Olympic figure skating 2014: ice dance (MERYL & CHARLIE FTW!!!!!!)
On a totally random note, while watching ABC World News just now, I found out there's a guy who has recreated Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Marriage Portrait entirely in Legos. What mind-blowing geekery. The world is truly full of amazing things. ♥
But onto the point of this post: Meryl Davis & Charlie White are f***ing Olympic Gold medalists!!!!!! Ice Dance as a whole has never been better than it is now, and they are truly the best in the world. I'm not surprised they won obviously, more just relieved that it finally happened at last! I've loved them for so long, and they have just gotten better and better, and no one deserves it more. Every time they take the ice it's magical. You're never nervous watching them, because technically they're so polished and precise (seriously, to see Meryl & Charlie do twizzles is to see the face of God, yo) but more than that, it's the joy and lightness they skate with, like it's the easiest thing in the world, even though it's actually the hardest thing in the world! I love both their short and free dances this year, and as I said before, their 'Scheherazade' freedance is a masterpiece, and should rightfully go down as one of the all-time greatest ice dances ever. It's certainly the definitive 'Scheherazade' for me. Skaters have been using that piece forever, but they're the ones who truly captured the spirit of the music, brought out every mood and lived up to it's grandeur, it's power, it's romanticism, it's beauty. They're not just using it as background for some nifty tricks, they truly understand that music and are communicating the story of it to us. They're just special. (Which is why I'm perplexed and disturbed that the media has been trying to whip up some sort of 'judging scandal' or 'controversy' in regards to their win. WTF?? Sure, Virtue & Moir were really good too, but Davis & White were better. They earned more points, you can't contest that. They've been beating them all season, and deservedly so, so this is nothing new or out of the ordinary. They don't need any help to win when they're just the best, period. The cry of 'anti-Canadian conspiracy' is ludicrous in light of the fact that Virtue & Moir won in Vancouver. Does no one remember that? No one cried 'anti-American conspiracy' when Meryl & Charlie got silver there, so what's up with this nonsense now? Honestly, any kind of nationalism in figure skating totally perplexes me, since it's about what people do on the ice, not what country they come from. I love Virtue & Moir (and hell, a silver medal is nothing to sniff at!) but I feel like they've stagnated since Vancouver and not ever been as good as they were since then, while Davis & White have just grown by leaps and bounds and overtaken them. We have two amazing teams who are unquestionably the best in the ice dance world right now, and they each have an Olympic gold medal now, and it's fitting and right. Tessa and Scott deserved it four years ago, Meryl & Charlie deserved it this time. End of story. I've been watching figure skating my whole life, I know how skating works and what great skating looks like. Davis & White unequivocally deserve to be Olympic champions. If I had to recommend one thing to show to people from this Olympics to get them to understand the best of what skating is, I would show them Meryl & Charlie's freedance, no contest. Only someone who was trying to discredit figure skating itself would question how legit Davis & White's success has been. Fie on you, macho sports establishment, for your ignorant and prejudiced insinuations that figure skating isn't a 'real' sport. I'd like to see you try to do what skaters do!)
So now I have to deal with the fact that my darlings will most likely be retiring now, which will leave me empty and bereft, since they're still young, and they've always kept getting better and better, and I know they could still give us more, but it's a hard life and no one can be expected to stay forever. Just as long as they keep skating together somewhere and I get to see it, I'll be happy. I love them so much and I'll totally cry when I see them in the end-of-the-games Olympic montage. 'Cuz I totally did last Olympics. Darn Olympics making me a sentimental, emotional wreck! But it isn't over yet, so... I'm off to watch the ladies short program! So excited to see Yu Na Kim back on the ice! It looks like a pretty excellent field all around, so it'll be interesting to see who has their moment this year!
But onto the point of this post: Meryl Davis & Charlie White are f***ing Olympic Gold medalists!!!!!! Ice Dance as a whole has never been better than it is now, and they are truly the best in the world. I'm not surprised they won obviously, more just relieved that it finally happened at last! I've loved them for so long, and they have just gotten better and better, and no one deserves it more. Every time they take the ice it's magical. You're never nervous watching them, because technically they're so polished and precise (seriously, to see Meryl & Charlie do twizzles is to see the face of God, yo) but more than that, it's the joy and lightness they skate with, like it's the easiest thing in the world, even though it's actually the hardest thing in the world! I love both their short and free dances this year, and as I said before, their 'Scheherazade' freedance is a masterpiece, and should rightfully go down as one of the all-time greatest ice dances ever. It's certainly the definitive 'Scheherazade' for me. Skaters have been using that piece forever, but they're the ones who truly captured the spirit of the music, brought out every mood and lived up to it's grandeur, it's power, it's romanticism, it's beauty. They're not just using it as background for some nifty tricks, they truly understand that music and are communicating the story of it to us. They're just special. (Which is why I'm perplexed and disturbed that the media has been trying to whip up some sort of 'judging scandal' or 'controversy' in regards to their win. WTF?? Sure, Virtue & Moir were really good too, but Davis & White were better. They earned more points, you can't contest that. They've been beating them all season, and deservedly so, so this is nothing new or out of the ordinary. They don't need any help to win when they're just the best, period. The cry of 'anti-Canadian conspiracy' is ludicrous in light of the fact that Virtue & Moir won in Vancouver. Does no one remember that? No one cried 'anti-American conspiracy' when Meryl & Charlie got silver there, so what's up with this nonsense now? Honestly, any kind of nationalism in figure skating totally perplexes me, since it's about what people do on the ice, not what country they come from. I love Virtue & Moir (and hell, a silver medal is nothing to sniff at!) but I feel like they've stagnated since Vancouver and not ever been as good as they were since then, while Davis & White have just grown by leaps and bounds and overtaken them. We have two amazing teams who are unquestionably the best in the ice dance world right now, and they each have an Olympic gold medal now, and it's fitting and right. Tessa and Scott deserved it four years ago, Meryl & Charlie deserved it this time. End of story. I've been watching figure skating my whole life, I know how skating works and what great skating looks like. Davis & White unequivocally deserve to be Olympic champions. If I had to recommend one thing to show to people from this Olympics to get them to understand the best of what skating is, I would show them Meryl & Charlie's freedance, no contest. Only someone who was trying to discredit figure skating itself would question how legit Davis & White's success has been. Fie on you, macho sports establishment, for your ignorant and prejudiced insinuations that figure skating isn't a 'real' sport. I'd like to see you try to do what skaters do!)
So now I have to deal with the fact that my darlings will most likely be retiring now, which will leave me empty and bereft, since they're still young, and they've always kept getting better and better, and I know they could still give us more, but it's a hard life and no one can be expected to stay forever. Just as long as they keep skating together somewhere and I get to see it, I'll be happy. I love them so much and I'll totally cry when I see them in the end-of-the-games Olympic montage. 'Cuz I totally did last Olympics. Darn Olympics making me a sentimental, emotional wreck! But it isn't over yet, so... I'm off to watch the ladies short program! So excited to see Yu Na Kim back on the ice! It looks like a pretty excellent field all around, so it'll be interesting to see who has their moment this year!