Monday, September 16, 2013
Davis White Olympic Free Dance, Feet Only
Bobbing up and down across the ice at arms' length, multidirectional nothing, feet yards apart, half of the program lunging, a lift that's a swing along the ground and a yank onto the male's neck where they - omg - turn towards each other (counter movement!!!) rather than in the same direction, other lifts cling and climb, 110 points summer comp. #Sochigold.
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Is that a youtube? I can't view this and the SD videos.
ReplyDeleteNo, the videos are uploaded directly to the blog.
DeleteI can't get them to play either.
DeleteOkay, I'll upload them to youtube and embed. That will take a bit.
DeleteIt's taking quite some time so it (uploaded the feet one so far) may not go live until tomorrow.
DeleteThe video's private, OC. It has to be unlisted or public for people other than your contacts to see it.
DeleteChanged it.
Deleteoc
I'm sorry I keep being the bearer of bad news, but the sound and video are way way out of sync :(
Delete5:55 - nothing I can do. I'll try a bit later but youtube did some formatting of its own. Watching with the sound off gives the important information anyway.
DeleteYep, that's fine. Still a great resource.
Deletethis is ugly stuff! when do we finally get to see virtue/moir's free dance?
ReplyDeleteFinlandia Trophy in early October.
DeleteI hope you don't mind if I share another twizzle montage here, OC.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/qID4TeJ2ntM
Thought you guys might enjoy it :)
PS: Thanks for bringing much of this to my attention in the first place!
Hey, when you have Magical Wizard Hair, why not rely on the magical twizzles.
Deleteits funny how they've been doing the same twizzles for years now and they still arent synchronous
Deletebut apparently being creative, synchronized and having twizzles that travel quite a distance doesn't mean anything when you have ThE FASteST TwIZZles In THe WORRRRLLD!11!!! lol
DeleteI think the Shibs have better twizzles than them.
lol 8:16 I think a lot of teams have better twizzles than them. I love seeing how other teams have incorporated the style of the dance into their twizzles.
DeleteVirtue and Moir and the Shibs do have better twizzles than DW. If anything, DW's twizzles are punier than ever in both programs this season. It's so unfair.
DeleteDid you notice that D/W are trying to maintain the exit edge in their FD? That's why it slowed so drastically (even for them). I'd bet a greal deal of money that it won't be there come Sochi, but they'll get credit for it anyways.
DeleteIt's like they're teasing you into thinking they are going to do a third twizzle, but we all know that they would grind to a complete halt if they attempted that.
DeleteFor what it's worth I'm linking that twizzle montage here on a sidebar.
DeleteIt doesn't look as if Davis White make the hop at all in some of those, not even one of those "jerk the leg but don't leave the ice" moves they've done in the past. What constitutes a maintained running edge, and have the judges confused a hop on the exit (jerking the body vertical) with a running edge, because every time I'm looking, there is an immediate set down of the free leg. Not to mention, Virtue and Moir have raised the standard of a maintained running edge out of the twizzles, and the scoring should recognize this, versus simply piggybacking DW's scores onto what VM do, as usual.
Thank you, this really shows D/Ws mediocre edge work.
ReplyDeleteyou got that right. I wish more people can see this.
DeleteWhat kills me is that the SAME twizzles from 5 years ago are deemed worthy of higher and higher points every season. If they were at least executing them better every year I could give it a pass, but they are not better. How are they worth more now than in 2010?
DeleteThe fix is in and it's political. It has nothing to do with the skating.
I can't believe people are claiming this is difficult SKATING. They are sliding and lunging around the ice. They're skating at arms' length taking turns facing each other - you see that with beginners at skating schools. That "Counter movement" lift swings Meryl up so she lands pelvis first on Charlie's shoulder, and even then he has to nudge her into position. Then he pins her there with his arm, and when she slides into the crouched position in front of him that Tessa Virtue has done time after time for years without bracing herself against Scott, Meryl can't do it without kneeling on Charlie's leg. Then she dismounts on two feet. This is a travesty.
DeleteAnd exactly - same damn twizzles, they keep upgrading their value every single season, riding the coattails of the skaters that actually progress their twizzles.
http://www.theskatinglesson.com/day-2-u-s-international-fs-classic/
Deletewoah
"Both Voir and Marlie have displayed about the same level of variation in their twizzles for the past quad. Since 2011-12, when teams starting doing a third set, neither team has substantially changed their twizzles. Entrances change slightly and maybe there’s an extra hand motion, but that’s it. But I suspect you’re not really concerned with facts."
He kind of walked right into that.
Great job Beth! It's time this D/W nonsense gets shut down by facts.
ReplyDeleteI love that Marina gave D/W 2 joke-ass programs that let people pick this stuff apart so easily. D/W and USFSA and so sure they've got Sochi gold that they aren't even trying anymore.
Maybe they'll get it anyway. But there's no reason we shouldn't point out all season in every forum that this is nothing but an absolute scandal.
While I realize there are no jumps allowed in ice dance, at the 3 minute mark, Meryl does 2 waltz jumps (1/2 axel?) - they look like they're executed at the same level that beginner skaters learn this as their first jump. And beginner skaters don't have a partner to cling to.
DeleteA waltz jump is technically a 0Axel, I doubt that counts as a jump element
DeleteWell the Farrucas final entry sure didn't count as a twist, but the ISU still had to do something about that lol
Deletehttp://imgflip.com/i/3pkki
DeleteAnother D/W uber crumbles under the weight of having to justify D/W; check out the comments by Lori D.:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-LgTWNzkII&feature=youtu.be
Thanks for sharing that. I'm happy that on TSL and on youtube, and I hope it extends elsewhere, that people are calling out Davis White's simplistic, one-dimensional skating. It is what it is, the critique stands up to analysis, there's nobody who can legitimately claim it's on par with VM.
DeleteI've been thinking about this a lot - about why it's important for us to push back where we can. I'm not the same person who said something similar a few blog entries down- so whoever you are, I agree with you and sorry if I'm repeating some of what you said.
DeleteIf we look at this like an election - we'll never convince some people, but our target is the people in the middle. What we need to do is this. For the crazy ubers, make them hesitant to say anything too outrageous for fear of getting their ass schooled. For the moderate ubers who still say they like V/M, plant seeds of doubt. And for the people who say "well, yeah, but I still think the two teams are equal" (in response to talk that D/W are now superior) - give these people a safe space to stick up for V/M. Who knows, maybe in their heart of hearts, they already think V/M are still better.
Will we have any impact whatsover on what happens in Sochi? Maybe not. But it can't hurt, and it might be kinda fun. And maybe, somehow, it will make crowning D/W less of a walk in the park for the ISU, and perhaps further, protect a possible V/M win from the hysterical accusations of an unfair win going mainstream. If at the end, V/M get the gold and only the crazy ubers are screeching about it, will we really care, hell no.
Wow, someone's flagging the responder as spam.
Delete^You're totally right! they are so delusional especially those who think one V/M fan is behind everything. They honestly have no idea how big this fandom is.
DeleteSo now D/W are not only going to win #Sochigold with their non-talent and non-skills, they're going to win going to win because they did no shows this summer, while silly V/M were frittering away this summer doing shows:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?88940-Davis-amp-White-17-quot-They-re-more-than-good-They-re-Gr-r-reat!-quot&p=3998016&viewfull=1#post3998016
They're getting that from TSL. You would think that if a team weren't able to do any shows whatsoever that would maybe kind of raise some red flags about either their work ethic or their abilities. After all, show skating, when done intelligently, only lets you practice your performance skills, your ability to learn new choreography, and yes, your actual skating as well.
DeleteOn second thought, I'm going to put that over there as well. (I'm Beth btw, so I'm using my own words).
DeleteV/M still won in vancouver even if they did FOI in the summer. that makes no sense.
DeleteBeth, you're doing a great job!
DeleteI wonder if TSL is pushing that myth because Jenny, never having won major medals, did not get invited to many shows.
lmao https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/380770880197902337/photo/1
ReplyDeleteD/W's Pr working hard lately trying to make them more popular than v/m in russia (when we all know russians prefer V/M. D/W's anti-russian sentiments at 2011 Skam didn't help them either)
Anybody have a link to their 2011 SKAM interview where they said all anti-Russian stuff?
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBgnNK4j0-0
DeleteThis needs to go viral.
more viral than 'i hate this event" considering olympics is in russia
Deletei say we should spam twitter and other social media (such as russian social media) with this when the olympics come.
DeleteFunny how the comments section is diabled for that link.
Delete10:41
DeleteIf anyone screencapped all the comments that are now erased maybe it could be put up somewhere, or several somewheres, that are very public (and of course, on twitter and other places continually and very helpfully provide the links to those places).
Keep the ignorant ridiculous comments from those guys out there, along with their inability to defend those comments.
@Anon 10:39. Start doing it now; otherwise, it will be too late by Sochi.
Delete10:35 you did a wonderful job on TSL and I hope you stay in the trenches.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just a matter of being informed and being a presence where ice dance is discussed, on youtube and on blogs. Don't let the ignorant hyperbole dominate the conversation, and don't get distracted by evaluations of non-skating performance qualities, which, among the fandom, is almost always about personalities and pre-existing preferences. And especially don't let false assertions stand (such as neither VM nor DW have varied their twizzles, such as the insane assertion that VM's stroking has declined since 2010 when the evidence that it's increased in power and depth is in every program, etc.)
It's not that hard to learn some skating specifics well enough to evaluate whose program is more difficult, who are the superior skaters, and, in VM's case, who are the superior skaters with the more difficult program executing at a higher level of skill. They run the board.
It's particularly easy with DW this year, because they're faking ice coverage with lunging and by skating FAR apart - aspects of their skating that reduce the difficulty of their program. You don't have to pick out the actual skating in between the hopping. There's multidirectional NOTHING in that program. There's nothing as far as hold. It's an expensively costumed intro to basic skills exercise in between elements.
Both programs are empty. And, as in pairs, and if this weren't ice dance, one might argue so what, they nail the elements. Except their elements are inferior. All of the mechanics are bastardized getting in, all of the poses are pinned together and locked in a la juniors. When Meryl is upside down not only is she pinned across Charlie's torso (unlike Tessa), but she can only stick her "free" arm straight up, apparently otherwise she'll destablize. The arm straight up, the arm that's holding onto Charlie gripping all the way across his shoulders, his arm gripping her torso - the amount of redundancy in their lifts is ridiculous. Their skating is one dimensional and the elements are junked.
Thanks OC, I appreciate it. I plan to.
DeleteWow, some idiot posted the following:
DeleteGood grief, I’ve never read so many posts about twizzles. I watched the compilation video and was not convinced that V/M have been all that innovative with their twizzles (other than the mirror ones). They have been doing essentially the same 3 twizzles for the last few seasons. They may alter the order, but they hold their blade with one hand up for one and and cross their arms for another. The third does have some variety, but it doesn’t seem that much different.
Meh I think it’s much ado about nothing.
^you cant reason with these kind of people
DeleteMy, my it's sooo bothersome to have to read about twizzles and actually watch an illustrative video. It interferes with the delusional thinking that no one is better than DW. This fool actually describes some of the differences, but then says they're not important.
DeleteSo, I don't really know much about the technicalities/physics of twizzles or how they're scored = meh, much ado about nothing.
ReplyDeletePerfect.
Simply put, VM always vary their twizzles in some way and DW never do. Never.
ReplyDeleteThis should be something great to look forward to in the "reality" series!
ReplyDeletehttp://instagram.com/p/eiMaXtO4Lc/#
http://instagram.com/p/eiNCt2u4Mf/#
Brittney is just so happy to involved in this, I'm sure! Better make sure those cameras are primed and ready for Cassandra.
Woohoo! More Moirville! /sarcasm
DeleteIt appears that Brittney has a two-year-old toddler of her own. Yet, she's all over this sham and all over making sure Moirville gets promoted. Disgusting.
She should apply for Barb MacDonald's job.
DeleteI think (maybe) it's Brittney Ingalls's parents' farm, which is Sham 2 all over - overpriviliged 20something's with few accomplishments of their own giddy over participating in the sham, and their parents' view the sham participation as an accomplishment by their kids. It's gross, of course. But of course, Toddler Moir will be raised with an "us and them" mentality from day one. CH's parents and CH herself will scrapbook the sham for years to come, showing off CH's photos with Scott. It's like everything that belongs to TM will have been whored out, all for her sake, of course (although the excuse before she was born was a completely different excuse), so she'll have no basis to feel badly about it. Which is of course, very healthy.
Deleteoc
"It's like everything that belongs to TM will have been whored out,"
Delete^^This. It's appalling and dismaying that an entire community has participated.
I have a question for those of you who understand how this kind of media works. Most media organizations/persons would do a lot of background preparation before beginning to put together this kind of show, am I right? I understand that Tessa and Scott's real-life status is well-known among many in media and therefore any background preparation would of course turn up the facts.
How then does a production that bills itself as a documentary (which is expected to be only about facts and not fiction) proceed if the subjects themselves want to lie on camera and the producers know they're lying? Do they basically work around that by not addressing those areas at all or do they flat-out allow a hoax to be perpetrated under their agency's name?
I understand how a lot of media works, although not this production company. The media that covers Canadian skating each season, and the international competitions are the ones that are aware of Scott and Tessa's actual status, and I don't know if that includes the entity behind this so-called documentary or not.
DeleteWho would have thought that a sportswriter like Steve Milton would repeatedly lie to the audience for his book and his articles on Scott and Tessa? Either they've duped him or he's lying. Who would have thought Ryan Pyette would do it? All this time and he's clueless? I think there's a double standard when it comes to writing for the public that follows figure skating and the public that follows other sports, and if you look closely that standard is down to various forms of misogyny and contempt. Who is going to hold these people to account? Many in media have the same view of "fans" as those inside skating.
Many documentaries are biased, informed by agenda, get it wrong, etc. For example, wikipedia says: "Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record."
I think "some aspect of reality" is what we'll be getting here, but this also has been billed as a "reality show" and reality shows are as contrived as scripted programs.
There is always a story behind the story we're shown and there's always stuff that a production team knows that isn't part of the product - that can range from the subject of a feature being an asshole to a whole bunch of tensions underlying a situation being presented in a promotional light.
This program isn't news; it's entertainment. It's an entertainment "documentary" and we know what those are like. It's promotional. I imagine this also is going to be another hosanna to the wonders of Ilderton, and I bet that was contractual. I think the script will weasel around the truth just the way advertising weasels around the truth. We'll have to listen for what this program seems to be saying and what it's actually saying, just as in advertising.
Now she Has removed the pics...
Delete6:42
DeleteThose pics showed how contrived the "reality" is going to be in that documentary. The Ilderton piece looks to be nothing more than payback to VM's friends, a chance for them to be on camera.
She always removes the pictures. It's the game. Me, advertise the sham? For years the pictures would appear, they'd wait to be sure a fan had seen/reported them (which means downloaded as well) and then they disappear. Clean hands. These poor people are haunted and stalked.
DeleteI remember very well a few years ago, seeing the photos of Scott/Jessica - the one in Mexico on the rocks, and the one in the kitchen where he has her hoisted in a few photos. The flickr account hosting the photos had been private and this evening was public, and so I saw the pictures. As I was putting the photos on the blog, I saw that the flickr account's owner had their browser open to the blog (I knew their ISP from prior visits here). That browser stayed open on the blog and the flickr account stayed public until I published the photos. Moments after I published the photos the flickr account was made private again but the browser stayed open on the blog. It was ridiculous. You could - and I did - literally set your watch.
P.S. - I agree this "reality show" looks like payback. Scott has been in a constant state of give back since he and Tessa hit the big time. His marriage, his child - all of it is subordinate to the insatiable Moirville maw. I keep saying Scott is 26 years old and how pathetic this looks on him, but there are people 50something and up who are up to their necks in this and just as petty and juvenile.
DeleteI wouldn't say the "entire" community is involved because there have to be plenty of people who opt out. They're not going to advertise that they're opting out.
More on media - this isn't an investigative piece - it's fluff. The production didn't send an investigative team into the field to get witnesses. They're working in conjunction with Virtue Moir and their people. Everybody who participates are people who have been put together with the production by Virtue and Moir and their interests.
DeleteI wonder if she got in trouble from the production team for posting the pictures. If it was just about removing "sham" photos, then she would have taken down the #onehotcouple photos as well.
DeleteNo, it's wash, rinse, repeat. #onehotcouple - oops, take it down. Golf day - oops, take it down. #Scottyboy #Moir- oops, take it down. It's simple full of shitness, nothing more. She's not in trouble, it's all under direction.
Deleteoc
But she didn't take down any of the sham photos. The golf ones and the #onehotcouple concert pics are still up. The only ones removed ARE the ones from the production, which didn't contain any Cassandra allusions.
DeleteGo to her page again, everything else remains.
Whether this time these pics were taken down under Moirville direction or the production company direction, it's still true the sham has always functioned the way oc describes. Jessica would show pictures, then hide them, then show again. Cassandra has already done the same thing. So ridiculous considering that once a photo has been public it's public forever, even if after a while they decide to pretend it should be private. Any 7-yr-old knows that. It's just one more thing pointing to the immense stupidity of these people.
DeleteThe larger point is these girls - and the sham - don't do "oops, didn't mean to post that!' They post everything for a reason and with permission. Now we know to expect video of Scott at the farm, and we've been heads upped for whatever else is seen at the farm.
DeleteI believe the photos are now you see them, now you don't because they're bait, and the agenda is to make it appear as if fans are the ones instigating the interest in Virtue and Moir's off ice lives and who Scott is dating, so they don't want a bait timeline live all the time.
Every time photos have been taken down, and fans have speculated - ohh, maybe they're not going to be assholes - the photos reappear at another time, flaunted for another purpose. They always have a reason, and there's always intention, and these people get the green light for what they do (CH, Brittney, etc.).
oc
It seem like she have no life or she likes camera and follow... o.O
ReplyDeletewow poor beth
ReplyDeleteLatest from thread:
ReplyDelete"In their defence, can anyone support DW’s elements in the way that VM’s have been analyzed? I think that it would provide a balance to the debate. It would certainly be a refreshing change to basically telling the VM fans that they are annoying and rude."
Cricket, cricket, cricket.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Savage-Dube-for-Battle-of-the-Blades/181048472082964
ReplyDeleteLooks like Ilderton found a new cause to get behind. Welcome back, Jess!
DeleteIt cracks me up that she's already sprained her ankle.
DeleteI kind of seeing this playing out as Savage doing a lot of reassuring of Jessica as it goes on, for as long as it lasts.
You're kidding--a sprained ankle already? Bwahahaha.
DeleteIt does get her name out there again, and she might not have to work hard again at skating.
What I want to see is whether her official bio will include that she is (supposedly) Scott Moir's gf. Will Jessica either herself still trade in on it or not "correct" anyone who brings it up?
She's not his "gf" anymore, so let's see if her bio mentions she "used" to be his gf. Somehow the OIympic profiles of both Scott and Jessica failed to mention they were dating each other in any of the myriad fluff pieces on both of them, and despite the fact that the Olympics covered other dating relationships among the athletes, and also despite the fact that the sham was hard selling Jessica/Scott on social media, complete with photos, at the time of the Olympics. Odd omission and what accounts for it? If they wanted to be "private" they wouldn't plant the gf front and center for the cameras to see during the free dance, and they wouldn't spam social media. It was a puzzlement for sure.
DeleteAll of which is to say, doubtful they'll mention it in connection with a program that to Moirville is "official".
Ironically, I think if the Dube/Moir sham were still going on, Ilderton would ignore Jessica's participation on BOTB.
Deleteoc
I hate to be cynical about Moirville's support of Jess in BOTB but I see it as just more sham activity. They're desperate to further the narrative that she really did used to be a part of Moirville through Scott. Until the whole thing is understood as having been a lie--Scott and Tessa are a publicly acknowledged couple--I can't take anything Moirville does at face value. As long as they are still lying they are only a bunch of hypocritical, self-righteous manipulators
DeleteI think it's far more than face value as well, and likely has a bunch of tedious image-related agenda behind it, BUT, if she were still "dating" Scott they'd be lower key, because it's BOTB, the sort of program that thrives on two Olympians dating. It's like the Olympics. They shammed it up to beat the band about the Olympics except for the fact that Jessica ignored Scott won a gold medal (in social media) and he ignored she competed (in mainstream media). It's the "worlds collide" situation where they laid low as far as any official affiliation with each other in mainstream media. Now that they're not "dating" they can support her on BOTB without inciting expectation that Scott will participate or be acknowledged on the program as her bf.
DeleteHow come DW get away with basically using the same lift 3 times in their FD ? They use the split lift they love so much in two other variations by the end of the program. Or does it suddenly become a different lift just because Meryl bends her legs and and doesn't rotate ...
ReplyDeleteTheir lifts this year really are a mishmash of previous things, aren't they?
Deleteso much for "new"
Delete4:26, I'm sorry but i have no idea what that means?
ReplyDeleteAnon@4:16, I think anon @4:26 is referencing a popular sound effect from film/TV. D/W fans can't speak up logically in defense of D/W's elements--nobody is (capable of) responding-- hence the sound of crickets chirping.
ReplyDeleteFrom the TV tropes page:
"A character says or does something intended to elicit an enthusiastic response from a group watching him, such as the audience in a theatre or a band of comrades. But instead of the reaction he expects, he hears nothing but the sound of crickets chirping, suggesting that nobody is responding, and they may in fact be stunned into silence or missing altogether.
Occasionally visually accompanied by tumbleweed blowing past, in which case the crickets can sometimes be replaced by blowing wind, or a wolf howling in the distance, with perhaps a distant bonging church bell. Sometimes a single person will cough. Alternatively, someone might throw a tomato at him. "
Crickets might have been chirping when some people compared White to Baryshnikov in the past (as if!). I would have heard them if I hadn't been laughing hysterically at the notion.
ReplyDeleteAnon @4:45 pm: I'm Anon 4:26. Totally agreed. And if anybody is still following the convo on that page, the D/W ubers are saying a lot of nothing and doing their beloved team no favours.
ReplyDeleteBahahaha, I'm 4:16 , thanks, I get it now. So true.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/09/23/duff-worlds-best-ice-dancers-find-edge-in-michigan/
ReplyDeletelol why is this from the widsor star
the best thing about v/m is that they don't have to PAY journalists to write articles about them being the best ice dancers. V/M have to PROVE it.
Deletei wonder how much the USFSA paid this duff dude and ryan pyette for their articles. tbh i dont blame them. they're journalist and they have to make money somehow. d/w are all words but no action.
Yesterday was a media day (in advance of Skate America) for D/W as well as the Shibutanis, as evidenced by lots of media content about the two teams all over Twitter. Windsor probably took interest and ran with it because they could tie it in with V/M, but V/M don't appear because they're not members of USFS and were doing their own thing. They've also had their own focused media sessions in the last month or two with CBC Sports, etc., but the output of that remains to be seen.
DeleteI don't understand the great concern over any media for DW. They *are* big in the USFSA. Are they not supposed to have anything written about them at all? They have much better PR than VM. That doesn't make them evil. Geez people, get a grip.
DeleteVM have lousy PR. It has nothing whatsoever to do with DW. It's VM's problem, not their teammates. And I say this as a VM fan, not a DW fan.
Mike duffy is notorious for fluffy lazy articles. This article was spoon fed to him and he loved every second of it.
ReplyDeleteAnon 902, the windsor star is a canadian publication
Well when it comes to lazy articles, Mike Duffy can join the club.
Deleteoc
Ahaha - it's Bob Duff. Mike Duffy is the sleazeball senator (and former reporter) who got caught claiming non-existent expenses :D It was certainly a lazy article, but beyond actually talking about skating (as if), I think the Windsor Star did what it could by bringing V/M into it, at least.
DeleteFurther, I actually kind of hope that D/W knew the interview would be about that, otherwise it wasn't really fair to them if they thought they'd be getting PR for their own skating.
DeleteBob Duffy works for MSNBC. The D/W press machine is full steam ahead. When will people surrounding Tessa & Scott wake up? I'be said last year that skating is somewhat all about politics and press and some jumped down my throat, still believing it's all about the skating.lol. Also I hope Tessa and Scott have original lifts this year for their FD instead of ripping lifts off of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. ( BLATENT RIP-OFF )...
ReplyDeleteplease tell me what did they rip off from sytycdc?
DeleteV/M have used lifts very similar to ones on sytycd too, so I don't have a problem with that per se....I'm not sure which performance you're talking about, but I would guess D/W aren't really doing it :D sytycd is people actually dancing after all.
DeleteAnd this guy's name is Bob Duff. Are you sure it's the same person?
does anyone know who senseandspite is?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt3n8XqFVIc&lc=aCnh6bRNeYu0Te499cQw9XB2QzDQsguIgeEP4ywLoxE
Oh for goodness sakes Binker (not saying that's who you are 7:12, I don't know) - don't bother. I'm all for responding to shit this season, but this person is such an OTT troll, you're just making V/M fans look ridiculously defensive, and we don't need to do that.
Deletethe best way to deal with trolls is to counter troll them. ignoring doesnt work
DeleteThe point isn't always to get them to stop - which they often do, I don't agree with you there - but to not make it look like someone from V/M's side is as stupid as they are. I don't know why I'm bothering, I should take my own advice.
DeleteNice mention of V/M by Ksenia Monko in an interview (translated by TAHbKA). http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?89285-Vaytsekhovskaya-s-interview-with-Monko-Emotions-get-on-the-way-of-the-elements
ReplyDeleteThe pertinent portion:
"EV: Who out of the current competitors in ice dance stands out?
KM: I like Tessa and Scott the most. They have some kind of connection that exists all the time. You look at one of them and understand you can't imagine them without the other. I like the way they glide, how one element comes out from the previous. Even Maril and Charlie dont't have that., even though both pairs have been skating together for a very long time."
Of course fellow ice dancers would take note of the glide, the continuity of elements, the connection. :)
Watched some of the ice dance competition from the recent Nebelhorn Trophy competition...amazing that the Eurosport guys go out of their way to mention the soft knees and ankles that produce true, effortless speed in some of the lower-ranked teams. I don't think anybody across any of the networks has ever commented on D/W's "soft knees and ankles" EVER.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I noticed the exact same thing!
DeleteThe Eurosport guys noticed that P/I's lift wasn't that difficult but had impressive rotation, but when DW do a lift that isn't difficult (when it's as clutchy and climby as theirs, it's not "difficult"), it's oh the amazing. And WHEN is someone going to explain to the audience why DW are doing only two twizzles sets with no characterization - same in both programs - but still meet level 4? That seems like a basic question viewers would have, considering the huge deal made of twizzles in the commentary. This one top team is doing only two. How come everyone else does three? How come this top team's twizzles aren't styled and the twizzles of the others are?
DeleteIMO it gets more and more difficult to pretend those twizzles are great. The second set slows down markedly and if you watch the boards go by as they twizzle they're not covering much ice in the entire element.
Thanks for linking my magic twizzle montage, OC! I'm glad if people are finding it useful :D
DeleteAs for the two twizzle issue, something I found hilarious watching this competition - H/D do the same hop entrance as D/W, but significantly jazzed up. http://youtu.be/iS1pcnD3x5s?t=1m38s I can't speak for whether it's as difficult as three twizzles, but I don't have a problem calling that an "entrance from a dance jump". I've been working on a new video that shows the changing twizzles of the other top teams, and I'll finish it and post it after the competitions this weekend. But here's a spoiler alert - so far I've noticed that three Russian teams - Bobrova/Soloviev, Riazanova/Tkachenko, and Stepanova/Bukin all have a hop entrance, even though they don't need one by virtue of them doing three or no change of foot. Is there anyway they might be choosing to do this because it helps them somehow?! :D
This is what A. Zhulin said: " You’re kidding. Again, thank god there is such a pair as Virtue/Moir that shows the relationship between a man and a woman. Our sport is ice dancing, not gymnastics on ice. Come on, let’s add the valnut and the
ReplyDeleteparallel bars! I think some sort of change is
needed. If there were some sort of ISU conferences I’d say the pairs to look up to are Virtue/Moir and Weaver/Poje. You get goosebumps when watching their dance. It’s cool! This is what we should inspire for. "...." What tears would I shade when Davis/White are skating? None! If only from being too sad." :v
That is a wonderful quote and so true. I wish there were more people speaking up for them like this. Alas North America and the rest of Europe seem to agree that VM and DW are equals for some reason.
DeleteExcept he's off base. It's Tessa who could perform on the vault and the parallel bars. Meryl would be crawling along hanging on with four limbs, with Charlie propping her up with three of his. Then she's wriggle a finger to show the amazing balance. Gymnastics takes many of the same skills as Virtue and Moir's lifts - the mechanics of it, not the skating part of it. Virtue and Moir have great mechanics. DW don't.
DeleteSo while well intentioned, Zhulin's words reinforce the athlete versus art fallacy. VM are better at both. They're more gymnastic. They're not crawlers and climbers and clutchers. To call DW gymnastic is to credit their mechanics with better technique than they use.
Zhulin also said this " But still there should be a relationship. The Americans are not even looking at each other once throughout the whole programme. They skate like machines. Two fantastically made machines (I think he only tried to be polite here :D by calling them *fantastically made machine*) , but it's not what the ice dance should be about in my point of view."
ReplyDeletebtw, why can't I comment using my facebook account :/ can you add the fb on the "select profile" please???
I just checked the comment settings. I can't add add facebook to the "select profile" menu. Those are google defaults, and there's no customization feature for fb to be included.
ReplyDeletehttp://espn.go.com/blog/olympics/post/_/id/3774/davis-white-hope-russian-ties-help-in-sochi
ReplyDelete"It never hurts to have the support of the crowd ... at the end of the day, it's really about moving the audience, making that emotional impact," Davis said.
LMAO:
DeleteDavis and White say it wouldn't be "healthy" to focus on the Olympic gold medal itself, and manage to be convincing when they talk about refining their already superlative chemistry.
They also claim that DW won the last two world titles. Um, no. Not 2012.
Delete"When we won worlds in 2011, one of the things that helped us [defend] is that we didn't say, 'Let's continue at this level and expect the same results,"' White said.
DeleteSo they're aware of the critiques. Ballsy to just mention it and say it's the opposite of what it really is. Par for the course for them.
What kind of BS "sport" is this when the judges for the Olympics, which are several months away, already decided?
ReplyDeletehttp://web.icenetwork.com/news/2013/09/30/62218608/olympic-judges-draw-held-in-oberstdorf