2007 Skate America

Here's another happy person.

I was very impressed by Dai's SP, of course, and it was actually good that he made that mistake in the straight line because that made me realize that his steps are NOT easy! I mean, in the circular sequence everything seemed so "natural", it seemed that his feet were moving by themselves, but if you look only at the feet - what he does is not easy at all!
And the LP has already improved a lot since the countermatch, hopefully it's only just the beginning...
I also watched the video of the exhibition and it was nice to see the longer version of Bachelorette. And him going for 3 triple flips as the encore was crazy! Ganbare!!

miyu wrote:

I believe Dai-chan will go to Italy and perhaps Korea because of ISU ranking, still I'm not sure though... Actually JSF didn't use to send top skaters to 4CC. But this year considering Joubert or Lambiel will get points at Euro Champ, Dai-chan will have to go 4CC to get equal point as Euro's.

No, the ISU counts EITHER Euros or Worlds for the World rankings, never both. So Dai doesn't need 4CC, he "just" has to win GPF and Worlds.

Thank you for your explanation Miss C!!
Now I understood. That's why Joubert was the second in ISU ranking after Worlds. It was mystery for me untill now. Thanks!!

Sorry yerina..... So I'm not sure Dai-chan will go to 4CC or not. Anyway I hope you will be able to see Dai-chan in your country.

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but if you look only at the feet - what he does is not easy at all!

Yeah, that's really right!! Go Dai-chan!!

Hi, DTFF members!
Here are some pics of Daisuke from "Skate Today".
ENJOY!

Ceremony
http://photos.skatetoday.com/displayimage.php?album=71&pos=108

Ceremony
http://photos.skatetoday.com/displayimage.php?album=71&pos=111

SP Swan Lake
http://photos.skatetoday.com/displayimage.php?album=71&pos=124

FS Romeo and Juliet
http://photos.skatetoday.com/displayimage.php?album=71&pos=125

Hi, MissC, today's your birthday. Happy Birthday to you!
Now, you have only one and half month to see Daisuke in Turino.

MissC wrote:

And the LP has already improved a lot since the countermatch, hopefully it's only just the beginning...

According to Morozov's Interview, he said Daisuke's condition was not good. So, he didn't jump quad twice.
I hope to see his more improvement at NHK trophy.

Hi MissC, Happy Birthday!

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And him going for 3 triple flips as the encore was crazy! Ganbare!!

I agree with you, MissC! 3 triple Flips at the end of exhibition are exceptional!!! But... what does Ganbare mean?!?

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According to Morozov's Interview, he said Daisuke's condition was not good. So, he didn't jump quad twice.

Hi Leode! I also think that Daisuke didn't need two quads to win Skate America. It was unnecessary to risk...

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According to Morozov's Interview, he said Daisuke's condition was not good. So, he didn't jump quad twice.

Hi, everyone. This is my first time posting in this forum. I am one of Daisuke's fans living in the US. I was at Skate America last week and I noticed that Dai seemed to not be feeling well during the practices on Saturday for the LP. During the noon practice he left early and did not even do a run-through of his LP. He ended up singling a few of his jumps too. His facial coloring also did not look good throughout the day. I was a little worried about him right before he skated his LP due to what I saw earlier during the day during his practices. I don't know if he mentioned this to the media but this is what I noticed.

Hi umdgirl0506!! Welcome to DTFF!! Thank you very much for your posting a valuable imformation for us!!

Oh really... Poor Dai-chan... He must have really felt bad as you could see it from a distance. He also looked pale when I saw him at TV intervew after LP.

Ah... Daisuke...
It's wonderful that he wins overall despite of it.
I hope Daisuke will have a good condition.

Daisuke, you're really strong.
Though you're in a bad condition, - like a fever at Tokyo Worlds, injury at 2005 NHK, and here -
you always didn't tell about it to press, at all.
I feel renewed, but it's real surprise things how he improved from now on.
Not only about elements, but mentally, his confident, stamina, etc.

umdgirl0506, welcome to DTFF and thanks for information!
glorydave, I think ganbare means like Go! or Come on!, IMO.

Hi, miyu and yerina! Thanks for your warm welcome! It really makes me feel encouraged to share more on this forum. And yes, Daisuke really is strong for battling through his performance even though he was not feeling well (and he did this more than once too)!

Hi, umdgirl0506, welcome to DTFF.
Many thanks for sharing with your experience at Skate America. You were so lucky to see Daisuke there. I wish I could be there!! If you have some impressions about his performance, please let us know, thanks.

umdgirl0506 wrote:

I don't know if he mentioned this to the media but this is what I noticed.

As yerina wrote, Daisuke always doesn't mention about his condition to press at all. I like his style most of all.

yerina wrote:

glorydave, I think ganbare means like Go! or Come on!, IMO.

Yeah, right. It means a lot of things like a "Do your best, Daisuke!" in English.
I'm very curious about MissC, how many languages she can speak?

Hi, Leode. Thanks for your welcome! I was only at Skate America for the Saturday events which included the Men's Free Program. I can give you my general impressions from that. I am not a big expert on the technical aspects of figure skating so I apologize for not going into major details about that. Daisuke was my favorite of all the male skaters there. His jumps are so smooth and his landings are so soft and lovely compared to the other male skaters there (the way he moves across the ice in general is that way as well). I also remembered from his Saturday noon practice that he skated around in his purple LP costume for a while and then went to put on a jacket because I think that he was feeling cold which is a sure sign that he was probably not feeling well. He skated for a little while after that and shortly left (he was the first one to do so).

I was very nervous during his free program (I had a bad feeling and was worried that he might fall because as I mentioned before his condition did not seem good to me throughout the day). Being nervous for him affected my enjoyment of his program a bit. Even worse was the fact that he had to skate after Evan's near perfect performance which got a standing ovation. This must have been a lot of pressure for Daisuke and for his fans as well! However, Daisuke's skating was smooth, flowing, and artistic/expressive which left the biggest impression on my mind despite his two falls (one of the new friends that I made at the event felt the same way too- he didn't even care about Evan's skating!). I was also impressed with his super low sit spins and the quad was also amazing and very high (he was the only one who successfully did it that night I believe)! I was truly afraid that the judges would give Dai a very low score (like in the 130s or 120s) for this two fall free program, but I was so happy and surpised that he got a 148 something score that was only about four points away from Evan's first place free program! I think this solidifies the fact that the judges really appreciate Dai's overall superb skating skills, expression, and I believe the quad helped a lot as well! He really has "star quality" when he skates.

However when Daisuke received his scores and it was determined that he won over Evan, some people started to boo because I guess they thought that Evan deserved to win for his great performance that night and because he was the American hometown favorite. Thankfully I don't think Daisuke heard those boos because it really came from very few people (most people are very nice and wouldn't do that and did indeed clap for him).

Overall I feel that this "Romeo and Juliet" program of Daisuke's has definitely improved since the last time we saw him do it at the International Counter Match and I truly believe that it can go even further! Other people that I know who attended the short programs and the exhibition said that Daisuke was amazing in both of them. My friend Dave said that Dai "moved perfectly" to the music for the exhibition to "Bachelorette." Hopefully all of you can have a chance to see Daisuke skate soon! And hopefully he is in a better condition next time! I'm sorry that this is so long by the way! Thanks for reading!

Thanks for your wishes, Leode and glorydave!
And thanks for sharing your impressions with us, umdgirl0506. It's great that you got to see Dai at Skate America.

Leode wrote:

I'm very curious about MissC, how many languages she can speak?

LOL A few, but surely not Japanese. I only know the "important" words in Japanese: ganbare/ganbatte/ganba, (tenjobi) omedeto, arigato gozaimas, kawaii and... kampai! Oh, and konishiwa and oyasumi! (however you might spell that in roman letters)

Thank you so much for your report, umdgirl0506!

umdgirl0506 wrote:

However when Daisuke received his scores and it was determined that he won over Evan, some people started to boo because I guess they thought that Evan deserved to win for his great performance that night and because he was the American hometown favorite. Thankfully I don't think Daisuke heard those boos because it really came from very few people (most people are very nice and wouldn't do that and did indeed clap for him).

According to Daisuke's interview at Hackensack in July, he said that he wants to be a perfect champion everyone admits. I think this means he needs to place 1st both programs SP and FS. Therefore, he was not satisfied with his two falls free program.
And I was glad to see that most people at "Skate America" was excited his short program. They encouraged him to perform perfectly with applause and whistle. Because I think Daisuke was very nervous to do new challenge short program and worrying about how judged and accepted his performance before that day. I felt warm atmosphere and I must to say thank the audience there.

MissC wrote:

I only know the "important" words in Japanese: ganbare/ganbatte/ganba, (tenjobi) omedeto, arigato gozaimas, kawaii and... kampai! Oh, and konishiwa and oyasumi! (however you might spell that in roman letters)

When you have a chance to talk to him at Torino, please say to him "Ganbare!!". (tenjobi) omedeto must be "Tanjobi Omedeto"(Happy Birthday!) and konishiwa must be "Konnichiwa"(Hello!) in Japanese. They are very useful.

And we have a good news for MissC and grolydave.

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2010, 22-28 March 2010, Torino/Italy.

http://www.isu.org/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,4844-128590-19728-18885-279882-3787-4771-layout160-129898-news-item,00.html

Hi umdgirl0506!
Thanks for your report. I hope you really enjoy at Skate America.

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I was very nervous during his free program (I had a bad feeling and was worried that he might fall because as I mentioned before his condition did not seem good to me throughout the day). Being nervous for him affected my enjoyment of his program a bit.

I can understand you! I'm always nervous when I see Dai's competitions... and I've always seen them on TV!!!
I think I will need a relaxing tisane for GPF in Torino!

Hi, MissC. Thanks for your welcome!

Hi, glorydave! I'm nervous even before I've seen Daisuke's performances (like when I'm getting ready to check out his scores on the internet, ha ha!). I hope you have lots of fun at the GPF in Torino! I'm sure that Daisuke will have worked a lot on his programs and have improved by then, so hopefully you won't have to be so nervous!

And Leode, Daisuke has a very high standard indeed, wanting to be a perfect champion by having great performances in both the SP and LP. Let's continue to support him on to achieve this!!! He can do it!!

Thank you, umdgirl0506! I enjoyed your report very much!
Especially I was glad to know Dai-chan has such wonderful supporters in U.S. like you and your friend "Dave"!!

Hi glorydave!! Be careful not to faint with joy of Dai-chan's victory at Palavela!! HAHA!!

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No, the ISU counts EITHER Euros or Worlds for the World rankings, never both. So Dai doesn't need 4CC, he "just" has to win GPF and Worlds.

Oh, really?!!!
As far as I know, GP Series' points are lower than Euro and 4CC's points, so last year US federation send top skaters at 4CC.
Am I wrong?
Ah... No way!!!

Wow, Olympics, Universiade, GPF, and Worlds in 4 years at Torino!
glorydave, I envy you!
Please joy and share with us!

And thanks to umdgirl0506 for your reports!
I hope, no, I believe Dai will perform more and more wonderfully with good condition next time.

Hi miyu!
Don't worry! I don't want to faint and miss something!!!
and however I'll go with a friend who will sustain me in case of need!!!

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Thank you, umdgirl0506! I enjoyed your report very much!
Especially I was glad to know Dai-chan has such wonderful supporters in U.S. like you and your friend "Dave"!!

Hi, miyu. I'm glad that you enjoyed my reports. I was worried that I had written too much and that it was hard to read. And Dai definitely has more fans in the US than just me, my friends, or my family. He he.

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I hope, no, I believe Dai will perform more and more wonderfully with good condition next time.

Hi, yerina. I love your confidence.

Glorydave, we will all be eagerly awaiting for your reports from Torino/Italy.

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umdgirl0506, thanks for your report! Sounds like you had a good time!

As for Daisuke and the SA thing, I knew he'd win. Competitions are not just about skating, they are about character as well. And there is something in Daisuke's persona that makes me believe in him. Somehow I know he'll do his best, he'll deal, he'll manage. I sense that he wants to go further, so skate even better, to try harder. He's a great athlete in that respect.

Hi, hsuhs! I completely agree with your post and what you said about Daisuke's persona!

hsuhs wrote:

And there is something in Daisuke's persona that makes me believe in him. Somehow I know he'll do his best, he'll deal, he'll manage. I sense that he wants to go further, so skate even better, to try harder. He's a great athlete in that respect.

Yes!! I totally agree with you, too, hsuhs. Your comments are very nice compliments for Daisuke. If he read this, he will glad definitely.

And DTFF members, many thanks for your comments. I'm enjoy reading your comments every day and that makes me feel good when I'm feeling tired after the work.

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As for Daisuke and the SA thing, I knew he'd win. Competitions are not just about skating, they are about character as well. And there is something in Daisuke's persona that makes me believe in him. Somehow I know he'll do his best, he'll deal, he'll manage. I sense that he wants to go further, so skate even better, to try harder. He's a great athlete in that respect.

Great expression!!
I totally at the same feeling like you.
you wrote perfectly what I thought about Daisuke!

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And DTFF members, many thanks for your comments. I'm enjoy reading your comments every day and that makes me feel good when I'm feeling tired after the work.

No, we should more thanks to you!
I always feel so happy when I visiting DTFF!
You replied warmly every comments we wrote, and gives so many information!
We're always really glad with it.

Thank you so much for your comment, yerina.
You, too!!