Monday, January 24, 2011
This and That
The free skate that scored Patrick Chan a 197. I'll post Sawyer's program when it is uploaded, as it was total heaven. It will probably get its own post, which it deserves.
Chellsie Memmel at Circle of the Stars (including her bar routine, which wasn't shown on Gymnastike.)
What Chellsie would've looked like without Jim Chudy...
Videos from UCLA's loss to Stanford. Val has given Tauny a month to hit beam and she still hasn't managed to do it. UCLA has yet to record a true meet this season. The only ''wins'' on their record come from a second place finish at the Pac 10 Showcase. If Val wasn't so popular, UCLA would be being raked through the coals about now in the court of public opinion. Elyse Hopfner Hibbs did not compete due to neck spams, which confirmed the rumors that she is injured. It remains to be seen how serious those neck spasms are, or what caused them and the rumors.
Videos from OU's latest win.
The University of Florida's routines from their win at LSU:
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Of course Chan's score was extremely high, it was Canadian Nats! But, I do think he gave a really great performance and his win was deserved.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I do like his skating, even if he is often overscored. But if anything he's ever done was worth a skategasm, that was it.
ReplyDeleteYes, his performance was truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteThis chan program was actually good.
ReplyDeleteWow. Chellsie's UB routine is legit. Maybe this comeback is for real... of course, she's never been a talker. She always puts up, even when she's got a broken ankle.
ReplyDeleteChan was good and clean for a whole competition. But I must be missing something. The choreography is not that stunning. The costume looks bulky. He still looks blank while performing. He seems to struggle with hyper-extending his shoulders and arms sometimes. And some of it looked a bit slow and labored (esp. spins). It was a good skate. It deserved to win. But I'm just not getting how it deserved near perfect PCS.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 8:51 you thought he was slow? Really?
ReplyDeleteIf it was international competition, PChiddy's score would get around 183. He deserved it, but program was not good. I don't like Lory's music edit. Anyway, can't wait Worlds. This time, Chan should be World champion.
ReplyDeleteWatching that program makes me wish that Chan would go to a different choreographer. He's never going to be a great performer or have any programs that are artistic masterpieces, but he could probably manage something more interesting than Lori's stale choreography and terrible music choices. Too bad that'll never happen.
ReplyDeleteHope Chan can repeat this at Worlds. No, he is not artistically brilliant and has faults that are somewhat ignored, but he's unquestionably the top male skater in the world right now when he skates clean. I just wish they would actually score him appropriately for interpretation. He's blank.
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, UCLA! Get it together!
ReplyDeleteIt was a rather strange sight to see Chellsie performing on the beam with the Nastia Cup banner in the background. She barely beat her at '05 World's, but how differently things worked out for the two of them.
@9 a.m.--His spins were slow (of course, we so rarely see any fast ones now, that no one seems to notice that). The footwork sections didn't seem slow so much as labored, as in he always seems like he is thinking through the steps and especially the arm movements. Some of the problem, as has been noted by others, is the mediocre choreo and his blank expression. The commentators told me the fw was "passionate" but all I could see was a skater in a bulky costume meticulously performing. Nothing effortless about it. And that's why his interpretation marks are a joke. At the end of the day, I think all the excitement around the skating internet world is because we so rarely see a clean program from anyone anymore.
ReplyDeleteDebating Chan's scores at Nationals is kind of a waste of energy, no? I really don't love him, but Chan was going to win simply for stepping on the ice. Like Skate Canada would dare crown anyone else champion. It was a good performance, yes, but how it compares internationally can only be guessed. I mean, 197, how is that generalizable at all?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Chan did exactly what everyone expected. If he wants to win in Tokyo, he needs to get his triple axel together. The Japanese won't go down at home without a fight.
Good for Chan for not falling or screwing up. I think his spins looked great.
ReplyDeleteBut that is not a good program for him - to paraphrase others his expressiveness is very flat. I think he should skate to music like Bach, which although beautiful generally has a kind of mechanical quality to it which I think would suit Chan better.
I do not dislike Chan, I would just like to see his best qualities brought out, and thus far I think his programs try to impose a persona on him that just is not there.
And man, listening to those commentators was painful.
Btw the story of the OU meet was probably Britney Ranzy winning vault with a 9.925 in her first competitive routine for OSU. It's been a while since she was talked about as an Olympic sleeper (not that it was ever really merited imo).
ReplyDeleteMy main observation about Chan's entire skate were his parents after he finished what was probably the skate of his life, and the total blankness in his parents faces. HAHA asian parents! That being said, while his score was (obviously) outrageous, a skate like that at Worlds will give him the title by a lot, and deservedly so.
ReplyDeleteMeh...I hope Dai is on at Worlds and wipes the ice with him.
ReplyDeleteJust to shut up the fans. On one forum, Chan has been declared, retroactively, the 2006 and 2010 Olympic champion based on this skate.
(And I'd love to hear the response if someone tells Plush about that!)
I love that Patrick even acknowledged how outrageous his LP score was in the kiss and cry. His expression when the scores came up was great.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 11:55- Britney Ranzy competes for Oregon State- the OU videos posted are from Oklahoma. I thought the highlight of that meet was freshman Madison Mooring scoring 9.95 on beam. KJ really knows how to maximize potential on beam...
ReplyDeleteThe new rankings are out. UCLA is ranked 19th (!) on beam and 11th on bars :P. I wonder how long Val will insist on 'following the plan' instead of concentrating on winning. While it's good to experiment with lineups at the beginning of the season, at some point they will start to feel embarassased about losing or might lose some of their confidence.
ReplyDelete"Meh...I hope Dai is on at Worlds and wipes the ice with him."
ReplyDeleteI don't think that will happen, look at Daisuke's performances from the grand prix events, Japanese Nationals - he's not on top form.
If Patrick skates like that at worlds he would deserve a win. I'm not even a fan of his skating per se, but when he gives a clean performance technically he is the top man right now. (In my opinion, of course.)
Anon at 1:41--Yeah, well, look how mediocre Daisuke was last season at the GP and his own Nats--and then look at his fantastic performance at 2010 worlds.
ReplyDeletePlus wasn't Daisuke injured thanks to his big collusion with Kozuka at the GPF?
@ 1:56 that's true. Even so, I'm not sure if Dai will perform his best. Who knows.
ReplyDeleteUm, I have no idea. Probably, I think he hurt his back?
I actually hope Nobunari Oda gets it together at worlds. I'd love him to win.
I hope Patrick win Worlds. He will be truly the champion.
ReplyDeleteGreat job for Chan, but I wish on the accents of the music, his choreography actually went with it. Those "kick things" (sorry, I don't know if they have a name) he does are not quite with the music.
ReplyDeleteChelsea actually looked better then I thought. I have a feeling that people want to see her fail. People like to make fun of her and it is pathetic. if you want to make fun of someone, why not make fun of that worthless Allison Taylor?
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous @ 6:13, I cringe everytime I see those kick things. Reminds me of an out of control four year old pretending to do karate.
ReplyDeleteI've become an anti-hitchkickite (a la the Seinfeld "anti-dentite" episode) because he puts it in EVERY SINGLE PROGRAM like 12 times, regardless of the appropriateness of the move.
ReplyDeleteWow. That was really impressive. Goes to show you how much a clean program matters. And it was the first time i saw him really PERFORM that program. well done. i'll give credit where credit is due.
ReplyDeleteWhen Chan falls, people complain about the scores. When he skates clean and delivers, people still complain about the scores. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteI was there and the spins were fast and centred. There wasn't even any toe-scratching sounds.