Saturday, April 23, 2011

This and That



Yu-Na has landed in Moscow!


Feature on Volosozhar and Trankov (Translation Welcome)

Marlie hope to end the gold medal drought.

Mao Asada prepares to defend title in Moscow.

Feature on the Helgesson sisters.

Tara Lipinski on being extra-ready or exhausted?

Voir and Patrick Chan are ready to compete for World Titles.


Japanese Nationals Day 1 News Report


Scootie won Adult Nationals in the Master's Intermediate/Novice Division


I don't usually post montages, but here are two fun ones on the NCAA Vault and Uneven Bars champions over the years.

8 comments:

  1. Hahahahhahahah! Scootie boy has his a** sticking out all through his routine! It's hilarious!

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  2. One day, maybe someone will explain to me how Adult Skating Nationals has 327483798179 separate divisions.

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  3. PUAHAHA at Mao saying she'll ask Tarasova to fix her costume...NO MAO STAY AWAY FROM THE RUSSIAN DRECTITUDE

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  4. Megan Marsden's leotard (vault montage) is something else!

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  5. Commentator: In regular life they are Maksim and Tatiana – but on ice
    Maksim Trankov: This is…
    Tatiana Volosozhar: Romeo and Juliette
    Maksim Trankov: Romeo and Juliette, yeah…
    Commentator: Their coach is used to doing everything correctly
    Nina Mozer: [coughing fit] You probably shouldn’t cough, right?
    Interviewer: Oh – well we’ll edit that out, we’ll edit that out…
    Nina Mozer: But why shouldn’t one cough, a hardworking person coughs… [noises]
    Commentator: On the doorstep of the World Championships in Figure Skating, the Russian National champions on ice and off…
    Maksim Trankov: How can that be okay? [taking issue with a question it seems]
    Interviewer: Guys, I know that during your performance…
    Maksim Trankov: And again…
    [Tatiana catches an edge on footwork from their short program]
    Commentator: Thus, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov prepare for the World Figure Skating Championships. But, there’s no sense in worrying; there’s still time to practice their number. But for starters, the national champions shared some secrets of their skating. First secret: During their performance Maksim and Tatiana aren’t silent; they talk to each other. Of course their discussions aren’t about the weather or their plans for the evening but rather about a specific element of their performance and if there’s a break in their synchronization then the skaters say out loud how many steps they should take toward each other.
    Maksim: You can say, for example, “two!” so that you don’t take three
    Tatiana: Or “one more.”
    Maksim: And also four, on the other hand; if you didn’t glide to some place that you should have gotten to you can say “one more.”
    Commentator: The second trick is used only by the pair Trankov/Volosozhar: Maksim performs without socks – and this doesn’t bother his partner at all. In his words, he feels the ice better barefooted. But the biggest secret is contained within the walls of the Megasport arena, and this is the secret of a successful performance.
    Nina Mozer: [The walls?] are big, high; that is, all these bright paints are distracting… That is, this ice palace isn’t an easy [venue] for figure skaters… When, [looking] in the stands, you lose [sight of] your partner in the middle of twist or a lift, it’s not very pleasant…
    Commentator: And now follow us [lit. the line is behind us] figure skating lovers, let’s help our athletes during their performance we’ll wear severe, monochrome coats to cover up the bright seats, and may their opponents dress themselves in multicolored clothing
    Maksim: We’re going to need to make a stand from the start. We’re going to need to be memorable, to skate a program that will amaze the audience and judges.
    Commentator: And here is the very program where Maksim and Tatiana will act out a love story as Romeo and Juliette [um… that’s their short program music, mister]
    Tatiana: I always like to skate to [themes of] love and carrots [play on words that doesn’t translate]. I have a good feeling for this stuff as a classic story
    Commentator: But our Romeo has had his fill of love and carrots
    Maksim: I’ve skated, in my time, my most elevated [sensibilities], but I look at our short program only as an outlet
    Commentator: In Maksim’s words, this [short] program does not have any pretentions toward lyricism – it is meant [instead] to conquer the attention of the judges and audience
    Maksim: We want the stands go, “wow, this is so wonderful, how excellently you’ve skated it – and you know us to get goosebumps.”
    Commenator: This composition is titled “O Fortuna” [Camina Burana]. And fortune has smiled on them, as Maksim and Tatiana as they won gold at the Russian national championships. Let’s hope that at the world championships she doesn’t take her attention off of the pair Trankov/Volosozhar.

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  6. Finally. Yu-na has arrived in Moscow!

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  7. Great job Scootie!!

    To Anon 2:02:
    Adult comps are divided by age and ability. There are open (ie, anyone can compete) categories for all levels and the five different age divisions (from I = 20s up to V = over 60s). Bronze, Silver, Gold roughly correspond to prelim, prejuv, and juv, and masters int, nov, jr, sr are for those adults who have passed those corresponding standard-track USFS tests.

    Then there are the championship events (for adult gold through masters sr, and often due to low numbers, there are combined categories of "masters jr/sr" and "masters int/novice"). Championship events are not (I believe) divided by age. You have to qualify for these through Adult Sectionals.

    Make sense?

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  8. Your Scootie skated a nice clean program. He could use some work on his posture, though, as stated above. Shoulders can be kept down and back without creating a tight arch in the lower back (the reason his butt looked like it stuck out). Maybe he could improve with some yoga and ballet? Good choice of music, though, and solid interpretation.

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