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What are your thoughts on Day 1 in Grenoble?
Recaps:
Recaps:
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2019 Internationaux de France: Day 1
- Thread starter gsk8
- Start date
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- Mar 15, 2018
Surprised about Mariah Bell.
She has grown in confidence and glad the program is different and unique for her. Glad to have something NOT princess.
It works really well surprisingly and whoever thought of a ponytail is smart. It works for the program and makes the spins cool.
She has grown in confidence and glad the program is different and unique for her. Glad to have something NOT princess.
It works really well surprisingly and whoever thought of a ponytail is smart. It works for the program and makes the spins cool.
WTH were those tech calls for Shoma??? And that GOE on his 4F?
And people are still hung up on Nathan’s inflated scores, spewing their hatred (mostly on other platforms tho), like he’s the only skater far and wide benefitting from favourable judging… people’s obvious bias against certain skaters is really... something.
You know how fans like to post blurry, low quality videos to proof a skater’s supposed URs? Well, luckily this time the ISU stream from GP France was actually pretty good, and the URs on both Shoma’s 4F and 3A couldn’t have been any clearer.
It is beyond me how the tech panel could have missed those, so I can only conclude that evil conniving ISU is protecting him because he’s from Japan (remember, his URs at JO didn’t get called either) and clearly Japanese Fed must have meddled some. The ISU obviously wants Shoma as their next poster boy, once he gets his feet back under him, but until that doesn’t happen, they make sure he doesn’t fall too far down in the rankings.
Sounds reasonable, no?
Apart from that, watching Kevin was so, so, so heartbreaking! He really wanted this so much.
And then, after seeing how devastated he was in the KnC, when you thought it couldn’t get any more painful, there was Shoma, looking like a forlorn child sitting in the KnC all by himself, after that disastrous skate with those hard falls that he took.
And people are still hung up on Nathan’s inflated scores, spewing their hatred (mostly on other platforms tho), like he’s the only skater far and wide benefitting from favourable judging… people’s obvious bias against certain skaters is really... something.
You know how fans like to post blurry, low quality videos to proof a skater’s supposed URs? Well, luckily this time the ISU stream from GP France was actually pretty good, and the URs on both Shoma’s 4F and 3A couldn’t have been any clearer.
It is beyond me how the tech panel could have missed those, so I can only conclude that evil conniving ISU is protecting him because he’s from Japan (remember, his URs at JO didn’t get called either) and clearly Japanese Fed must have meddled some. The ISU obviously wants Shoma as their next poster boy, once he gets his feet back under him, but until that doesn’t happen, they make sure he doesn’t fall too far down in the rankings.
Sounds reasonable, no?
Apart from that, watching Kevin was so, so, so heartbreaking! He really wanted this so much.
And then, after seeing how devastated he was in the KnC, when you thought it couldn’t get any more painful, there was Shoma, looking like a forlorn child sitting in the KnC all by himself, after that disastrous skate with those hard falls that he took.
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Ready? Begin! And...
...despite the few unexpected struggles and falls here and there, the Rhythm Dance was overall very enjoyable - lots of solid programs plus some standouts in terms of construction and performance, and of course that Fame program from P/C, which is both fabulous in all ways and an instant earworm.
I only saw the first half of the Men's SP, but Kevin's program, even with that hard fall, is stuck in my mind. It is outstanding choreography, he sells every second of it and when he gets the lutz sorted out it's going to take him to the top. I just wish he could learn to stop beating himself up so very much in the aftermath when something goes wrong, because it must be draining and make it harder to move on to the FS - but at the same time, he put up some happy Instagram stories about the program afterwards, so maybe he just skates with his emotions so close to the surface that they can't help spilling out immediately after.
Love love love Nicole Schott's program and her jumpsuit, and Mae, as always, slayed.
I haven't the time or brainspace to catch up on pairs at the moment, so nothing to discuss there.
...despite the few unexpected struggles and falls here and there, the Rhythm Dance was overall very enjoyable - lots of solid programs plus some standouts in terms of construction and performance, and of course that Fame program from P/C, which is both fabulous in all ways and an instant earworm.
I only saw the first half of the Men's SP, but Kevin's program, even with that hard fall, is stuck in my mind. It is outstanding choreography, he sells every second of it and when he gets the lutz sorted out it's going to take him to the top. I just wish he could learn to stop beating himself up so very much in the aftermath when something goes wrong, because it must be draining and make it harder to move on to the FS - but at the same time, he put up some happy Instagram stories about the program afterwards, so maybe he just skates with his emotions so close to the surface that they can't help spilling out immediately after.
Love love love Nicole Schott's program and her jumpsuit, and Mae, as always, slayed.
I haven't the time or brainspace to catch up on pairs at the moment, so nothing to discuss there.
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- Jan 31, 2019
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I loved seeing both Kostronaya and Zagitova, loved both, got sad about Sakomoto, love her to bits.
got broke up about Uno falling that hard, and spent some time on the slo mo replay b/c I was determined to figure out what edge was wrong where on Samarin, (not because I suspect tech panel, but because I kept forgetting to check out that penalty type before). For drama purposes, I kindda wished Samarin came ahead of Chen, but I honestly have no idea what to expect tomorrow in men’s competition save for Chen’s gonna win. Gonna try to catch it live.
Pairs, I adore Pavlyuchenko/Khodykin
got broke up about Uno falling that hard, and spent some time on the slo mo replay b/c I was determined to figure out what edge was wrong where on Samarin, (not because I suspect tech panel, but because I kept forgetting to check out that penalty type before). For drama purposes, I kindda wished Samarin came ahead of Chen, but I honestly have no idea what to expect tomorrow in men’s competition save for Chen’s gonna win. Gonna try to catch it live.
Pairs, I adore Pavlyuchenko/Khodykin
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- Nov 19, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLGnWIuJaS8
I believe Jeroen Prins for his work as technical controller at Grenoble Ladies SP should be disqualified from ISU judges - since he is obviously incompetent or biased. Above is the video proving it. The calls he made can't be misjudged by chance - it's just impossible at this level of competitions. In case they will delete the video - here is couple of screenshots proving this too:
https://i.ibb.co/jfw9LqH/aa.png
https://i.ibb.co/dD97srb/aaaa.png
https://i.ibb.co/fSC69pz/hhh.png
There were more inconsistent and dubious calls, missed URs etc - but I don't want to go further there, tbh. This is already enough. Not only this level of random fake calls makes disservice to athletes, sabotaging their hard work and ruining their career chances - it saps all enjoyment and excitement of viewers and spectators from supposedly great fs event. Even after really good performance noone can feel any joy because nobody knows how many invincible faults they will find. The silence and weak applauses as well as confused and downcast look of athletes in K&C were very telling when this guy destroyed several top athletes by his random calls. It's not what I want to see in fs; it's not what spectators want and bought tickets for either. I really tired from this continuing tech callers masquerade - and while in previous events they weren't this impudent - now by faking wrong edge they crossed all possible red lines. The ISU needs to do something about it - else they jeopardize their own sport popularity.
I believe Jeroen Prins for his work as technical controller at Grenoble Ladies SP should be disqualified from ISU judges - since he is obviously incompetent or biased. Above is the video proving it. The calls he made can't be misjudged by chance - it's just impossible at this level of competitions. In case they will delete the video - here is couple of screenshots proving this too:
https://i.ibb.co/jfw9LqH/aa.png
https://i.ibb.co/dD97srb/aaaa.png
https://i.ibb.co/fSC69pz/hhh.png
There were more inconsistent and dubious calls, missed URs etc - but I don't want to go further there, tbh. This is already enough. Not only this level of random fake calls makes disservice to athletes, sabotaging their hard work and ruining their career chances - it saps all enjoyment and excitement of viewers and spectators from supposedly great fs event. Even after really good performance noone can feel any joy because nobody knows how many invincible faults they will find. The silence and weak applauses as well as confused and downcast look of athletes in K&C were very telling when this guy destroyed several top athletes by his random calls. It's not what I want to see in fs; it's not what spectators want and bought tickets for either. I really tired from this continuing tech callers masquerade - and while in previous events they weren't this impudent - now by faking wrong edge they crossed all possible red lines. The ISU needs to do something about it - else they jeopardize their own sport popularity.
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- Mar 14, 2007
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Haven’t gotten to watch pairs or dance yet. Men were not great. Ladies BROUGHT it. Was so pleased for Mariah and Starr, though I would have switched places 3 and 4. Mariah seemed much improved. I wonder what Adam brings to the table as coach?
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2012
The mens TP seemed very lax on jumps over-all. So yes, I think it's bad for the sport that a high risk element is no longer truly high risk because even if its underrotated it is not called.
On the other side of the coin, Alena’s 3A did not look UR to me, and it was marked down as such.
As worrying for me though, is Shoma sitting alone after that SP. I thought for sure a JSF rep would be sitting with him at least.
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- Joined
- Oct 23, 2005
They missed Samarin’s 4F< as well.
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
But Shoma has always gotten lenient tech calls. Javi would be an Olympic silver medalist if Shoma would have been judged fairly. Alexei Bychcenko would have a world medal that same year if Shoma was judged fairly. And so on. It’s super annoying but I don’t expect it to stop anytime soon. I find his coaching situation to be so bizarre. Why would any top skater choose to be without one? We’re definitely not getting the full story of what went down for him to now be in this situation
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Men
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- This sucked.
- Shoma, get thee to a coach.
- Chen and Samarin are the brave souls to separate themselves from the pack by only putting hands down on the triple Axel. Samarin's PCS was incredibly generous, per usual, though no question he deserves to be second by a wide margin.
- Kevin Aymoz nailing his two hardest jumps only to botch the easiest jump in the program, in what was otherwise a stellar performance, was the biggest disappointment of the day.
Ladies
- There was controversy around some of the technical calling here, but I'd call the controversial calls basically accurate.
- Kostornaia was undermarked in PCS, if we're comparing her to Zagitova in the same event, though that's perhaps not unexpected given history. All the same, she rightly leads.
- Zagitova's Lutz edge has been becoming progressively more of an issue in the last season or so, so it was interesting to see it actually called here, though I was quite surprised they jumped right to "e". All the same, a stronger start to the Grand Prix for her here than last year.
- Kaori...:sad21:
- We finally got to see Mariah's short program (no thanks to Nebelhorn organizers), and it's...fine, I guess?
- I was impressed by Starr doing so well; I don't think anybody would have predicted her being ahead of Kaori after the short program.
- Maria Sotskova's downward spiral has been depressing, when you consider that she was the Grand Prix Final silver medalist a little under two years ago and a year and a half ago was at the Olympics.
- Wakaba's short wasn't as good as SkAm on the technical side, but I'll take this any day over what we were seeing from her last season.
Pairs
- Pavliuchenko/Khodykin have had programs in the past that didn't especially suit their present limitations on the performance side, but this program is pretty expertly tailored to them, and when they skate it as cleanly as they did here the results are highly effective.
- Mishina/Galliamov, my favourites, maybe not quite as good here as they were at Finlandia, but tech still very good. I do have some reservations about this program, though -- the choreography doesn't seem to have much relationship to the music, and Anastasia, especially, isn't doing much to sell it. Needs to amp up the divatude.
- Haven Denney stands up on a 3S for the second segment in a row! UR this time, but whatever, for them that's basically going clean, and all their other elements are so good. I wouldn't have predicted that there's be so many Cirque du Soleil programs this year for Montreal Worlds, though in retrospect perhaps I should have.
- Cain/LeDuc need to park that throw 3Lz, which has been nothing but trouble for them so far this year.
- Some really disappointing skates for the German and Austrian teams.
- Ruest/Wolfe didn't score very well, but hats off to Camille for competing despite a new labral tear two weeks ago.
Ice dance
- The king and queen finally make an appearance on the international stage. The Fame program is very fun (I especially like the clever use of the count going into the Finnstep). A few tech bobbles that will no doubt be ironed out in future performances.
- Chock/Bates were doing pretty solid on the Finnstep in their Challengers, so the near-wipeout here was a surprise (they got one keypoint added on review). They lucked out that Marco Fabbri had that twizzle issue. Speaking of which...
- Damn, some amazing levels for Guignard/Fabbri, including what I believe is the first Level 4 step sequence of the ice dance season. And then it got squandered due to the twizzle issue. All the same, I think these two remain a bit undermarked.
- We've seen Smart/Diaz's RD a lot by this point, and it's cemented itself as one of my favourites of the season. These two look ready to compete for the Worlds spot.
- Zahorski/Guerreiro's program is still so bad. It's basically nothing but the choruses of various Greatest Showman songs.
- Soucisse/Firus got butchered on levels, and still can't seem to hit the keypoints, but no falls this time, and given how some teams in their flight had skated before them, that was far from a sure thing.
- Lauriault/Le Gac have not been having a good Grand Prix season.
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- This sucked.
- Shoma, get thee to a coach.
- Chen and Samarin are the brave souls to separate themselves from the pack by only putting hands down on the triple Axel. Samarin's PCS was incredibly generous, per usual, though no question he deserves to be second by a wide margin.
- Kevin Aymoz nailing his two hardest jumps only to botch the easiest jump in the program, in what was otherwise a stellar performance, was the biggest disappointment of the day.
Ladies
- There was controversy around some of the technical calling here, but I'd call the controversial calls basically accurate.
- Kostornaia was undermarked in PCS, if we're comparing her to Zagitova in the same event, though that's perhaps not unexpected given history. All the same, she rightly leads.
- Zagitova's Lutz edge has been becoming progressively more of an issue in the last season or so, so it was interesting to see it actually called here, though I was quite surprised they jumped right to "e". All the same, a stronger start to the Grand Prix for her here than last year.
- Kaori...:sad21:
- We finally got to see Mariah's short program (no thanks to Nebelhorn organizers), and it's...fine, I guess?
- I was impressed by Starr doing so well; I don't think anybody would have predicted her being ahead of Kaori after the short program.
- Maria Sotskova's downward spiral has been depressing, when you consider that she was the Grand Prix Final silver medalist a little under two years ago and a year and a half ago was at the Olympics.
- Wakaba's short wasn't as good as SkAm on the technical side, but I'll take this any day over what we were seeing from her last season.
Pairs
- Pavliuchenko/Khodykin have had programs in the past that didn't especially suit their present limitations on the performance side, but this program is pretty expertly tailored to them, and when they skate it as cleanly as they did here the results are highly effective.
- Mishina/Galliamov, my favourites, maybe not quite as good here as they were at Finlandia, but tech still very good. I do have some reservations about this program, though -- the choreography doesn't seem to have much relationship to the music, and Anastasia, especially, isn't doing much to sell it. Needs to amp up the divatude.
- Haven Denney stands up on a 3S for the second segment in a row! UR this time, but whatever, for them that's basically going clean, and all their other elements are so good. I wouldn't have predicted that there's be so many Cirque du Soleil programs this year for Montreal Worlds, though in retrospect perhaps I should have.
- Cain/LeDuc need to park that throw 3Lz, which has been nothing but trouble for them so far this year.
- Some really disappointing skates for the German and Austrian teams.
- Ruest/Wolfe didn't score very well, but hats off to Camille for competing despite a new labral tear two weeks ago.
Ice dance
- The king and queen finally make an appearance on the international stage. The Fame program is very fun (I especially like the clever use of the count going into the Finnstep). A few tech bobbles that will no doubt be ironed out in future performances.
- Chock/Bates were doing pretty solid on the Finnstep in their Challengers, so the near-wipeout here was a surprise (they got one keypoint added on review). They lucked out that Marco Fabbri had that twizzle issue. Speaking of which...
- Damn, some amazing levels for Guignard/Fabbri, including what I believe is the first Level 4 step sequence of the ice dance season. And then it got squandered due to the twizzle issue. All the same, I think these two remain a bit undermarked.
- We've seen Smart/Diaz's RD a lot by this point, and it's cemented itself as one of my favourites of the season. These two look ready to compete for the Worlds spot.
- Zahorski/Guerreiro's program is still so bad. It's basically nothing but the choruses of various Greatest Showman songs.
- Soucisse/Firus got butchered on levels, and still can't seem to hit the keypoints, but no falls this time, and given how some teams in their flight had skated before them, that was far from a sure thing.
- Lauriault/Le Gac have not been having a good Grand Prix season.
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- Mar 22, 2018
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IdF, short for It's all Didier's Fault. It is not holding up to SC so far :roll5:
Men
- This event did not happen, shh everyone who saw that hot mess
Ladies
- Interesting PCS, interesting tech calls.
- Alyona the Angel is in the lead, rightfully so if you ask me.
- Higuchi Wakaba has shown once again she can do her SP to her potential, she just needs to carry the vibe to the FS
- Starr Andrews continues her streak of going strong, kudos.
- I finally saw the Work B(bleep) program (thank you so much Nebelhorn :sarcasm, it does work as a fun program.
- The rest: It was all Didier's Fault.
Pairs
- My faves, Nastya Mishina and Sasha Galliamov, are still stuck with (deep sigh) Je Suis Malade, but they had a strong skate nonetheless. But they're going to have to fight for the gold
- P/K are again aiming for the gold, and with a clean skate and upped PCS they are leading right now. Their lift exit, while innovative, remains scary.
- D/F goes clean(ish) twice in a row, Florida is doing wonders for them.
- Wish C/L would throw another jump, her falls are scary and due to history I'm always half anxious when watching them
- I want Minerva Fabienne Hase's dress (again).
- Surprisingly low number of SBS jump failures, only 3.
ID
- P/C's costumes had me hyped for the program, and while it was a bit of a rough showing (high expectations and all) their Fame RD is going to be great. And it's unfair how gorgeous they are, how do you look good in those warmers and headbands
- Chock/Bates are Too Darn Hot, hope they get their Finnstep levels soon.
- I want Charlene Guignard's dress (sobs) and minus the twizzles they were great, getting a Midline Step 4 and all
- Smart/Diaz's Grease RD is still great fun.
- Z/G's music cuts are still (sigh) awful, and while they are one of my faves and all Jonathan's hotness only covers for Tiffany's dress
- The Poles had a solid showing, but the program's not Kinky Boots enough. He isn't wearing matching boots for starters
- The ice did demand falls, 2 freak falls.
Men
- This event did not happen, shh everyone who saw that hot mess
Ladies
- Interesting PCS, interesting tech calls.
- Alyona the Angel is in the lead, rightfully so if you ask me.
- Higuchi Wakaba has shown once again she can do her SP to her potential, she just needs to carry the vibe to the FS
- Starr Andrews continues her streak of going strong, kudos.
- I finally saw the Work B(bleep) program (thank you so much Nebelhorn :sarcasm
, it does work as a fun program.- The rest: It was all Didier's Fault.
Pairs
- My faves, Nastya Mishina and Sasha Galliamov, are still stuck with (deep sigh) Je Suis Malade, but they had a strong skate nonetheless. But they're going to have to fight for the gold
- P/K are again aiming for the gold, and with a clean skate and upped PCS they are leading right now. Their lift exit, while innovative, remains scary.
- D/F goes clean(ish) twice in a row, Florida is doing wonders for them.
- Wish C/L would throw another jump, her falls are scary and due to history I'm always half anxious when watching them
- I want Minerva Fabienne Hase's dress (again).
- Surprisingly low number of SBS jump failures, only 3.
ID
- P/C's costumes had me hyped for the program, and while it was a bit of a rough showing (high expectations and all) their Fame RD is going to be great. And it's unfair how gorgeous they are, how do you look good in those warmers and headbands
- Chock/Bates are Too Darn Hot, hope they get their Finnstep levels soon.
- I want Charlene Guignard's dress (sobs) and minus the twizzles they were great, getting a Midline Step 4 and all
- Smart/Diaz's Grease RD is still great fun.
- Z/G's music cuts are still (sigh) awful, and while they are one of my faves and all Jonathan's hotness only covers for Tiffany's dress
- The Poles had a solid showing, but the program's not Kinky Boots enough. He isn't wearing matching boots for starters
- The ice did demand falls, 2 freak falls.
I thought that Alexander skated great. And I wanted to give Shoma a massive hug!
So relieved to see Alena in 1st! Her 3A looked fine to me but I guess I'm not a tech specialist...
The U.S. ladies seem to be doing pretty well. Chock and Bates less so (& I adore them).
The only skate I will rewatch is Wakaba's and I am praying for her to finally ace that free skate!
The (ladies) scoring would be easier to take if it had been applied consistently since the start of the season (or better still, the 2018-19 season) rather than halfway through the grand prix series.
So relieved to see Alena in 1st! Her 3A looked fine to me but I guess I'm not a tech specialist...
The U.S. ladies seem to be doing pretty well. Chock and Bates less so (& I adore them).
The only skate I will rewatch is Wakaba's and I am praying for her to finally ace that free skate!
The (ladies) scoring would be easier to take if it had been applied consistently since the start of the season (or better still, the 2018-19 season) rather than halfway through the grand prix series.
Based on what I've seen so far:
So glad for Kevin that he managed to be at least 3rd. I wonder what would the judges do to keep him there if he delivered his program perfectly.
I love Shoma and his SP is my favourite so far but I was totally confused by his scores.
I'm even more confused with Alyona's scores. No matter how many times I watch her Axel, I can't se anything wrong with it. But well, I'm not an expert. I also don't agree for her to receive 8s when Zagitova gets 9s in PCS. I don't see what exactly Alina do better.
I couldn't believe my eyes when Wakaba got lower scores than Starr The same for Mae falling almost to the bottom. What was that for? I've never liked Mae's skating but this time she totally bought me 
So glad for Kevin that he managed to be at least 3rd. I wonder what would the judges do to keep him there if he delivered his program perfectly.
I love Shoma and his SP is my favourite so far but I was totally confused by his scores.
I'm even more confused with Alyona's scores. No matter how many times I watch her Axel, I can't se anything wrong with it. But well, I'm not an expert. I also don't agree for her to receive 8s when Zagitova gets 9s in PCS. I don't see what exactly Alina do better.
I couldn't believe my eyes when Wakaba got lower scores than Starr
The same for Mae falling almost to the bottom. What was that for? I've never liked Mae's skating but this time she totally bought me - Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Please stop with the conspiracies and accusations against this man.
Just some random thoughts:
In general I found the scoring very generous for all the men there.
Shoma - I am glad that someone said that the orange splash on the front of his top was a fire, because I was confused why he has an alien head there. Other than that I prefer to pretend that his SP didn't happen.
I was looking forward to P/C RD, but unfortunately I didn't find it as entertaining as I was hoping.
Alena was awesome
For the first time I really love Alina' s dress, it is so stunning and she looks so good in black lace. The program is good, but I don't like the music very much.
After all the hyping of B/K and M/G, P/K say "Hi"
M/G were good too, but I found the choreography a bit baffling, because they looked between elements out of synchro a lot.
In general I found the scoring very generous for all the men there.
Shoma - I am glad that someone said that the orange splash on the front of his top was a fire, because I was confused why he has an alien head there. Other than that I prefer to pretend that his SP didn't happen.
I was looking forward to P/C RD, but unfortunately I didn't find it as entertaining as I was hoping.
Alena was awesome
For the first time I really love Alina' s dress, it is so stunning and she looks so good in black lace. The program is good, but I don't like the music very much.
After all the hyping of B/K and M/G, P/K say "Hi"
M/G were good too, but I found the choreography a bit baffling, because they looked between elements out of synchro a lot.
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2015
Your traditional conspiracy post was early this time. There is no evidence that man is in anyway biased. People say the want strict calling but then get upset when their favorites get called. There is nothing shocking about it.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2014
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