Figure skating 2018

Oh fuck I forgot about Nationals being this week. They are in my state but totally forgot about it. *cries*

Which three ladies are the most likely to make the US Olympic team?

I hardly watch anymore. No American champions to watch, and the majority of skaters are Asians.

[quote]Will any figure skaters come out in 2018?

If any of them come out, it will come from Juniors. Lots of gaylings in US/ Russian Nationals

Exhibit A#

Dimitri Aliev

Exhibit B#

Artem Lezheev

I haven't watched the women in years and years, but the pairs and ice dance are still good (or can be). Lately, I only watch the men for Javier Fernandez as I have little interest in glittering anime characters. But what still chaps my ass about skating is the goddamn Code of Points, especially in singles skating. I know it's not going away, but jump-jump-flail arms-jump-jump-fancy footwork jump-jump is tedious to watch. There are very, very few skaters or choreographers who can bring any sense of artistry to point collecting.

Anything good in American figure skating? I think it's safe to say anyone remotely inspired by the mid 90's tonya/Kerrigan saga retired years ago.

[quote] Which three ladies are the most likely to make the US Olympic team?

3 at random from those 5: Bradie Tennell, Ashley Wagner, Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu and Mariah Bell

[quote] Anything good in American figure skating?

US medal shots are Men (Nathan Chen who aims at Gold) and Ice Dance (3 American couples fighting for Bronze. Top 2 is unreacheable though). US ladies are pretty weak nowadays. And American Pairs are crap.

I've grown to really love ice dancing over the past 8 years, but I don't really understand the gamesmanship of it. Clearly people can see P+C/V+M routines and know that their routine couldn't possibly beat them... so why not re-choreograph? I get with men's and women's you can always hope for a splatfest and Sarah Hughes your way into a medal, but that's never going to happen in ice dancing. I get that Alex Shib is never going to have the musicality of Guillaume, but couldn't they at least give him some Chad White style acrobatics and sharp fast skating?

Looks like Alysa Liu, 12-year-old super-jumper favored in Juniors may have a gay dad--one of five kids--all products of a donor egg/ surrogates. Dad's "partner" helps with raising the kids.

[quote] There are very, very few skaters or choreographers who can bring any sense of artistry to point collecting.

yes, they don't get any reward in adding anything to jump-step sequences-jump-jump given how judges use PCS. Especially in Men. If they would start to evaluate transitions, composition and choreography components and their lack of for some top skaters, maybe something will change. If they get 9 anyway, they won't add anything given doing a quad is worthier than going to 9.25 in coreography

I only want to watch skaters with big penises.

I can't believe Bradie Tennell is the only US lady who has scored over 200 points this season. I'm not sure how anyone can get excited about this bunch. Cheesy Disney Princess vs the aging Diva of Recycling Programs vs a bunch of inconsistent, unremarkable skaters with chronic UR issues. Does it really matter who goes to the Olys?

I just want to see Patrick Chan's big beautiful ass!

beautiful butt.

An American woman has not won a medal at the Olympics since 2006

An American woman has only won a medal ONCE at the World Championships since 2006

American women used to DOMINATE women's figure skating

Not anymore

That young skater with the gay dad is certainly next our next big hope. Gay skating dads don't shit around and make their kids put results on the table. None of this sissy stuff of "my son/daughter is doing it for the love of skating" bullshit. Nobody respects a loser like Jason Brown.

Do we all remember how mama Abbott emotionally castrated her son Jeremy?

What are young fem American girls doing if not figure skating? There's nothing else.

[quote]What are young fem American girls doing if not figure skating? There's nothing else.

Gymnastics, of course. A lot cheaper and more popular than skating.

[quote]What are young fem American girls doing if not figure skating? There's nothing else.

Winning Gold Medals and dominating our sport for almost 20 years!!!!

Ah, no...r15

Thing about gymnastics is that it's a college sport--so, even if you're not Olympic caliber, gymnastics still might help with things like college scholarships. Now that ice shows are mostly defunct, there's not a lot left for non-elite skaters.

R17, not only is skating dad gay, he's also from China--so driven immigrant thing.

Rotate those triples, girl!

Ah, yes...r21.

who is the gay dad, r17 or r22?

I don't get how skaters get bonus points for loading their jumps into the second half of their programs...but then don't get penalized in artistic impression/choreography for jamming jumps into the second half.

They need to go back to the old 6.0 system.

Junior skater Alysa Liu's father is probable gay dad, Arthur Liu.

R25, what would be the point of doing both? One would cancel the other.

The Skating Lesson @SkatingLesson Gay skating dads are really the new frontier.

The Skating Lesson @SkatingLesson When your dad channels Sasha Cohen’s skating dress and improves upon the design for your Nationals moment...

are these 2 tweets refered to Dad Liu?

Giada Russo (Italy second spot at the Olympics) is doing the SP on the music of the orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut.

She still can't jump (in the video she's ok but that's her best) but the step sequences is good as usual.

The new scoring system just sapped the energy out of skating. It's all about jump after jump after jump. Every routine looks the same. They're just collecting points--little sense of artistry and no jumps suddenly put in to make up for a missed jump, which used to bring excitement. Everything's choreographed to the tee.

Skating has become a big bore.

Years ago, I attended the National Championships when I was a big skating fan. It was there that my fandom ended.

On Tv, we usually watch the top 5. Live, you have to endure the top 20. Every routine looks the same. The ones near the bottom generally suck--no artistry at all. Everyone skates to fucking Firebird. It was just awful.

WHET Michelle Kwan

Jason Brown is one of the most innovative, creative, artistic skaters out there. But, because he hasn't got a quad, he hasn't got a chance. Such a shame. He is a delight to watch.

Yeah, first groups in FS are usually awful

Now with livestream available in the majority of countries, you can watch even the first group of German National Championships....actually the first group for them is the also the last group but it's awful anyway

I had the livestream of FS at Japanese Nationals open in the background and in the earlier groups, at one point, I listened to 3 Miserables in a row

R28, yeah I think so--Alysa Liu wore a grey ombre dress with a beige underskirt and Sasha Cohen had a grey ombre costume. It's a nice costume except for that tights-over-boots thing.

R30 -- The Olympics are the same; you have to sit through a LOT of crap skating to get to the good ones, and the Ice Dance FD at four minutes per goes on forEVER. Same thing with other sports, too. I thought I'd eat my head from boredom watching platform diving at the Sydney Games from the cheap seats. The best view is always the one of your TV from your sofa. That said, TV gives you scant idea of how fast the skaters are flying around the ice and how dangerous it really is.

The success of uninspired skaters like Sarah Hughes, Rachael Flatt, and their ilk sounded the death knell for women’s figure skating in the U.S. The last gasp of hope was Sasha Cohen, but while she had the flair and drama, she couldn’t put a clean program together when it counted. Even so, I’d rather watch a hot mess like Nicole Bobek over the self-congratulatory, self-proclaimed and totally manufactured “bad girl” Diva Wagner any day of the week.

In retrospect, dealing with a few corrupt Russky judges under the old system was better for the artistry of the sport than the current points system.

[quote] and the Ice Dance FD at four minutes per goes on forEVER.

and this year with also these awful latin SD.....

[quote] The Olympics are the same; you have to sit through a LOT of crap skating to get to the good ones,

I still remember this guy from Sochi. When he reached the step sequences, I was sorry for him.

I'm going to the Ladies FS and Ice Dance FS at Nationals this week. I heard the arena has good wi-fi, so I'm planning accordingly. I know the first flights might be tedious, but I've never seen top-level figure skating live, so I want to see what it's actually like once in my life--the speed, the sound the ice makes, the height of the jumps . . .

The tears and rage of Nagasu fans if she doesn't make the podium . . .

When you have a dominant skater at the top (Peggy Flemming, Janet Lynn, Michelle Kwan) forces other skaters to work twice hard to beat the reigning Queen of skating. Let's face it Tara Lipinski would have her gold medal, if she didn't push herself to be better, That is what sport is all about.

But ever since Michelle retired from the sport, it has been all downhill. All the women are on the same level, so there is not that need to push oneself to be better than the current champion.

The last woman to win three straight titles was Michelle Kwan (though she won 8 in a row). Ashley Wagner is the only woman since Michelle Kwan to win two in a row. But since Michelle no woman (other than Ashley Wagner) has defended their title

Do feel free to live post from San Jose, R39! And let us know where you're sitting and what you're wearing so we can look for you on TV. And don't forget to bring a stuffed animal or two to toss on the ice after your favorites skate. If it's your first time, you'll enjoy it all. If you get bored with the skating of the lower flights look around at the audience. It's a real... mix.

Euros and Worlds are even worse. At least at Olympics there are no more than 30 single skaters and 24 Ice Dance teams.

Entries for Euros this month: 41 Ladies, 37 Men, 31 Ice Dance....think how some of them will be

Entries for 4 Continents published today with Canada and USA listed TBD.

China is sending Boyang, Yan Han, Sui/Han, Peng/Jin. Yu/Zhang are taking a break.

Denis Ten is entered.

The North Korean Pair is in the list

Malaysia has found a second man other than Yee.

Japan is fielding Uno, Tanaka, Mura, Myahara, Sakamoto, Mihara

The top Asian Ice Dance teams are going: Muramoto/Reed, Min/Gamelin, Wang/Liu. One of them can beat the third USA team (which should be the 6th at Nationals)

I am not rooting for anyone at US Nats, except a little bit for Adam and I guess Hubbell/Donahue. I'm more interested in seeing whose dreams will be destroyed, especially for the ladies. Is that mean?

Courtney bombed, so we're off to a good start. I never liked that chick, but after I read about her Twitter activity I'm actively rooting for her to fail. I do like Starr Andrews and her two hot gay coaches. Starr is more of a diva at 16 than Wagner has ever been.

R44 catch me up on the Twitter activity?

Uggh, I was too fucking lazy to buy tickets, but I am sure if I go to the arena on Saturday I should find some tickets on the bleachers (at least).

Are the men on Saturday?

WEHT that Carrie Gold chick?

There's been a top new Russian female skater every two years since Slutskova retired. Whatever!

And 0 top American female skaters...so which is better?

Says to me juice is ruling the female russian skaters and the rest of the team.

It's hormones that they give the Russian skaters. There is currently no current test to find that out, but I imagine once they do they will inspect some skaters retroactively.

LOL. Stop listening to TSL and those dumb cunts Dave Lease and Christine Brennan. Or maybe they post here...

Speaking of TSL, I love that they gave us the live link to US Nats. hehe

Thanks Dave and Opera guy.

Hicks and Miller couldn't even crack 60? Ughh how embarrassing

Glenn was surprisingly enjoyable. Too bad about the Lutz, but she was the most complete skater we have seen thus far.

Bell is flopping as expected.

When will homegurl Ashley hit a 3-3?

Does Carolina Kostner's pussy stink?

If you have NBCSN in your cable or sat package you should be able to watch SOME events of Nats live on the app (and on tv) and replay/highlights on the NBC Sports app. Some of Nats is on the Olympic Channel and not every carrier has a deal with NBC to stream the Oly Channel content. I'm sure NBC will have several events, too. I didn't catch the schedule on tv... Brief results short: Bradie and Mirai separated by .70 point. 1) Bradie 2)Mirai3) Angela

And Ashley's down in fifth after the SP--yes, the judges are over yet another round of "Hip, hip, chin, chin." Bradie Tennell in first--the GS crowd is whining about how boring she is--now that there's finally a consistent American jumper. Mirai Nagasu in second--stepped out on her triple axel and probably under-rotated her combo, but she got credit. See if she can handle being in a close second. Karen Chen under-rotated all over the place, but she got third anyway.

The big surprise was Angela Wang in fourth. Polina Edmunds also skated clean, but first--ended up in seventh, but with a reasonable score, so she may stick around.

Courtney Hicks bombed--don't like her Twitter, don't like her skating, hate her choice in music, so I'm fine with this.

[quote]Will any figure skaters come out in 2018?

It's surprising that in a sport like figure skating there are still hardly any top 10 openly gay skaters.

I think Adam Rippon and Eric Radford are the only ones.

R60 at the Olympics there will be like 2-3 openly gay skaters. Redford will get one of the Canadian pair spots regardless of the results at Nationals. Rippon if he qualifies this week. And the German ice dancer (who struggle to make the FD). And that's it. A couple of others (Cizeron) are assumed even by the most ardent fraus and fangirls but they have never explicitely indicated so.

What's holding Cizeron back from doing so?

Fear that a judge may unconsciously gave him 9.5 instead of 9.75?

But again I guess the judges already assumed his gayness someway. If they want to keep them down because of this, they will do regardless

We have already heard the "Papadakis and Cizeron don't dance like a true man and woman" lines by Canadians and Russians.

I didn't realize the Canadians and Russians have said that.

When did that happen?

R64 they have been some subtle suggestions throw in and there in some cases masked as technical aspects. In Russian case, it may be due translations as they come from interviews done in Russian.

Zhulin: "Papadakis and Cizeron skate, I’d say, in unisex style, where it’s not clear who is a man, and who is a women – they are so similar in all movements. A kind of ballet “Vision of the Rose”. And Dima – is a “man”. I create programs for him and Katya on the principle of “male / female”. It’s incredibly important for me, because this contrast has not been canceled"

Stepanova said in P/C there is "no love, no so-called "chemistry", there is simply a beautiful skating" (the funny thing is that Stepanova is mainly known as "the blonde girl Bukin drags around on ice")

On the previous skating thread, someone reported that Canadian commentator PJ Kwong said something on the line of men/woman thing. I cut and paste because I never had the energy to listen to her podcasts: "PJ Kwong is an über Canadian frau. She did a video a year or two ago with Kurt Browning where she said that what she doesn't like about the French is that they don't dance and relate to each other like traditional men and women"

US ladies are so fucked. Bradie's jumps are decent but her face is ... unfortunate. She's like the uglier Polina Edmunds (not that Polina is a looker to begin with)

Was Kira Korpi who used to get the beauty bonus in second score?

Bradie is bland and robotic, and I can't stand that saccharin Cinderella program. She's like a composite of everything I dislike about US skating, but at least she is consistent. And I'll take anyone as a winner who isn't "Diva" Wagner at this point.

Reading GS now and LOL at all the people whining about Ashley's scores. What did she do this season to deserve being propped up? She eked out a bronze at Skate Canada which was a terribly skated event, with a score of 183.94. Withdrew from Skate America in the middle of her program and said it wasn't an important competition for her. Never goes to senior Bs...I guess she's too good for that. She puts far more effort into planning her costumes than she does into choreography or actually improving any aspects of her skating. Good grief, the fans of US ladies are delusional.

Agreed, R69. I really hope they don’t send her to the Olympics again based on her “body of work.” But I’m sure they will.

They should follow the route of Germany, Italy, Spain and South Korea with the internal ranking selections...and everybody sitting in K&C with a calculator...."you need to score 194 and beat the other bitch by 4 points"....

[quote] I really hope they don’t send her to the Olympics again based on her “body of work.” But I’m sure they will.

Her body of work this season shouldn't earn her anything. I'm not a big fan of Mirai, but at least you know she works hard. Ashley just wants to show up to the big events and coast on her reputation. What exactly is the reason why that bitch never goes to any senior B or even summer competitions in the US? Not enough cameras around?

PCS yesterday

Bradie 32.91

Mirai 31.19

Karen 33.80

Angela 30.09

Ashley 32.94

Mariah 30.43

Skate Canada SP: Ashley 33.47 Karen 30.43

Skate America SP: Ashley 33.68 Karen 30.93 Bradie 29.38

Rostelecom: Nagasu 30.24 Bell 29.8

NHK: Nagasu 30.72 Bell 30.31

Ashley got less PCS from a Nationals panel than at GPs. It doesn't look as they want to prop her up regardless.

What's kind of cool about attending these skating events is that the skaters are walking around in the public areas of the stadium before and after their programs.

There was one guy who had an incredible butt. Everyone noticed it when he was on the ice (he was way down in the rankings--no idea what his name was). Hilarious to see straight women and gay men sit up when he did his routine. I saw him walking around afterwards and said hi. He's a gay as a jaybird. With that ass, I'm sure he gets lots of action

Little robots with no sense of the music sliding about on ice.

when and how the USA Olympic team is announced?

is it a press release? Or a live presentation like the one they did in Japan with skaters being called on the ice?

[quote]And Ashley's down in fifth after the SP--yes, the judges are over yet another round of "Hip, hip, chin, chin."

I think [italic]ASHLEY[/italic] is over "Hip, hip, chin, chin". She looked so bored and just going through the motions in last night's performance, which had not even 1/10 the energy she gave at 2016 Worlds doing the same program.

Honestly, I don't know why she stuck around this year. She seems so over skating and done. Phoning in old programs you've been doing for 3 seasons, and then performing them so boringly--why stick around? Maybe she thought making the Olympic team would be a cake walk given the current field. We'll see what happens in the FP.

[quote]We have already heard the "Papadakis and Cizeron don't dance like a true man and woman" lines by Canadians and Russians.

I find this so hilarious, because P/C have so much natural chemistry and ooze sex appeal and intimacy on the ice, way more than V/M, D/W, and all the Russians ever did. I remember seeing their Mozart program for the first time, not knowing anything about them, and was blown away how engrossed I was in the love story they were projecting.

I refuse to watch any NBC coverage of Figure Skating because I don't think Johnny Weir (who commentator) earned the right to be in the booth because his record on the international scene was LOUSY

I didn't realize that the U.S. Nationals were this week!

Jun Hwan Cha, the young Korean skater trained by Osner, showed up at practices at South Korean Nationals today with this haircut.

I guess next year when he will directly transition into Senior Ladies.

Osner is with him in Korea. He needs to overcome a 27.5 points gap compared to June Hyoung Lee based on the results of first two internal competitions. He has been semi-injured all season, his quads were more miss than hit in the few events he attended. He's apparently pain free now. Lee can't do any quad.

Yawn.

R79 hit the nail on the head. USFSA doesn't seem to be getting the word out. The arena is 55+ and whoever they managed to drag along.

R78 I watch NBC's coverage of figure skating (including last night at NBCsn) precisely due to Johnny Weir.

He is bitchy and his one-liners are fabulous - makes watching the event more bearable. I think he and Tara are helping reach a younger audience for the sport.

Canadian Nationals website:

Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre |

Vancouver, BC

January 8-14, 2018

Bradie skates junior-ish. No musical expression at all. And I think she looks like a horse.

Skating to the music of a beloved Korean Soap Opera. She's a shoe in!

Oh, I forgot Danny O'Shea's big smile. Almost as irritating as Jason Brown's.

Anyway so far in Pairs 1) Knierims 71.3 2) Kayne/O'Shea 68.98 3)Liu/Johnson 62.35

2 groups still to stake including Stellato/Bartholomay, Cain/LeDuc, Castelli/Tran, Denney/Frazier

Watching live on NBCSN Pairs Short now, Men's Short later tonight live.

So good to hear the team of Terry, Tara and Johnny back together calling live skating. I am looking forward to the Olympics and hope all the calls and commentary from the booth are live.

67.84 for Stellato/Bartholomay

The Olympic spot for USA Pairs is only 1.

2 for Worlds

I follow skating fairly irregularly.

How many seasons has Wagner used this program?

And does she get extra points for eye fucking?

Does Johnny comment also Ice Dance on NBC?

R91 2 seasons: 2015/16 and 2017/18

This season she tried to use the FS for the third season but she has changed to something new that we haven't seen yet but we will see tomorrow

[quote]but she has changed to something new that we haven't seen yet but we will see tomorrow

I guess here it is, or at least an advanced look:

Thanks for posting that, r88. I was rather hesitant to watch it but was so pleasantly surprised to see her skating so confidently. Plus, I love how she's upped the technical content of her short program.

You're welcome, R95.

I know a lot of people hate her. I don't mind her. I like her better than any of the others, actually.

I just don't understand how she ever lands that triple axel. The way she slows down before entry and that huge leaning in to it. But good for her.

Ashley will be skating to "La La Land!"

I know, r97! Mirai's technique on that 3A looks scary, but the 3F+3T combination looks so secure.

Ashley isn't making the Olympic team if she can't even nail the first three jump passes in her long in practice before the event.

But her body of work, R100... that'll do it for her!!! She deserves it!!!! She couldn't land anything in 2014 and made the team!!!

Free Skating programs

Tennell: Cinderella (choreo by Benoit Richaud)

Nagasu: Miss Saigon (choreo by Jeffrey Buttle)

Chen: Jalousie 'Tango Tzigane' (choreo by Karen Chen)** same FS as last season. She has changed FS 3 times this season

Wagner: La La Land (choreo by Shae-Lynn Bourne)

Wang: Circles by Greta Svabo Bech (choreo by Charlie White and Tanith Belbin)

Bell: West Side Story (choreo by Cindy Stuart)

I don't really like Mirai's Freeksate program and I hate both of her costumes.

Pairs SP - Final standing

1) Knierim/Knierim 71.10

2) Kayne/O'Shea 68.93

3) Stellato/Bartholomay 67.84 t 4) Denney/Frazier 63.63t

5) Liu/Johnson 62.35

6) Castelli/Tran 60.75

7) Pfund/Santillan 60.52

8) Cain/LeDuc 60.03

etc

I don't understand why Castelli/Tran are still together. Cut your losses and move on.

How many countries have Tran skated for?

Canada...Japan...USA...only these 3?

Yeah, Tran is being kind of opportunistic in moving from country to country.

It's hard to believe an athlete feels passionately about representing a country when he keeps changing his affiliation every year.

Jordan Moeller is proof that Kori Ade is really a one-hit wonder coach.

Here is the live stream from the Japanese live feed of US Nats

My friend wants to me to say he has proudly sucked half of the men's field. I know, I'm not proud of him either...

Do you believe him, R110?

Sadly I witnessed two of those, I would say yes.

So appropriate to have "Puffs" behind those boys.

Which half, R110? You can't just post something like that and not give us more details.

Max Aaron must have bombed if these queens are beating him without quads or even 3A in combo

Max Aaron used to date Gracie Gold - does he also have serious problems keeping it togther? What is it, too much stress? I remember when his coaching team had him doing reddit AMAs and media events before SOCHI and he didn't make that and honestly, and now he's behind... Alexander Johnson?!?!

Our little closet case Grant just threw down.

Kori Ade has become the coach for wayward gay boys who can't jump.

The streaming of the US men is fucking HORRIFYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE US SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kori's 2 guys are both in the 50s at the bottom of the standings (only Kevin Shum is lower). That's pathetic.

I know Kevin. He's a sweetheart and is brilliant. He was never in it to win it.

Also youtube just ended the japan stream :(

Kevin was terrible!

He's an MIT computer scientist. He doesn't need to be good at skating.

Kevin looks like a good bottom.

Given that most people had written him off two years ago, it would be amazing if Adam could hold on to the second spot for the olympic team this year. I wish Jason had shown some level of growth in the intervening 4 years, but he just doesn't have the jumps even on a good day. It would be foolish to send him.

Max Aaron - YIKES!

NOOOOOOOOOOO ADAM!!!!!!

Men SP

1tNathan Chen, t104.45t

2tAdam Rippont96.52t

3tJason Brownt93.23t

4tGrant Hochsteint92.18t

5tVincent Zhou,t89.02t

6tRoss Miner t88.91t

7tTimothy Dolensky, t85.06t

8tAleksei Krasnozhon, t82.58t

9tAndrew Torgashev, 81.32t

10tAlexander Johnsont79.60t

12tMax Aaron 74.95t

What a crazy sport. Max Aaron has been hyping himself as America's next great Olympian for nearly 8 years now and will never go to the olympics. Alexander Johnson has had at least 3 probably 4 major surgeries, including sustaining permanent nerve damage and he'll likely retire having never finished above 7th at Nationals. Jason Brown will have peaked professionally with a mediocre step sequence set to Riverdance when he was 17, and Grant Hochstein is planning on marrying a woman.

And Adam Rippon might actually pull off a decent year of skating.

What a world.

I'm a Jason fan, but I agree, he has stagnated, not only technically (which we all expected), but artistically too.

I can't stand his Hamilton SP. It's so corny and hammy and...juvenile. Such a waste for a skater of Jason's talents. He and Rohene should've parted long ago, but Jason to his fault is a loyalist who will stick with what he's familiar with rather than branch out. Even if he's reached a ceiling technically, he could've pushed his artistry by seeking out other choreographers.

He was totally gifted today. His 3 axel should've been called under-rotated.

THANK GOD Jeremy Abbott is no longer around. He was one of the worst ever.

[quote]...and Grant Hochstein is planning on marrying a woman.

I know. Will wonders never cease.

I felt bad for Max. You can tell he was just sticking around to make the Olympic team. I think he cared only about being an Olympian. Skating was just his vehicle to plausibly achieve that dream. I don't think he ever really cared that much about the sport itself. I imagine he'll retire pretty quickly after this season.

I can't stand Jeremy Abbot. Couldn't understand his off the rack Banana Republic costumes, couldn't stand his masc-adjacent music choices (a beatles medley? I'd rather hear Firebird again and I never want to hear Firebird again), couldn't understand his smug face, and definitely couldn't stand that like Todd Eldridge, he could never and would never pull it together for important international competitions, and yet because he could skate safely and make it through nationals we were forced to send him to the Olympics.

He's also a coward and ugly.

We'd have been just as well off sending DL's new favorite bottom placed bottom Kevin to the Olympics.

Nathan Chen

Gay AF Adam Rippon with his Brian Botano Ass.

Thankfully Chen cut his hair! He looks handsome.

Max Aaron: Dress like you have artistry when you have none.

Zhou should be 3rd with those sick quads; Brown should be 6th with that cheated, two-footed 3A and the sassy girl choreography.

Ok, Chen's new costume is crap but at least he is not showing the sweating armpit anymore

Can't see why Chen's costume took so long--it's pretty much duct tape on a black jumpsuit. Except for the sweat showing, I actually preferred his earlier non-costume costume.

Adam Rippon looks like he's having the time of his life--disco on ice.

Jason Brown needs to retire--he's coasting on Riverdance fumes.

Gracie Gold@GraceEGold I wish I was a gay man so I could love Adam more than I already do

Gracie Gold@GraceEGold The gloves provide an Eastern European look-just in case the name Torgashev didn't give us a clue

Gracie Gold@GraceEGold I guess Frank retired his fedora when he retired me

I haven't followed this sport in years:

[quote]Gracie Gold@GraceEGold I guess Frank retired his fedora when he retired me

What's the story?

I miss that one male skater from a few years back... what was his name? From the US... played the guitar in some fluff piece at Nationals and quit after he sustained a concussion and had memory problems because of it?

R142 Joshua Farris? He announced comeback this summer but he never showed up. We didn't hear anything from you since then.

R141 Frank Carroll dumped Gracie Gold just after Nationals 2017 where she finished only 6th. Gold said he didn't even tell her before announcing to the media. Gold did some shows this summer but she was in awful conditions, barely rotating doubles. She withdrew from every event this season before announcing she's under treatment for anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

[quote] Frank Carroll dumped Gracie Gold just after Nationals 2017 where she finished only 6th. Gold said he didn't even tell her before announcing to the media.

Wow, I've always thought he was an asshole.

It’s too bad Gracie never showed the personality in her skating that she does on Twitter. She seems a lot more likeable now, but maybe part of it is not having the pressure to be the perfect ice princess any more.

Kazakhstan official selection for the Olympics

Men: Denis Ten

Ladies: Elizabeth Tursynbaeva, Aiza Mambekova

Manbekova has an ISU PB of 124.15 and 132.6 as best score in International competitions. She has been out all season so far because of an injury and came back last week for Kazakh National Championships.

I guess we have a good contender for last place

I just watched the men's short program for the U.S. Nationals. Nathan Chen's body looks like it is maturing and filling out. He looks like he's transitioning from twink to "twunk," whereas Yuzuru Hanyu is five years older but still looks like a twink. Even with Chen's change in body, it's great that he can still land the quads. On a side note, I loved seeing Dick Buttons and Peggy Fleming again!

Goddammit, I MISSED Dick Button and Peggy Fleming's appearance because like an idiot I switched over to MSNBC and got distracted. I did see that shot of Dick Button trying to get up out of his chair to greet Nathan Chen.

Any chance anyone can post a shot of them or hopefully any video? TIA.

And btw, I hope Ashley Wagner falls right on her LA LA ASS tonight!

When he's "on"no one beats Denis Ten's jumps. When he's "off" no one beats his entry into a jump. It's spectacular.

R149 Lately, no-one beats his entry into a splat

Denis hasn’t been on for a very long time. He is pretty much always fighting some injury.

I suppose Denis will retire after the Olympics. He is not that old (class of 1993) but as R151 said he's always injured nowadays. He can skate as long as he wishes given the lack of competition in Kazakhstan but I don't think sticking around for a 15th finish at Worlds is so exciting for an Olympic/World medalist.

Short Dance has started.

McNamara/Carpenter (who are aiming at 5th place and a spot at 4 Continents) scored well. 69.16

Now group 2 warm up: Hawayek/Baker, Chock/Bates, Hubbell/Donohue

Of the men's short programs, the skater who held my interest the most from start to finish was Sean Rabbitt. He had a clean program (albeit without any quad jumps) that reminded me of what skating used to be like before the new scoring system, which has made the sport such a points race. I also really liked Rabbitt's music (from the movie "Somewhere in Time"), so that might have been a huge factor for me. I'm looking forward to seeing his long program on Saturday night.

Hawayek/Baker 73.18 (look satisfied in K&C)

Chock/Bates 77.61 (don't look too happy. Worse score than last year)

Hubbell/Donohue (small problems on the twizzles...but it's Nationals panel and so they get level 4 and positive GOE anyway) 79.10 (look relaxed in K&C)

Our favorite siblings are in the next and final group

Is there a live stream for the FD?

twizzle for H/D down to level 3 after review. Makes sense

PCS H/D 38.14 C/B 37.66

the usual Chinese guy is streaming the SD. It didn't work very well earlier for me. Images were not so fluid. Now it's better

Oh, the Parsons did well. They had a promising start at Nepela but then it went downhill with the male Parsons having troubles to handle the female Parsons.

72.69.

Better than McNamara/Carpenter and close to H/B

The Parsons girl grew a bit too big for the Parsons boy. He's practically lifting a truckdriver.

Alex's fake expressions at the beginning are over-done

TES is high. All levels 4 Missed one key point

Massimo is still hot

82.33. First place

Actually they are appropriate for the dance. My uncle tito used to dance like that bitch.

[quote] The Parsons girl grew a bit too big for the Parsons boy. He's practically lifting a truckdriver.

In one of the practice sessions at Skate America, he basically dropped her during a lift and she went down hitting the ice with the head. She stood up and adjusted her ponytail...

The parsons girl should be the one lifting her brother.

Pogrebinsky / Benoit 66.something. 7th place, behind McNamara/Carpenter who hold the 6th place.

PCS

S/S 38.69

H/D 38.14

C/B 37.66

Polina Edmund withdraws from FS

Flu?

Karen Chen was also sick yesterday

Adam Rippon keeps getting more and more attractive and more comfortable combining power and femininity as a male skater. He's like the opposite of Brian Joubert in every way.

I agree, R166. It's like Rippon is finally becoming comfortable in his own skin, and now he's really hitting his stride. So nice to see him tapping into his full potential. Can't wait to see his long program!

Brian Joubert had an amazing ass:

Which peaked probably 2 hours to 4 weeks after that picture was taken and it was a sad fast downhill slide from there r168.

I miss Stephane Lambiel, butterfly on ice

[Quote] Lately, no-one beats his entry into a splat

I never said anything about his landings but you knew that. hon.

Here's a link to the video of the Dick/Peggy reunion. Dick Button first appears around the 8:00 minute mark.

Do they talk about the long walks he would take through the Bramble? You know, just to clear his mind?

It was nice to see Dick Button take time away from bird watching in Central Park to say a few words from his wheel chair last night.

It's on NBC now

It makes feel nostalgic to see Dick, Peggy, and Terry together again. *cries*

Thanks, r172. I miss that trio, too.

And before Gannon, I remember when Jim McKay would be the third with Button and Fleming, and they'd wear black tie sometimes for the finals (or did I dream that?)

^No, they did. Gannon did it too.

Is it normal for the women to finish first?

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, R172!! Peggy Fleming looks good - hard to believe it was FIFTY YEARS AGO when she won in Grenoble.

They both look pretty good for their ages. They were great commentators as well.

R172 thank you!

I miss them too. Such a huge part of my childhood, watching skating throughout the 90s, and it was always Terry, Dick and Peggy on the TV, sharing in those epic skating moments with you.

Dick still sounds pretty sharp for 88.

And Terry is still hot as fuck.

I can't stand Scott Hamiltons homophobia but I'd rather listen to him than that queen Johnny Weird.

So great to see Rudy Galindo! He created a sensation when he came out as gay. Brave guy.

Button is right; a lot of the "theater" is missing these days. Boitano, Bowman....and remember Surya Bonaly doing those back flips!!

Skating was really thrilling then.

LOL at Courtney Hicks skating to Amazing Grace with all the grace of a truck driver. She flopped...good!

I like Johnny Weir, r182, because he and Tara will call a spade, a spade. For example, during the men's short program, they were very outspoken in saying that Jason Brown had been scored too high. They also talked about how Nathan Chen had changed the entry into his triple Axel, and I thought their description was right on the mark. Scott Hamilton never gave that level of informative, insightful detail.

Is there a live feed for tonight?

R186, see R175

Yeah, R187 that doesn't really answer the question.

I almost didn't recognize Caroline Zhang. And she didn't do her signature move: the oyster spin. I guess that she lost that flexibility as her body matured.

Starr is skating to her own singing?

A Starr (Andrews) is born! And yeah, r190, she was skating to her own recording. She has a good voice.

Starr is going to be a real diva and those hot gay coaches of hers are nice eye candy in the k'n'c.

Scott is starting to really look more and more like the preacher from the Poltergeist.

In the past, r179, the ladies were the last event of the figure skating competition. In fact, I think they even used to be *the* last event of the entire Olympics. Not sure when it was changed so that the men became the last event.

I don't think they were ever the last event of the olympics. The gala has been going on since I can remember, and that's at least a day before closing ceremonies and a day after the women's final. There can't be an entire day without medal events.

R185. I also enjoyed Johnny Weir and Tara, “they call it like they see it”!

My god that 19-year old currently in first place after the short program looks like a fucking 40 year old woman!!!!

Yikes!!

The women's skate was indeed typically the last event of figure skating.

R195, I distinctly remember the Albertville games, when Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold. The last skater that night was Laetitia Hubert, who was so nervous that she was missing even simple elements. It was painful to watch her because it was clear that she -- and everyone else -- just wanted her program to end to conclude the competition. And I specifically remember the TV announcer saying something like, "and here is Laetita Hubert, as she tries to close out these Olympic Games."

He may have said that but it was incorrect r199. The women singles figure skating competed on February 21st, a Friday night. The men's slalom in skiing didn't compete until Saturday the 22nd.

r199 I believe the Swiss skier died the morning after Kristi won gold when he fell into snow grooming equipment during his warm up.

R199 you're taking the commentator literally.

He wasn't saying she was closing out the entire Olympics.

When did ice dancing stop having the 3rd dance (where everyone danced an identical routine)? Was it the same time singles dropped figures or after?

Who choreographed those routines and why did the stop? To make the sport more tv friendly or to try to prevent more judging collusion and fraud? I remember they were mind-numbingly boring and I definitely don't miss them.

I do sometimes think they should have separate competitions for skating skills and for skating performance. Back in the day at junior competitions, they used to have a team event where one skater each would perform a single element. That likely wouldn't have much of a tv following either, but I feel like skating has lot a lot since they've essentially gotten rid of spirals and dramatic ina bauer's and there really isn't much of a bonus for being consistent in jumps as long as you get all the way around.

Oops, sorry about that, r200. Maybe the announcer might have said Hubert was trying to close out the figure skating compeieition at the Olympics and not the Olympics itself. It was such a painful moment that I may have misremembered it, thinking that the entire Olympics competition was waiting for poor Hubert to finally finish her disastrous long program.

I really dislike that they allow lyrics in programs now.

r205 I dislike that men are doing Biellmann spins all over the place now. I'd gladly sit through another Josh Groban monstrosity if it meant that men went back to flying camels and sit spins.

Oof Angela Wang is the first of the ladies to crack under pressure. Maybe Ashley will make an Olympic team on her own merit this time!

I hear you, r206. A few men can do a decent layback spin, but I have never seen a man do an aesthetically pleasing Biellmann.

The only thing I like about Weir is that he constantly keeps mentioning how Ashley was unfairly handed her last Olympics spot. He's a cunt about it and I love it.

MIRAI!

Good for Mirai!

What's with Nagasus coach with the glove, is he a bond villain?

On Chen's triple Lutz combination, she jumps so high it looks like she could get another rotation in.

So is Ashley praying for a Bradie implosion at this point? Is that possible?

I never liked Johnny Weir's personality as a skater (although, I thought his skating itself was decidedly underrated) but I think he is a terrific commentator. He's insightful and candid. He provides color of the color commentary that's actually on point and isn't just about hearing himself speak.

The American ladies are better than I assumed, well 3 of them anyway.

Karen didn't have particularly impressive skates this Nationals, but it makes you wonder whats been in her head all season until now. Inconsistency and flashes of genius are par for the course with Mirai, so no big surprises there.

Do we expect drama after team selection? If you would have told me four years ago that Gracie and Paulina had flamed out hard, that Wagner was still a harbinger of controversy and Mirai Nagasu would be back in contention pre-South Korea, I would have said the only dumber prediction would be that Grant Hochstein would come out as straight.

Who is this Bradie Tennell?! She is solid as a rock.

Yay! Bradie!

They wouldn’t dare send Diva Wagner again....would they??

Bradie Tennell nailed it. She picked a good year to peak.

I always kind of liked Wagner, but it serves her right that that recycled short would be her downfall.

R218, Johnny Weir would have a f*cking cow, LOL!

I hope to god they don't send Ashley. Time for the entitled lazy bitch to pack it in.

I detest this saccharin Cinderella program, but at least she's a good competitor.

Wow, and I thought the U.S. women weren't going to be contending for an Olympic medal this year!

Bradie was boring as fuck.

When do they announce who has been selected? Last time they announced it before the podium, didn't they?

If they did send Wagner, who would they not send? Wagner has a World Bronze, but she hasn't exactly been lighting up the podiums at home or abroad since then. They wouldn't DARE not send Bradie or Mirai at this point, and Karen won Nationals last year so I can't imagine they wouldn't give her the third spot.

R226 it wouldn't shock me if they pulled Nagasu again. They seem to hate her.

R224, I thought Sarah Hughes was boring and she won an Olympic gold. Sometimes technical consistency and proficiency are all it takes.

Nah, they can't be dumb enough not to send Mirai. And Ashley has done nothing this season to warrant any favors.

If they do that, R227, then US women’s figure skating is dead to me!

Yea, R228. I realize that. But she's still boring as AF. And I think her scores were inflated because it's obvious they want her to be on top.

r227 As much as she would make the most sense (well... in the sense that ANYONE would make sense...), COULD YOU IMAGINE IF THEY DID THAT TO THAT WOMAN?!?! It would be the biggest controversy in skating since the pairs toe tapping fiasco lead to double golds.

You THOUGHT Sarah Hughes was boring r224? Do you also merely THINK the world is flat? Sarah Hughes was the personification of taupe. She was the skating equivalent of Family Circus cartoon. She was such a non-entity, sometimes I'm still surprised she really existed.

R232 I know, but I honestly don't think they'd care. They've been such fucks to her over the year and as much as a lot of people hate her, you have GOT to give the girl credit for coming back stronger each time.

Of course they all do well at nationals and then SPLAT at the Olympics, that's usually the case with American skaters as of late. Bradie being automatic probably gives us our best chance at a medal

I have to avoid this thread, some are obviously ahead ...

Don't want to spoil myself.

Don't hold back, r232, tell me how you really feel about Sarah Hughes. LOL!

Remember when Sarah Hughes under rotated every jump at the Olympics and won a gold medal.

Aren't figure skaters supposed to have white teeth?

Why Christine Brennan such a big Ashley fan?

So when are they expected to announce the team?

Ashley can't control her bitchface during the medal ceremony, lol. Shades of Nancy Kerrigan.

r237 the ONLY thing I like about the new scoring system is that it calls out under-rotations, which used to drive me insane from certain skaters. People always gave Michelle Kwan shit in her later years for switching to simpler and simpler combinations, but I'd rather see a clean and properly landed simple combo than an underrotated combo. I wish they punished falling more in the new system and somehow managed to give more points to creativity (bring back half-wallies in combination, throw in a fast and exciting but not particularly intricate foot combination instead of the dreadfully boring cross ice multi edge monstrosities we see now. ADD A STUNNING SPIRAL SEQUENCE OR A FLYING STAG INTO JUMP COMBINATION)

It's mystifying that they have somehow changed the rules to make ice dancing 40x more exciting but make the main events duller and duller.

I agree, r242. By the way, does anyone know how many points would be awarded to a spectacular spiral sequence (like Nicole Bobek quality in her prime)? Would the points be equivalent to that of a triple jump, or much less?

I'm pretty sure nothing, R243. That's why nobody bothers with them.

R244, I remember when a spiral sequence used to be a required element in the ladies short program, sigh.

And Ashley is already going off on the unfairness of the scoring (this from the woman who got a free pass to the 2014 Olympics).

At the very least they could make it like the short in ice dancing and change up the required elements each year. That way you would also need to keep all of your skills balanced in case the next year the jump sequence required the second element to be a loop or the program to have a spread eagle into an axel or spirals.

Sorry, I love it.

[quote]And Ashley is already going off on the unfairness of the scoring (this from the woman who got a free pass to the 2014 Olympics).

But it is unfair... she earned those berths... with her lips and her knees!

I didn't realize that she's 19. Jesus.

Hers is the only spot I could see them being able to take without causing a full uproar however...

How would it look to take away yet another Asian skater's spot to give it to the white girl who finished fourth?

I do think Mirai has always lacked an element of transitional artistry. Look at how her hands just sort of dangle by her sides as she works up speed. It sometimes gives her the appearance of going slowly, not caring, being sloppy, or being out of shape. And I think its absolutely fair to criticize that she isn't marked down for that.

THAT BEING SAID - Ashley has no leg to stand on in complaining. She may be a performer, but she was flat and lifeless in the short. She deserved the low marks she got there.

R246, I wonder if Mirai saw that tweet. LOL!

The Diva is furious, “and deservedly so” (at least according to her).

Oh, the irony....

Ashley skates like a whore on ice.

[quote]Ashley Wagner also was 4th at 2014 nationals but selection committee picked her over Mirai Nagasu for Oly team based on criteria in place. “I am really mad that I am in this position again,” Wagner said.

You're in this position again because you suck.

Now that Bradie is America's best hope for a medal, will USFSA pay her to work with an artistry coach? Her program might be dull, but it's salvageable. She just needs more length and levels in her movement and some better transitions. Her step sequence is blah, but I'd say leave it so as not to mess up to much and just work on performance.

r256 No need to be cruel. She's had a bad week and its likely lead to the end of a dream for her. She might deserve to be there, but there's no reason to say nasty things about her. She's still a person. And yes, it's immature of her to lash out and she should be rightly chastised for doing so, but no need to resort to mudslinging.

That shitty LA LA LAND music put her in that position!

R253, considering how gracious Mirai was after being screwed out of her place on the 2014 team by the Diva’s “body of work,” Ashely should probably STFU (for once).

Seriously, she’s not even an entertaining drama queen a la Katarina Witt. She’s just grating.

[quote][R256] No need to be cruel. She's had a bad week and its likely lead to the end of a dream for her. She might deserve to be there, but there's no reason to say nasty things about her. She's still a person. And yes, it's immature of her to lash out and she should be rightly chastised for doing so, but no need to resort to mudslinging.

I'm not being cruel. It's honest. She sounds like Tonya Harding. Bitching and complaining that she wasn't given the scores, it's unfair, and she shouldn't have to be in this position again.

Well, she wouldn't be if she worked harder and didn't spend more time on her costumes than she does on the ice.

"How great is it for America to have a National Champion like Bradie Tennell" Johnny Weir shading basically every other skater in the country with one compliment. I love it.

Katarina Witt was entertaining if you were really into lip stick lesbians who spent a lot of time trying to convince you they weren't Nazi sympathizers. It's a niches fetish, but you are right that she served it well.

[quote]She's had a bad week and its likely lead to the end of a dream for her.

Yeah, like when she ended someone else's dream by being unfairly given a spot she didn't earn? And now thinks she deserves to do it again?

I am watching my DVR recording of the NBC cable channel's airing of the women's short program from Weds night For whatever reason I suddenly started focusing on the audience on the background and don't seem to see anyone under 50. Not joking. Look at the people in the seats and it's a sea of grey hair. I literally only counted 3 people who appeared to be under 30 in the Weds night crowd. Obviously there are more there but take a look at the people in the seats that are shown. Most appear to be AARP members. I think the scoring system being used now has decimated the sport. It's not thrilling to watch anymore and not resonating with the younger crowd.

Ashley should have seen the writing on the wall with the marks in the SP (both for her and for Chen, who was just as shaky).

r263 I went to World's in Boston a few years ago and it was 1. a handful of 6-7 year old girls who would likely give up caring about skating 3 months later, 2. a small smattering of well-dressed 16-24 yr old gay couples on okcupid dates (and weirdly mostly white/asian interracial couples), a small handful of Japanese and Korean tourists, and then a swirling mass of the elderly, infirm, and notably aged.

R259, one can only wonder what Ashley's reaction would have been if the situation were reversed and she had come in 3rd and Mirai had been 4th, but then she was bumped off the team for Mirai. I'm sure Ashley would have been very gracious about it... NOT! LMFAO!

Sorry, R257. Ashley is an attention whore who doesn’t know when to shut up. She had her chance to live out her “dream” in 2014 (even though she was given that chance at someone else’s expense).

In 2014, Mirai showed class by publicly supporting Ashley’s selection to the team. The Diva should have had enough class to congratulate those who outskater her this week. This chick can’t retire soon enough.

^^outskated^^^

r267 All fair points of which I mostly agree. But I don't think it helps anything by saying "she sucks". She's wildly inconsistent, didn't put in the Senior appearances, and didn't skate well enough to make the team.

American's have what 3 women, 2 ice dancing, 2 mens, and 1 pairs spots?

Does that mean that no matter what the national champion in pairs gets to go to the Olympics - no deliberation?

I do not mean this to be... mean. But if Jason Brown tomorrow said that he had decided to live openly as a woman, could the US nominate him to replace Mirai? It's not like it's all that inconceivable, and he doesn't really have that great of a technical advantage over the other women.

What are we trying to help by NOT saying she sucks? Her ego?

r271 I don't know. She's still a person. And specifically a person who has never really... done anything to harm anyone. Yes - the Olympic thing happened and she of all people should be more graceful in this situation, and... yeah she's a pain. But... there's a difference between making fun of someone on the internet because you prefer somebody else in their profession and with... I don't know, trying to stoke animosity.

I just think we'd all be better off as a society of we... I don't know. I'm fine with schandefreude, I just think we should remember these are all real people who... don't do anything to deserve hatred. They aren't destroying the country, they aren't colluding with foreign governments. There's a difference between jokingly saying you can't stand someone and saying that someone is an actual terrible person. There's a difference between saying Bradie's skating is dull as dishwater and that Bradie sucks as a human and deserves to fail.

Poor Bradie, at least she can skate really well.

She looks anorexic.

R269, doesn't the U.S. have three men's spots?

So Bradie got 219, how does that fair against international competition? Yes you should factor in the usual nationals bump in scoring

Yeah, no, sorry. I don't agree. Ashley has always been full of excuses and is currently shitting on everyone else that did better than she did by claiming she was treated unfairly. Nope. I don't think she gets a pass.

Anyone with eyeballs can see the result was fair, Ashley skated well but was definitely in 4th place

R275, a score of 219 would have won Bradie a silver medal at least year's world championships but, like you said, the 219 includes some inflation.

Didn't Chen put her hand down on the ice?

Ashley didn't have any falls or hands down. She did miss some jumps though.

I agree, r277. I definitely would have had Ashley no higher than 4th.

[quote]Well, she wouldn't be if she worked harder and didn't spend more time on her costumes than she does on the ice.

Bingo.

I like Ashley as a person, but I'm so over her skating. If there ever was a skater coasting on fumes at this point, it's her--well, except maybe Fumie Suguri.

I actually think she deserved the Olympic spot over Mirai in 2014. I think there was a legit argument to be made for that. But this year? Please. She has no leg to stand on. Time to retire.

Ashleys problem is she comes across as a very safe skater and I think historically judges don't reward that. The 1994 Kerrigan/Baiul is an example of judges siding with the more free flowing skater but probably also some cold war bullshit too

R272, as long ad Ashley, Bradie, etc. have chosen to compete in a high profile, nationally televised sport that is JUDGED, their skating will be subject to criticism.

Having followed figure skating for many years, I’ve read and watched enough interviews with Diva Wagner to know that she’s very full of herself. In one interview, she downplayed criticism of her selection to the 2014 Olympic team after her disastrous showing at that year's Nationals. She said the uproar was driven by people who only watch in Olympic years and are really “ignorant” about the sport of figure skating. Uhh...maybe, but most of those “ignorant” TV viewers are smart enough to know you’re not supposed to keep falling on your ass during your National championship free skate.

R282, and perhaps more to your point: Nagano Olympics Lipinski/Kwan.

Someone who follows the sport more closely can perhaps answer this:

In the years since the last Olympics what has Wagner done to innovate or challenge her skating? All the commentators seem to acknowledge that Mirai has pushed herself to upgrade her technical scores (and learning the triple axel is surely proof of that). What about Wagner? What has she done to push herself?

r283 I'm fine with anyone judging someone's skating. I also DON'T THINK ASHLEY DESERVES TO TO GO TO THE OLYMPICS. I just don't think we need to be ANGRY at anyone! I find it more understandable to be mad about the commentators (who I happen to love, but I realize there are people who do not) than it is to be angry about a specific skater.

However, I, for one, would be very very happy if the committee picked Vincent Zhou to go to the Olympics over Jason Brown/Grant Hochstein/Ross Miner regardless of how anyone does tomorrow. I'd rather have a 15% chance medal 85% chance splatfest over a guaranteed 9th place finish.

So unimpressive tonight.

R286, there can be lots of value in a skater who can guarantee you a 6th, 7th, or even 9th place because that can help your country secure an additional spot in the next year's worlds or Olympics.

[quote]—Did anybody skate a program without a glaring mistake?

Just me! I was perfection!

r286. If it were a world's year I'd agree with you, but in an olympic year you should go for broke. You have 3 more years to try to get your spots back up.

You weren’t perfect Ashley...honestly!

Maybe Gracie, Paulina, and Ashley can host a podcast about the Olympics together this year.

Tennell is good - clean, crisp, light jumps; very nice spins. But, somethings missing- mainly everything between the jumps and the spins, where she doesn't really extend or even glide far. Everything looks cut short, like she's rushing to the next big move. Not great artistry. Then again, in this era of add-up-the-elements scoring, skaters are probably robotically ticking off boxes as they skate.

Good point, r290

r293 I asked earlier if it was possible that USFSA would pitch in for an artistry coach. It can't be that hard to learn to fully extend your movements and to reach different levels in both space and speed. You wouldn't even need to rework the structure of the Cinderella program, just... get somebody who can point out her deficiencies and who can give her some better transitions.

Ashley Wagner is the James Franco of Figure Skating. She's got an undeniable level of talent and drive that got her to where she is, but she has no personal editor. She doesn't know when to shut up, and she doesn't really understand the limits of her own skills. As such, she's become a lazy provocateur. She shows occasional flashes of genius and she knows the right people, and she thinks that should just carry her along for an infinite number of chances.

I think I would have liked it had she strung together 2 decent programs and come back for one final triumphant nationals before clomping off into the sunset. Maybe with Mirai 2nd and Bradie or Karen 3rd. But she didn't. And now its time for her to reap what she has sown and learn how to face disappointment.

If only we could find a way to humble James Franco the same way.

Does MIrai actually mouth "F U" at the 37 second mark?

[quote]Ashley Wagner is the James Franco of Figure Skating.

And this is why I love DL.

ive never seen Mirai this skinny . When gracie was commenting about her weight, media and sjws were all, oh its not your weight honey! But you need to have very little hips and body fat in this sport. Polina and gracie got chunky.nkaren chen is chunking up too.

Mirai probably had to lose some weight in order to fully get rotated on all her jumps. Notice there's been an improvement.

[quote] When did ice dancing stop having the 3rd dance (where everyone danced an identical routine)? Was it the same time singles dropped figures or after? Who choreographed those routines and why did the stop? To make the sport more tv friendly or to try to prevent more judging collusion and fraud? I remember they were mind-numbingly boring and I definitely don't miss them.

2009-10 was the last season with Compulsary Dance and Original Dance. They were merged into the Short Dance. yes, they essentially got rid of compulsary dance because it wasn't tv friendly

R239- Brennan seems to think that Wagner deserved higher marks because she's been the face of marketing for US Figure skating. Uh no. That's not how it works.

Bradie might be as dull as a bowl of cottage cheese, but she skates clean programs. It sounds like she's yet to make a mistake in competition [so far]. Wagner screwed up a combo and two-footed another jump so she's got a lot of gall to complain about her marks.

I think the US got tired of watching Gracie Gold crash and burn when under pressure, so they want someone who can land jumps with nerves of steel and that looks like Bradie. They're probably hoping that her solid techniques will balance out her lack of any artistry.

Wagner sounds like a sore loser. Instead of bitching about her marks, accept it - since it's not going to change anything for her- and congratulate the winners and wish the team good luck.

They also should have gotten rid of compulsory figures for men's and ladies before they started showing competitions on TV. Of course, that would have changed a lot of results - ie, Brian Orser would have been Olympic champion instead of Scott Hamilton.

What's with the fedora?

R297, I don't know if Mirai mouths an "F U" at the beginning of her program, but I think she may have thought it after landing that final triple loop. And she probably directed it toward everyone who made the decision to bump her in 2014.

I was there up by the rafters tonight.

Yes, the audience does skew older than your usual sporting event, but not where I was sitting--I saw lots of young girls with their parents and lots of Asians of all ages--but that's not strange in San Jose.

The audience was knowledgeable and very engaged--they caught and responded to everything.

Mirai Nagasu had the biggest fan club. Made me feel a bit bad for Bradie because Mirai got more applause than she did.

Starr Andrews has star quality--got a standing ovation. So did Mirai and Bradie.

Karen Chen had her jumps, but it looked like she was conserving her energy in-between. She's musical though.

Mirai Nagasu has terrific height and her red skirt made a great twirl when she jumped, but she has zero connection to the music and pretty much just skated from jump to jump. Her comeback story is great, but I'm never going to love her as a skater.

Amber Glenn has beautiful skating skills and jumps, but she can't seem to keep it together.

Caroline Zhang had a lot of fans, but she's slowwww

Ashley's La-La Land was lovely and except for a pop, she skated it well--but she peaked in 2016. Mirai Nagasu showed she wanted the Olympic spot by working her ass off on that triple axel; Ashley has backslid as a technician.

Bradie doesn't connect with the audience quite yet, but I liked her skate--when that girl jumps, you don't doubt for a minute that she's going to make the rotations. I loathe Disney tunes, but the choreography is quite good and she's musical--she lands that last combination right on the cascade of chords.

People are forgetting that while Mirai was bumped it was (1) entirely within the rules and expectations and (2) it wasn't like she skated particularly well in that 3rd place performance. Her breathing was so labored she could barely finish the free skate and her choreography had her coming to a complete stop at least 3 times on the ice. It was controversial but it wasn't a travesty.

She does look thinner, now. And healthier. And more athletic. She still doesn't seem to care about even pretending that there's a performance going on, but she skated well enough to get one more Olympics and she deserves it.

R308, I agree with what you wrote, but what made the decision extremely controversial to me was that a U.S. skater had never been bumped before by someone who had competed at nationals. That is, other skaters had been bumped by someone who was injured and couldn't compete at nationals, but never by someone they had just beaten.

SP finished in South Korea

Men: Cha wins by 8 points over June but still 20 points behind

Ladies: An imploded and is out. Kim keeps her lead over Park

Situation before final FS

Ladies (2 Olympic spots)

1 Dabin Choi 414.27 2 Hanul Kim 395.53 3 Soyoun Park 374.47 4 Yujin CHOI 369.68 5 Soyhun An 366.7

Men (1 Olympic spot)

1 June Hyoung Lee 535.92 2 Jun Hwan Cha 515.58

People who unfairly get placed on Olympic Teams suck!

Yeah, what R309 said. In all other instances it was an issue of an injured skater being placed onto the team when they would have presumably placed into a spot had they been healthy enough to compete.

r311 Kim Zmeskal still lists her own weight on her wikipedia page.

And you know its Kim doing it herself because Shannon Miller's and Dominque Dawes's weights are no in their wikipedia summaries.

Is Bradie trans?

Shannon at R313 what does that have to do with you cheating your way to every Olympics?

I can't hear you over the thuds of your missed vaults costing you AA medals, Dominique

What happens when Shannon actually has to try to earn her spot on the Olympics?

Girls Girls Girls. Please. Let's all come together for the sake of America. As someone who is an expert in conflict (might I remind you that I successfully divorced myself from my parents), I feel I could mediate this so that we can all come together. Perhaps we the Magnificent 7 can teach Gracie, Ashley, and Paulina to be the Thrilling Three and they can cover the Olympics as Bradie's hometown cheer squad.

Moceanu will you also teach us to pop our cherries with married dick in Aruba at the tender age of 16?

Ashley was the only one who showed a semblance of artistry and charisma. The rest are so boring. And Mirai has terrible shoulders. And Karen should leave the choreo to the pros. At least Bradie can land jumps.

Sh! How unlady-like. I say find yourself a homely orthopedic surgeon and move on with your lives. Certainly at least one of those Asian boys skating in the men's must be straight and a good student? Not that Shibutani boy, he might have already have a figure skating lady inappropriately in his life... but one of the others? What about Jimmy Ma? Too butch? Kevin the bottom may not be sexually fulfilling, but a 4 bedroom house on a cul-de-sac is just as good.

This reminds me of those classic DL gymnastics threads from a few years ago.

Wagner is no Diva. To be Diva one must be a force of nature, one must command attention, one must have longevity. I laugh at her puny Diva antics.

Will Ashley beneath herself to go to 4 Continents now?

Tanith Belbin is so beautiful... don't know what she sees in Charlie White.

@USFigureSkating Set those alarms. ⏰ We're announcing our nominees to the U.S. #WinterOlympics Ladies Figure Skating Team on the @TODAYshow at 8 a.m. ET Saturday.

Ok, so, they are announcing Ladies immediately and are not making a single announcement of the whole team on Sunday

R326- Well, you can bet that they want to do it on Saturday so that they don't keep Ashley in suspense.

It ain't Ashley--the federation got fed up. Ashley needed to show that she really wanted it and she didn't. She's been kind of phoning it in since she won silver at Worlds.

Bradie, Mirai and Karen should make an entertainingly weird team.

[quote] We'd have been just as well off sending DL's new favorite bottom placed bottom Kevin to the Olympics.

Kevin was already attending gay pride while in elementary school?

I think Ashley's performance skills are highly overrated. She either does that same open-mouthed knitted brow expression for her "dramatic" programs or struts around shaking her ass for the "sassy and sexy" programs. Seen it once, you've seen it a thousand times. And the rest of her skating is thoroughly unremarkable. I'm not sold on Karen Chen either, but if it's between her and the narcissistic old slag, send Karen. I've noticed Ashley's fans share that same entitlement mentality as she does. The ones who would whine about PCS awarded for reputation with anyone else are mad that she didn't benefit here. They say she "deserves" to go when she only completed one competition in the entire season, & her performances there were not good either. Why does she deserve it? Because she got pretty new dresses?

Well, it’s official: Karen, Mirai, and Bradie.

Is Ashley going to retire now? Don't let the door hit ya...

Bradie Tennel looks like a 50 year old woman.

2018 Four Continents Championships

Starr Andrews Mariah Bell Ashley Wagner

“I took the time to remodel myself” after 2014, says Mirai on the “Today” Show. Good for her.

After 2014, Mirai looked to improve HERSELF. In 2018, Ashley looks to blame others.

And that, my friends, is the difference between Olympian Mirai and Diva—I mean—First Alternate Wagner.

World is the same as Olympics

R335, you hit the nail on the head. And I almost forgot that Mirai just missed the podium at the 2010 Olympics. Also, it's been 10 years since she won the 2008 Nationals. But it's not just that she's persevered over the years; she's also improved by upping the technical content of her programs. I have to admit that I used to think Mirai was one of those blamer people (she used to remind me of Tiffany Chin). Good for her for proving me (and many others) wrong!

The Ashley fangurls on social media are having a meltdown (no pun intended).

This might be a good time to remind them that the committee’s decision was “well within the rules,” as they liked to remind those who dared question the decision to put Ashley on the squad four years ago.

I'm puzzled by the USFS gifting of Chen. She's a homely pug-nosed girl that never was consistent internationally (and her programs are zzz). On second thought, Bradie is no looker too, and they really went with her big time on the PCS, so I imagine they must be pretty desperate for a young ingenue in the next cycle (and explains their PCS scores for Ashley).

yawn, I will eat all these American girls alive with the reprise of my junior program of 2 centuries ago

I think Mariah Bell is getting better under Raf, and if Ashley retires he can focus more on her. She's cute and a good performer. I hope she'll try something that isn't from a musical next season, though.

Did anyone else love Alex Johnson

Ashley is not taking it well

After last night's outburst, today she tweeted : "As an athlete, I'm allowed to be mad. As a senior competitor with over 10 years of experience, I'm allowed to question things. At the end of the day, I laid out my best and I'm going home proud! Congrats to the lovely ladies of the team, you've got me in your cheering squad now! Lastly Twitter, before you eat me alive, don't forget there is a real person on the other end of your tweets. ❤"

Judge 7, Kevin Rosenstein from Los Angeles, run away before Ashley finds out

Performance mark

Bradie 9.25 Mirai 8.75 Karen 8.75 Ashley 7.75 Mariah 6.75

[quote]At the end of the day, I laid out my best and I'm going home

Yeah and your best wasn't good.. at all. Enjoy your trip home, bitch!

“I honestly think that at the end of the day, this is how I feel, and I feel I need to stick up for myself and I deliver when I needed to. But I want to be on that Olympic team and I’m really mad that I’m in this position again.”

“I feel, I feel, I want, I’m really mad”....she’s 26 years old. Grow up, already.

I miss Michelle Kwan’s introspection and class after disappointing performances.

There is an international competition in Abu Dhabi this weekend

The second girl from Kazakhstan who will be sent to Olympics skated there. The protocols of her SP:

3S<< (downgraded). Grade of Executions: -3

3T<< (downgraded)+COMBO+2T* (invalid). Grade of execution:-3

2A. Grade of the execution: -2

They should revise the method for allocation of spots that reward a country with a good skater (top 10) of a second spot even if the second skater is absolutely crap. Yes, there is the minimum TES but for Olympics the minimum required is low (same as Four Continents).

Same in Men with Felipe Montoya going to Pyeongchang thanks to Fernandez....Montoya can't do the 3A.

Ashley finally gets caught out for showing no growth in 8 years. Her future: within 4 years going through a bottle of wine nightly at an El Segundo airport hotel, trying to pick up pilots on international layovers, and still complaining about this.

I always thought that skater can only compete internationally if the woman has a triple lutz and the man has a triple axel.

If either skater doesn't have the ability to do either jump, they should stay home. That would dramatically reduce the amount of countries participating, because some senior skaters from far flung countries are able to get to the World Championships with only a triple toe, the easiest jump.

[quote]and I deliver when I needed to.

No, you obviously don't you delusional, bitch.

And just who does Ashley think in her delusional mind that she skated better than?

All her whining shows she's an entitled frau who is actually disparaging the other skaters by insinuating they didn't earn or deserve their place and SHE did.

Rich, coming from the chick who benefited from a stolen slot last go around, huh?

Well, Ashley, for a $175,000 deposit, you can compete in the Olympics on behalf of Dominica!

I agree, R346. It's shameful that so many good skaters have to sit home because their countries have deep fields and these skaters get to go without deserving it. I find Felipe somewhat enjoyable to watch, though...better him than Javier Raya.

Ashley's narcissism is out of control. Far greater skaters than her have been robbed far more blatantly but you'd never see them throwing tantrums like this.

It would be better if they didn't even make Ashley first alternate.

Also, to address someone above... the gymnastics threads were the absolute most hilarious threads. Whenever I need a laugh, I go right back to them. The Gina Gogean one should be in the DL Hall of Fame.

[quote] I find Felipe somewhat enjoyable to watch, though...better him than Javier Raya.

Felipe's reaction when he heard he qualified is still the OTT moment of this Nationals' season. I thought the coach was trying to lip-kissing him

[quote]It would be better if they didn't even make Ashley first alternate.

She might not. Ashley is not happy with the judging, and she may end up in 3rd Place.

Ashley is a former champion, so she has a right to conplain. The other girl is somewhat unknown, which could allow Ashley in 3rd position, if she files against the judging.

R357 the USFSA would not dare pull one of the top 3 to give Ashley a spot. They took a lot of shit for it four years ago, all so Wagner could place, what? Seventh in Sochi?

Let her make faces and express her fury all she wants. Unless someone gets hurt, she ain’t going. Nor should she.

Contrast the self-indulgent Wagner with this:

Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu, And Karen Chen Selected To Represent U.S. Figure Skating At Olympics

Ok girls don't fuck it up in South Korea but chances are you will.

Bradie looks so much better with her hair down. Wearing it up accents all her worst features.

R341 I think Mariah Bell is showing improvement too. Shes super cute as well.

R263 locally the competitions started at 1pm and 5pm with warm ups intros and the skating underway a half hour later. Wed-Friday are school and workdays. (Actually any day can be a work day! It has been for me.) I wouldn't expect an under 55 audience in those circumstances.

[quote]Ashley is a former champion, so she has a right to conplain. The other girl is somewhat unknown, which could allow Ashley in 3rd position, if she files against the judging.

No, she doesn't have a right to complain. The second and third place finishers are all former champions. She has no right to complain because she didn't do the work all season, didn't skate well, and THOSE ARE THE RULES WHICH SHE HERSELF BENEFITED FROM 4 YEARS AGO.

She can kindly take a seat and STFU.

R365 Yasssss Queen

This tells you all you need to know about Ashley:

[quote]“You can always say that I put myself in this spot,” Wagner said, probably referring to her mistakes on a couple of jumps, “but I think I had some help getting there.”

Contrast that to Nagasu:

Which brings us to Nagasu, the runner-up. During the post-competition press conference, she (and Tennell and Chen) were asked whether or not the team should be chosen solely based off the results of national championships or should other criteria be considered when choosing the Olympic team. “Tough question,” she started and all of the reporters laughed. She said that if you asked her that question four years ago, she would’ve said top three, but this time around, she felt confident enough in her body of work leading up to championships.

“Last Olympic cycle, I felt so disappointed in myself,” Nagasu said. “I did end up in third place [at national championships] but I was a little bit careless over the season and didn’t put out the body of work that I needed.”

“I didn’t want to feel that same way this year,” she continued. “I took on the full responsibility of becoming a stronger competitor and person. I wasn’t going to let a decision that wasn’t mine keep me from my dreams.”

Since her failed bid to go to Sochi, Nagasu has learned how to do a triple axel, which she debuted in competition this year. This week, it’s clear from audience reaction that she’s the sentimental favorite, largely due to what happened to her in 2014. And tonight, Nagasu brought the house down with her long program, which wasn’t perfect—Tennell was the only skater in the top four who executed all of her planned elements—but good enough for the silver medal. I can’t imagine a scenario in which the selection committee decides to skip over Nagasu yet again. There would be rioting in the streets.

Yet Wagner, when asked if she believed that she should be on the 2018 Olympic team, said, “Yes.”

R365...sing it, Mirai.

I could not agree more!

Contrast that to Nagasu:

Which brings us to Nagasu, the runner-up. During the post-competition press conference, she (and Tennell and Chen) were asked whether or not the team should be chosen solely based off the results of national championships or should other criteria be considered when choosing the Olympic team. “Tough question,” she started and all of the reporters laughed. She said that if you asked her that question four years ago, she would’ve said top three, but this time around, she felt confident enough in her body of work leading up to championships.

“Last Olympic cycle, I felt so disappointed in myself,” Nagasu said. “I did end up in third place [at national championships] but I was a little bit careless over the season and didn’t put out the body of work that I needed.”

“I didn’t want to feel that same way this year,” she continued. “I took on the full responsibility of becoming a stronger competitor and person. I wasn’t going to let a decision that wasn’t mine keep me from my dreams.”

Since her failed bid to go to Sochi, Nagasu has learned how to do a triple axel, which she debuted in competition this year. This week, it’s clear from audience reaction that she’s the sentimental favorite, largely due to what happened to her in 2014. And tonight, Nagasu brought the house down with her long program, which wasn’t perfect—Tennell was the only skater in the top four who executed all of her planned elements—but good enough for the silver medal. I can’t imagine a scenario in which the selection committee decides to skip over Nagasu yet again. There would be rioting in the streets.

Yet Wagner, when asked if she believed that she should be on the 2018 Olympic team, said, “Yes.”

You know what with all of Wagner's griping that she should have placed higher? I now wish they would have placed her third and Chen in 4th and then given the third spot to Chen, justifying her 4th place finish at Worlds.

I would have LOVED to have seen Wagner go through that.

Ashley really isn't doing herself a bit of good by her stance on this.

Frankly, I'm surprised by her lack of self-awareness, which I always thought she had. This girl has been gifted again and again, and she still feels entitled to this.

[quote]Frankly, I'm surprised by her lack of self-awareness, which I always thought she had. This girl has been gifted again and again, and she still feels entitled to this.

Why would you think someone who has repeatedly been gifted things would have any self-awareness? They only become more and more entitled.

[quote]"...we maybe spent all of five minutes talking about the decision from Sochi where she was left off the team in the four-plus years I've been coaching her," said Tom Zakrajsek, who coaches Nagasu

You just know that if it had been Ashley who was bumped off the team in 2014, that would have been the *only* thing she would have been talking about for the past four ears, LOL.

^^years and not ears

Truth, R374 and now this will be the only thing she talks about for the next 40 years.

Ha she can dish it but she can't take it:

[quote] @AshWagner2010 Lastly Twitter, before you eat me alive, don't forget there is a real person on the other end of your tweets.

"I laid out my best"?? So...her "best" includes two screwed up jumps?

What does she mean she had some help getting there? Like...some invisible ghost was on the ice tripping her up on those jumps?

The only thing that's looking good on her now is retirement.

She's trying to claim that they didn't give her the artistic marks that she "deserves."

Because again, she's entitled.

She and her fans keep pointing to how the other white girl scored higher artistic component marks than she did and yet Bradie obviously doesn't skate with as much beauty as Ashley does (ie eyefucking the judges and rubbing her vagina all over the ice).

However, one should consider watching someone make glaring mistakes in their programs SHOULD lower their artistic component mark.

It's also tiresome to hear her scream about how she is an ARTIST!

Honey, like Drumpf shouting from the rooftops that he's a genius... just because you say it a million times doesn't make it true.

Has Ben Agosto come out yet?

haha:

[quote]@AshWagner2010 you are really going to tweet that after passive aggressively putting other people down for years?! perhaps you will actually find some kind of humility now instead of acting like you are the best figure skating has ever, ever seen??

Ashley Wagner sounds like a brat. The other skaters were better than her. That's sports. She benefited at times and lost this time. She needs to show some grace.

[quote]“This is how I feel, and I feel I need to stick up for myself and I deliver when I needed to. But I want to be on that Olympic team and I’m really mad that I’m in this position again.”

Fat fat piggy Ashley. Is six or seven times you say "I" in two sentence? You deserve no more Olympics! Champion are of different species from pretender you.

Olga Korbut and I crush out expensive bootleg Marlboro butt and pretend it is your fat face

R342, his skating is great. And his lower body is exquisite.

Ashley Wagner is a graduate from the Emanuel Sandhu International School of Personal Accountability.

Pairs FS is about to start...but we don't care about them, right?

Actually at worldwide stage pairs has become very enjoyable in the last few years

It's just that the pious Knierims aren't exciting

Well hopefully ashley wagner is done. I didnt mind her brattiness before, but she is over now and there shouldnt be any reason we will hear from her again, right? She is 26.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships (NBC) (8-11 p.m.) 4.49 million viewers

R388, she may just retire from competition forever, take a job as a color commentator for some foreign network (preferably in the English language, but who cares if not?), go to Korea and trash all of her ENEMIES for two weeks!

She sounds Republican.

R391 that's the only thing she is not.

She was the only one who spoke out against Russian anti gay laws before Sochi while all other skaters stayed with USFSA line not to say anything. The idiotic statements by Charlie White and Jeremy Abbott are still out there. Now Charlie White spends his whole day tweeting against Trump.

Ashley, off camera," What the fuck! What right do these chinks have to come in a steal a spot from a real American? They're not going to get endorsement money. Only blondes sell in the US.....real Americans."

Speaking of Josh Farris, who was mentioned some posts back, this was GoFundMe just posted on FSU about him.

Apparently the poor guy has suffered more severe brain damage from his training, and is asking for funds to help with treatment.

I think it's safe to assume his skating career is done for good this time. I sincerely hope he's able to make as full of a recovery as possible and lead a normal life.

He was very talented, and deserved a much longer and successful skating career.

I was just reading it. Poor Josh :-(

Surprised NBC sent their new star Mike Tirico all the way to Salt Lake City just to introduce the events and do a few lame interviews. Really, is he that insecure about his ability to take up the Jim McKay-Bob Costas mantle as Olympic host? Also, Scotty H doesn't need to be on the air anymore.

Looking forward to tonight's Men's Long live (though not on the flagship network, at least live on NBCSN)

Ugh I would pay a reasonable amount to stream the men's long live, but I don't have a tv and won't pay an exorbitant fee to have a bunch of other things bundled with streaming one event.

Media companies and USFS should figure out that they now have a niche audience and they should go about their monetization in a way that makes sense now that they no longer have a premier winter sport.

The comments in this Yahoo article are reading Wagner to filth!

Pairs last group is about to start

Link above to the stream of the usual Chinese guy who get into every skating tv streaming in the world. Two weeks ago he was trying to follow Russian and Japanese Nationals at the same time with a split screen.

So far Cain/LeDuc 187, Castelli/Tran 182

Pairs final result

1) Knierim/Knierim 206.60

2) Kayne / O'Shea 200.80

3) Stellato/Bartholomay 197.65

4) Cain/LeDuc 187.14

5) Denney/Frazier 186.32

6) Castelli/Tran 182.38

The Goldenskate Ashley fanfraus think she had a right to vent because "her dream was destroyed" and "she sacrificed so much!!!" The bitch has already been to the Olympics and she became a meme because of her entitled stankface there. This is a pattern of behavior, not a one-off. And she is hardly the first skater to suffer concussions or other injuries, but very few would pitch a hissy fit after 2 mediocre programs and cry unfair.

I feel sorry for someone like Josh, who was truly talented and never got to realize his potential. Ashley doesn't appreciate how many breaks she got with her very limited skillset.

Chris Knierim is a hot piece of ass!

Why is the US so bad at putting together decent pairs teams? We used to have that problem in Ice Dancing, btu now we seem to have quite a bit of talent there, and yet we still can't manufacture a decent pairs team. Look at someone like Alex Johnson - he's clearly just as good a skater as Eric Radford but will never be good enough as a solo international skater and he has the size to be half a decent pair, why wasn't he press-ganged into a pairs partnership years ago?

Is it too expensive? Not enough glory?

Max Aaron is probably too short, but he should have been moved out or moved on years ago from singles.

But his wife is a religious freak. "God is good!" she said, because apparently "He" wanted them to win the title.....

Johnny was certainly NOT impressed by the winning pair

yes, the Knierims are God-fearing. Like Cortney Hicks

Has Chris Knierim thanked god for giving him an extra chromosome yet? That man has the homeliest face in skating. And that's saying something

Poor Mr. Farris. What luck.

R407 and R408 are why I like to read the Datalounge figure skating thread after a competition.....you all will say what needs to be said! Say something like that on one of the main skating boards and you will be banned.

There's a long tradition of fundies in US Figure Skating. They can usually be split into one of two categories: the true believers like the Kneirim's and Paul Wylie who are terrifying brain-washed crusaders for Christ and the opportunists like Scott Hamilton who see a captive and large audience for things like vaguely-spiritual emotional books and speeches and life coaching. The former are scary, but at least you can recognize them and feel bad that all that psychological damage is from their parents. The latter I think are worse, because they try to play both sides but end up still pandering to the homophobia and "picture perfect ice prince and princess" bullshit that has essentially destroyed the post-Michelle Kwan era of US Figure Skating.

All of them are terrible awful people and a cancer on the sport. And I say this as somebody who idolized Hamilton's wacky light up costumes and frilly arm routines as a kid until I saw the politics and complicit money making agenda lurking underneath.

Weirdly there's also a long tradition of fundies in USA Diving. It's almost like the federations know that they're sports are often viewed as "gay" and it's a reaction to that.

I support Ashley voicing her anger. I am probably mean, but it provides trashy entertainment.

Just like Spanish Ice Dance drama (who didn't get traction because no-one care about them).

[quote]They can usually be split into one of two categories: the true believers like the Kneirim's and Paul Wylie who are terrifying brain-washed crusaders for Christ ...

You can add Grant Hochstein to that list. What a lost cause that boy is. So deeply brainwashed. Even his own FACE is telling him he's gay and he still insists that he wants to fuck Caroline Zhang.

Jason Dungjen is the only hot American pairs skater since... well Peter Carruthers was kind of cute in a sexless neighbor next door sort of way I guess. And Jason himself wasn't that great to look it, but he benefitted from the fact that Kyoko Ina looked like she would have been wild in bed and her other partner John Zimmerman looked like a massive tool.

Caroline Zhang converted to Catholicism to marry Grant

r416 That's good, because the only way Caroline Zhang is getting any dick from this point on is if she fondles an altar boy.

Many skaters are fundie cunts. Nothing new.

Grant-Caroline wedding is the post Olympic season big event for us on Datalounge?

Along with Radford-random ice dancer gay wedding

Oh, Ashley Wagner

You're mad, it's sad, dry your tears

Help us with our bags

I'll never forget the story posted about Paul Wylie trolling for dick in hotel bars. I believe it.

Re the Kierims' wedding

"Scimeca wore sparkling tiara over a frothy princess dress with a strapless sweetheart top covered in pearl beading and a skirt of layers of chiffon. Knierim looked debonair in a dark suit with a gray vest. The wedding cake, decorated with pink roses, was topped with a groom carrying a bride in something approximating a lift and a couple of tiny dogs in honor of the couple's pets."

"At the reception, the newly married couple performed a dance choreographed to "Unchained Melody," using the moment to announce that the piece would be their free skate music in the upcoming season."

"Skaters in attendance included Ashley Wagner, Adam Rippon, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Max Aaron, Ryan Bradley, Drew Meekins and the other pairs skaters in the Sappenfield camp,"

they invited a couple of gays. They will now burn in hell

I knew Paul Wylie was a homo when he gay-squealed "I don't believe it" after his clean SP skate in 1992.

Hear it at the 3:56 mark

In his moment of excitement, he couldn't suppress his inner queen. I was only an 8 year old gayling at the time, but I knew a gay squeal when I heard one.

I'm surprised the ice hasn't all melted and the men's free skate delayed given how salty La (La) Wagner has been. Do we think Jason will hold on for another olympics he doesn't have a shot at winning an individual medal at or will 17 yr old Zhang come back?

Does the US have any shot at a team gold? I'm guessing with the Knierims it's a no, but I cant remember if

Chris Knierim has a gay voice and a hot body. End of story.

Think if Rippon ends up 4th. Will he will explode along with Ashley?

Can you imagine the PR rollout USFSA could have done if both Caroline Zhang and Grant H had made the Olympic team?

The skating world is weird--you get the fundies from the Midwest and then a glut of skaters from the SF Bay Area and L.A.

I'm sure Ashley Wagner is heartbroken over what happened, but other skaters have had it far worse--Bradie Tennell was sidelined for years with a back injury and clearly pulled herself up without any federation backing. Mirai Nagasu has staged a hell of a comeback and that wasn't with the encouragement of the federation either. Meanwhile, Polina Edmunds got injured right before going to Worlds in 2016 and had to pull out of nationals after showing she still had it , with an added dose of fierceness, in the SP. I hope that stupid foot injury hasn't forced her into retirement.

Ashley Wagner broke the U.S. medal drought with her silver at worlds--and that silver was a gift, frankly--Pogosplat had the better skate, but Worlds was in Boston and the ISU would still like skating to have an American audience. Ashley Wagner's best year was 2016--and she was beaten soundly at Nationals by both Gracie Gold and Polina Edmunds. Of that trio, Edmunds is the one I actually feel sorry for--just because of her injury sidelining her and her unfulfilled diva potential. At least Gracie will have her U.S. championships. If Gracie hadn't imploded and Polina hadn't been injured, Wagner would not have had that silver.

Ashley Wagner, on the other hand, is the luckiest skater around and she doesn't recognize it.

R424

USA should safely get bronze. But Neutral Athlete from Russia (or whatever they are called) and Canada should be top 2.

As you said, Knierims are surely behind Russia, Canada, China, France...Germany if Aljona skates the Team Even (but I doubt it)....they are not guaranteed to beat Italy (they lost to them at 2017 Worlds)....so no better then 5th, risk to be 6th

Ladies will lose to Russia and Canada

Ice Dance will be behind Canada and above Russia (but maybe only one spot above them if Italy doesn't end up between USA and Russia)

In Men they will beat Russia and Canada. But given Kolyada now gets high PCS for 3 splats FS, Russia won't be too far the ranking

Rippon last week: I will be on the Oly team unless other skaters’ mothers are on the selection committee. I’ve proven time & time again I’m one of the most consistent skaters in the world.

Skating does attract the fundies and Mormons. Is Chen a Mormon?

R431 Karen or Nathan?

both.

N. Chen is cute and one of the few skaters that strikes me as possibly actually straight and not homophobic, but who knows. He's only 18 and he might not be the most emotionally mature person given he spends most of his free time destroying his body for a single chance at an olympic medal

Jimmy Ma is crazy and also maybe straight? or pansexual? or just straight up Long Island? His whole aesthetic is so funny and dumb and brilliant and clearly very him. I love it. Wish he were a little bit better so we could see him more.

USA bronze medal in Team Event should be safe

China is weak in Ladies and not good in Ice Dance

Japan is weak in Ice Dance (6th if it all goes well) and awful in Pairs. The Japanese pair makes the Knierims look stellar. And on top of that they are skating on the soundtrack of a figure skating anime

Paul Martini and Barbara Underhill OWN "Unchained Melody." These losers will NEVER top them.

The Japanese pair for the Olympics in all its full glory at this year Nationals.....FS on Romeo and Juliet...

the end...I think the guy was literally about die

Jason Dungjen is the coach of the Japanese pair. You can see him at the end in the K&C

It's really unfortunate that Frodo uses the pseudonym Underhill at the Prancing Pony, because ever since reading that I can't get out of my head how much Barbara looked like a cross between a pony and a hobbit.

Great musicianship, though.

I miss Paul Martini's butt.

How does Jordan Moeller have a consistent quad and Jason Brown can't even manage an occasional one? Moeller is maybe the worst skater at nationals but even he can land a quad sal.

His 4S was underrotated...let's not give him too much credit.

I miss the men's onesie in skating. Scott Hamilton ruined it with the boring "masc" jumpsuit in Sarajevo, but there were some cute guys in tight bodysuits back in the day. Paul Martini and Peter Carruthers always rocked the onesie.

They should allow men to where tights and a dance belt if they want to, especially in dance. Not many men would do it, but the costuming rules are stupid.

Moeller wears a giant fundie crucifix while he skates too.

Jesus clearly doesn't love him enough to rotate his jumps.

Poirier and Cizeron would both be up for tights and dance belts--same with Adam Rippon.

Sounds like a show Cirque de Soleil could manage.

[quote] They should allow men to were tights

some of them wear trousers so tight that they are not much different from wearing tights. One of the Italian pairs is getting away with this costume

Yeah, I was just going to mention Matteo since you can find him wearing even less with a simple Google search, haha.

Wow. Guarise is cute! Terrible haircut, but that's at least fixable.

The only costume violation I've seen sanctioned with a -1 this season is Lorenz/Polizoakis in Tallin SD. In Zagreb they had 3 judges out of 7 calling it and they avoided the -1. I guess they consider her "too nude"

What's with all the C-list US men doing Ina Bauer's? Isn't that typically a woman's move. Isn't the masculine equivalent the spread eagle? I'm all for breaking down gender norms in skating, but unless you are going to go with a femme-y flowy program or a sassy gay program like Rippon, why add an ina bauer?

Well, Jalovick is coached by Kori Ade, that's all you need to know. And that explains why he's 23 without a quad or 3A. He's cute, too bad he doesn't have a better technical coach.

Jalovick looks like a sexy accountant. At 23 he already looks 35? He's balding and he has no chest but a great face. I wish him the best outside of skating, but I'm not sure what his skating goals could possibly be. He's good enough to get to Nationals but clearly not good enough for it to matter.

And when did You Raise Me Up become the Men's version of Carmen/Firebird. There must be at least 3 every competition.

I like to LISTEN to Johnny Weir, but I don't like to look at him. His cubic zirconia encrusted headphones and microphone (that match Tara's) are too much!

And as r380 intimated - Ashley Wagner is the Donald Trump of Ladies Figure Skating.

Kevin Shum is really beautiful, but he doesn't even have a triple axel, how is he competing at nationals? And also he's the third skater to bring out the Disturbed version of Sound of Silence. Of all the songs in the world how is it that skaters choose the same 5 or 6 songs every year?

At Japanese Nationals I listened to 3 Les Miserables in a row during the men FS. At the end I was ready for a Revolution

Are they streaming the men's finals anywhere?

Kevin at the bottom!

try the link at R157. they are showing it there

Kevin might be the hottest asian/asian-american skater since Dai, but he probably shouldn't have qualified for nationals. The crowd of elderly must be hard up for a decent skate at this point if they're giving Hiwatashi's mediocre performance a standing o. He does the Shuma Ono cantilever well, but other than that, it was pretty unimpressive. Also he's only 16 or 17, but he has Kerri Strug voice and that's unfortunate.

Kevin beated Jimmy Ma at Eastern Sectionals

[quote]Kevin beated Jimmy Ma at Eastern Sectionals

Oh dear

What is this Payannet boy wearing and why would he allow himself to wear it?

R415 John Zimmerman was sex on a stick but a truly untalented skater. The average teenage skater at our rink could skate circles around him.

So if Russia is banned, how is it that a Team Russia can be part of the skating team competition? That's not just individual approved skaters.

In which case, wouldn't the U.S. have a shot at the silver?

r464 IOC can invite Russian athletes to take parte to team event. From IOC decision: "To invite individual Russian athletes under strict conditions (see below) to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. These invited athletes will participate, be it in individual or team competitions, under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)”. They will compete with a uniform bearing this name and under the Olympic Flag. The Olympic Anthem will be played in any ceremony."

If they don't invite them to team event, USA will get Silver. Canada Gold. Someone bronze

Wow. Max Aaron has totally lost it. He should have Paulina Edmondsed himself out of the competition. He looks like he wants to quit not just this program but the entire sport right now.

Also - this might be the worst version of a phantom medley I've ever heard. Is he using the movie soundtrack? Why pick this worst possible version of phantom, a score that's already not great to begin with.

he is losing the FS to Tomoki. He will stay ahead because of the SP

Aaron graduated last month. At least he can search for a job

Did Max have plastic surgery? Nose job? He used to be really cute in a nerdy sort of way, but his face looks totally different and boring now and not at all attractive. Maybe it's just Joubert-style bad aging, but he looks quite different from how he looked 4 years ago.

I stopped watching American skating, once it became flooded with asians. It's just too much.

You wouldn't even recognize "team USA" on the podium anymore.

I'll stick to speed skating and hockey.

r470 good for you. go make america great again with your ignorant racism somewhere else

Lots of guys wearing all black or black and maroon this year. Was the pantone color of the year announced and I missed it?

[quote]I stopped watching American skating, once it became flooded with asians. It's just too much.

You must have missed all the white fundie closet cases...I think they definitely outnumber Asians

NBC SPORTS didn't start live coverage until the third group.....rehashes of the short programs.......

Timothy Dolensky really grew into his looks. It's a little strange to see a non-pairs skater with a good chest (it seems more and more skaters are going the Hanyu route for physicality), but he's built quite nicely. Pity about the skating though.

Max Aaron is a head case and has been for nearly a decade. He should have gotten psychological help years ago instead of a nose job. If he and Gracie had gotten support when their tribulations first started they might have been in shape for this season or would have come to terms with their skating well before.

But speaking of Max, do you think his inability to get himself together consistently now for the last 6 years is what convinced Nathan Chen to pretty much destroy his body on a quest for a single shot at Olympic glory? He's seen that athletes like Max or like that swimmer Missy Franklin sometimes only have one shot at being at the top of their game. At least Missy managed to peak during an olympic year (when she was 17!) Max peaked.... well who knows, its been all peaks and valleys since he first quad'ed his way on to the scene.

This thread seems to have officially died.

I think Dolensky is the hottest of the U.S. men singles skaters.

Just saw Rippon's outfit. He didn't spare anything on the sparkle.

Zhou did really was good in the short but someone needs to tell him about his pants. He busting out in every direction in them. Damn!

R475, that’s the woman should have closed this skate out. The costumes, the artistry, the HAIR!

[Quote] He busting out

He was

The average age of the crowd seems to be significantly lower than in previous sessions.

Scott Hamilton is the fucking worst! Hate his gay hating ass!

I don't get the attraction to Dolensky, but then religious closet cases are not a big turn on for me.

Andrew Torgashev is going to be very hot in a few years.

I agree about Scott Hamilton. I think I need to mute my TV whenever he's on.

Zhou's jumps were huge, but he really needs better choreography.

I love Zhou's skating. I think his artistry is actually better than his choreo, but he has great extension and leans into the music well. Needs some better spins. It's strange that he's only 17 but he looks more like man than an older

agh r485 I was just SAYING THAT. You know what you are talking about.

Jimmy

Tara said "this is house music" regarding Jimmy May's music. It's not.

Hochstein looks like the kind of skater who would have excelled at school figures.

r489 Hochstein looks like the kind of skater who is always smelling cookies.

Jimmy Ma can't spin or jump. His triple axle was nice, but not much else was impressive.

Hochstein must be tired from eating all of that pussy.

LOL, r490! But he's engaged to Caroline Zhang, right?

Ma is horse

Ross Minor needs to hang some mistletoe on that belt buckle. Not bad for a kid with scoliosis.

Good for Miner!

Wow. What has Ross Minor been doing for the last 5 years? That was surprisingly terrific! I... can't imagine him making the team?! But with that performance its certainly a possibility now!

Mark Mitchell looks like he's barely aged at all.

Zhou had 3 quads called underroated and one downgraded

Miner's coaches are waaaay hotter than he is. I mean. DAMN.

first place for Miner

Adam Rippon makes Johnny Weir look butch.

Is the Madame Johnny Weir still a major Russophile?

Rippon imploding

Adam! NOOOO!

Johnny Weir loves trump

WHAT HAPPENED?! It looks like he just stopped paying attention.

Dolensky wow

Rippon bye bye Olympics

Rippon looked like he totally lost his cocncentration at the end. I really feel for him,

Is that true, r506?!

I'm sick. I can't even watch the replays.

Eek. Are we going to get a "body of work" exemption for Adam? I mean - it's not like Miner has ANY body of work to stand on, but at least he put together two good programs.

Damnit Adam!!!

What an implosion! That's... shocking. Two single jumps?!

Jason Brown didn't even seem to get 3 full rotations on his quad. Wow. What a horrific final couple of skates at this nationals. A fiasco.

I genuinely feel ill. Poor Adam.

Jason falling apart too!

Crazy shit happening.

Jason and Adam not going to the Olympics it looks like

At this point, I'd feel more confident if they announced Wagner to the men's team given how nobody but Ross Freaking Miner can skate under pressure.

I know, r516. That performance is going to haunt him for a long time, ugh.

Excluding Chen the US for the last 10-15 have SUCKED!!!!! Where have you cunts been???? Being inconsistent is apart of US skating.

r520 Adam has looked good for the last entire season AND consistent. Jason Brown is... well. whatever. After Adam's implosion he should have just not attempted the quad and maybe he could have skated clean; instead, he just gave nothing.

At this point could Nathan Chen just skate in a circle for four minutes and call it a day?

I'm genuinely stumped. If I were on the committee I might just say none of you deserve to go. Or require a Marta Koroly style bake-off camp separate from nationals.

Canada did this to their ladies team r521...

I like Nathan's new long costume. It suits him and his style well. It's a bit... Evan Lysacek, but it isn't terrible.

[Quote] Adam has looked good for the last entire season AND consistent.

As of tonight he isn't but I was speaking of years for many US skaters . We can name them all in last 10 or so years.

I think Jason is out of contention for a spot for sure now.

I could see them sending Adam (a la Ashley Wagner style) if Ross placed 3rd...but how could they deny Ross after finishing 2nd and skating the program of his life at Nationals, during an Olympic year? That would be beyond cruel.

[quote]I could see them sending Adam (a la Ashley Wagner style) if Ross placed 3rd...but how could they deny Ross after finishing 2nd and skating the program of his life at Nationals, during an Olympic year? That would be beyond cruel.

How could they? Watch them do it with a smile!

[R525] maybe if they leave vincent off

For Adam's sake, let's hope his mom is on the selection committee.

r526 Well played. And the crazy thing is, they'd likely leave Vincent off, which is a huge mistake. They left Vincent off World's and he went to Junior World's and attacked it with a vengeance. He isn't the cleanest skater in the world, or the most exciting. But... I'd pick Vincent over Miner and given his performance tonight I'd maybe pick him over Adam too. And I like Adam!

What a fiasco.

I am really looking forward to the Olympic men's figure skating competition. It could be quite a battle for gold and even to make it to the podium.

Adam Rippon.....oh.....what a shame.

I was shocked to see how yellowish Ross's teeth are...

R532...Ross is straight and old. So he's not fresh-faced like the youngsters or preening and plucking himself like the closeted ice queens do.

If Adam makes the team then maybe he should leave the sass and tongue popping at home. And I like him.

I agree, r529. I'd definitely have Vincent on the team because he has enough technical content to medal.

Is Adam an example of why people should learn to keep their mouths shut and not talk such a big game?

Is he the male equivalent of Wagner? I haven't watched skating that closely in years and especially not the men's so someone fill me in please.

I'd bet they do pull another skater in favor of him, but who would they pull?

R536, I don't recall Adam ever being this cocky in past seasons.

Sadly I think it's a little Karma r536. Not that he's a bad person but shut your pie hole and jump.

I absolutely believe in Karma.

I was so impressed with Adam after he missed the opening quad but then quickly pulled himself together. And then, when he hit those two triple axels, I thought he was basically home free. But then he singled the next two triple jumps. It was just bizarre.

But it was my turn!

So Adam blew it ehh? It's ok we need to send the Asians anyway.

Argh, Jason. Too bad

When do we find out who's on the team?

I think the team will be Nathan, Ross, and Adam. Vincent's skating is zzz, and he's an uglier Nathan Chen, whose new hair is making him look 10x hotter.

Wow, Rippon had a total mental break. After falling on the quad, he was skating very well, triple-triple combo, triple axle-double-combo, a stand-alone triple axle, and I think another triple, and then after all that, out of nowhere, he singles those two jumps.

Zhou won silver at Nationals last year and he's competitive technical content. Sorry Adam--I was rooting for you, but Ross Miner just upped and had the skate of his life. It happens.

Miner skated really well.

God, that silver fucking zipper on Nathan's costume was driving me crazy. So distracting. Why was it not black?

Sending someone to the Olympics on their "body of work" rarely pans out. Usually if they fuck up at nationals they fuck up at the Olympics. That goes for any sport

My problem with Chen is that he just skates around doing quads, like there's really no artistry. Oh sure chens got a couple ballerina moves but I'm thinking if Hanyu gets healthy and does the quads he has planned I think the judges will give Hanyu the gold.

[quote]Is Adam an example of why people should learn to keep their mouths shut and not talk such a big game? Is he the male equivalent of Wagner? I haven't watched skating that closely in years and especially not the men's so someone fill me in please.

He is BFFs with Ashley and yes, they are both quite full of themselves, but Adam at least had some decent results the past two seasons while Ashley just phones it in. Neither of them are great technicians and both of them rely heavily on giving face and "sass" (god I hate that word) to compensate for mediocre skating skills. I do think Adam is less of a one-note performer and he does have gorgeous spins, and I don't think he would ever pull the victim card BS that Ashley is trying to do now. But yeah...talk is always cheap if you don't deliver in the end.

R405 and others ripping Alexa Knierim. I didn't hear her remark and I haven't found it online. C'mon - she believes in God and is grateful and takes nothing for granted since her surgeries. If her exclamations are repellent to you, so be it. But, to attack, dismiss and revile her? Evidently her diagnosis and surgeries we're difficult and complicated. She may have a progressive disorder or terminal illness - we don't know. I certainly hope not. Also, her illness and surgeries and possible continuing treatment may have affected her ability to have children. Their privacy about details may seem refreshing - and keeps questions and unsolicited advice to a minimum and the focus on their skating. But, it isn't necessarily reassuring. We don't know what they are facing with her health and their future.

R556 were not we're - autocorrect plus typing on DL so sluggish

R554 Hanyu being healthy seems like a big if. On his day he's the best but I fear the rust will show.

I think it's going to be Nathan, Vincent, and Adam. They're going to break Ross's heart, and Mark Mitchell will become convinced that he's never ever ever meant to go to the Olympics.

I hope it doesn't happen that way, but I think it might. Poor guys. This is an awful situation.

It seems like Jason is going to have to leave Kori if he intends to continue his career. She's certainly not making much of a case for herself as a coach. But Jason seems so attached to her that I don't know if he has the guts to do it. What do you think? Will he finally grow up and move on?

Is Fernandez back to being in competitive shape? It's crazy that Fernandez may have peaked 2 years two early, Hanyu will be injured and old hat, Rippon may not even make it and if he does he'll likely crack under pressure.

Does Vera Wang keep a bunch of voodoo dolls in her basement to make sure her male skating stars always win olympic gold? (Also - there was a crazy rumor back in the day that Vera was fucking Evan when she was designing his costumes and then when he went to work with her. Do you think Vera is now eying Nathan now that he's legal and suddenly good looking? Maybe she made him get the sexy hair cut.)

[quote]there was a crazy rumor back in the day that Vera was fucking Evan when she was designing his costumes

Crazy rumor indeed. There's no way he fucked her unless she has a dick.

Trust me, I know.

I'm tired of the overly earnest Asians like Karen Chen and Vincent Zhou. This is an artistic sports, have some personality for god's sake.

r562 Oh the rumor was that Evan was gay but was willing to be a kept man because she had paid off all his debt and he was her semi-kept boy. It sounded to me more like Evan's publicist tried to seed a story somewhere to make Evan sound straighter and then it got out of hand by the time it broke.

BUT - Vera DID give Evan a job and its not like the man had any even somewhat useful skills for Vera Wang. She had to be getting something out of the arrangement?

You mean to tell me that Evan wasn't having hot, steamy sex with that gymnast Nastia Whatever??? Lies!

Kept man. How revolting.

Ah, okay, so common whore. That makes much more sense for Evan and goes along with that nasty, cunt of a personality he has.

[quote]It seems like Jason is going to have to leave Kori if he intends to continue his career.

I honestly think his time as a competitive skater in contention for medals and titles is over.

Even if he changed coaches now, I can't see him improving beyond (maybe) gaining a consistent quad toe--which isn't enough anymore to compete at the top. When men are now doing multiple quad lutzs and flips, one quad toe isn't going to cut it.

That ship has sailed.

Ultimately, I think he and his team didn't anticipate for the rate of acceleration in men's jumping during this last quad. I don't think any of us did. Four years ago, no quads could still win Nationals and finish 4th at worlds. I think they figured there was still plenty of time for Jason to master one quad and still be competitive. Then, before you knew it, quad mania exploded and Jason was left in the dust.

I still think he should continue skating if he enjoys competing, but if so, he should at least leave Rohene and develop as an artist if nothing else. He might have plateaued on his jumps, but I think he's still a beautiful skater who still can wow us artistically with the right choreographer. Rohene needs to go though.

I do think

I'm going to cheer for the Europeans.

They're what the Americans USED to be.

r568 Some skaters are just dante ladies and can't do quads, that would be Jason.

r570 Don't be silly, the only Dante lady is Beatrice.

Nathan has this smug air about him, like he's too bored to care about anything happening around him. Like he's so above it all. A smugness I imagine only an 18 year old prodigy or genius could have. You can tell he knows he's the shit. Young, good-looking, head and shoulders above the field technically, his closest rival injured...the skating world is his oyster right now.

With a 5-quad program and the endorsement money I'd be smug too. Better him than that uggo Zhou. Jason Brown's FS costume is ABOMINABLE. BTW loved Sean Rabitt's long program. Those elderly ladies got some much-needed attention.

r572 And as long as he stays good, I'm into it.

We'll see how he behaves whenever he is humbled. Or he could simply win an Olympics, injure himself from jumping too much too soon, and retire shortly thereafter like Tara.

[quote]Nathan has this smug air about him, like he's too bored to care about anything happening around him. Like he's so above it all. A smugness I imagine only an 18 year old prodigy or genius could have.

I know a certain young athlete who was a teenage prodigy in two sports, an instrument, and in academics... and she was never smug. Only humble and gracious. They don't make them like her any more!!!

I always thought Evan's Vera Wang Serpant turtleneck free skate costume was one of the most hideous costumes on an american man in decades, that I was terrified as to what Nathan's VW costumes would turn into. His short costume was pretty meh/tron adjacent, but I liked the long costume. The zipper added the right amount of flare and was less dumb than that stupid snake. Nathan isn't a sparkles rhinestones kind of skater, and that's fine. I just don't see why Vera is obsessed with the high neckline on men's skaters.

Evan may have been an insufferable asshole, but he had a nice body and it was weird to find something that made his torso seem so boxy.

Maybe a little smugness would have helped you rotate a little faster and get gold, little girl.

Don't we basically know who's going to win Olympic Gold based on the Grand Prix final?

Gold Men's- Nathan Chen Gold Women's- Alina Zagitova Gold Pairs- Savchenko/Massot Gold Ice Dance- Papadakis/Cizeron

There doesn't seem to be any big rivalries where you've got two equal matches fighting it out for gold.

So the Russian skaters are going to compete, afterall?

[quote]Maybe a little smugness would have helped you rotate a little faster and get gold, little girl.

Sorry, no. What kept me from winning that Olympic title was self-respect. I just wasn't willing to do what you were before the competition to secure wins.

There's a reason your name is WHOREKina.

Well. r580. I... I... I don't have anything else to add.

Don't sell yourself short, Amanda. You are a World Champion at clutching your vagina on national television!

Poor Adam.

His outfits were stunningly beautiful.

I'm watching the pairs skating now.

The zipper in the back of Nathan's costume makes for easy access to the battery compartment. Size 'C' batteries, and don't forget the tiny phillips head screwdriver to open it up.

r578 Figure skating is one of the few sports that can still be consistently surprising depending on who shows up and who doesn't, as this US Nationals just proved. Yes that sounds about right in terms of finishing, but Nathan shouldn't count his chickens before they hatch. He's got sick quads, but if Javier or Hanyu are back in shape and deliver solid programs, they have lots of opportunities for points elsewhere and a connection with audiences that seems to sway judges toward grade inflation. If Chen doesn't hit in the short, he might be too far back to make up that distance with a string of rearranged jumps in the final.

Last year's men's final was a dull splatfest. Frankenchan got bronze when he should have been off the podium and Dennis Ten has an olympic medal. Hanyu deserved the win, but only because everyone else was terrible. They still need to fix the scoring system so that there's a more equitable risk/reward ratio in skating. It should be like freestyle moguls. If you don't get through it clean, it should be VERY DIFFICULT to win. If the scoring system were better, than it might make more sense for someone like Jason to be on the team (well - maybe not after this year... but you know what I mean), but as it is, as long as you don't under-rotate, you don't really have to even land your quads to medal.

r585 Actually, Chan got Silver. Point still stands though.

Oh, R580, R581, R582....I love you queeny bitches. The laughs we would have together talking gymnastics tea.

Do any of the USA ladies have a legit shot at a medal?

Hm, R587. We'll see about that.

First tell me where you stand on Shannon Miller. Fabulous Scrunchie or Saggy Diaper Bottom?

[quote]Do any of the USA ladies have a legit shot at a medal?

Not any more!!!

Does Canada have two or three men's spots and who should we want and/or expect to fill them?

I hate Patrick Chan and refuse to hear anything positive on the subject, but even if he Jeff Gillooly'ed himself on national tv I'd bet Canada would still send him to the olympics.

Reynolds was the flop quad-king/elfin dungeon keeper at the last olympics where his flailing bored me to tears. I saw Nguyen slide all over the ice (rarely on his feet) at World's two years ago and unless he's improved significantly as he's aged I worry he will similarly be a trainwreck. I don't know who else there is? Any Canadian sweethearts? Or are they all the guy backstabbing bitch equivalent of Tess Virtue (albeit hopefully slightly less masculine and a touch more graceful than Ms. V).

r588 A team medal is something to cherish

r589 Lol! Oh, you. Ha. I can be Shannon with the bad hair! See! I have self awareness now and love joking. Ha ha. Great joke. Get it.

Meanwhile Kimmy, like I always said about your hair and well... your everything. You certainly liked to go out with bangs.

(Do you get it? I can explain it to you if you don't get it? I'm referring to the fact that I could have two team golds if it weren't for you and your stupid hair, you worthless trollop. HAHA J/K. Joking! I'm fun.)

Sigh, Shannon... as has already been pointed out to you... you couldn't even make a single Olympic Team without cheating your way on them. Don't even try to come for anyone else.

And bitch, let's not forget you only have a Gold Medal because of ME.

the great tragedy of Canadian figure skating will always be Emanuel Sandhu. Such a gifted, artistic, fluid, flexible, and powerful skater.....and zero consistency, competition edge, or self esteem.

Shannon, are you still rimming Steve Nunno's hairy hole?

Here's a link to PT II for this thread.

Ha ha guys! So fun! Love the banter. Love that we're all adults and well-adjusted and now all about love and fun now. Yay for jokes. I mean, the jokes definitely sound funnier in your fucked up Simon Birch voice, Kerri so keep it up!!! Life of the party. Great jokes ladies!

Can't wait for the Olympics, so many great memories. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, the thrill of competition, the thrill of the agony of Kerri Strug almost paralyzing herself.

Let's go skating! Woo!! So fun.

New thread.

Thread Closed. Use link below for continued discussion.