Crest Men

[adrianchew]

No one posted?

Plushenko
Weiss
Goebel
Honda
Yagudin
Savovie

Plushenko did his 4-toe/3-toe/3-loop (step out of the 3-loop, but otherwise it looked easy).

Weiss has so much better presentation and excitement in his program compared to Goebel I'm not surprised at all he came out ahead. I wouldn't count out the possibility of Weiss winning Nationals (and I'm not even a fan).

Not impressed with Honda. Yagudin is obviously injured but what he still does he does confidently and a testament to his great skating abilities. Savovie is ok but I feel there's not enough improvement this year - his 3-axel is still not great either.

[Alexeiskate]

Tim looked really still in the upper body. I don't know if it's the choreography or because he has been out of competition, but his performance was really flat. I really hope Tim can pull it up by National and win the title.

[duane]

plushenko was the obvious winner tonight.

weiss did well. however, it's too bad that he came so close to landing the 4lutz, but then fell on the 3lutz.

good to see timmy competing again. i thought he did quite well after such a long absence. cant wait to see the mike/tim showdown at Nationals.

i just dont understand yagudin competing in this competition. why compete when the most difficult jump you can land is a 3flip? a champion like yagudin should compete to win...not simply to get a paycheck.

[Germanice]

Originally posted by duane
... i just dont understand yagudin competing in this competition. why compete when the most difficult jump you can land is a 3flip? a champion like yagudin should compete to win...not simply to get a paycheck.

Duane, obviously the audience there didn't share your opinion. From what I've heard he got a big standing O. At least to them he's a real good value! True Champions don't have to win all the time and don't even need spectacular jumps to convince and inspire ... During the past week he attended three competitons and won two of them, along with six 6.0s. Two out of three ain't that bad ... "worthy" enough for an injured Champion?

And what is wrong with Yags getting paychecks? Yes, he's quite "wealthy" now, and F...!, he deserves every penny, don't ya know he's the hardest working person in skating business? Like many others I'm not happy with his current situation and I wish he'd finally have the surgery and after that a loooonnnng rest. But then, skating is his ONLY way to earn money in this business right now. Too bad he's obviously still not "popular" enough for endorsements, not even in Canada! And there's no huge Chevy contract like Eldredge has gotten (for whatever ...!). And what do you think how long the money'll last if he really has to stop skating after his hip surgery?

Just my two cents ... and ... merry xmas! :)

Anke

[adrianchew]

Watching Yagudin alone would have been worth the price of admission to Hallmark (tickets for both events weren't the cheapest - $120-140 - I don't remember exactly). Add in rushing and driving between Detroit - Columbus - Detroit (waiting in the airport now for my flight home)... and still it was worth the trip to Hallmark! :P

Really enjoyed his short program and the interpretitive freeskate. More inspired performances than at Crest from him. I wish him the best trying to figure out what to do this year, and hopefully his injury situation will work itself out eventually.

I don't buy for a moment he competed for the money - his performance clearly indicates his desire to compete and perform for the audiences. Aleksei did not disappoint! ;)

I am still dazed obviously - duh - talked about Hallmark in a Crest topic. Ok - I'm glad he saved his best for Hallmark... Crest is a competitive freeskate and he gave it his best despite the injury... that's more than enough if you ask me!

[PAskate]

The mens' programs were fairly good at Crest. I was actually pleasantly surprised by Tim's skate. Given that he hadn't competed all season and there was little news on him, I was prepared to be disappointed. Obviously things were rough, but the jumps were there. His warm up was nothing special, so I was quite concerned that he wasn't going to hit anything. I'm glad that I was surprised. I wish that they would stop having costumes with full shirts. The shirts make him look like he still has the rounded shoulders; where if you look closely, that's almost completely gone now.

Alexei - Even with an off-night, it is still a joy to watch him skate. I did found myself wishing that he wouldn't even try any jumps. I want to continue to see him skate for years to come and didn't want him to force the jumps.

Plushenko - clearly the class of this night. While I hadn't been impressed with this program on TV. I actually enjoyed it in person. The music translates much better live, and I thought that his cheorography was much smoother than I remember. But maybe that's just the smoothness than comes with multiple performances. As it looks now, I don't see much competition for him at Europeans or Worlds.

[duane]

Originally posted by Germanice
Duane, obviously the audience there didn't share your opinion. From what I've heard he got a big standing O.

i just didnt think yagudin put much effort in this performance. i dont mean that i think he should have attempted very difficult jumps. i thought the performance was lacking in many areas. i mean, compare his Crest performance with the Hallmark performance. i got the impression that the Crest performance was more "i'll show up and go thru the motions". yes, he was highly received, but yagudin is so popular that he could simply skate around the rink blowing kisses and he'd receive a standing O.

[adrianchew]

Originally posted by duane

i just didnt think yagudin put much effort in this performance.

He held back some - he is hurting and injured after all. I respect him for merely showing up - there are tons of other skaters who would never skate even with the slightest of pains. Aleksei is not one to make excuses, unlike others.

I heard that people who didn't know about how the sport is judged went up to him after the competition to tell him he was robbed and should have won. Then he went "no, no, the judging was fair...". Like it or not, he's certainly one classy Olympic champion and when he does speak up - he gets the right message out (eg. ISU and judging).

[donnamarie]

Maybe Yagudin was holding back more at the Crest competition, knowing he still had another competition ahead of him, and not sure how his body would respond. By the time of the Crest free skate, he didn't have to hold back as much anymore. Anyway, while I wish he would stop and get the surgery, it is always a privilege to see him skate. Honestly, no matter what he said, I don't get the feeling he is in it for the money. Maybe he tried to give people an explanation they would understand. But from his expression as he takes his bows, it appears to be love for the sport that keeps him going.

[TRAxel]

Originally posted by Germanice
And what is wrong with Yags getting paychecks? Yes, he's quite "wealthy" now, and F...!, he deserves every penny, don't ya know he's the hardest working person in skating business? Like many others I'm not happy with his current situation and I wish he'd finally have the surgery and after that a loooonnnng rest. But then, skating is his ONLY way to earn money in this business right now. Too bad he's obviously still not "popular" enough for endorsements, not even in Canada! And there's no huge Chevy contract like Eldredge has gotten (for whatever ...!). And what do you think how long the money'll last if he really has to stop skating after his hip surgery?

Just my two cents ... and ... merry xmas! :)

Anke

Very well put Anke!! Why can't people just leave the poor guy alone?! This is what Alexei does for a living, he has to skate to get paid.

[duane]

traxel,
discussing ones performance, ones comments made in interviews, and ones decision to continue skating even with a serious injury are all legitimate topics of discussion.

there are those who respect yagudin's decision to continue skating even tho doing do is only making a serious hip injury worse, but i am not one of them. nor do i think any reason to continue to skate (whether the joy of skating, the desire to compete, to simply get a paycheck, or all of the above) makes the decision any smarter. however, it is yagudin's injury and yagudin's decision.

regarding yagudin's Crest performance, people have given their theories of why he held back. well, i have my own as well! ;) i think yagudin loves to win (not a criticism), but was very much aware that his chances of winning Crest--especially with plushenko competing and with there being no limit of the number of jumps one can land--were nil, so there was no reason to give it his all. perhaps he was already thinking of the Hallmark competition the next day (where his chances of winning were much greater). again, yagudin doesnt have to skate like his typical self to satisfy most skating fans, but IMO, unless one is competing to win (especially a skater of yagudin's talent and competitiveness), one shouldnt compete, and i think Crest is one competition yagudin should have skipped (i mean, when was the last time yagudin received technical marks in the 5.3 range??).

[skatin' mom]

Was this program televised? Please don't tell me I missed it!!

[duane]

yes, skatin' mom.

this was a great weekend for figure skating fans. the Sears Open, Crest, and Hallmark competitions were all shown on Saturday, and NHK and Hallmark shown on sunday! :D