Fumie Suguri

I really like fumie suguri as a skater, she has skated to some magnificent programs, i always will remember. I just wonder if she really wants to compete, why the JSF doesn't help her get a good coach, or why they don't assign her to some international competitions even B competitions would do! she is a champion with an respectable background in skating, and deserves a much better treatment, so here comes my question would you prefer her to retire, or get a good technical coach to help her jumps?

I think she is past her prime. IMO every skater should decide for themselves when they want to retire, but when your tecnical ability is so bad, that you're only jumping double jumps, well, I don't want to sound mean, but it's embarrassing.

that is why i am suggesting the JSF to give her a hand, by hiring a technical coach, akiko suzuki's jump weren't good just a while a ago, and she is only a few years younger then fumie, so i am thinking if suzuki could regain her jumps why shouldn't fumie also be able to do that too. i just feel that the JSF could try to help her a bit, to atleast retire in a satisfing way! afterall all she is still after is one good skate, i am sure that fumie knows she is past her prime, but i feel like they could show a bit more support!

The thing is, with figure skating - past about 25, each year might as well be five. Akiko is 27, and Fumie is 31. That is honestly a HUGE difference. Qing Pang is about the same age, and both she and Jiang Tong have noted that it is getting REALLY difficult for them to skate as their bodies are growing older. And pairs, in my opinion, have it easier as they don't do as difficult jumps and most of their elements don't involve them. It would probably kill Qing Pang to do a seven triple program while she probably could have done it with some training at 25. At this point, I'm not sure it's possible for Fumie, as much as I love her.

but still if she is not willing to retire and wants to continue kudos to her, I just don't think it's fair or right to treat her this way, it's already hard enough for her, to compete in a country with sooo many talented skaters soo why make it even harder. I think when one has the will, anything can happen just look at pluschenko, i know it's kind of a bad comparison since plushy has been much more succesful and still has his jumps but they are around the same age!
her not even making japannese nationals is really embarrasing, afterall she is a world medalist and has won some big international competitions like 4CC, so that alone should be enough to give her a go!
the result will after all give her a reality check, so just leave it at that. I also think it's kind of sad that the JSF doesn't give her a chance, or try to help, i am sure she would really appreciate that, and give it her last shot and probably also accept if she fails once again!

JSF has given her a chance - she was on the Grand Prix.... two years ago? Didn't do well. And then didn't make nationals. She had already tried before that. I think it's time for her to accept retirement, as much as I hate to say it. It's not in JSF's interest to give her another chance when there are so many young and talented Japanese ladies that they need to support just to get them onto the Grand Prix and out on the world stage.

ballerinamao wrote:

but still if she is not willing to retire and wants to continue kudos to her, I just don't think it's fair or right to treat her this way, it's already hard enough for her, to compete in a country with sooo many talented skaters soo why make it even harder. I think when one has the will, anything can happen just look at pluschenko, i know it's kind of a bad comparison since plushy has been much more succesful and still has his jumps but they are around the same age!

well Plushy is trully a legend. i can't believe he can still do all this jumps at 30! You can't compare Fumie to Plushy, because Fumie's technicque was never as good as Plushy's. His jumps, IMO, are textbook perfection.

ballerinamao wrote:

that is why i am suggesting the JSF to give her a hand, by hiring a technical coach, akiko suzuki's jump weren't good just a while a ago, and she is only a few years younger then fumie, so i am thinking if suzuki could regain her jumps why shouldn't fumie also be able to do that too.

Do you suggest that JSF pay for technical coach? This isn't going to happen since, she is too bad at the moment, and there are other skaters who are higher in the JSF ranking funding.

Alokya wrote:

JSF has given her a chance - she was on the Grand Prix.... two years ago? Didn't do well. And then didn't make nationals. She had already tried before that. I think it's time for her to accept retirement, as much as I hate to say it. It's not in JSF's interest to give her another chance when there are so many young and talented Japanese ladies that they need to support just to get them onto the Grand Prix and out on the world stage.

THIS.

ballerinamao wrote:

that is why i am suggesting the JSF to give her a hand, by hiring a technical coach, akiko suzuki's jump weren't good just a while a ago, and she is only a few years younger then fumie, so i am thinking if suzuki could regain her jumps why shouldn't fumie also be able to do that too.

Quote :

Do you suggest that JSF pay for technical coach? This isn't going to happen since, she is too bad at the moment, and there are other skaters who are higher in the JSF ranking funding.

Don't necessary pay for the technical coach, but atleast help with the expenses a bit, maybe give her a period of time where she has to prove herself, do something cause this is really tragic, to see one of japans former top skaters end, or rather disappear in this humiliating way. I am also quite sad to see her not do anything special like take part in a training camp, get a temporary technical coach, just do something, if she really wants to continue. I mean if she hasn't tried, and the JSF doesn't let her try to see if there still is some potential left, how are we and especially fumie herself going to realize that there really is nothing more to do!

to be fair, fumie used to train with a technical coach none other than the great alexei mishin. supposedly he didn't pay her much attention when they were training, though. perhaps he knew she was pretty much a lost cause (sorry fumie fans). also, if the japanese federation were to pay for a technical coach for fumie then THEY BETTER DO THE SAME FOR MAO AND FIND HER A DAMN TECHNICAL COACH.

ballerinamao wrote:

Don't necessary pay for the technical coach, but atleast help with the expenses a bit, maybe give her a period of time where she has to prove herself, do something cause this is really tragic, to see one of japans former top skaters end, or rather disappear in this humiliating way. I am also quite sad to see her not do anything special like take part in a training camp, get a temporary technical coach, just do something, if she really wants to continue. I mean if she hasn't tried, and the JSF doesn't let her try to see if there still is some potential left, how are we and especially fumie herself going to realize that there really is nothing more to do!

It is Fumie's own fault for ending her career in this way - she chose to compete past her prime. That is solely her fault. She had her career. If she can prove that she is good, yes, they should fund her. But she hasn't proven that she is worthy. If she had even made nationals, then yes, it is worth it to take note of her. But she didn't. She can continue vying for nationals. But she had her career - it is time for JSF to focus on other skaters. It is their turn now, not hers.

ballerinamao wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

that is why i am suggesting the JSF to give her a hand, by hiring a technical coach, akiko suzuki's jump weren't good just a while a ago, and she is only a few years younger then fumie, so i am thinking if suzuki could regain her jumps why shouldn't fumie also be able to do that too.

Quote :

Do you suggest that JSF pay for technical coach? This isn't going to happen since, she is too bad at the moment, and there are other skaters who are higher in the JSF ranking funding.

Don't necessary pay for the technical coach, but atleast help with the expenses a bit, maybe give her a period of time where she has to prove herself, do something cause this is really tragic, to see one of japans former top skaters end, or rather disappear in this humiliating way. I am also quite sad to see her not do anything special like take part in a training camp, get a temporary technical coach, just do something, if she really wants to continue. I mean if she hasn't tried, and the JSF doesn't let her try to see if there still is some potential left, how are we and especially fumie herself going to realize that there really is nothing more to do!

Oh my...ballrinamao, you really do appreciate Fumie alot, that's so heart-warming. She certainly played a big part in Jpnse ladies singles during her peak, had some wonderful performances, and always entertained the audience with something unique and new in her EX pros. I admire her alot too for all that. I think all Jpnese figure skating fans admire her in that way.

But...I have to admit I'm with the others concerning Fumie. As Alokya pointed out, JSF did give her big chances; keeping her in the top group of certified skaters, letting her enter GPS...but it didn't work. And all that time, JSF was being bashed for not including younger skaters with more potential in the top certified group instead of Fumie. But even under such situations, JSF went on supporting her as much as they can then, which I felt was sort of a way for them to reward and show their appreciation for all she's done in the past. But over the past seasons, Fumie had been changing coaches over and over, without showing any progress. So what more can they do?

Besides that, Fumie kept on repeating to the media... 'I'll do my best in Sochi!' as if she already earned her ticket to make it there. This kind of attitude pissed Jpnse people off. Plus that, she appeared in a variety show once and commented that Mao should 'skate more neatly', and that figure skating fans should 'learn more about the rules', which was the last straw drawing many fans away from her. Many figure skating fans (Mao fans or not) thought since Fumie herself decided to go on competing, therefore she was not a retired skater, was in no position to critisize Mao's skating in a competition which Fumie couldn't enter with her skills going down the hill. And that comment about fans knowing not much about the rules...that definitely ruined people's admiration for her. But even after that she still went on saying she'll go to Sochi on and on. So sadly, people started doubting her personality as well as her skills, and yes, I'm guilty to be one of them. But arrogance and insensitivity in athletes are hated in Jpn. Even athletes who are top in their sport will also lose public support if they acted arrogantly.

I assume that if Fumie would've been more modest not losing most of the support from skating fans, maybe JSF might have continued being sweet on her. But if they're not helping her out in any way at this point, it's not JSF's fault, but Fumie herself pushed herself into such a position which even our very generous JSF can't possibly lend her a hand.

Quote :

well Plushy is trully a legend. i can't believe he can still do all this jumps at 30! You can't compare Fumie to Plushy, because Fumie's technicque was never as good as Plushy's. His jumps, IMO, are textbook perfection.

I can't agree more to this. Even in Jpn, Fumie was not the least bit close in becoming a female version of Plush. Fumie was once one of our top skaters, but she didn't have any special elements concerning techs which only she can do; she managed to cover that with a certain level of stability and also with her fragile graceful expressions which was well done then, but that's not enough to cover any of her disabilities now. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Fumie even older than Plush?

And the thing about Fumie wanting to go on competing...she always says that she was 'enchanted by the magical atomosphere of Olys', but IMO her greatest rival Shizuka winning gold in Torino is the reason she can't get over her dreams of winning at Olys. Shizuka and Fumie were never good pals even off the ice. Their rivalry was a cold one; not like the kind of rivalry you see amongst Jpnse skaters nowadays which stays only within the rink. And while the un-retired skaters we have now are in good terms with Shizuka, I am quite sure that none of them are close to Fumie. Fumie seems to want to go on as a loner, and since Jpnse fans love their skaters having good relationships off the ice or in ice shows, the way she's playing the game isn't doing any good to her image either.

OTOH, I can understand another reason why Fumie wants to cling on to competing. From all that she's said on tv and interviews in the past, no tv company will want to hire her to be a commentator for shows nor competitions anymore. I assume they know well that if they do so, Fumie will end up making stupid comments although she means no harm, and their program or company will be bashed like hell for taking her in. And as far as I know, she seems to have no interest in coaching or doing choreo for other skaters (at the moment). I admire her challenge for Sochi at her age, but I feel she's doing it mostly because she wants to keep her position even at the edge of the spotlight. Her pride seems to be getting in her way to admit her time is over and find something she can do for the sport, not just herself. With all due respect, I do feel sorry that a once top skater like her had to end up this way, but it's she who did this to herself and nobody else is to blame. But these are just my personal views...

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

that is why i am suggesting the JSF to give her a hand, by hiring a technical coach, akiko suzuki's jump weren't good just a while a ago, and she is only a few years younger then fumie, so i am thinking if suzuki could regain her jumps why shouldn't fumie also be able to do that too.

Quote :

Do you suggest that JSF pay for technical coach? This isn't going to happen since, she is too bad at the moment, and there are other skaters who are higher in the JSF ranking funding.

Don't necessary pay for the technical coach, but atleast help with the expenses a bit, maybe give her a period of time where she has to prove herself, do something cause this is really tragic, to see one of japans former top skaters end, or rather disappear in this humiliating way. I am also quite sad to see her not do anything special like take part in a training camp, get a temporary technical coach, just do something, if she really wants to continue. I mean if she hasn't tried, and the JSF doesn't let her try to see if there still is some potential left, how are we and especially fumie herself going to realize that there really is nothing more to do!

Oh my...ballrinamao, you really do appreciate Fumie alot, that's so heart-warming. She certainly played a big part in Jpnse ladies singles during her peak, had some wonderful performances, and always entertained the audience with something unique and new in her EX pros. I admire her alot too for all that. I think all Jpnese figure skating fans admire her in that way.

But...I have to admit I'm with the others concerning Fumie. As Alokya pointed out, JSF did give her big chances; keeping her in the top group of certified skaters, letting her enter GPS...but it didn't work. And all that time, JSF was being bashed for not including younger skaters with more potential in the top certified group instead of Fumie. But even under such situations, JSF went on supporting her as much as they can then, which I felt was sort of a way for them to reward and show their appreciation for all she's done in the past. But over the past seasons, Fumie had been changing coaches over and over, without showing any progress. So what more can they do?

Besides that, Fumie kept on repeating to the media... 'I'll do my best in Sochi!' as if she already earned her ticket to make it there. This kind of attitude pissed Jpnse people off. Plus that, she appeared in a variety show once and commented that Mao should 'skate more neatly', and that figure skating fans should 'learn more about the rules', which was the last straw drawing many fans away from her. Many figure skating fans (Mao fans or not) thought since Fumie herself decided to go on competing, therefore she was not a retired skater, was in no position to critisize Mao's skating in a competition which Fumie couldn't enter with her skills going down the hill. And that comment about fans knowing not much about the rules...that definitely ruined people's admiration for her. But even after that she still went on saying she'll go to Sochi on and on. So sadly, people started doubting her personality as well as her skills, and yes, I'm guilty to be one of them. But arrogance and insensitivity in athletes are hated in Jpn. Even athletes who are top in their sport will also lose public support if they acted arrogantly.

I assume that if Fumie would've been more modest not losing most of the support from skating fans, maybe JSF might have continued being sweet on her. But if they're not helping her out in any way at this point, it's not JSF's fault, but Fumie herself pushed herself into such a position which even our very generous JSF can't possibly lend her a hand.

Quote :

well Plushy is trully a legend. i can't believe he can still do all this jumps at 30! You can't compare Fumie to Plushy, because Fumie's technicque was never as good as Plushy's. His jumps, IMO, are textbook perfection.

I can't agree more to this. Even in Jpn, Fumie was not the least bit close in becoming a female version of Plush. Fumie was once one of our top skaters, but she didn't have any special elements concerning techs which only she can do; she managed to cover that with a certain level of stability and also with her fragile graceful expressions which was well done then, but that's not enough to cover any of her disabilities now. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Fumie even older than Plush?

And the thing about Fumie wanting to go on competing...she always says that she was 'enchanted by the magical atomosphere of Olys', but IMO her greatest rival Shizuka winning gold in Torino is the reason she can't get over her dreams of winning at Olys. Shizuka and Fumie were never good pals even off the ice. Their rivalry was a cold one; not like the kind of rivalry you see amongst Jpnse skaters nowadays which stays only within the rink. And while the un-retired skaters we have now are in good terms with Shizuka, I am quite sure that none of them are close to Fumie. Fumie seems to want to go on as a loner, and since Jpnse fans love their skaters having good relationships off the ice or in ice shows, the way she's playing the game isn't doing any good to her image either.

OTOH, I can understand another reason why Fumie wants to cling on to competing. From all that she's said on tv and interviews in the past, no tv company will want to hire her to be a commentator for shows nor competitions anymore. I assume they know well that if they do so, Fumie will end up making stupid comments although she means no harm, and their program or company will be bashed like hell for taking her in. And as far as I know, she seems to have no interest in coaching or doing choreo for other skaters (at the moment). I admire her challenge for Sochi at her age, but I feel she's doing it mostly because she wants to keep her position even at the edge of the spotlight. Her pride seems to be getting in her way to admit her time is over and find something she can do for the sport, not just herself. With all due respect, I do feel sorry that a once top skater like her had to end up this way, but it's she who did this to herself and nobody else is to blame. But these are just my personal views...

wow this really is a surprise, since the only thing i know about fumie is her skating, this was really interesting and gave a good inside to how she ended in her situation. I see why she somehow does´nt want to retire, since she doesn't have much hope in becoming a commentator or has a good enough relationship with the other skaters that will invite her in their shows! does anyone know, if her job is the reason why she hasn't devoted her full time to skating?

ballerinamao wrote:

wow this really is a surprise, since the only thing i know about fumie is her skating, this was really interesting and gave a good inside to how she ended in her situation. I see why she somehow does´nt want to retire, since she doesn't have much hope in becoming a commentator or has a good enough relationship with the other skaters that will invite her in their shows! does anyone know, if her job is the reason why she hasn't devoted her full time to skating?

I do think she will be invited to appear in certain ice shows when she retires cause she does have fans still, even if not as many as before. But for shows like Friends on Ice in which Shizuka plays a large part in, I'm quite sure we won't see her in those. Come to think of it, I think Fumie's the one who hasn't been so eager to appear in shows since she's been training abroad alot.

As for her job maybe being the reason she's not able to devote all her time to skating...this is kind of tricky cause I think it goes both ways around. As we all know, continuing to compete in this sport cost alot of money. So if you don't have a sponsering company who wants you in their ads and tv commercials, the only resource which may fund you a bit would be JSF...but as it was already discussed, you have to prove to them that you're worth the investment, and Fumie couldn't do that. So, what she did was go public on the media on her own, saying she's is waiting for some company to sponser her...fortunately for her, she found a minor pharmaceutical company willing to sponser her. But that didn't mean they'd pay for all her costs. So, in addition to that Fumie decided to work at a management company for athletes and showbiz folks. She needed the money so she had no choice. But as a result she's only able to practice in late evenings and days off from her job. The management company which hired her seems to have made it clear to her that she will not be treated in any special way, and since she had no working experience until then, they'd only hire her starting from the lowest of their wages and only if she's willing to do all the boring and tough jobs which all their unexperienced employees has to start from. So, yes...I'm sure her job is getting in the way for her to concentrate on her skating. But without the job she won't even be able to rent a rink for practice. This is the one big choice she made, which made me admire her guts. But it's obvious she'll never make Sochi however hard she tries...I'm not even sure if the pharmaceutical company is still sponsering her at this point. Almost nobody new that company until they came out saying they're gonna sponser Fumie, so bluntly speaking they were just using her for advertisement. They already got what they wanted when the media wrote about them going to sponser Fumie, and now that everyone is 100% sure she won't make it to Olys nor this and next season's Nats, I bet you they're ready to dump her any minute, if they still haven't. It sucks when companies treat athletes that way, but you gotta admit that that's the real world.

if you don't mind me asking, how is/was the relationship between fumie and shizuka cold? i never even made the connection with how fumie isn't seen in any skating shows (has she ever even been invited to mao's show in the past?).

swan wrote:

if you don't mind me asking, how is/was the relationship between fumie and shizuka cold? i never even made the connection with how fumie isn't seen in any skating shows (has she ever even been invited to mao's show in the past?).

I don't think there has been any ice shows in Jpn before which you can all Mao's show, but Mao has been the main star of THE ICE show over the years, and I don't recall Fumie appearing in THE ICE...but somebody correct me if I'm wrong cause I've only been able to see some of the main performances on The ICE show on Youtube.

But I think Fumie has appeared in some shows in Tokyo which were sponsered by Prince Hotel which used to have their own rink. I think the hotel was shut down some years ago though...correct me if I'm wrong about this too, cause I'm not sure. I never paid that much attention to Prince Hotel shows since I think Mao has never been in them...but again, correct me if I'm wrong about this too!

But Shizuka had been appearing several times in the Prince Hotel show before. Don't know if it was the same time Fumie appeared in them, but I think they're mature enough to be able to appear in the same show, if not skating together in it.

From here on, if you're a hard core Fumie fan...I advise you not to read this post. Sorry, but I'm gonna be writing some stuff that you don't want to read for sure. But these are all solely my personal insights and opinions on some of what I've read and seen in the past. I'm sure Fumie fans who know more about her than me would have lots of different opinions, so if you're gonna read this, please keep in mind that these are merely my views.

It's been said that while Shizuka was still competing, she and Fumie did not get along well. I read an article in a magazine about their relationship once, that JSF always arranged seperate rooms for them when they went to competitions abroad, while usually skaters share rooms in their hotels. It was written there that JSF had always been nervous about the 2 of them even bumping into eachother backstage as well. They were both top skaters at the time in Jpn, so JSF wanted them to perform their best in competitions. As a result they figured it would be best for the both of them to stay away from eachother. I have to admit that the magazine which wrote this article can't be trusted 100%, but still it sounded very convincing.

That was partly because after Shizuka retired, she appeared in lots of talk shows with other skaters, retired or not, but never with Fumie. And once when Fumie joined Dai and other single men skaters in JFS's training camps (or whatever you call it), she commented something like 'I had a wonderful time training with the boys for a change. It felt so relaxing because the boys don't have any frustrating human relations like the girls do'. Now this, I actually saw her say it on tv. And when someone says something like that, you can't help suspecting she's got problems with the other girls.

And last of all...when Shizuka won gold in Torino, all the Jpnse staff seemed to have gathered right away to congradulate her including Miki. But Fumie was no where in sight. I've never seen Fumie congradulate Shizuka's win ever. Maybe she might've been doing so backstage where there weren't any cameras, but I for one have never seen it, nor have ever heard her congradulate Shizuka through any media interviews. That seemed rather cold to me than odd.

And then there was that time when there was an accidental collision between Fumie and Miki during warmup at Jpnse Nats some years ago. Miki hurt her leg pretty bad and seemed very depressed backstage while she was waiting for her turn to skate. After Miki finished skating, the media interviewed her right away (as usual), and the interviewer asked her how the accident affected her performance. Miki burst into tears and replied that she had worked so hard to maintain good condition towards Nats, so she was very sad that she couldn't skate as well as she had wanted because of the accident. But she did not mention Fumie's name, and kept on referring to the collision as an accident. I don't remember whether it was before or after Miki skated that Fumie finished her performance and was interviewed backstage all the same, but the interviewer did not ask a single question to her about the accident so she just went on saying she's pretty satisfied with how she did that day with smiles, period. I suspect her management told the interviewer not to ask Fumie any questions concerning the accident beforehand. It was too strange that they only asked Miki about it. But as a result, Miki was heavily bashed on the internet. People said she was sobbing like a baby, while Fumie was mature enough not to mention the accident at all. This bothered me alot. I felt that it must've been very tough for Miki to skate with an injured leg, so with the interviewer asking her questions about the accident right after she finished her performance barely catching her breath was enough to make her cry. She must've been very tense during her skate, after it was over I think it was mostly the relief which bursted her into tears, and I also felt she had all the right in the world to be disappointed about not being able to deliver perfectly because of her injury. OTOH, I personally couldn't understand how the hell Fumie was able to deal with her interview without a single word like 'I'm hope Miki is okay'. She acted like nothing ever happened during warmup! That was the first time I started to question Fumie's personality, no matter what the majority said about Miki and her on the net. The next day after her gala performance, Miki was interviewed in front of the audience and she commented that she was very sorry about the collision and would like to apologize to Fumie. But here again OTOH, Fumie mentioned nothing about the collision nor any kind words for Miki when she was interviewed after her performance. Now that really got on my nerves, esp when we all know in Jpn that Miki had always been a big fan of Shizuka, and Shizuka had always treated her nicely like a little sister. I hate to have to say it, but to my eyes it was obvious that Fumie didn't care less about Miki's injury; even though the accident hurt her leg so badly, Miki had to exclude all her jumps from her EX that day.

So I have to conclude that although I admire Fumie's performances during her peak (and I was really cheering and wishing all the luck in the world for her then), I do think she has personality problems. When I saw a documentary on her once, she was with her designer discussing how her new costume should be, and here again, the tone in her voice was like she was ordering her designer to do this and that like a queen or something. I couldn't understand why Fumie allowed them to air that scene in which she looked so bitchy...but after a while, when she started making those comments on Mao and figure skating fans which pissed everyone off, I got the picture; Fumie is totally not aware of what kind of impression people will have on her according to what she does or says. In Jpn, we call these type of people who say totally the wrong things at the wrong time 'a person who can't read the air/atomosphere'...and she is definitely one of them! I don't think she's an ill hearted person or any kind of evil, but she just doesn't have the ability to get it! But now that she has a job and all, maybe she's learning a thing or two...hope so, for her sake!

judging from that comment about mao needing to fix her skating skills from fumie, she doesn't seem like person who is aware of things. that or maybe she just doesn't care. and that comment about skating with the boys is a strange one because a comment like that comes with nothing but public scrutiny.

well to me, fumie's comments sounds really bitter!

If I remember correctly Fumie only had good relationships with Sasha, she even gave her tights at 2002 Olympic and I saw a clip of them sitting next to each other in the bus and talking. But yeah, I heard a lot of bad things about Fumie's personality. While I can't state all of them are true, she's not an easygoing person for sure.

polosatik wrote:

If I remember correctly Fumie only had good relationships with Sasha, she even gave her tights at 2002 Olympic and I saw a clip of them sitting next to each other in the bus and talking. But yeah, I heard a lot of bad things about Fumie's personality. While I can't state all of them are true, she's not an easygoing person for sure.

I remember that episode too. So, like I've said, she's not ill hearted nor evil. She just can't see how people will feel about her words and actions at times. Although I do think she has complicated feelings towards Shizuka and maybe Miki plus other skaters in good relations with Shizuka, I think she can be nice to most other people around her. If she can only manage to say the right things at the right time not vice versa, I still think there's alot of possibility left for the Jpnse public to get to respect her once again.

Jpnse figure skating fans can get very ugly sometimes when they see an attitude in a skater which they don't like. Miki used to be bashed terribly after Torino, alot of people kept on saying she always makes excuses when she couldn't do well, while to my eyes she wasn't making any excuses but just answering honestly to interviewers questions whether her conditions are good or not. Some even bashed her for being intimate with Morozov, which I thought was way out of line judging an athlete's private life. But after Miki started doing well again in competitions, her bashers went all quiet as if they never existed. And in exchange, they found a much better target to bash; Yuna. And extreme right-wingers who hate Korea kept putting gasoline in the fire for figure fans to hate Yuna more and more just because of her nationality. I didn't like Yuna much at that time too, but even to me it was obviously becoming too ugly and I was pretty much ashamed how my people were reacting then. It's like some 'figure skating fans' in Jpn always need somebody to bash. When Yuna faded out of the main picture after winning Vancouver, the bashers set their minds on Kanako. They wrote stuff like she was childish, hate the way she speaks, there's no beauty in her skating etc. like crazy. That was the last straw for me, I couldn't take it anymore, so I've never bothered to go and read any figure skating Jpnse BBs, except for the for the forum which I myself is administrating. I'm more than sure that alot of those bashers are some of the members in our forum too, but since you can't post being completely anoymous there, we don't have any active basher members, thank god! When I look at GS or FSU, or even ISU's BB, I like how members speak out their thought on skaters even if their opinions may be negative. They comment with their IDs clear to everyone, while in Jpnse BBs the bashers always write ugly stuff with even no ID or HN, and that really pisses me off! And it's like they always want to just attack a certain skater, in manners which is far from commenting a rational opinion based on correct info. Plus when they can't find a skater to bash, they come over to my blog and bash me just for pasting a collage image of Johnny posing with a mask on half naked (I didn't even make the collage btw, just picked it up from an oversea sight cause I thought it was humorous). They can't even take a joke!

So, despite all the info and my personal views I've posted here about Fumie, I still am against those who bash her to the extreme just because she wants to go on competing. I do not think that she has enough ability to make Sochi as she hopes to, nor do I think JSF should support her anymore, no. But whether to go on competing or not is her choice, and she has all the right in the world to continue if she wants to. And yes she's got personality problems more or less no doubt, but I don't think she means any harm when she says or does the wrong things. I only wished she knew better at her age, so her actions didn't end up ruining her reputation as one of the best ladies we had in Jpn.

Do you have a tradition to meet each other in life at forum? It really unit members a lot! Because sometimes members have weird fights at forum but in life they all sweet people,and by meeting like that some of the problems solve easily)

polosatik wrote:

Do you have a tradition to meet each other in life at forum? It really unit members a lot! Because sometimes members have weird fights at forum but in life they all sweet people,and by meeting like that some of the problems solve easily)

We had a small gathering of 3 members once...just that so far. We all hope to have a get together someday, but the problem is, most of our active members are scattered all over Jpn. Jpn's a rather small country, but since most of our members are either housewives or full-time workers, it's difficult for us to manage the time and money...

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

polosatik wrote:

Do you have a tradition to meet each other in life at forum? It really unit members a lot! Because sometimes members have weird fights at forum but in life they all sweet people,and by meeting like that some of the problems solve easily)

We had a small gathering of 3 members once...just that so far. We all hope to have a get together someday, but the problem is, most of our active members are scattered all over Jpn. Jpn's a rather small country, but since most of our members are either housewives or full-time workers, it's difficult for us to manage the time and money...

But we usually meet at FG competitions!!!