Comments | mosca: So apparently there's also skiing or something?

mosca

So apparently there's also skiing or something?

Feb 17, 2010 00:50

With all of the Olympic skating preview posts, I haven't had time to give my actual reactions to the Games. So here they are.

( There are no spoilers in sports, but there is a West Coast tape delay. )

skating, olympics

Comments 26

spicklething February 17 2010, 06:03:33 UTC

Plushenko's scores were bloated. Dude, take a bath. Seriously. To me he's all filler, filler, filler Jump. Filler, filler filler, combo jump. filler filler filler jump, spin. Repeat as necessary. Meh. He's an automatron.

I really liked Evan's performance. For a douchey robot, he was truly beautiful and focused tonight. His artistry was head and shoulders above Plushenko's. I actually cheered for him and didn't feel guilty about it.

And I really think Johnny was underscored. I wonder if judges ding him for his extravagance. *shrugs*

mosca February 17 2010, 07:08:17 UTC

Plushenko's jumps were not as squeaky clean as the commentators said, either - he had absolutely no speed on one of them and a messy landing on the other. He should be no higher than third.

Evan's a douche, but he's not a robot. There's got to be something in there for him to be able to skate like that. But it's buried pretty deep.

I understand Johnny's scores for the most part - I don't think he was penalized for his skating style this time, but for small errors in his skating and deficiencies in his choreography. Oda and Kozuka got screwed a lot more than he did. All were a pleasure to watch.

queen_of_goat February 17 2010, 06:31:37 UTC

I've really been enjoying your skating posts. They helped me work out better ways to explain stuff to my sister, not that she was actually interested ( ... )

mosca February 17 2010, 07:13:27 UTC

Glad you're enjoying them!

Back when I was a skater, I wanted to be Paul Wylie. I think that's why I'm such a big Abbott fan - Jeremy's got quite a lot of Paul in him.

There used to be something endearing about Plushenko, but he's lost touch with reality. The NBC commentators said something about how in '06, the other skaters all conceded the gold to him, but this time they all kind of resent him. But Plushy hasn't gotten the memo.

I didn't say Johnny was underscored! I'm not sure he was. From the detailed score breakdown, it looks like he made a takeoff error on one of his jumps and lost about 3 points on it. Without that error, he would have scored an 85 and been in 4th place, which matches what I saw.

queen_of_goat February 17 2010, 07:33:38 UTC

You're right, that was the comment above me, not you. I thought it looked like a 4th or 5th performance so that works out with the detailed breakdown. Where did you see that by the way?

I think Paul has mentored Jeremy Abbott and I definitely see the Paul in him. I once saw Paul in his car in Boston when I was in high school on a field trip. I got a huge chunk of our school bus to yell, "We love you, Paul!" out the windows. He seemed very embarrassed but waved and smiled. I may never have seen him skate live, but I'll always have that.

All in all it was a pretty great night of skating.

mosca February 17 2010, 18:09:22 UTC

NBColympics.com gives real-time scores and rankings. Go here while the competition is in progress and it will automatically update. After an event, click on the event name and it'll give you details for each skater.

Wylie has definitely mentored Abbott, but I think USFSA made the match because Abbott has so much in common with Wylie both on and off the ice.

My parents took me to Stars on Ice a bunch of times when I was a kid, and I saw Wylie skate there. But your sighting way beats that.

Thread 5

fleegull February 17 2010, 08:52:36 UTC

It was an extraordinary night of skating, I don't know how these guys are going to top themselves but I can hardly wait to find out!

mosca February 17 2010, 18:14:21 UTC

Extraordinary indeed! Both highs and lows, which is the best kind. I don't even know who to root for in the FS.

coriande February 17 2010, 09:33:30 UTC

God, watching the men skate tonight was such a pleasure (with a few notable exceptions. Jeremy, my heart! Be brave and endure. At least you're ahead of Joubert. Also, please to be buttoning up your shirt just a teensy bit before skating.)

I reluctantly cheered for Lysacek and enthusiastically waved at the fantastic Japanese men and Johnny (nice to see a clean skate - and that corset), but the one who impressed me the most was Dennis Ten, the tiny Korean from Kazakhstan. So cute! So jumpy! Such a kicky yellow vest! If it hadn't been for the awkwardness of his spins, I would have cried foul on his scores. But seriously. He had a split lip. I want to hug him and feed him soup. And he's four years younger than me.

Thanks again for your informative primer - had it open next to me so I could read tasty Johnny Weir trivia during the commercials. You're a real 'difference maker'. (Do you guys have those cheesy inspirational spots where you are, or is it a Canadian thing?)

mosca February 17 2010, 18:36:15 UTC

This would not be the first time Jeremy tanked in the short and made a triumphant comeback in the free skate. (See: 2007 Nationals.) I'm hoping for the Abbott signature move of skating lights out and sitting in first for half the night. His shirt has gotten tighter and less buttoned with each competition, and I have to say, I can't really complain.

Denis Ten is adorable, but he's so young and has no artistry to speak of yet. Neat to see him in the top 10 after the short; wonder if he'll hold onto it. I didn't realize he was ethnically Korean - interesting! He almost made my preview post - I downloaded pictures and everything - and now I wish I hadn't cut him.

We do not have "difference maker" PSAs south of the border, but I think you just made sense of a reference someone made on Project Runway Canada.

iphi1 February 17 2010, 11:53:30 UTC

Couldn't believe the catastrophe that was Brian Joubert. OMG, did you see the swearing in the Kiss & Cry. "Putain, ces jeux Olympiques de merde". That's some serious swearing for a figure skater. For me that was the biggest drama of the evening. (Though I have to admit I am a bit more familiar with the European skaters and therefor maybe somewhat biased.)

Also thought maybe Kevin VDP was a bit underscored on his technical elements. Not going to mention his artistic scores, because, well, he's just not very good at that, is he? Why has he not gained just a bit of speed in his spins??

Lambiel was heavenly...Lysacek was heavenly...Plushenko was boring.

Do they do a gala at the Olympics?

Thanks for the posts, love them!

mosca February 17 2010, 18:42:39 UTC

I'm not sure if NBC cut Brian's rant or turned down the audio, or if I just don't speak enough French to have noticed. There's actually enough swearing in the K&C that sometimes I think it should be called the Kiss & Cry & Curse. It's especially funny when one of the Russian girls goes off on a tear.

I don't have much kind to say about KVDP on a good day, so I'm not the best person to ask. But his jump technique was a mess, and he did easier jumps than the other skaters - his scores were fair.

There is an Olympics gala! It'll be on the last Sunday of the Games.