This is going to be a bit of a fanfest post. Administrators feel free to move it to there (eventually) as long as you let it stay on 'the edge' for just a little while and let people react.
The first time I saw Jason Brown ((I've been following FS for more than 30 yrs, but not always watching the juniors closely or even the lower ranked skaters at a Nationals) was in 2014 when he had this fabulous programme to River Dance. There was this boy with a pony tail and a wonderful smile, who just made you want to join in. That was enjoyable. No quads, but to be fair, the quad revolution had begun quite some time ago but it wasn't all pervasive. We (as watchers) could still enjoy quad free programmes. I mean, I started following the men closely because of the quads and the athletiscism in that, but soon started to admire beautiful skating more. If it's combined it's the best ever, but I started to get away from that quad demand because I enjoyed Jason's skate so much.
I've followed him through the years, seen his struggles (and injuries) but also many more beautiful, well skated programmes. He always managed to deliver on the beautiful skating, even when the jumps were just not there for whatever reason. And then he came up with Schindler's list. I've seen the film, I've been impressed by the Auswitch memorial events, I've watched other skaters compete and perform to this music, but to me only Jason really does it justice. I won't go into the debate about costuming to such music or even into whether you should be mature to comprehend the music you're skating to (although Jason himself definitely does) but what I saw at his Nationals competition last weekend was just mind blowing. Oh, I acknowledge that Nathan was better technically and also is a very good skater (people who say Nathan's skating is just about jumps are wrong) but it was Jason's performance that really made me cry. And again (after numerous rewatches), and again. Tracy Wilson summarised it quite succinctly: you are very special. He is. There aren't that many skaters who can put so much authentic emotion into a programme. Jason can. I'm starting to sniff again by just stating this.
Please respond...but if you're going to go into his 'lack of a quad' (although he did one albeit underrotated and two footed), then please let it go. I won't be interested. Another time maybe, not now. Just so impressed.
The first time I saw Jason Brown ((I've been following FS for more than 30 yrs, but not always watching the juniors closely or even the lower ranked skaters at a Nationals) was in 2014 when he had this fabulous programme to River Dance. There was this boy with a pony tail and a wonderful smile, who just made you want to join in. That was enjoyable. No quads, but to be fair, the quad revolution had begun quite some time ago but it wasn't all pervasive. We (as watchers) could still enjoy quad free programmes. I mean, I started following the men closely because of the quads and the athletiscism in that, but soon started to admire beautiful skating more. If it's combined it's the best ever, but I started to get away from that quad demand because I enjoyed Jason's skate so much.
I've followed him through the years, seen his struggles (and injuries) but also many more beautiful, well skated programmes. He always managed to deliver on the beautiful skating, even when the jumps were just not there for whatever reason. And then he came up with Schindler's list. I've seen the film, I've been impressed by the Auswitch memorial events, I've watched other skaters compete and perform to this music, but to me only Jason really does it justice. I won't go into the debate about costuming to such music or even into whether you should be mature to comprehend the music you're skating to (although Jason himself definitely does) but what I saw at his Nationals competition last weekend was just mind blowing. Oh, I acknowledge that Nathan was better technically and also is a very good skater (people who say Nathan's skating is just about jumps are wrong) but it was Jason's performance that really made me cry. And again (after numerous rewatches), and again. Tracy Wilson summarised it quite succinctly: you are very special. He is. There aren't that many skaters who can put so much authentic emotion into a programme. Jason can. I'm starting to sniff again by just stating this.
Please respond...but if you're going to go into his 'lack of a quad' (although he did one albeit underrotated and two footed), then please let it go. I won't be interested. Another time maybe, not now. Just so impressed.