aftershocks
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As sponsored by John Wilson Blades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW1KaZkBVKM
This is a nice, fairly casual interview. Wong is respectful and easygoing, posing mostly softball questions. While Wong did seem a bit careful and overly eager to please, he at least does not come off as obsequious and fawning as Ted Barton was in his recent interview with Eteri.
It's interesting and enlightening listening to Orser's takes on Jun Hwan, Hanyu, Javi, Medvedeva, Jason, the new scoring system, and indirectly the ISU. Also, although Nathan Chen is never mentioned by name, his presence is felt. Especially when Orser is praising Jason for scoring in first place at IDF against 'another skater who had quads.' Nathan did not skate a clean sp at IDF and Jason did, so that made a big difference. Jason was spot-on in the sp and it was great to see. I still don't like Jason's fp, (neither the music nor the costume, although Jason appears to be more comfortable with the choreo and the tweaks to music cuts and program layout).
I bow down to Orser's coaching expertise, but I don't especially agree that Jason being so nice and friendly necessarily needs to change. Jason has always been able to be friendly and nice off-the-ice, while taking care of business as a fierce competitor on the ice. So I hope Jason's friendly personality will never change. Because Jason has always been a tough competitor, it shouldn't be hard for him to put on a mature gameface during competitions, if that's what Orser is referencing.
I like a lot of Orser's responses and his levelheaded approach to guiding his charges. Orser was of course being diplomatic and realistic when he said it's important to embrace the new scoring system and rules changes. That makes sense because what else can anyone do if they have to compete within this system? Everyone has to adjust and move forward since the ISU wields a heavy stick in putting down any opposition to their authority. Orser said there's always a reason why the ISU makes changes and that it's not political and not because the ISU is trying to hurt any particular country. I guess Orser means any particular skaters from whatever countries.
Actually, the rules changes were made for a variety of reasons, but were instituted more quickly in part because of Nathan breaking the quad record. The ISU saw that the judging was being taken out of the judges hands, and they couldn't allow that. Now, the judges have more control than they know what to do with via the +5 -5 GOE implementation! Anway, it was a huge error by the ISU to give quads such inordinate point value in the first place. Orser said, part of the ISU's reconsidering the scoring system might be the fact that casual viewers don't understand the scoring, but that's still the case even with the new rules changes. And forgive me if I don't believe the ISU truly cares that much about casual viewers, when they certainly don't care much about what hardcore fans think!
I agree with Orser that it might be helpful if some of the officials were required to spend time relearning and updating their judging skill set, especially with the constant rules changes. Orser was very philosophical about why the judges are not giving Jun Hwan as many points as his brilliance deserves. I noticed the judges holding the marks down a bit for Jun Hwan this season, which does not reflect how improved and more mature he looks this season. Orser does not claim that the judges are holding down Jun Hwan's scores, but it is addressed by Orser in a pointed yet generous and agreeable manner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW1KaZkBVKM
This is a nice, fairly casual interview. Wong is respectful and easygoing, posing mostly softball questions. While Wong did seem a bit careful and overly eager to please, he at least does not come off as obsequious and fawning as Ted Barton was in his recent interview with Eteri.
It's interesting and enlightening listening to Orser's takes on Jun Hwan, Hanyu, Javi, Medvedeva, Jason, the new scoring system, and indirectly the ISU. Also, although Nathan Chen is never mentioned by name, his presence is felt. Especially when Orser is praising Jason for scoring in first place at IDF against 'another skater who had quads.' Nathan did not skate a clean sp at IDF and Jason did, so that made a big difference. Jason was spot-on in the sp and it was great to see. I still don't like Jason's fp, (neither the music nor the costume, although Jason appears to be more comfortable with the choreo and the tweaks to music cuts and program layout).
I bow down to Orser's coaching expertise, but I don't especially agree that Jason being so nice and friendly necessarily needs to change. Jason has always been able to be friendly and nice off-the-ice, while taking care of business as a fierce competitor on the ice. So I hope Jason's friendly personality will never change. Because Jason has always been a tough competitor, it shouldn't be hard for him to put on a mature gameface during competitions, if that's what Orser is referencing.
I like a lot of Orser's responses and his levelheaded approach to guiding his charges. Orser was of course being diplomatic and realistic when he said it's important to embrace the new scoring system and rules changes. That makes sense because what else can anyone do if they have to compete within this system? Everyone has to adjust and move forward since the ISU wields a heavy stick in putting down any opposition to their authority. Orser said there's always a reason why the ISU makes changes and that it's not political and not because the ISU is trying to hurt any particular country. I guess Orser means any particular skaters from whatever countries.
Actually, the rules changes were made for a variety of reasons, but were instituted more quickly in part because of Nathan breaking the quad record. The ISU saw that the judging was being taken out of the judges hands, and they couldn't allow that. Now, the judges have more control than they know what to do with via the +5 -5 GOE implementation! Anway, it was a huge error by the ISU to give quads such inordinate point value in the first place. Orser said, part of the ISU's reconsidering the scoring system might be the fact that casual viewers don't understand the scoring, but that's still the case even with the new rules changes. And forgive me if I don't believe the ISU truly cares that much about casual viewers, when they certainly don't care much about what hardcore fans think!
I agree with Orser that it might be helpful if some of the officials were required to spend time relearning and updating their judging skill set, especially with the constant rules changes. Orser was very philosophical about why the judges are not giving Jun Hwan as many points as his brilliance deserves. I noticed the judges holding the marks down a bit for Jun Hwan this season, which does not reflect how improved and more mature he looks this season. Orser does not claim that the judges are holding down Jun Hwan's scores, but it is addressed by Orser in a pointed yet generous and agreeable manner.
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