Goodbye, 2008/2009 season, goodbye!

Goodbye, 2008/2009 season: a thread for thoughtful conclusions and sentimental sighs!

One more year has passed. Another season of the sport with one of the shortest life-spans. If somebody counted up the actual time of Mao skating during this period, how many minutes would it be?.. 70? 90?
Which is another side of the greatness of figure skating: it teaches you to value every moment, to live in the present without looking too far in the future. Because today you're itching for the next competition to come as soon as possible, and tomorrow - sadly sigh, while reading a report from another retirement press-conference: why so fast?

Thank you, everybody, for being here! For writing, for reading, for drawing, for making all those wonderful montages, for sharing links and pictures and... just for being here! This place wouldn't be the same without all of you. And this is a great place! Thank you!

And, of course, thank you, Mao! Even not for the wonderful (wonderful!) season, but for - once again - just being yourself! For being kind, for being honest, for being strong, for being funny, for being humble, for being sincere, for being beautiful, for being... for being... for being... for being Mao Asada, a miracle girl whose skating is, like a magic box, full of wonders (often unimaginable) and whose golden heart, worth of countless olympic gold medals, is a wonder on its own! We love you!

...Goodbye, 2008/2009 season, goodbye! *sighs sadly*

Ok, I've sighted, now it's your turn for thougthful conclusions! Batsuchan?

a good passage!=]
i miss this season but i look forward to seeing Mao in the next season with even more fruitful results!

All in all, I thought it was a great year, with the highlights definitely being Mao during NHK, GPF, Nats, and the WTT. Worlds definitely did not go as planned, but I have faith in Mao that the "2 year plan" with Tat will work out in the end. I'm already anxious to know what Mao will skate to next season.

With that said, I secretly want her to keep Clair de Lune because the version she has for her SP turned out to be much better than I thought; I personally favor it over variants with only the piano since I personally find it to express lunar qualities better. This is especially true with the section in the latter half, beginning with the spirals.

My other thought is after Vancouver, and not necessarily related to Mao since I'm sure she'll continue to skate competitively - or at least try - until Sochi regardless of whether she wins the OGM. Rather, its about the "generation shift." I can't imagine Fumie/Yukari/Akiko/Miki sticking around for too long after Vancouver let alone remain competitive until Sochi (esp. Miki, who even made several statements about '09 being her "last Worlds"). The same goes for skaters like Joannie/CaroK. Yu-Na doesn't seem particularly keen on remaining until Sochi either.

With that in mind, I do feel that the Sochi cycle is primarily going to be about how effectively Mao can stay at the top of her game, and what is inevitably going to be the return of the U.S. skaters as medal contenders (Rachael/CaroZ/Ashley/Mirai and the legion of Juniors waiting to have their break). I sincerely hope that skaters like Yukiko Fujisawa and Kanako Murakami - my two favorites in the junior division! - will steadily improve and keep the deep field of Japanese ladies alive. It'll also be very interesting to see how the talented group of young Russian girls, such as Elizaveta Tuktamisheva, Adelina Sotnikova, Polina Shelepen, develop and whether they can bring Russia back to the radar.

I'm not even going to bother with the other disciplines, but I have to say that I have VERY high hopes for Yuzuru Hanyu as an up-and-coming male skater and the Shibutani siblings in Ice Dance.

@ clovera,

It's hard to imagine Mao getting overtaken by the U.S. skaters. It's not that I'm criticizing the quality of those skaters or anything, but there's just such a huge gap between what we're seeing of the U.S. skaters at their best and Mao, even when she's performing at an only okay standard. However, this could be due to the fact that Mao is still young. She'll only be 24 in 2014, though, and we all know how long Fumie stuck around Mirai Nagasu looks VERY promising, though, once she gets those injuries fixed.

That being said, I think Mao's main threat as she gets older is the tide of younger Japanese skaters, particularly Yukiko and Kanako, as you pointed out. My favourite "to win" currently is Yukiko - she skates so well for someone so young!

BUT, all that being said, I get this feeling that no one in Japan will ever reach the popularity of Mao Asada. She has truly joined the ranks of skaters who are considered as "legends", such as Midori Ito. I mean, can you imagine a forum such as this dedicated to Yukiko or Kanako or anyone else? Maybe I'm just biased towards Mao, but aren't we all?

Don't forget about two russian girls! I'm talking about Lisa and Adelina, they're only 12 now and their skating is amazing!
Adelina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61bvnxF-JuQSo
Lisa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fFOUOtYrkA&feature=related They can be the main competitors for Mao Sorry for off-top

Well. for me, I am going to say Thank You to Season 2008/2009 and just like with everything that must pass, things have been learned through time - and as they say "time redresses the wrong". It was a rough time for MAO with all the changes that she was able to cope with like her growth, her schooling, her coach, her physical training, the controversies with the media and her opponents, and some of the other things that we are not aware of. And yet, through all these things, she was able to hold her head up and face the changes and the challenges where she showed her sturdiness and perseverance. With the WTT, she was able to prove herself through her hard work throughout the year. So , with the 2008/2009, I am looking forward to a much more interesting competitions of MAO and I am very confident that from this time onward, the perfectionist part of MAO will be witnessed and admired by her fellow skaters, media, fans and her family and friends. 2008/2009 has prepared the coming seasons of MAO to be better and always be much more improving, just like wine.

Of course the season is over... but now, I can't wait to see Mao new exhibition programs!! She will have the time to rest a little bit and to have fun doing new programs Can't wait!
Also, Congrats to all the skaters for another wonderful skating season! It is always so much fun to watch.

summervie wrote:

Ok, I've sighted, now it's your turn for thougthful conclusions! Batsuchan?

Hehehehe, I appreciate the shout-out!

Oh, I certainly will be collecting my thoughts and posting them at some point. There are a lot to go through - and I haven't even had a chance to read the other posts yet , but I will say this: It has been such a pleasure sharing this season with you all!

Please do not disappear in the off-season! I will continue to be scouring for any news on Mao, and if I get bored I might try to translate some old clips too, so please check in regularly!!

I really think they should add more ISU events!

Skaters train really hard for about that few competition...

let's say...

2 grand prix.. if lucky.. 1 grand Prix Final, 1 Nationals,1 4cc, 1 Worlds, 1 WTT

and some exhibitions...

maybe around 10 competitions...

next year there will be olympics!

it should be more like... 15 - 20 competitions! =D

extend the skating season too for 2 - 3 months!

the wait time is longer than watching time =(

Wow!!! Everyone talking about "Sochi era" is just really exciting! Even though we aren't even past Vancouver yet...

I really have to agree that I think Mao is in it for the long haul. I also have to agree that Yuna doesn't really seem like she will stay on all the way for the next five years (no offense to her, of course).

To support this, Mao is honestly improving every season. Not that other skaters aren't, but Mao really pushes the limit for herself like she has some kind of deep mission in her soul that is hardly comprehensible to even herself.
Oh gosh, would it be an exaggeration to call her a "prophet" of figure skating? Don't laugh xD
But there is really some kind of wonderful gift in the girl that you can sense when watching her.

I feel like while watching skaters like Yuna Kim and Joannie Rochette, their primary goal is to just win win win the Olympics and push through all the competition, which is a good thing to a degree, but Mao's true goal seems to be something more. Maybe to be a legend?

Michelle Kwan never won the Olympics, but she is really a legend who seems to have the same kind of ethereal goal of being etched into peoples' and figure skating's hearts for the history of the sport....

Okay, enough of my Mao philosophizing.....

Thanks as well for always being here, everyone! I have found a sort of figure skating oasis in this forum.