SpikeyT

Does it really matter now?

You should be ashamed of that comment.

Nagasu only beat Rochette in the technical score by 3 points, which is because her higher levels gave her more base points. Rochette's PC score was higher, yes, but deserved. Her skating skills, choreography and presentation were better and stronger.

Nagasu deserved fourth place, but not the bronze. While she did 'attack' her program, the level of footwork difficulties and her overall levels for her straight line sequence and her circular footwork sequences were not the same as Rochette's. Rochette had more difficult footwork, more body movement (ie, changing directions several times within the circular step sequence) and her jumps did have more flow. You might have noticed that at the end there was a delay, that was because for Nagasu, the judges had to go through every jump to see if it was cheated or not. While her jumps were not downgraded, the grades of execution were not all as high because they had to examine the jumps to make sure. This is the reason she finished fourth, but man, she was good and she will only continue to get better!

The interesting part about Kim is that her lowest scores from this past season still put her ahead of the of the field. It was interesting to hear Elvis Stojko say that her score was 'inflated' but she really is way ahead of the field. Her transitions, her speed and her jumps are so good and she always gets positive GOE's on them. Even if she had a 'meltdown' her score would still be tough to beat overall I think. As for those saying Rochette got a sympathy score...that is just ridiculous! She did all of her jumps, well I might add, and she had almost all level fours on her elements too. She earned that score for sure! It is just so much higher than her seasons best because she did not have a good season and she herself said her new season started at Canadians. She was also much better than the fourth place Ando, who paused a lot in her program and had her combination downgraded.

Heil did a really good job, she got beat, simple as that. I would not call it cracking under pressure because Canada has not won a gold medal on home soil.

It is too bad, she did have potential. Great skating so far at nationals!

Mira Leung's problem has been rumored to be her meddling mother who always interfered in her training and sucking any joy she had out of the sport.

I agree with you on the inflation. All national championships are inflated...Plushenko scored over 100 points at the recent Russian Nationals and he did not really do much in that program to earn a score that big! Chan even said himself he does not look at the points. Anyone catch the US Nats? Pairs splatfest apparently.

Buttle was an amazing skater who won bronze at the olympics in 2006 and then won the world championships in 2008. Why not go out on top? He killed the competition when he won the worlds that year and that was still without a quad.

Actually programs have become way more artistic under the new system, and the skating skills, transitions and overall skating quality has improved since the new judging system came into effect. Look at Patrick Chan, and Jeffrey Buttle, both amazing, powerful skaters that can pull the audience into their programs and they don't have the big jumps.

RCMP have declared this a clerical error: http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/Local...aspx?ID=1182005 Missing ammonium nitrate not missing; Kinder Morgan calls it a clerical error, RCMP say 6:45PM Edmonton / iNews880.com 1/6/2010 The case of two missing bags of ammonium nitrate, an ingredient that can be used to make explosives, has been solved. In fact, RCMP say the bags weren't actually missing and instead it was a clerical error made by the company that reported the problem in the first place. Mounties say U.S. energy firm Kinder Morgan called them late this afternoon to report all 6,000 bags of ammonium nitrate shipped last fall to B.C. from Alberta have been accounted for. The news came about a half hour after RCMP issued a statement saying two one-tonne bags of the chemical compound were unaccounted for. Police did say initially there was no evidence to suggest any theft or criminal wrongdoing, and that it was likely an inventory error. RCMP say they are satisfied that no product is missing and will meet with company representatives tomorrow to review the documentation and source of the discrepancy. Ammonium nitrate is used in an overwhelming majority of homemade bombs made by the Taliban, according to a November story published in the New York Times. On April 19, 1995 Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used 108 bags of explosive-grade ammonium nitrate fertilizer to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people.(cp,blb)

I am confident in the new system as well. The system is pretty open and all of the protocols and scores for every element are available after the competition. The reason this system works so well is because if you say finish 6th in the short, you can still have a chance. If you watch the placements in the Grand Prix, people actually had a chance and did move up in the standings something that was not present before. I don't see Figure Skating being kicked out of the games ever, not with the high price/demand for tickets that currently exists.

They will likely do a draw prior to the event, so we will know the names but not their scores.

^ The scores are anonymous and randomly selected, but you can sometimes tell which judge was which through the PCS.

I don't think Jessica Dube lacks focus, she has simply had to overcome several injuries. That team has been plagued with injuries since the start of their partnership. I think Belbin and Agosto have a good chance of winning if they don't skate sloppy. They tend to skate that way when they are seen as the favorites, like falling all over the place in the CD. As for the world rankings, they mean nothing and those scores take into account 'B' competition scores as well as the major events, so a skater can go to the 'B' events, like Nebelhorn Trophy, etc., win and climb up the ISU rankings. That explains why Verner in the mens and Kostner in the ladies are placed so high because they skate in the ISU sanctioned summer competitions and fall competitions outside of the Grand Prix.

I LOL'd a lot listening to that song. Seems 30 years late.

I have posted on CBC. You have to keep in mind that those boards are moderated and they can pick which comments people see. In addition, I find that usually only people against something will post their comments. CTV tends to be more realistic.

STFU already. You are an uneducated moron with no sense of reality. Seriously. I think someone should call the the mental health line for you and I am not saying that out of spite, I am saying that because you are obviously obsessive compulsive. You are classic OCD, it's not even funny and I beg someone to prove me wrong otherwise.

Wow, you have just sunken to a new low with that comment.

You can't calculate it, its not a static system.

I was there not too long ago, and the pin selection at YVR seemed pretty standard, maybe a few extras but nothing special. That will likely change I am sure.

Cohen will be very hard pressed to make the olympic team, with only two spots available for the americans. A lot of insiders at USFSA do not like that Cohen and Kwan for that matter, only try to skate in Olympic years. The dedication and rise in potential of Flatt and Zhang will likely outweigh Cohen's chances of even making the team. Cohen has a lot to prove, in a short amount of time, and Zhang and Flatt are on the rise and will absolutely give Cohen a run for her money.

Delobel is pregnant, and is due in September. She still wants to compete in Vancouver, but I don't think they will do very well with so little training. I would say Virtue/Moir of Canada for dance are in the running for gold too. They have only competed at three world championships and medalled twice.

**** off yellowvest. nobody gives a **** about you or comments anymore.