The Shibutanis Thread 4: Ready for Paradise

[MRani]

https://instagram.com/p/BcYle9yj0nS/
These Shib baby vids are criminally adorable.

Awwww, Alex’s big grin at the end. He looks so proud of himself. Good job, baby Alex! Maia seems like she was a good eater. Apparently I was the devil when it came to food ingestion and my parents were at their wit’s end getting me to eat when I was a baby. They never let me live it down

 

[chapis]

https://instagram.com/p/BcYle9yj0nS/
These Shib baby vids are criminally adorable.

omg, It is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Alex was only 3 years old, and him even clean her mouth, awww. Truly, best friends since the very beginning.

 

[Mrs. P]

Shibs weren't as good as SkAM and there were problems with timing on the rhumba pattern and slight twizzle bobble, but holy torpedo, LEVEL 4 ON BOTH STEP SEQUENCES. They were the only couple today to do this. That is a huge deal.

 

[teacakes]

Highest base value, y'all!!

 

[Mrs. P]

And we've also entered a new realm, Shibs fans. They're overscored! Feels funny to see people post that. Or the fact they beat everyone in BV. But hey level 2 pattern, some things don't change, lol.

 

[caitie]

I haven’t watched yet because oof Japanese competitions just don’t agree with my schedule but that’s cool about the highest base value. Too bad about the timing problem on the rumba pattern.

 

[VGThuy]

The only people who have wrote that are like one or two H/D ubers who simply don’t appreciate the Shibs’ qualities. It’s obvious that the Shibs are much better skaters and technicians than some on this forum are willing to recognize. I sort of find this eerily similar to the 2015 GPF when it was the Shibs and their fans angry about being behind C/B, so I guess this is pay back for that in a way, but the Shibs really are the best American team IMO. Their strengths and style are their own and they didn’t need to copy P/C’s style and skating strengths to become a medal contender.

 

[lauravvv]

Sorry, deleted post.

 

[GreenGan]

Actually they have, because the rest is level 4. http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/gpf1718/data0403.pdf
The BV on the NtMiSt is really high when you get level 4. The difference between NtMiSt4 and NtMiSt3 is superior than the difference between the level 4 pattern and the level 2 pattern.

(Also if someone could fix my grammar in my last sentence, he/she would be very cool )

 

[Mrs. P]

The only people who have wrote that are like one or two H/D ubers who simply don’t appreciate the Shibs’ qualities. It’s obvious that the Shibs are much better skaters and technicians than some on this forum are willing to recognize. I sort of find this eerily similar to the 2015 GPF when it was the Shibs and their fans angry about being behind C/B, so I guess this is pay back for that in a way, but the Shibs really are the best American team IMO. They’re strengths and style are their own and they didn’t need to copy P/C’s style and skating strengths to become a medal contender.

For the record, and I speak for myself, I didn't express outrage about the Shibs being behind Chock and Bates. I generally don't, cause judging is so subjective, it's almost like you just have to force the issue a bit, which is exactly what the Shibs did.

I do think the performance was worse that Skate America, but that performance was AWESOME. Anyway, a bunch of people pointed out that Maia looked good. I think it was Alex who underpeformed today and he's usually the super extroverted performer of the two.

 

[Rukia]

I'm actually relieved it wasn't as good? I mean, I feel like it's impossible to keep up that level for every single competition in a season, and in the grand scheme of things this is probably the least important of the competitions they have left this season (or at least in the next couple months). I say get the mistakes out now and kill it in the future.

And yeah, ubers gonna uber. That only kind of includes us. Hahaha.

 

[Mrs. P]

I feel like we promote other teams way more in this thread than actual, you know, general ID threads.

 

[Spiralgraph]

The Shibs' two programs at Skate America were exceptionally great.

It's impossible to be perfect at every performance of an SD or FD just ask C/B or H/D. Even the Shibs will have an off day. But they have a day to get it all together again and skate like champions on Saturday. I'm not worried.

 

[Anyasnake]

Like I pointed out in GS forum, I felt Alex was a bit off maybe. Maia was fantastic !
Better make the mistakes here than in the Olys or at Nats (because US Nats will be very important although I don't see them being anything than 1st barring a disaster...).
Technical : Both their chochtaw were awarded a "No", so maybe they went to fast into it and "jumped" it (which is forbidden, it's level down immediately). Their pattern on camera was HUGE. wooow
But congrats to them anyway. I really do have a soft spot for them, I don't know why (Plus their SD this year is one of my favourite).

 

[Mrs. P]

For what its worth, the Europsport commentators are also Hubbell and Donahue ubers this season -- they spent a lot of time saying why they thought the Shibs should be behind H/D (and we already know that for whatever reason Mark Hannetty seems to think the Shibs are mean or something).

 

[VGThuy]

I think the Shibs received two “timing” calls for the pattern rather than two “no”s which means they hit the pattern but the timing was off. That’s a lot better than receiving a “no” and better get this call now than later.

 

[kittyjake5]

I try not to listen to the naysayers. I like H/D but they have been scored below the Shibs by different judging panels, end of story. I agree with the judges the Shibs are the better team.

 

[Anyasnake]

I think the Shibs received two “timing” calls for the pattern rather than two “no”s which means they hit the pattern but the timing was off. That’s a lot better than receiving a “no” and better get this call now than later.

You're right actually ! T stands for timing, silly me.

 

[Mrs. P]

I think the Shibs received two “timing” calls for the pattern rather than two “no”s which means they hit the pattern but the timing was off. That’s a lot better than receiving a “no” and better get this call now than later.

Yep I agree. And I do think the timing was off this time...relatively to how I've seen them do the pattern.

 

[VGThuy]

Yep I agree. And I do think the timing was off this time...relatively to how I've seen them do the pattern.

It definitely was. I think they felt it too which affected the rest of the performance. Well, Maia was definitely with it.

For what its worth, the Europsport commentators are also Hubbell and Donahue ubers this season -- they spent a lot of time saying why they thought the Shibs should be behind H/D (and we already know that for whatever reason Mark Hannetty seems to think the Shibs are mean or something).

I don't take the Brit Eurosport commentators too seriously after 17 years of watching skating. They don't really know what they're talking about, and are at times quite shallow as to why they like certain skaters. I mean it's always nice when they're rooting for your faves so I take them there, but I don't really hold their opinion high among the commentators. Everyone is free to like who they like, but I do see a concerted effort to delegitimize the Shibs and prop up H/D with them...ever since 2016 Worlds with Henretty going on about the American conspiracy machine or whatever propping up the Shibs. The other Brit commentator who prior to 2016 Worlds was high on the Shibs was just swayed by Henretty's commentary and attitude, so I tend to think it's pretty fickle.

 

[Tesla]

The BV on the NtMiSt is really high when you get level 4. The difference between NtMiSt4 and NtMiSt3 is superior than the difference between the level 4 pattern and the level 2 pattern.

I think you mean "greater" rather than "superior": "The difference between NtMiSt4 and NtMiSt3 is greater than the difference between the level 4 pattern and the level 2 pattern." (Fyi, I am not a grammar expert. )

 

[MarieM]

I don't take the Brit Eurosport commentators too seriously after 17 years of watching skating. They don't really know what they're talking about, and are at times quite shallow as to why they like certain skaters. I mean it's always nice when they're rooting for your faves so I take them there, but I don't really hold their opinion high among the commentators. Everyone is free to like who they like, but I do see a concerted effort to delegitimize the Shibs and prop up H/D with them...ever since 2016 Worlds with Henretty going on about the American conspiracy machine or whatever propping up the Shibs. The other Brit commentator who prior to 2016 Worlds was high on the Shibs was just swayed by Henretty's commentary and attitude, so I tend to think it's pretty fickle.

Hanretty being a very very good technical ice dancing coach, who is in the know, I don't take his comments lightly. Because he does know. He sure has his favorites, but he also knows how this works.

 

[VGThuy]

Hanretty being a very very good technical ice dancing coach, who is in the know, I don't take his comments lightly. Because he does know. He sure has his favorites, but he also knows how this works.

He also admitted he can’t be objective about the Shibs because he heard rumors about them but did not specify what they did, and said Madison Chock was he best female ice dancer competing. He also painted their scores at Worlds as unprecedented meaning they were a result of pure politicking which is not true if one would look at the trajectory of their and every other team’s scoring that season. The Shibs were moving up to where they were meant to be after being underscored prior and did it by skating well all season and having the judges recognize that they weren’t going anywhere so it’s ok to reward them again. Anyway, even those working in the field have their biases and let their feelings get in the way of objective reporting...that’s why in trials you have more than one expert battling it out and some experts are more credible than others. He’s not the only person out there and I bet one could get another person who is also in the know a very good technical coach to refute Hanretty. He’s the only who really has said anything like that even among other commentators who have just as much inside knowledge and expertise as he does if not more.

 

[chapis]

H/D ubers are saying nonsense.

Though is obvious that Maia and Alex were faster than H/D, the slow argument has been used for so long that it is expected that some people continue to use it. But to say that Maia and Alex have tacky costumes , it is the most ridiculous comment I've read in a long time .

 

[VGThuy]

I was watching a bit of the ice dance press conference during my lunch and it seems all the teams seem tired (except for Tessa who was really putting on a radiant smile and trying to put her best foot forward) and a bit over it. This will be a tiring and stressful season at all. Maia looked fine, but Alex looked visibly upset from what I've seen so far. I hope he's not taking their little errors to heart.

 

[chapis]

I was watching a bit of the ice dance press conference during my lunch and it seems all the teams seem tired (except for Tessa who was really putting on a radiant smile and trying to put her best foot forward) and a bit over it. This will be a tiring and stressful season at all. Maia looked fine, but Alex looked visibly upset from what I've seen so far. I hope he's not taking their little errors to heart.

Alex is very transparent, unlike Maia or Tessa who almost always manage to put on the best face. I hope it's just fatigue and they get to rest well tonight.

 

[Mrs. P]

I think Maia, being the mature and awesome sister she is, will make sure Alex doesn't beat himself up too much! Actually seeing Alex struggle a bit makes me appreciate their equal-ness. In fact I think it's one of their strengths, but people downplay it. They truly bring different strengths to the package and when it's somewhat missing like it was today, then it truly affects the overall package. I think we've taken it for granted all this time.

 

[Spun Silver]

He also admitted he can’t be objective about the Shibs because he heard rumors about them but did not specify what they did, and said Madison Chock was he best female ice dancer competing. He also painted their scores at Worlds as unprecedented meaning they were a result of pure politicking which is not true if one would look at the trajectory of their and every other team’s scoring that season. The Shibs were moving up to where they were meant to be after being underscored prior and did it by skating well all season and having the judges recognize that they weren’t going anywhere so it’s ok to reward them again. Anyway, even those working in the field have their biases and let their feelings get in the way of objective reporting...that’s why in trials you have more than one expert battling it out and some experts are more credible than others. He’s not the only person out there and I bet one could get another person who is also in the know a very good technical coach to refute Hanretty. He’s the only who really has said anything like that even among other commentators who have just as much inside knowledge and expertise as he does if not more.

On this note (and btw, I haven’t seen anything yet, Japan events have about the worst possible schedule for me), is Carol Lane the one who did commentary for Canada of Rostelecom Cup? because whoever it was called the Shibs’ skating in their FD “glorious” and said they would be very much in the mix at the Olympics. You could add that to your list of quotes, VGT. I hate to hear that Hanretty/BES is spreading rumors about the Shibs. I totally believe that they could be much more fiercely focused on winning and climbing up to the top than they want to project in their vids and Instagram accounts, but what else do you expect from Olympic athletes? Plus, it’s ice dance. What is he insinuating, that they made another team get food poisoning or dropped invisible sequins on the ice for them? Seriously!

 

[chapis]

I wonder who directs speed and timing, I guess is Alex, but during the rhumba pattern, it seemed to me that Maia moved her mouth and said something, maybe she gave him a sign that something was not right.

 

[MRani]

I’m curious about how exactly they lost their timing on the rhumba pattern. If I hadn’t been watching the rhumba pattern all season I wouldn’t have even noticed something was amiss, so yay for my slowly developing ice dance technical acuity

When I saw the protocols I was about to take up arms about their twizzle GOEs
...but then I watched the performance
I’ll chalk that up to a combination of fatigue and the mistake from the rhumba pattern affecting the rest of the program.

Congrats on the two level 4 step sequences! I don’t think they got the NtMiSt level 4 this season before now. That’s huge for them. Have they ever gotten both step sequences level 4 in the SD before?

I’m sure they’re disappointed about the missed opportunity to break 80 (could it have happened with rhumba pattern 4 and better twizzle GOE?) but that gives them another goal to work towards for Olympics. No one can be perfect every time, and if they had to have a flawed performance, I’m glad it was here and the damage was minimal. Alex shouldn’t beat himself up over it. They should take the positives away from this SD and focus on being well-rested and clear-minded for the FD. I’m sure they’ll regroup well since they’re such tough competitors.

It’s interesting to think that last year at the GPF they had a near perfect performance in the SD and got 77. This year, with 2 significant mistakes they got 78. I think it says a lot about their continuing progress and the quality of their skating and programs this season.