Predictions: NHK Trophy 2017

I would not be surprised if the competition has started already by the time I’m writing this. It has been a busy week and I need to go to bed, and soon. Redux version of predictions now. Names on page, and here we go.

 

Predictions: Skate Canada International 2017

What am I doing in the name of figure skating love? I’ll be heading to Regina, Saskatchewan this weekend to watch Skate Canada live so there won’t be any tweets. I will admit to being bewildered at the thought of going to the Prairies and Saskatchewan of all places. Of all the Prairie provinces in Canada, I expected that I’d visit Saskatchewan last, if not ever. Oh well, I guess it’ll be an interesting opportunity to discover another Canadian city. Anyways, onwards to predictions! This will likely be short and sweet since I still need to pack and prepare for this weekend!

Predictions: Worlds 2017

Yes, I know, it’s been a while. Hello, darling Readers! Apologies for not putting up predictions for Euros of 4CC but things are busy on my end since the year began. It will be unlikely that I will post comprehensive predictions for the World Team Trophy (my guess right now is Russia, Japan and Canada though that may change after Worlds) since I’ll be on vacation right before it starts but we’ll see. For now, let’s content ourselves with our predictions for this year’s (very important) World Championships, which will decide how many skaters each country gets to send to the Olympics.

Predictions: Grand Prix Final 2016

I swore that I would be on top of things for the GPF so I am starting early this week. The only downside to this is that if there’s last minute withdrawals, I’ll have to change things up.

In any case, the GPF is looking to be an exciting competition where skaters will want to line themselves nicely going into Worlds. The stakes are higher this season because their standings at Worlds determine a) how many skaters their country gets to send to the Olympics and b) their reputation and momentum going into the Olympic season. The GPF will determine the course of a few things as we head into the stretch of the season devoted to Nationals, 4CC and Euros.

Predictions: NHK Trophy 2016

The exhaustion is real, people. I have spent the entire day talking about how tired I am and I will do so again if I don’t keel over and sleep. Keeping it real simple like I did with TEB  – names on the podium. I’ll hopefully have time to spell out my thoughts a bit more before the GPF. The roster here is fairly strong and hopefully that’ll make the predictions a little more straightforward. Though you never know. Ice is slippery, after all. Now, predictions!

Predictions: Skate Canada International 2016

Tessa & Scott from Skate Canada International 2009.

I am so unbelievably excited for this weekend. I hesitated for the longest time to buy tickets but when I saw that Yuzuru and Tessa & Scott were on the roster, I was sold. Unlike Skate America last week, the roster here seems to be more focused on creating a pretty decent field with a seeded event. (Though right now, I’m good with the U.S. winning all the medals. Seriously, darling southern neighbours, you guys are already great. K? Hugs.) Now, onwards to predictions!

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir Exhibition Number in China

I found this while Youtube gave me suggestions. Strange costume choice for a tame song.

On another note, I hope that everyone is having a good summer! As some of you know, summer is generally quiet around the Rinkside Cafe since I usually take a break and relax until the season starts anew. If you have any suggestions for articles, however, please feel free to leave a comment! I’m always looking for new ideas for posts and whatnot!

~The Rinkside Cafe

The Best Two Ice Dance Teams to Have Ever Graced the Ice

For once, my Olympic predictions were not so far off but that is the nature of this discipline. In ice dance, it is the subtleties that matter and sometimes mistakes are imperceptible to the average viewer. Here is a recap of sorts of the ice dance event at the Olympics and my two cents. Hopefully this post will help balance things out amid the news reports and angry rants by sportscasters who fully admit to knowing nothing about the sport.

Olympic Ads: Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir

I seem to be inundated with ads by Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir both on the street and online. The online part, I totally understand but I still wonder at the lack of Patrick Chan ads on billboards and such. Maybe if he wins Olympic gold, a nightmarish onslaught of PChiddy ads will appear all over Toronto.

In any case, I was wandering on my facebook and saw this P&G ad on my sidebar. Darn you facebook, your algorithms know me well. I have yet to see ads for skaters from other countries other than Canada and the U.S. but I guess that’s the nature of the beast.

If you’ve seen ads for other figure skaters, no matter the country, link me in the comments or via Twitter (@LanternBell).

~The Rinkside Cafe

A Figure Skating Scandal A-Brewing?

The Sochi Olympics has been entertaining so far in so many ways. From Russia’s terrible anti-gay laws to the #SochiProblems reported in the Twitterverse to the terrorist attacks, I’ve nicknamed this Olympics the Clusterf$ck Olympics because so much had gone wrong even before the games even started. Now, there are allegations of another storm to pass by the Olympics in figure skating.

In a French article by l’Equipe (forgive me for the lack of accent), alleges that Russia and the U.S. have struck a deal so that the U.S. will help the Russians win the team event while the Russians will help the American ice dance team, Meryl Davis & Charlie White to win gold in the individual event. Even before the team event started, there was talk that the results of the team event would be Russia, Canada and the U.S. in first, second and third respectively while Davis and White would win the gold with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir getting the silver in the individual event. So far, the prediction for the team event has come true and apparently the Canadian skaters have been subjected to what may be an unusual number of anti-doping tests right before the competition.

A reader has asked me what my take on this whole situation and well, here we go.