Figure Skating Chat!- Page 31

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 11:43pm

OMG I have just seen skating like I have never ever seen before. This is why he has the gold. Of course I'm talking about Plushenko's exhibition program. I have never seen that much passion and feeling for music, nor the sheer quality of skating. No one, as far as I'm concerned, is in his league.

Arms flailing shmailing.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 11:59pm

Isn't it amazing how relaxed all of them were while the skated. They all looked like they were enjoying themselves. Isn't it funny what taking the judges away does!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/25/06 at 12:25am

I said this about the pairs, men's, ice dance(though thinking about it now, it's better) and now I will say it about the ladies and the exhibition.

I just think that Salt Lake City was better. Not to tarnish all that was accomplished here in Torino, but that's really my overall thoughts.

VIETgrlTerifa, you mentioned about Todd Elderedge skating with Stars on Ice on season. Is that perhaps why the USFSA was upset with him about something? I know he had talked about coming out of retirement and competeing at the 2003 Nationals, and there was some controversy and I thought maybe that had something to do with it. Or it might just have been that they were tired of him.

Jane2, you're right! Plushenko showed something that he didn't show in the competition.


A though! Isn't it interesting or unfair or something that at this Olympics quads weren't "needed" so to speak for a medal. With this new code Todd could have done better programs at the 2002 Olympics and could have really been rewarded for them.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/25/06 at 7:16am

And a triple-triple combination wasn't necessary for the ladies.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/25/06 at 3:33pm

BTW, wasn't Kimmie SO CUTE on Olympic Ice? She asked Dick Button if he believed that she could win a medal at the next Olympics. And then she talked about the celebration she had with her family at a pizza place. She was just so cute!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/25/06 at 10:27pm

Something to think about!

Kimmie and Emily have already announced that they plan to go for 2010.

Sasha said the same thing in 2002 and she followed through.

Michelle said the same thing in 1998 and followed through.

I can't imagine this next quad without Michelle or Sasha......especially Sasha! Hopefully they will stay!

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 1:50pm

I think Sasha wants to go to 2010, but I'm not sure if she'll stay motivated. I'm hoping that Czisny works HARD on her jump technique because she doesn't look Juniorish unlike Meissner and Hughes. However, that's a lot harder said than done. I'm hoping Bebe Liang will kick butt in the next couple of years. I felt she was robbed of a spot on the World team last season, and it's a shame she had a meltdown at Nationals and lost the gold at Four Continents because I feel she has a lot of talent. I think the next quad will be a Japanese/U.S fight in ladies with Yu Na Kim of South Korea being a huge contender and maybe Yan Liu of China.

If Kwan decides to stay, I totally seeing her trying for one last season just to retire on a high note...and to go for that 10th National title and get the world record all to herself. However, I really can't see her body holding up until 2010 unless Kwan's injury recovers in a way that makes her competitive for the gold in Vancouver.

We do know that Fumie Suguri will continue to 2010, and I think her 4th place finish at Torino despite good clean performances will make her work even harder on her stretch and bodyline. I think that's the only thing she lacks compared to the other ladies because she's one of my favorites. Four years ago, Sasha Cohen and Fumie Suguri were pretty equal when they competed with Sasha having great stretch and body line and Fumie having excellent basic skating skills and power on the ice. I felt Sasha was sort of cold whearas Fumie was warm. However, in the past 4 years you knew that Sasha improved on her weaknesses tremendously while Suguri hasn't improved as much as Sasha and it showed in Torino.

[LaurenB]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 5:53pm

Anybody catch Dick Button's comments today? He thought that Plushenko was a great jumper, but he did not consider him to be a great skater. I was also surprised to hear Bezic reiterate what David said about Arakwawa being the most talented skater in the competition. Oh, I'm going to miss Olympic Ice!

By the way, is Peggy Fleming's Grenoble performance available on any of those compilation tapes? Her performance at the Nationals that year was better, does anyone know if that is available?

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:24pm

"Anybody catch Dick Button's comments today? He thought that Plushenko was a great jumper, but he did not consider him to be a great skater"

Boy that's a far cry from how he carried on during Plushenko's exhibition program. I think he must have fallen off his chair with the way he was raving about the way he skates.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:35pm

I know this is going to sound morbid, but I hope Dick Button is around for the next Olympics...he's getting up there. Even if he is a little effusive at times, it's great to have someone around who skated as far back as the 1948 Olympics!

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:38pm

Oh definitely, I want him around. He's the only commentator I can take seriously. He's a breath of fresh air. Well.... maybe not that fresh really.

I didn't say that.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:43pm

Actually, he CAN be kind of "fresh"...he's sometimes rather blunt about how bad somebody is performing. I just hope I'm as coherent as he is when I'm 77!

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:44pm

thanks for not noticing that when I said not so fresh I was referring to his age....

oops! (covers hand with mouth)

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:48pm

I knew what you meant. I was just "changing the subject" sorta kinda.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:31pm

I LOVE Dick Button! That's what I love about looking about at older skating tapes......you can hear his voice and it can make you feel familiar!

Glad to hear that about Fumie! I love her as a skater! With a lot of those Japanese girls just having jumps(like Yoshie Onda), Fumie can offer more!

I just can't imagine skating without Michelle or Irina! As long as I have followed it, they have been there!
I do think that Michelle will go for that 10th title and then take it from there. Maria B. :) from Russia was 29 at the 2002 Olympics and she was a contender and finished 6th.

I hope Sasha continues in skating. I mean a skater of her talent and caliber should have more than 1 national title, and a WC title or two. She ought to stay in. I mean, she would probably just go to shows after that, so she ought to stay :)

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:37pm

Did you guys watch the Closing Ceremonies?

John Baldwin lifted Rena again :)! It's nice to see that they stayed around and enjoyed the Olympics!

Kimmie, Emily and Sasha were all there! And they interviewed Sasha! I think they said that Evan was there too!

The Japanese Athletes all Lifted Shizuka and she proudly displayed her gold medal, as if to say "we only won 1 medal, but it was THE MOST IMPORTANT medal of the entire Olympics!"

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:41pm

Did you guys hear something about a scandel with Skating with Celebrities, in which Llyod Eisler and Kristi Swanson had an affair and he ultimately left his pregnant wife for her? That's what I read on a message board, not sure if it's true though. I could sense that Kristi was really into this competition and really wanted to do well!

Wouldn't that be interesting if they started doing ice shows together? I'm pretty sure that Isabel Brassuer, Llyod's Partner, is basically retired since they had something called their "farewell" tour about a year ago. I'm sure that Kristi would get more offers for that than she would in movies!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:11pm

More Skating Gossip Questions!

Okay I just read some stuff on MSN, like "top 10 Olympic Moments" and Tanith and Ben's Ice Dance Silver was one and it said that they were a team "off and on" the ice. Is this true? Ben is actually one of the guys that I wouldn't think is gay, but I just wouldn't think that Tanith would date him(yes that is being totally Superficial!). Anyways, I would love it if that were true! I love it when teams are in a relationship!


Does anyone know how Sarah Hughes felt about Robin Wagner taking on Sasha Cohen? Should she have attempted to make a run for these Olympics, it would have been almost "unspeakable" for Robin to coach both Sarah and Sasha, and I'm sure neither would have wanted it that way either. Even though Sasha left Robin in plenty of time, I wonder if that influenced Sarah's Decesion in some way? Updated On: 2/27/06 at 02:11 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:31pm

I believe Tanith and Ben are not an item off the ice. In the interviews I've seen they refer to being involved with other people.

I watched a whole bunch of past skating clips over the weekend and totally forgot that Sarah Hughes participated in the 2003 nationals and worlds but didn't fare too well. That was also the season that Ye Bin Mok did a beautiful short program to the same music that Johnny Wier skated to. I felt she was scored too low and it was ironic to see just how "subjective" the former skating system was.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how Michelle only managed a bronze at the 2004 Worlds until I saw the deductions she received for going 2 seconds over in the SP. That was the year that Arakawa won the gold (but her costume did not fit properly and she gave more of a show than I'm sure she was wanted to).

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:50pm

Dottie, that's funny! Because last night I dug out my tapes to the 2003 and 2004 WC's and watched both Michelle and Sasha! I'm going to get a dual VCR/DVD recorder and transfer them to DVD!

Yeah, Michelle actually did place 2nd in the LP(to Shizuka), but that 2 second deduction really hurt her, so perhaps she would have won silver, but not gold. There was also that man that went out on to the ice when Michelle was about to compete! I'm so glad that it didn't affect her at all and that she was able to laugh at it!

I remember Ye Bin Mok and that SP and her pretty layback! But Michelle, Sasha and Sarah all skater clean SP's(for the most part). She was held back, but in the end(the LP) 6th was probably right.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:56pm

I liked Sarah's short program, it was very energetic. I forgot that Michelle was moved to tears after her LP at nationals that year (due to the overwhelming response by the audience).

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 3:06pm

Yeah, her programs to "Concerto de Aranjuez" in 2003 and "Tosca" in 2004 were stunning! I especially love the peach dress that she wore in 2004!

Bolero, last year, was okay but not my favorite of hers.

I wish we could have atleast seen what her programs looked like this year! When she skated the programs at the Marshall's Cup, were those done to the music that she was using for her SP and LP this year?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 3:08pm

I didn't see the Marshall's Cup, so I'm not sure.

Bolero is not one of my favorites either.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 3:12pm

Last time I heard, Tanith and Ben are NOT a couple off-ice. I think they are close friends but both have been publically involved with other people. Ben with a former pairs skater and Tanith with Canada's Fedor Andreev. However, that's been news for a while and things could've changed.

By the time Sasha went to Robin Wagner, Sarah and Robin's relationship was strained. Robin said she called Sarah after 2003 Worlds and Sarah never called her back or something like that. Robin Wagner LOVES to air dirty laundry it seems. I can't really respect her for that. She did the same thing with Sasha after Sasha left.

2004 Worlds was such a weird Worlds for Kwan. She had an uncharacteristly BAD Qualifying Round, and then the mandatory .1 deduction on both marks for the SP for going over the time cost her big time since it wasn't cumalative, but rather place holder. A .1 deduction on both counts could've been the difference between 1st and 5th or lower. She could've went up to at least second in the SP with the marks she got (it's hard to tell since the 6.0 system was changed to anonymous panel and the marks were shown in order from smallest to biggest rather than showing the judge's pair of marks). Then there was the incident right before Kwan's free skate where that streaker who removed his clothes and pranced around the ice for like 4 minutes before the Security officials finally were able to get him off. She only managed 5 triples in that performance, but I was so happy and surprsied that she got the most 6.0s in that competition and she was one ordinal away from placing first in that LP. It was sort of a redemption for her. You can tell Kwan was angry in that performance...at herself for the bad QR, at the .1 deduction in the SP, and then the streaker before the LP. Moscow 2005 still had to be her worst Worlds though.

BTW, Shizuka's 2004 Worlds LP is still the performance of her career, IMO.


MTVMann, Llyod Eissler did leave his pregnant wife for Kristy Swanson.

Updated On: 2/27/06 at 03:12 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 3:25pm

Thanks, VIETgrl. I was wondering why Emily wouldn't have used Robin Wagner as her coach, so the strained relationship with Sarah might explain everything. I also saw the tape of Robin dissing Sasha during the Olympics.

Lloyd Eisler, what a pig.