guys and biellmans DON'T mix!
as expected, reggie bush decided to turn pro. ugh, i really don't want him to go to the houston texans eww eww eww! i wonder where matt leinart and lendale white will go to? *sigh* ok, enough sad football stuff and on to figure skating!
okay, at first i thought the skating rules change was a good thing because the jump jump jump craze was getting out of hand with guys attempting 3 quadruple jumps in one 4 minute program. although the jumps added to the thrill and spectacle of the sport it also led to a greater emphasis on the technical/athletic aspects of figure skating and detracted away from grace, choreography, and the more artistic parts. jump craze also led to a lot more injuries because skaters were going postal--attempting such great heights, often while their bodies are still going through puberty. that's how you get skater has beens and disappointments of such great potential left unrealized before they are even legal adults...
the architects of the new scoring system structured it in such a way that would, at least theoretically, promote an equal emphasis between the technical and artistic side. the jury is still out and will be out debating for many years to follow as to whether or not the new scoring system has achieved that or is heading that way but one thing's for sure, it has made things a lot more complex.... er, complicated... eh, depends on which side of the debate you fall under :-P
so remember the skating has been i mentioned earlier? i was referring to naomi nari nam who could stand to gain the most out of the new scoring system. but then again, she's exactly the kind of skater the ISU probably had in mind when they devised the new system. naomi placed 2nd to michelle kwan at the age of 13 and although she was too young to compete at the world championships, she was being regarded as the next big thing, and heir apparent to michelle kwan. then naomi ran into so many injuries yadda yadda yadda. now she's back as a pairs skater with a real chance of an olympic berth! thanks to the new scoring system, she and her partner (and other skaters *cough sasha eww cough*) no longer have to accept the unfortunate death sentence that plagued scoring in the past--if you're ranked lower than 3rd place before the long program it's over for you! also, judges in the past have been known to "save" marks or ranks for more established skaters (ie michelle kwan) so if you're young, don't have that much experience, exposure, and medals under your belt and going after a seasoned veteran (again like michelle) you have no hope of winning against her. at least, that's what sasha says. so lucky for naomi and her partner who only started skating last june, they're nobodys in the pairs world but that doesn't matter because the judges won't be saving scores or anything.
not saving scores isn't the only thing that's helping naomi and her partner at this year's nationals. it's also the fact that US pairs skating has gone to shits since the good old days of meno and sand, ina and dungjen, and *gasp* dare i say it, ina and zimmerman. such shitty lows that inexperienced skaters who are learning under the new guidelines totally have the chance to achieve something amazing.
i feel really bad for inoue and baldwin though, but that's another thing to talk about... it'd be interesting to see whether or not they actually attempt a throw triple axel, something no other pair has in their arsenal but also something they've never accomplished outside the practice rink. these are definitely different times when the biggest, most realistic US medal hope in figure skating is out of ice dancing...from a couple with a skater who JUST became an american citizen, and only because of congressional intervention! the US have NEVER really been contenders in ice dancing and now look at where we're at... oy, what happened to the days when men and women were serious medal threats in singles? one things clear though, with the exception of michelle kwan, the skaters of this generation, although they can outjump the olympians and world class athletes from the generation before them, cannot outskate them, in the complete package sense of skating. put irina against yuka sato in a pro competition and i'm almost positive yuka will trump her 99% of the time. ugh, she's another skater i'm not very fond of ewww!
and what's up with all the guys doing biellmans? thank goodness i'm not denise beillman and thank goodness i'm not dead... cuz i'd be turning over in my grave if i knew that 1)the spin i invented is being overused in the sport and 2)a lot of the guilty parties in overusing are *gasp* men! all in the name of getting level 4 credit to get the most points out of the new scoring system. if i were denise beillman i'd want to go back in time and uninvent the biellman spin puhahahaha! i dunno, i guess i'm too old school when it comes to men's figure skating because i always envision someone like brian boitano--just the right balance of athleticism and artistry, a perfect mix of speed, high jumps, good spins, excellent control of edging and footwork, all executed together in a program that has just enough flamboyance and effeminate qualities. just enough and done right. i think that's my main gripe about men's skating nowadays.
if it hasn't been clear that i don't really like sasha cohen, this part will make things crystal. so sasha's been sick with the flu and didn't skate at all for a few days (friday to monday i believe). omg, i can't believe there's actually a chance she might not win nationals even though michelle kwan's not there! puhahahahaha!!! as much as i didn't really like sarah hughes when she was still around i'm actually rooting for her sister hahaha. i'd rather she win nationals than sasha. omg perfect situation would be for sasha to have a disastrous nationals (not totally beyond the realm of possibilities because one of the few things she's been known for has been for her inconsistencies, another one if for choking) and end up 3rd or 4th! lolz. okay, now i know i'm dreaming.
speaking of choking, a lot of articles have called michelle kwan the biggest choking queen ever or of all time or something like that because she's been to two olympics where she was heavily favored and she lost the gold to a young up and comer american teen both times. i know that realistically speaking, she will probably not win gold in italy either, i'm just looking at the numbers (ie she's 25) or the lack thereof (ie she hasn't competed much) but never winning olympic gold, although it would be a giant disappointment in her life, wouldn't end her career or damage her place in history or in the hearts of skating fans worldwide. kurt browning actually has it worse than michelle kwan--he's a 4-time world champion who "choked" in two olympics (actually he never even medaled whereas michelle already has two!). in the earlier stages of his career he was known as the greatest male skater never to have won an olympic medal and although that may still be true, he's so established in the professional world as one of the best (second only to brian boitano, or tied with, or even better than depending on who you talk to) that nobody remembers the fact that he never got an olympic medal.
i have a very evil imagination... so nbc issued a statement urging all figure skating fans to stay away from the internet during the finals because coverage will be taped delay by 6 hours (program scheduling i bet to compete against cbs and abc). the 4th place network is like a duncan sheik song and clinging to any viewers they can get. they've already spent and committed to spending even more millions of dollars for advertising and promoting the olympics, using michelle kwan as the featured athlete for figure skating in their promos. i hope michelle kwan DOES get to go to the olympics... but then withdraw at the VERY LAST MINUTE (as in a day before the ladies skate). that'll be disastrous for nbc and the ISU :-P puhahahaha. they all know that figure skating draws the most crowds and viewers at the olympics and that michelle kwan has been the main draw for the sport for the past decade... no michelle kwan means no attendees, no viewers, and no money. ha! way to stick it to them then LoLz.
okay, at first i thought the skating rules change was a good thing because the jump jump jump craze was getting out of hand with guys attempting 3 quadruple jumps in one 4 minute program. although the jumps added to the thrill and spectacle of the sport it also led to a greater emphasis on the technical/athletic aspects of figure skating and detracted away from grace, choreography, and the more artistic parts. jump craze also led to a lot more injuries because skaters were going postal--attempting such great heights, often while their bodies are still going through puberty. that's how you get skater has beens and disappointments of such great potential left unrealized before they are even legal adults...
the architects of the new scoring system structured it in such a way that would, at least theoretically, promote an equal emphasis between the technical and artistic side. the jury is still out and will be out debating for many years to follow as to whether or not the new scoring system has achieved that or is heading that way but one thing's for sure, it has made things a lot more complex.... er, complicated... eh, depends on which side of the debate you fall under :-P
so remember the skating has been i mentioned earlier? i was referring to naomi nari nam who could stand to gain the most out of the new scoring system. but then again, she's exactly the kind of skater the ISU probably had in mind when they devised the new system. naomi placed 2nd to michelle kwan at the age of 13 and although she was too young to compete at the world championships, she was being regarded as the next big thing, and heir apparent to michelle kwan. then naomi ran into so many injuries yadda yadda yadda. now she's back as a pairs skater with a real chance of an olympic berth! thanks to the new scoring system, she and her partner (and other skaters *cough sasha eww cough*) no longer have to accept the unfortunate death sentence that plagued scoring in the past--if you're ranked lower than 3rd place before the long program it's over for you! also, judges in the past have been known to "save" marks or ranks for more established skaters (ie michelle kwan) so if you're young, don't have that much experience, exposure, and medals under your belt and going after a seasoned veteran (again like michelle) you have no hope of winning against her. at least, that's what sasha says. so lucky for naomi and her partner who only started skating last june, they're nobodys in the pairs world but that doesn't matter because the judges won't be saving scores or anything.
not saving scores isn't the only thing that's helping naomi and her partner at this year's nationals. it's also the fact that US pairs skating has gone to shits since the good old days of meno and sand, ina and dungjen, and *gasp* dare i say it, ina and zimmerman. such shitty lows that inexperienced skaters who are learning under the new guidelines totally have the chance to achieve something amazing.
i feel really bad for inoue and baldwin though, but that's another thing to talk about... it'd be interesting to see whether or not they actually attempt a throw triple axel, something no other pair has in their arsenal but also something they've never accomplished outside the practice rink. these are definitely different times when the biggest, most realistic US medal hope in figure skating is out of ice dancing...from a couple with a skater who JUST became an american citizen, and only because of congressional intervention! the US have NEVER really been contenders in ice dancing and now look at where we're at... oy, what happened to the days when men and women were serious medal threats in singles? one things clear though, with the exception of michelle kwan, the skaters of this generation, although they can outjump the olympians and world class athletes from the generation before them, cannot outskate them, in the complete package sense of skating. put irina against yuka sato in a pro competition and i'm almost positive yuka will trump her 99% of the time. ugh, she's another skater i'm not very fond of ewww!
and what's up with all the guys doing biellmans? thank goodness i'm not denise beillman and thank goodness i'm not dead... cuz i'd be turning over in my grave if i knew that 1)the spin i invented is being overused in the sport and 2)a lot of the guilty parties in overusing are *gasp* men! all in the name of getting level 4 credit to get the most points out of the new scoring system. if i were denise beillman i'd want to go back in time and uninvent the biellman spin puhahahaha! i dunno, i guess i'm too old school when it comes to men's figure skating because i always envision someone like brian boitano--just the right balance of athleticism and artistry, a perfect mix of speed, high jumps, good spins, excellent control of edging and footwork, all executed together in a program that has just enough flamboyance and effeminate qualities. just enough and done right. i think that's my main gripe about men's skating nowadays.
if it hasn't been clear that i don't really like sasha cohen, this part will make things crystal. so sasha's been sick with the flu and didn't skate at all for a few days (friday to monday i believe). omg, i can't believe there's actually a chance she might not win nationals even though michelle kwan's not there! puhahahahaha!!! as much as i didn't really like sarah hughes when she was still around i'm actually rooting for her sister hahaha. i'd rather she win nationals than sasha. omg perfect situation would be for sasha to have a disastrous nationals (not totally beyond the realm of possibilities because one of the few things she's been known for has been for her inconsistencies, another one if for choking) and end up 3rd or 4th! lolz. okay, now i know i'm dreaming.
speaking of choking, a lot of articles have called michelle kwan the biggest choking queen ever or of all time or something like that because she's been to two olympics where she was heavily favored and she lost the gold to a young up and comer american teen both times. i know that realistically speaking, she will probably not win gold in italy either, i'm just looking at the numbers (ie she's 25) or the lack thereof (ie she hasn't competed much) but never winning olympic gold, although it would be a giant disappointment in her life, wouldn't end her career or damage her place in history or in the hearts of skating fans worldwide. kurt browning actually has it worse than michelle kwan--he's a 4-time world champion who "choked" in two olympics (actually he never even medaled whereas michelle already has two!). in the earlier stages of his career he was known as the greatest male skater never to have won an olympic medal and although that may still be true, he's so established in the professional world as one of the best (second only to brian boitano, or tied with, or even better than depending on who you talk to) that nobody remembers the fact that he never got an olympic medal.
i have a very evil imagination... so nbc issued a statement urging all figure skating fans to stay away from the internet during the finals because coverage will be taped delay by 6 hours (program scheduling i bet to compete against cbs and abc). the 4th place network is like a duncan sheik song and clinging to any viewers they can get. they've already spent and committed to spending even more millions of dollars for advertising and promoting the olympics, using michelle kwan as the featured athlete for figure skating in their promos. i hope michelle kwan DOES get to go to the olympics... but then withdraw at the VERY LAST MINUTE (as in a day before the ladies skate). that'll be disastrous for nbc and the ISU :-P puhahahaha. they all know that figure skating draws the most crowds and viewers at the olympics and that michelle kwan has been the main draw for the sport for the past decade... no michelle kwan means no attendees, no viewers, and no money. ha! way to stick it to them then LoLz.