Final "Final" Musings

Can I stay in Quebec forever? If you've never had the opportunity to make it up here...you simply must. It's a Canadian gem.

So the Free Dance was today and talk about close! I think Meryl and Charlie beat Tessa and Scott in the Free Dance by .05. Of course Meryl and Charlie had the lead going in...but imagine if Scott had not fallen in the Short Dance...that would have made for a photo finish if there ever was one. Apart from the top two dances...I really enjoyed Weaver and Poje's dance. They went for it 100%. There were plenty of tears in the crowd after their skate; it was magnificent, and they have really moved up in the world as far as Ice Dance goes.

I took lots of Pictures...see them all at Axel, Loops, and Spins Facebook Page!

Now that it's all over, I'll leave everyone with one thought I had about each skater/team competing here:

Pairs

Takahashi/Tran - Waiting for consistency...if/when that happens, watch out!

Duhamel/Radford - Stop analyzing everything (Meagan in particular seems to go on an analyzation psycho-babble spree at the end of every performance)...just skate and trust it.

Zhang/Zhang - Dan needs to figure out how to be as expressive as Hao.

Kavaguti/Smirnov - They have the ability to be the best hands down. Dig deeper.

Volosozhar/Trankov - REST!

Savchenko/Szolkowy - Don't get comfortable at the top...teams are nipping at your heels.

Men

Michal Brezina - Rethink the free skate music cuts (see Ross Miner for advice).

Jeremy Abbott - Don't think when you skate and let go...your best when you don't think. Pull a Kwan...just feel.

Yuzuru Hanyu - Keep doing exactly what you're doing!

Javier Fernandez - Aim big! No reason why you shouldn't be European Champ and possibly a world medalist.

Daisuke Takahashi - Keep proving the judges are getting it wrong...sooner or later enough people will take notice.

Patrick Chan - Know that you ARE appreciated more than most skaters will ever be.

Dance

Bobrova/Soloviev - Think refinement...it's all a bit messy yet.

Shibutani/Shibutani - Be risk takers. You can't play it safe anymore. PUSH PUSH PUSH!

Weaver/Poje - Combine your amazing skating with more difficulty...you can handle it!

Pechalat/Bourzat - Fabian...smile! I love how you both never miss a "ching" in your Free Dance.

Virtue/Moir - Keep up the good fight!

Davis/White - You have to keep the good fight going!

Ladies

Alissa Czisny - Be fierce, not fragile.

Elizaveta Tuktamisheva - Skate bigger, skate faster.

Alena Leonova - I like that the lutz was back in the free. Keep working out the kinks, you look good this season!

Akiko Suzuki - Own it girl...get out of your head and get into the ice.

Carolina Kostner - Next stop...triple lutz.

Grand Prix Musings...2

She Was Wearing What?

The ladies event came to an "uneventful" conclusion. As per I expected Kostner pulled off the win. I give her props...she did three events plus the final...that's not an easy schedule to keep. What I don't give her props on was her outfit...yeesh! Carolina, call me, we need to chat. Who also needs to call me...Alissa Czisny. Girl! What happened to Czisny 2.0? Czisny 1.0 showed up at this event. Find her again...please! Also, I was hoping Leonova would sport her Viktoria Helgesson "esque" do for the free skate...she went back to the usual hair...bummer.

No Way

Okay, I'm about to snap on the judges! Chan's Free Skate was scored higher than Daisuke's! How? And yes, I was in the building, and hands down Daisuke outskated Patrick on every level. The only component that Patrick really dominates Daisuke on is Transition/Linking Footwork. The rest...they're basically tied. And tonight, Daisuke was far superior in Interpretation (he does not miss a beat in his free skate), Skating Skills, and execution. What a shame the marks didn't reflect it. The crowd was cheering joyfully as Patrick won and I just sat there shaking my head...sad. On a more positive note...let's welcome Hanyu to the big boys club. What a skate! I think someone passed him my note, he tempered his performance just a bit and bingo! What an accomplishment for Fernandez as well (Canada appears to have adopted him as their own via Brian Orser). Finally Jeremy...oh he made my heart skip beats when he hit that quad! Shame there were problems that came later but I think he is on the right path as he heads towards San Jose...when he does that program clean it's going to be a gem.

So Close!

Savchenko and Szolkowy's MO this season has been to not do their best in the short but come rocketing back in the free. That's basically what they did here...only this time Volosozhar and Trankov kept up! The last two pairs free's of the night were absolutely amazing. Both teams had us on the edges of our seats. I think it came down to Tatiana's little wiggly landing on her throw salchow. Other than that it was an epic finale between the two.

p.s. Props to Jason Brown on a brilliant skate to take the Junior Men's Title...it was just awesome!

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,

Chan's Mouth

So on my way up to Quebec I grabbed a newspaper at the airport in Toronto, open it up to the sports page, and boom...Chan's mouth!

The first time I was treated to Chan's mouth was at the 2009 World Championships where he got into a media tussle with Brian Joubert.

I love it, first of all, only in Canada (well maybe in Japan and in Korea if it pertains to Yu-Na) does figure skating make the front page of the newspaper.

I read the headline, "Chan Feeling Unappreciated in Canada." He talks about all the hard works skaters do and he feels left out of the big boys club (Stojko, Browning). He then even talks about how it would be cool to skate for China...

Chin to floor!

It was such a stir up here that he had to issue a statement about his statements (which were given 4 months ago to Reuters).

Patrick should come to the U.S. where people go, "What's figure skating?" and then discuss appreciation. I mean, I don't think he realizes how good he has it. He got the front page of the sports section for crying out loud! When was the last time a U.S. skater got the sports front page of the New York Times, or Washington Post, or USA Today (I'm dying for someone who really wants to put in the research here and tell me it's been at least close to a decade)?

So he hits the ice today...Canadian's, please support him or we may have to deal with another "skatertantrum."

p.s. Wishing Mao Asada well and hoping her mom is okay.

Retour au Québec

I'm on my way up to Quebec! I've found a quiet corner of the Old City that will be my little "maison loin de chez" and will arrive in time for all the action.

Who's competing? Check here:

Juniors
Seniors

I've made it no secret I'm super excited to see the men, but I really am excited to see them all.

Not sure I'll be giving live Twitter updates...it would cost me money as my cell phone is not Canadian. If I can find a wi-fi signal I'll be in for updates though!

Stay tuned for updates, photos, and more!

I Screamed Like a Girl

The Regular Grand Prix is over and I'm giddy with delight! I think next to Worlds (which I also will be attending!), the Grand Prix Final will be the best ticket of the year!

I won't go into specifics about who did and who didn't make it...you can check for yourself.

I was pleased with the ladies and pairs fields. I think Christmas came early with that dance field! And then I screamed like a girl when I saw the men's field!

OMG! Look!



No way! So if I was to pick my top six favorite men's skaters in the world...I got 5 of them right here (better luck next time Denis Ten) including my fave Jeremy Abbott. Sorry Yuzuru...I'm rooting for the other 5. Talk about EPIC!

Praying for no bogus withdrawals...I feel as though I would cry.

Summer Drought is Over!

All right kids...it's high time I get back to blogging! The summer figure skating drought is nearing it's conclusion and I'm ready to get clicking on the keyboard again.

So what's new? Today is the last day you can submit a logo for me...so if you have a cool logo to design...get it in!

I booked my airfare to L.A. for Skate America...I will definitely be attending the event! I'm also going to be attending the Grand Prix Final in Quebec City!

Finally, the Junior Grand Prix get's started this week in Latvia. A pretty spiffy group of Junior skaters are competing. Keep an eye on them...you never know who will surprise you later in the season (i.e. Ricky Dornbush did last season)...

So what's new with all of you?