Required Elements

Thursday, December 3

Universal Sports:  6 to 7:30 pm:  Pairs short and Original Dance

Friday, December 4

Universal Sports:  6 to 7:30 pm: Men’s and Ladies short programs

Saturday, December 5

Universal Sports:  7 to 8pm:  Men’s free skate

Universal Sports:  9pm:  Dance free skate

Sunday, December 6

Universal Sports:  11am to 12pm:  Pairs free skate

NBC:  12pm to 2pm:  GPF

Universal Sports:  5pm to 7pm:  Ladies free skate

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately.  Life and illness sometimes get in the way of extra-curriculars, but I will hopefully be back on schedule soon.

So, let’s break down the Grand Prix Final, which starts tomorrow in Tokyo, Japan.

Pairs

I have to say that this group of pairs is about as good as it could get - all the major Olympic medal contenders - and this is the only discipline we can say that for at the GPF.  Also, it’s the first time this season that Germany’s Savchenko and Szolkowy, and China’s Pang and Tong and Shen and Zhao will face off against each other, and a lot of people are looking forward to it.  Most expect it to come down to a competition between Shen and Zhao and Savchenko and Szolkowy.  Most recently, Shen and Zhao had some mistakes in their Skate America free skate while Savchenko and Szolkowy, though not perfect, received a 10 in their components scores for a dominant skate at Skate Canada with their new free program to Out of Africa.

It will also be a chance to see how Zhang and Zhang react with such stacked competition - they have not been on their game so far this season and things will only get tougher for them as the Olympics get closer.  Mukhortova and Trankov and Kavaguti and Smirnov are also very dangerous pairs, and pairs from Russia should never be counted out in an Olympic year.  This should be a very good competition.

Predictions

1) Savchenko and Szolkowy

2) Shen and Zhao

3) Pang and Tong*

*All season I have had a feeling about Kavaguti and Smirnov, but they’ve lost to Pang and Tong twice so I just could not pick them.

Men

France’s Brian Joubert pulled out of the competition due to a foot injury, but he was replaced by Czech Republic’s Tomas Verner, who should have his quad on display.  Japan’s Nobunari Oda has another chance to give his Chaplin program a whirl - but will he have his quad as well?

This is also a meaningful competition because it pits who many regard as the top American male skaters - Jeremy Abbott, Evan Lysacek, and Johnny Weir, against each other for the first time this season.  And not to be forgotten is Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi, who seems to be gaining strength as the season wears on.

Predictions

1) Oda

2) Lysacek

3) Takahashi*

*Augh, this went from being Abbott to being Weir to finally being Takahashi.  I DON’T KNOW.

Ice Dancing

This became a two-horse race when Belbin and Agosto withdrew.  And to be honest, with the absence of Delobel and Schoenfelder and Domnina and Shabalin, the results here pretty much mean nothing to me in the grand scheme of things. But, on the bright side, this is the first ice dancing competition all season that may actually be a competition, so that’s something to look forward to.

Neither Davis and White nor Virtue and Moir have been perfect this season, although it doesn’t seem to have hurt either team too much.  I think both of these teams are so wonderful to watch.  The international judges have seemed to prefer Virtue and Moir when these teams compete head to head, so I am going to have to pick Virtue and Moir.

Predictions

1) Virtue and Moir

2) Davis and White

3) Pechalat and Bourzat

Ladies

I don’t know what has happened with me and the ladies, but I am not thoroughly excited about this field.  I’ll be impressed if Yu-na Kim finally puts a complete and clean two programs together (remember she bailed on her triple flip at Trophee Eric Bompard) because she obviously does not have to do nearly her best to win these days.  We can also look forward to “Queen Yu-na is back” headlines if she skates cleanly.

Major questions:  will ANYONE skate clean?  Will Joannie Rochette be the Joannie Rochette from last season or continue her 2009 mediocrity?  Will Ashley Wagner continue to assert herself as deserving of a US Olympic slot?  Does Alena Leonova continue her medal streak…I will be completely unsurprised if she finds herself on that podium.  I would also be unsurprised if Rochette misses the podium, because her skating has not been up to par lately.  Still, as you can see, I am playing it a bit safe in my predictions.

Predictions

1) Kim

2) Rochette

3) Ando

If I seem slightly cranky in this post, I blame it on the meds!

Here is news you might already know, but I felt remiss since I haven’t been blogging about it in the past couple of weeks:

Brian Joubert’s foot surgery was deemed a success, according to USA Today.  The surgery was meant to repair ligaments in Joubert’s foot.  Joubert is out of the Grand Prix Final but hopes to compete in the French championships in mid-December.  That seems so soon!  Let’s hope he is healthy enough…at least for the Olympics.

Per ESPN, Russia’s Andrei Lutai has been banned from skating for a year by his country’s executive skating board due to his arrest on suspicion of stealing a car and driving it drunk following Skate America.  This means Lutai will not be competing in the Olympics.

And finally, a few weeks ago it was reported that Patrick Chan would move his training to Palm Beach Iceworks in Florida, per this release.  Chan had previously been training in Orlando.

I’m feeling a little guilty about this one because I jokingly predicted Brian Joubert would withdraw from the Grand Prix Final on Twitter, and now the prediction has come true.  According to the Associated Press, Joubert suffered a deep cut in his foot on an awkward landing.  ICK!  Of course, best wishes for a quick and smooth recovery.  Joubert reportedly had surgery today.  Czech Republic’s Tomas Verner is the first alternate to the GPF…not sure if he’s accepted his slot yet.

This Thanksgiving, there is so much to be thankful for in the skating world.  But I am particularly thankful for:

Nobunari Oda

Evan Lysacek’s shoulder plumage

Ashley Wagner’s making the Grand Prix Final

Jeremy Abbott’s short program

Savchenko and Szolkowy’s Out of Africa free skate

Daisuke Takahashi’s footwork

all the wonderful United States ice dancers

Inoue and Baldwin’s throw triple axel (that one time)

Yu-na Kim as a Bond girl

All the comeback kids for keeping things interesting

My blog readers!

And finally, I am thankful that I no longer have my wisdom teeth.  (WHO SAID THAT!?)

Don’t forget to watch Kaleidoscope on Fox at 4pm for Scott Hamilton and others, promoting cancer advocacy and awareness!

Some bloggers I’ve read were predicting that it was only a matter of time before something knocked Belbin and Agosto out of the Grand Prix Final.  And they were right.  This time, it’s an infected wisdom tooth for Belbin, last year it was a back injury for Agosto.  Yikes.  Apparently she has been advised to avoid strenuous activity for a week, according to LA Times.  Let’s hope her mouth is ok. 

I laughed and I laughed and I laughed

Because the judging…kind of a joke, right?  Home field advantage has not been this pronounced in recent memory. It was most evident in the program components scores. *I should also note that there was some other questionable judging, like the dinging of Mirai Nagasu in the short, but we’ll focus on the Canadian bias here.

Exhibit A:  Joannie Rochette did not do a triple/triple combination in her (very nice) short program here at Skate Canada.  But her final score was a 70, only about six points off the all-time record set two weeks ago by Yu-na Kim of Korea for a program that included a triple/triple combination, and was one of the most fabulous short programs I have seen.  That program also included the skating of Yu-na Kim, which I think in the many ways that are judged in program components, is superior to Rochette’s.  Kim’s short is one for the ages.  Rochette’s is a good program for this season.  If Rochette received a 31.60 on components in Canada, Kim should have received at least a 35 on components in Lake Placid.  But she received a 32.28.  Different judges, different events.  But COME ON!  Rochette’s scores were way high.

Exhibit B: Patrick (PChiddy) Chan.  Patrick Chan is an amazing skater and normally does rack up very high program components scores.  But I would not say he performed the heck out of either his short or free skate.  Yet he consistently received 8s and higher from the judges on performance and execution.  And (keeping in mind that I am completely biased because I am in love with Jeremy Abbott’s short program) I do not think Chan’s deserved higher marks in program components here than Abbott in the short.  Not for this performance.

Exhibit C:  Virtue and Moir’s Original Dance

Am I missing something, or did Tessa Virtue nearly faceplant twice in that OD?  Not only that, but she seemed scared of faceplanting and had to recover from nearly faceplanting.  All these things might have had a noticeable effect on program components scores, one would assume.  One would be wrong. 

I laughed, but this time from joy and not sarcasm

Jeremy Abbott landing that quad in his free skate was one of the best moments of the competition!  Unfortunately I don’t think the rest of the skate lived up to that opening, but hopefully he’ll get it there.  And what a win!  Not sure about how he’s replaced his second triple axel with another high scoring jump pass, but hey, you do what you gotta do.

Daisuke Takahashi, YES!  Not perfect, and he didn’t go for the quad like he did at NHK.  But he is obviously building strength week by week.  I was very happy to see him skate better here. 

Savchenko and Szolkowy are not only back, but they may have my favorite (or one of my top) pairs free skates of the season!  What a magnificent performance from them - proof that their meltdown was a one-time thing, hopefully.  But boy, did they ditch that other free skate quickly.  I’m not complaining, Out of Africa suited them to a tee.

…and I cried

Alissa Czisny had such a lovely short program.  And the first half of her free skate, I just wanted to steal it and put it up on my shelf and look at it forever.  And then…the falls.  She just falls apart.  And breaks my heart every time!  I have no idea how the judges are going to treat her at nationals.  They have the ability to prop her up on components and hope that the Olympic judges do the same - but will that be fair?  Has she landed more than three credited triples in the free skate in recent memory?

Mirai Nagasu’s free skate was joyless, which is weird because she received good technical scores - one of her strengths is her personality and the fun she has out there, I just want to see it! But I’m sure she was trying to eak every point out since her short was scored the way it was.

Caroline Zhang makes me want to cry all the time.  She looks so sad, and skates that way, too. 

Laura Lepisto makes me want to cry because I feel like I am missing what everyone likes about her.  Also, with her oddly stiff arm movements, she reminds me of old-school Barbie dolls.  If we are going with the dark horse medalists, I will take Alena Leonova over Lepisto any day.

Joannie Rochette has not been skating spectacularly this season, despite the amazing scores she keeps getting.  I have a feeling though, with the ladies field and the judging, that skating less than spectacularly will be enough for her to win an Olympic medal next year. 

Weaver and Poje also made me cry, pretty much the same reason as Laura Lepisto - I don’t see them on par with some of the other teams.  They just seem very slow to me.  Maybe they look different in person.

Samuelson and Bates - uh oh, did the race for the third US ice dancing slot in the Olympics just become a competition?  Unclear. 

Your Grand Prix Final competitors (barring injury or another type of withdrawal) will be:

Pairs

Shen and Zhao (China)
Pang and Tong (China)
Mukhortova and Trankov (Russia)
Savchenko and Szolkowy (Germany)
Kavaguti and Smirnov (Russia)
Zhang and Zhang (China)*

*Tied for points with Ukraine’s Volosozhar and Morozov and Canada’s Dube and Davison, but won the tiebreaker, I am assuming because their overall point total was higher than the other two pairs’.

Mens

Nobunari Oda (Japan)
Evan Lysacek (USA)
Brian Joubert (France)
Jeremy Abbott (USA)
Daisuke Takahashi (Japan)
Johnny Weir (USA)

Ladies

Yu-na Kim (S. Korea)
Miki Ando (Japan)
Joannie Rochette (Canada)
Alena Leonova (Russia)
Ashley Wagner (USA)
Akiko Suzuki (Japan)*

*Tied with USA’s Rachael Flatt and Alissa Czisny, but won the tiebreaker because she won an event.

Ice Dancing
Davis and White (USA)
Virtue and Moir (Canada)
Belbin and Agosto (USA)
Pechalat and Bourzat (France)
Cappellini and Lanotte (Italy)
Kerr and Kerr (Great Britain)

Well, to wrap up the final Grand Prix event before the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo in two weeks, here are the final standings in ice dance.  I wonder what this does to Samuelson and Bates’s Olympic chances?  It has to be seen as somewhat of a disappointment for them. And of course, Virtue and Moir were dominant.
Results:

I have been completely away from the Internet and unable to watch any of Skate Canada:( But I will try to catch up soon.  I am ITCHING to watch after seeing these results though!  Here are the results:

Ice Dance (standings after the Original Dance)

Results:

Ladies

Results:

Pairs

Results:

Men

Results: