Sochi 2014: A Figure Skating Retrospective

Hello there friendship. I apologize for what might be a long post. Let us jump right in. But first, this:

All right, all right, moving on. Let's keep this professional now.

Men
Predicted
G- Patrick Chan
S- Yuzuru Hanyu
B- Javier Fernandez

Actual
G-Hanyu
S-Chan
B-Ten
So, if they'd stayed where they were after the short, I'd be pretty on. And I have to give it up for Hanyu's short program. It was FANTASTIC. I love Parisian Walkways, as a song, but also as a music choice for skating. He really owned that program. And I know people are going to get all up in arms about the free skate and who should've won. I think we all know it was not the night we'd hoped for as fans. However, I think the standings were right, in the end it was a pretty close call because the top 2 were sloppy. Denis Ten was great and very happy for him and Kazakhstan. I hope that in coming seasons, he is healthier and can have more consistent results at competitions. It will be really interesting to see how things shake out at the World Championships next month.

Ladies
Predicted
G- Yuna Kim
S- Mao Asada
B- Carolina Kostner/A russian

Actual
G- Adelina Sotnikova
S-Yuna Kim
B-Carolina Kostner
I mean. Let's be honest, I was pretty spot on here. As spot on as anyone, especially considering most people had written Kostner off and were tossing that bronze at Gracie Gold which was a bunch of bullshit. I mean, objectively speaking, Gracie is a great jumper, a fine spinner. However, I think she is overscored in PCS. For example in the free skate, she outscored Wagner by 2 points. NO. I'm sorry, that is incorrect. Ashley performed the SHIZZ out of that program and we all know it. Gracie was, fine? And she fell! And even there, I could've forgiven her for outscoring Wagner in technical elements. But not in PCS. I just feel like for whatever reason, Wagner was underscored. I am not going to make allegations of vote trading and cheating and what all because that is childish and it undermines the sport, but I feel in all honesty that Wagner should've been scored a tad higher. ANYWAY. 

WHO would've predicted Sotnikova on top? NO ONE. Literally no one. I read so many medal predictions and they all said Yuna or Mao. Mao by the way had such a beautiful free skate. I think she should've won the free skate portion. I thought Kim was beautiful in the free skate also. When she finished, I legitimately thought, "Oh, she's done already? Can she just skate some more!?" Which is not an exaggeration. She was great. Kostner's free skate was kind of weird to me. I like Bolero as a music choice, but it felt like her interpretation was kind of off. But it was good. And finally, Sotnikova. She skated 2 very clean performances. And again, I think she did very well, I do however feel that her free skate was too high. She was great technically, but she outscored Kim by A LOT. Although she did one more triple than Kim, I felt that Kim should have more than made up for that in the choreography and interpretation etc. Kim did outscore Sotnikova by a teeny margin, but WHUT. Seriously, I can honestly say I didn't really understand Sotnikova's choreography. What was with all the hand waving and fist making and what not? I don't know. It seems strange to me, that Sotnikova not only won, but won by so much. Kim was really above it all when the media asked her about it. I know she was crying after, but she is amazing and still my fave.

Pairs
Predicted
G- Volosozhar/Trankov
S- Savchenko/Szolkowy
B- Pang/Tong

Actual
G- Volosozhar/Trankov
S- Stolbova/Klimov
B- Savchenko/Szolkowy
Am I surprised that Russia went 1-2 here? A little. What I'm WAY more surprised about is which Russian team took silver. Stolbova and Klimov weren't even considered the second best skaters in Russia let alone the world. I didn't see their short program, but their free skate was pretty amazing. I did however, kind of think that Addams Family as a music choice was pretty junior-ish. Even though they aged out of juniors a while ago. Anyway, I also felt kind of bad for Sav/Szol because you could really feel how much they wanted the gold medal. And they threw in everything they could. I do wish they'd landed the throw triple axel, but if you want to land a move like that you have to practice it and compete it consistently, which they definitely did not. I also am really disappointed that NBC didn't show Moore-Towers/Moscovitch's skates, because they finished in 5th, which is really great, they even beat Duhamel/Radford. I didn't see D/R's free skate, but it must've been pretty rough to drop them all the way to 7th. Anyway, I'm really interested to see how things are going to shake out at Worlds. I think 2 or 3 of the top 5 teams are retiring, and I'm curious who will be the next world champions, and if Stolbova and Klimov can carry this win into that competition. 


Dance
Predicted
G-Davis/White
S- Virtue/Moir
B- Bobrova/Soloviev

Actual
G-Davis/White
S- Virtue/Moir
B- Ilinykh/Katsalapov
This outcome has been so hotly disputed by the fans on twitter and tumblr and wherever. And I can honestly say, I understand why. V/M had their 2 best skates of the season. Especially considering that during the team event, they really dropped the ball. However, I do feel like their free dance is a very tired retread of their Mahler free skate from the last Olympic season. They executed it well, but honestly I think Davis and White were better. The difference there is that they have been competing both their routines perfectly ALL SEASON. I don't know if V/M were still struggling with her compartment syndrome or what, but they haven't been as sharp this season. So maybe people are reacting to the difference in performance for V/M versus the consistency of D/W. And again, I think the whole vote-trading cheating rumors are stupid and hurtful to the skaters. Davis and White are amazing athletes, amazing skaters and so are Virtue and Moir. I can't really wrap my head around the vitriol of the V/M fans. It's really sad, because V/M seem like they are being very gracious. They know how good D/W are. Obviously. 

Ok, so I spent enough time on G/S medalists. Let's talk about bronze. I thought that I/K were great. They really performed both routines with a fire in their belly, that I didn't see from some of the other teams. And I can understand that they may have outscored both Pechalat and Bourzat and Bobrova and Soloviev because of the program components score. But for a team that was *9TH* in the world last year to beat 2 world bronze medalists in the technical elements scores!? I mean, I just can't imagine that they rose so quickly, or that P/B fell so quickly. P/B have been really consistent this year, and it seems to me like if I/K were to beat them, it should not have been by a margin of 6 points overall. Bobrova and Soloviev, had very different problems. They were just kind of fine in the short dance, and then in the free dance, they trashed the Four Seasons program-which I thought was a good move at first, but then I saw how unpolished their free dance was and how they struggled with some of the moves. Anyway, that was a little disappointing, I expected more from them. (Side note, I thought Elena Ilinykh's makeup was SO over the top).

Team
Predicted
G- Canada
S- USA
B- Russia

Actual
G- Russia
S- Canada
B- USA
I mean, I think in retrospect, the team event is dumb. Yes? We all know that after the short dance, it was all over and medalists decided. Then why is it we are still using our best and tiring them out? I'm sure a lot of Lipnitskaia fans are wondering how much the team event may have hurt her in the individual event. I mean, amirite? And same goes for Plushenko. I really do not like him as a skater, but I did feel bad that he had to withdraw because of pain in his back. I don't want to see people get hurt. I think, had these Olympics not been in Russia, the event would not have been such a success. I don't know, I guess for some skaters, they got the jitters out? But then again, we thought Jeremy Abbott got the jitters out and we all know how his short program went in the individual event. Anyway. OLYMPICS.

Figure Skating Medal Predictions for Sochi 2014

Hello friendship! I will now predict for you who will win medals at the Olympics(in Figure Skating obviously, everyone knows that's all I care about).

Men
G- Patrick Chan
S- Yuzuru Hanyu
B- Javier Fernandez
This is probably Chan's to lose. We all know about Chan-flation, and it's likely that the Olympics will not be any different. I love Hanyu though, he's is super talented and I think he has a really good shot at a medal. The bronze medal is definitely up in the air, there are a bunch of guys who could get it.  I love Javier Fernandez, and he just won Euros even though he hasn't been great this year so far. I think even though Diasuke Takahasi hasn't been great this year, he has as good a shot as anyone. Plushenko is a bit of a wild card here, I haven't seen his programs, but he is as ever, Plushenko, so he's in the mix.  Wouldn't it also be nice for Jeremy Abbott to get top 5 at the end of his career in Sochi?

Ladies
G- Yuna Kim
S- Mao Asada
B- Carolina Kostner/A russian
Yuna Kim is the queen of the sport, no doubt. She was insane at worlds last year. But Asada is good, reliable enough that I'd be surprised if she wasn't on the podium. As for bronze, I think it's going to be close. Kostner could do it, although her track record at the Olympics is kind of...shitty. The Russians had like 6 athletes who could've gone to these Olympics and gotten a medal, and Lipnitskaia has been kind of on fire this season, so she might get it. My sentimental pick would be Ashley Wagner, because she certainly has the ability, and as for all that shit she had to put up with from icehole skating fans when she made the team over Mirai, let me just say if it weren't for Ashley, the US wouldn't be able to send 3 athletes at all. I'm also pretty confident that those iceholes are the fair weather fans who don't even know that figure skating exists in non-Olympic years. 

Pairs
G- Volosozhar/Trankov
S- Savchenko/Szolkowy
B- Pang/Tong
The first 2 I'm pretty confident of. V/T would have to have some major problems for them to lose, but it has happened. The bronze I think will be disputed between the Canadians and the Chinese. Duhamel/Radford have not been great this year even though they won bronze at last year's worlds. Pang/Tong on the other hand have been doing surprisingly well, considering their age and the fact that they did not do so well last year at worlds. However, I'm going to go with age and experience here anyway.

Dance
G-Davis/White
S- Virtue/Moir
B- Bobrova/Soloviev
People might not know this about me, but I am in love with Davis/White. Like in my top 10 best figure skating routines ever(yes, I have made a list) they easily take 4 of them. The rest probably going to MK. And obviously if they take gold, V/M would be second although to be honest, I haven't loved a routine of theirs since the last Olympic season. And as for B/S over Pechalat and Bourzat, I'm betting on the French being too erratic to get on the podium. 

I'm not joking when I say that this is my desktop background right now. I know. You're all stunned.

Team
G- Canada
S- USA
B- Russia
I seriously almost posted this before writing this part-Catastrophe! But anyway, Canada is obviously the best team right now. The only discipline where they are lacking is ladies. USA won World Team Trophy last year, though the only discipline where they are standouts is ice dance. Russia is pretty good at all 4 disciplines, especially with Plushenko. Maybe they'll win on home ice? Who knows! Very exciting/who cares!

Come back next time, when I also don't talk about the Olympics(AHAHAHA good one). I will forealz be grading myself on these predictions though. You don't wanna miss it.

The Olympics Movie Project

Hey friends. No time to waste, the Olympics are coming. So even though I'm struggling with jet lag and some sort of weird starvation thing that makes me eat everything in sight, we are going to focus on the important things in life, namely sports movies. I mean I know I've talked about sports movies before, but let me assure you I won't repeat any of those movies that were already mentioned.

1. THE CUTTING EDGE

You guys. It's so good. Not to be diminished by many disgusting sequels. TOE PIIIICKKK!

2. Miracle

OBVI. I mean, what better way to get pumped up for the Olympics IN RUSSIA than to watch a fictionalized recreation of that time when the US handed the USSR an ass stomping. Also. The dudes are hot. I'm just saying.

3. Without Limits

Little known fact about me, even though I was on the track team(shot and discus) I'm not so into running. Like why do they spend 10 minutes showing the athletes jumping up and down and then they are only running for like 10 seconds. I mean, there's just no build to the tension. NO DRAMA! But this movie was really good, it's basically the only time I got interested in a runner. And a distance runner no less! The dude's name is Steve Prefontaine, and this movie is much better than that movie Prefontaine, which stars Jared Leto. This movie involves what is probably a baloney subplot about how Pre is totally into Monica Potter's character, but whatev I loved it. 

4. Johnny Tsunami
Disney Channel Original movies are the shit. And this one is convenient for both summer and winter Olympics movie projects because the dude goes from being a summer athlete(surfing, I know it's not an Olympic sport but just go with me) to a winter athlete(snowboarding). A feat that has been accomplished by many athletes, including noted virgin, Lolo Jones.

5. A League of Their Own
I mean listen, I know these aren't all movies that involve winter sports, but whatever, this movie is great and the feminist in me loves it. One of my favorite things to say, really apropos of nothing is, "There's no crying! There's no crying in base-BALL!" 

Although I do think the younger sister is an unbearable brat and I hate her. Go team.

I should also note, there are movies that you should AVOID when doing this sort of project. Namely, National Velvet- people say it's good but I only made it 10 minutes before I had to turn it off. Also, and I know people are going to hate me for this, but Chariots of Fire. Seriously, that movie...was SOOO boring. Maybe it's a British thing, I don't know, but it forealz bored the shiz out of me. And I found out that a lot of what happens in that movie is like total fiction, with no basis in reality. So, boo you whore!