tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post1469511102930423571..comments2024-03-15T09:03:33.742-07:00Comments on Jessica Dube Loves Scott Moir: November 30Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-50211398839436383662016-04-30T19:16:15.575-07:002016-04-30T19:16:15.575-07:00https://www.facebook.com/clubunitymontreal/photos/...https://www.facebook.com/clubunitymontreal/photos/pb.67097250656.-2207520000.1461110761./10156949690405657/?type=3&theaterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-7013984754823700852015-12-13T08:12:15.886-08:002015-12-13T08:12:15.886-08:00http://www.hieloespanol.es/1/se_oficializa_la_nuev...http://www.hieloespanol.es/1/se_oficializa_la_nueva_pareja_olivia_smart_y_adria_diaz_2188886.html<br /><br />Barcelona, December 13, 2015 - The Spanish Ice Sports Federation (FEDH) yesterday made official through social networks that the new partner will be the British Adria Diaz Olivia Smart, SPANISH information that ICE had advance last day 1 and on which the EFE agency has already submitted a teletype .<br /><br />Low enough secrecy because Smart had not yet contacted the British federation to announce this change (hence the caution of the information published by our media), the pair already was training in Canada for some time. This week Adria left Barcelona bound for Montreal, his hometown, to spend a family Christmas and see in direct competition with his girlfriend, the skater also Madison Hubbell American dance in the final of the Grand Prix.<br /><br />After the holidays the Smart / partner Diaz will return to training ahead of preparing competitions next season then, because Olivia represented Britain to the World Cup, you need the transfer of the federation and wait time which stipulates the International Skating Federation (ISU) in these cases.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12474636758040345947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-75001678785446930622015-12-11T19:26:21.450-08:002015-12-11T19:26:21.450-08:00The incessant reiteration of a romantic narrative ...The incessant reiteration of a romantic narrative almost always signals something created in a marketing conference.oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-37310170785891096922015-12-10T17:33:31.759-08:002015-12-10T17:33:31.759-08:00It is all very Jessica and Bryce in nature. It co...It is all very Jessica and Bryce in nature. It continues the same way into 2015.<br /><br />They both posted several photos in the same vein when they were in NHK. These two especially made the rounds on tumblr.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/-hzZcdg5OI/<br />https://www.instagram.com/p/-sev_-hduX/<br /><br />With the second photo, the confused fans were trying to figure out what was going on. Some guessed trolling, although still are missing the boat because they haven't or won't yet let themselves go there with what the actual trolling is, but one person went on to suggest that maybe she and Zach had gotten back together after she'd told the magazine [Skating] that she was dating Adria. <br /><br />http://adventuresoftheplatonics.tumblr.com/post/134264043747/swizzlesandtwizzles-pasqualika-back-to-the<br /><br />Helpfully, later that same day, there was a tumblr anon with knowledge who came to set the fan straight.<br /><br />http://adventuresoftheplatonics.tumblr.com/post/134298556667/adri-and-madi-are-still-very-much-together-zach<br /><br />"Adri and Madi are still very much together. Zach is supportive. All of them know selling a little romance and fantasy is just part of promoting your skating. If you've noticed a silver rectangular pendant around her neck all the time. It's Adria's. Also Adri's skating with Olivia Smart in Montreal."<br /><br />When the fan blogged the anon's message, she added this to it: <br /><br />"It’s one thing to sell a little romance and do what they’re doing. Not just on social media, but after they skate, it’s all a bit too much, too affectionate in public for me. I’m not saying or trying to imply that they’re doing anything to betray that relationship it’s just…odd…<br /><br />Honestly, I also think that the judges don’t like messy, romantic relationships in dance. I think it would hurt them more than help them but they are getting scored better this year. They also are skating better and have better suited programs though. <br /><br />I’m glad to hear Adria is skating with a new partner though! I’d been wondering how things were going for him<br /><br />Thanks for the message (:"<br /><br />The first paragraph is what makes me shake my head, although it's certainly nothing we haven't seen countless times when it comes to VM. This fan knows what they're seeing is odd and doesn't make sense. They just can't seem to make the leap to accept that the skaters can and do lie. <br /><br />Also, I spent some time last night trying to locate an old icenetwork article in which I remember it explicitly being stated that HD were an off-ice couple. I had thought it in an article from Fall 2012. I was wrong though. It was in an article posted July 29, 2013, a week before what would have been HD's second anniversary, and written by none other than Lynn Rutherford. <br /><br />http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130729&content_id=55146498&vkey=ice_news<br /><br />"A couple on and off the ice, Hubbell and Donohue have reflected on last season, when they missed making the U.S. world team. That came a year after they placed 10th at the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships."<br /><br />Of additional note, before this sham started, HD barely did more than acknowledge that they were an off-ice couple. There were no long discussions about the nature of their relationship or personal details. Now that they're shamming, they just can't shut up.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-66388431277527883002015-12-10T06:55:53.659-08:002015-12-10T06:55:53.659-08:00That Zach/Madison stuff is very Jessica and Bryce ...That Zach/Madison stuff is very Jessica and Bryce (Scott and Tessa didn't put much on line except for trolling and a flurry of stuff around the time of their marriage and then around the time of her 21st birthday). Jessica somehow managed to "date" Scott while it was Bryce who was prominently at a family-only birthday celebration for her mom in Vancouver (not Scott), and so forth.oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-91100837695510747942015-12-08T22:25:10.905-08:002015-12-08T22:25:10.905-08:00Thank you both (canadablue and 7:18pm). Canadablue...Thank you both (canadablue and 7:18pm). Canadablue, I can't wait for the CoP analysis.<br /><br />I've been aware of being in "maintenance" mode with the blog - I had been thinking that, until I knew where I was going, I should at least post once month. If I wasn't going to continue, I wanted that to be a proactive decision, instead of a case of abandonment, but I just didn't know, so maintenance it was.<br /><br />My experience with the blog from the very first post was that there would very soon come a point where I had nothing to post. That moment didn't come for four and a half years, and during that time, I realized it was because the sham wanted the attention (not just from the blog, but wanted the attention, period, and the sham cast out chum to get that attention, which of course gave the blog material), so I didn't have to think about it. And there was the skating too. <br /><br />The past year was different - because of how the scoring sorted out, even maintenance posting was all a conscious effort on my part, and even with a conscious effort, I could barely muster the incentive. The Shibs changed all that, and the GPS in general changed it. I'm still very curious what happened. Yes, the Shibs were the best running away, and the audiences loved them. However, I can't believe that's why they had a successful GPS. "Can't be denied" was Virtue and Moir's game plan. They blew DW out of the water at the 2015 GPF and Olympics and it didn't matter. If the ISU wasn't changing things up for whatever reason, it wouldn't matter how audiences cheered or how the Shibs skated. <br /><br />As to the sham, there was the fact that the sham,as it has developed since Sochi, is sort of saying EVERYBODY in public life is on board with us. This isn't just covert, dysfunctional Skate Canada and our families anymore. We've mainstreamed this, and everybody is giving thumbs up. We've got nothing to be ashamed of, look at our army, way beyond Ilderton.<br /><br />It's the entire entertainment/promotional matrix of our country, and more athletes, entertainers, and sponsors are joining up every day. An entire network got on board (the W network) and has syndicated our bullshit. We're the norm. We're mainstream. <br /><br />Of course that means morally and ethically as well. Aren't morals and ethics a numbers game? Look at our numbers! All nice, cool people!<br /><br />Two wrongs don't make a right, and a thousand wrongs also don't make a right, but the sham appeared to believe in the latter. The post-Sochi sham was just like a commercial that everybody knew was a commercial. Yeah yeah, love your jewelry Tessa. Lindt chocolate, yum. Scott, your gf is awesome. IOW, blah blah blah. They didn't care, why should anyone else. It wasn't interesting, it was clearly white noise, and clearly was going to go on forever, simply because it already had. It had perverted into a noble sort of thing. Scott and Tessa had partnered up with a whole bunch of other people in the sham. So of course, they had to continue to sham in order to PROTECT all these great people. See how noble?<br /><br />That's a dog chasing its tail, so that was losing its force as a blog rationale as well. <br /><br />I find the H/D story kind of stomach-turning. I don't know what to make of that. For me, it appears that figure skating knows it went to the dark side in 2014. It's one thing to be - well, we're a fantastic sport, with real skill, and amazing talent, but we've kind of got this weird, warped, dysfunctional side and we try to incorporate it but also not let it run things, but its' weird. In 2014 there was a full on kicking the sport, talent and scoring part over the cliff and a full on, proactive, corrupt, FULLY CONSCIOUS embrace of the dark side, and that's when things fucked up. You should never ever do that. You can be influenced by it and deny it. You can see no evil and hear no evil. But you should never EVER legislate it.oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-6814914022268558752015-12-08T21:50:22.940-08:002015-12-08T21:50:22.940-08:00If the start date is August 2011, then the end dat...If the start date is August 2011, then the end date to their 18 months is February 2013. February 2013 when Madison was so taken with her Valentine's Day roses from Zach she had to take them on a trip to Chicago. <br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/V10_68hdkF/<br />https://www.instagram.com/p/V4scerg5E3/<br /><br />May 2013, Madison loves Zach. Platonically, I presume.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/ZVpfPNA5H5/<br /><br />July 2013, they visited Keiffer on the lake when he was teaching paddleboard yoga. Zach was finishing his evening right with a beer in one hand and his (platonic?)baby in the other. <br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/br6qK-g5Ip/<br /><br />Also from summer 2013, we have platonic snuggling at the zoo.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/bOfnSShdrp/<br /><br />November 2013, Madison went to New York to see a specialist about her hip. She was missing her Zach and couldn't wait to get back to skating and dinner dates.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/gc7RGPBdov/<br />https://www.instagram.com/p/gdlDUeBdqX/<br /><br />We end the year with Madison giving Zach a very nice gift for her ex-boyfriend platonic skating partner.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/iWEq-jg5No/<br />https://www.instagram.com/p/iczGOFA5Go/<br /><br />More follows in 2014. Some of 2014 has been deleted already, but here are a few highlights.<br /><br />January 2014, Madison wishes a Happy birthday to the best (platonic?) man she could ask for.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/i6moceBdm0/<br /><br />February 2014, Madison accompanies Zach on a trip to North Carolina to meet members of his extended family when they should have been competing in Sochi instead of DW or CB.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/kW0Gavg5C1/<br /><br />March 2014, Zach brings his (platonic) girl home from her hip surgery in Colorado.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/mA2SbYg5KX/<br />https://www.instagram.com/p/mF9XY2A5Np/<br /><br />April 2014, platonic trip to SOI.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/nTUT-5hdrH/<br /><br />July 2014, I guess she meant her platonic Jay Gatsby.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/qaF6HEBdj_/<br /><br />August 3, 2014. Platonic snuggling on the couch at her parents' house in Toledo.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/rPduUFBdp6/<br /><br />September 2014, Madison has to stay in Colorado Springs for rehab at the OTC. Zach's roommate twice suggests that they get a room. <br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/sfPTi0hdjk/<br /><br />Zach posted a photo after this one showing him with a very sad face because he was going to miss Madison. She commented "I love you" on it. It has been deleted since the start of the sham.<br /><br />October 2014, Zach is the luckiest (platonic?)man and partner in the world.<br /><br />https://www.instagram.com/p/toOmvkg5OX/<br /><br />November 2014, platonic resting at Skate Canada.<br />https://www.instagram.com/p/u3eKEwhdlD/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-65010754495502990352015-12-08T19:18:24.841-08:002015-12-08T19:18:24.841-08:00Very nice to see both of you back, OC and canadabl...Very nice to see both of you back, OC and canadablue. :) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-46550528265871227652015-12-08T17:45:43.639-08:002015-12-08T17:45:43.639-08:00They're going with 18 months? That's very ...They're going with 18 months? That's very specific. <br /><br />This puts the start date at Aug 2011.<br />https://twitter.com/ZachTDonohue/status/232480066091773953<br /><br />Just remembered this, September 2013, looks like "love you" to me. In addition to the PDA.<br />https://youtu.be/tD9H_BpmAn0?t=24sAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-37147844243125392322015-12-08T17:32:19.758-08:002015-12-08T17:32:19.758-08:00Re: Canadian training centres, indeed Skate Canada...Re: Canadian training centres, indeed Skate Canada was clearly telegraphing that message last season (outlined here: http://judgingtheisu.blogspot.ca/2015/08/a-tale-of-two-mistreated-teams.html), most notably through comments by Mike Slipchuk and Tracy Wilson. <br /><br />(Unfortunately though, I was clearly wrong about the international political outcome for P/I, and I'm still puzzled as to why being a Canadian Gadbois team wouldn't somewhat balance out the G/P and quiet-performance-style issues. <br /><br />Anyways, hope to have a CoP analysis piece or two out before long, which was more my intention with the blog in the first place. And my video hiatus will definitely end at some point, offline life just became a distraction. Very nice to see you back, OC!)<br /><br />-canadablueAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-11923785856846623772015-12-08T16:31:16.880-08:002015-12-08T16:31:16.880-08:00OMG, if that doesn't nail it about Chock/Bates...OMG, if that doesn't nail it about Chock/Bates. Totally agree. I honestly find them more uncomfortable to watch than D/W, and I think it's entirely because they don't have Marina's sly packaging, combined with their vibe just being plain *weird*. D/W were an ugly mess, heaven knows, but the dynamic they presented was much more standard.<br /><br />And yes, C/L are absolutely charming, despite their technical weaknesses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-91315584404733303112015-12-08T13:14:07.461-08:002015-12-08T13:14:07.461-08:00From one of Marie-France's interviews, these t...From one of Marie-France's interviews, these two pieces struck most:<br /><br />"During Dubreuil and Lauzon’s competitive era there were no schools for elite ice dancers in Canada. “We had to move to France to train at a high level, and, especially for me, I was shocked and angry to have to leave Montréal, to leave Québec, to leave Canada to go train somewhere else,” Lauzon recalled."<br /><br />I suspect that explains the push to reward D/L's center, as well as the push to advance Carol Lane's center purely on the back of Paul Poirier. If that's something Canada wants, we all know Canada makes deals with other Feds. That was proven in the last Olympic cycle. It could throw a few other Canadian teams under the bus to get some love for ice dancers from Canadian training centers, and must be even easier when the skaters aren't even Canadian, like Papadakis Cizeron.<br /><br />The other is noting that their training center grew pretty rapidly. They say it was slow, but in the number of years, to have a World Champion; that's fast.<br /><br />I think having its best dance teams train outside Canada bugged Skate Canada for years and it did some horse trading to change that.<br /><br />Back to H/D - it would be interesting if Dave Lease is willfully helping the North American teams sham. That would help explain his expanded access.<br /><br /><br /><br />oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-61952466208345916472015-12-08T13:03:20.843-08:002015-12-08T13:03:20.843-08:00Holy shit. Thanks for all that. The bit I saw of H...Holy shit. Thanks for all that. The bit I saw of H/D's Grand Prix I assumed their status was the same as always because, as you say, they certainly acted the same together. Even the absolutely most amicable skaters show a difference once they've split up. An old example from the 1980s is apparently the pairs team of Brasseur & Eisler dated and broke up, and continued competing. I believe it, because that's exactly how they behave with each other when you look at old video. Like family. That's how amicable exes usually end up behaving together - REALLY like brother and sister. A familial intimacy and comfort, unselfconscious around each other, each other's biggest booster, lots of inside jokes, but it's all fraternal.<br /><br />That last line would make me angry too. <br /><br />One of the most distasteful aspects of the sham is the increased conscription. If you've got an entire ecosystem enabling you - and it's multiplied exponentially since the VM sham began, it appears you've created a web that can't be unraveled, that is self-complicating, and becomes its own reason for perpetuating itself, and also you feel less like a shit because look at all these great people who are behind you and support you. WE'RE not wrong, there are too many of us!oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-68351352825435838932015-12-08T11:15:21.101-08:002015-12-08T11:15:21.101-08:00A new sham-filled article about H/D and written by...A new sham-filled article about H/D and written by Lynn Rutherford was posted on the teamusa website today. <br /><br />http://www.teamusa.org/News/2015/December/08/Reinvigorated-Hubbell-Donohue-Compete-At-First-Grand-Prix-Final<br /><br />I enjoy the use of a VM classic. Zach will be in Madison's life forever. ;)<br /><br />""but the bottom line is that we are two people who really care about each other, and each other’s families,” Hubbell said. “I think he will be in my life forever. We’ve never seen this as just a business partnership.”"<br /><br />I'm not sure what Zach is trying to do here with the it's nice to go home separately bit. HD did not live together in Detroit, so what exactly is he contrasting? Is this like how Tessa and Scott Vacation Separately? <br /><br />"“Madi and I have always had a deep level of respect for each other,” Donohue said. “There were hard times dating, there were difficulties not dating, but everything has been pretty much an upward movement. It’s almost a little bit nice now to be able to focus on work when we’re on the ice, and then go home separately.”"<br /><br />This is probably worth noting. HD have NEVER gotten the level of attention they're getting now until Gadbois and the sham. They were largely ignored by the press and only discussed by a very small number of fans. Now, it's been a ton of Icenetwork articles, the cover story of Skating magazine, Team USA attention, etc. As a note on the nature of skating fandom, there has also been an increase in attention on the boards, tumblr, and other social media sites. It's a reflection that most skating fans aren't fans of the actual skating, but of soap opera and fanfiction.<br /><br />This line from the article made me angry for other reasons. "But Hubbell and Donohue’s journey is typical of the theatrical, complicated world of ice dance, where acting skills, costuming and musicality are almost as important as skating skills."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-69096587058001430292015-12-08T00:12:44.623-08:002015-12-08T00:12:44.623-08:00The Detroit area photographer was involved in one ...The Detroit area photographer was involved in one of the earliest clunky sham drops. It was carried out in the same style that we saw VM sham drops in the past, particularly on fanforum. It was very reminiscent of how Moirville layed out the bread crumb trail to Cassandra in 2012. <br /><br />USFS posted this video on youtube the day before Valentine's Day and it was shared by a fan on FSU. I don't think the fan is part of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcnMwW3T12s<br /><br />The photographer posted afterwards that Madi would be getting what she wanted but Zach not so much. In prior years, Zach had given Madison red roses around Valentine's Day or her birthday later in the month. Fans are now expected the flowers. The next afternoon on Valentine's Day, Madison posted this photo on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/zGNxrhhdgl/ The photo was not initially tagged, but later in the afternoon, Adria's account was tagged in the photo. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-59401438877460580152015-12-07T23:40:50.480-08:002015-12-07T23:40:50.480-08:00Awesome recap of a very weird year. Another notabl...Awesome recap of a very weird year. Another notable aspect -- although they left one or two clunky hints about Adria on social media, the first suggestion that H/D had "broken up" came from TSL, with Dave and Jenny saying they'd like to set Zach up with Alissa Czisny; they also claimed to be in contact with Zach. This statement, just one week after a casual pre-Worlds USFSA streamed fan Q&A with H/D in which one called the other "love" and Madi said she'd like to skate to vocals of Zach singing, resulted in mass confusion. Out came the usual swarm of certain message board posters (and one Detroit area skating photographer, who in the past denied Zach's well-known teen romance with Piper and pushed the W/P platonic story) and Tumblr anons saying they knew H/D were broken up and she was dating Adria, DUH. <br /><br />It's just a little funny to see that even all these years after his Aunt Joyce rampaging to push the Tessa/Pelletier story as gospel, Dave is still setting himself up to sell all sorts of fun relationship stories, whether he's a patsy or an enabler.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-24052615030892281522015-12-07T22:46:00.079-08:002015-12-07T22:46:00.079-08:00Although this is the short version, I ran out of c...Although this is the short version, I ran out of characters in the last comment.<br /><br /><br />Another interesting aspect of this are the ties between VM and HD. Zach is now openly admiring them as the best ever. VM periodically work at Gadbois, for whatever purpose. They recently posted video working on hip hop with Sam Chouinard, who also works with HD. Also, remember, Zach trained in Canton during the 2010-2011 season. He was there when Tessa was pregnant with VM's first child, giving birth, and then racing back to attempt to compete. He certainly knows first hand how this works. <br /><br />Much like VM, HD also contradict themselves on the record these days and offer up transcendently absurd yet brilliant gems like this one from Zach in a recent article: "I have no time or money for a girlfriend and I don't see that changing anytime soon. She is pretty much my whole world. My life revolves around skating and she's my partner. And like she said, we are family. So there is really nothing more important in the world than Madi."<br /><br />That one is right up there with some of VM's greatest coded hits. There are some other clues out there to go with this, but I think that "we are family" means the same thing in HD-speak as "we're not dating" does in VM-speak if you get my drift.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-37420515219617362032015-12-07T22:45:05.663-08:002015-12-07T22:45:05.663-08:00"What is up with H/D shamming? I was aware th..."What is up with H/D shamming? I was aware they presented themselves as a couple early in the partnership; I haven't followed what they've been doing since."<br /><br />It's a re-boot Spanish-language re-telling of "Menage a Trois Sur La Glace" for a new skating quad, starring Zach Donohue as Bryce Davison, Madison Hubbell as Jess Dube, and Adria Diaz as Scott Moir.<br /><br />The short version is that HD have faked and ret-conned a break up (made-up stories and deleted social media posts), and Madison is shamming with Adria Diaz now. HD continue to act like they always have with each other, and there's also lots of fan-baiting and stinging, just like with VM. This results in a lot of confused fans on social media because, like with VM, they sense that something is off and odd about it all, but they won't admit to themselves that skaters can and do lie. Fandom opts, instead, to make up the same kind of non-sensical excuses they make up for VM. Also fun are the anonymous tumblr replies that read like they're written by the same people who offered up "insider knowledge" in the VM threads on fanforum circa 2010 and 2011. <br /><br />The moms, aunts, and cousins are all in like Kate, Alma, Carol, Sherri, and Cara. Family friends are also willing to jump in to play the roles of some of our favorite Moirville citizens. Lynn Rutherford is even willing to help out, just like those who report on skating in North America who have helped VM out. When fans, rightfully, questioned the story that HD are trying to push that they only dated for 18 months, she showed up on FSU to say something to the effect of "it's sometimes hard to determine precisely when you've stopped dating someone." Patterns predictable as VM's are starting to emerge as well. <br /><br />The start of this sham followed HD changing PR agents from Tara Modlin to David Baden, who's also agent to DL and Spanish HD. He's also Weaver and Poje's agent, and although they aren't shamming like HD and VM are, they are also hiding that they're together off-ice. I know there has been speculation in the past that if VM had been with Baden and IMG, there would've been no sham, or at least it would have been more tasteful and without bait-and-sting. However, IMG on the whole is notorious for fake relationships for PR purposes. HD switched agents in August 2014, and up until that time, they'd been on record and perfectly normal acting, just exactly like how we've seen PI handle their off-ice relationship. By winter, the first sham bits were being planted and it all blew up right before and around the world championships in March. Right after worlds, HD switched coaches to DL. Although they claim the decision to change coaches was made later on, to those of us following the team, a change to DL was being telegraphed from the time of TEB 2014.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-53662770049211811532015-12-07T20:56:18.820-08:002015-12-07T20:56:18.820-08:00I think P/I would have the gumption if it made sen...I think P/I would have the gumption if it made sense to move - and I guess we're on the same page as to what Marina could do for them, so I'm as wistful about it as you are. They're tailor made for what she does. She'd know exactly what to say to them, how to work with them, and how to find the programs that felt organic to them but also developed their skating to where it needs to be. That's what she does.<br /><br />It's absolutely amazing two of her teams won GPS events this season, the same two I'd have sworn we could all write off, politically, after last season.<br /><br />As an aside, when we talk about face skating, I love Anna Cappellini's face skating. Her face is always animated, breathless, always appears as if she's about to do something fun, whether she's entering a lift or changing rhythm. That approach, as propaganda, is a whole lot more convincing than drama face, sex face, or game face. If there's something slightly wobbly going on, her face says it's a breeze and is supposed to be that way. It's part of her character. That stuff goes down much better, and feels far more natural than the disconnect from the neck down I see going on with Chock Bates. <br /> <br />Chock/Bates creep me out. There is absolutely nothing organic, nothing natural about this team. They're manufactured to the nth degree. Thankfully, Madison is a somewhat better skater, and has somewhat more conventional body lines, than Meryl Davis, so I don't get the same impression of extreme artifice as with Davis White, but it's pretty damn close. Madison has whittled herself down - not to lollipop head proportions a la Meryl (that's down to her body type - she can achieve the look the team apparently wants without going to an extreme - but it still feels and reads a shade past a natural, healthy, optimum weight and silhouette for her). The look the two of them are working, particularly her weight, as I said, doesn't appear to connect to their skating. She could have achieved the very deliberate, basic, measured sort of skating at her previous weight, no problem. It's all about the look, which screams artiface. Her joints aren't the widest parts of her limbs, unlike Meryl, so that's something, but this team still presents themselves as beyond studied, as if it has done it's best to wipe out their natural personalities and their natural energies. Madison used to enjoy performing. Now she's a glacial, impassive sex goddess, or that's the package.<br /><br />I look at Evan's beard, and think "really"? They seem as happy on the ice as Davis White seemed (meaning, not very). It's all means to an end.oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-84247431505728909392015-12-07T20:35:54.585-08:002015-12-07T20:35:54.585-08:00THANK YOU, 6:13. I did some googling for Marie Fra...THANK YOU, 6:13. I did some googling for Marie France interviews today but the first hits were videos, and I like to read what's said first. Then I got sidetracked by a video compilation of 2006 Olympic ice dance splats. Now I can catch up. I always thought Dubreuil/Lauzon were of that erzatz artistic stripe - soulful gazes, lots of deliberate (a/k/a consciously significant) movement and gesture, highlighting with solemnity facets of their program that were unremarkable. The usual bag of tricks. Not great speed either.<br /><br />On another front, I've never liked show skating much, and except for their exhibition version of their Latin Free, could take or leave Virtue Moir's exhibition skates, even though we can still see their skating is much better than anybody else's. However, I've just now seen the main video of "Good Kisser" and my rage meter turned purple again, particularly at their close bladework, the stunning rotational, and the fact that as much as I adore the Shibs, who, to me, are miles better than anyone else out there, VM, even as show skaters, are still on another planet. The fact that this got discounted for Davis White crap is something with which I don't think I can ever come to terms. It's a travesty. It's more than a lesser team being placed above a better team, it's a crap team being placed above the best team of all time. Not "the best" by reputation or what's going to be in the history books - the best by miles NOW, skating right next to the full of shit team.<br /><br />Tessa appears to have individual management in addition to her enterprises with Scott, and recently TSL noted that her bio talks about going for the Olympics 2018. I've read an interview where Scott, too, doesn't rule it out. On the one hand, I can see them pumping out the rest of their family in the first half of this Olympic cycle (which would explain what would appear to be two back-to-back pregnancies). OTOH, I can't imagine they believe that on pure skating alone, they won't be denied if they recommence competition. They seemed to WANT to believe that, in some respects, in 2014. Wanted to believe the ISU would do the usual for most of the season - i.e., we'll fuck you over every step of the way, but if you survive it, we'll give it to you when it counts. That didn't happen. They can't possibly come back unless they understand they'll be scored fairly, which, in their case, simply means winning everything if they complete their programs. Being treated as if they sort of have to fight for placement vis a vis Papadakis Cizeron and Chock Bates isn't something for which I have the stomach.<br />oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-35567757423308692332015-12-07T20:32:07.723-08:002015-12-07T20:32:07.723-08:00I was reading an interesting comment about mechani...I was reading an interesting comment about mechanics on Goldenskate, which is that a skater without great edges will use their upper body to swing themselves into a rotation, instead of their knees/blades. This was constantly obvious with everything around Meryl Davis, but the Goldenskate comment said Kaitlyn does it, and I can see it. It's usually in a transition or change of direction where a skating skills deficit shows, and Kaitlyn is no different.oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-62756024045420786412015-12-07T20:29:45.960-08:002015-12-07T20:29:45.960-08:00There's a definite lag in the Kaitlyn shamming...There's a definite lag in the Kaitlyn shamming. First it was Kaitlyn/Scott, but Tessa permitted herself to be photographed in the same group. Then it wasn't a group, it was a lot of Tessa/Scott/Kaitlyn, implied or overt. Then last I saw, Kaitlyn/Tessa were blowing sunshine up each other's respective rear ends, best friending it up. Then nothing since. <br />oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-80453242617374229302015-12-07T20:08:57.839-08:002015-12-07T20:08:57.839-08:00What is up with H/D shamming? I was aware they pre...What is up with H/D shamming? I was aware they presented themselves as a couple early in the partnership; I haven't followed what they've been doing since. oycanadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14056686007756844095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-1057508636346553252015-12-06T19:22:56.304-08:002015-12-06T19:22:56.304-08:00Agreed on the H/D sham, it's disappointing. An...Agreed on the H/D sham, it's disappointing. And for what? I don't understand why teams do this. Fake relationships are one thing but if you feel that's necessary, leave off the fan baiting. You can still convey respect and on-ice chemistry without resorting to all-out trolling.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2583966972735299482.post-8539163789269484792015-12-06T18:26:35.561-08:002015-12-06T18:26:35.561-08:00And yeah, 10:46, it's disheartening to see H/D...And yeah, 10:46, it's disheartening to see H/D engaged in what appears to me to be another sham designed to gaslight fans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com