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Nov 19, 2011

Twenty questions about Trophée Eric Bompard 2011


Let's (sort of) play twenty questions!

1) Why were there pigeons in the arena?
2) Where on earth did Nan Song come from? I know he's Chinese
3) Am I the only one appalled by the fact that Carolina Kostner won the silver in a Grand Prix event in 2011 with a single triple loop as her most difficult jump, along with about 819487829 double toes in her long program?
4) Are Volosozhar/Trankov's transitions really worthy of 8s?
5) Where did Michal Brezina's increasingly mythical quad jumps disappear off to?
6) Does Alissa Czisny need to think about angels and clouds and being free when she skates?
7) How badly does Patrick Chan have to skate in order for him to lose a competition?
8) What were the judges smoking when they awarded Duhamel/Radford 115.56 with that truly dreadful 3-fall long program?
9) With such a disappointing Grand Prix season, will Didier Gailhaguet and the French Federation soon tear Florent Amodio away from the arms of Nikolai Morozov?
10) When was the last time Vera Bazarova ate something?
11) What happened to Nobunari Oda?
12) Why is Adam Rippon's short program so excruciatingly front-loaded this season?
13) How many times did your mind start to wander when watching Alissa Czisny slooooooowly stalk her jumps in the long program?
14) Who does Michal Brezina think he is? Elvis Stojko?
15) How many skaters would literally kill for jump technique like Elizaveta Tuktamisheva's?
16) Who could have predicted that a nobody like Nan Song has a chance to go to the Grand Prix Final ahead of reigning world silver medalist Takahiko Kozuka and reigning world bronze medalist Artur Gachinski?
17) What happened to Volosozhar/Trankov's triple twist this competition?
18) Which piece of musical mangling hurts your soul more--Florent Amodio's Summertime or Volosozhar/Trankov's Bring Me To Life?
19) Did anyone else notice that a judge gave Alissa Czisny a 4.00 in transitions in the short program? Ha!
20) Seriously, why were there pigeons in the arena?

8 comments:

  1. "2) Where on earth did Nan Song come from?"
    ikr? i know some people were talking him before, but he really stepped up this season!

    "5) Where did Michal Brezina's increasingly mythical quad jumps disappear off to?"
    he had boot issues at SA.> http://i39.tinypic.com/14e3w4n.jpg
    i believe, during the press conference, he also said something about blade problems. i don't know that that's 100% of the reason, but it certainly doesn't help

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  2. 7) who knows, but hopefully daisuke will eat him alive, quadless, in the grand prix final.

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  3. I am beginning to miss the days when Trankov skated with Moody Masha. At least the music choices weren't so painful.

    If I'd gone to TEB this year, I'd have made a "Feed Vera" sign. I hope someone bought her a croissant and made sure she ate it.

    Patrick Chan will never lose another competition. He has superior edges even when his blades are up in the air.

    The FFSG has been trying to pry Amodio away from Morozov. I think that question is better framed as, will Florent finally see the light?

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  4. > 11) What happened to Nobunari Oda?

    He's been suffering from a left knee injury since the previous season (the first reports I read were from before the Winter Universiade 2011, in February).
    He underwent a knee surgery shortly after Worlds 2011 and couldn't practice jumps for the most of the off-season. A week before Cup of China he underwent a medical examination and was told to take it easy as the injury wasn't completely healed yet.
    Unfortunately, Nobunari re-injured himself during TEB. According to this article ( http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/winter/skate/figure/headlines/20111120-00000042-kyodo_sp-spo.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter ) there is a possibility that Nobunari might withdraw from Nationals and, in consequence, skip the entire season. He hopes to recover soon, though, and still wants to aim for Sochi.

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  5. 19) - I noticed that! Thank you brave judge.

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  6. Did anyone else notice that Viktoria Helgesson (not sure how to spell her name) of all people received a level 4 on her step sequence? WTF

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  7. 1) and 20) The pigeons seem to be a recurrent motif at Bompard. I found them pretty distracting as they kept swooping around during performances, undoubtedly carried away by the music. I hear Tatiana Tarasova fed one some crumbs last year, or the year before! Apparently they get in when the massive loading bay gates at the back of the arena are opened, then hide in order to watch the competition for free. Bloody stingy parisian birds.
    3) Didn't she get Zayak'd for it? That's bad.
    4) No
    7) There are no limits.
    9) Put your tinfoil hat on, here's my theory: Morozov is creatively applying the Russian Fed's "No mercy til Sochi" directives and sabotaging an opponent. One less to worry about.
    12) Je ne sais pas. Especially as the long isn't.
    15) Most of the current field -I don't mean just ladies.
    16) Good for him I guess, but I'd much rather see the other two skate, any day.

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  8. 4)V/T 's long program is a masterpiece! Hell, they deserved 10's all around! (I just really like them :) )
    7) Patrick would literally have to come out, take a crap on the ice, and leave. Then, he'd get the silver.
    10) You fools - Eating is a weakness!
    15) All of them. Every single one. Watching her, I don't understand why jumps are such a big deal for skaters. And then Alissa starts setting up for her jumps....

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