Friday, November 26, 2010

TEB: Day 1 Part 1


The sixth and final event of the Grand Prix series is upon us.  It certainly feels like it has been a half-baked start to the season after all of the injuries, retirements and downright shitty skating.   Once again, we've have to witness Miki Ando winning two international events and act like it didn't make us want to kill ourselves.  We support Miki's improvement the same way we applaud Bristol on Dancing With The Stars: with severely clenched teeth.




The ice dance event continues to bore, stupefy and even confuse fans and skaters alike.  As much as we may miss watching Russians dress in brown face, we need to accept the short dance as a sad way of life.


Pechalat and Bourzat are the undisputed queens of the short dance this season.  Having now competed in five significant competitions, they seem to have it a bit down.  They have performed with polish and stability at events with high-scoring judging panels and look to be the biggest thorns in Meryl Davis' backside.  In the trite words of Scott Hamilton, "their greatest strength is their lack of weaknesses."  Their elements do not cause you to gasp with their brilliance, but everything is classy, proper and non-offensive.


Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein have also shown substantial improvement since Skate Canada.  Their tribute to "Edith Pilaf" (thanks Tanith) is helping them to mature.  Madison has always appeared like an "early bloomer."  There is something about her on-ice presence that screams "I was every boy's first kiss."  Unfortunately, it does not help her baby-faced partner look any more mature.  With their vehicles this season, Greg is managing to appear like he may soon need to buy some shaving cream and antiperspirant.  The majority of their elements are clean and precise.  He is really starting to project to the audience.  Their free dance has brought out his inner gay and try as he may, he can't stuff it back inside.  When you watch them, it is evident that they are more influenced by Igor and Marina, but that isn't to say that they have all of Naomi Lang's worst qualities.  Aside from some posture issues at times, their biggest noticeable issue was their loss of speed during their twizzle sequence.


For the ladies, it was another event to forget.


Alissa Czisny surprised no one by failing to continue her wave of recent success.  This performance wasn't a complete meltdown, but her skating appeared slow and tentative at times.  Her jumps are still a "work-in-progress."  There are signs of rotational improvement, but Tara pointed out that she still spots her jumps in the air.  This only adds to her wonkiness in the air.  It is improving.  Perhaps Alissa will have it all together by her tenth trip to the Olympic Trials?

Question: Does anyone else find themselves chuckling when Tara points out "that was the jump that really cost Alissa at Nationals." Or "a lot of people have really wrote her off after Nationals."  THAT was the jump?!  What about the others?

Cynthia Phaneuf is also "regaining her jumps following a growth spurt."  AKA: Time for a new excuse.


Mirai Nagasu performed another strong short program.  Frank's toe-jump technique is paying off and Mirai is rotating those babies.  She has lost a good 3-5 lbs since Cup of China, which means that Frank is grinding her ass into gear.  Mirai is aiming to "do her best" in the long program.  She isn't banking on a victory; the girl is ditzy, but not a complete idiot.

Her short program is beginning to come together.  Without a real shot of making the final, Mirai looks like she'll have enough time to get her shit together by Nationals.  Even without her triple-triple, Mirai's short is competitive with the top ladies.  If Mirai can stay healthy and train hard, her natural talent will take her to the top of the podium.

Kudos to Tara Lipinski for actually mentioning Michelle Kwan by name (and as part of a reference that didn't involve talk of beating her at the Nagano Olympics.)  She said that "skaters like Michelle Kwan and Kurt Browning, you really felt like you knew them when they skated.  Mirai definitely falls into that category."


Haruka Imai continues to impress on the Grand Prix.  Her skating needs maturity, but one cannot help but be impressed by her level of effervescence.  She is simply a joy to watch.

On the other hand, Mao Asada makes me want to light candles in church.  There may not be enough cathedrals in Manhattan to buy enough prayers for the reigning world champion.


Now that Mao has left Tarasova, it is evident that her poor fashion sense is likely her own doing.  Mao has returned to wearing dresses that emphasize her non-existent breasts.  Skating to some trite tango, the joy appears to be absent from her skating (as well as the ice coverage.)  Her jumps need months of work.  One needs to wonder if she should've taken time off like Yu-Na to really get herself together at her own pace, without risking her reputation.  Hell, she's lost to Caroline Zhang this season.  Now she's behind Suguri.  I'm beginning to question whether Nubuo Sato has the fiery temperament necessary to slap the success back into Mao.

Then again Mao may not be to blame for her success, it could very well be the apocalypse with Cynthia Phaneuf and Kiira Korpi winning Grand Prix short programs.


Kiira is a lovely skater who reaches over the rainbow to show the audience her put of gold.  Everything about her skating is "nice" and "lovely," but she may not be enough of a bitch to sustain her recent success.

24 comments:

  1. Tara pointed out that she still spots her jumps in the air.

    Just a question: what exactly does it mean to spot spins and jumps?

    ReplyDelete
  2. To focus on one point...you can see someone turn their head/neck and to find a point to focus on with each rotation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know why, but I think Haruka might end up doing better than Kanako, her technique is solid and she has a more mature style.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I believe Cynthia Phaneuf is showing more skin than clothing period.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can't get past how much Cynthia Phaneuf reminds me of John Travolta!

    ReplyDelete
  6. too painful to watch Asada on the ice. Think people around her(including who established Mao's rule) is pushing her to this end. What she really needs is basics not 3axels and this would take at least 1-2 seasons

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'd like to see how Mao jumps in practice before I judge this situation, but I'm not sure she should be doing 3axels in the short. It just seems like too much. It's weird that her finagling with her 3lutz has caused her to lose her 3flip too. She just needs a lot of practice, and hopefully she understands that she's just not prepared right now.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't understand the Czisny comment... I realize you are trying to be snarky/amusing, but come on... Her short program here looks virtually identical to the one she did at Skate Canada, where she won after being in 4th. If she looks more lethargic, well, she had to compete at Sectionals less than 2 weeks ago. If she's not high energy this week, I don't blame her.

    Oh, and as if you know that Mirai has lost 3-5 pounds. Why report that as if it's fact especially if you don't have any evidence of that? Does it even matter? Her biggest question mark is mental, and this will be the first GP in a while where she's not in 1st after the SP. Maybe that will help her.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haruka Imai seems better than Kanako to me, or at least as good, but what do I know.

    Has P/B's short dance score surpassed D/W's? I know it must be close.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Three triple axels is just too much for a female.

    I could understand not wanting to withdraw from the prestigious GP series because she is not injured, but why oh why did Asada show up at the Japan Open in October when she wasn't ready to do any jumping? I'm confused by it, but I don't follow the Asada stories coming out of Japan so I probably don't know the whole story. Hopefully she takes the positive out of this that she can slow down and have more time to work on things now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. To clarify, Czisny won an event where the level of skating wasn't exactly mind blowing.

    Mao Asada skated at the Japan Open because of $$$.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We're witnessing the regression of FS. Instead of a Renaissance, FS is traveling back in time to the Dark Ages. When a skater like Kiira Korp with her negligible technical content/ skating skills/ artistry, can be in medal contention at a GP event, you know there's something very wrong in ladies FS

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cynthia Phaneuf seems to be wearing costumes from the Tonya Harding collection.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mao Asada cannot skip GP series even though she isn't ready for competition. Becuase of her sponsor. It related with money.

    ReplyDelete
  15. what a comedy show in ladies FS in 2010 GP series. Will fold my interests in ladies figure skating until Yuna comes back

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh great, Joubert withdrew. My fantasy skating thing is a mess. Everyone I pick withdraws.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ohhhh. The $$$/sponsorship thing makes sense. Otherwise I wouldn't see any reason for Mao to rush to compere without having much ready.

    ReplyDelete
  18. hmmm, at least figure skating and gymnastics have both gone on a downward spiral, so they aren't alone.

    Is it me, or did the new rules and open ended scoring for both gymnastics and figure skating really hurt both sports?

    ReplyDelete
  19. I did like Cynthia's white dress that she wore at the previous event. I recall someone here hated it, but I thought it was sophisticated and was different than the usual. This open down the front isn't flattering at all. The John Travolta and Tonya Harding look for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  20. No, Mao is not participating in those events because of money.
    She seems to be doing very well with her jumps in practice, and she says it's important to try them in competitions.
    She hasn't been successful so far, but she is making progress, and I'm sure she'll be doing much better at the end of this season.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Good for Mao. Now's the best time to be reworking jump issues.

    AJ, don't be rude about Czisny. At least she doesn't quit when the going gets tough. She's a tough competitor. She has rough technique, but she is not a quitter.

    ReplyDelete
  22. And look at that, Alissa medals and is in the GPF for the first time since 2005. Persistence pays off.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The cynical side of me thinks that Tara included Michelle's name with Kurt cuz though they both won multiple World titles and were loved by fans, neither won Olympic gold like Tara did, bwahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I doubt that's the reason.

    ReplyDelete