Skate America 2008!

Held: October 24-26, 2008
Where: Everett, WA (Venue: Comcast Arena - Everett Events Center)

Official site: http://www.2008skateamerica.com
(ETA) Official Entries/Results Page: http://www.isufs.org/results/gpusa08

Mao chan's not in it, but its the first Grand Prix event, and definitely something I'm looking forward to! (And for so many other skater fans too, I'm sure)

All the disciplines are jam-packed with top tier skaters, and the ladies will definitely be a nail-biter. There's Mirai, Rachael, Yu-Na, Miki, Yukari, and Kimmie. For me, I'm particularly interested in how Miki/Kimmie will perform, for what I really hope to be the start to a great comeback season for the two of them.

On a tangent, I'm slightly bummed out by the strict blackout restriction Icenetwork has this year. I'm actually in Japan this year due to college, and I was looking forward to watching it live...but I have to compromise with youtube and TV Asahi (whose coverage of skating I have never particularly liked).

Speaking of TV Asahi, I'm really annoyed TV Asahi didn't even put Nobunari's profile on their GP page (I know he only has NHK right now, but seriously! ) and Rachael doesn't have one either!

GP series is here!

I love Miki's new SP and can't wait to see it in good quality. Of course, I'm looking forward to other new programs as well!

clovera wrote:

On a tangent, I'm slightly bummed out by the strict blackout restriction Icenetwork has this year. I'm actually in Japan this year due to college, and I was looking forward to watching it live...but I have to compromise with youtube and TV Asahi (whose coverage of skating I have never particularly liked).

I agree! I would gladly subscribe if it wasn't for the restrictions. There's no GP coverage at all in my country. I'll just have to depend on Youtube...

Quote :

Speaking of TV Asahi, I'm really annoyed TV Asahi didn't even put Nobunari's profile on their GP page (I know he only has NHK right now, but seriously! ) and Rachael doesn't have one either!

On the other hand, they will have only themselves to blame if Nobunari and Rachel end up medalling. :joker:

inskate wrote:

I agree! I would gladly subscribe if it wasn't for the restrictions. There's no GP coverage at all in my country. I'll just have to depend on Youtube... [/color]

Haven't you heard about the good news () yet?

I heard Rachael is gonna do two 3-3 combination!!
can't wait to see her free program

yu na kim arrival and skate america preparation video

Short program run-throughs:

Miki Ando:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDP4Sz5DL7w

YuNa Kim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYk8E_yZFT8

Yukari Nakano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbyI1EiTsjo

Mirai Nagasu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfpEBOJDTH8

Rachel Flatt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmWgiDOKFwQ

Kimmie Meissner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZqJ9SYDSL8


I love Miki's and Mirai's choreo. They still look a bit bothered by their off-season jump issues, though... However, according to the reports, they have landed 3-3's and other jumps in other practice sessions. Rachel's jumps look great! She landed 3F-3L (although I can't say if it was fully rotated). YuNa's program is the same as in the July practice video (with music this time ). Kimmie finally has a good SP, and she looks more confident and happy than last year. Good for her! Yukari looks good, but I don't think this program matches her personality; the music's a bit too bland. I wish she's go back to Fantasie Impromptu or Sayuri.

I must say: this field is TOUGH! It's hard to imagine that 3 of those ladies will be off the podium, and, consequently, out of GPF. In my opinion all of them deserve to qualify...

ISU Entry/Result page now up:
http://www.isufs.org/results/gpusa08/

Evan is in first, Johnny in second, Takahiko in third! From what I can tell from PBP's of other forums, those three were the most impressive.

Argh, TV Asahi isn't going to air this until midnight in Japan I think I'll just get Russian WebTV now - my thirst for skating must be satisfied! Haha

have the women's sp happened yet?

yes it already done. someone from this forum report that yuna is 1st place with 12 point lead over second place Miki Ando. More information see here

http://maoasada.heavenforum.org/competition-results-f6/2008-skate-america-t83-30.htm

It just ended, Helen. In the end, I got Russian WebTV after all, and I didn't experience too many problems. Disconnected once, but that's it! (The people I was doing PBP with on FSU seemed to be having issues with icenetwork, hmm).

Well, that was...INTERESTING, to say the least.
First things first, I'm happy that they got rid of the ice mikes this year, but I'm guessing the ice condition wasn't so great, because almost everyone seemed to have messed up their jump.

Yukari doubled, Kimmie fell, Mirai had to hold on to her 3Lz and settle for a 3Fl-2T, Miki fell on her step sequence and Yu-Na had a bad step out on the 2A.

Rachael's 3Fl-3Lp was heavily underrotated, so her scores reflected it. On the other hand, I'm VERY annoyed at the judges for giving Miki low scores, and I suspect they downgraded her 3Lz-3Lp as well (which irks me, Miki's 3-3 always appear to be at least within the 1/4 cheat leeway that is allowed).

Yu-Na was stunning in her costume, and her performance was solid, but she DID have a serious step out on the 2A, and the judges give her 69.50 even still. I'm sorry, but I would really like to know how the judges could possibly allow that! The judges were very conservative on giving high SP marks for the 2007-2008 season, and they suddenly award Yu-Na's SP (with an error) 69+? That's higher than Mao's SP in 2008 Worlds and Nocturne at SA 2006!

Judges...GRRR!!!!

1. Yu-Na KIM KOR 69.50 TSS-39.06 PCS-30.44 0.00
2. Miki ANDO JPN 57.80 TSS-30.28 PCS-28.52 1.00
3. Yukari Nakano JPN 57.46 TSS-29.30 PCS-28.16 0.00
4. Mirai NAGASU USA 56.42 TSS-30.50 PCS-25.92 0.00
5. Rachael FLATT USA 54.92 TSS-30.00 PCS-24.92 0.00
6. Kimmie MEISSNER USA 54.90 TSS-28.46 PCS-27.44 1.00
7. Annette DYTRT GER 48.32 TSS-25.64 PCS-22.68 0.00
8. Susanna POYKIO FIN 47.82 TSS-24.50 PCS-23.32 0.00
9. Yan LIU CHN 46.96 TSS-25.84 PCS-21.12 0.00
10. Mira LEUNG CAN 45.74 TSS-25.54 PCS-20.20 0.00
11. Tugba KARADEMIR TUR 41.26 TSS-19.58 PCS-21.68 0.00

P.S. I'm also surprised at how low Mira placed. I actually thought she did quite well, and improved vastly compared to previous years...

The tech caller at last year's SA was also quite...strict, but I'm hoping this isn't the beginning of some "crackdown" to make it hard to give full credit for skaters with combinations of 3lp at the end like Mao and Miki (and Rachael). It's MUCH harder to tack a triple loop in the end than a toe, and I already voiced my opinion that CoP penalizes underrotations TOO severely.

I wonder if there will be an Asian sweep across the podium for Skate America...? Hmmm.

Men's portion also done! Takahiko wins!!!!!!

I'm very happy for Johnny's second placing too!
Lots of angry Evan fans expressing discontent everywhere, but I am not
exactly a fan of his (Weir/Taka/Pat Chan and the retired Buttle/Lambiel
are a different story ) so...er...oh well.

Since it is held in the states, the crowd was booing quite loudly
at the final result.

ETA: Lysacek was apparently dinged for UR on his quad + triple axel.
Eek. Well, fully rotating jumps appear to be far more important than
ever now. As feared, Miki's triple loop on
her combo was downgraded. Oh no...

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081026&content_id=54227&vkey=ice_news
I'm very interested in the protocols now and in just how much Yu-Na racked up in GOE's

ETA2: Protocols for the men are up now!

Congratulations to Kozuka-kun
I am surprised but very very very happy for Kozuka-kun

Congratulations to Takahiko! What a nice surprise!

Speaking about the ladies, I am really curious to see the protocols.
I really like Yu-Na a lot and I think she totally deserved to win the SP by quite a margin, but if she doesn't get an edge call or at least a "!" for that "flip" http://www.uploda.org/uporg1748793.gif then I'll be quite upset. I thought she's always slightly lipped and everyone just kept denying it, but if this is not a clear outside edge than I really don't know what it is.
It's a shame because given her talents she should be able to fix her takeoff in no time but why would she when she never gets the edge call?
I think she is a wonderful skater with lots of qualities and her jumps otherwise are amazing. It almost makes me feel bad for posting this considering Mao and Yu-Na fans we've been quite nice to each other recently (at least that was my feeling). But what is so shameful about calling the jump what it really is?
I guess I'm just tired hearing about Yu-Na's textbook world's best flip especially if it could easily be true had she been pushed to put just a little effort into fixing it.

Good luck to all in the FS!

edit: So, the link is gone...doesn't make it any less real though.

Congratulations to Takahiko for his first GP win!

I really liked Miki's program. Shame about the fall in the footwork sequence... I thought the judges were rather harsh on her, but maybe that's because she had a really bad last season... Maybe the judges need a bit more time to regard her as a top skater again. I can help but cheer for her, I would give her some additional point for sheer courage of skating with an arm that is in danger in popping out of its slot. I can't imagine even trying to spin or jump in such condition.

I can't say anything about YuNa's flip, because in the actual program the angle the jump is shown at makes it impossible to tell the edge for sure... But I'm really surprised that her sit spin was credited, because it sure did not look to be performed at less than 90 degree in the knee (the first position).
I'm not surprised at the scores, though; it's a norm that judges reward hoge GoEs to skaters with lots of speed and fully rotated jumps. That, and "champion's presence" plays a huge role in how the scores are awarded. Just look at Irina Slutskaya, Carolina Kostner or Brian Joubert. YuNa clearly had the most power and confidence of the skaters in the SP.

I was surprised about Yu-Na's sit spin too. I think I heard somewhere the rules should be even stricter about sit spins this year...
Of course one can't say anything about the lip from that video, but in the link provided which somehow disappeared it was absolutely clear. Mao would be happy to have a lutz like that! Hopefully she has this season, the practice clips looked quite promising.
Otherwise nice improvement on Yu-Na's spiral and I agree with rest you said.

I am curious to see the new free programs and if Miki really goes for the quad. She was lovely in the SP. It's a pity about that fall but her 3-3 looked clean to me.

edit:

What about this angle...
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=foDbzxb3RWA
(could be probably taken down soon too)

yes, it is the warm-up but most of her attempts in actual competition taken from this angle look about the same.

My only issue is that since the "e" was introduced at all it should apply for everyone.

Quote :

edit:

What about this angle...
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=foDbzxb3RWA
(could be probably taken down soon too)

yes, it is the warm-up but most of her attempts in actual competition taken from this angle look about the same.

My only issue is that since the "e" was introduced at all it should apply for everyone.

Definitely a lip. I've noticed that Yu-Na's flip has a tendency to take off flat, which is fine. However, I remember watching a TV Asahi fluff for GPF 2007 that addressed Mao's flutz and Miki's lip, and they showed Yu-Na as the "textbook jumper," but I was very surprised because the clip they showed with her flip from her Miss Saigon LP looked like a total lip to me.

But so much of the online community see Yu-Na as the perfect jumper with Mao the "cheater" on her flutz and lack of variety in her jumps (which is so not true anymore) that it probably doesn't matter to the judges either...when it should.

I really think its time to get rid of the anonymity of the judging panel, and have more than ONE technical caller. The judging of past competitions (like Yukari's UR call on her 3Fl on her 2008 worlds FS) has annoyed me, but if this keeps up I don't know what to think of CoP anymore.

ETA: Just saw the icenetwork version on youtube which provided good angle on Yu-Na's flip. It is definitely on an outside edge (not as bad as say, Shizuka's lip during 2004, but its definitely outside). No "e" or even a "!" though. I'm totally perplexed now at the judging.

Icenetwork version - it'll probably get deleted really soon though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKyEqVtvx0w

I genuinely do not wish to be rude or mean-sprited - I really think Mao and Yu-Na are the top of the world right now and amazing artistic, complete skaters amongst the ladies. Its just that I find her flip in both the practice and SP in this competition to be suspect, which is odd considering that her flip since her Jr. Worlds win up until now has been taken off flat (with a slight inside edge, which is OK).

Congratulations, Takahiko!!

I thought judging was really weird too. Yu-na deserved to be first after SP, but the score seemed a little too high for that performance. really wanna see the score sheet. I also wonder why Miki's Flip got -1 goe. does anyone know why???

Takahiko seems so happy!! I'm sooo happy too! Congratulation TAkahiko!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJVwAoQEjJ0

As for the ladies SP, I agree that Yu-Na deserve to be first after the SP, but if she got 69, Miki should have gotten at least 65...?! I'm confused...
Well, it was really an interesting competition! Can't wait for the long program

Ladies FS has just ended~!

1 Yu-Na KIM KOR 123.95 63.95 60.00 7.60 7.10 7.70 7.60 7.50 0.00 #11
2 Yukari NAKANO JPN 115.07 58.43 56.64 7.30 6.55 7.25 7.15 7.15 0.00 #9
3 Miki ANDO JPN 110.62 58.46 52.16 6.95 5.65 6.85 6.60 6.55 0.00 #10
4 Rachael FLATT USA 100.81 50.65 50.16 6.40 6.00 6.20 6.45 6.30 0.00 #7
5 Susanna POYKIO FIN 94.32 48.24 46.08 6.15 5.45 5.85 5.65 5.70 0.00 #4
6 Mira LEUNG CAN 90.42 48.90 41.52 5.40 5.10 5.20 5.30 4.95 0.00 #2
7 Mirai NAGASU USA 86.48 36.96 51.52 6.80 6.00 6.40 6.55 6.45 2.00 #8
8 Yan LIU CHN 81.16 40.92 40.24 5.35 4.75 5.25 5.00 4.80 0.00 #3
9 Kimmie MEISSNER USA 81.02 33.74 49.28 6.35 5.95 6.05 6.35 6.10 2.00 #6
10 Tugba KARADEMIR TUR 72.65 32.61 41.04 5.15 4.70 5.25 5.25 5.30 1.00 #1
11 Annette DYTRT GER 68.51 28.75 43.76 5.70 5.05 5.15 5.75 5.70 4.00 #5

1 Yu-Na KIM KOR 193.45 1 1
2 Yukari NAKANO JPN 172.53 3 2
3 Miki ANDO JPN 168.42 2 3
4 Rachael FLATT USA 155.73 5 4
5 Mirai NAGASU USA 142.90 4 7
6 Susanna POYKIO FIN 142.14 8 5
7 Mira LEUNG CAN 136.16 10 6
8 Kimmie MEISSNER USA 135.92 6 9
9 Yan LIU CHN 128.12 9 8
10 Annette DYTRT GER 116.83 7 11
11 Tugba KARADEMIR TUR 113.91 11 10

Congrats to Yu-Na, Yukari and Miki! :joker: They were, without a doubt, the class of the field in this competition. Miki was solid (unlike her SP though, she looked a bit unsure of herself today), Yukari was graceful, and Yu-Na charismatic (she also had a lovely 3fl-3t and 2A-3T).

I must say, I was a bit shocked at how tentative and error prone Mirai was, and Rachael was not her usual self either. Mirai had some issues with two-footing and underrotating her jumps, and Rachael did not have the ice coverage or joy I saw last year. The protocols show that FIVE of Mirai's jumps were downgraded in her FS! Kimmie just broke my heart again. Sigh... I don't know if she she can pull herself together anymore.

Unlike the SP, I agree with the judge's scores (and placement) for the free skate except for one thing - Miki's 3Lz-3Lp. Ugh, the technical caller for this competition is killing me. Miki and Mao has, IMO the best consistent triple-triple loop combos in the ladies, but I'm not liking this message for constant UR calls that's happening right now with the second triple loop. It's almost as if the tech caller forgot that a 1/4 underrotation is acceptable, or that a triple loop's mechanics calls for some prerotation to take place.

Also, is it just me or is the ice condition not very good by the time the ladies skated? It seemed very wet...almost everyone seemed to have issues today, Mirai fell on a step sequence (the second lady to do that in SA), Yukari and Miki had uncharacteristic wobbles during spirals and just skating, and Yu-Na also had some weird movements during her spins. I hope its just nerves and not the actual ice...

Protocols are up as well!

ETA: I apologize for sounding so negative in these posts. I guess I'm just underwhelmed overall with the competitive portion of SA (although some performances were great, of course!) and irritated at the judges who can never seem to get their minds straight on how to score. It's still the first grand prix event though, so I'm crossing my fingers things will get better in Skate Canada!

inskate wrote:

-1 for Flip for not being immediately out of steps (a new rule this season).

Thank you for the infomation. I wasn't thinking about that new rule.

I just watched ladies FS. I have to say that the caller is way too harsh for loop jumpers. If its always like that, I think nobody would take a risk to jump a combination with triple loop anymore.

This user is uploading SA videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/jpfigure2
Kimmie's, Mirai's and Rachel's programs are already up! I'll comment after I watch them.

Congrats to the winners!
I am happy for Yukari, she really deserves it and I hope Mirai can do better next time.
It also seemed like a good judging today especially the PCS scores.
I can't wait till TEB to finally see Mao and her new programs!
Now that Yu-Na convincingly won both the SP and the LP, Mao should do just the same. I always found it funny how their Grand Prix placements were always exactly the same. Talk about good rivalry!
Well, now I certainly hope this trend continues