Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Men's ROUND 7

[unicorn]

Well even Kulik himself said something like "If you are a good skater, that's good. If you are a good looking good skater, that's great."

I am just joking. I don't really think that Joubert got high pcs because he's good looking. It seems that judges always appreciate more about jumps than other elements. If someone's skating skills are not totally bad and can land jumps, judges tend to give him higher pcs even if the program is empty. But if someone skates to a more difficult program, but often messes up jumps, his pcs would have a higher chance to be underrated. One of the exemples is Abbott, by the way, he's good looking too.

[unicorn]

I thought even Plushenko had better footwork, lighter and quicker on his feet. And as it turned out, Plushenko didn't really have an easy time adapting to the new demand of COP style footwork

Oh, that cracked me up. I like Plushy's jumps, but his footwork, his strokes and crossovers always look like an old lady trying to run fast, but runs with small small steps, no flow on the ice. His upper body always looks funny to me when he does the footwook. I still think he has a better chance to beat Chan than Takahashi though.

[judgejudy27]

If Plushenko return continues into a major event at some point (Worlds or Olympics, which I wouldnt be surprised if it doesnt) he has no chance to beat Chan barring a 4 or 5 splatfest from Chan. A clean Plushenko couldnt even beat a quadless Lysacek in Vancouver, and Chan today is a far better skater in everyway than Lysacek, and has the Worlds best quads (when landed) to boot. Add to that the judges are absolutely infatuated with Chan and are overmarking him even more significantly than they did Evan in the year after he won Worlds, and you get the picture.

Chan is prone to error, but his errors werent even enough to allow a clean or close to clean LP from Takahashi at both the 2012 Worlds and 2012 GP final to beat him the LP phase. So they sure as heck wouldnt be enough for an old Plushenko who could never match Takahashi from those events at this point. Takahashi has actually been jumping fairly consistently lately, which would be an old Plushenko's only possible edge over Takahashi, so with that said Takahashi right now has a better shot vs Chan or anyone else than old Plushenko, although even that isnt very much at all with the judges 30 point Chanflation per competition.

[shine]

Oh, that cracked me up. I like Plushy's jumps, but his footwork, his strokes and crossovers always look like an old lady trying to run fast, but runs with small small steps, no flow on the ice. His upper body always looks funny to me when he does the footwook. I still think he has a better chance to beat Chan than Takahashi though.

What's so funny about this? All I said was that he was better with his feet than Yagudin in the footwork, and to me Yagudin's footwork was not super impressive to begin with. So I'm not necessarily complementing Plushenko either.

You're kidding right? Yes Abt could be all over the place, but at his best, Yagudin wishes he could do a camel spin with the positions and speed that Abt does them here, and I've never seen Yagudin move with as much freedom or flow as Abt does in the footwork sequence following that spin.

I'm not even that big of an Abt fan, but anyone claiming Yagudin to have better lines than Abt seriously don't know what they are talking about. Despite all his accomplishments and being one of the all time bests, Yagudin really didn't have the best lines or posture.

[unicorn]

What's so funny about this? All I said was that he was better with his feet than Yagudin in the footwork, and to me Yagudin's footwork was not super impressive to begin with. So I'm not necessarily complementing Plushenko either.

Well looks funny to me.

[t.mann]

And, now, watching also Stephane's exhibition programs, I realize that he is probably an even more versatile performer than Dai. That all imho, of course.

Definitely. JMO.

But if someone skates to a more difficult program, but often messes up jumps, his pcs would have a higher chance to be underrated. One of the exemples is Abbott, by the way, he's good looking too.

Agree.
Kozuka too.

[judgejudy27]

Despite all his accomplishments and being one of the all time bests, Yagudin really didn't have the best lines or posture.

LOL NOBODY said he did. Better than Abt does not = best. We were all talking about Alexander freaking Abt here, not John Curry.

[ks1227]

I still think it would be interesting to do a non-WC/OGM survivor with Sandhu, Abt, Savoie, Klimkin, Abbot, etc. Any interest in that when this game is over?

I think that would be a lot more interesting than this one actually! People would have to justify their choices, not just rely on medals!

Abt : slow with a lot of 2-foot skating, but very good looking.

I'm not getting into the whole "Abt vs Yagudin" debate. But looking at Abt's skating on its own I don't think it's fair to say that Abt was slow, at least not in his better performances. He was actually capable of generating a lot of speed without relying as much on crossovers as a lot of other skaters (which perhaps made him look slower on TV than in the rink). Definitely underrated. I agree about the 2-foot skating though, even in some of his better performances.

[shine]

LOL NOBODY said he did. Better than Abt does not = best. We were all talking about Alexander freaking Abt here, not John Curry.

Um, no.

[senorita]

If Plushenko return continues into a major event at some point (Worlds or Olympics, which I wouldnt be surprised if it doesnt) he has no chance to beat Chan barring a 4 or 5 splatfest from Chan....

We know he cant beat Chan and Daisuke, so what?He still has the 3rd best Lp score of the season, and the 3rd total score too and that with a quadless sp at Euros. He gets overscored too you know , it is not just Chan.
The being old caramel is getting old though, he is way past his prime age but the rest arent getting any younger, we are not talking about Hanyu generation, Daisuke, Abott and a bunch more will be 28 and 29 in Sochi, older than what old Plushenko was in Vancouver, and I see Daisuke becoming better every season.
Although Chan will be in the ideal for OGM age

[Marco]

Abt was definitely underrated but one of the best, your making me miss him
Abt had the best edges , lines and camel spins ever and his skating he is like gliding in the air.
oh and the never ending legs are to die for !!!!

now for the votes ! more votes for False God Yagudin !!!

He wasn't passionate like Yagudin, but what he did was always so pure and effortless. His inconsistency was unfortunate, but it really didn't take away the beauty of his skating for me. His Olympic programs were to die for and for me much more enjoyable than those by Plushenko or Goebel. My star of SLC Olympics were definitely Yagudin, Honda and Abt. How I wish that was the podium.

[Marco]

I'm not getting into the whole "Abt vs Yagudin" debate. But looking at Abt's skating on its own I don't think it's fair to say that Abt was slow, at least not in his better performances. He was actually capable of generating a lot of speed without relying as much on crossovers as a lot of other skaters (which perhaps made him look slower on TV than in the rink). Definitely underrated. I agree about the 2-foot skating though, even in some of his better performances.

His speed was deceptive, like Kwan's, just because he was so effortless.