Phil Hersh on the end of Ice Network (which shuts down for good on Saturday the 30th)

[Icetigger]

James Joyce was an artist. You are just showing that you know the words...

Ah, but that wouldn't have been Joyce's argument for why he used them....... He wasn't that bourgeois. Ironically, he would more likely have argued that he was just showing that he knew the words (and was having fun with them). Somehow, I don't feel you are a Joyce scholar.

 

[Icetigger]

I'm not offended. I find it funny that posters think the way to prove Phil wrong was to act like adolescents without realizing all they are doing is confirming his view of them.

To be honest, I don't think Phil Hersh has engaged with anyone or anything for many years on any sort of level: his voice is his only interest (that, and mentioning just how many Olympics he has been to at every opportunity- a habit he shares with Christine Brennan); and I think that's apparent from any form of interview with him. I enjoy his truth telling to power old school journalism on some level, when that is what he is doing (some of his articles are excellent, methodologically impeccable pieces of research and comment that any tutor in journalism could use as exemplars). However, recently he has spent a lot acting like an adolescent with a crush on Nathan Chen, who then writes teary admonitory pieces on him when his crush doesn't live up to his weird, unrealistic and irrational expectations; that are both a, bad journalism, and b, immature (and his being 72 doesn't excuse his from having that particular label applied to him)

 

[allezfred]

James Joyce was an artist. You are just showing that you know the words...

Mean!

 

[berthesghost]

I don’t know about “recently”. Didnt Phil pretty much treat Kwan with the same “I love you! I hate you!” scheme he now gives Chen?

 

[Icetigger]

I don’t know about “recently”. Didnt Phil pretty much treat Kwan with the same “I love you! I hate you!” scheme he now gives Chen?

Don't know. Don't go that far back with him. I'm a non-American, and Hersh is someone I've only really known about for about three years. But I can imagine he did..........

Like a lot of commentators, there's a lot of national interest/bias from him that in these days of global access to his and other commentaries that means a lot of people reading his stuff are going to see him as provincial and a bit silly.

 

[MsZem]

If f*ck and c*nt are good enough for James Joyce, then they are good enough for the rest of us.

And for people in medieval England

Hersh is clearly passionate about skating, and has done some good work over the years. But he tends to let his subjective preferences and get off my lawn approach to color his reporting, which is unfortunate.

ETA: changed the link to something that will actually work

 

[VGThuy]

I don’t know about “recently”. Didnt Phil pretty much treat Kwan with the same “I love you! I hate you!” scheme he now gives Chen?

Yep. Some of the things he wrote about Kwan were things a fan from MKF would write and others would be something somebody from Tara World would write. Obviously, I'm exaggerating. If he follows the same path with Nathan, then I guess we'll see Phil Hersh at Nathan Chen's wedding in a decade or so.

 

[MacMadame]

Great column! I too am sad the only real figure skating news outlet is shutting down. Ice Network has been a real gem. Even with periodic (for me) technical issues, having that reliable stream for nearly every major competition has been great, I would have been happy to pay Ice Network more money to get all the senior Bs as well. I've so enjoyed the excellent journalism, the fun skaters blogs from competitions, the fashion pick columns, ....just everthing. It's such a loss to the skating community.

Do you know that much of that sort of thing is going to still be done, but in NBC's Fan Zone area? The details haven't all been revealed but it's not like IN is going away with no replacement. It will just be different. But also the same.

@Josh78 IIRC the appeal of MLB Media as a partner for USFS was the online broadcasting/streaming capabilities that MLB Media had developed. I think MLB Media may have also been trying to interest other sports in using what it had developed to share info on games and events. I don't think USFS was expecting MLB to care about skating - more that USFS wanted to adapt the software/website capabilities that MLB had developed for its own sport.

I think it seemed like a good idea at the time and that there would be no Ice Network if they had tried to develop it from the ground up. But sometimes being on the bleeding edge of technology can bite you when people who enter later in the game take advantage of your learning and newer technology.

Once that happened, USFS had little choice but to move to a new platform (as they have done). Perhaps MLB had better technology for their own coverage (as implied by a post above) but they must not have offered it to Ice Network or at least not at a price IN could afford.

I think this new partnership makes sense and will be a good thing in the long run.

Too bad no archive! That’s the worst! Shows bad side of internet.

Yes, it's a big problem, not just with Ice Network.

 

[aftershocks]

if you want someone on the internet to die, you don't publicize them you ignore them.

Would that could happen to the holder of the most powerful office in the world. And I ain't referring to Hershey bear. But that's a different thread...

Ah, sometimes cultural ignorance is bliss and minding one's p's and q's gains teacher's pet gifts. Not so much in the school of life though... The Internet OTOH, is an entirely different story. We def need more civility.

But the odd, well-aimed dirty word here and there can get one's point across colorfully and meaningfully. Kudos to those who are always exceedingly polite, whoever they are and wherever they may be hiding under a rock.

ETA:
Regarding Phil Hersh, he has his faults and his curmudgeonly 'get off my lawn' approach to reporting, as aptly phrased by @Zemgirl, can be off-putting. Just as Hersh writes in a sometimes scathing love 'em/ hate 'em fashion, that's exactly how I view his fs coverage arc overall. Despite his venerable years of covering fs, Hersh like all of us fs fans, continues to have a lot to learn about the sport, whether or not any of us recognize that fact.

Hersh's recent tribute to IN's journalistic strengths, is fine and sincere. I just take the perceived FSU swipe with a grain of salt and with tongue firmly planted in cheek. No big deal, but the reactions here on all sides have certainly been entertaining.

 

[aftershocks]

Perhaps MLB had better technology for their own coverage

I used to complain to MLB techs about the lack of advanced technology and lack of visual quality for IN broadcasts. They continually blamed it on the fact that figure skating fans are these non-computer-savvy little old ladies sitting at home with antiquated, outdated software, and ineffectual browsers. In truth, a lot of the problems I think had to do with IN's ineffectual approach, the cost of MLB's service, and the fact that MLB has no knowledge of figure skating, nor could they care less about the sport and its fans. Heck, MLB don't really care about baseball fans either as long as they can continue into perpetuity automatically grabbing money from addicted fans' bank accounts.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Hirsch seems to place the blame for IN folding on their terrible experience streaming live competitions. It was bad.

The new NBC skating network will probably stream better. But they will have the same problem EuroSport had which is the rights in all these locals. Inability to work out reciprocal international agreements leaves some competitions off limits and access available to customers only in selected locales.

After a season with Eurosport, and seeing the problems of IN I gave up trying to pay for things. I have a good VPN product and scramble around following leads posted here. I've missed a few performances but largely I've accessed every event I wanted.

Until international media gets their act togeather they're going to reap only a percentage of the potential market.

 

[overedge]

James Joyce was an artist. You are just showing that you know the words...

I'm not offended. I find it funny that posters think the way to prove Phil wrong was to act like adolescents without realizing all they are doing is confirming his view of them.

I gave several reasons why Hersh's coverage of skating is not good journalism. But I guess you missed that because you were clutching your pearls over the "bad word". Focusing on one word and not reading the substantive part of the message - now that's immature.

And unless you are psychic, you don't know what does or doesn’t confirm Phil's perceptions of things.

 

[Vagabond]

I thought I had seen it all, but I wasn't prepared for anyone's comparing Phil Hersch to James Joyce.

 

[maatTheViking]

You know, I supported IN for many years. But they choose to not upgrade their tech.

News is fine, but I can get my news from many sources (here, Jackie Wong, twitter, etc).

The real benefit of IN was the competition streams.

But they ****ed that up.

They quality was simply too low. I loved being able to see a competition from beginning to end, without spoilers or having to go to a youtube complication post. I had a chromecast so I could watch it on my TV, but here is the deal, it was choppy and awful. Not just livestreams, but also on demand broadcasts, which is unacceptable. They were years behind (who tf uses flash for videos anymore??) technologically, and they did not dedicate the bandwidth to this.

I was using a fist gen chromecast, and got a new, because the quality was so bad. It was still bad, but better, and my husband was thinking chromecasts are useless, sending video over wifi. I then watched some vidoes from youtube over chromecast. Clear as a day, no chopping. My husband was floored with how awful icenetwork was, and he was correct.

I also think they should have focused on bringing more coverage - why not get Canadian, Russian, Japanese nationals and regional competition?

no matter what, this was a business opportunity that was wasted, a fundamental flaw in understanding what had value for their customers.

I had hoped it would improve, but it didn't.

 

[BittyBug]

Not just livestreams, but also on demand broadcasts, which is unacceptable.

The quality of the archived videos was abysmal, a fact that was highlighted when I watched the Patrick Chan 2013 Trophee Bompard performance that they cited in their "best of" article. I was expecting to get all nostalgic about the demise of IN and instead I just found myself cursing them.

 

[berthesghost]

I guess the question is, would you guys have paid more for better service? No matter what, the target audience was very small so they were never really going to make dosh off of this. Instead they delivered an inferior product to their core audience. How many left vs how many stayed unhappily? As a business model, the whole thing sounds like it was doomed to fail. I’m shocked it lasted this long

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the memories, IceNetwork! Copying out for posterity...

30 biggest stories in skating of the icenetwork era: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/06/01/277963560
During the month of June, we will count down the 30 biggest stories in figure skating since the launch of icenetwork 11 years ago, as determined by our editorial staff.

30. Chan's coaching carousel
29. ISU allows lyrics in figure skating programs
28. Montreal's Gadbois Centre becomes ice dance capital of the world
27. 2015 Trophée Eric Bompard cancelled after Paris terror attacks
26. Evan Lysacek wins 2008 U.S. title in tiebreaker over Johnny Weir
25. Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva end professional relationship
24. A Spaniard becomes one of the defining skaters of his generation
23. 2011 World Championships postponed, moved after tsunami hits Japan
22. Ashley Wagner breaks United States' ladies medal drought at worlds
21. Arutunian becomes leading singles coach in U.S.
20. Kostner's late-career renaissance
19. Tara and Johnny become pop culture icons
18. Jason Brown's Riverdance free skate becomes an internet sensation
17. Rochette wins Olympic bronze following the death of her mother
16. Kim ends professional relationship with Orser
15. Nathan Chen goes where no man has gone before
14. The redemption of Mirai Nagasu
13. Quad-less Lysacek defeats Plushenko to win Olympic gold
12. Savchenko wins Olympic gold on fifth try
11. Rippon becomes media darling, champion for LGBT rights
10. Wagner makes 2014 Olympic team over Nagasu
9. The rise and fall of Gracie Gold
8. Medvedeva leaves Tutberidze for Orser
7. Orser builds most successful skating program in the world at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club
6. Balance of power in world ice dance shifts from Europe to North America
5. Sotnikova upsets Kim to win Olympic gold
4. The reign of Queen Yuna
3. Yuzuru Hanyu wins back-to-back Olympics, achieves rock star status
2. The sustained dominance of the Russian women
1. The quad revolution transforms men's skating


Writers look back on favorite icenetwork articles: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/06/19/275961182
We asked icenetwork reporters past and present to pick out their favorite article they've written for this us and explain why it was so special to them.

Writer: Jean-Christophe Berlot
Headline: Rippon skates, choreographs with deep love of craft
Date: Nov. 22, 2014

Writer's words: I was standing at the exit of the Mériadeck rink in Bordeaux, where Trophée Eric Bompard, the French leg of the Grand Prix, was being held. It was about 11 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2014, and Adam Rippon was leaving the ice after a morning practice session.
I will probably never know how Adam made it through that interview, but afterward he hugged me very dearly (a move we, the French, are by no means used to). It took place at a turning point in his career: He had hit bottom a few months before, missing out on qualifying for the Sochi Olympics. There he was, starting all over again, not even knowing how long he would keep going.
During the interview, he said, "Being in the spotlight one day and nowhere the next is kind of a difficult pill to swallow, for sure. You feel that you are still going at the same pace, but at the same time…where are you going? You feel like…lost, in the middle of nowhere. For a while, I was the best next thing. I was a junior world champion twice. Then I grew up. Skating was changing tremendously at the same time; there was lots of pressure, I moved back from Canada to the U.S. When I look back at that time, I see that you do not know how to deal with such pressure when you are 20 years old."
From that point on, Adam's career took off. Figure skating is harsh in forgiving: Going upward is certainly much easier the first time than the second. Once you've fallen, it takes loads of effort to come back again. Adam did that, and in the most beautiful way possible. I wish during that meeting I could have opened a window into the future so he could see what a huge success he would become, particularly in these last few months.
Adam Rippon is a role model for anyone who feels like his or her career is going nowhere. Keep loving, he taught us all, and maybe -- maybe -- it will happen.

---

Writer: Sarah S. Brannen
Headline: What's next? Skaters detail coping with retirement
Date: July 16, 2016

Writer's words: I started writing for icenetwork with Drew Meekins in 2008, as more or less a gossip columnist. The majority of our pieces were posted under the heading "The Inside Edge," and they focused on funny, weird or interesting stories, with a few celebrities sprinkled in and frequent references to fashion. With Drew, and eventually on my own, I reported on engagements, weddings and babies. I always enjoyed having relaxed, casual conversations with skaters about things that had nothing much to do with skating.
Sometimes, though, I had very serious conversations with skaters. They told me about the frustrations and pain of injuries, the heartbreak of failure, the sadness of breaking up with a partner. In 2016, I found myself wondering what it's like for successful skaters after they retire from competition and leave skating behind. I suspected that it might be quite difficult to navigate the years following retirement without the one thing that had played such an important role in these peoples' lives. The stories I heard were personal and moving, and I did my best to convey what it's like for someone to embark into the great unknown.

---

Writer: Lois Elfman
Headline: Duhamel and Radford tops among Canadian pairs
Date: Jan. 22, 2012

Writer's words: While I've written mainly features for icenetwork, it is a competition story that stands out for me: My article on Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford winning their first Canadian title in 2012. Nothing can rival the sheer joy and pride they felt in finally achieving a lifelong goal that both had thought they'd probably never reach. After they skated their final competitive performances at this year's Olympic Winter Games, I thanked them for letting me come along for the ride these last six years. While I felt very emotional seeing photos of them receiving their gold and bronze medals in PyeongChang, nothing rivals that January night six years ago when both were so raw and open with me. One of the best skating stories I've ever told in a long career of covering this sport.

---

Writer: Philip Hersh
Headline: Dance background helps to enhance Chen's skating
Date: March 24, 2017

Writer's words: For years, I had listened to skaters talk about their having received ballet instruction, only to find out after further inquiry that for most of them that meant taking the occasional class. So I filed a mental note when Nathan Chen mentioned to me in 2016 that he had taken ballet lessons regularly for a number of years.

Hoping to find a fresh angle for a story about the sport's new sensation, I decided to look into Chen's ballet background. A Google search turned up newspaper stories about his having actually danced in productions as a boy. That was enough of a lead to follow, so I called several people who taught him (and danced with him) at Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City.

One after another, the people to whom I spoke raved about Nathan's innate ability as a dancer and explained his particular physical and intellectual gifts for the discipline. All agreed that, if his emphasis were reversed, he had a chance to be as good a dancer as he was a skater.

The most illuminating piece of my research came from looking at old photographs of Rudolf Nureyev dancing Le Corsaire, the basis of Chen's 2016-17 short program. Chen told me he and choreographer Marina Zoueva had closely studied the Nureyev interpretation, and you could clearly see parallels between the skater's leg and arm positions and those of the legendary dancer, who also had been a groundbreaker in his discipline.

Never did the story suggest Chen would have been a Nureyev had he chosen dance over skating. My goal simply was to write in more depth about a facet of Chen's background that previously had been given only cursory mention. If the piece (accompanied by video of the 12-year-old Chen in The Nutcracker) challenged some of the closed-minded shibboleths about Chen and/or encouraged people to learn more about Nureyev, so much the better.

---

Writer: Klaus-Reinhold Kany
Headline: Secret's out: Virtue, Moir disclose program music
Date: Aug. 5, 2013

Writer's words: During my annual trek through North American training centers, I met with Tessa and Scott in Canton, Michigan, in July 2013. While at practice, I heard and recognized the pieces they were skating to, and asked them if I could file a report about it. They told me they were not ready to reveal their program music yet, and asked me to keep it a secret until two or three days before their first public performance, which was to be at the Quebec Summer Championships. I convinced them it was in their best interest to let icenetwork publish the music as early as possible to ensure nobody else used it -- and they agreed.

---

Writer: Vladislav Luchianov
Headline: Czisny pursues skating, only in different direction
Date: June 19, 2014

Writer's words: In this interview with Alissa Czisny, the former two-time U.S. champion came off as more sincere, more open-minded, more thoughtful and, let's say, freer than any other athlete I've ever talked to.

---

Writer: Nick McCarvel
Headlines: Courage personified: Radford stands above the rest; Rippon on coming out: 'I wanted to share my story'
Dates: May 13, 2015; Oct. 27, 2015

Writer's words: I'm choosing two because they're close to my heart: Eric Radford and Adam Rippon's coming out stories in 2015. They had come out separately and prior to my writing these respective articles, but I loved getting the chance to share their stories and hear how they arrived at their brave conclusions. It was such an honor to get to write about Eric as the "Person of the Year" in 2015. After the story about Adam, I remember thinking to myself how proud I was of these fellow queer men not shying away from being themselves in the public eye. That's what real champions do -- always stay true to themselves.

---

Writer: Amy Rosewater

Headline: Years later, Lavenstein still affected by concussion
Date: Feb. 8, 2016

Writer's words: I have been fortunate enough over the years to interview many of the top skaters in the world, but one of the most memorable interviews, for me, came from a woman named Savannah Lavenstein. A longtime competitive skater, Savannah bravely opened up to me about her battles with concussions for a piece I wrote in Fabruary 2016. At the time, concussions in skating was a topic that wasn't talked about very much, but with her willingness to share her story in such a frank and honest way, Savannah allowed readers to put a face and a name to this very important issue. I'd like to think this piece made skaters, parents and coaches more aware of the perils of concussions in a sport in which the inherent physical dangers aren't widely reported.

---

Writer: Lynn Rutherford
Headline: Sun never sets on Japanese figure skating fans
Date: May 10, 2017

Writer's words: I knew figure skating was hugely popular in Japan, but until I reached out to dozens of Japanese fans, I didn't realize how much it truly meant to many of them. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, in particular, goes far beyond matinee idol status; to a sizable number of supporters, he touches all kinds of inspirational chords. Not to be overlooked is the monetary benefit of the Japanese fans' unflagging devotion to the sport, which translates to a healthy amount of much-needed revenue.

Writers select favorite programs of icenetwork era: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/06/25/276107538
We've seen some incredible skating over the last 11 years. We asked our writers tell us what their favorite performances were since the launch of icenetwork in 2007.

Writer: Jean-Christophe Berlot
Performance: Patrick Chan's The Four Seasons/Concerto Grasso free skate at 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard

At the 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, Patrick Chan skated a beautiful short program to take a three-point lead over Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu. The true challenge for the brilliant Canadian, however, would be the free skate, which that season was the program that gave him the most problems. No matter: Chan rose to the occasion with what may have been the best skate of his career. Watching it now, that performance showed Chan at the peak of his powers; his score of 196.75 was, at the time, the highest ever recorded for a men's free skate. That day, Chan touched perfection -- and put his audience in a state of grace.

***

Writer: Sarah S. Brannen
Performance: Jason Brown's Riverdance free skate at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

The first time I saw Jason Brown's Riverdance program, in the summer of 2013, I told him I thought it was going to be a classic. I love traditional Celtic music, and although the Riverdance music may be a tad overproduced, I'm a sucker for it anyway. Brown's program, choreographed by Rohene Ward, combined elements of Celtic step dancing with Brown's signature flexibility and joie de vivre.
His free skate at the U.S. championships in Boston in January 2014 encapsulated what I love about skating. An underdog has the performance of his life, hitting every element perfectly. The crowd rises to its feet, roaring with joy, before the program ends. The skater is rewarded with stellar marks. Goosebumps.

***

Writer: Lois Elfman
Performance: Meryl Davis and Charlie White's Scheherazade free dance at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games

In the years I've spent covering figure skating, I've seen so many talented U.S. ice dance teams not get their due. Then came Meryl Davis and Charlie White. I remember waking up early the morning of the free dance of the 2011 World Championships and watching it live on icenetwork. Seeing Davis and White win the gold that year in Moscow and fulfill the dreams of generations of American ice dancers was deeply poignant. It was almost like disbelief: The moment for U.S. ice dance had finally arrived. Three years later, they made another, even greater moment. Watching their free dance performance at the 2014 Olympics, I was brought to tears. When I named them my icenetwork People of the Year for 2014, fellow U.S. ice dancer Kim Navarro said Davis and White had crossed the finish line for all the teams that went before them. I will always remember that magical day in February 2014 when those two kids from Michigan made history.

***

Writer: Philip Hersh
Performance: Yuna Kim's "Concerto in F" free skate at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games

The greatest performance I have seen in the icenetwork era also is by far the greatest performance I have seen by a female singles skater in the 11 Winter Olympics I have covered, beginning in 1980.
What made it special? Doing it on the sport's biggest stage, of course, as well as the extraordinary national pressure on the athlete who did it.
But the best way for me to explain why Yuna Kim's free skate at the 2010 Olympics is my ne plus ultra is the way I described it in the Chicago Tribune on Feb. 26, 2010:

VANCOUVER - They already called her "Queen Yuna" in South Korea.
And Yuna Kim spread her dominion to an absolute reign over the women's figure skating world after the Olympic women's figure skating final Thursday night.
Skating a stunningly difficult program without an error, floating like a feather in the wind to the airy, jazzy rhythms of Gershwin's Concerto in F, unflinchingly bearing the weight of her country's hopes, Kim crushed her rivals with a performance for the ages...
...The South Korean national hero may have been a little tight on some of her early jumps, but she nailed them all: triple lutz-triple toe loop combination, four other triple jumps, all with highly positive grades of execution.
"If this was track and field, we just watched an 8-second 100 meters," said Jamie McGrigor, a skating analyst doing in-house radio commentary.

***

Writer: Klaus-Reinhold Kany
Performance: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron's "Piano Concerto No. 23" free dance at the 2015 World Championships

I saw parts of this program for the first time during my summer visit to Montreal in August 2014. The program was not ready yet, and Gabriella and Guillaume and their coaches let me watch practice only if I promised to keep the music a secret until their first competition. I thought it would be a fantastic program, once it was ready. It was different from other teams' programs: Despite being set to a conservative Mozart piece ("Piano Concerto No. 23"), it showcased a very modern style. The team's big breakthrough came at their first Grand Prix, Cup of China, where they beat the reigning world champions, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte, but it wasn't until their second Grand Prix, in Paris, that I was convinced they had something special. They continued to wow audiences with their astounding free dance during the rest of the season, which included their first career titles at the European and world championships.

***

Writer: Vladislav Luchianov
Performance: Julia Lipnitskaia's team event free skate (to Schindler's List) at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games

To me, Julia Lipnitskaia's free skate in the team event at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games went beyond perfection. It was so deeply emotional, so moving -- the kind of performance that opens up your mind to the possibilites that exist within the pre-established boundaries of a sport. It was, to put it simply, a work of art.

***

Writer: Nick McCarvel
Performance: Jason Brown's Riverdance free skate at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

2014 was actually the first U.S. Figure Skating Championships I covered in person as a journalist, and I was rinkside for Jason's free skate. You could feel the momentum building with Jason that weekend, and it all culminated in this performance. As the program went on, TD Garden roared to life, and a full 10 seconds before he was done, the entire arena was on its feet. It wasn't the perfect skate, but in an Olympic year, with all of that pressure, it was as close to perfect as a skater can ask for. It was spine-tingling. It still is.

***

Writer: Amy Rosewater
Performance: Patrick Chan's "Élégie in E flat minor" short program at the 2013 World Championships

Patrick Chan, to me, is the quintessential skater, the one who can blend quality edges and artistry with magnificent jumping ability better than anyone. When he is on his game, he's the best. Make no mistake, there was "Chan-flation" over the years, but he was quite truly masterful at many points in his career.
At the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario, Chan had the pressure of not only defending his world titles from the previous two seasons but skating in his home country of Canada. He came out in the short and was absolutely brilliant, performing a perfect program on his way to earning a score of 98.37 -- three points better than the previous record, set earlier that season by Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu at the NHK Trophy.
"Going into my last spin, I just felt this surge from the ice going through my boot and through my body," he told reporters afterward. "I was so excited because I finally did it on the day that counts in front of my home crowd. The world championships will never be this amazing during the rest of my career."

***

Writer: Lynn Rutherford
Performance: Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani's "Fix You" free dance at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani always had beautifully crafted, demanding programs, but after the siblings won a third U.S. silver medal in 2015, they knew they needed a change. That off-season, they took creative control of their material, threw caution to the wind and dug deep within themselves to produce the cathartic "Fix You," a technical and emotional tour de force that propelled them to their first U.S. crown and set them on a course to the Olympic podium two years later.

 

[momnatur]

Sylvia, You've been busy, girl! I'm archiving all the news by month to the WayBack machine. But, IN is being difficult with that too... not responding within their time limits..,.. OK, back to the business at hand.

 

[goldberry99]

19. Tara and Johnny become pop culture icons

‍♀

 

[aftershocks]

IN actually still did have up the 2011 U.S. Nationals junior pairs competition. It's so fun to watch. It's really a keeper for many reasons...

But I guess it will be gone for good now. I'm not sure whether U.S. figureskating will archive that particular event discipline for download. It looks like they will be asking for a lot of money to access archival event videos.

 

[Japanfan]

I used to envy Americans because they had IN. Now I'll envy the NBC network.

We just don't have anything like it in Canada - CBC's coverage of Worlds and Olympics is usually good, but that's not usually the case for the GP series. Outside of that, there is the stream, which to me is somewhat lacking - I like commentary.

 

[Jem X]

There's an updated app on my phone from 2 days ago, saying that is preparing for the launch of revamped US Figureskating Fan Zone and launch of NBC Sports Gold. And the site is still up even though its 07/04/18 today.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Sometimes a "f*ck you" or "c*nt" is warranted though.

Absolutely. Those are my stand-by words when certain clients call at 5pm on a Friday with an urgent deadline (that mostly, could have been resolved much earlier!)

 

[Tinami Amori]

Apparantly Vagabond is unhappy Phil pointed out the truth about boards like this.

There was no other website in English that covered figure skating this way and in such depth - with real reporting, not the rumor-mongering, cheerleading and trolling on fan forums. It covered serious problems like concussions and the struggles of skaters after retirement. It covered technical issues in the sport, like scoring and age limits. It covered global stars and their achievements, not just U.S. skaters, even though icenetwork was under the aegis of U.S. Figure Skating.

Phil is full of shit! and also forgot to note or does not see that IN is very US-centric, and often shows negative bias against other country's skaters, Phil is the worst offender when it comes to Russia for example and the sentiments sometimes in his comments come from the stand that "US is the norm and others must be measure by such". Good riddance!

 

[aftershocks]

Apparently, the IN site actually shutdown sometime yesterday. And fans are adrift on NBCSportsGold trying to figure out where is all the content we paid for and should have access to, but don't.

 

[Jem X]

I am watching the content without too much trouble. I logged in using my email and password (that I had set up a day or so ago) and clicked on figure skating near the top right of the screen; then the next row down to the left I clicked on full event replays and a list of last years competitions showed up on the screen. I then picked the event I wanted to watch.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

In the grand scheme of things, Phil Harsh truly was the Lucy Van Pelt of Ice Network.

Cartoon - Frame One
Cartoon - Frame Two
Cartoon - Frame Three
Cartoon - Frame Four

Will Harsh get a job with NBC's new skating portal? This second cartoon shows us how.

 

[Japanfan]

Phil is full of shit! and also forgot to note or does not see that IN is very US-centric, and often shows negative bias against other country's skaters, Phil is the worst offender when it comes to Russia for example and the sentiments sometimes in his comments come from the stand that "US is the norm and others must be measure by such". Good riddance!

Of course, no commentators in Russia are equally biased, they being a superior species!

When Tat T. (might have been someone else) said that Russia was the 'rightful home of Pairs Olympic Gold', there was no bias in that - only truth. Because Russians were the best in pairs for many, many years, they are entitled to continuing being so.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Of course, no commentators in Russia are equally biased, they being a superior species!

When Tat T. (might have been someone else) said that Russia was the 'rightful home of Pairs Olympic Gold', there was no bias in that - only truth. Because Russians were the best in pairs for many, many years, they are entitled to continuing being so.

Yes, that is true, and there are far more comments like that than just from TAT … But the difference is that a) Russian is not an international official language, b) Russian sites/commentators do not claim to “represent and cover the global spectrum and interests”, on the contrary they are quite clear about their purpose to cater to the “local” Russian audience/readers and strictly in defense of Russian interests in the hostile environment. Phil’s comment pretty much suggests a ‘fair and all encompassing international coverage and issues raised that help the figure skating in general”. And I disagree with what he said... IN is not an effing "UN of figure skating"...... if anything FSU is more of a "UN".

Phil's quote:

There was no other website in English that covered figure skating this way and in such depth

- with real reporting, not the rumor-mongering, cheerleading and trolling on fan forums. It covered serious problems like concussions and the struggles of skaters after retirement. It covered technical issues in the sport, like scoring and age limits. It covered global stars and their achievements, not just U.S. skaters, even though icenetwork was under the aegis of U.S. Figure Skating.

 

[Japanfan]

But the difference is that a) Russian is not an international official language, b) Russian sites/commentators do not claim to “represent and cover the global spectrum and interests”, on the contrary they are quite clear about their purpose to cater to the “local” Russian audience/readers and strictly in defense of Russian interests in the hostile environment. Phil’s comment pretty much suggests a ‘fair and all encompassing international coverage and issues raised that help the figure skating in general”. And I disagree with what he said... IN is not an effing "UN of figure skating"...... if anything FSU is more of a "UN".

I've never followed Hersh to be honest - am Canadian so have not ever had access to Ice Network - but think I would agree with you that it is not the "UN of figure skating" - a ridiculous claim IMO.

SFAIK English is not the official international language of FS. Speaking English in itself does not require a FS commentator to commentate in a more 'internationally-friendly way'.

What do you mean by 'hostile environment'? The figure skating community is largely friendly to Russia IMO, and no one denies Russia's fine tradition in the sport, nor the many champions it has produced.[/QUOTE]