This and That: 2020 European Figure Skating Championships 

TIMESTAMPS: 00:39 - Turtlenecks + Matteo Rizzo **Euros Mens** 01:30 - Intro 01:57 - Kevin Aymoz ft. John Zimmerman & Sylvia Fontana talk, emotions 09:16 - Emotions: are you a crier? - anecdotes from Dave & Jonathan! 11:18 - Motivational styles ft. Tracy Wilson, Eteri Tutberidze 11:49 - Dave’s old skating coach’s (wrong) favourite skaters 13:01 - Matteo Rizzo ft. the different types of Italians 18:50 - USFS article on sexual abuse culture ft. Christine Brennan, Kobe Bryant 21:38 - Daniel Grassl 24:37 - Morisii Kvitelashvili 26:20 - back to Grassl ft. Benoit Richaud 27:15 - the Euros commentator & who should be THE commentator? 29:27 - Artur Danielian ft. eating 33:18 - Russian men’s field 34:33 - Dmitri Aliev 38:10 - Aliev vs. Aymoz **Euros Pairs** 38:41 - Evgenia Tarasova & Vladimir Morozov ft. Aljona Savchenko (40:34) 41:48 - Aleksandra Boikova & Dmitrii Kozlovskii 42:19 - Daria Pavliuchenko & Denis Khodykin 44:15 - Bradie Tennell & Rachael Flatt 46:11 - back to Pavliuchenko & Khodykin, Boikova & Kozlovskii + Tamara Moskvina 49:34 - Tarasova & Morozov 50:22 - Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise 52:30 - Nina Mozer + Europeans & 4CC usage by feds ft. Ashley Cain-Gribble & Tim LeDuc, Miki Ando, Jane Ruon 56:06 - Wrap-up + Tamara Moskvina, Betty White + board games **Euros Ladies** 58:31 - Intro 59:07 - Ekaterina Ryabova 1:00:35 - Alexia Paganini 1:01:27 - Emmi Peltonen + Finnish community 1:05:00 - Alexandra Trusova + Eteri girls’ long season 1:06:20 - Alëna Kostornaia 1:06:37 - Anna Shcherbakova 1:06:49 - Trusova 1:07:25 - Shcherbakova 1:09:11 - 3As at Worlds **Euros Ice Dance** 1:10:00 - Intro + Politicking 1:10:32 - Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov 1:10:57 - Jonathan talks about Politicking ft. Natalia Bestemianova’s comments 1:13:55 - Guillaume Cizeron + Johnny Weir 1:15:05 - back to Bestemianova 1:16:33 - Alla Shekhovtsova ft. Natalia Linichuk 1:21:41 - Judy Blumberg + Euros dance judging ft. when we have a Marie-France or Zhulin panel, Sara Hurtado & Kirill Khaliavin vs. Olivia Smart & Adrian Diaz 1:29:37 - Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron ft. Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Piper Gillies & Paul Poirier 1:32:52 - Sinitsina & Katsalapov + Worlds 1:35:47 - Papadakis & Cizeron 1:37:25 - Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri **Closing** 1:39:09 - Johnathan’s moments 1:39:39 - Dave’s moments

“This explains how Bukin is still so good looking” 😂😂😂 shaaaade

Bestemianova is not the only one in Russia giving homophobic comments about Guillaume. Kostomarov told that he doesn't like french couple because he doesn't understand " who is man and who is woman" in the couple. Jurankov, russian jurnalist and commentator of figure skating everytime criticises Papadakis Cieeron, especially Guillaume for his " homosexuality and feminity"...It so insane and stupid. I even don't have words

Nail tech here: Having one stand out nail is called an "accent nail" and people do it because lots of clients want fancy nail art but they can't afford a full set with nail art so techs started pricing their nail art and add-ons by the nail instead of by the set so that people can get just one nail per hand.

watching Dmitri crying after the long program was the highlight of the month !!! Jonathan I feel you sis.

Thank you both for your thoughtful, powerful, and frankly -- needed to be said thoughts about Guillaume's skating. He is beautiful in so many different ways. That woman is terrible.

Ryabova is Russian, born, bred and trained in Moscow. She had skated for Russia until January 2019 but since then has gone under the Azeri flag to be able to skate at international sporting events. Who would blame her for that, if the competition in Russia is so high and dense. Her power nail theme - I think she was showing her gratitude to Azerbaijan and the Azeri people for letting her do what she loves and wants to do.

Papadakis and Cizeron in an interview (La Croix) said that they did not skate their best, they were not at a 100% due to the fact that Gabriella had some health issues in January; anxiety problems and a kind of burn out. She said she started to feel mentally and emotionally overworked and she couldn't train anymore. They nearly didn't come to the Europeans. You could see that they didn't perform at their level and they made unusual mistakes. When asked how they felt about the rest of the season Guillaume answered that they needed to rest first, get rid of the pressure and then come back and train hard because there are extremely competent teams behind them.He said "There's a kind of rage of wanting to win that comes after defeat. If you win all the time, after a while, you don't feel it anymore." to which Gabriella added "It's a boost. Competition brings an opponent, something to push against. When you have a wall in front of you, you push, and you would never have pushed so hard if there was nothing. Feeling that pressure isn't necessarily nice, but that's what creates the fire of competition and the desire to really push yourself." We tend to forget they are still young (24 & 25) and there is plenty of room for growth and improvement. Perhaps they needed to lose; they need the challenge and something good will come out of this.

I was shocked and I'm so sorry for Kevin, He's my favorite. Best of lucks to him at World Championship 😁

TimeStamps (work in progress) Wondering if this will get pinned? 0:48 Matteo Rizzo 1:20 intro 1:34 Men’s event recap Europeans 1:58 Kevin Aymoz (France) 3:05 analogy to Haven and Brandon (US pairs team that did poorly at 2020 Nationals, they were 5th) 3:09 back to Kevin and the possibility of him medaling at Euros 3:26 talking about skaters peaking later in the season; especially the Russians 🇷🇺 3:50 back to Kevin, those falls tho. Not good. Possible combo? Hope? Going for a medal here? 5:00 mind playing tricks, results 5:28 discussing how Kevin will rebound at Worlds 6:36 Martha 😂 and bs 7:58 thick skin and movies. Get it together people 8:30 Frank 8:44 Gracie Gold jacket analogy 10:00 kindergarten? 10:52 Instagram post Artur shows scores to Buinova. 11:26 Jason Brown reference to that elusive quad. 11:48 Dave sees his old skating coach. 13:03 back to Kevin 13:16 Matteo Rizzo 13:22 Matteo possible boot issues? Evident in short program. 14:52 Matteo having nice skating qualities 14:54 comparing Matteo to Daniel Grassl 15:30 Matteo’s consistent 4T 16:06 Nathan Chen reference 16:41 more musical passion and feeling for next season. More personality 17:02 Canada’s Vulnerability 17:45 eyetalians haha 18:30 Linda 19:52 Rip Kobe Bryant 20:14 celebrities and their issues 21:35 back to skating 21:38 Daniel Grassl and his quads; Vincent Zhou of Europe. 4Lo, very rare. Few people do them 22:18 weak skating skills (pcs) 22:26 new costume for him 23:24 weird vibes in the kiss and cry 24:07 Daniel’s SP, 11th in short, 2nd in long, 4th overall 24:40 Morisi (Georgian skater) fell in SP but was 3rd. Weird technique (I actually agree with this) 25:06 Daniel not getting the goe and Eteri (why Morisi won a medal) 25:58 EtErI tUtBeRiDzE 27:16 terrible commentator 27:58 Mark and bring back British Eurosport 29:08 kindergarten championships aka JGP lol 29:34 Artur Danielian (Russia-2nd 🥈) weird axel takeoff. Beautiful 4S 30:45 Oprah 30:54 back to Artur 31:40 Russian Priscilla Hills-Marina Selitskaia 34:01 Kolyada-Sinus Infection? 34:35 Dmitri Aliev (Gold Medalist-🥇) Russia 35:01 Knierems 35:03 back to Dmitri 35:26 Karen Chen and slow jumps lol 36:26 Dmitri emotions 37:22 Dmitri fix your damn spin levels and speed 38:21 Kevin was not a threat of beating Dmitri 38:43 Pairs Event Recap at Europeans 38:49 Tarasova and Morozov weird chanting? 39:14 Frozen 2 39:30 Marina’s sentiment plus packaging 40:37 Aliona Savchenko? 41:05 Bruno Massot. Please come back!!! 41:38 Russians changing the rules? Quad twist? 41:54 Boikova and Kozlovskii 42:38 Khodykin not liking them? Fat? Dave not remembering him? 43:10 Ashley Cain?? 44:16 Bradie Tennell 44:26 hating Rachael Flatt but feeling bad for her and Bradie. 46:14 back to Euros pairs Khodykhin? 48:30 Yuka Kavaguti hard watch weird dieting issues and allergies 49:36 Tarasova/Morozov-can’t get it together. Lift botched in the SP. jumps were a mess 50:22 hot Matteo Guarise and Nicole. Pilgrims on a journey. Tessa and Scott influence? 70s roller skating costumes. Cheap and tacky 52:36 Nina Mozer helping Ashley Cain make the worlds team 52:46 4CC 53:39 USFS manipulation 54:22 Brian and Jessica 54:31 4CC not being on par for the most part with Europeans 56:07 end of pairs 57:25 Board games and video games 58:02 Australia Dodds 58:20 Kailani Craine? 58:32 Ladies Event Recap (what you most likely came for) ice dance is at the end 59:06 Ekaterina Ryabova-nice qualities, old-school vibe 1:00:39 Alexia Paganini-4th, former US skater. Bringing back Karen. 3Lz+3T excellent 1:01:28 Emmi Peltonen-Finland; lovely skating skills. Also a former US skater. From Nashville 1:02:09 Finnish and Hungarian being the most difficult languages. 🧐 have you tried Armenian?? 1:02:19 and their skaters always being beautiful 1:05:00 Alexandra Trusova-is it a mental game at this point? What’s going on? Too difficult of a program (jumps?) all of the Eteri girls looked tired here. Trusova fell on the 4Lz and fell on the 4T later in the free which was considered

I think whenever a gold favourite produces a top notch performance in the short and then the controversial "2nd best" gets relatively the same score as them you know some shit is about to go down in the free. When they invalidated one of P/C's elements at first and then they changed it back and were getting all nitty gritty and taking whole 8 mins to evaluate them, i think everyone knew the Russians were going to win by a fraction of a point.

Oh, and also moment of the week number 2: at the victory ceremony for ice dance when Gabi mistakenly tried to step onto the podium in the center and the awkward moment she realized, nope, that's not where we go this time. Should you laugh, should you cry, all of the emotions.

Emmi Peltonen's father played ice hoceky in NHL in Nahsville when Emmi was born. Greetings from Finland!

Im not gonna lie....Dima made me cry in the end of the program!

4 hours of figure skating goodness over the last two days. Thanks!

Omg that thumbnail... The Shade !!

59:25 to answer your question Dave, yes, there is a name. It’s called the accent nail. Thank you guys so much for this episode❤️

have you seen the clip from victory ceremony where Gabriella for a sec tried to step to the top of the podium but then put her leg down and went for the second place? then the camera showed her laughing. she let them know what she thinks, i thought it was the ultimate shade, love her

Forget homework this is more important

For me it was the men's event in general, usually it's the ladies, but the men have outdone themselves this year. I mean, it's everything, it's the drama of Kevin not making the free, even though he was a favourite to win, it's Artur getting silver at his very first Europeans (at the age of 16 he is such a complete skater already), it's Moris getting the first medal for Georgia at this event in God knows how long, and of course it's Aliev and his win, and that's after he didn't even make the team last year. So super happy for him.

Benoit scares de sh** out of me too Dave! Also moment of the week: Gabi being bitchy in the medal ceremony and press conference QUEEN!!!!

I liked Anna more than Alyona this time. I think that artistry-wise it was Anna's best skate of the season so far even despite the fall. Alyona, on the other hand, had her worst skate of the season, she was less relaxed and emotional than usual.

I'm shocked that people think Guillame's skating is feminine - what are they looking for? Maybe they're just not used to seeing men who can dance. That would explain a lot about this sport actually. On versatility - VM had the same free dance style for about 4 years up to 2010, which worked when they were fresh and new and incredible, but then when they returned to that well in 2014 it just felt like going backwards. Everyone expects PC to do MS#2 in 2022, but I think that's a big risk because the way people see them has changed and their competition will have adapted. I can't imagine PC pulling off the same level of versatility that VM had after 2010 but I think they need to push hard to keep growing. I really like their FD choice this year because it's something that they obviously respond to artistically and just went with it, so I'm hopeful that they'll keep doing that instead of playing it safe.

The most memorable moment of the 2020 European FCS was Dmitri's long programme performance and crying after that. Absolutely! So sensitive, so emotional... Did you know that Dmitri is also into writing poetry? Love the newcomer, Artur Danielian - he has a great potential and I look forward to him thriving too. He has an awesome, professional ballet dancer like posture. But, in all fairness, Dmitri's posture is solid good one too, particularly considering that from the very young age Dmitri was first trained to become a skier. (You know what skiers' posture is like? Hunched). He is from the family of Russian skiers and his father is a well-known and talented skiing coach in Russia. I love both guys, Artur and Dmitri, and wish them both to thrive! The protracted delay in P/C marking by the judges left a sour taste in the mouth, to say the least... However, as you Dave rightly pointed out, it's not only Russians or infamous Alla who do it. It is extremely unfortunate but it shouldn't lessen our admiration for great performances and great skaters when such performances are given, irrespective of whatever marks are given by the judges. On P/C coming second this time, I agree with your analysis of how they arrived at where they are now and what they should do next. Perhaps, they should take it as a good sobering slap in face so they pull their act together and don't bury themselves in complacency. Btw, thanks for clarifying that Tarasova/Bestemianova quote origin confusion.

Dave and Jonathan, you guys were in rare form in this video! You had me dying with laughter throughout!!

Crying in the school office while calling my parents is something I can relate to with all of my heart and soul, oh my gosh thank you for this.

i was there in person and i thought the highlight was trusova's quad toeloop combination. that was just so powerful but yet so light. it was a singularity.

Blowing my mind with your dedication! 👏 Thank you AGAIN💋

you guys are like my favorite show at the moment! thank you!!

This is the earliest I've ever been here, but I've been waiting for this since the free dance event finished.

re the commentator, I registered my protest on Twitter to the ISU and suggested my fellow Aussie Belinda Noonan to commentate per the Olympic broadcast. No way would she say " and now here's the Fame part of their Rhythm dance" 😫

My moment of the week: Jonathan gushing over Dmitri. Yes, yes and yes!

Yes!!!!!! Yay!!!! Thanks for uploading!! Also I’m a coach and choreographer now in the Boston area! I’m doing programs for my friend! Might be going to regionals?! Don’t know yet! Can’t wait! Also my music career is improving this semester as I will be doing a recital this April

Thank you for this recap! Dave....you looked exceptionally handsome! That color is gorgeous on you! I also agree...Jonathan is looking a little too thin these days...still handsome...but much thinner that usual. I am not surprised that Gabby has been having issues with anxiety....who wouldn't with the politics of ice dancing? Thank you again, Jonathan and Dave, for all of the hours you spent watching Nationals and Europeans AND doing two long recaps! They were absolutely wonderful!

I was watching Marie France when P/C were going on ice and in the K&C. Even before the short program she was smiling much less than usual and overall looked subdued, much different from her usual self. She knew that there will be judging issues.

58:32 LADIES 1:10:00 ICE DANCE

love your observations of Euros! I totally agree that regardless of what you think about the Dance podium, the 8 minute wait for P/C 's marks left such a stain of corrupt judging over the event. It conjured memories of these kinds of events during the Soviet era for me.

even when alena performed her free in france, there was performance. she looked as if she was just trying to finish her program

The Tutberidze girls were even at a Gala in Italy the first couple of days in January right after New Year and just before Russian Christmas. Knowing they get docked 40% of the money they earn for it and Tutberidze gets a cut... My impression of Kostornaia at Euros: I think her mental block is that she's going into competition knowing she's gold medal material but even if she does her absolute best it takes 2 of her competitors (that she also trains with everyday) to make mistakes for her to win, and that's something she has no control over. It’s telling that she looked mostly as usual in the short where she knows she can crush the competition but looked completely demoralised from the very beginning in the free where Anna & Sasha can pull out the quads. She completely phoned this performance in - the difference in her speed and performance is staggering. She was more upset after her Nats FS (where I think what happened was she saw how well Scherbakova did and was rattled by it, made mistakes, and created self-doubt she brought to Euros) with a few scratchy landings than here when she actually fell. It looked like she expected to mess up so when she fell she felt justified in her self-doubt rather than truly upset at the mistake. Maybe this will be a mental boost for her since they all made mistakes and she still won. Also she seems pretty on to it - maybe she realizes component scoring is a farce and you don't actually need to PERFORM to get the points for it, so why bother if you don't feel like it? It certainly didn't hurt her marks here.

dmitri had a boot problem at gpf. if i recall correctly he had a new blade that has a different toe pick, that's why he struggled.

Loved the commentary! Side note - expecting to see Dave in Black Widow movie as tough Russian ballet coach - that accent! :D Artur Danielian: absolute revelation in this competition - can’t wait for 2022 now! Uuh - it’s so exciting! Daria/Denis - I gasped when she slipped on that throw, I grew to quite like their programmes, and Daria, indeed, has something magnetic about her (+ she does not put that fake smile on everything, which I appreciate…) Emmi was a hands down beauty in that group for me! I jumped when I heard vinegar&salt in her FS and it’s been on the loop since…Such incredible piece for skating (still underused choreo wise I think) Ice dance - longer comment coming…

Totally agree with Dave about the way political judging is mostly done in short programmes, because they know people will mostly watch the free dance. It's been like this for many many years.

I was speechless for a moment when i saw the results of the ice dance, but I realized that, personally, i guess P/C needed this loss just because i think they're getting a little complacent lately. This will surely light a new fire in their performances going forward I really think Russia will have a bigger chance to win gold if they swap the pairs to Victoria and Ivan. On a side note, i have always been partial to Stepanova and Bukin than their Russian compatriots because they have something special when they skate. I feel their immersion and dedication to their programs and I really am never bored watching them.

1:11:11 ~ THANK YOU for revisiting the unfortunate comment by Bestemianova. First, I must mention I saw Bestemianova/Bukin practice close up a few times in the mid-1980s, and her comment about the traditional gender roles really made me laugh-because, besides the fact that she had a distinctive mustache, she screamed at him throughout the practice, and she almost seemed to enjoy emasculating him publicly. On a more serious note, if not properly addressed, her comment could have harmful impact, not only on how the sport of figure skating will evolve but also on skaters/young people around the world. We should not let this one go and, while politics should have no place in the sport in the first place, it is even more disturbing when politics prompt a major figure like Bestemianova to throw a cheap shot based on oppressive and antiquated values.

Here’s the thing - the wedge was set at GPF. P/C weren’t sufficiently penalized for a clear error at GPF (and for the costume issue at the Olympics), and that gives Zhulin the opening to get judges to downgrade them. The same thing happened to Virtue/Moir after 2012 Worlds. That’s the problem with (perceived or actual) overscoring - if your allies turn on you (like Russia vs France), they can use it against you.

So many thoughts, emotions and feelings over this... thank you for sharing your thoughts 🤍

I love PC, but I am glad they were beaten. When one and the same pair always wins regardless of their mistakes it's demotivating both to them, because they know they don't have to be at their best to win, and to their competitors, because they know they can't win anyway. Now PC know they can no longer afford mistakes and other teams know that PC aren't untouchable. It makes ice dance way more interesting.

7:00 and I'm still a cryer now, even at TV commercials. Oh, the poor little animals!

Damn, just finished watching your Nationals since I was still coming home from Greensboro!

I like the Troika but have observed Sasha falling more on her quads. Was surprised that all 3 fell at Euros so you are right. These young ladies are getting burned out.

Matteo did comment on it on his instagram stories. Just showing it was just a part of the leather upper flapping about. Thanking us for our concern, but nothing was wrong. Just showing that's what happens when you blade hits the boot too much during jumping.

Thanks for another interesting video, I recently started following you and have been enjoying your reviews. I am from Russia myself and I have to be honest nobody was expecting such results. I mean, in terms of pairs and the ladies event, there were more hopes, than with ice dance and men. First of all, I want to say how happy I am for Moskvina because it has been so long since her students have won anything, I have HUGE respect for this tiny but very strong woman. Second, I am just a fan of Sasha and Dima because they are just very natural, sincere and modern. They are also very humble - they know they need to improve and are working very hard at it. Also, they have a real partnership - they are there for each other. Dima praises his partner every chance he gets and today among all other pairs, they have what it takes to be the champions! Even if they do not make to the OG because of the ridiculousness of the ban (more on that later), they will still be remembered in Russia for just being a good couple on ice. Very disappointed in Tarasova and Morozov, I used to be a fan, now I think they should either quit being a team or leave the sport all together. IMHO they had their chance in 2018 and missed it. I know that it hits some skaters were hard psychologically and it takes time to recover but the case here is also that this loss has affected their personal relationship. I heard somewhere they were an actual couple before OG and have parted since. What I see know is just ice cold Morozov, which btw is a factor I think contributed to their mistake in the short. Right now they remind me of Marinin and Totmyanina before that awful accident right back in 2004/2005. I was really scared for Tarasova when she nearly fell to the ice. Kudos to Morozov for saving the moment. But still, there is no pleasure in watching them skate. They could not be more indifferent to each other. In my opinion, they should not have made the podium with so many mistakes. That silver medal was not earned. Pavliuchenko and Khodykin - yes, I agree they seem right now like a couple, about whom everyone might forget soon. I am not a fan of them, they are not good technically and horrible artistically. Ice dance. Ok, so regarding the judging politics and intrigues. Is it bad that such a thing exists - absolutely. However, I would like to call on others not to associate this with the actual skaters because it is not fair. Especially now, when we have so many interesting dance couples to watch. I say - lets not spread hate and anger because the sportsmen do not deserve it. I respect the french couple and love some of their programs, especially from last season. I love their short dance this year. However, the second dance is not working for me - it is too art house and I do not understand the story they are telling. Did they deserve to wait 10 mins before the scores were announced? Absolutely, not. Did they deserve silver? This time - yes. Nikita and Victoria left everything of the ice after their dance. Gabriella and Guillaumr ... I did not recognize them at all. They looked nervous and unsure of their dance. They even left the ice like people who knew that they did not win. So let it be, they will be better next time. For me, personally, I was more happy for Sasha and Ivan. They are the ones being constantly underscored and I am happy to see them on the podium, they are improving every event). Happy for Aliev, his tears were magical! Happy for Arthur - hope he gets better from season to season). Ladies event - I am getting worried about Trusova, she seems to have so psychological problem and I wish her to get through it to advance not only technically, but also artistically). My favourite is Anna among the three - love both her programs this season. Finally, if anyone is still reading until the end... Guys, it is hardbreaking to some comments about why are Russian athletes still competing if there is a ban or when will it go into effect. I would like to ask these people to look at the profiles of our skaters, how old they are and think about the fact that most of them we not even born or start competing in the years when this whole doping story supposedly started or was actively being installed. They are young, they know the rules of the game, they love their sport and they are respectful to fellow skaters. They do many events together. They are friends with many skaters. Now these youngsters, who have not done anything wrong are not allowed to compete and represent their country. Think about that and how you would feel and write with care. Because words hurt and can lead to many really horrible things. Thank you and peace to all!

Yay! More TSL! I was a big crybaby as a kid but it's funny that I am not so much now. Maybe because I have my own kids now. Don't get me wrong, I still cry. But not at every emotional moment.

I'm a bit disappointed that all that SK/PC thing left behind gorgeous Stepanova/Bukin performance, absolutely their season best. Hope they can make top 5 at worlds. Something in their skating and programs just makes me love them.

Boring shamed 🤣 that made me literally laugh out loud alone in my car. Thanks for the entertainment on a dreary Tuesday.

Emmi's dad Ville Peltonen was drafted into the NHL by the San Jose Sharks in 1993 He decided to stay in the Finnish league for two seasons but then started playing for them in 1995, and he was with them until 1997 -- He bounced around in the IHL, AHL (NHL minor leagues) and the Swedish pro league for a couple of seasons, then in the 1998-99 season was when he went to Nashville -- Then he bounced around playing in leagues in Finland, Switzerland, Belarus, and playing with the Florida Panthers in another stint in the NHL , and he retired as a player in 2014 -- He also played for the Finnish national hockey team at the 1994 and 1998 Olympics -- Emmi was born in November 1999 when he still would've been playing under contract with the Predators, but the family moved back to Finland when that contract ended

Excited!!!!!😊😊😊

I agree Jonathan. Dave Lease. You’re rocking the new sweater too. Jonathan, your sweater complements your hair too. ;)😉✌️❤️

what upsets me more than PC's silver is that people still comment on 8 POINTS they supposedly didn't deserve. when 90% don't even try to understand the scoring, it gets way to easy to manipulate scores. some even say PC had to lose to SB if not for those points when in reality PC had about 73+ immediately after they skated. For the audience it looked like they made some HUUUGE mistake, and the panel had to throw some points in. Could've been sabotage, or maybe Alla and Co simply jumped on the opportunity... Shame, TAT and Averbukh didn't explain the situation, I seriously doubt they could mix up the Seqs.

Your welcome everyone!

That awkward moment when we all thought trusova was gonna swipe them all golds because of quads...

So ice dance… LOVED Papadakis moment when she “accidentally” stepped on the No.1 awards podium :D All well put already: that judging time that took to “properly” calibrate those 0.14 points was Hollywood style-Oscar winning -Max Richter soundtrack deserving moment, but I completely agree with you Dave - it’s SP where most questionable calls were cooked and this was cherry on top! And Italians were robbed of fair chance (regardless of their ability); waiting for results I honestly forgot that they were still on the ice...

You two the best!

I'm a bit disappointed that there were 0 comments about S/B in this video. They are my faves, I feel like they shouldn't be 8 points behind the leaders.

I enjoy the analysis and insight, but there are so many wild tangents.

I still have the 1988 Olys on vhs. B&B were over the top, esp their free dance. She had big 80s hair (even though it was cut short) and loud, garish makeup. I think she wore blue eyeshadow like Mimi Bobeck on the old Drew Carey show. She wore hideous gold lame and black dress decorated with tons of 80s bows. Tacky tacky tacky.

It just happens that in this point in history France and Russia are rivals. In a different Olympic cycle France and worked together. Look at 2002. They propped one another up in pairs and in dance.

Emmi Peltonen is a daughter of a famous Finnish ice hockey player Ville Peltonen. He played in NHL when she was born.

Best moment from Europeans was Aliev's crying. It was so heartwrenching. Shcherbakova should have won ladies, but the tech panel brought her down. Kostornaia looked very tired and phoned in the performance.

Apparently I feel strongly about this, so strongly that I’m not checking if the answer has already been provided, which of course it has: the commentator at Euros was Paul Alster. He is a British ex pat with a background in horse racing and a current focus in Israel. He has no clear connection to figure skating except that he comments on it sometimes it appears. It is a curious biography. I brook no argument with your comments about him, but I personally enjoyed him so much. I liked how he was trying to evoke the atmosphere in the arena; I like how I never felt like he was lying to us or trying to step around the fact there was nothing positive or just nothing to say about a skate, and his mourning the smashed cake in Ziegler and Keiffer’s exhibition skate was my favourite thing of life.

WOW!!! Two videos in a row! Because of lots of competitions happening! Not to mention, Four Continents is coming soon! AAAHHH!!!

This video with the US Nationals recap was great!! I tried my best with the timestamps. I’ll do better next time

The German commentator actualy said that both Grassl and Aliev got underrotation calls due to prerotation.

“No views” love that for me

Cizerone isn’t even all that feminine. He’s extremely fluid, which I guess some people confuse with femininity. I found the Russian pair flat-out boring tbh and rather stiff at times.

I think it is much easier to manipulate results in a subtle way now with the "new" system; you have 10+ GOE & 5 PC to play with vs. 2 marks in the old 6.0 system....

Here is my take away from europeans: If anna scherbakova's arms get any skinnier, she will be even less watchable than she is now. She needs to eat. You know, she may be the one who does quads for the next 10 years because I'm not sure she'll ever hit puberty with the way her body looks right now. Please, someone look out for this child!

Okay but did you see the face Grassl makes when he jumps??? I noticed in real time he was tipping his head up but in slow mo you can see his mouth hanging open and his tongue hanging out! One of the worst jump faces I've ever seen. lol

Petition to rename JGP "The Kindergarten Championships" 😂😂😂

I would love to hear from Joe Inman again. He basically yelled at me on Twitter, because I was pointing out how the judges “rank/ dump skaters” with the program components, and he said that judges don’t do that! It’s against the rules, he said! He said the judges don’t even keep a running tally of what scores they gave previous skaters, so it would be next to impossible. Really, Joe? GURL. TALK TO ALLA.

I don't think there's a current pair team where there's a sharper contrast between the short program and the long than with the Germans, Hase/Seegert. If you just watched their short programs you would think they were a top five team, easily; the free skates are almost always a struggle.

I was hoping somebody would comment on how well Marazov kept Tarasova from falling in a serious way. It was scary. Does anyone know what happened? Because up to that point their performance was so outstanding!

1:04:59 Eteri reaalllyyy wants to dominate this season, and her desire is taking a toll on all of the 3A girls, especially when it comes to Trusova (because it looks like they force her the most with all of those quads). Kostornaia had a very shaky FS because she was last to skate, and even though the coaching team didn't let her watch Shcherbakova's FS (as she mentioned in an interview afterwards), it was very evident that Kostornaia wasn't focused on her skating and all she could think about was the point difference and the podium position. So at this point when it comes to Worlds, it's very unpredictable and I wouldn't be surprised if the podium isn't all Russian. The 3A girls have to find a way to deal with the upcoming pressure and work on their mental strength. 1:31:36 Papadakis/Cizeron made a few mistakes in the FD, the twizzles were a little bit off, and the first part of the skate is a little bit slow (in my opinion), in a sense that their "pantomime" act is distracting from the rest of the artistic performance, more specifically, in that particular moment it feels a little bit empty and it disrupts the flow for the rest of the performance, and I think the judges probably felt that "hollowness" too. Stepanova/Bukin should've been 2nd, they had a great FD despite the music choice, great twizzles and spins, very unique lifts, and amazing chemistry between the two of them, which makes the skate more enjoyable. They're yet to have their big win, hopefully it will happen in the near future. Something about Stepanova/Bukin's style reminds me of Virtue/Moir, their approach is bold and you can feel their presence on the ice. And I was pleasantly surprised by the Italians that skated last, they have good potential and a bright future if they keep their momentum going.

Watching you to improve my English listening skills, gosh, you speak so fast)) The only thing I don't like is how negative your opinion about Trusova is. I like her so much, she is so sweet, open, positive, friendly, with her amazing little dog Tina... Maybe her skating skills are not great but she is a decent athlete and she seems to be a great person. Every time she falls I feel so sad. Hope she'll manage to do clean perfomances at the World champ. P.S. I'm watching russian bloggers speaking about figure skating as well. And they all go like: oh, Sinitsina/Katsalapov are so much better than the French couple, they totally deserve the 1 place. I'm glad to finally hear another opinion because I like French team so much more.

They had to wait so long because PC 1 foot SS was originally invalidated and given 0 points so they were reveiwing the element like at 4CC last year when HD lost. Eventually was changed from a partial SS and given points for it

27:13 You all should try listening to the german commentator. In the ladies event he was trash-talking every single skater non-stop. Even if you sometimes agree with him it's just too much. According to him even Schcherbakova has zero performance quality or expression. And he also tells you during every single skate how horrible the music choice is. Especially if they pick classical music which he really can't stand I guess. The only music he liked was La La Land and Kostornaia's free skate music (Kostornaia is my favorite but come on!!). Commentators like that can ruin a whole event for you

It pisses me off that none of the wrong edges of Anna were "seen" or her underrotation on 2 other jumps (other than the 3 URs she got) as well, whereas they were giving almost 0 GoE on the perfectly executed jumps of other skaters, which I did not understand. Even if you jump and it has no tricky entrance, the jumps clearly have their height and length which at this championship were not scored properly. I'm interested if you had the same impression. As for the commentator I could never have imagined that someone would overtake Ted in being a boring and terrible commentator. BTW Ekaterina Ryabova is not Azerbaijani. She is Russian but due to the difficulty of getting to the podium in Russia she decided to switch the country. She mentioned in one Russian interview that she has not Azerbaijani blood

I’m too early for the time stamps lol

I'm happy for Alena, but she's lucky to skate at a time when women are prohibited from doing things in their SPs that men are allowed. (I suspect and hope that this will change soon.) With a single quad in her SP, Anna almost certainly would have taken gold. It's simply unfair to allow one skater to jump her best jumps in the SP while prohibiting another from doing so; as we've seen in multiple major competitions now, it allows Alena to enter the FS with an artificially large lead. This isn't the case with men, and it shouldn't be the case with ladies.

Best comment by Dave: "It's like poking a bear." Yup, mother Russia bear.

Power nail !💪🏼💅🏼

Agree that the real dirty work happened in the rhythm dance, getting Nikita so close.

Re: nails. I just call it an accent nail! That’s all I’ve ever heard it called so you were right on! ;)

Side note: My mom was a school secretary and her name is Betty LOL! Such a stereotype ha ha, I'll tell my mom that Beyer says hi ha ha!

There is a lot of talk about abuse in figure skating right now in Finland. There is like a new news articel every 5 minutes about some scandal. And Emmi’s dad was a NHL player so I think that’s explains the Nashville thing.

Dave, I had the same cry memory when I was 5 years old looking my mom to pick me up outside of school. Only to remember that I was suppose to walk home by myself for the first time since my brother just started a full day at school. But us Koreans get tough too. But a great performance can still make me cry as an adult. 😉

"She's married to Igor Boborin, and she stole him from his other wife" Pause. Is this the same Igor Boborin who choreo'd Kristina Czako's "Addam's Family" program and "waltz: masquerade" and "nutcracker SPs? If so why isn't he choreo'ing anymore. He made truck driver Czako super interesting and quirky in the best ways! He was fab!!

Emmi Peltonen's father was a Nashville Preditor ice hockey player and her mother was a figure skater. Parents moved to Nashville b/c he had a contract to play there. Former coach listed Stephane Lambiel, no Raf that I can see.

My moment of the week: Nikolaj Majorov's nosebleed after his FS. Which obviously would not be a moment in itself, but you remember the viral skate Alexander 'Bloody Nose' Majorov had at Rostelecom 2016? his brother! AMAZING. The entire Majorov family should get tested.

Dave is on fire