I love reading your blog - and think your insight is great. Now, it's time for you to put yourself out there and include your predictions on events!
I'd also love it if when you did recaps you gave a bit of insight into how you felt about the results vs your view on the performances. Your analysis is really great on a skater by skater basis - and I really like the way you comment on the technical aspects on the performances in an accessible (for example, I think your blog is very readable even for someone who doesn't have high level knowledge of the sport).
I guess what I'm saying is I'd love to see you be a bit more forceful in your overall view of things - and please don't receive that as a criticism, i mean it as a compliment - not only do I like your blog, but I like the *you* behind the writing itself, and want you to bring it out more. Besides the overall quality of the blog (your intelligence/insight and your quality of writing), you are a very likeable blogger/personality.
Just wanted to say I appreciate your feedback,
@WanderlustTO. I think I understand what you mean about bringing in my point of view more, my own opinion. I will try.
For the most part, I've attempted to keep coverage of events even-handed, for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost: The skaters themselves. Skaters are online just like the rest of us. They read Twitter comments, Facebook comments, and, believe it or not, sometimes they even read this blog. I'm not going to flatter myself that any of them read it regularly, but it does come to their attention now and then. A few times this year, skaters have shared some of the blog entries on Facebook when I said positive stuff about their skating. Knowing this changes things. I want to write in a way that's interesting, and I want to be able to speak critically at times when it seems necessary or worthwhile. But, to be strongly critical or negative about a team when I know it's entirely possible they might actually see it? . . . I'm still kind of feeling my way around this.
Another reason I've tried to keep it somewhat neutral is I know I'm just one voice and one opinion out there . . . For example, this season I wasn't a huge fan of new team Astakhova/Rogonov. But I know that other people on this board, whose opinions I respect, like them a lot. Plus, they're 10th in the world, they're obviously doing something right. So I although I don't personally love A/R, I've tried to really look at them, understand what they're doing well, and appreciate them.
Ideally, I want to be inclusive, not dismissive, of other viewpoints. (Although it's quite hard or impossible to be so all the time. And sometimes honestly it's more interesting or entertaining to just take a stand on something!)
I will look for ways to get some more opinion in, when I can! Thanks again for your comments.
Never liked him. Still, they did a great job and I was absolutely surprised by them. I wasn't expecting their debut to be so good. In fact, I was expecting a disaster.
