Hello Again!

Hello everyone! I am back from my vacation and ready to blog!!

I am so happy that worlds are going to be held in Moscow in late April/early May.  It really was the best option for everyone.  Also, a big thank you to Putin (...) for expediting the visa process and covering all costs of this competition.  In a way, these dates for worlds are better for me, because I would have been away when worlds were supposed to have happened.  Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing everyone at worlds, especially V/M and Kim, as they have not competed (well sort of...) this season yet.  Overall, I hope this rescheduling of Worlds doesn't mess up the skaters' fragile minds!  Good luck to everyone, and I will be trying to cover the event as much as I can watch.

Anxiously Waiting

This delay on the decision on Worlds is killing me! The only official press releases by the ISU talk about when the next press release is coming - none give actual information.  However, this gives me hope that the ISU is actually scrambling to find a new location ASAP.  OTherwise, I feel like the ISU would have already cancelled Worlds.  If Worlds do end up being cancelled, I'm going to be really pissed off, as they could have told us this 4 days ago.  The only information we have is that they may be in October.  There are many reasons why this is not a good idea.

1. This is way after the end of the 10/11 season, and skaters would have no off-season
2. Skaters would not have time to prepare new programs, unless they decided to debut new programs for worlds
3. This is right before the GPS, so we would see many skaters taking the GPS off
4. Would 2012 worlds still be in March?
5. One of the main reasons for this is because of shows.  THIS is their job, the shows are for the offseason.  Worlds > Shows.

So, in conclusion, Worlds needs to happen before May, and probably in a European country.

If anyone sees new information, send me a link!

skateskates1@gmail.com

Praying for Japan

With all of the tragedies that have occurred in the past few days, I would like to take a moment and do a post on Japan.  From the Earthquake to the Tsunami, and now the Nuclear Power Plant, things are not looking good for Japan at the moment.  Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, etc., the Japanese skaters seem to be fine, so that's one less thing to worry about.  But I don't know if holding worlds in about ONE week is enough time or the best idea for Japan.  They just got hit by three huge disasters, and the effects of each one has led to another disaster.  The ISU seems to have reconsidered their position on proceeding with worlds as scheduled, due to possible radiation, which is an excellent idea.  Either postponing worlds or moving it to a different location may be the best options for now, unless Japan cleans everything up, there are not more aftershocks, and all transportation is back to normal in the next week.  This is a very difficult task, so I believe it would be smarter just to postpone to April for now.

Until then, we can only pray for the people of Japan, and especially the skaters and their families.

So Sad :(

I am very sad that Laura Lepisto had to withdraw from worlds, and I hope this isn't the end to her relatively short career.  Lepisto and Korpi were starting to put Finland on the map for contenders at major competitions, and even had a change to score 3 spots at worlds, which will not happen now.  I don't know if they will keep their 2 spots, but hopefully they will in case Lepisto does come back next year.  I don't want her to be one of those skaters who always has some type of injury, so I think she should take it easy for a couple of months, heal completely, and then comeback strong next season.

However, this bodes well for the U.S. getting 3 spots back.  Although it is always sad to see someone hurt, positives can come out of this.  The U.S. now has a greater chance for those spots, as Lepisto was almost guaranteed to place higher than Flatt no matter how many triples she attempted.  Now I can see Czisny placing at least 5th, and Flatt placing 8th, which gives us those spots.  Flatt may even place 7th, depending on how Phaneuf, Korpi, etc. skate.

We can still appreciate Lepisto's skating, thanks to youtube.  Here is her SP from Skate Canada in 2007, where she placed ahead of World Silver Medalist Mao Asada as an unknown:

Pick of the Day - March 6

I have been looking for this performance for ever on youtube, and I'm so happy I have finally found it.

It is Shizuka's QR skate from 2004 worlds, and I actually prefer it to her gold medal winning performance in the final LP.  The camera work is slightly distracting, but the picture itself is clear.  Although she doubled her opening lutz, both of her 3Ts in combination looked better rotated than in the final round, and her triple loop-double loop combination was gorgeous.

Junior Worlds

I did have a chance to see a few videos from Jr worlds, although they were pretty low quality so my observations may not be totally correct.  My overall impression, though, is that there has been some high-quality performances across all disciplines, but the ladies field seems to be particularly strong this season.

I really like all of the Japanese ladies at junior worlds, but my favorite is Risa Shoji.  She has effortless speed and nice interpretation, but all of her jumps seem to be borderline, with the exception of her sal and toe.  I also like Oba, but her use of arms is slightly distracting and could be toned down.  The Russian babies were also great, but I was expecting that.  I really enjoyed both the performances of Liza and Adelina, but I think that Liza should be leading by a little as Adelina's 3-3 was under-rotated.  That said, Adelina's spins are better so I guess it evens out.  Shelepen has improved a lot, but something I have noticed with all of the Russian girls is their awful layback position.  Dick Button would be having a heart attack if he saw all of these girls turned in, drooping free legs.  It looks ok when Zijun Li does it - it looks like her leg is supposed to be there, but the Russian girls' laybacks are just not aesthetically pleasing.  The Americans also brought it, especially Gao.  Hicks' flip was huge, but the toe was sketchy and downgraded.  Her other two jumps were okay, but not landed with the confidence she had at nationals, which is understandable when you are kicking off the entire group at your first international!  Agnes's costume is awful, but I actually liked her program better than nationals even though there were a few minor mistakes.

In the pairs, Sui and Han were the best technically, but I prefer the style of Takahashi and Tran.  That is all I have to say for now :)

I want to do a post but...

Hi everyone! (haha as if anyone reads this)  I just wanted to let you know that I WANT to do a blog on JR worlds, but I have yet to come across any youtube videos OR live streams (I have a mac).  If anyone knows of any links, they would be greatly appreciated.  Hopefully SOMETHING will show up on youtube sooner or later, because I really want to know what is going on, and I feel out of it not being able to see anything.  Luckily, the events I am the most interested in (Ladies, Mens) have not started yet, so I'm not super upset, but it would be nice to see some of the top Pairs and Dance...

Anyway, you can email me or post on my blog if you see anything.  The address is skateskates1@gmail.com if you didn't know already.

Thanks for your help in advance!