If US doesn’t have 3 men that can reasonably earn 3 spots this year , then hey, we probably don’t need them. I don’t need to see a Camden/jimmy/jacob/whoever fall 3 times in the freeskate (or not even make the freeskate) at the Olympics.
Camden needs to get real and realize that he simply cannot do it all at once, work and compete at an elite level. Camden is such a beautiful skater, you just want to see him do well!!! Nathan Chen is an anomaly, so is Yuzuru Hanyu. Most people just cannot be the best and balance both things. It's unrealistic and he should decide if he's in or not.
I watched Anthony's TH-cam channel, he landed 3A at one of the practices at one of his JGPs. He showed his makeup routine and also did the makeup for one of the pair girls too, he could market that more on social media to fund working with Rohene. It would be cool to see him do solo dance just for fun.
Dave tried to get behind Kaori the last few years, but he can't take it anymore. Lol The fact is Wakaba has always been more talented, but Kaori has always had the Fed support for some inexplicable reason. Their careers really highlight the unfortunate political importance of Fed support on judging.
Kaori's speed is incredible, Wakaba's can be great but it's about consistency. I remember when Kaori had that Aladdin program, she was just charming but even as a youngster, the quality of her edge was evident. I think Japanese reward consistency more than anything else and it's seen as unfair, in general, to reward someone who doesn't show the same as others. They were very fair to Wakaba this season and she earned it.
@@timothy2491 When your Fed backs you so that your wrong edge isn't called, you routinely get away with URs, and you are grossly overscored in PCS and GOE, being consistent isn't that hard. Especially when your competition realizes what's going on and knows they must be beyond perfect, especially the other Japanese girls. This leads to more mistakes by them, while Kaori knows she has a cushion.
@ArohaStill Wakaba often has faster top speed than Kaori at Nationals. Kaori just emphasizes speed throughout her program because she is not very graceful, has poor musicality, posture and upper body movement. Speed is just one of many aspects of skating skills. Constant speed is just a style choice, and not inherently superior to a slower more graceful, coordinated or musically aware style. This isn't speed skating. Fed supported overscoring leads to consistency since they don't call out your flaws.
Dave is right that Wakaba got screwed over on that Olympic selection. She was Japan's best skater that year and the only one that actually qualified for GPF. She skated well at Nationals despite huge pressure from being a favorite, really only making 2 mistakes. Meanwhile Kaori was under the radar and got unheard of scoring generosity for a first year senior from JSF.
@hannibaljustincase9985 The irony was that she was in her 16 year old first season, but they blamed her instead of Satoko who could have waited to get surgery until after Worlds. Satoko skated on it at Nats, but knew she would be on the Oly team no matter what. So she got surgery early instead of making sure they got 3 spots first. So they blame the first year girl? Lol
@@hannibaljustincase9985 They hated her since juniors. Satoko getting early surgery for a relatively minor injury instead of going to World's was more to blame than a first year senior that was 16 that season.
@@hannibaljustincase9985 That wasn't her fault. She was in her first season as a 16 year old. JSF hated her from when she was a junior. The more senior Japanese skaters were the one's to blame.
It was between her and Kaori and I think JSF felt kaori was going to peak well and may be a better long term investment. Kaori and Wakaba actually did similar at olympics (kaori) and worlds (wakaba).
Interesting that Dave thought Kaitlyn O's commentary was the best at Canadians. I thought she was the worst, especially in the short program, where all she did was praise each skater. Free program was a bit better. I thought KMT's commentary has really improved -- she actually did enlighten me on some of the rules. I like Kevin's commentary -- very incisive and to the point. I was really impressed with the women's event -- best we've seen in years, whereas the men's event was the worst I have ever seen.
Thanks for the distraction! I had previously wondered why Nolan had a canopy bed with no canopy, but now I see it is there to have a place to hang shopping bags! 🤣🤣🤣 (Hopefully that makes you both laugh.)
With the 2026 Olympic being in Milan, the ISU judges are already bending over backward to uplift Daniel Grassl. (Notice his score at the Universidad.) With the return of a Russian skater, that would be two receiving favorite treatment. They are also trying to uplift Yuma. So Ilia is going to have his work cut for him. It won't be given to him. We've seen that recently with downgrades.
Daniel and Kevin both tend to receive extremely generous scoring (Daniel because his underrotations and cheated or unaesthetic jumps aren't called, Kevin because of his PCS). Maybe the frontrunners for European champion have feds politicking for them and inflating their scores? I'm not sure, but they are definitely scored much more favorably than skaters like Jun, Daniel, or Kazuki who should be earning components in the high 8s or low 9s depending on how they skate. But it feels like at this point it doesn't matter how Daniel skates as long as he stays on his feet. He will probably medal at worlds. It just doesn't make sense because if you want to reward a skater with fantastic tech with rough components, then Mikhail is right there and should consistently outscoring Daniel. It's also bizarre considering his missed doping tests that he's already back?? So weird.
@@timothy2491 He definitely does skate better than Malinan lol. I didn't mean to imply that Kevin's components aren't spectacular because they are. But Kevin is scored unusually generously when he's not a disaster. For him to score above 280 with just a single quad toe and a quad in combination while skaters with comparable tech and artistry like Jun, Kazuki, Matteo, and to some extent Deniss (inconsistent quad sal) and Sota Yamamoto (not as aesthetic but great skating skills) usually score in the 160s is unusual. Kevin still has to skate well, but when he does, he's rewarded in a way comparable skaters aren't. Whoever is politicking for Kevin (and especially for Daniel) is doing a great job. Maybe this is just the European equivalent to the extra push America and Japan's top skaters get? I do enjoy Kevin's skating and it's nice to see him medal.
Ilia is the one getting all the help with his inflated PCS, you are so not paying attention. Yuma is lifting himself! Hilarious you think there is any fix in for him. Yuma is the class of the field and unequivocally the best skater in the world.
@@ArohaStill Yuma is the best skater in the world. Ilia's scores are probably 20 points too high. I think we agree? I just think that Ilia being overscored is obvious, whereas especially what's happening with the rise of Daniel Grassl needs to be studied and talked about.
Either you think the Russians are cheating and they shouldn't be allowed at all, or they arent cheating and everything should be normal. What is with all the needless criteria BS?
Oh David you are mistaken .Dikidschi made the quad Axel within the competition ! (he missed the first one , but succeded the second attempt. it was a bit preroutated , but very high and solid landing. Yeah he is the cutest boy in figure skating^^
If Jacob Sánchez pulls out a worthy 🥉 performance at Nationals then just straight to 4CC and WCh’s. Enough with the Jason preferential treatment already. He already got freebies for TWO Olympics. He is nowhere near the form that he had for the past couple of years. There are no PCS that are gonna save him if he delivers TES in the 70’s. Just dreading that, yet one more time, they’re gonna skip over a skater that earned their spot. And adding insult to injury, people are gonna pontificate nonsense when that skater understandably gets demotivated and derailed for the immediate aftermath. And we still have Ilia’s Olympic debut to see if he doesn’t suddenly implode in no small part bc USFS screwed him out of a deserved warm up Olympics.
Both Elyce and Sarah would benefit from NOT going to (edit: either JR or SR) worlds. Both have a real “dark horse” shot at the Olympics next year and for their season to end early April this year would give very little turnaround for next year. That extra month or two for preparation/development could be huge- especially for Sarah who needs to incorporate more difficulty.
Just read an NBC article than Jason Brown will not be competing this week. Ilia will win with TES and horrendous skating. The NFL sounds more appealing this weekend
@@timothy2491 her jumps are effing scary. She looks like she could face plant every time on take off and landing. It's a pity because she has so many lovely qualities. I obviously hope she can recover and be back next season but also it's not fair to the people who have competed the whole season but they are looking at the Olympic spots. Isabeau tends to have her one miracle performance a year, can she do it one more time??? Sad for her or for the woman who loses their spot.
Mone has not improved. She came out ready at the start, while all the other more experienced girls are trying to peak at the end. Her jumps are also very small.
Mone had an issue with her left ankle, which swelled up after she arrived in Italy. Apparently due to the new shoes. She does have an edge issue with her Luts, like so many others, but her jumps are getting bigger and are actually getting higher GOEs than some others, if you check closely, I think.
@hbattagl Hopefully it is just a temporary issue with her ankle. But my point is that her jumps should not get high GOE. She simply doesn't jump high enough to get more than a 3 on her jumps, no matter how well she does. Height and length of jump is one if the 3 cardinal criteria you have to satisfy to get higher than a 3. A 3 isn't bad though.
@ True. She is certainly not the jumper like Kaori or Amber, and her style isn’t that. I do, however, admire and prefer her effortless jump technique to some others’ that produce big but somewhat ‘laboured’ looking jumps. Hopefully her effort in fixing her Luts edge be rewarded soon. Thanks for the chat! 😊
@hbattagl True that good takeoff and landing position is equally important as height. Neither of those 2 should get over 3s either, for that very reason.
@@hbattaglamber should not be the example of good jump mechanics such as height and length. Just see her 3F, the amount of prerotation competes with Satoko making the jump small
Also, Sofia Samodelkina looks to be in shape to build to Olympic podium form. She can do it tbh. 1. Adelia 2. Sofia 3. Mone would be the ideal podium form me
Do you think Sofia could achieve that without a triple axel or quad? Right now, I can't see her peaking beyond 6 - 12th place by next year, but we'll see!
??? Assuming that you mean restoring “ultra c” elements, bc otherwise I don’t see it at all how she’d manage a medal with garden variety technical difficulty.
oh my god, I am Canadian and he drives me nuts. lol his voice sounds like a Newfie accent but he was raised in BC and born in New Zealand, I have no idea how that works but gosh his voice is a challenge and the bs he spews ugh
Adeliya will be the favorite for Olympic gold next season! Looking forward to the conversations pertaining to everything building to the games in Milano!
If US doesn’t have 3 men that can reasonably earn 3 spots this year , then hey, we probably don’t need them.
I don’t need to see a Camden/jimmy/jacob/whoever fall 3 times in the freeskate (or not even make the freeskate) at the Olympics.
Camden needs to get real and realize that he simply cannot do it all at once, work and compete at an elite level. Camden is such a beautiful skater, you just want to see him do well!!! Nathan Chen is an anomaly, so is Yuzuru Hanyu. Most people just cannot be the best and balance both things. It's unrealistic and he should decide if he's in or not.
I watched Anthony's TH-cam channel, he landed 3A at one of the practices at one of his JGPs. He showed his makeup routine and also did the makeup for one of the pair girls too, he could market that more on social media to fund working with Rohene. It would be cool to see him do solo dance just for fun.
Dave tried to get behind Kaori the last few years, but he can't take it anymore. Lol The fact is Wakaba has always been more talented, but Kaori has always had the Fed support for some inexplicable reason. Their careers really highlight the unfortunate political importance of Fed support on judging.
Because kaori had consistency
Kaori's speed is incredible, Wakaba's can be great but it's about consistency. I remember when Kaori had that Aladdin program, she was just charming but even as a youngster, the quality of her edge was evident. I think Japanese reward consistency more than anything else and it's seen as unfair, in general, to reward someone who doesn't show the same as others. They were very fair to Wakaba this season and she earned it.
@@timothy2491no she didn’t. Everyone in Japan sucked
@@timothy2491 When your Fed backs you so that your wrong edge isn't called, you routinely get away with URs, and you are grossly overscored in PCS and GOE, being consistent isn't that hard. Especially when your competition realizes what's going on and knows they must be beyond perfect, especially the other Japanese girls. This leads to more mistakes by them, while Kaori knows she has a cushion.
@ArohaStill Wakaba often has faster top speed than Kaori at Nationals. Kaori just emphasizes speed throughout her program because she is not very graceful, has poor musicality, posture and upper body movement. Speed is just one of many aspects of skating skills. Constant speed is just a style choice, and not inherently superior to a slower more graceful, coordinated or musically aware style. This isn't speed skating. Fed supported overscoring leads to consistency since they don't call out your flaws.
Missing Nathan more than ever!
Dave is right that Wakaba got screwed over on that Olympic selection. She was Japan's best skater that year and the only one that actually qualified for GPF. She skated well at Nationals despite huge pressure from being a favorite, really only making 2 mistakes. Meanwhile Kaori was under the radar and got unheard of scoring generosity for a first year senior from JSF.
she was "blacklisted" for losing the Olympic spot
@hannibaljustincase9985 The irony was that she was in her 16 year old first season, but they blamed her instead of Satoko who could have waited to get surgery until after Worlds. Satoko skated on it at Nats, but knew she would be on the Oly team no matter what. So she got surgery early instead of making sure they got 3 spots first. So they blame the first year girl? Lol
@@hannibaljustincase9985 They hated her since juniors. Satoko getting early surgery for a relatively minor injury instead of going to World's was more to blame than a first year senior that was 16 that season.
@@hannibaljustincase9985 That wasn't her fault. She was in her first season as a 16 year old. JSF hated her from when she was a junior. The more senior Japanese skaters were the one's to blame.
It was between her and Kaori and I think JSF felt kaori was going to peak well and may be a better long term investment.
Kaori and Wakaba actually did similar at olympics (kaori) and worlds (wakaba).
I want to see fisu and amer nationals on youtube 😭😭😭😭 i can’t find links, anyone can provide any links 🔗? even outside of youtube
Interesting that Dave thought Kaitlyn O's commentary was the best at Canadians. I thought she was the worst, especially in the short program, where all she did was praise each skater. Free program was a bit better. I thought KMT's commentary has really improved -- she actually did enlighten me on some of the rules. I like Kevin's commentary -- very incisive and to the point. I was really impressed with the women's event -- best we've seen in years, whereas the men's event was the worst I have ever seen.
Can we not sugar coat the Grassl program... the dead expressions and unpleasing lines just doesn't hit any of the visual boxes.
Thanks for the distraction! I had previously wondered why Nolan had a canopy bed with no canopy, but now I see it is there to have a place to hang shopping bags! 🤣🤣🤣 (Hopefully that makes you both laugh.)
With the 2026 Olympic being in Milan, the ISU judges are already bending over backward to uplift Daniel Grassl. (Notice his score at the Universidad.) With the return of a Russian skater, that would be two receiving favorite treatment. They are also trying to uplift Yuma. So Ilia is going to have his work cut for him. It won't be given to him. We've seen that recently with downgrades.
Daniel and Kevin both tend to receive extremely generous scoring (Daniel because his underrotations and cheated or unaesthetic jumps aren't called, Kevin because of his PCS). Maybe the frontrunners for European champion have feds politicking for them and inflating their scores? I'm not sure, but they are definitely scored much more favorably than skaters like Jun, Daniel, or Kazuki who should be earning components in the high 8s or low 9s depending on how they skate. But it feels like at this point it doesn't matter how Daniel skates as long as he stays on his feet. He will probably medal at worlds. It just doesn't make sense because if you want to reward a skater with fantastic tech with rough components, then Mikhail is right there and should consistently outscoring Daniel. It's also bizarre considering his missed doping tests that he's already back?? So weird.
@@zackwilson8701i don't think kevin is overscored in pcs. He skates better than malinin.
@@timothy2491 He definitely does skate better than Malinan lol. I didn't mean to imply that Kevin's components aren't spectacular because they are. But Kevin is scored unusually generously when he's not a disaster. For him to score above 280 with just a single quad toe and a quad in combination while skaters with comparable tech and artistry like Jun, Kazuki, Matteo, and to some extent Deniss (inconsistent quad sal) and Sota Yamamoto (not as aesthetic but great skating skills) usually score in the 160s is unusual. Kevin still has to skate well, but when he does, he's rewarded in a way comparable skaters aren't. Whoever is politicking for Kevin (and especially for Daniel) is doing a great job. Maybe this is just the European equivalent to the extra push America and Japan's top skaters get? I do enjoy Kevin's skating and it's nice to see him medal.
Ilia is the one getting all the help with his inflated PCS, you are so not paying attention. Yuma is lifting himself! Hilarious you think there is any fix in for him. Yuma is the class of the field and unequivocally the best skater in the world.
@@ArohaStill Yuma is the best skater in the world. Ilia's scores are probably 20 points too high. I think we agree? I just think that Ilia being overscored is obvious, whereas especially what's happening with the rise of Daniel Grassl needs to be studied and talked about.
Either you think the Russians are cheating and they shouldn't be allowed at all, or they arent cheating and everything should be normal. What is with all the needless criteria BS?
The russian girls dont look 'grown'. Especially eteris girls. So i doubt those athletes are clean
@timothy2491 Does Mone Chiba look "grown" to you? Lol
Sandra could give her the Tara lipinski free program re-invented (old skated related!).... how we make this happen
Oh David you are mistaken .Dikidschi made the quad Axel within the competition ! (he missed the first one , but succeded the second attempt. it was a bit preroutated , but very high and solid landing. Yeah he is the cutest boy in figure skating^^
Rion ahead of Mone is not good for Mone's worlds campain, she showed weakness here
Mone will have a chance for redemption at 4CC although she’s definitely going to face stiff competition from Chaeyeon.
If Jacob Sánchez pulls out a worthy 🥉 performance at Nationals then just straight to 4CC and WCh’s.
Enough with the Jason preferential treatment already. He already got freebies for TWO Olympics. He is nowhere near the form that he had for the past couple of years. There are no PCS that are gonna save him if he delivers TES in the 70’s.
Just dreading that, yet one more time, they’re gonna skip over a skater that earned their spot. And adding insult to injury, people are gonna pontificate nonsense when that skater understandably gets demotivated and derailed for the immediate aftermath.
And we still have Ilia’s Olympic debut to see if he doesn’t suddenly implode in no small part bc USFS screwed him out of a deserved warm up Olympics.
Bring back Nathan. Nolan was ready to go to sleep during the show!!! Nolan please take a snap before the show.
Both Elyce and Sarah would benefit from NOT going to (edit: either JR or SR) worlds. Both have a real “dark horse” shot at the Olympics next year and for their season to end early April this year would give very little turnaround for next year. That extra month or two for preparation/development could be huge- especially for Sarah who needs to incorporate more difficulty.
Sadly, that would leave us with Bradie... and she is a skater from days gone by.
Just read an NBC article than Jason Brown will not be competing this week. Ilia will win with TES and horrendous skating. The NFL sounds more appealing this weekend
Horrendous skating😂😂😂... Unfortunately
NFL Lol
Roman was so slow it was painful to watch.
Jun Wa is so boxy and his triple axel is sooo delayed. He has not gotten better.
I wouldn’t be too surprised if isabeau doesn’t come back until next season. It will be sad if so but her radio silence has me not feeling good
The gig is up. People keep ignoring her jumps
@@timothy2491 her jumps are effing scary. She looks like she could face plant every time on take off and landing. It's a pity because she has so many lovely qualities. I obviously hope she can recover and be back next season but also it's not fair to the people who have competed the whole season but they are looking at the Olympic spots. Isabeau tends to have her one miracle performance a year, can she do it one more time??? Sad for her or for the woman who loses their spot.
This nationals is getting less and less exciting. Hope isabeau and Jason both make the world team
Brown has zero business being on the world team. He has zero chance of even finishing in the top 10 this year.
Mone has not improved. She came out ready at the start, while all the other more experienced girls are trying to peak at the end. Her jumps are also very small.
Mone had an issue with her left ankle, which swelled up after she arrived in Italy. Apparently due to the new shoes. She does have an edge issue with her Luts, like so many others, but her jumps are getting bigger and are actually getting higher GOEs than some others, if you check closely, I think.
@hbattagl Hopefully it is just a temporary issue with her ankle. But my point is that her jumps should not get high GOE. She simply doesn't jump high enough to get more than a 3 on her jumps, no matter how well she does. Height and length of jump is one if the 3 cardinal criteria you have to satisfy to get higher than a 3. A 3 isn't bad though.
@ True. She is certainly not the jumper like Kaori or Amber, and her style isn’t that. I do, however, admire and prefer her effortless jump technique to some others’ that produce big but somewhat ‘laboured’ looking jumps. Hopefully her effort in fixing her Luts edge be rewarded soon. Thanks for the chat! 😊
@hbattagl True that good takeoff and landing position is equally important as height. Neither of those 2 should get over 3s either, for that very reason.
@@hbattaglamber should not be the example of good jump mechanics such as height and length. Just see her 3F, the amount of prerotation competes with Satoko making the jump small
Also, Sofia Samodelkina looks to be in shape to build to Olympic podium form. She can do it tbh. 1. Adelia 2. Sofia 3. Mone would be the ideal podium form me
Do you think Sofia could achieve that without a triple axel or quad? Right now, I can't see her peaking beyond 6 - 12th place by next year, but we'll see!
??? Assuming that you mean restoring “ultra c” elements, bc otherwise I don’t see it at all how she’d manage a medal with garden variety technical difficulty.
@ well ofc. She restored her 3A 7 months ago then lost it. She’s fully capable to restoring her 3A and or 4Salchow
😂:neither
My impression of Canada after Ted's announcing is that Canada is a nation of slow flakes.
oh my god, I am Canadian and he drives me nuts. lol his voice sounds like a Newfie accent but he was raised in BC and born in New Zealand, I have no idea how that works but gosh his voice is a challenge and the bs he spews ugh
Never mind about the withdrawals from US nationals. I love your weekly recaps but Nolan yawning every 2 min is hard to watch.
Adeliya will be the favorite for Olympic gold next season! Looking forward to the conversations pertaining to everything building to the games in Milano!
Haha. Doper #1 probably 😂
@ you wish lmao. How does it feel being a living skid mark?
She would be gone by that time 😂
The sr Russian ladies field is staggering