Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Men's ROUND 6

[Holley Calmes]

Chan should really sit down and think hard why he can win competitions, but not hearts of skating fans.

This. I've never seen him live, but I totally respect all the opinions of so many of you guys who know a lot more about skating than I do. I respect and like Chan, but he is cold. Or remote. Maybe he should really consider this.

I know this will turn out to be a Plushy versus Yagudin battle in the end, and I can already smell the blood and hear the sabres rattling.

[senorita]

I think from round one you would know it will be Yags And Kwan probably for ladies although I m not sure there, Yuna maybe...

I think Joubert and Plushenko have of the best camel spins in bussiness and their spins are not at all slow as people would think and are very much centered. I can think of a bunch of top skaters at Euros this year with way worse spins. Especially Joubert has improved over the years a lot but people keep not looking and Plushenko has upped his spins since 2006.

[lauravvv]

I think Joubert and Plushenko have of the best camel spins in bussiness and their spins are not at all slow as people would think and are very much centered. I can think of a bunch of top skaters at Euros this year with way worse spins. Especially Joubert has improved over the years a lot but people keep not looking and Plushenko has upped his spins since 2006.

I agree. Sometimes they can't get the levels, but other top skaters can't always get the levels either - including Chan and Takahashi. The thing is - Joubert's an Plushenko's spins just don't look very appealing. Actually, in Plushenko's case "ugly" seems like the right word. That may be the reason why people don't appreciate their spins.

[skateboy]

Plushenko has greatly improved his spins over the last few years.

[flipforsynchro]

I admit that Chan is impressive in some ways - although not always, since he rarely skates to his best abilities. I understand that pointed toes look better than unpointed toes. And I know that to some people all this audience connection thing looks just like easy flirting with public (which it sometimes is, but not always). But can you answer me - why should pointed toes be more important than individuality (I wont say 'originality', since it's almost impossible to be original nowadays), personal attitude and emotions? I find Chan a bit lacking in those areas, so I don't care about his pointed toes all that much. On the other hand, Lambiel almost never points his toes despite his ballet training, but I find myself not caring about it one bit - just for opposite reasons.

I understand that audience connection is NOT easy. But pointing the toes is a simple thing that can make the skating way more pleasing, and if someone like me who is a low level skater can do it for her moves tests, an elite Olympic level athlete should be able to in his competitive programs. And most skating leaves me cold, so I don't care much for emotion. The only programs (or part of one) that I've felt something are Michelle's Tosca steps and in Hanyu's ending steps.

[Cheylana]

Still trying to decide between Lambiel and Kulik. Lambiel has more big titles but the utter lack of triple axel seriously bugs. Still I probably will vote for Kulik.

I think Chan deserves to be top three on the strength of his basic skating, competitive dominance and likelihood of future Olympic medal, but it looks like he is in very serious danger of being ousted this time.

[judgejudy27]

While Chan looks about 100% likely to medal and 80% likely to win gold in Sochi right now, looking at the last few Olympic gymnastics trials, especialy for the U.S, shows how much things can change in a couple years, so shouldnt pencil in anything too early. Granted gymnastics is alot more volatile and prone to that kind of change than figure skating.

[bbkenn]

This. I've never seen him live, but I totally respect all the opinions of so many of you guys who know a lot more about skating than I do. I respect and like Chan, but he is cold. Or remote. Maybe he should really consider this.

I know this will turn out to be a Plushy versus Yagudin battle in the end, and I can already smell the blood and hear the sabres rattling.

My favorite male skater of all time is Kurt Browning, with Alexei Yagudin behind. I hope Yagudin wins.

[bbkenn]

Still trying to decide between Lambiel and Kulik. Lambiel has more big titles but the utter lack of triple axel seriously bugs. Still I probably will vote for Kulik.

I think Chan deserves to be top three on the strength of his basic skating, competitive dominance and likelihood of future Olympic medal, but it looks like he is in very serious danger of being ousted this time.

It's based on emotion, and lots of people on this board don't "like" him. I'm betting on Yagudin to win.

[briancoogaert]

I've never quite understood how Chan gets such huge PE marks. Let's say the words the letters stand for slowly: Performance Execution. How on earth can he get marked well for that if he's falling on his backside?! Obviously he's not executing the performance very well if he keeps falling over.

Because his programs are so much more difficult than the others.
It's fair. He tries more, he makes some mistakes.
In fact, it's Tatiana Gustu vs. Shannon Miller at 1992 Olympics

[lauravvv]

Still trying to decide between Lambiel and Kulik. Lambiel has more big titles but the utter lack of triple axel seriously bugs.

Yes, Lambiel had huge problems with the triple axel, but "the utter lack" is a myth. As I already wrote in another one of those threads, he did triple axels in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Worlds, either in the short program, or the long, or both (if qualification rounds which counted in the results until 2006 are included). True, he never did them well, and even had falls on them, but he at least tried, and that's not exactly the same as "utter lack".

Also, he was still doing 3A in practice less than a year ago - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtEFASkzXKQ. When asked about it in an interview, he said that he has never stopped practising the triple axel. I understand that in practice it's much, much easier than at competition, and he doesn't even do that perfectly here. But, still, that's no "utter lack" either.

And just for the heck of it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIYKh-Af_Zk .

[Zemgirl]

I've never quite understood how Chan gets such huge PE marks. Let's say the words the letters stand for slowly: Performance Execution. How on earth can he get marked well for that if he's falling on his backside?! Obviously he's not executing the performance very well if he keeps falling over.

Because his programs are so much more difficult than the others.
It's fair. He tries more, he makes some mistakes.

Obviously a skater who successfully skates a more difficult program should be given credit for it - and by successful I don't necessarily mean "perfect", but just generally a good skate. That said, I don't think anyone should be given a great deal of credit for merely attempting a difficult program and then screwing it up, and it's especially annoying if it's an ongoing pattern. Making multiple mistakes is not good execution, and it's only a good performance if you enjoy watching someone skate poorly.

Which is obviously not something I have ever experienced .

[Macassar88]

Because his programs are so much more difficult than the others.
It's fair. He tries more, he makes some mistakes.
In fact, it's Tatiana Gustu vs. Shannon Miller at 1992 Olympics

I disagree with your comparison. I felt like Gutsu was a lot more exciting and interesting than Miller. (Except for Miller's FTY)

But back to who I think should win, I hope that Yagudin wins.