Skating stuff
Just some skating ramblings under the cut. Contains spoilage for the Cup of Russia that aired today, as well as for NHK Trophy results.
First and foremost, after watching today's broadcast, I've made a clear decision that if things don't work out between Evan and me (which, they totally will, so this is just hypothetically speaking ;)), I'll be marrying Brian Joubert. That fluff piece was adorable and it also broke my heart. The fact that he's basically the top guy in his sport right now and his dad still is iffy on him being a figure skater? *hugs him* And THREE QUADS? Can't argue with that. Although, I'm not quite sure how I feel about his jumps in general. I mean, obviously he's capable of a lot, but every time he lands them it makes me really nervous that he's going to fall- they just don't look quite as steady to me. But, THREE QUADS. And of course there was the obligatory shirtless footage, and this time the commentators actually mentioned it! Wonderful.
I also enjoyed Weir more this time than I usually do. He can be ridiculous, but I think when it comes down to it he's a good guy, and I do like his short this season. However, I think right now he's been surpassed by Evan, Joubert, Lambiel, Oda, Takahashi, maybe even Preaubert. Those guys are all ahead of him in Grand Prix stuff (with the exception of Lambiel, who would have been had he not withdrawn), and I think it's rightfully so.
...I also just realized that the event I'm going to (A WEEK FROM TODAY OMG) will actually be the first time Evan and Johnny directly compete this season, right? Cause the only other event they were both at was Campbell's, and that was a team thing, and Johnny only did a short and Evan only did a free, so they weren't really competing against each other there. As insignificant as Marshall's is in the long run (or even in the short run), it'll be cool to see them go head to head for the first time this year. Not that it'll be any contest, the way things have been going. *squishes Evan*
Ice dancing is weird for me. Part of me thinks it's really exciting this season because, just like with the men, there's a good chunk of really closely matched teams at the top, so the competition is close and any one out of five or so teams could win at Worlds. But on the other hand, I find myself having a hard time watching it for a long time. The lifts and flexibility are impressive, but... I don't know. I think it depends on my mood and on how much energy I sense from the people on the ice. Maybe it's because I can't really tell what constitutes a good ice dancing program, or what makes one better than the other. Of course, I know next to nothing about the technicalities of pairs/singles either, so I'm undereducated in that respect as well, but at the most basic level, it's a lot easier (for me, at least) to tell the difference between a shakily landed jump, a two-foot, and a cleanly landed jump, than to tell the difference between, say, a good ice dancing lift and a not-so-good one. So it's hard for me to have favorites aside from Tanith and Ben just for being adorable.
Now, on to NHK Trophy... WHAT was the deal with the scoring?! I haven't seen it yet, so have to reserve complete judgment, but WHOA. HOW did Takahashi and Oda both post higher free scores than Joubert's THREE QUAD program? Quads aren't everything when you're talking about the presence or lack of one or even two, but when someone does THREE... I guess judges really do vary from event to event. It also came as a slight surprise, just from what I've seen of them up to this point, that Takahashi beat Oda.
Also, Mao is cute as a button, and again I haven't seen her NHK program, but I wonder how she got a record high free skate score when the ISU website proceeded to explain all sorts of mistakes that she made. I'm sure she still deserved to win, but this scoring situation is making me raise an eyebrow.
OK, I wrote much more than I intended- but, I haven't rambled about skating in a while, so there ya go.
First and foremost, after watching today's broadcast, I've made a clear decision that if things don't work out between Evan and me (which, they totally will, so this is just hypothetically speaking ;)), I'll be marrying Brian Joubert. That fluff piece was adorable and it also broke my heart. The fact that he's basically the top guy in his sport right now and his dad still is iffy on him being a figure skater? *hugs him* And THREE QUADS? Can't argue with that. Although, I'm not quite sure how I feel about his jumps in general. I mean, obviously he's capable of a lot, but every time he lands them it makes me really nervous that he's going to fall- they just don't look quite as steady to me. But, THREE QUADS. And of course there was the obligatory shirtless footage, and this time the commentators actually mentioned it! Wonderful.
I also enjoyed Weir more this time than I usually do. He can be ridiculous, but I think when it comes down to it he's a good guy, and I do like his short this season. However, I think right now he's been surpassed by Evan, Joubert, Lambiel, Oda, Takahashi, maybe even Preaubert. Those guys are all ahead of him in Grand Prix stuff (with the exception of Lambiel, who would have been had he not withdrawn), and I think it's rightfully so.
...I also just realized that the event I'm going to (A WEEK FROM TODAY OMG) will actually be the first time Evan and Johnny directly compete this season, right? Cause the only other event they were both at was Campbell's, and that was a team thing, and Johnny only did a short and Evan only did a free, so they weren't really competing against each other there. As insignificant as Marshall's is in the long run (or even in the short run), it'll be cool to see them go head to head for the first time this year. Not that it'll be any contest, the way things have been going. *squishes Evan*
Ice dancing is weird for me. Part of me thinks it's really exciting this season because, just like with the men, there's a good chunk of really closely matched teams at the top, so the competition is close and any one out of five or so teams could win at Worlds. But on the other hand, I find myself having a hard time watching it for a long time. The lifts and flexibility are impressive, but... I don't know. I think it depends on my mood and on how much energy I sense from the people on the ice. Maybe it's because I can't really tell what constitutes a good ice dancing program, or what makes one better than the other. Of course, I know next to nothing about the technicalities of pairs/singles either, so I'm undereducated in that respect as well, but at the most basic level, it's a lot easier (for me, at least) to tell the difference between a shakily landed jump, a two-foot, and a cleanly landed jump, than to tell the difference between, say, a good ice dancing lift and a not-so-good one. So it's hard for me to have favorites aside from Tanith and Ben just for being adorable.
Now, on to NHK Trophy... WHAT was the deal with the scoring?! I haven't seen it yet, so have to reserve complete judgment, but WHOA. HOW did Takahashi and Oda both post higher free scores than Joubert's THREE QUAD program? Quads aren't everything when you're talking about the presence or lack of one or even two, but when someone does THREE... I guess judges really do vary from event to event. It also came as a slight surprise, just from what I've seen of them up to this point, that Takahashi beat Oda.
Also, Mao is cute as a button, and again I haven't seen her NHK program, but I wonder how she got a record high free skate score when the ISU website proceeded to explain all sorts of mistakes that she made. I'm sure she still deserved to win, but this scoring situation is making me raise an eyebrow.
OK, I wrote much more than I intended- but, I haven't rambled about skating in a while, so there ya go.