Thursday, December 23, 2010

This and That


All eyes are on Mao Asada at this week's National Championships.  TV Network Executives are praying that Mao will earn a spot at the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo, as ratings for figure skating have gone through the roof since Mao became the face of the sport in Japan.  Mao has been training well, but it will all come down to whether or not she has enough confidence in her new technique to be able to execute it under pressure.



Article About Japanese Nationals
Schedule

US Nationals Practice Schedule.  Ryan Bradley is listed among the competitors.  Stephen Carriere is not.


Word has it that Kytra Hunter will not be joining the Florida Gators this season due to low standardized test scores.  There had not been a definitive word to whether she would be joining, as she retook the exam this fall.

Johnny Weir's upcoming TV Appearances and Book Tour Info.   His new single can be listened to on his website.

Word is that Voir will not be ready to compete at Canadian Nationals.  They vowed to compete at Four Continents if they weren't ready for Canadian Nationals.

Naomi Nari Nam was married recently and is now Naomi Poor.  The reception was held at Benihana. She and her husband are expecting a baby in the upcoming weeks.  Naomi is said to be one of Kim Yu-Na's best friends in LA.  John Nicks once described Naomi as being more 'unruly' than Sasha Cohen.  She was definitely an attractive fashionable girl who was boy crazy early on.  The baby ballerina is all grown up!

Volosozhar and Trankov's recent photo shoot:

10 comments:

  1. That's pretty big news about Kytra Hunter. Hopefully, it will work out for her this year, but if not, Florida has enough depth that they should be major contenders without her.

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  2. It makes me sad that the Japanese media have dumped Akiko Suzuki in favour of Kanako Murakami. I love Kanako and all, but Akiko should've taken the bronze at the final. She was wayyy undermarked for her gorgeous LP. In any case, I hope either Miki or Kanako is the one excluded from the World team. Personally, I'd give them a spot from my own country (Canada). It would make the competition a lot more interesting to watch.

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  3. I have a feeling that Akiko is the one who will be dumped, but I wish they'd dump Miki. The logic is likely that Akiko doesn't have the technical content/consistency with the difficult jumps to win. Kanako is the future and is doing well now. She needs the experience more.

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  4. Oh, thanks for passing along Johnny's tour schedule! Do you plan to read the book? :)

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  5. The thing about Akiko is that she actually has a pretty difficult jump layout, with either 2 lutzes or flips and 2 loops, and a 2A-3T -- I believe it's actually worth more than both Miki and Kanako's layouts...

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  6. Akiko plans the content, but she is usually good for a pop and a doubled jump. She doesn't execute, especially during the second half. These Championships have the potential to be really close. Personally, I'm over Ando.

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  7. Suzuki's problem is downgrades, isn't it? She is my favorite Japanese lady, I love her long, but she doesn't have the 3-3 like Murakami (although her 2A-3T is pretty good), she doesn't have the insane consistency of Miki, and she doesn't have the triple axel/flexibility/star of Mao. I prefer Suzuki so much over Murakami and Ando.. Argh.

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  8. I wish Suzuki had better spins/lines because it would make it so much easier to make a case for her over Miki or Kanako. Her presentation blows both of them out of the water though, I think.

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  9. Ok, I laughed in the beginning of that first video when all the Japanese skaters faces popped up. LOL. I love Japanese TV

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