Recent comments in /f/sports

SamURLJackson t1_j6a28gs wrote

Reply to comment by _Retaliate_ in Legendary college basketball analyst Billy Packer, who called 34 Final Fours, dies at 82 by HeStoleMyBalloons

Monkey was thrown around a lot in that era to mean a person generally. Pixies had a song in this era called Monkey Gone to Heaven, for example.

This is why it's not doing anyone any good to use 2023 glasses on language from yesteryear in most cases. We lost the context long ago. I only know this from being an 80s kid and remembering how we used to speak. It's interesting how language has evolved, and I think it should be left at that, personally, as a mixed race person myself.

I don't care much about Billy Packer and don't know the guy personally, obviously, but I also think a racist wouldn't choose a career like his, one where he must interact with many black people daily, if he really were such a thing. I just think if this phrase is all we have for proof then the bar should be higher

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Mikimao t1_j69sz7l wrote

Reply to comment by hifrom2 in Levito wins first U.S. women's figure skating title by IslandChillin

I don't disagree that her jump technique is an offshoot of what the Russians are doing, but it's exactly why I am picking on your interpretation too, it's generalizing, rather than looking at circumstances specific to her.

she jumps similarly to Medvedeva, but if you break down their timing by frame, you are going to see an ever so slightly different decent into the air, which is resulting in Isabeau landing well over her right really consistently, allowing way more of the wear and tear to be absorbed properly.

Her technique would be a huge worry, if she didn't land properly every time over her right side, or she had issues with not being able to control her edge on a landing. She would be causing a lot more wear and tear on her body, but these are basically never issues for her. She gently lands over her Right Back outside, solidly, every time.

Then I gotta point out, Medvedeva is what, a two time world champ and an Olympic Silver? If your comparison for her technique to be considered "bad" is someone who won worlds twice... I rest my case. Her jumps are excellent, and I stand by my original statement.

Or another way to look at it, I think a lot of people would say Yuna Kim has one of the great Lutz's in Women's skating history. She bent forward a bit for torque as well (and also dealt with, and recovered from back injuries) and I wouldn't have ever considered her jumps to be risky.

e: Btw, this is a touchy subject with me, coaches who teach inferior technique at the behest of trying to sell skaters something that isn't real is a real sore spot with me, that has directly contributed to the loss of business, and close relationships I have had within the sport. On some level, I will never get over that. I would scream from the mountain top if I felt this girls jumps were truly sending her on a path to a career ender... it's just not the case here. If I felt that she was a puberty away from losing it all, I would happily boast as such, she is gonna transition just fine.

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Mikimao t1_j69rjl5 wrote

Reply to comment by hifrom2 in Levito wins first U.S. women's figure skating title by IslandChillin

I think you both are generalizing to much, and not looking at other factors, like how she is landing her jumps, or her rotational axis. She is actually completing these jumps with a little room to spare, and well over her right side consistently. she is effectively masking a lot of the wear and tear that is traditional with people who employ similar technique.

I don't know what she is doing in practice right now, but presumably, as long as she is just wasting her body away doing quads all day, she is going to grow into her triples just fine. She doesn't have the hallmarks that are consistent with losing jumps. If she sustains injury, my first guess would be over training, rather than one that develops from her jumps.

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hifrom2 t1_j69qvqa wrote

Reply to comment by Mikimao in Levito wins first U.S. women's figure skating title by IslandChillin

if you look at her jumps, particularly her toe jumps like lutz and flip, you can see she is very hunched over when picking. that indicates an excessive and unsustainable use of her back to generate power into her jumps instead of a more sustainable and healthy balance of using core, leg and upper body muscles. what her technique reminds us of is evgenia medvedeva’s, who was a young star who swept a bunch of awards for a few seasons as a teen but then got a back injury so severe that she now cannot even turn her back anymore. their technique simply cannot be tolerated by a non prepubescent frame and it becomes harder and harder on the back as they get older. ofc Isabeau has many great qualities about her (edges, performance quality, carriage over the ice, etc) but there’s just a lot of worry about her technique. she does seem to be making conscious efforts to improve her technique though (and her speed in and out of jumps)

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Mikimao t1_j69q0uz wrote

Reply to comment by minneapple79 in Levito wins first U.S. women's figure skating title by IslandChillin

I've been to it, but I don't really like posting there regularly. I actually left the sub some time ago.

I've been involved with the sport, as a competitor or a coach for over 30 years now. It's more fun for me to talk about skating when it breaks a threshold like being on sports, than I actually to spend time in skating spaces, if that makes sense... I've spent my entire life in skating spaces, and I will have repeats of every convo that happens in that sub, but in real life also.

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Mikimao t1_j69ph8t wrote

Reply to comment by tmobilekid in Levito wins first U.S. women's figure skating title by IslandChillin

Why exactly are her jumps problematic?

They are consistent, clearly fully rotated (By the standard with which she will be judged) and she maintains impeccable center over her right side as she rotates. Her coaches have done an excellent job with her jumps.

She is skating to the letter of the law, and she is executing that plan perfectly. I fail to see your argument without some more detail.

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