Trophée Eric Bompard 2009

Sasha withdraws from TEB because of an injury!
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091009&content_id=7412294&vkey=ice_pressrelease

I hope she will be fine in november for SA.

Only on week and we can see Maos SP !!!
Goo Mao!

That's a pity. I was excited about Sasha's programs. I hope she will skate at SA!
I look forward to see Mao in France

I was very disapointed to hear this too I was really looking forward to not only seeing her compete again, but seeing Mao, Yuna, AND Sasha all compete in the same competition! I hear it's too late to replace her? That's too bad.

I read some pretty skeptical comments on Sasha's withraw, and the show she did two days before making the announcement here: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2009/10/cohen-meissner-lose-footing-in-comebacks.html

Meh. As usual Phil Hersh is the journalistic equivalent of a deflated balloon. His remarks on Sasha and Kimmie are quite generous; I haven't quite gotten over how he thrashed Evan and especially Johnny last season, both who I clearly find to be far more competitive than the two ladies for quite a while. And then there's his unprofessional coverage of Jr. Worlds, where he once again questioned CaroZ's consistency (he was a big supporter of Alissa winning Nats) and ignorantly described the Japanese Juniors as "not promising" - he clearly didn't know about Yukiko/Kanako's success that year or that Yuzuru is far younger than his fellow competitors. Only, now the very same Kanako and Yuzuru are running loose in the JGP threatening to be medal contenders for next year's JW. Combine that with his sore-loser attitude regarding Chicago losing the Olympic bid, and I am consistently questioning why he isn't fired by the Tribune yet.

In other news, Elena Glebova was announced as Sasha' replacement.

At Golden Skate someone said Candice and Elena withdrew and I checked Wikipedia and they weren't in the list anymore.

MikiAndoFan#1 wrote:

At Golden Skate someone said Candice and Elena withdrew and I checked Wikipedia and they weren't in the list anymore.

The season is off to a bit of a rocky start competitor-wise it seems...

But everyone going to TEB!!! Please consider giving us a play-by-play (or a vague description of the atmosphere even!)

Here is a followup article to the one I posted yesterday. It has an interview with Sasha from just today, on the subject of her withdrawing:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2009/10/by-philip-hershi-apparently-made-the-mistake-of-taking-2006-olympic-silver-medalist-sasha-cohen-at-her-word-when-cohen-announ.html

Phil Hersh = Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Tono has been in Paris for a few days, but there's zero info on Mao and Yukari as of now. I want my Mao update!

clovera wrote:

Phil Hersh = Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Tono has been in Paris for a few days, but there's zero info on Mao and Yukari as of now. I want my Mao update!

Yep, Phil is officially an idiot and has ZERO credibility. Hopefully he'll be fired one of these days...

And I want Mao updates, too! Is there any news on when she'll arrive? Yuna and Adam Rippon both tweeted that they were on a flight to Paris tonight from Toronto. I wish Mao had a twitter...

I can't wait! Only two more days until we see Mao's new SP and only ONE more day until (hopefully) detailed practice reports!

Liffey wrote:

I can't wait! Only two more days until we see Mao's new SP and only ONE more day until (hopefully) detailed practice reports!

Personally I wouldn't mind if TEB was delayed for one week. I'm morally not ready for it. It's too important, too epic, too soon. Waiting for it has been such a meaningful and pleasant process. And now it's actually up to happen! Oh no!

summervie wrote:

Liffey wrote:

I can't wait! Only two more days until we see Mao's new SP and only ONE more day until (hopefully) detailed practice reports!

Personally I wouldn't mind if TEB was delayed for one week. I'm morally not ready for it. It's too important, too epic, too soon. Waiting for it has been such a meaningful and pleasant process. And now it's actually up to happen! Oh no!

It's been such a long off season though. I am desperate for skating!

I think I'll feel that way when the Olympics begin. After the Olympics the season is essentially over (since many skaters don't go to Worlds). Since we only get an Olympic season every four years, I'm just trying to savor it as much as I can.

inskate wrote:

summervie wrote:

Liffey wrote:

I can't wait! Only two more days until we see Mao's new SP and only ONE more day until (hopefully) detailed practice reports!

Personally I wouldn't mind if TEB was delayed for one week. I'm morally not ready for it. It's too important, too epic, too soon. Waiting for it has been such a meaningful and pleasant process. And now it's actually up to happen! Oh no!

I totally know how you feel!

And I'm at the way Mao is treated in the recent TV Asahi promo clips... They basically promote the GP series as Mao vs. YuNa event... Totally forgetting about Miki, Joannie, Laura, Rachel, etc. They totally ignore that Mao is in the process of reworking her jumps and just expect her to land 2 3A and 3-3 as if it was a piece of cake. It's clear that they epect a win, and if Mao falters, they will be like "your expression was bad", "you need to work harder", as if Mao wasn't already working etra hard. There's just way too much pressure for my liking.

And I'm a bit worried about the jumping layout and music... But I'll wait until TEB to truly worry about that.

Exactly. TV Asahi is taking the whole rivalry and blowing it out of proportion. Mao and Yu-Na are really not the only top contenders--and even if at this event the two of them separate from the rest of the skaters outstandingly, they still aren't the only two competing.

Not to mention there's been an insurgence of "warped" fans who think like Asahi, too. I knew the pressure was bad, but as TEB got closer and closer it really just became awful (not to mention the huge amount of criticism Mao has gotten already for the LP). Honestly, sometimes I think skating fans can just flat out be too hard on a skater and it hurts to read such sad articles/posts people put out there.

I deeply admire and respect any skater that will be able to come out of this strong and mentally intact for the rest of the season.

A delay would be nice...maybe let just a little bit of the hype wear off before the competition. Or maybe it would just be best to get it "over with" and just have it out of the way to focus on the ultimate goal. Thinking both ways makes me feel a little empty, and I can only hope the skaters there can just do their best and keep clear minds and hearts.

MaoMaoRevolution wrote:

Exactly. TV Asahi is taking the whole rivalry and blowing it out of proportion. Mao and Yu-Na are really not the only top contenders--and even if at this event the two of them separate from the rest of the skaters outstandingly, they still aren't the only two competing.

Not to mention there's been an insurgence of "warped" fans who think like Asahi, too.

Japanese media... This is really reminding me of Fuji TV's ultra-hyping of Miki during Torino (and the bashing right after) and not in a good way. There's an estimated total of over 260 reporters coming into France just for Mao and Yu-Na - again, the media hype is only going to get worse as the season progresses. I was hoping the Japanese media would have learned a lesson by now after Miki and SA 06 - where they made a complete fool of themselves with the way they handled interviews, especially regarding Kimmie - but clearly this isn't the case.

I'm not going to bother with the "warped" fans part.

There was a Sports Hochi article this morning in Japan apparently where Tat requested the JSF to make sure that Mao does not get interviewed whatsoever during TEB. It certainly is an extreme measure, but I must say I can't disagree with Tat. I wonder how the consistently prying folks at TV Asahi (and by extension, SBS) will deal with this.

clovera wrote:

Japanese media... This is really reminding me of Fuji TV's ultra-hyping of Miki during Torino (and the bashing right after) and not in a good way. There's an estimated total of over 260 reporters coming into France just for Mao and Yu-Na - again, the media hype is only going to get worse as the season progresses. I was hoping the Japanese media would have learned a lesson by now after Miki and SA 06 - where they made a complete fool of themselves with the way they handled interviews, especially regarding Kimmie - but clearly this isn't the case.

I'm not going to bother with the "warped" fans part.

There was a Sports Hochi article this morning in Japan apparently where Tat requested the JSF to make sure that Mao does not get interviewed whatsoever during TEB. It certainly is an extreme measure, but I must say I can't disagree with Tat. I wonder how the consistently prying folks at TV Asahi (and by extension, SBS) will deal with this.

I'm glad Mao has someone strong like TAT to "protect" her somewhat. If the JSF knows what's good for them...they won't try to mess with TAT.
But really, who knows. I can't believe 260 something reporters are going to be there. Great coverage for skating events is very much appreciated, but...I think most can agree that that is excessive.
I'm hoping none of them will try anything sly or unwise and start hounding the skaters.
When will they get it? Skating fans don't care about a million articles and a hundred interviews with the skaters...they just want to see the skaters give their very best performances.

It's also pretty annoying how the world just cannot agree with each other in figure skating now. The Korean media has already written Mao off and put Yu-Na as the "clear favorite" (as one Yeonhap article put it), while the Japanese media is firing up the rivalry.

If Mao doesn't get to do her best here at TEB and the Japanese media starts beating her down like Miki, I will be more than disappointed.

But on the bright side...only one day left until the Olympic senior season begins

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/winter/skate/figure/headlines/20091015-00000005-kyodo_sp-spo.html

Mao arrived in Paris from Russia with relaxed face.

Good luck Mao!

Today's Mao snippet:
News clip
Article

As I mentioned earlier, Team Tat has indeed prohibited the media from interviewing Mao when she arrived in Paris a few hours ago. I hope Mao can take advantage of this and prep herself for tomorrow's SP in relative peace.

ETA: Houdou station (TV Asahi) is planning to show some footage of today's official practice in about 10 hours (21:54～23:10 JST), for those who are curious to catch it on TVAnts/Keyhole.

I really, really hope they'll leave Mao alone. They've already put too much pressure on her esp. with the media hyping this event too much.

And thanks for the tip, clovera! I'll try to catch it on TVAnts later.

One pic of Mao
http://img.47news.jp/PN/200910/PN2009101501000179.-.-.CI0003.jpg

Thank you maochan, clovera and tianrushui.
Good to hear that she arrived safely in Paris. I think TAT is right to shut out the media, they are so cruel.
When you see Mao's pic and her lovely smile, you cannot see all the pressure she has. It must be so hard and painful. This girl is such a fighter.
Anyone going to TEB ?

Thankyou clovera, maochan and tianrushui!!

Great to see Mao looking relaxed~ Does anyone know which TV channel is showing the competition live? I heard that TV Asahi is going to broadcast it this Saturday and Sunday instead.

Thanks for the news and pics, clovera, maochan and tianrushui!

I'm glad TAT told the media to back away. I just read the first practice reports (from ice dance) at FSU... And according to the reports, the media attendance is just crazy! The press room is overflowing with reporters, and 90% of them is Japanese (and probably Korean as well).

The arena is also completely filled with spectators - I don't think it ever happened at TEB! I remember that back in 2006 the arena was almost empty.

The person who wrote the report mentioned that there was no place to sit down, so he sat in some Japanese photographer's place.

Scaaary...

snowdrops24 wrote:

Thankyou clovera, maochan and tianrushui!!

Great to see Mao looking relaxed~ Does anyone know which TV channel is showing the competition live? I heard that TV Asahi is going to broadcast it this Saturday and Sunday instead.

TV Asahi is going to broadcast the competition? What time? Are there other stations that will broadcast this live?

Here's the link!

http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/gp2009/pc/onair/index.html

I think "フランス大会" refers to TEB

17/10 (Sat) 19:00 - 20:51
18/10 (Sun) 19:00 - 21:24
19/10 (Mon) 19:00 - 19:54

I suppose this is the scheduled broadcast time, but it may change.

My Japanese is still v. elementary. Pls. feel free to correct me if I've posted any incorrect info.

Here's TV Asahi's homepage for the 2009 Grand Prix Series. We can follow the GP through this page as well:

http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/gp2009/

Okami wrote:

Scaaary...

I can only imagine... Waves of media workers break over the walls outside of the press conference hall. Some little woman opens the door from inside, sees the whole picture, rapidly bacomes pale and with a fainting voice says: "Now, I will step behind this yellow line, then count until five, and then you slowly, slooowly come inside and may attend the press conference of Mao Asa... Wait, I said slowly!!!" {censored}