Another interesting article...

[despairsrai]

The night they killed figure skating

Edit: I am editing some of the article cause like some of the comments below all of it doesn't need to be quoted here.  Click the link below to read the entire article. Sorry guys.
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A few more thoughts on the men’s free skate:

• I thought Daisuke Takahashi was awesome. He tried the quad and he had the guts to go

Comments

[soujiokita]

I don't actually agree with a lot of this. I think the quad is great if you can do it, but I think that artistry and visual appeal are equally important if not more important. I don't think Plushenko's programs deserved to win precisely because, to me, they just seemed like nothing but good jumps (and not even as good as I've seen them). I don't like Evan, but, of the two, he deserved it, imo.

[soujiokita]

Elvis Stojko actually was a pretty good figure skater on the pro circut back in the day. So he knows what he's talking about. I just think it's a matter of different schools of thought. Brian Joubert for a long time (don't know if this is still true) advocated the same ideas. To the extent that he counted perfectly wonderful skaters out of medal contention. (Thankfully, Jeff Buttle and Johnny Weir showed him by making the World podium [Buttle winning] in 2008). I think it's just a matter of taste...

[natyanayaki]

Yeah I know, I edited my post after I'd clicked on the link and actually saw who WROTE the article. It might be a matter of taste, but I think it's disrespectful of the sport. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be annoying, I'm not even a figure skater, I defer to his authority but I'm still going to be obnoxious...I just feel like he's wrong. I mean, what's the point of the music to showcase a bunch of jumps, if they should just forget the beauty, the grace and everything done on the ice? You know?

[soujiokita]

Oh, I definitely agree, and I seriously thought this whole thing with the quad was OVER when Jeff Buttle kicked everyone's asses at Worlds 2008. And then Evan did it in 2009, also without a quad. Ugh. I'm so sick of this stupid quad. Almost as sick as I am of hearing how great it is that most of the men's programs now put all their jumps in the bonus. It's like, OKAY I GET IT. Ugh.

[natyanayaki]

It's annoying isn't it? I'm all for developing new skills, and pushing the sport. I mean, it's only natural, like I like to try new things in dance all the time! But there's more to this type of sport than just the jumps, it's what makes it special.

[natyanayaki]

I agree with you. Figure skating isn't like snowboarding, it's not just about the jumps and the tricks, it's about what's done on the ice, the presentation, the performance, the emotion. I'm not a huge fan of Evan's, he kinda bores me, but his performance was superior to Plushenko's. I feel the person who wrote the article doesn't understand figure skating, or he was paid off by the individuals in the various skating federations who want to make skating more masculine. Why should the damn quad be the be all end all of men's figure skating? Plushenko was rough last night, he had the most time to warm up and be ready, and he didn't bring it last night at all. Evan did, of course Evan wasn't perfect, but his Free Skate looked like figure skating.

Eta: Damn! I didn't realize that Elvis Stokjo wrote the article, I'd expect better from a figure skater. Does he even understand his sport??

[soujiokita]

Yeah, haha. That should have been posted. Anyway, see above comment.

[natyanayaki]

Teehee, I just saw it :)