sorry

[miranda]

I did mean last years Worlds. Nats last year was just a nightmare with all the splats. Michelle could have walked on the ice and just stood there to win. Yes, Cupcake should have won Worlds last year. As for SLC, I don't care what MK fell on, she fell in th LP and her fans still insisted she was robbed. Unbelievable.

[Emanfan]

Originally posted by miranda
Yes, Cupcake should have won Worlds last year.

You either have to be kidding or I am mis-reading this sentence.

[supersk8er]

Hmm...I'm lost...Who is Cupcake?

[Emanfan]

Originally posted by supersk8er
Hmm...I'm lost...Who is Cupcake?

Elena Sokolova.

[Jess-ka]

Originally posted by supersk8er
Hmm...I'm lost...Who is Cupcake? my thoughts exactly

[IgglesII]

Originally posted by miranda
Yes, Cupcake should have won Worlds last year.

I second Emanfan's thoughts of "You've got to be kidding," and add this - can we NOT encourage Mr. Button's dumb nicknames by avoiding their usage? Either that or start using all of them, including referring to Nikodinov as "Refrigerator Break."

[miranda]

I did not mean to start a new thread. I was answering a question asked of me in the Cambell's thread and must have clicked the wrong button. But yes, Elena should have won Worlds last year. I don't know what is wrong with her this year with the weight gain and all but I'm really rooting for Sasha all the way. She is so beautiful to watch.

[elanboy]

I agree...MK will probably be known as one of the best skaters ever NOT to win an Olympic gold medal. She had her best chance in 98 and couldn't do it then. Love her skating, but there always seems a new rising star, snatching the medal away. She will be known for her great career, nonetheless, even without Olympic gold...

[miranda]

As long as she is not willing to put anything new in her programs, I feel she will have this problem. Maybe she is putting something new in Tosca for Worlds, it would be wise. It's not beating the others at Nationals, they could all splat like last year but MK probably should re-think her Worlds program and up the techs because I don't think she's gonna get a pass this year. The Japanese ladies have been getting better and better. If Michelle wins Worlds again with no major jumps, it will surprise me.

[Calgary88]

Either that or start using all of them, including referring to Nikodinov as "Refrigerator Break." :lol: :lol:

There's no way Sokolova deserved to win. Personally, I find most russian ladies' skating disappointing. They have no sense of artistry and presentation. Slutskaya has improved a great deal from her early teens, but in comparision to Cohen and Kwan? Not even close

[NoVa Sk8r]

Right on Calgary88!
There's more to skating than just landing triples or triple-triples. Many of the skaters look great because they do a flashy triple-triple (though it would be nice to see MK land one again!), but their overall skating is seriously lacking.

For me and a couple of friends that compete, the hardest and arguably most interesting parts of a program are the in-betweens, the connecting moves/steps.

In my opinion, a program is great if it is still interesting and enjoyable to watch when you take away the jumps; i.e. it's not just watching a bunch of crossovers back and forth.
This is hard to judge on TV...it's even hard to see how fast a skater is skating. But if you were at worlds, then you'd have seen these things that get missed from viewing on TV.

I also find most russian ladies' skating disappointing. I thought Russia had a deeply seated sense of theater and choreography stemming from the Bolshoi and early-taught ballet training. Why are so many Russian ladies' laybacks so abysmal?

[Calgary88]

Hey NoVa, glad to see I'm not alone. I used to preach about how the Russian ladies were overrated back on the old FSW board and no one every agreed with me! :(

The Russians are known to skate with a lot of speed, no matter which discipline. However for the ladies, I just don't get it. Why should they not have better lines, extension, and positioning, when, as you mention, they could have great ballet training.

I'm not as knowledgeable about the more techical aspects of skating, but it appears that Russian ladies tend not to have a lot of speed coming out of their jumps. Is this true, or no?

[miranda]

I somewhat agree. I said Elena for last year because if I were judging I could not have given the top medal to Sasha because she fell. Come on. I think Sasha is the best and her spins and laybacks cannot be beat. Sasha can combine artistry with techs, MK cannot. MK has very little in-betweens this year and of course, once again, no jumps. From the reports out of Japan, the ladies are also combining the two with terrific results. Yes, jumps aren't everything but it is possible to combine them. The Russian women could use more artistry but I still love to watch the height Irena gets on her jumps. The Russian men are both artistic and technical, they are the best of the best. Sorry to hear Yags is turning pro but there is still Plushy.

[momcoachsk8er]

I think Michelle deserved Nationals and Worlds last year. Especially Worlds. She skated 2 clean , well choreographed programs with few x- overs, great connecting steps and good height on jumps and better speed on her spins. Everything was solid, perfection! I have watched her LP many times and I find little fault. She skated with passion and feeling that built through out the program. The ending was as exciting as the beginning. Sokolova was good, jumps incredible, but there was not the same connection to the music and the overall program did not have the same quality. Sasha's program was equal in quality if not a little better, but, oh , those little hiccups will kill you! That's my opinion !

[momcoachsk8er]

I would need to see Sokolova's FS again. Russian interpretation(choreo) is just not my favorite. I will take back the few x overs remark, there were a lot (I just watched it again to make sure I wasn't imagining the passion). I do however think there was a great deal of passion in her(Michelle's) LP performance , the short was more business like but she got the elements done. Does anyone have a link to Elena LP last year?

[miranda]

Anytime I hear someone say "skated a clean skate" my reaction is "oh, they decided not to do any major jumps". Bondo, I agree, Elena should have won last year. MK should rethink everything. Ota will be there in 2006.

[momcoachsk8er]

Rethink.................hummmmmmmmmmmmm, I want to rethink 7 national titles, 3-4 world titles(I don't have an acurate #) and 2 Olympic medals. As far as skating safe, I think she skates smart, and should she need the triple triple, I believe it will be there. She has done it in the past. There are soooooo many injured skaters now because of all those combinations, why risk. She is well trained and nows her self and what she is capable of..........I would rather see her clean , safe program then the countless jumpfest skaters that can't feel the music!

[miranda]

Ah... why risk? maybe because she will have to in order to beat the Japanese in 2006, just a thought. She won all those titles under the old 6.0 rules and at a time nobody was doing the major jumps. Until the recent Japanese talents started competing, there was only Midori and Tonya. Call it extreme skating, dangerous, whatever, it's here.

[Smiley0084]

Yeah, and many of those "jumps" the Japanese have are underrotated or two footed. Yeah, and the only Japanese to get top 5 at worlds this year, got there based on her presentation. Sokolova got just what she deserved. Her program had zero choreography, her stroking is still on the junior level (very choppy and laboured) and her spins and positions leave much to be desired. This sport is called figure SKATING, not figure JUMPING.

[NoVa Sk8r]

Well said Smiley.

I don't know about the rest of you posting here, but I was at Worlds, watching the ladies' programs rink level (benefits of being a volunteer!). To say that MK showed no emotion is just plain silly.
Even during the practices, Michelle's stroking and edges were better than most. (I think maybe Costner's were superior.)

Interestingly, the new system may favor Michelle's conservative approach. That's not a good thing, cuz she needs to kick her skating up a notch:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031024/ap_on_sp_ot/fig_skate_america_4

[JDC1]

How absurd. Sorry I understand we have differing opinions and I'm normally not this blunt but you've got to be so biased you cannot even see straight to really think Elena S should have beaten Michelle last year.

[miranda]

Say it again Bondo. Just say no to boring skating. Stamp out snore skating where-ever you see it. Don't expose young children to this mess. lol