figure skating worlds
I'm a little behind, but I mostly finished watching Worlds. I skipped ice dance. I'll probably go back sometime to watch it, but it was a higher priority for me to see the men's and ladies'.
I watched pairs, too. I'm glad the German team won. Their music drives me bonkers because I've seen their program *so* many times this year, but they really deserved to win. I'm kinda eh about both Chinese teams. I want Shen & Zhao back. *sigh*
I'm not sure what to say about ladies. It was kind of a mixed bag. I think Asada won appropriately. Her wipeout was pretty spectacular and the fact that she skated a top notch program after that was pretty amazing. Like the commentators, I was surprised by Nakano's placement. I think this scoring system is really getting out of hand. Now it's practically impossible for the average person to figure out who had the best performance, every second is analyzed so much.
I'm not a super huge Kostner fan, but I'm glad she finally got her act together this year. I'm almost inclined to say she's too tall (5'6), but she makes it work.
I don't have much to say about the American contingent. At least all those little girls will be old enough to go to Worlds next year. Unless Meissner really turns things around, she won't get that gift of a spot like she did this year, especially since there will only be two up for grabs. I will acknowledge that she was the highest-placed US skater, among the three ladies, but seventh place is still not something to get excited about for someone who won two years ago.
The turn out for Ando was sad. I made a comment to J before it all started that maybe she'd fall flat on her face. She's always seems either hot or cold to me, in terms of her skating ability. At least she figured out that she should stop and let herself heal.
The way men's turned out was weird. Poor Verner with a disastrous performance. Poor Lambiel and his triple axel. Poor Takahashi and whatever the heck happened with him. I could have taken Buttle or Joubert winning, so I was happy with the result. I still don't see Weir as a champion. I'm glad he finally medaled, though. I think he would have been much more competitive if Lysacek were there too.
I was looking at the score breakdown (because I'm just that much of a nerd). I'd been thinking during the broadcast that they never talk about these wrong edge takeoffs for men, and they always harp in them for ladies. I thought maybe the men just don't have that problem. It turns out they do. I guess the commentators are so busy discussing who is going to do a quad, they don't have time to talk about what edge they're taking off on.
I'll be interested to see what happens to TV broadcasts of figure skating after the 2010 Olympics. Apparently, NBC is only contracted to do Worlds for next year. Maybe I'll just have to join the masses and watch it online.
I watched pairs, too. I'm glad the German team won. Their music drives me bonkers because I've seen their program *so* many times this year, but they really deserved to win. I'm kinda eh about both Chinese teams. I want Shen & Zhao back. *sigh*
I'm not sure what to say about ladies. It was kind of a mixed bag. I think Asada won appropriately. Her wipeout was pretty spectacular and the fact that she skated a top notch program after that was pretty amazing. Like the commentators, I was surprised by Nakano's placement. I think this scoring system is really getting out of hand. Now it's practically impossible for the average person to figure out who had the best performance, every second is analyzed so much.
I'm not a super huge Kostner fan, but I'm glad she finally got her act together this year. I'm almost inclined to say she's too tall (5'6), but she makes it work.
I don't have much to say about the American contingent. At least all those little girls will be old enough to go to Worlds next year. Unless Meissner really turns things around, she won't get that gift of a spot like she did this year, especially since there will only be two up for grabs. I will acknowledge that she was the highest-placed US skater, among the three ladies, but seventh place is still not something to get excited about for someone who won two years ago.
The turn out for Ando was sad. I made a comment to J before it all started that maybe she'd fall flat on her face. She's always seems either hot or cold to me, in terms of her skating ability. At least she figured out that she should stop and let herself heal.
The way men's turned out was weird. Poor Verner with a disastrous performance. Poor Lambiel and his triple axel. Poor Takahashi and whatever the heck happened with him. I could have taken Buttle or Joubert winning, so I was happy with the result. I still don't see Weir as a champion. I'm glad he finally medaled, though. I think he would have been much more competitive if Lysacek were there too.
I was looking at the score breakdown (because I'm just that much of a nerd). I'd been thinking during the broadcast that they never talk about these wrong edge takeoffs for men, and they always harp in them for ladies. I thought maybe the men just don't have that problem. It turns out they do. I guess the commentators are so busy discussing who is going to do a quad, they don't have time to talk about what edge they're taking off on.
I'll be interested to see what happens to TV broadcasts of figure skating after the 2010 Olympics. Apparently, NBC is only contracted to do Worlds for next year. Maybe I'll just have to join the masses and watch it online.