Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Grand Prix in Review: What Have We Learned?

First, to review who just medaled at the GP Final, here’s your cheat sheet...
 
MEN:
 
GOLD: Hanyu, JPN
SILVER: Chan, CAN
BRONZE: Oda, JPN
 
Hanyu’s siiiiick score in the SP (missed 100 by thatmuch!!) helped him defeat Chan, who skated right after that SP and “only” got 87 with a fall out on the triple axel and a hot mess of a double (not triple) lutz. Oda was a best-of-the-rest case in an event where the quads were off for damn near everyone.
 
LADIES:
 
GOLD: Asada, JPN
SILVER: Lipnitskaia, RUS
BRONZE: WagnerUSA
 
A lot of us were scratching our heads at Adelina Sotnikova’s 2nd place SP finish—particularly when both Wagner and Gumbyskaia skated clean, and had more difficult 3/3 combos—but in the end, Gumby no-boned her way to silver and once again gave notice to those on Sochi watch (probably everyone reading this, right?). Wagner, for her part, “left some points on the table” as she herself said (with a fall on her lutz and a 2-footed triple loop), and it sounds like she’s planning on doing some FS re-tooling with the spins and footwork during this brief pause before U.S. Nationals.
 
PAIRS:
 
GOLD: Sav/Szol, GER
SILVER: Volo/Trank, RUS
BRONZE: Pang/Tong, CHN
 
Aha, the upset! It came just in time to make this race more interesting by Olympic time... even though I have a hard time seeing this scenario repeat itself this season. And just as I was casting doubt on Pang/Tong because of Tong’s SBS jump inconsistencies, he gets it together and Moore-Towers/Moscovitch (my bronze medal prediction) are the ones with the problems.
 
DANCE:
 
GOLD: Davis/White, USA
SILVER: Virtue/Moir, CAN
BRONZE: Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA
 
D/W got it in their first twizzle-to-twizzle with V/M of the season, but it wasn’t by as much as one might expect from a “dominating” team, so that’ll probably turn out to be a good thing for all involved. And it looked like Bob/Solo was going to make the podium a complete rerun of Worlds until... whoopsie... the ugly trip-up. You know who else is familiar with ugly trip-ups that cost them a medal? Pechalat/Bourzat. Except this time they were the ones standing by, catching the bronze in their bare hands as Bob/Solo hit the ice. (I’d say what goes around comes around except that doesn’t work in this case; the Shib Sibs were the ones that benefited from P/B’s mistake at 2011 Worlds.)

Anyhoo...
 
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THIS GP SEASON?
 
The battle for Olympic bronze is sooooo on—especially in ice dance. It appears to be advantage Bobrova/Soloviev, despite the GPF finish, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when so many teams had a legitimate shot at it. (Question for Cappillini/Lanotte fans: 4th at Worlds, but solidly in 6th at this GPF... what do you suggest for them?)
 
There’s a great future for skating—at least when it comes to the athletes themselves. All things being equal, we have good reason this season to keep our eyes peeled for the progression of Jason Brown (USA), Samantha Cesario (USA), Elena Radionova (RUS), Han Yan (CHN), and Satoko Miyahara (JPN), to name a few. I’d put Peng/Zhang (CHN) on this list too, but at age 30-something will Zhang really continue beyond this Olympics? Maybe “the future” is Peng with a new, more age-appropriate partner...
 
Is the future NOW? Lipnitskaia, aka The Best in Boneless Skating, is the most consistently good singles skater Russia has right now (male or female). I really think she is well-poised to be a spoiler in the Yuna vs. Mao quest for Olympic gold... IF she is able to withstand what’s sure to be enormous home-country pressure, that is. And another Russian on the rise, GP Finalist Maxim Kovtun, looked very much to be a threat to Plushy’s latest Olympic journey until the wheels started coming off in his past few performances. If the aforementioned pressure hasn’t already gotten to him, and he can regroup in time for next week’s Russian Championships (to be held right there in Sochi, no less!), Kovtun could make the Olympic selection committee regret the jobs with which they’ve been entrusted.
 
Who to worry about (based on GP performances): Fernandez. Amodio. Brezina. Kostner. Reynolds (because boot issues kept him from competing at all). Denis Ten (because multiple illnesses/ailments allowed him to compete only once, and he didn’t make the podium). Maybe Duhamel/Radford too? Yes, they made the GPF, but for World Bronze Medalists I don’t think they look as solid as they should at this point in the season.
 
And don’t write off the following skaters just yet: Pang/Tong. Rippon. Takahashi. Abbott. Suzuki. Oda! Nagasu! The list could probably go longer... who would you add? To this or any of these lists?
 
As the holidays approach and then pass, so are the national championships for many countries of note. Some of those dates are listed below; keep your eyes and ears open for streaming links!!
 
Japanese Nats: Dec 20-23
Russian Nats: Dec 24-27
U.S. Nats: Jan 5-12
Canadian Nats: Jan 9-15

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Want to Win a Copy of SKATING ON AIR Before 2013 Ends? Keep Reading!

(OK, this isn't a GPF wrapup/analysis either. It's coming. Promise. But first...)

I hope you're ready for another contest, because it's time for my annual book giveaway for the holidays! Whether you want a copy of Skating on Air: The Broadcast History of an Olympic Marquee Sport for a friend/family member, or still need one for yourself... this is the drawing you want to enter!

Here's how this works: 

1) I'm giving away some copies from my own paperback stash-- in other words, no Ebooks. Sorry.

2) How many I give away depends on how many entries come in.

3) If you've previously won a copy from my giveaway or someone else's, please refrain from entering this time.

4) If you win, I'll make every effort to ship it to you before Christmas (No promises on when it arrives though). And, of course, I'll sign it for you-- or for someone else if it's a gift!

5) To enter, please shoot me an email at KLawrence997-at-gmail-dot-com. Put Skating on Air 2013 Giveaway in the subject head. I'll send you back a confirmation email when I see it.

6) I plan to do the drawing NEXT WEDNESDAY EVENING (12/18).

Any questions? Please leave 'em in the Comments.

Good luck! 


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Your Chance to Win a Personalized Skate Stocking Starts Here...

Before I get to a Grand Prix Final summary/commentary... I have a quiz for you. Well, some of you. Specifically, anyone who has read my book Skating on Air: The Broadcast History of an Olympic Marquee Sport and is interested in winning a personalized Christmas stocking courtesy of SkateStocking.com!

I received a plush white figure skate from SkateStocking.com a few years back... it's a lovely gift for any skating fan. To get your own (or a black hockey skate), please answer (in the comments) the following question I pulled from the pages of SOA:

What was the name of the TV program on which Carol Heiss was interviewed in 1957... one where she recalls the cameras started setting up in her house "in the morning", and she "got to wear a new silky blue dress for the program"?

Good luck! First correct answer in the comments of this post wins!!




Wednesday, December 4, 2013

ISU Senior Grand Prix Predictions (a.k.a. Possibly the Shortest Post Ever)

The GPF is starting in a matter of hours! So let’s get right to it...

Need the Senior GP schedule? Here it is.

(And, for good measure, here’s the Junior GP schedule too... ) 

As for senior GP predictions, mine for gold-silver-bronze go like this:

Ladies: Asada, Lipnitskaia, Wagner

Men’s: Chan, Hanyu, Oda

Pairs: Volo/Trank, Sav/Szol, M-T/Moscovitch

Dance: Davis/White, Virtue/Moir, Pechalat/Bourzat


Let’s pore over all the videos and meet back here early next week!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

From Nebelhorn to Ice Challenge... The Best of the 2013 "B"'s

While we wait for the Grand Prix (and Junior GP) Final to get underway later this week, I’ve rounded up all the winners of the “B” events thus far this fall. Some I’ve discussed in previous posts; some events, such as Golden Spin of Zagreb (featuring Kim Yu-Na) haven’t happened yet. But in the interest of checking out all that has been happening around the world (OK, Europe) in the shadow of GP events, here you go.

Although I’m not including point totals with these gold-silver-bronze listings, I’ve boldfaced every finish that had a point total that would have put the skater (in theory, anyway) into the top 10 of their discipline at 2013 Worlds. There’s not a lot of them—only 12 finishes out of the 60 listed here—but it helps to separate the contenders from the rest of the pack. Please note that Tomas Verner is among them. Twice!

By the way, my predictions for the GPF itself will be up... um... sometime before the first senior event starts. Tick-tock, I know...

NEBELHORN TROPHY
MEN: Oda (JPN), Brown (USA), J.Ten (CAN)
LADIES: Radionova (RUS), Ando (JPN), Cain (USA)
PAIRS: Volosozhar/Trankov (RUS), Wende/Wende (GER), Vartmann/Van Cleave (GER)
DANCE:  Hubbell/Donohue (USA), Monko/Khaliavin (RUS), Paul/Islam (CAN)

NEPALA MEMORIAL
MEN: Verner (CZE), Mura (JPN), Liebers (GER)
LADIES: Imai (JPN), Gosviiani (RUS), Gao (USA)
PAIRS: Donlan/Speroff (USA), Martyusheva/Rogonov (RUS), Scimeca/Knierim (USA)
DANCE: Coomes/Buckland (GBR), Guignard/Fabbri (ITA), Kolbe/Caruso (GER)

FINLANDIA TROPHY
MEN: Hanyu (JPN), Voronov (RUS), Gachinski (RUS)
LADIES: Lipnitskaia (RUS), Suzuki (JPN), Tuktamysheva (RUS)
DANCE: Virtue/Moir (CAN), Chock/Bates (USA), Plutowska/Gerber (POL)

INTERNATIONAL CUP OF NICE
MEN: Verner (CZE), Menshov (RUS), Bush (RUS)
LADIES: Artemyeva (RUS), Baga (USA), Weinzierl (GER)
PAIRS: Prolss/Blommaert (GER), Calalang/Sidhu (USA), Wende/Wende (GER)
DANCE: Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA), Alessandrini/Vaturi (ITA), Monko/Khaliavin (RUS)

ICE CHALLENGE
MEN: D. Ten (KAZ), Pfeifer (AUS), Gorskov (RUS)
LADIES: Hicks (USA), Ando (JPN), Rajicova (SLO)
PAIRS: Donlan/Speroff (USA), Wende/Wende (GER), Kayne/O’Shea (USA)

DANCE: Cannuscio/McManus (USA), Beaudry/Sorensen (DEN) , Kolbe/Caruso (GER)