Comments | gowdie: Fantastic Jumps AND Fancy Footwork

gowdie

Fantastic Jumps AND Fancy Footwork

Feb 19, 2010 22:45

I was all fired up to do a post basically telling Elvis Stojko to shut the hell up, doing a point by point analysis of his rather enormous bias, but then I got distracted on YouTube. I've decided the best possible response to Stojko is video evidence of the kind of skater he will never be - a man who has it all. Athleticism, jumps, footwork, ( Read more... )

Comments 11

arabian February 20 2010, 03:50:02 UTC

On this we agree 100%.

gowdie February 20 2010, 03:56:57 UTC

The man is being embarrassing, honestly.

arabian February 20 2010, 04:56:07 UTC

Yes. I left a not too nice (profanity-laden) comment over at the ONTD thread, LOL!

gowdie February 23 2010, 02:38:45 UTC

Heh. I went looking, but couldn't find it - man that comm is busy!

What I'm curious about, is did the men who won gold over Stojko's silver have a quad? Does that have anything to do with why he is being such bittercakes?

Thread 5

jaradel February 20 2010, 04:24:55 UTC

I saw both Lysacek's and Plushenko's short and long programs. They were virtually a photo finish in the short - Plushenko skated with perhaps a touch more confidence, but 0.55 point is practically a tie, considering they both scored over 90 pts. The free skate was a totally different story. Plushenko is amazing, no lie - anyone else would have fallen where he merely wobbled. But his skate wasn't as clean as Lysacek's. He sacrificed fluidity and style for one jump that lasted what, two seconds? He based his entire program on a two-second jump, and wobbled on the landing, as well as on at least one of the triples (and dude - if you can't land your triples clean, every time, then STFU about triple jumps being a regression). Lysacek focused on putting together a coherent, fluid, and technically accurate 4 minutes and 40 seconds of skating that focused on his strengths, and milked every last point out of every second of the skate. The medals absolutely fell where they should have, and I'm not just saying that because I'm an American.

dreamylyfe February 20 2010, 04:30:04 UTC

Bravo! (I'm not an American, but this is just true facts. My favourite kind of facts)

gowdie February 23 2010, 02:36:59 UTC

Exactly, Plushenko keeps going on and on about the fact he landed a quad, and conveniently ignoring the fact that he didn't land it clean.

I think there is a point about the quad - that it is worth a lot. But it is not the only element. Plusheko had a quad, but lacked in everything else. Lysacek didn't have the quad, but skated other elements better. The person who will truly rule the rink will be the man who can do both. Which is why I'm pointing to Browning - he was that man during his reign, and that's why unless he messed up, others couldn't be him.

(The comment has been removed)

gowdie February 23 2010, 02:32:52 UTC

That's why I like Ice Dance so much - there is much more focus on dancing fluidly to the music, making it beautiful, rather than simply doing a series of tricks.

And yes, the quad is athletically impressive, which is why they get big points for it. But they also get points for everything else they do during the four minutes as well, and that's the part Elvis and Plushenko seem to be ignoring a that moment.

mrs_bombadil February 20 2010, 15:05:33 UTC

I love watching lots of bug huge jumps. I liked watching Elvis do them way back when. Athleticism most definitely has its place. There's no doubt a skater who has a quad in his arsenal has a great tool. But it doesn't matter if it's not clean. And it doesn't matter if you can't do other traditional ice skating elements like spins and footwork well, especially as they are INCREDIBLY difficult to do with precision. Doing it all with grace and beauty also means, as it does with dancers, that one has that much more stamina, strength, and physical control.

gowdie February 23 2010, 02:30:46 UTC

Exactly. Listening to Plushenko and Elvis, it seems they think the quad is the only element that counts - as opposed to one part of an entire sport. They are losing sight of the fact that yes, if you have it - you get big points for using it, but there are another four minutes to fill as well, and what you do in those four minutes also counts. Which is why I'm pointing to Browning - he landed the first quad, but he also had everything else. During his reign it's because he had the full package that unless he messed up, he couldn't be beaten.