Apparently figure skating is all I post about now.
Hi. I guess it's been a while since I posted here. Life progresses steadily and satisfactorily. Maybe I'll write about that sometime soon. But for today...
So I knew Worlds was coming. But then I discovered that Universal Sports was the only network that was covering it. And, despite being a subscriber to their parent Comcast, apparently there is no way I can get it, even if I was generally inclined to pay for premium channels. And I couldn't find a satisfactory *ahem* internet source. So I figured I'd wait, and maybe watch videos of individual programs at their website. (But now they seem to have taken down the vast majority of their videos, too. Bah.)
Then other things distracted me, and I forgot all about the 3 hours NBC was going to spend showing selected parts of the competition today. (Apparently Americans just don't like figure skating anymore?) But I still managed to randomly turn on the TV this afternoon and catch the last hour.
It was all ladies' free skate, which is my third favorite event, but it was still fun. I was reminded yet again how much a few years matters in the ladies' event. I really don't like the younger girls -- they're just so awkward and twiggy. As they get older, they start looking much more graceful and comfortable on the ice. The starkest example for me is always Sarah Hughes, comparing Nagano to Salt Lake City. What I mean to say is, Carolina Kostner's jumps were great.
At the end, they showed clips, in reverse order, of the medalists in all four events. And I thought, "Yay, Daisuke Takahashi!" and "Blah, Patrick Chan." But also, "Who is this cute Asian guy and why have I never seen him before?"
So I went and found videos of all the men's medalists. Starting with Daisuke Takahashi. He is so awesome. Even though his music was weird, and I kept expecting it to get more exciting and up-tempo, but it never did. At first I was only going to watch him and the mystery guy, but after watching Takahashi's program, I figured I had to watch Chan's to understand why Takahashi only got silver. And, having done that, I am satisfied. Yes, Takahashi was the only one of the three to skate a clean program (from what I could tell), but I can't argue with Chan's extra quad+triple, even if he also fell on his last Axel.
So, the mystery guy. Turns out he is Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Only 17, and in his second season at the senior level. With a quad and getting a better free skate score than Takahashi despite his random stumble. (I confess, I could not stop giggling when he fell. It was just so unexpected.)
I mean, he is super-cute. <3
I haven't seen enough of his skating yet for him to have replaced Takahashi as my favorite, but it's a close call. Plus, it's not like I can't have lots of men's skaters that I like. :] And I'm just happy to have found another guy to cheer for; I really haven't been paying attention enough lately to know anybody. So... hopefully I'll pay more attention (and have more access to coverage...) next season?
Incidentally, I was only able to find videos of Chan and Hanyu from the Japanese broadcast. Which had much less annoying announcers than the NBC version, BTW. But anyhow, the commentary seemed to have very familiar syntax and was very easy to understand, though I haven't had much exposure spoken Japanese other than anime in a while. Then I realized it was because I'd read Ginban Kaleidoscope, so I'd heard all the figure skating terminology before. Not that most of it wasn't in English anyhow, other than 四回転 (quad). Now I kind of wish I could always watch the Japanese broadcasts. And given how much Japan is apparently dominating figure skating lately, I guess it's not surprising the sport gets more coverage over there.
So I knew Worlds was coming. But then I discovered that Universal Sports was the only network that was covering it. And, despite being a subscriber to their parent Comcast, apparently there is no way I can get it, even if I was generally inclined to pay for premium channels. And I couldn't find a satisfactory *ahem* internet source. So I figured I'd wait, and maybe watch videos of individual programs at their website. (But now they seem to have taken down the vast majority of their videos, too. Bah.)
Then other things distracted me, and I forgot all about the 3 hours NBC was going to spend showing selected parts of the competition today. (Apparently Americans just don't like figure skating anymore?) But I still managed to randomly turn on the TV this afternoon and catch the last hour.
It was all ladies' free skate, which is my third favorite event, but it was still fun. I was reminded yet again how much a few years matters in the ladies' event. I really don't like the younger girls -- they're just so awkward and twiggy. As they get older, they start looking much more graceful and comfortable on the ice. The starkest example for me is always Sarah Hughes, comparing Nagano to Salt Lake City. What I mean to say is, Carolina Kostner's jumps were great.
At the end, they showed clips, in reverse order, of the medalists in all four events. And I thought, "Yay, Daisuke Takahashi!" and "Blah, Patrick Chan." But also, "Who is this cute Asian guy and why have I never seen him before?"
So I went and found videos of all the men's medalists. Starting with Daisuke Takahashi. He is so awesome. Even though his music was weird, and I kept expecting it to get more exciting and up-tempo, but it never did. At first I was only going to watch him and the mystery guy, but after watching Takahashi's program, I figured I had to watch Chan's to understand why Takahashi only got silver. And, having done that, I am satisfied. Yes, Takahashi was the only one of the three to skate a clean program (from what I could tell), but I can't argue with Chan's extra quad+triple, even if he also fell on his last Axel.
So, the mystery guy. Turns out he is Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Only 17, and in his second season at the senior level. With a quad and getting a better free skate score than Takahashi despite his random stumble. (I confess, I could not stop giggling when he fell. It was just so unexpected.)
I mean, he is super-cute. <3
I haven't seen enough of his skating yet for him to have replaced Takahashi as my favorite, but it's a close call. Plus, it's not like I can't have lots of men's skaters that I like. :] And I'm just happy to have found another guy to cheer for; I really haven't been paying attention enough lately to know anybody. So... hopefully I'll pay more attention (and have more access to coverage...) next season?
Incidentally, I was only able to find videos of Chan and Hanyu from the Japanese broadcast. Which had much less annoying announcers than the NBC version, BTW. But anyhow, the commentary seemed to have very familiar syntax and was very easy to understand, though I haven't had much exposure spoken Japanese other than anime in a while. Then I realized it was because I'd read Ginban Kaleidoscope, so I'd heard all the figure skating terminology before. Not that most of it wasn't in English anyhow, other than 四回転 (quad). Now I kind of wish I could always watch the Japanese broadcasts. And given how much Japan is apparently dominating figure skating lately, I guess it's not surprising the sport gets more coverage over there.