems to me, in the name of pursuing the sport side over the art, the rules don't allow for great dance programs anymore.
 

Shayuki

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Glad to hear that you have been able to rekindle your excitement in the sport. I also think that the 2018 Olympic games were fantastic with all sorts of interesting story lines. The ladies' competition had plenty of drama and a very close finish as well as technical brilliance, Hanyu's victory with his injury as well as my favorite male figure skating program just about ever and extremely high quality ice dance competitions - And the pairs also were good. Overall, it was the strongest Olympic figure skating competition I've seen. Of course, we can only hope that the next one's able to top it.

She skated the most technically demanding ladies program I’ve ever seen
It was very impressive, indeed. I especially loved her SP, it to me was the best program of the Olympics.

Although... Well, when it comes to the technically most demanding ladies' program ever skated, that was performed 2 days ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4DRB8lUEOQ
It probably would be recommended to at least see it.
 

lyndichee

Medalist
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Aww, thanks :) Honestly, I didn't bother watching the free dance this year because I found myself not interested at all based off the original dance and team event. I don't recall one great dance program since code of points (or whatever it's called these days - must not be COP since I see ISJ written). Of course, I realize that's the self feeding monster - i.e. I don't watch because I haven't seen anything appealing. but how do you see anything great when you don't watch?

I'm sure the sport has advanced technically but don't know enough about dance to say. To me, it looks like watered down pairs these days. I cringe when I see these extended "dance" spins - tacking the word "dance" on the name doesn't change the fact that it's a pair spin with a few restrictions. These days sbs is required when it used to be restricted.
To me, dance is about interpreting music by having the bodies work together. Dance used to be skating's greatest art but now I feel like they just mash a bunch of elements while music plays. Just like I find quad after quad with no expression to be boring, I find dance spin followed by sbs step sequence followed by twizzle to be boring.

I realize that people make the same complaints about the other disciplines. The difference is that all these extra requirements added to the programs - there used to be a lot of empty programs back in the day - so overall, the quality of the programs has improved. In dance, you never saw couples just doing crossovers from element to element so breaking it down like this took away from the discipline.

I do like that more people seem to understand it more and that people don't create a big controversy at every event - though the cynical part of me wonders if that's just because North Americans are winning instead of the Russians.

I don't know. perhaps dance just hasn't produced any great artists and that's why it's so uninspiring but it seems to me, in the name of pursuing the sport side over the art, the rules don't allow for great dance programs anymore.

I think you should give ice dance more of a try. I think because of technical requirements being so "contrived" that teams having a distinct style is imperative to standing out. If you only watched the team event, then you might not be aware that Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir FD was much better in the individual event. My personal preference is drama and I liked the details in Virtue/Moir's program more however whether they won gold or silver, I was moved to tears by how emotionally charged their FD was.

If you think that there are no great artists, I think you might reconsider and really like the French team of Papadakis/Cizeron's FD; they were not in the team event so you might have missed out on this piece of art. At the very least, watch this FD.

Both teams are different kinds of artists, an incredibly exciting event.
 

GrandmaCC

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2017
I think you should give ice dance more of a try. I think because of technical requirements being so "contrived" that teams having a distinct style is imperative to standing out. If you only watched the team event, then you might not be aware that Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir FD was much better in the individual event. My personal preference is drama and I liked the details in Virtue/Moir's program more however whether they won gold or silver, I was moved to tears by how emotionally charged their FD was.

If you think that there are no great artists, I think you might reconsider and really like the French team of Papadakis/Cizeron's FD; they were not in the team event so you might have missed out on this piece of art. At the very least, watch this FD.

Both teams are different kinds of artists, an incredibly exciting event.

This, absolutely. Papadakis & Cizeron’s FD is a must for anyone who enjoys skating or just anything to do with the artistic/cultural realm. Even those who do not enjoy their skate would have a fine time unleashing their inner critic ;)

I would recommend watching the dance coverage with Belinda Noonan’s commentary, although she talks throughout the performance, she does a great job of breaking down the code and is brilliant for untrained eyes. That will definitely bring you up to speed on the current requirements.
If you look on YouTube, the Australian Chanel 7 has these clips.

I’m very glad you’re enjoying the sport again :) and thank you for your positive post!! Some seasoned fans can grow a little too knowledgeable in my opinion, which leads to more of a critical mindset, not always a bad thing, but something which can detract from the magic of the sport. A bit like knowing a magician’s secrets before watching the show.
It is great to hear the thoughts of someone with “fresh eyes” :)
 

Hyena

Tous les whiskys
Medalist
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
I so appreciate this thread and the positive first post! Too often threads get sucked into everything that's ruining figure skating (quads, IJS, TES, PCS - you name it, someone's blamed it for the demise of the sport). I sometimes forget to celebrate the amazing skating that's happening right now. I agree that these Olympics were just incredible and I loved watching every minute.

What's interesting about ice dance for me is that when I first started following the sport seriously, in 2013-2014, I couldn't have cared less about ice dance. But I started watching events here and there and now it's my favorite discipline! Personally, I think it's where you find the most creative, interesting, and authentic programs.

PS - Old Cat Lady, please post long and often! I think most of us are here because we don't have as many "real life" friends to talk about figure skating in excruciating detail with.
 

MIM

Medalist
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
I enjoyed reading your post. It is interesting to learn that all disciplines except ice dance refreshed and re-ignited your love for skating, while in the forum, thoses are the deciplines that have gotten fiercely criticized for lack of artistry; too much focuses on technicality, etc. at least the last four years since I joined the forum. Your review and comparison between times and deciplines give me a new perspective to see the sports.

I acknowledge that we live in such a rich and innovative skating period. We have Russia that keeps producing SO MANY talented young girls skaters, along with Japan. Men’s and Pairs fields are not as deep as ladies, but are spread out around the world. It is healthy to have a diversity in the field with talented skaters from small AND large skating federations.
Comparatively, ice dance is the most conservative decipline with the least influx of talents amongst all four.
 

StitchMonkey

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
I think you should consider skipping short dance and watch the free. At least until you start to get into it again ;)

The short dance can be a bit tedious and part of that is because they are all required to be very similar. It can get repetitive, especially this season where it was all Latin. Last year we everyone did blues and either hip hop or swing, so we at least got a little more variety in the SDs... i don't remember what the requirements are for next year. But for now, I think a lot of the free skates would be your speed.
 
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