2015 World Team Trophy Team Spirit awards!
- Thread starter alebi
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Yeah where the heck were the other US skaters in the K&C after Jason's LP?
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- Feb 27, 2012
My theory is that the US pair and ladies were extremely mindful that the team gold would depend on their results the next day.
So they wanted to be well-rested before Saturday morning practice -- and before their Saturday afternoon free skates.
As we know, Max skated in the first group of the Men's FS, and Jason did not skate until almost the end of the second group.
Ashley was in the Kiss and Cry to cheer for and congratulate Max. After she happily "passed the torch" of Black Swan to him, she eventually could be seen excusing herself and ducking out -- presumably to get herself to bed early.
I'm sure that Jason understood perfectly at the time that his teammates were doing the right thing for the team by giving him their moral support without being physically at the venue.
And esp. given the ultimate one-point margin for the team victory, I have no problem with their decision.
My rankings:
1. Team China - King Wenjing Sui, Bunny Superhero Zijun Li, plus masks, plus so many of them there in the K&C by the last event (while everyone else's looked a little empty)
2. Team France - For their sheer enthusiasm... at being sixth!
3. Team Canada - The 6.0 signs, the piggyback ride, the heartfelt message from J10.
4. Team USA - Very enthusiastic and very fun costumes. Just not as memorable or cute as the top 3.
5. Team Russia - Some really great moments, but they just had too few people in there. Mishin = best cheerleader
6. Team Japan - :disapp: And to cap it off, they didn't even look that happy at the medal ceremony.
1. Team China - King Wenjing Sui, Bunny Superhero Zijun Li, plus masks, plus so many of them there in the K&C by the last event (while everyone else's looked a little empty)
2. Team France - For their sheer enthusiasm... at being sixth!
3. Team Canada - The 6.0 signs, the piggyback ride, the heartfelt message from J10.
4. Team USA - Very enthusiastic and very fun costumes. Just not as memorable or cute as the top 3.
5. Team Russia - Some really great moments, but they just had too few people in there. Mishin = best cheerleader
6. Team Japan - :disapp: And to cap it off, they didn't even look that happy at the medal ceremony.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
Team China won the spirit award
. Source: the tweet posted by pyri_mids in the Team China fan thread.There is a spirit award!! But I don't think there's a ceremony
I swear, I did not know this when I made my post above. Haven't checked the Fan Pages yet.Team China won the spirit award
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2008
Obviously, Team France should always win Team Spirit. I am very proud of them for living up to tradition of K&C greatness started by previous French teams, even though they didn't do all that well (given they'd been on tour right up until they flew to Tokyo, that's hardly a surprise).
WTT 2012 is still the best though - between Team France and Team Italy, the K&C shenanigans were top notch, and all the skaters cheering for Daisuke Takahashi and his awesome programs was all sorts of great.
I'm not a fan of the USA approach to WTT cheering, putting on a bunch of red white and blue props and being loud is not very imaginative.
WTT 2012 is still the best though - between Team France and Team Italy, the K&C shenanigans were top notch, and all the skaters cheering for Daisuke Takahashi and his awesome programs was all sorts of great.
The men's event was over by 21:00 local time. According to the event schedule, morning practice for pairs was at 10 and for the ladies at 11:20 (and Gold and Wagner were in the second group). Do the US skaters need that much sleep?
I'm not a fan of the USA approach to WTT cheering, putting on a bunch of red white and blue props and being loud is not very imaginative.
We'd I'd imagine the hotel isn't super close to the arena. So the event ends at 10 p.m. Everyone then all has to wait for buses and stuff, and I'd imagine by the time you get back to the hotel, it's like 11 p.m. or even midnight. Then you have to basically wind down --which could mean not being fast asleep by 12:30 or 1 a.m. 8 hours from there is 9 a.m., which doesn't give much time for the pairs teams and it's cutting it close for the ladies as far as getting ready and easing into the day.
Neither Liza or Elena were there for Sergei Voronov (but Yuko and Sasha were, so perhaps....maybe that wasn't the best move in hindsight). And Zijun and Ziquan or Sui/Han were not there for Yan Han's performance. All of team Japan was there for Yuzuru, so perhaps they should be given more credit for team spirit.
Yes, I suppose Team USA approach was not creative, but they were enthusiastic, so it wasn't a total loss.
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- Joined
- Mar 25, 2008
21:00 = 9 pm.
But maybe Gold could have used more sleep. Happily, Wagner was in good form.
You're right...still...I think it wasn't that crazy to leave before 9....many skaters are in the habit of being in bed around that time...given they are up at 5 or 6 in the morning. And you're also dealing with jetlag.
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- Apr 14, 2014
I am sure there are exceptions, but that tends to be how 'team cheering' appears from US teams and fans in my experience. For example, in golf's Ryder Cup in past years I have noticed Europe's fans with all sorts of fun, witty and imaginative chants and the US fans just shout, "U.S.A. U.S.A U.S.A." at a high decibel. It seems to be their way, but I may just have not seen more imaginative stuff before.
yeah, Japan seemed to be quite pressured and serious without the old hands like Dai, Akiko, Mao etc. Hopefully, as they get more experience, they will loosen up at this event. The French and Chinese were all kinds of cute.
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- May 4, 2014
I don't think Japan was all that bad in the K&C it's just that so much/too much was expected, particularly from Yuzuru. I thought Kanako was SUPER cute with her adorable smile & dancing. Loved her & Satoko's "Go-chan" hairstyle. Satoko, Ami, Francis, Cathy & Chris were also really great. Considering how disappointed Cathy was after their FD, I think it was admirable how she bounced back for the guys. Mura tends to be a bit conservative anyway, especially compared to big personalities like Dai & Nobu. He appears more of a strong, quiet "backbone" type of a leader. In regards to Yuzuru, he definitely did look nervous for Kanako. Like the guys, she wanted to do so well, and crying Kanako is simply heartbreaking. Also, had Kihara been there, maybe Yuzuru might have been a bit more relaxed since they seemed to have fun together. Anyway, considering how the "camera"/media love to focus on Yuzuru, I'm actually kind of glad he played it conservative giving the others their deserved camera time in the K&C.
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- Feb 25, 2014
I think the pressure to deliver being the host nation and especially after losing the third men's spot for 2016 Worlds make them tense. They even had the WTT team announcement news conference including interviews with the skaters the day after they arrived back from Shanghai. I cannot imagine the headlines news if they do not medal.
Nevertheless like tsuyoboogie mentioned there are moments of Team Japan albeit not boisterous enough. Here are some of them:
The funny samurai girls, with Yuzu imitating their stone face clapping (initially people was wondering why he looked so blank
)
Imitating Satako ending pose
Unveiling the Phantoms of Japan. Masks matches their costumes
Adorable little Pooh and Froggie by Cathy and Chris the puppet masters
Fist pumping Phantom brothers ready for street (...ice) fight
Kanako K&C with Yuzu rushing to find her mask and picked up a wrong one (its Mura's).
Kana apologised for her skating, Yuzu/Mura going like 'no, you did well'
Hugging all around
Samurai girls with Chris the chipmunk
Nevertheless like tsuyoboogie mentioned there are moments of Team Japan albeit not boisterous enough. Here are some of them:
The funny samurai girls, with Yuzu imitating their stone face clapping (initially people was wondering why he looked so blank
) Imitating Satako ending pose
Unveiling the Phantoms of Japan. Masks matches their costumes
Adorable little Pooh and Froggie by Cathy and Chris the puppet masters
Fist pumping Phantom brothers ready for street (...ice) fight
Kanako K&C with Yuzu rushing to find her mask and picked up a wrong one (its Mura's).
Kana apologised for her skating, Yuzu/Mura going like 'no, you did well'
Hugging all around
Samurai girls with Chris the chipmunk
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- Joined
- Sep 7, 2014
Looks more like a KISS tribute-band.
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- Feb 25, 2014
maybe Yuzu can skate to 
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- Mar 3, 2014
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I am sure there are exceptions, but that tends to be how 'team cheering' appears from US teams and fans in my experience. For example, in golf's Ryder Cup in past years I have noticed Europe's fans with all sorts of fun, witty and imaginative chants and the US fans just shout, "U.S.A. U.S.A U.S.A." at a high decibel. It seems to be their way, but I may just have not seen more imaginative stuff before.
yeah, Japan seemed to be quite pressured and serious without the old hands like Dai, Akiko, Mao etc. Hopefully, as they get more experience, they will loosen up at this event. The French and Chinese were all kinds of cute.
As an American, I hand it to you, Grand Sophy: your analysis of our cheering is spot on.
When it comes to cheering a team, (and of course this is all generalization, but one that I believe is true) Americans see their task as the team's "extra player". That means cheering so loudly the building shakes, the rafters roar, the players cannot hear themselves (literally) on the ice, the field, or the court. Dressing up as outrageously as possible in team colors, painting your face, your hair, your eyeballs: in support of your team, showing your team spirit.
When I was a young pup in college, I attended an "Ivy League" school. My college made the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament, a huge deal for effete, scholarly Ivy Leaguers. And we had some hysterical T-shirts, and very funny caps, and witty chants that were cutting, pointed and oh-so-funny. Did squat for our team getting slaughtered on the court, however. Looking back on it, that's not really how we do it here, and it's not how I would do it now. Silly hats, silly costumes, and screaming as loudly as you can for as long as you can is how we do it.
YMMV, and your country may culturally do otherwise, which is fine and wonderful and great. But it is not that Americans are not putting in the effort to witty, pointed, charming, etc. It's just not normally where we put our efforts.
And who knew there was a team spirit award, anyway!
As an American, I hand it to you, Grand Sophy: your analysis of our cheering is spot on.
When it comes to cheering a team, (and of course this is all generalization, but one that I believe is true) Americans see their task as the team's "extra player". That means cheering so loudly the building shakes, the rafters roar, the players cannot hear themselves (literally) on the ice, the field, or the court. Dressing up as outrageously as possible in team colors, painting your face, your hair, your eyeballs: that, as your team, in support of your team, showing your team spirit.
When I was a young pup in college, I attended an "Ivy League" school. My college made the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament, a huge deal for effete, scholarly Ivy Leaguers. And we had some hysterical T-shirts, and very funny caps, and witty chants that were cutting, pointed and oh-so-funny. Did squat for our team getting slaughtered on the court, however. Looking back on it, that's not really how we do it here, and it's not how I would do it now. Silly hats, silly costumes, and screaming as loudly as you can for as long as you can is how we do it.
YMMV, and your country may culturally do otherwise, which is fine and wonderful and great. But it is not that Americans are not putting in the effort to witty, pointed, charming, etc. It's just not normally where we put our efforts.
And who knew there was a team spirit award, anyway!
Yep, I hail from the land of loud cheering --- the "12th Man" of the Seattle Seahawks has broken decibel records hahahaha. The news stations even has a decibel meter.
http://youtu.be/EJas6z90tBs
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2014
Yeah, that is fine. You do well on it usually after all! Well, maybe not the Ryder Cup... 
I prefer the wit, and imaginative ways of support, but each to his or her own.
I prefer the wit, and imaginative ways of support, but each to his or her own. Yeah, that is fine. You do well on it usually after all! Well, maybe not the Ryder Cup...
Usually you may see some witty signs at football games...sometimes ESPN or another sports network will do a contest...
