marbri
Hey, Kool-Aid!
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Going to have to start following your posts for future predictions
Going to have to start following your posts for future predictions
I assume the same things that Lopareva & Brissaud are working on. Longer, smoother stroking, in particular. More finish & more polish. Lifts that aren't eye sores. (And higher scores, of course).I am curious what they think they'll get out of a move to iam.
ok so the way we fix this starts with the Madison Hubbell Dance Experience opening somewhereNow I really need the Euro dance centers to form a super alliance and US teams (not at IAM) need to join them. How do we get CPom and LaLa out?
While IAM is currently down to one team on the World podium from the default of two in prior years, their one team are the champs, and they dominate the up-and-coming ranks from 4 on down.Mind you they had a stronger stable when that happened and I don't expect to see some of their stronger teams return or P/C to come back.
You know, when they were juniors, DavSmo actually had some charm. I put whatever loss of charisma solely at the door of Kiliakov. Look what he did with Lorraine McNamara, for goodness sakes. It's a shame they were with Igor rather than at IAM as juniors because they certainly had the personality then to pull off programs like Lim/Quan's "Gangnam Style" or Kishimoto/Tamura's "Mr Roboto" RDs which were quite fun and charming in their seasons. There's work to be done but I don't think they're completely lacking in personality and goodness knows if anyone can bring it out of them, it might very well be IAM unless they want to move to Finland (Margaglio) or Japan (Cathy Reed).I am curious what they think they'll get out of a move to iam. They are very mid, but they don't have the charm and charisma of fear/gibson to really make a move with like entertainment value. It might take some work to get them some kind of personality.
Yes, but how many of those will continue after 2026? That leaves them probably with L/B, LaLa and Cpom. It makes sense to add another young team in addition to L/Q who will be moving up the ranks in the next years.While IAM is currently down to one team on the World podium from the default of two in prior years, their one team are the champs, and they dominate the up-and-coming ranks from 4 on down.
They also have the Browns, Mazingue/Gaidajenko and Holubtsova/Bielobrov in the younger mix, but I don't disagree that adding at team like DavSmo is not unwise if they wish to continue their dominance.Yes, but how many of those will continue after 2026? That leaves them probably with L/B, LaLa and Cpom. It makes sense to add another young team in addition to L/Q who will be moving up the ranks in the next years.
This did happen. They came in and asked to be considered, it was discussed and from what I was told, there was an interest to train a Russian couple with very different basics, background and it was interesting new challange for the school. Ultimatly, they told them no as they had no federation, no prospects of competitive future. This was the time when Davis and Smolkin were looking into becoming part of USFS and had someone there look into things for them.Oh to be a fly on the wall when that decision was negotiated. Because Dave also implied a season or two ago that IAM turned them down.
Possibly. I expect FB/S to retire, particularly given their results at Worlds.So if IAM is taking on another team, do we think another team is leaving IAM or have they found more capacity (ie. hired more coaches?)
Maybe Wang/Liu are really done with IAM?
In the past I believe they’ve said they wanted to go to 2030. At a minimum I don’t see why they’d stop at 2026 (barring health concerns, obviously) when a Guignard/Fabbri-free European field beckons.I'm assuming Fear & Gibson will continue.
Two many errors and two large a gap in skating level. If Nik were not the weak link they'd have a chance but he doesn't have the chops to lead her. A pity they hadn't tried to find different partners years ago.Possibly. I expect FB/S to retire, particularly given their results at Worlds.
Obviously, we don't know what's going on in the heads of the IAM coaching staff, but I will say this, from my experience in other fields where highly creative and intense, competitive personalities tend to congregate. Those "safe spaces" tend to be at their most "safe" when they're at a medium size. Too small, and you get the "we're like a family!" messaging and all the pressure that comes with it. Too big, and the promise of more and more power, results, and praise becomes too tempting. As we've seen, despite the whole world knowing what Eteri is responsible for, she still, against all logic and decency, has serious influence in the skating world. It's not surprising that a high-profile camp would want to benefit from that.As much as I agree that a person is not their parent, this is not any parent. As others have pointed out, Eteri’s school is part of the reason some of the ice dancers from I.AM don’t have their medals. Also, do they not expect Eteri to visit her daughter? Or ask to visit I.AM? She does politic on behalf of her daughter, let’s not pretend she doesn’t. Her daughter flirted with representing the U.S., now represents Georgia, and gets rather generous scores. I have always thought of I.AM as somewhere skaters go to grow in a safe space. I just can’t understand why they would invite this controversy or spotlight. I’ll end on a positive by saying that D/S are very consistent and so likely work hard.
I guess Green/Parson are never heading to I.AM!
Because Eteri is at the top of the hated list, for fair reasons (doping and abuse) and circumstantial ones (I’m sure she didn’t tell Putin to capture Ukraine.) Look at all the negatives Egadze and the Georgian pair team got at Worlds. It’s not just D/S.There is one higher-ranked IAM team that almost all skating fandom believes is greatly overmarked, and there's one team right behind the top pack that I personally feel is outrageously overmarked and should be down below the likes of even D/S (hint, Europeans at home). If the purists amongst the dance fans here want to be besides themselves with results, perhaps they should start there. Now, if D/S do improve and move up the standings at IAM, I'm sure it'll still be attributed to Eteri in some way.
This board and skating fandom in general is so obsessed with the idea of Eteri being able to buy off the judges, but most of the Federations don't want Russia back in competition. So which is it? Eteri still has power over these people? As I said upthread, D/S have not shown the results, they really haven't moved up the World standings at all (and in fact, you could basically say they dropped spots because of Russia not being in the field now), and they aren't getting any benefit of the doubt. Hell, even Takahashi who couldn't really do half of the ice dance moves got a bigger boost than this team, AND a lot of people happily overlooked it.
I don't know why there's constant agony over them when they aren't medal threats and they really weren't even top 10 threats this year. I'm quite sure they are working just as hard as the next team to improve their skating, too.
Yes, but we can go back to the fall of 2021, before the doping broke and before Russia invaded Ukraine and the hate was still strong on this team. I keep referring to the one fall-B competition where everyone was wildly overmarked yet people only focused on D/S' scores (while others actually had bigger increases in their season's bests, too).Because Eteri is at the top of the hated list, for fair reasons (doping and abuse) and circumstantial ones (I’m sure she didn’t tell Putin to capture Ukraine.) Look at all the negatives Egadze and the Georgian pair team got at Worlds. It’s not just D/S.
Why not? And it’s not about Eteri, but about russia. russia plans to return, which means they cannot release “their” judges. Moreover, there are many fake judges from, for example, Azerbaijan, where russia is happy to release skaters. Do you think these judges are interested in the fate of these skaters? Of course not. They have one goal - to help russia.There is one higher-ranked IAM team that almost all skating fandom believes is greatly overmarked, and there's one team right behind the top pack that I personally feel is outrageously overmarked and should be down below the likes of even D/S (hint, Europeans at home). If the purists amongst the dance fans here want to be besides themselves with results, perhaps they should start there. Now, if D/S do improve and move up the standings at IAM, I'm sure it'll still be attributed to Eteri in some way.
This board and skating fandom in general is so obsessed with the idea of Eteri being able to buy off the judges, but most of the Federations don't want Russia back in competition. So which is it? Eteri still has power over these people? As I said upthread, D/S have not shown the results, they really haven't moved up the World standings at all (and in fact, you could basically say they dropped spots because of Russia not being in the field now), and they aren't getting any benefit of the doubt. Hell, even Takahashi who couldn't really do half of the ice dance moves got a bigger boost than this team, AND a lot of people happily overlooked it.
I don't know why there's constant agony over them when they aren't medal threats and they really weren't even top 10 threats this year. I'm quite sure they are working just as hard as the next team to improve their skating, too.
Australia, Spain, Hungary, and Poland all marked D/S quite a bit higher than they were in either the RD, the FD, or both at Worlds. Hungary's top team is trained by Fusar-Poli. Poland's team is part of Zanni's camp. The other two come from IAM. At Euros, even the British judge had them a bit higher in the FD.Why not? And it’s not about Eteri, but about russia. russia plans to return, which means they cannot release “their” judges. Moreover, there are many fake judges from, for example, Azerbaijan, where russia is happy to release skaters. Do you think these judges are interested in the fate of these skaters? Of course not. They have one goal - to help russia.
And you don't have to go far. Ukrainian judges supported russia before and are now happy to support D/S. The ties there are so deep that no war can break them.