Friday, December 09, 2011

Grand Prix Musings

She's Not a Fem-bot

So we learned today that Elizaveta Tuktamisheva is not a fem-bot. Until today I had never seen her skate live and I thought she was a programmed robot with the instructions...[In Russian Robot Voice] "Skate Perfect." But seeing her live, despite the botched jumps in her short program, I found a couple flaws: She's kind of slow and she doesn't cover the ice super well. I now believe she is in fact human...but the jury is still out on Julia Lipnitskaia (pictured)...she seemed kind of fem-botish today with a perfect skate (somewhere I know someone is praying she never grow boobs or hips). Carolina leads the field after a solid skate...no one really challenged her. Mao Asada was missed in the event. What sad sad news about her mother.

Bounce-Back

So Scott Moir had the fastest fall and bounce back up ever this afternoon. That's right...fall! He was doing some footwork and tripped (or got clotheslined by Tessa...couldn't tell which) and went down. But as fast as he was down he was right back up and never missed a beat. I actually think he gained points by that move it was so impressive. Nevertheless, the fall cost them precious points against Meryl and Charlie who steamrolled right through on their way to winning the SD.

Get on the Trankov Train

Last year Volosozhar and Trankov wooed me in and they have quickly become my favorite Pairs Team. I was somewhat concerned when on the warm-up Maxim kept favoring his left hip. No worries though as they went out and killed the short program to take the leave. "Get on the Trankov Train" somewhere near me yelled after their skate...I like it!

Patrick Chan...Unappreciated?

He's so unappreciated that he got a standing ovation and the lead after another...another I say...botched short program. Hand down on triple axel and banging into the boards just before sitting down on combination = amazing score. Patrick should not exert so much effort...he should go stand on the ice for his programs...that should earn him enough points to win. The judges had no problem slapping Daisuke Takahashi, Savchenko and Szolkowy, and Virtue and Moir for making mistakes...why is Patrick immune? I have a video of him being unappreciated (re: Thunderous Applause) that I'll upload as soon as I can figure out how,

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patrick was docked points for all of his mistakes. He still came out ahead because no one, absolutely no one comes close to covering the ice with such ease the way he does. If you are there in person, you must have noticed it.

Anonymous said...

Anon, so basically you are saying that V/M, S/S and Takahashi are only deserving of high marks when they skate well, but Chan is deserving of high marks no matter what he puts on the ice, because he covers it well - even if said coverage is, at times, with his backside or other body parts that do not belong on the ice?

Chan gets docked less for his mistakes on GOE compared to most skaters, which allows him to come out ahead and with top marks even when he has a sloppy skate (which happens quite often; strange, considering the supposed superiority of his skating).

I'm not overly fond of S/S's SP, but I like V/T's even less. I hope S/S can pull off a good performance of their fabulous LP and win.

Carolina Kostner was marvelous in the ladies event. I thought her lead could have been even bigger - Aaron, you're right, she wasn't challenged (though Akiko was lovely).

Dance is so non-competitive, there's no point in paying attention to it.

Anonymous said...

Takahashi suffered because his quad was downgraded. Chan didn't because his wasn't. The problem is simply the quad is now worth too much(you can argue Chan should've gotten worse GOEs even though he completed the combo before the fall, but even with straight -3s he still would've led), and Chan keeps rotating it. Plushenko rose a fuss and now we're suffering the consequences.

Anonymous said...

@msisobel - And nobody but Chan does quads? Per your logic, this must be the case - else why do not others who do quads get his scores?

LRK

Anonymous said...

Takahashi also left out his combo in his short -- very costly. And LRK, msisobel already noted that Chan gets good scores for his quads because they are always rotated -- that's key! Plus he gets points for his incredibly intricate transitions.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 6.50 - yes, I know that. However, others rotate their quads too - and don't necessarily fall on them either. What I was objecting to was the "Blame the Quad" for EVERYTHING attitude.

LRK

Hair Removal London said...

Carolina Kostner was outstanding in the women occurrence. I considered her head could have been even larger - Aaron, you're right, she wasn't challenged.

Study Overseas said...

The problem is simply the quad is now worth too much(you can argue Chan should've gotten worse GOEs even though he completed the combo before the fall, but even with straight -3s he still would've led),