For figure skating fans

[jcar03]

The NBC commentary was borderline annoying throughout the whole Olympics. I preferred Lipinski and Weir's commentating at NBC SN over the main NBC broadcast.

[juppiter]

Oh, absolutely. I was shocked that Sandra Bezic threw shade on Kim Yuna's silver though. Usually their job is to convince the audience how righteous the judging is, but she kind of called out the bullshit that occurred there.

[StevieM]

Ashley Wagner got ridiculously low scores. She completely blew away that free skate. She wouldn't have won a medal, but she certainly shouldn't have finished any lower than 5th. I'm glad that she called the judges out on the absurdity of her scores. I hope the matter gets some coverage, because the scoring system is broke and the judges cannot be completely trusted. I am remembering the 2002 Olympics and a Canadian ice dancing team that lost out to a Russian team, in spite of a clearly superior performance.

Edited February 21, 2014 by StevieM

[juppiter]

Ashley is getting a lot of [!@#$%^&*] for what she is saying but I am loving her outspokenness as well. That's what people do not get -- she is not asking to have medalled. She knew going into this that she was a huge longshot for a medal. But when ladies who fell were placed above her, that's bizarre. And it wasn't just Ashley who was screwed by the judging. Kim Yuna and Carolina Kostner should have been our gold and silver medalists, respectively.

If they are going to keep rigging, just bring back the 6.0 system already. There was no need to invent this elaborate new judging system that makes things less fun if you are going to keep rigging anyway. Or, just stop rigging and make the judges' scores public knowledge as Ashley logically asked for.

[jcar03]

They are showing the Tonya and Nancy documentary.

[Wizzerkat]

Some comments:

I have been a big skating fan since 1988. I actually first got online in 1990 and started taking skating then!

First, while I also like Ashley's outspoken style, she does have technical problems which is why she gets marked lower at times. She routinely under-rotates and/or two foots the jumps in her triple-triple combo. She stayed on her feet, but she had some technical dings.

Both Russian girls were over-marked in the presentation("artistic") scores. They had not gotten scores that high at most any event. They got what we skating fans call the "Skating While Russian" bump. We knew they would get somewhat higher scores at home(not terribly unusual) but it was a little much here.

Here is an interesting article:

http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/whole-new-set-questions-about-adelina-sotnikovas-allegedly-rigged-gold-medal-win/358425

I generally thought Tara and Johnny were fun, but Johnny's Russia love was a bit much to take. I don't like homerism even with the US but Johnny went overboard. He could not take off his Russia colored glass to see mistakes even.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Wizzerkat

[jcar03]

The World Championships have wrapped up

Men's Singles

1. Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

2. Tatsuki Machida (Japan)

3. Javier Fernandez (Spain)

Ladies Singles

1. Mao Asada (Japan)

2. Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)

3. Carolina Kostner (Italy)

Pairs

1. Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany)

2. Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov (Russia)

3. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (Canada)

Ice Dance

1. Anna Capellini and Luca Lanotte (Italy)

2. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (Canada)

3. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (France)

Edited March 31, 2014 by jcar03

[juppiter]

oh wow. I didn't even know they were going on, lol.

Happy for Mao. Her FS at the Olympics was one of the best I have ever seen. Glad she got SOMETHING this year.

Also glad to see Javier on the podium for the men. I thought he deserved to be at the Olympics as well, but maybe I was just, uh, distracted

Edited March 31, 2014 by juppiter

[Soapsuds]

I can see why you were distracted...lol. He is a cutie...I havent keeped up with figure skating in years. Jcar was the figure skating shown on tv??

[jcar03]

Not that I know of, you could stream the events online and one channel is showing a wrap up special in a few weeks.

[juppiter]

I'm officially in love with him after this exhibition gala that he did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83K4IcNmWYw&app=desktop

So hilarious. And hot.

[Soapsuds]

Funny..sexy and so gay....lol...I will be shocked if Javier isn't gay.

[juppiter]

I have always been a bit bitter about Shizuka Arakawa's 2006 gold medal performance. She scaled her difficult jumps back and won by default as the other top ladies didn't skate clean, in contrast to 2014 where all the top ladies skated clean (and they just chose the wrong one, lol.)

But recently I have come to appreciate her 2006 skate. Her spins and spirals were breathtaking, and she chose the perfect outfit to highlight those moves. I love the music as well, and her slow step sequence which you hardly ever see anymore. And even though the performance was scaled back technically, I think she really connected with the audience in a way you rarely see for somebody who is not a home country favorite. I have been wrong for 8 years and she was a worthy winner.

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Edited April 9, 2014 by juppiter

[Soapsuds]

[DAMfan]

Really have enjoyed Lipinski and Weir's commentating at the skating events - looking forward to World in Boston.