clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Men's Free Skate Quick Thoughts

New, 2 comments

Johnny Weir interview in which he says his comeback is very serious. He says he's ready to work on the quad but he's coming back for the people who support him. He says maybe his chance has passed but he's ready to bring his sexy back to figure skating. Podium prediction: Abbott/Rippon.

Jason Brown: He starts in seventh place. Apparently he had a rough warmup. He has such a lovely tano lutz. Bezic is comparing Brown with Patrick Chan, who learned to skate beautifully before he learned the quad and other tough jumps (Because Brown has yet to master the triple axel). Not a bad skater to be compared with, I suppose. Brown really is a beautiful skater. He had a triple/triple comb in the second half. He is solid on all of these jumps so far. Get that triple axel, Jason! And then - get that quad! Ugh. Right when Bezic starts complimenting his edges he stumbles. Sad! And then he stumbles out of a triple salchow, so he must be flustered. He will have to learn how to shake it off. Two-foots the triple loop. This is too bad, I was enjoying it so much. AAAnd a fall. So there goes that lovely performance with all the sloppiness at the end. 133.48 for the free, total of 209.16. First place for now.

Douglas Razzano: Triple axel! Double toe instead of quad. regroups pretty quickly. I feel like he always wears gloves. Is that true? I have never really gotten onboard the glove train. This program is not keeping my attention. He is landing all these jumps (including his triple triple) very well and he has a beautiful spread eagle into triple salchow. So he is winning me over, gloves and all. Nice job, Razzano! Bezic says he is a subtle skater with pure technique. And not a lot of bravado, heh...so how neanderthal am I that I was bored earlier...heee. 150.88 in the free and 223.38 overall, he is now in first place.

Stephen Carriere: He has been away from the ice due to injury. That was a nice triple axel...Hamilton calls it a gigantic improvement. I am liking the attach Carriere has in the program. Argh, tough fall on the second triple axel, but everything else is still going well. 141.59 for the free, 213.41 overall. Second place for now.

Pretty sure they just bleeped out the word "pissed" from Jeremy Abbott's fluff. Weird. I mean, I think they wanted to bleep it because it was edgy. HA.

They are interspersing Adam and Jeremy fluff. It's hard to listen to these two talk about being tough. I mean, they are not tough-sounding. It's impossible for them to sound intimidating.

Max Aaron: Wow. Tries the quad salchow, out of control, crashes into the boards. But wow! Too bad. I hope it doesn't affect the whole performance. Triple axel he holds onto but it's forward. He has a breather section in here, which means it's kind of boring. This program is terrible. But I'm sure there will be plenty of jumps here. He did another triple axel but no combo. Falls on triple flip and no combo obviously. Despite the amazingness of doing a quad salchow (though he fell here), the program is very junior to me. 211.15 total.

Ross Miner: I like this program. I hope I like it today. Lovely, lovely triple axel. And a second triple axel that he falls on. Uh oh. But he snaps back with a triple lutz/triple toe. His pants strap is undone. I hope that doesn't affect his skating... Bezic said it shouldn't affect performance. Nice footwork here. Doesn't seem like the strap is hurting him. This is a great recovery for Miner, just wish he hasn't blown the triple axel that was supposed to be in combination. Not a flashy program and not a flashy skater, but he has a nice quality that I appreciate. He just kind of stumbled on footwork at the end, oy, will he get a deduction? I don't know. He looks tired at the end here. 151.42 for the free skate, 230.32 overall. First place for now.

Keegan Messing: Messing is not necessarily my style of skater...I think, as Hamilton says if you're looking for high art, you've come to the wrong place. heh. But he is fun to watch with his explosiveness. But he triples the quad toe..still lands fine. He is truly adorable and enjoys working the crowd. Hands down on his second triple axel with no combo. But way to save the jump. But now he's having trouble controlling the jumps and he is kind of running out of speed. 212.47 total, fourth place for now.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh: How happy am I to see him in medal contention right now? He is such a great skater. Ack! couldn't make it on the quad toe. Sad. And now, let's see his recovery. He lands his net few jumps including the triple axel but not everything is looking flawless. He stumbles out of second triple axel. I don't love this program and I hate that because Armin keeps picking program music that I don't love, even though I love his skating so. Nice speed and energy here at the end. 143.97 for the free, 224.63, second place for now behind Miner. Miner is guaranteed the bronze medal (which he also won last season. But maybe it will be higher? We shall see!).

Adam Rippon: And here we have Mr. Rippon and his hair. I am kind of nervous! Now is the time, Rippon! Keep it together! Doubles a salchow off the top instead of doing a quad. Not a look of confidence. Very little speed there but he lands the triple axel but weird landings all around. Gets it back with a triple loop. YAy on the second triple axel! woo. He is gutting these jumps out at the end, does a beautiful Rippon lutz though. And some nice spins, the crowd is into it. Great footwork and one final double axel. I don't think this is a national championship winning program but I do think he will likely place ahead of Miner. 157.93 for free and 240.87. he will definitely wiin at least a silver and be on the world team. yay for Rippon!

Jeremy Abbott: Absolutely no one has put the pressure on Abbott, so let's hope he turns in something monumental. Whoa, ok, I'm back. I just allowed myself to be enveloped in the Jeremy Abbott experience. No, it wasn't perfect. Well, the quad toe was perfect. Some landings were off. There were a couple of doubles where I would have liked triples. But I don't care. It was superb, splendiferous, amazing. He is beautiful. And he will be national champ one more time. 183.35 for the free. WOW. 273.58. Just obliterated his own record. Oh yeah, and he won.

Your podium:

1) Jeremy Abbott

2) Adam Rippon

3) Ross Miner

Hmm...can Abbott and Rippon get us back three spots at next year's worlds? To be continued!