2018 Skate America: Thoughts and Highlights?

[VegMom]

Then when you consider general FS fans, most of whom not only don't care about urs but don't even see them, you have a Glaring Reason for the inability of audiences to make sense of performances vs. judging. They shrug their shoulders, but each time something is so incomprehensible, FS itself loses.

Agreed.
Figure skating has a reputation for being 100% subjective and 'not a real sport.' That perspective is emphasized with these new rules and how they're applied inconsistently.

That's why I feel like it could be better to get rid of GOE entirely and beef up the technology of the tech panel (more cameras, etc). The more fair the tech panel gets, the less it appears biased. Alternatively, maybe it's time to simply embrace the concept that scoring is subjective and stop trying to make the scoring appear to be about sport/athletics.

 

[Kelly]

Among Ladies FS, Kaori's jumps were the best.
I feel the GOE difference of her jumps and Satoko's should have been bigger.
With +5/-5, judges have more power than before to play favoritism.
I like Kaori's FS music the most at Skate America and the choreography is much better than her last year's.
It should push Kaori to improve her posture and extensions. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[kwanatic]

So how many times did Johnny and Tara call Kaori's skating sloppy or messy in total?

I didn't count but they called her sloppy in both programs. They complisulted her (saying something nice and mean at the same time) by saying she was charismatic and sloppy/messy. Totally disagree with them. There's a difference b/w sloppy/messy and not completely polished. Kaori isn't completely polished yet but by no means is she sloppy to me.

Then again, they said Satoko was a "paint by the numbers" skater about 2 years ago so what do they know?:sarcasm:

 

[jenaj]

I think Johnny and Tara are both bad commentators, each in their own way. Tara talks way too much and most of her commentary is irrelevant to what we are seeing. Does anyone really care which skaters she loves (or doesn't love)? Too much about her personal opinions and not enough about the actual skating. And I'm tired of Johnny's Russian obsession and his Alex Trebek-like attempts to use Russian pronunciations of names. His main attribute is that he's not as bad as Tara. He once in a while explains what is happening--such as the jump is UR or the point value lost from a mistake. I also think both should hold back most of their commentary until the skater is finished. Then they can explain, for example, that Bradie was not able under the rules to add another combo in her short program or that Vincent's tech score was likely to go down a lot because of URs (by the long program, they should have known this). I prefer no commentary to their's.

 

[theharleyquinn]

I didn't count but they called her sloppy in both programs. They complisulted her (saying something nice and mean at the same time) by saying she was charismatic and sloppy/messy. Totally disagree with them. There's a difference b/w sloppy/messy and not completely polished. Kaori isn't completely polished yet but by no means is she sloppy to me.

Then again, they said Satoko was a "paint by the numbers" skater about 2 years ago so what do they know?:sarcasm:

Neither of them seem particularly moved by Kaori's skating, which is fine. I can even understand them wanting to contrast her with Satoko. It's just odd for them to say in absolute terms that she's sloppy and not mention it of other skaters. They so rarely talk about posture anyways, so it's weird to hear them harp on Kaori so much when Bradie also has posture issues that I would say take far more away from her performance.

 

[shine]

I don't even know why "sloppy" is used to describe Kaori's skating. To me she's a skater who has incredible blade skills but somewhat awkward/tight upper body movement. "Sloppy" is simply not a very accurate term to describe her skating.

 

[Mathman]

My biggest and happiest surprises (Ladies).

Sofia Samodurova. She killed it. Commentators may feel that her choreography was less mature than some others', but phooey on that. Her performance was a delight. (This was the first time I saw her compete, but now I am a fan.)

Laurine LeCavelier. I never paid much attention to her before, but she skated clean and sold it, sold it, sold it.

Megan Wessenberg. Who? You rocked it. Way to make the most of your opportunity!

Alaine Chartrand. This may be her last season, but she put out a performance that she can be proud of on the international scene.

 

[kwanatic]

Sofia Samodurova. She killed it. Commentators may feel that her choreography was less mature than some others', but phooey on that. Her performance was a delight. (This was the first time I saw her compete, but now I am a fan.)

I think she's a delightful skater. Not as many bells and whistles as the Eteri girls but still very enjoyable to watch.

You should check out her Hava Nageela SP from the JGP last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw5e8tWNLIc :agree:

 

[lurkz2]

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

1. Please bring back the yellow button (for elements under review) to give viewers a better idea of how much the score could possibly drop.

2. I appreciated that the technical panel was relatively strict on URs.

3. It was a bit weird that most of the flips received a "!", considering that AFAIK there has been no change on how a Flip is defined under the rules.

MEN:

1. I loved Nathan's programs for the artistry, uniqueness and most of all the personality that shines through. While it remains to be seen if he can maintain his technical mastery at Yale, Yale seems to have helped him deal with the stress of competing. Last year he seemed so focused on achieving perfection, while this year he seems more relaxed and appreciative of all he managed to accomplish given the limitations of his schedule and environment and his love for the sport shines through his performances.

2. It's amazing that Brezina and Voronov are still trying to upgrade their arsenal of jumps when they were widely expected to retire.

3. Vincent's programs seem to be similar in composition (elements and their arrangement) to his programs last season despite the change in the ISU rules. Hopefully his team is already re-evaluating his programs.

LADIES:

1. It's amazing that the top ladies had very clean programs at this stage of the season.

2. Satoko deserved to win because of her superior artistry coupled with the improvement in her jumps. While Kaori seems to be faster and has larger jumps. she is not as refined and skates with less maturity.

3. I had never heard of Samodurova before, but she beat Bradie fair and square showing how deep Russia is in the ladies event.

PAIRS:

1. Most if not all of the programs were rough, especially the side by side jumps; hopefully this will improve later in the season.

2. Tarasove and Morozov were not perfect, but they were a class above all the other competitors.

3. Efimova gave me a young Gordeeva vibe.

4. 3rd place was a battle between the American pairs. While Cain and Leduc got the medal on the basis of their superior execution, the programs of the Knierims actually showed more potential and gave off a European flair. The question is whether the Knierims will skate those programs to their full protential given their current lack of a coach.

ICE DANCE:

1. Hubbell and Donohue were the class of the field and won on that basis. However, I did not appreciate their FD because Romeo and Juliet is about young love and their skating is the antithesis of that.

2. Guignard and Fabri were very skilled but I personally did not find their FD memorable.

3. Zagorski/Guerreiro were very fast, but I noticed some of her extensions could be improved.

4. McNamara and Carpenter's programs seem to be relatively well developed compared to the other top pairs, it seems like they started developing their programs and training for this season relatively early.

 

[irinalover]

Nathan Chen was superb.

 

[hippomoomin]

The most "impressive" part of SA is the ladies judging. GOE was given unfairly to say the least. Satoko's sp jumps were much better than last season, but the jumps in her free were NOT. The fact she didn't receive a single ur calls, but with generous GOE is mind boggling. It is not fair to skaters with much better jumps. I would place Kaori ahead of Satoko.

What also stands out is the top and bottom were really at the two ends of the spectrum. Several ladies had great potential had mega meltdown in the LP.

I have to say I have an overall negative feeling about the event. Hope Skate Canada will be better.

 

[Manitou]

And I'm tired of Johnny's Russian obsession and his Alex Trebek-like attempts to use Russian pronunciations of names.

Are you seriously blaming Johnny for correctly pronouncing Russian names????

 

[lavenderblossom]

Nathan was my highlight! I really enjoyed both of Nathan's programs, surprisingly for me The SP is so much fun! And although his FS has gotten some mixed reviews, I liked it a lot (it helps that I love the music). I didn't feel it was noticeably lacking in transitions (although I did feel that way about his last FS at Worlds, I sincerely hope he doesn't gut this program of so much its choreo like he did his last one). Maybe the time being cut to 4mins played a part, idk But seriously, he looked happier, more relaxed, and he seemed to be projecting more. Honestly, the only thing I didn't like was that the very beginning is edited to be even longer, but I'm nitpicking.

There were other performances I really enjoyed, Kaori's FS, for example, is just lovely. Really stunning. I liked both of Bradie's programs, no they're not showstoppers but I just find her very likeable for some reason and I was really hoping she could podium, but alas. Better luck next time. I was happily surprised by Megan Wessenberg - her jumps are huuuge, she blazes up and down the rink, and she had two good showings here that she can be proud of. I enjoyed Polina's SP a lot, but although there is a decent case for arguing she was underscored, I could see her underrotating in real time and it's distressing because she has so much talent but not the tools to realise that potential CSKA has got to bring in a tech coach, it'll be such a pity if her URs can't be fixed because she's such a beautiful skater. Back to the men - Voronov's FS. I want to thank him, for what he said at the press conference. It still hurts deeply. But it means a lot to everyone that he chose to keep it and keep skating. I already talked about Michal and Matteo in Euro Men's thread, but congrats to them for doing so well

I didn't watch Pairs or Dance, but those were the disciplines I scored the best on in predictions game, somehow. The less I know, the better my guesses?....

 

[Spirals for Miles]

I think Johnny and Tara are both bad commentators, each in their own way. Tara talks way too much and most of her commentary is irrelevant to what we are seeing. Does anyone really care which skaters she loves (or doesn't love)? Too much about her personal opinions and not enough about the actual skating. And I'm tired of Johnny's Russian obsession and his Alex Trebek-like attempts to use Russian pronunciations of names. His main attribute is that he's not as bad as Tara. He once in a while explains what is happening--such as the jump is UR or the point value lost from a mistake. I also think both should hold back most of their commentary until the skater is finished. Then they can explain, for example, that Bradie was not able under the rules to add another combo in her short program or that Vincent's tech score was likely to go down a lot because of URs (by the long program, they should have known this). I prefer no commentary to their's.

I'd much rather have Johnny who tries - and to me, succeeds - with the Russian names than hear them get totally messed up by commentators who don't know better...

 

[ancientpeas]

Hand monkey..Hand monkey.. Sock puppet or is this a Russian expression?

Johnny is way better than Tara. I'd take Johnny and Tracy Wilson together and then Rod Black and Tara and make it a choose your commentator team game. Like hunger games but with skating!

My highlights were:

Julian Yee and Jimmy Ma in the SP for men and Michal and Sergei repping for the old guy club in the long (Brezina's 4s-2t is a thing of beauty and he's skating to Thunderstuck!)
Marin Honda and Satoko Miyahara's SPs were beautiful and I loved Satoko's long. Nice discovery of Sofia Samodurova even if I'm not a fan of the music of her FD. Thought Laurine looked really good in the LP.
T/M long was a breath of fresh air after last year's long. Really enjoyed Hase and Seegert's SP. Congrats to the silver and bronze medalists on their first ever GP medals.
Fear and Gibson were my highlight of Dance. Great PD and really fun free dance. H/D were the deserving winners but F/G were my favourites. I'll be really interested to see what Z/G do with their Blues for Klook FD. They have a good PD and I think this is a good program for them.

 

[Orlov]

Hand monkey..Hand monkey.. Sock puppet or is this a Russian expression?

It's just my literal translation "ручная обезьянка". I always forget that literal translations are usually wrong, sorry It's mean "tame little monkey", you know, the type that sit on the shoulder.

 

[ancientpeas]

It's just my literal translation "ручная обезьянка". I always forget that literal translations are usually wrong, sorry It's mean your tame little monkey, you know, the type that sit on the shoulder.

oh.. interesting. Kind of like a parrot? Does he repeat and agree with everything she says?

 

[Orlov]

oh.. interesting. Kind of like a parrot? Does he repeat and agree with everything she says?

Well something like that. The dude agrees with almost everything TAT says, well, in general, it is felt that he is little afraid of her and fawns over her.

 

[ancientpeas]

Well something like that. The dude agrees with almost everything TAT says, well, in general, it is felt that he is little afraid of her and fawns over her.

I think I might do that too.. Tat seems a little scary sometimes. Scary in a good way. A woman who speaks her mind. :thumbsup:

I still like my skating commentary free though. Although this week might be a challenge. CTV (who broadcast SC instead of CBC who broadcast the other parts of the GP season) don't seem to have leapt into the 21st century yet so no TES box.

 

[Orlov]

I think I might do that too.. Tat seems a little scary sometimes. Scary in a good way. A woman who speaks her mind. :thumbsup:

I still like my skating commentary free though. Although this week might be a challenge. CTV (who broadcast SC instead of CBC who broadcast the other parts of the GP season) don't seem to have leapt into the 21st century yet so no TES box.

You are Canadian, please, tell me - on which channel will Ted Barton comment? (Ted is Canadian, right?) This is my favorite male commentator (female - Julia Lipnitskaya)