USFSA: Johnny and Tara FTW :):)

[kitmerlot_1213]

Well my friends, we have another US Ladies Champion :):)  And Johnny and Tara prove with their witty and knowledgeable banter that they are the figure skating commentating dream team :)

I am so proud of Ashley Wagner for laying down such an excellent free skate and for successfully completing her triple/triple combination.  Her program was dynamic and inspiring and just like Johnny said, I got chills.  She showed that she was a true competitor--good for her :)

Comments

[laurelnola.livejournal.com]

Oh, you would have hated sitting next to me during the finals, then. Because, erhmmmm..... My friend and I were rooting for Ashely to fall. *grins and ducks*

She is a lovely skater, there is no question, but dear lord, Ashely has always been like nails on a chalk-board to me. Try as I might, she looks so arrogant to me (even when she says, "I'm terrified"), and then *says* things that are arrogant in her interviews that make us throw our popcorn on the screen and yell, "Why do you make us hate you?!" Her routine was gorgeous, though, so points to her for that.

I actually thought Gracie suffered from a poor choice in music. You want something that can rouse people out of their seats, and opera, unfortunately, just isn't it. She just didn't manage to capture the audience, and it seemed like she wasn't even feeling her own performance, which was too bad. I was hoping Polina might pull out something amazing, but I think she's growing so fast that her limbs are sort of getting away from her. All in all, though, it was quite a competition!

Johnny kept me wildly entertained with his constant commenting of rotation. I swear, it became a drinking game. Every time he said, "I think that might have been a bit under-rotated", you took a sip. Yes, it was decaf coffee, but still! He was totally the under-rotation police and I loved every comment! lol

So glad you had as much fun watching as I did, even if it was for different reason! :-D

P.S. And yes, Tara, as always, brought her immense awesomeness to the table!

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

Believe me, I understand that many skating fans are turned off by Ashley's arrogance but I find her fierceness and extreme bluntness really amusing. And I will back any skater who can throw a monkey-wrench into Russia's plans to have all of their 15 year old female skaters show up at Worlds and sweep the podium. :):)

I also have a deep and abiding hatred for Chock and Bates--I will not cheer for them if they medal.

[laurelnola.livejournal.com]

Hee! Okay, now I'm DYING to know- why do you hate Chock and Bates? I missed their performance live but just watched it on youtube, and they weren't horrible. I've never even heard of them, though, because I follow pairs more than ice dancing. Why do they make YOU throw popcorn at the screen and yell, "Why do you make me hate you?!!" Good god, but I love ice skating intrigue!

;-D

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

I think it's a rule that ice dancing always has to have drama:):)

Okay, the reason I loathe Chock and Bates are two-fold. 1st, Madison Chock subscribes to the Tanith Belbin School of Ice Dance which means that as long as she makes weird faces while skating and people think she's hot, she'll win medals. Belbin got an insane amount of attention because she was pretty and she capitalized on it and Chock is exactly the same way. What's wrong with simply relying on your skating skills? I guess they don't think they are enough :)

Just as a side note, there isn't a single program of Belbin and Agosto that I can recall even remotely liking and their silver medal in 2006 was a fluke because the better teams made mistakes in the Original Dance, they didn't so therefore they medaled.

2nd, Evan Bates is a complete wanker. He used to be partnered with Emily Samuelson but she accidently caused him an injury--she hit him with her skate blade as she came down from a lift, lacerating his Achilles tendon. They missed an entire season and then he announced they were no longer partners. Allegedly he told Emily that he didn't think she was working hard enough and he wanted to find a better partner. There was also rumors that he would make comments about her weight.

At the same time, Chock's partner was retiring--announcers used to continuously say that Chock was the more dynamic of the two and the better skater--and the next thing you know, Bates is partnered with Chock.

As you can see, Bates ended an 11 year partnership for a chick he thinks is thinner and prettier. Chock and Bates are both extreme famewhores and I hope Karma comes back, kicks them both in their inflated egos and knocks them on their asses.

[laurelnola.livejournal.com]

Wheeee! You just made this year's ice dancing interesting for me! *g*

I TOTALLY see where that would make you cringe when they took the ice! And now I'll be rooting against them, too. Honestly, having people to root against is almost as much fun as having people to root *for*. And you are SO right about Belbin! I was never a fan. I never liked that she became an American citizen like five seconds before the Olympics so she could skate for our team. And I could never take Agosto seriously because of his hair. A rubber band to hold it back will not break your skating budget, bro!

As for Chock and Bates, I will be breaking out the popcorn and voodoo dolls come Olympics time. Muwahahah.

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

WOO HOO! And truly, the Shibutanis are twenty times better anyway :):)