Figure Skating

[cassiesmom]

had the Olympics hockey game on. He said he saw a player slam another one into the wall & into the penalty box the player went. The puck had already been passed onto another player so the slam was after the fact.

Is that the game where they had a 5-on-3 power play? And the player who got shoved into the boards plays for the Boston Bruins. I started following the Blackhawks when the Bulls couldn't win a game no matter how they tried. Now the Bulls are starting to win more consistently (finally!) and I am trying to learn more about hockey.

I loved Johnny Weir's short program, because it was more than a bunch of jumps sort of strung together in the first two minutes of the program. Sandra Bezic said that as a skater, he has a lot of respect for the purity of it, which is starting to really show in his programs.

[cassiesmom]

Once again I loved Johnny Weir's program. I thought his score was too low. The commentators said that the problem seemed to be how it was choreographed before and after the jumps. Looked good to me...

But Naperville's own Evan Lysacek got the win! YEAAAAAH! He deserved to win. I liked where they showed him watching the scores and figuring out that he was the winner.

[Grace]

At the age of 71, Frank Carroll has coached his first Olympic Gold winner!!!

And Laurie Nichols, choreographer, had 2 Golds this year - Evan and the Chinese pair

[K9karen]

At the age of 71, Frank Carroll has coached his first Olympic Gold winner!!!

And Laurie Nichols, choreographer, had 2 Golds this year - Evan and the Chinese pair

I was ecstatic for Frank Carroll! Woo! Woo! for Evan!
As the camera was on Evan before he was announced to go to the podium, the announcer (was it Costas?) said that Plushenko stood on the top/gold podium for a second. The camera didn't show that, but I rest my case. Retire for good, ya conceited jerk. Ick, Ick, Ick.

I think Jonny Weir's performance was underscored too.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Once again I loved Johnny Weir's program. I thought his score was too low. The commentators said that the problem seemed to be how it was choreographed before and after the jumps. Looked good to me...

But Naperville's own Evan Lysacek got the win! YEAAAAAH! He deserved to win. I liked where they showed him watching the scores and figuring out that he was the winner.

Elyse, I couldn't have been more thrilled to see that Evan won! I kept a mantra going in my head all day long "fall, Plushy, fall"...Well, he didn't fall but his landings were shakey and his artistry stinks, so the judges scored things right! I can just imagine what Plushenko is saying now. All that talk about a skater can't win without a quad and he has the quad so he will win. PUHLEEZE!

From what Scott and Sandra were saying, sounds like Johnny Weir needs a new choreographer. They said his program did not have enough transitions and difficult steps going into the jumps. I thought he should've got at least a slightly higher score.

[smokey the elder]

"No quad? No problem!" congrats to Evan Lysacek. I'm glad he didn't get rattled by Plushenko's big mouth.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

"No quad? No problem!" congrats to Evan Lysacek. I'm glad he didn't get rattled by Plushenko's big mouth.

Evan = class
Plushenko = ego

I wonder if the way Plushy flaunted himself, almost mocking at, the judges helped them score him less in the artistry and over-all performance scores.

[Bonny]

I stayed awake & was crumbling about the skating coming up so late in the evening. GRRRR! Anyhow I am so glad Evan got the gold he deserved it. Then there is the Arrogant Russian with his wobbles & bobbles? Johnny Wuir skated great but like they said needed to up his program to more challenges. The crowd did boo when Johnny's scores came up & were not happy about the lower scores he received. The skater that broke his skate string & fixed it himself was exciting. He got back out there & finished. I was looking at his skates, they were worn on the sides from all their use. It is like having an old pair of shoes or boots that fit & work for you. All in all I enjoyed the whole thing. Frank Carole finally got his gold.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Hi Bonny,
I was having a little trouble staying awake until it got down to the last few skaters. And then the excitement made it hard for me to get to sleep when it was over...plus our water softener ran and kept me awake(that thing is noisy, I usually sleep through it if I'm already asleep when it runs).
Plushenko is just a big mouth.
Someone told me he is going around saying things like mens figure skating is now just dance because Evan won without a quad. Ummmm, dear Plushy, didn't anyone tell you it's called skating and under the old scoring system, which he skated under, artistry was one of the things judged strongly! And it's still judged.
Like Scott kept saying "GOE" "grade of execution"...were his jumps executed exquitely, well, fair? Fair at best! Wobbly and insecure in some spots, no beautiful run-outs on the ends of any of them. Somebody said he lands like a jack-hammer, so true!
I knew he wouldn't be a gracious loser and would have things to say!
In general, all the men did fairly well. There are some dynomo's in the future if they keep up their work ethic and growth spurts don't throw them off too much.
Lori Nicholl's(SP?) choregraphed both Shen/Zhao and Evan...I saw Shen/Zhao congratulating Evan. That was nice.

[cassiesmom]

From what Scott and Sandra were saying, sounds like Johnny Weir needs a new choreographer. They said his program did not have enough transitions and difficult steps going into the jumps. I thought he should've got at least a slightly higher score.

This might be a stupid question because I don't know anything about figure skating. But, for each jump, the skater seems to take a few beats of the music to set up the jump. He turns his body, changes his weight to one foot and bends his knee. What I don't understand is, how can the choreographer layer more difficult steps onto that, and still arrange it so the skater can prepare to jump? Do the judges allow for those few beats of preparation when they are evaluating the program?

Thanks,
elyse

Edited to add: I thought it was inappropriate for Plushenko to step up to the gold medal platform as if he wanted to show that he felt he should have won. Scott Hamilton referred to grade of execution and I don't know exactly what that means, but I could tell on a couple of the jumps that he was at a wonky angle.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

This might be a stupid question because I don't know anything about figure skating. But, for each jump, the skater seems to take a few beats of the music to set up the jump. He turns his body, changes his weight to one foot and bends his knee. What I don't understand is, how can the choreographer layer more difficult steps onto that, and still arrange it so the skater can prepare to jump? Do the judges allow for those few beats of preparation when they are evaluating the program?

Thanks,
elyse

Edited to add: I thought it was inappropriate for Plushenko to step up to the gold medal platform as if he wanted to show that he felt he should have won. Scott Hamilton referred to grade of execution and I don't know exactly what that means, but I could tell on a couple of the jumps that he was at a wonky angle.

Elyse, there are no stupid questions! I still have questions and things to learn about skating even though I've listened carefully, looked at some books and a spectators guide to jumps video!
Before this new scoring system, some skaters would take this looooong glide across the ice "telegraphing" the jump...in other words they were saying with their movement "I'm going to jump when I get to that other end of the ice".
Some skaters are better than others at doing an actual skating move and then going up into a jump. Others, I imagine, can't manage any kind of footwork or difficult entrance.
What would make a jump get higher scores and be deemed more difficult, would be for the skater to do a spiral or spread Eagle or some other move or footwork and then seemingly go up into the jump "out of nowhere". Some skaters just can't do it, and some jumps you just can't do it with very well, or very fancily.
I think it's a fine line as to how many "non difficult/artistic" steps are taken between a move that makes it a difficult entrance and the actual jump. I imagine depending on the jump, the judges have to allow that the jump can't be done "out of nowhere".

Grade of execution for jumps would be things like:
Did the skater begin revolution on the blade still on the ice or begin revolution in the air?(starting revolution on the ice is cheating a jump--something that used to get missed a lot with the old scoring system, they have video and instrant replay to check for that kind of thing now)
Did the skater complete revolutions in the air or complete the revolutions on the blade on the ice after landing?(same as above, it's cheating to land and do approx. 1/4 turn or more on the ice)
Did the skater do a difficult move before jumping?
Did the skater land with good body position(back strong, legs steady, arms in a nice position, etc), without a turn out, without a foot down or a hand down?
Did the skater have a nice run out after the jump?
Basicly, the "prettier" the landing of a jump is, and if all revolutions are done completely in the air, the higher grade of execution mark it will get.
Someone said Plushenko lands like a jack-hammer...not nicely or artisticly or steadily.

Each jump also has to be done correctly for the type of jump it is. The skater has to go up from the correct edge of the blade, etc. There are 6 jumps: toe loop, loop, flip, axle, salchow and lutz. I can recognize them all EXCEPT I can't pick out a flip froma toe loop. Axle is the only jump with a forward take off and it is an edge jump, there is no picking-in with the toe of the free leg. It is a jump that has an extra 1/2 revolution to it...i.e., a single is 1 1/2 revolutions, a triple is 3 1/2 revolutions. Salchow and loop are also edge jumps, no toe picking in to launch with. Toe loop, flip and lutz are "pick" jumps, the skaters pick in their free foot to launch with.

[cassiesmom]

I found this on You Tube. This is from the '84 Olympics. It is Yao Bin and his partner - he's now the coach for the Chinese national figure skating program that had some huge successes at the Olympics The figure skating program in China had only been in place for a couple of years and you can see them struggle -- how far things have come since then.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_V0E0JP20

[Grace]

What a piece of trash -

Yevgeny Plushenko - "You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad," the 27-year-old told Russian state television RTR.

Apparently the judges had not been notified of that . . . . .

source

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

I found this on You Tube. This is from the '84 Olympics. It is Yao Bin and his partner - he's now the coach for the Chinese national figure skating program that had some huge successes at the Olympics The figure skating program in China had only been in place for a couple of years and you can see them struggle -- how far things have come since then.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_V0E0JP20

They showed a clip of Yao Bin skating during a break in the pairs skating. I had heard before how Yao had to teach from his limited experiences and by reading books and looking at videos. Now he takes his students to different choreographers for help and other things to aid in their learning. It's amazing how far the Chinese and Japanese skaters have come over the years.

[cassiesmom]

I found this on You Tube. This is from the '84 Olympics. It is Yao Bin and his partner - he's now the coach for the Chinese national figure skating program that had some huge successes at the Olympics The figure skating program in China had only been in place for a couple of years and you can see them struggle -- how far things have come since then.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_V0E0JP20

One of the commentators points out that it takes a long time to achieve a well-established figure skating program. If I could ever meet Yao Bin, I would say mission accomplished with the two beautiful pairs teams that won medals. 26 years since he was a competitor - the commentator hit it on the head when he said it takes time to establish a program well.

Edited to add: My mom and dad got Brian Orser's autograph at a meet-and-greet.