Grand Prix Final 2013

Iceriver wrote:

BTW, I'm still angry that Amano tried to spoil such a great moment. I mean, this is probably Mao's best SP and she should have received her personal best score. We know that that triple axel was not underotated (at least not more than 1/4) but it's somehow annoying not to be able to say that this program was considered "clean" by the judges. Well, there's still room for improvement when it comes to scores, so this makes everything more exciting. How high can she score if she's clean? 42+35=77 points or even 78 seems reasonable at this point.

While watching, I was thinking about how Mao has grown as an artist. This was an incredible interpretation of Nocturne, and I had never seen her skate with such musicality. I've been enjoying her skating since 2006 for different reasons, but it is now that everything seems to be working perfectly. So sad that she's retiring this season, she's still improving. At least I hope to see her do lots of shows (after resting and having some fun   ) with new programs but also some of her old ones. Am I the only one who would love to see her skate ladies in lavender again? That was a gorgeous program, my favourite along with Nocturne.

I guess another way to look at the 'Amano incident' during GPF is that, hopefully, Mao will achieve her personal best scores in Sochi  

And I have the same feeling as Iceriver, Mao has grown so much during these 3 years that there's no match from any other current skater who could perform to Mao's genuine artistry at the moment. The biggest difference I see in Mao right now is that, when she was practicing the Nocturne during the 6-min warm up before competition, she was even practicing every movement WITH facial expression. I don't recall seeing her doing that before. And now I only hope she can make it the same with her Rach2 program...just to make the program hers.

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Do you think Mao will become a coach? Her students would love her! I mean, MAO ASADA AS YOUR COACH!

sure, she said she wants to be be coach, just imagine the long lines of parents waiting their kids to be coached for Asada sensei   

chapis wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Do you think Mao will become a coach? Her students would love her! I mean, MAO ASADA AS YOUR COACH!

sure, she said she wants to be be coach, just imagine the long lines of parents waiting their kids to be coached for Asada sensei   

chapis wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Do you think Mao will become a coach? Her students would love her! I mean, MAO ASADA AS YOUR COACH!

sure, she said she wants to be be coach, just imagine the long lines of parents waiting their kids to be coached for Asada sensei   

Didn't she say that she wants to run an organic farm and a restaurant? I think Dai wouldn't mind living in a farm and run a restaurant with her  

roma wrote:

I think The Naked Ice is the blog of kwanette from GS and is a real fan of Mao.

Some of her tweets: https://twitter.com/kwanette | https://twitter.com/NakedIceBlog

• Mao is the ONLY lady since #THEKWEEN who moves me on an emotional level.
  
• I never loved Yuna. I respect her, appreciate her, and bow to her achievements, but I find her approach "journeywoman.
  
• I respectfully disagree.saw Mao in person in Hartford,SA 06she had it all.She had it all when she beat #thesoviettank at #GPF05
  
• Mao should get 100 pts for her FW
  
• @olyphil She fought and she can actually make IJS footwork look musical.Her interpretation, best in the business. #GPF13
  

What does journeywoman mean?

I want to know what "journeywoman" means too.

roma wrote:

silenceisgolden wrote:

It seems this blogger has joined our boo to Amano club   

"I'm not too sure what Shin Amano was smoking on but he was the only one
who thought that 3A was <; it looked great to me (and everyone else). "

http://thenakedice.blogspot.jp/2013/12/2013-2014-grand-prix-final-junior-grand.html

And how about Dave Lease as an associate member?   

"Though Shin Amano may not agree, Asada's triple axel looked to be one of the strongest
she has landed in many years. With two more months, it is easy to see her managing to
land a clean triple axel in Sochi."

http://www.theskatinglesson.com/state-of-skate-a-recap-of-the-grand-prix-final-and-golden-spin/

I think The Naked Ice is the blog of kwanette from GS and is a real fan of Mao.

Some of her tweets: https://twitter.com/kwanette | https://twitter.com/NakedIceBlog

• Mao is the ONLY lady since #THEKWEEN who moves me on an emotional level.
  
• I never loved Yuna. I respect her, appreciate her, and bow to her achievements, but I find her approach "journeywoman.
  
• I respectfully disagree.saw Mao in person in Hartford,SA 06she had it all.She had it all when she beat #thesoviettank at #GPF05
  
• Mao should get 100 pts for her FW
  
• @olyphil She fought and she can actually make IJS footwork look musical.Her interpretation, best in the business. #GPF13
  

---
For someone who seems to be always so critical of Mao it's good to finally read something good from Dave and I prefer this quote from him: "Asada’s program was soft, lyrical and quite touching; it simply sang from within."

Wow, I am really surprised. I have been following her blog for quite a while. And I thought she is a big fan of both Kwan and Yuna, though she has been writing nice things about Mao in quite an objective way  .

shar wrote:

I want to know what "journeywoman" means too.

journeywoman
Web definitions
The female equivalent of a journeyman
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/journeywoman

Noun[edit]
journeyman (plural journeymen)
a tradesman who has served an apprenticeship and is employed by a master tradesman  [quotations ▼]
a competent but undistinguished tradesman, especially one who works, and is paid by the day

AmazingGraceMao wrote:

Wow, I am really surprised. I have been following her blog for quite a while. And I thought she is a big fan of both Kwan and Yuna, though she has been writing nice things about Mao in quite an objective way  .

She is a big fan of Michelle Kwan.

chapis wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Do you think Mao will become a coach? Her students would love her! I mean, MAO ASADA AS YOUR COACH!

sure, she said she wants to be be coach, just imagine the long lines of parents waiting their kids to be coached for Asada sensei   

I know! That's just how I imagine it to be. It's an automatic spotlight for the student.

AmazingGraceMao wrote:

shar wrote:

I want to know what "journeywoman" means too.

journeywoman
Web definitions
The female equivalent of a journeyman
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/journeywoman

Noun[edit]
journeyman (plural journeymen)
a tradesman who has served an apprenticeship and is employed by a master tradesman  [quotations ▼]
a competent but undistinguished tradesman, especially one who works, and is paid by the day

Thanks.
competent but undistinguished  
I followed Kwanette but I always thought that she likes Yuna more than Mao.

AmazingGraceMao wrote:

shar wrote:

I want to know what "journeywoman" means too.

journeywoman
Web definitions
The female equivalent of a journeyman
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/journeywoman

Noun[edit]
journeyman (plural journeymen)
a tradesman who has served an apprenticeship and is employed by a master tradesman  [quotations ▼]
a competent but undistinguished tradesman, especially one who works, and is paid by the day

   AmazingGraceMao.

@pearlyriver: I think she respects Yuna and her talent, but she also speaks very highly of Mao.

Wow! When I heard Mao was popular in Japan, no one was kidding.

http://news.msn.com/year-in-review-2013/bings-most-searched-sports-stars#image=10

Mao tops the list for Japan.

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Wow! When I heard Mao was popular in Japan, no one was kidding.

http://news.msn.com/year-in-review-2013/bings-most-searched-sports-stars#image=10

Mao tops the list for Japan.

This is amazing   . I knew she was popular but not to such an extent that she would top the list. This seems impossible when, like me, you live in a country where figure skating in unknown to most people.

Good job Mao and thank you Japan!  

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Wow! When I heard Mao was popular in Japan, no one was kidding.

http://news.msn.com/year-in-review-2013/bings-most-searched-sports-stars#image=10

Mao tops the list for Japan.

Incredible. I can't believe that she beats Kagawa and Ichiro to make the top   

roma wrote:

I think The Naked Ice is the blog of kwanette from GS and is a real fan of Mao.

Some of her tweets: https://twitter.com/kwanette | https://twitter.com/NakedIceBlog

• Mao is the ONLY lady since #THEKWEEN who moves me on an emotional level.
  
• I never loved Yuna. I respect her, appreciate her, and bow to her achievements, but I find her approach "journeywoman.
  
• I respectfully disagree.saw Mao in person in Hartford,SA 06she had it all.She had it all when she beat #thesoviettank at #GPF05
  
• Mao should get 100 pts for her FW
  
• @olyphil She fought and she can actually make IJS footwork look musical.Her interpretation, best in the business. #GPF13
  

---
For someone who seems to be always so critical of Mao it's good to finally read something good from Dave and I prefer this quote from him: "Asada’s program was soft, lyrical and quite touching; it simply sang from within."

Um... I think The Naked Ice is the blog of kwanatic and kwanette (so confusing   )
is a different person, as we see the comments at #79 and #80.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?90029-What-will-be-Gracie-Gold-s-new-SP-music/page4

silenceisgolden wrote:

roma wrote:

I think The Naked Ice is the blog of kwanette from GS and is a real fan of Mao.

Some of her tweets: https://twitter.com/kwanette | https://twitter.com/NakedIceBlog

• Mao is the ONLY lady since #THEKWEEN who moves me on an emotional level.
  
• I never loved Yuna. I respect her, appreciate her, and bow to her achievements, but I find her approach "journeywoman.
  
• I respectfully disagree.saw Mao in person in Hartford,SA 06she had it all.She had it all when she beat #thesoviettank at #GPF05
  
• Mao should get 100 pts for her FW
  
• @olyphil She fought and she can actually make IJS footwork look musical.Her interpretation, best in the business. #GPF13
  

---
For someone who seems to be always so critical of Mao it's good to finally read something good from Dave and I prefer this quote from him: "Asada’s program was soft, lyrical and quite touching; it simply sang from within."

Um... I think The Naked Ice is the blog of kwanatic and kwanette (so confusing   )
is a different person, as we see the comments at #79 and #80.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?90029-What-will-be-Gracie-Gold-s-new-SP-music/page4

omg! Yes... my bad! But she uses kwanette on twitter, though she made a different twitter handle for that blog afterwards. So it's kwanatic in FSU. Sorry for the mistake.

pearlyriver wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

Wow! When I heard Mao was popular in Japan, no one was kidding.

http://news.msn.com/year-in-review-2013/bings-most-searched-sports-stars#image=10

Mao tops the list for Japan.

Incredible. I can't believe that she beats Kagawa and Ichiro to make the top   

I don't know who Kagawa and Ichiro are. I'm guessing they're extremely popular if you know them! All the more reason to be astonished of Mao's popularity!

Iceriver, I would love to visit Japan and interview people about Mao. Lol!

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

I don't know who Kagawa and Ichiro are. I'm guessing they're extremely popular if you know them! All the more reason to be astonished of Mao's popularity!

Iceriver, I would love to visit Japan and interview people about Mao. Lol!

I don't watch any sport except for FS and occasionally gymnastics, but Ichiro is a baseball player currently playing in America and Kagawa is a football player playing for Manchester United. The name Ichiro is referenced a lot in manga and other media, so is Kagawa. Ichiro is a first name, and when you mail him sth from overseas, you just need to write "Ichiro" and he'll receive it  . Kagawa is the most popular Japanese football player in Asia and in Vietnam, even those who don't watch football knows him  . I think football and baseball are much more popular than FS in Japan, so kudos to Mao for making the top    Knowing how popular Ichiro and Kagawa are, I can't imagine how big Mao is in Japan if she even defeats them.

If you guys get a chance, please listen to The Ice Queen's take on GPF. I love, love what they they had to say about Mao, spot on. And calling Patty "so arrogant" and "what a douche" when he did his interview was so hilarious:

http://www.theicequeens.com/

Mao's part starts at 23:35

pearlyriver wrote:

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

I don't know who Kagawa and Ichiro are. I'm guessing they're extremely popular if you know them! All the more reason to be astonished of Mao's popularity!

Iceriver, I would love to visit Japan and interview people about Mao. Lol!

I don't watch any sport except for FS and occasionally gymnastics, but Ichiro is a baseball player currently playing in America and Kagawa is a football player playing for Manchester United. The name Ichiro is referenced a lot in manga and other media, so is Kagawa. Ichiro is a first name, and when you mail him sth from overseas, you just need to write "Ichiro" and he'll receive it  . Kagawa is the most popular Japanese football player in Asia and in Vietnam, even those who don't watch football knows him  . I think football and baseball are much more popular than FS in Japan, so kudos to Mao for making the top    Knowing how popular Ichiro and Kagawa are, I can't imagine how big Mao is in Japan if she even defeats them.

Oh wow! Thank you for the summary! I'm just glad that Mao is being adored.