LOL. You know, I'm not a dance fanatic, but I think that gives me an advantage over the crazed dance fanatics in correctly handicapping the fields. Sure, things can change from season to season, but might I remind you that I was the ONLY person beating the drum about both the French & Finnish teams Euros scores being abnormally high and that they would revert back to the median in Boston? Might I remind you that I've been on the SmaDie bandwagon since their first, rather inauspicious, season? Might I remind you that pretty much EVERYONE here trashed LajLag's programs this past season, especially their FD, so their result in Boston should not have been nearly the surprise it was to everyone? And might I remind you that consensus has been that the Taschlers actually WERE stagnating with less-than-stellar material from Zanni & Co?
I am not predicting, btw, that CarPon are going to beat LajLag handily, despite what you seem to be implying based upon my known uber-fandom of CarPon. I fully expect LajLag to beat CarPon at SCI, and then I expect the results to be reversed at SkAm. I make no prediction on an outcome of a third head-to-head match-up at the GPF, just that I believe they will both qualify for the GPF while FearGib and GuigFab are iced out of that competition.
USFS & SkCan are protecting the teams that have, at this point, established themselves, quite solidly, as their #2, with an eye toward the next Olympic cycle. Perhaps your own US ice dance uber matrix is kicking into gear because CarPon aren't your favored successors to ChoBat as the top US team post-Milano Cortina.
With respect to GuigFab... That's an awfully big ask you're making for them given the material they've had this entire Olympic cycle. At no point in the past three seasons could a reasonable argument be made that they had the best RD of the top 3 teams, and only in 2023 could an argument be made in favor of their FD as the best, but even that would have been debated mightily (and the judges didn't agree, even with a fall by ChoBat at Worlds). In fact, their material has been unimpressive enough that they've allowed FearGib to overtake them, which is not something any of us would have predicted 3 years ago when FearGib were very clearly behind the top 3.
Go back and rewatch even just the RDs from 2023. To me, it's clear why ChoBat and GilPoir have put some distance between themselves and GuigFab. There is a dynamic quality they both have that allows them to rise above some awful music/packaging choices. I mean... Really... ChoBat gave us David Bowie's "Let's Dance" with a Latin beat! And GilPoir gave us Piper in a purple sparkly tramp stamp dress with Paul in a black mesh/sheer with some stoning/crystals black, loose tank top for "Do What I Do." Yet, somehow, they have a raw charisma that shines through. GuigFab with their safe, traditional Latin program in bland black with a zebra print burnout patterning & gold stoning/crystals are just there. I can see why they scored higher than GilPoir in the RD in 2023 - GilPoir were rougher & not quite as developed, but the potential was there for GilPoir to continue improving & overtake GuigFab as they have since.
Like or dislike ChoBat's material each of the past 3 seasons, but you're going to have a tough time selling me on them not putting out the best RD in both 2023 & 2024, and the best FD of the top 4 in 2025. And, like or dislike GilPoir's material each of the past few seasons, but you're not going to convince me that they didn't have the best FD in 2024 and the best RD in 2025. You may be able to convince me that GuigFab had the best FD in 2023, but what have they done in the intervening two seasons? Nothing that was going to beat ChoBat or GilPoir in either segment. Their 2024 RD was awful and their 2024 FD was "Love Never Dies/Mephisto's Lullaby" where she had a sparkly skeleton spine on her back for her costume. And the less said about this past season's Robot FD and Condiment Kids Costumes RD, the better.
? Does that count?
