Unpopular Opinions

[screech]

I'm not a fan of most of the 'moments' in Aymoz's FP. Aerials/cartwheels (especially when multiple similar things in one program), taking 10 seconds to stop, stretch out with your feet and hand on the ice and pose, then spin around on your knees, that spread leg/hand down slide thing... But that may be me being biased because I'm not a fan of his.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I’m just gonna put this out here loud and proudly I think Daniel Grassl as a skater and his programs this season are much much better than people are complaining about. I think he deserves all of his medals so far this season. Don’t care what anyone says about his posture, etc.. I think he took a creative risk and it’s paid off as far as I’m concerned.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

And this may be more of a popular opinion I don’t know, but I think Italy deserves a permanent Grand Prix host event

 

[tony]

I’m just gonna put this out here loud and proudly I think Daniel Grassl as a skater and his programs this season are much much better than people are complaining about. I think he deserves all of his medals so far this season. Don’t care what anyone says about his posture, etc.. I think he took a creative risk and it’s paid off as far as I’m concerned.

I don't think people are as bothered by his posture as they are the very real-time obvious underrotations that have gone largely uncalled in both of his GP appearances.

There will never be a day where the rules are applied equally across all skaters and all competitions, so of course it's trivial for any of us to think it'll actually happen.

 

[On My Own]

Chris >>> xN x infinity Mark Hanretty as a commentator.

ETA: Oh, also on that note, the term "menning" is an extremely stupid one. It's not hard to treat a supposed sport like a sport, last I checked.

 

[sadya]

I've heard people on places like YouTube say 'menning' in social discussions (such as why men are more lonely nowadays). Hearing it in commentary made me realize it's becoming a word everyone is increasingly using.

 

[misskarne]

Jackie Wong has used it too. I mean, what else are you supposed to say when the men are doing...that?

 

[On My Own]

We could recognise that the men's field is pretty much required to skate with huge tech content and do it in 3-4 minutes, idk. And that it leads to major injuries for many of them, especially after COVID threw a spanner in the works for quite a few of them.

 

[Sylvia]

ETA: Oh, also on that note, the term "menning" is an extremely stupid one. It's not hard to treat a supposed sport like a sport, last I checked.

Agree, I dislike the use of "menning" as well.

 

[On My Own]

Agree, I dislike the use of "menning" as well.

You probably won't see someone doing badly in Pairs and the woman taking nasty falls and saying "oh look, they Pairsed". The woman/girl is obviously going to be in pain. Not sure what the disconnect is with men's skaters, as they fall over the place and look out of breath most of the time after going through all that. Should be pretty obvious their bodies are breaking down, if the constant news about injury wasn't already making it clear.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Just watched women`s short of COC. With the scores bunched at the top you`d think it is an exciting competition. But to me it was meh.... So many programs look exactly the same and bear little relations to the music. Part of the boring part is how the technique has developed 1)competitors adopt element combinations that maximize base value. 2)many coaches teach the exact jump techique to insure flawless 3-3. No novelty or, aside from a couple skaters with 3A`s no danger.

The music is secondary. Skatters are told to plaster a toothy grin on their face throughout. Whether it`s Donna Summer or Beethoven it reads the same.

Nothing to be done other than throw out IJS. But this fan was bored.

 

[Vagabond]

Jackie Wong has used it too. I mean, what else are you supposed to say when the men are doing...that?

Use terms that other people understand.

 

[bardtoob]

Use terms that other people understand.

Yeah, what is that?

?‍ I'm so old that even when I tried too look up "menning" in Urban Dictionary I don't find an entry.

 

[Vagabond]

Yeah, what is that?

?‍ I'm so old that even when I tried too look up "menning" in Urban Dictionary I don't find an entry.

According to Wiktionary, it is the genitive case of "menna," which means development, progress, or an increase of wind in Faroese. ?‍

 

[leilaofpaper]

I like the term menning, I think it’s fun when communities develop their own slang.

 

[skateboy]

Hate the term "menning." How do people feel about "womening?"

But here's an unpopular opinion: I miss having the Russian skaters in competition. (Especially pairs and women.)

 

[Vagabond]

The ISU should have its official video commentary in Faroese. But that isn't such an unpopular opinion, is it?

 

[sadya]

Yeah, what is that?

?‍ I'm so old that even when I tried too look up "menning" in Urban Dictionary I don't find an entry.

This has been my experience when talking to the young for years now, starting with my own children. Somehow I feel in my childhood , we had more "normal" slang, which is probably the way many older people feel Often I didn't understand half of what my children and their friends were telling me. It felt like a completely different language. They'd speak entire sentences and I had no idea what they were saying.

This has become worse through social media, where even sharing a healthy South Asian aubergine/eggplant recipe will become weird, as my children were shocked about what I was sending to my friend. Seemingly normal words and emoticons will suddenly mean something completely different.

Yet, language always evolves. Even some current grammar rules (probably in every language) were looked upon as incorrect in the past and words often have different meanings nowadays than centuries or even decades ago. It does seem that social media has made language super weird, or perhaps that's my age thinking like that (I'm 47) ?

 

[Coco]

I'm trying to find an unpopular opinion to justify posting this video...hmmm...

For ladies, the 80s programs were better than 90s programs.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[bardtoob]

I'm trying to find an unpopular opinion to justify posting this video...hmmm...

For ladies, the 80s programs were better than 90s programs.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

And then there is Midori, attempting 2A-3S, flying sit spin, 3F, steps into 3T-3T, camel-layback-sit-upright combination spin, classic layback spin, spread eagle 3Lp, camel spin, 3Lz, choreography sequence of back spiral, forward spiral, Ina Bauer, split jump to walley to 3S, step sequence, 2A, butterfly, upright scratch spin . . . like she's trying to summarize the rules for the 2010s in order to "really earn that overall 8th place finish".

The most startling thing is that she starts off as pedestrian as everybody else, and within 30 seconds she has built up a remarkable amount of speed, particularly coming out of an Ina Bauer.

Of course, none of this is unpopular.

 

[barbk]

I'm trying to find an unpopular opinion to justify posting this video...hmmm...

For ladies, the 80s programs were better than 90s programs.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Hey @Karen-W -- what is the gold stuff on the back of Elizabeth Manley's costume (2 hrs, 13 minutes)-- it is shinier than anything I've seen in a long, long time. Pretty sure shiny boobs aren't quite such a win, but the back was sure bright.

Skating observation: the earlier groups of skaters have truly terrible skating skills. Really, really bad.

 

[Karen-W]

Hey @Karen-W -- what is the gold stuff on the back of Elizabeth Manley's costume (2 hrs, 13 minutes)-- it is shinier than anything I've seen in a long, long time. Pretty sure shiny boobs aren't quite such a win, but the back was sure bright.

Skating observation: the earlier groups of skaters have truly terrible skating skills. Really, really bad.

Well, the video is pretty grainy. I don't think it's metallic gold lamé, which was very popular in that era, because the fabric has too much movement. It also doesn't appear to be gold holographic sequin fabric, also popular in the '80s, because again, the fabric looks like it has some dimension and the sequin/sparkles don't have much space between them (https://www.etsy.com/listing/160545...01a13f2f1%3A1605457018&organic_search_click=1).

Maybe something like this -

Yellow Gold Sequin Fabric

Priced per yard Flip Sequins on Netting 100% Polyester, 60" wide

www.sewcreativelounge.com

or this -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/879356219/gold-sequin-fabric-full-sequined-fabric?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sequin+gold+fabric&ref=sr_gallery-1-5&pro=1&content_source=f101cf2500b6213471b2a34dbc7fa846835c1578%253A879356219&organic_search_click=1

this is similar -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1692827547/beads-pearls-and-sequin-all-over-mesh?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sequin+gold+fabric&ref=sc_gallery-1-7&sts=1&plkey=c961c783d7900a8c4b2e0b5cef325c6a69820791%3A1692827547

another possibility -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/658482933/all-over-round-gold-large-paillette?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sequin+gold+fabric&ref=sr_gallery-2-17&content_source=efa6c10b4b62539739c33c5b6049a0e3884f378c%253A658482933&organic_search_click=1

or this -

Rectangle Piano Sequins on Stretch Mesh

The rectangle piano sequins fabric is 80% nylon/20% spandex, 63/64” wide (57/58” usable) with a prominent vertical stretch and a modest horizontal mechanical stretch, and features 3mm x 1mm rectangle sequins evenly layered and sewn all over on mesh ground. This fabric is manufactured by FWD and...

fabricwholesaledirect.com

 

[barbk]

or this -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/879356219/gold-sequin-fabric-full-sequined-fabric?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sequin+gold+fabric&ref=sr_gallery-1-5&pro=1&content_source=f101cf2500b6213471b2a34dbc7fa846835c1578%253A879356219&organic_search_click=1

I quite like that one. Too bad I don't do glittery cocktail parties!

You are definitely the fabric go-to queen!

 

[canbelto]

Ok I'm about to get killed here but ... I struggle to really appreciate Kaori. I think she's a lovely skater and all, but her lutz technique is really bad, and her programs this season are very meh.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Ok I'm about to get killed here but ... I struggle to really appreciate Kaori. I think she's a lovely skater and all, but her lutz technique is really bad, and her programs this season are very meh.

Luckily, Im never looking at their feet during a performance and everything happens so fast I would not know if they were on the outside edge, the inside edge or no edge at all lol.

 

[canbelto]

Luckily, Im never looking at their feet during a performance and everything happens so fast I would not know if they were on the outside edge, the inside edge or no edge at all lol.

If you slow down her videos, her flutz is really apparent.

 

[On My Own]

Ok I'm about to get killed here but ... I struggle to really appreciate Kaori. I think she's a lovely skater and all, but her lutz technique is really bad, and her programs this season are very meh.

I am struggling to appreciate her because we are supposed to be pretending she's a flawless skater, when she's really not tbh. What in the world are those programs and her performance of them. No doubt she has some genuinely amazing technical skating, but why she shouldn't be dinged on her PCS apart from skating skills is beyond me. Literally compare her with Ito in the video linked above, and I find Ito to be a far more effortless performer and her jumps are obviously better.

An opinion that's going to sound stupid about skating is that skating skills are overvalued in performances. They provide the possibility of range of movement and choreography, but almost nobody uses it in the current field, if not nobody at all. And while going into technical elements with speed and glide can give the aura of confidence, it doesn't automatically mean performance scores should be as high as can be, it's just a part of it. Yet good skating skills = high PCS a lot of the time.

And judges and the audience seem to not care that SS is a technique, actually. Once you have "good skating skills reputation", you get that score, no matter what. When that's not the case, IMO, on any given day, those skating skills can show up or not. You can be "over your skates" on one day, and not on the other day. Those need judged on the day. Yet they rarely are.

 

[skateboy]

Once you have "good skating skills reputation", you get that score, no matter what. When that's not the case, IMO, on any given day, those skating skills can show up or not. You can be "over your skates" on one day, and not on the other day. Those need judged on the day. Yet they rarely are.

THIS x 1,000.

 

[On My Own]

THIS x 1,000.

It's my big problem with some "artists" in the sport, and the comments about them. I see them struggling to get through steps one day, yet comments will pretend it's the best performance ever, and the judges will give it the scores. It's obvious people are not really watching.

Other way around too. Someone has "bad skating skills reputation" so that skater can't possibly skate better in a different competition, on a different day. Oh he definitely shouldn't be ahead of this other guy, not even close, doesn't matter what actually happened. He also clearly never improved. Please.

 

[skateboy]

It's my big problem with some "artists" in the sport, and the comments about them. I see them struggling to get through steps one day, yet comments will pretend it's the best performance ever, and the judges will give it the scores. It's obvious people are not really watching.

Other way around too. Someone has "bad skating skills reputation" so that skater can't possibly skate better in a different competition, on a different day. Oh he definitely shouldn't be ahead of this other guy, not even close, doesn't matter what actually happened. He also clearly never improved. Please.

I remember Frank Carroll talking about this very thing when Denis Ten won his first world medal (but in a slightly different context). In the SP (where Ten placed 2nd), his Skating Skills marks were from 7.50 to 8.50. The next day, in the LP, the very same judges marked his Skating Skills from 8.50 to 9.50. And Denis's skating skills didn't miraculously change in 24 hours.

Frank Carroll's reaction was: "How interesting that Denis's skating skills jumped from the sevens to the nines in just one day!" Point being that, because Denis skated well in the SP, the judges gave him a huge SS bump for the long program.

And skaters deemed to have weak skating skills from the start are almost never "allowed" to move up in that area, even when it's clear that they have made huge strides.

Gracie Gold got big SS scores when she was in her medal winning heyday. When she returned to competition after her mental health break, her scores in that area dropped like a lead balloon, although her skating skills were dramatically improved from when she was a youngster.