Weaver and Poje not ‘placeholders’
- Thread starter gsk8
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Welcome to Golden Skate, Johnm2786!
Thinking of teams as placeholders is disrespectful and belittling. They are one of the best teams currently and have worked hard to achieve that level of success. If there are other teams that with "more experience/more maturity/more federation push/etc" will surpass them, then so be it. But for now, if W/P win then it is THEIR time and not as placeholders. For that matter fill in the name of whichever skater/team are simply "placeholders", still holds true.
Frankly, the whole placeholder idea feeds into much of what is wrong with this sport.
Frankly, the whole placeholder idea feeds into much of what is wrong with this sport.
I really think P/C can start winning sooner than later. If Kaitlyn and Andrew get killed on levels in the short dance like they did at 4CC (and like they did several times last year), then they will have a difficult time coming out on top. I truly believe P/C have surpassed C/B and are closer to the Canadians than some here think. I think there is a desire in the judging community to see a European team win again.
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Just saying, but last season a European team won...Cappellini and Lanotte.
I am afraid you are right, and there are a group of judges would like to never see a North American team on the podium ever again, but I would wish the judging community would just pick the team that skates the best on the day, instead of playing politics in this way.
FTR, while P&C have a good FD, if a bit open and two-footed, their SD has involved them skating through the beat throughout the flamenco section every outing, and has been overscored all season, the worst case being at the GPF, where in addition to the poor timing, they had visible errors.
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I couldn't agree more with wasabi. IMO the debate over "placeholder" has been beaten to death and W/P are getting short shrift.
I also agree with Doris' assessment of P/Cs programs. For me, the FD may be a beautiful program but technically not nearly as difficult as W/P (btw, I adore their Four Seasons). Totally agree with Doris' as far as P/Cs SD.
Just took a look at the Technical Panels from last season's Rostelecom and the recent 4CC (last season it was at COR that W/P were "killed on their Levels in the SD" as donezo noted--the other comp last season where the Levels were low was the Olympics but I won't even go there. Interestingly, there was a common denominator on both of those panels--in each case, Silvia Nowak was one of the Technical Specialists. Hmmm...
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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylwia_Nowak
There is no obvious reason that Nowak-Trebacka should discriminate against W&P, other than perhaps she is just very tough?
There is no obvious reason that Nowak-Trebacka should discriminate against W&P, other than perhaps she is just very tough?
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I hope that she would not discriminate. Don't know about her toughness, but the SD K&C wait for W/P was achingly long and that indicated to me a lots of review and perhaps a high degree of disagreement between the Specialists. I'm not ready to jump to conclusions, but I do think the fact that Silvia Nowak was on both panels (COR and 4CC) is noteworthy.
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Well, if I was on their coaching staff, I think I'd be working to find out exactly what this tech specialist didn't like about which element, and I'd set about fixing it.
Even if she's not the tech specialist for WC, you have to think the tech specialist who WILL be there is aware of the downgrade, and will be pretty sharpeyed at that element.
I've heard it speculated that the downgrade involved a flaw in the angle of the freeleg during a twizzle on her part, but I'm not savvy enough to independently evaluate the element to see if I agree or not.
Even if she's not the tech specialist for WC, you have to think the tech specialist who WILL be there is aware of the downgrade, and will be pretty sharpeyed at that element.
I've heard it speculated that the downgrade involved a flaw in the angle of the freeleg during a twizzle on her part, but I'm not savvy enough to independently evaluate the element to see if I agree or not.
LOL that is true, and I keep forgetting about that. I still don't really understand how that happened, but c'est la vie!
I agree with TontoK that the Worlds tech panel will have their eyes open for W/P during the short dance after 4CC. You don't want a reputation of not hitting your levels, especially in the arcane world of ice dance. They're probably still the favorites on paper, but I believe they are a weak and beatable favorite.
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Dear TontoK and donezo: I find it so refreshing when people who don't know what they are talking about have the confidence to say it with such authority
I find it so less than refreshing when someone posts a comment like that.
Dear TontoK and donezo: I find it so refreshing when people who don't know what they are talking about have the confidence to say it with such authority
Speak for yourself.
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Dear TontoK and donezo: I find it so refreshing when people who don't know what they are talking about have the confidence to say it with such authority
Well, you know, you're right in one sense. I'm certainly not a dance expert.
However, even as an enthusiastic fan without perfect knowledge, I think my suggestion of discovering the tech panel's gripe with their element and correcting it was somewhat common sense. I don't think it's a leap to assume that a downgraded element performed this late in the season is likely to cause eyebrows to raise among the tech panel at World's.
Perhaps W/P will just go with your notion that some Polish lady is just out to get them, and as long as she's not making the calls at WC, then no worries.
Dear TontoK and donezo: I find it so refreshing when people who don't know what they are talking about have the confidence to say it with such authority
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Well, I guess it's a good thing that W/P and their team apparently don't share my mindset either. They performed the exact same twizzle in their FD at 4CC and were awarded a Level 4 so if there was a problem, it got corrected. I didn't mean to be so offensive but it just seems like we are stating the obvious when we suggest what skaters and their coaches need to do when they are the experts and we clearly are not. And Silvia Nowak is not some Polish lady. She was a high level ice dancer circa late 90s with her partner Sebastian Kolasinski and is the coach of the current Polish ice dance team that fared pretty well at Euros.
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I still think Weaver and Poje will win. C0mpared to Chock and Bates, W&P have a blah short dance but a great free dance.
