It's Time to Talk about the State of Canadian Skating Media

I think it's time to talk about the coverage of figure skating in Canada. This is an issue I've been invested in for years, but of late it has been particularly infuriating to me.

I'm a journalism student myself, finishing my last year of study before heading into the workforce and it's obvious to anyone who reads this blog that I have a passion for figure skating. Obviously, I have a vested interest in wanting success in skating coverage in Canada for more than one reason. Admittedly, one is a selfish reason, it would make it a little easier for me to find a job, but also because I want to be able to read and enjoy quality skating coverage. Right now though, we are seriously lacking in quality coverage.

One of the most popular and successful newspapers in Canada is the Toronto Star, and they have overall, a pretty good sports section, which a lot of people turn to for sports news for the most popular sports, and even some of the smaller, less popular sports. However, it is a place skating fans avoid like the plague. This is because there is only one woman that writes coverage of skating for The Star, and she in no way seems to enjoy it, and her writing is not often about what matters in skating, instead it is often inflammatory editorial writing done entirely to attract eyes for all the wrong reasons.

This is something that has been on my mind since this year's SCI. This woman, whose name I will not mention in an attempt to minimize the number of clicks she gets because of this post (though it wouldn't be hard to figure out who I'm talking about if you really want to), chose to write an extremely inflammatory article about Kaetlyn Osmond and her current short program. This article, which was published during SCI, said that Osmond may or may not be a prostitute, but at the very least appears to have an undue interest in prostitutes.

Rather than focus on the quality of skating (Osmond came in second at SCI, losing only to reigning world champion Evgenia Medvedeva) or the fact that she has had a long journey back from a serious injury that could have ended her career and now is back to her best (and maybe better than people had expected), or if there was a need for controversy, why not write about the disappointing performance by the reigning Canadian women's champion, Alaine Chartrand, who had a rough Grand Prix despite how well she had been skating (albeit off and on) last season. Instead, she chose to invent a scandal, insinuating all over the article that Kaetlyn Osmond is a prostitute, and insinuating that it began when she was a minor, all because of her music choices. She opens the article this way "At 17, Kaetlyn Osmond was a prostitute in her Sweet Charity routine: Sassy.

At 20, she’s a prostitute in her Sous le ciel de Paris, Milord composite routine: Bawdy."

She then adds that of course she's not implying anything but says that "Osmond might embrace the role of The Happy Hooker — the title of the lady’s 1971 autobiography — on ice." She focuses for the first 3 and a half paragraphs of her (pretty short) editorial, talking about the theme that she sees in Osmond's skating, which Osmond herself doesn't see herself. It isn't until halfway through the article, after mentioning that skaters must use the same story initialy intended for the music because they tend to tell stories on the ice, that she mentions that Osmond was unaware of the alleged initial meaning of one of the songs in her short program, only to follow with a snarky remark "oh, skip it."

Her current program features a song that has at times been interpreted as being about a prostitute, but there is by no means definitive agreement about whether or not the song is in fact about a prostitute. Add to this the interview in which Osmond is asked specifically about the song and it's potential relationship to prostitution, which Osmond was entirely unaware of until that moment, because why would that thought cross her mind? She chose music that had the attitude she wanted, that would allow her to skate with faux confidence until she was able to reach that level of confidence in herself and the program on her own. This was a choice made to reinforce the quality of skating we have seen all season from her, to allow her to put on a show and get the crowd invested in her program, so no, Kaetlyn Osmond is not a prostitute and is not overly fascinated with prostitution, and it is irresponsible to imply (or just come out and say) such.

For context, let me provide you a list of some of the many pieces of music commonly used by skaters that either are explicitly about prostitutes or can be insinuated that they are about prostitutes, many of which have been skated to by some or all of your favourite skaters. Madam Butterfly, Carmen, Les Miserables, Memoirs of a Geisha and La Traviata. By this writer's logic, all of the skaters who have ever performed a Carmen program (which includes just about every ice dancer on the planet) is also open to be called a prostitute?

Following the insinuation that Osmond might be too mature, with the themes the writer sees in her programs, to infantalizing the reigning world champion Evgenia Medvedeva, the "Russian Schoolgirl" who has done far more at 16 than many people do in their lives. There is also barely a mention of Alaine Chartrand in the article, with the exception of a throwaway line at the very end, "Chartrand, is sixth after botching her combination.

Chartrand: “Grrrr.”"

The biggest problem with this, is this is not the first time this writer for The Star has done something like this. She has a habit of writing derogatory and inflammatory articles about skating. There is far more to skating than pretty people prancing around, they are elite athletes, like in any other sport, but the writing from The Star, which again is done entirely by this one woman or taken from newswires like the Canadian Press, does in no way reflect the complexities and difficulties of the sport. This is an incredibly physically demanding sport, and the insinuation that people are able to get to the top of the world of figure skating by starving themselves is not only incorrect, it is like much of her writing inflammatory.

Which brings us to the first article I read by this woman that left me infuriated. At the time, I didn't think I should or could voice my fears and opinions about this writing, and in all honesty felt quite hopeless about the whole situation, but the reality is, even if this post does nothing (which is more than likely), I feel better about the whole situation by just putting it into words. My only other hope for this is that anyone reading this will not read any of the articles written by this woman, that even if it pops up in your newsfeed and it doesn't have her name on it, that you will not click on any article in The Star about skating until this woman no longer writes for them (ideally at all, a lot of her other stuff is inflammatory and derogatory anyway, but at the very least is taken off of skating coverage).

Back to the other article I want to mention specifically, I am going to show you the headline, as much as I had intended to make it slightly more difficult to find her writing to minimize her clicks, but the headline so perfectly sums up the despicable things she writes about skaters, and makes clear that she does not enjoy writing about skating: "Skate Canada: Skinny on female skaters isn’t pretty." Again, as with the other article I spent so much time breaking down, this one has me angry from the get-go. Beyond the headline, the lead (or first paragraph) is "Sometimes, when fans throw stuffed animals onto the ice at a figure skating event, I wish they’d toss sandwiches instead." Trust me lady, as a lifelong skater myself, and an all around athlete whose family often had more than one figure skater at the table (me, my sister, and/or our friends) they can eat, and they do. They are skinny because they burn incredible numbers of calories in training and because they type of movement necessitates it. I don't care if you think they are no longer attractive because they are skinny, the successful skaters you'll see on the Grand Prix circuit have to take care of their bodies to get there and stay there.

Is there a pressure to be thin in skating? Yes. Absolutely. But skaters have to eat well. Not less but better. She does not express concern for the health and well-being of these women, who are elite athletes, but yes, very thin, and some do go too far and push their bodies outside the realm of what is healthy, but trivializing the issue of eating disorders and body image issues is in no way the correct way to deal with it.

She seems to imply that she wants these girls to be taken seriously as athletes (which in her mind requires them to be less thin) but then goes on to call them STICK INSECTS. Because it is totally not derogatory to be called a stick insect, whether you'r a normal person or an elite athlete is is dehumanizing and horrible. She insists she doesn't know whether it is the sport that makes women thin or simply that thin women gravitate towards this sport. I don't know you, but I imagine you are not particularly thin, dear writer, so I challenge you to put on a pair of skates and try even just a single axel and see how hard it is, and then to add a weighted belt to see just how much more difficult every ounce makes every element in figure skating.

My dear writer, it seems to me that you are not in fact concerned with the welfare of these young women, but rather that you are envious of their abilities and their looks, if you're going to try to hide it, do try not to sound like a high school mean girl calling them "overachieving skinny-minnie freaks." All of us would like to be able to do what they are, but we do try to not be so bitter about the people who are young and successful in their sports.

I hope that the few of you who will have made it this far will share my anger, and if that is the case, I implore you one more time to not go looking for more of what this woman writes, I promise you, some is less despicable, but very little is kind, and she never seems to be enjoying what she does, and if said writer is reading this, I implore you, please, give up writing about skating. Open up that position for someone who might actually enjoy it, or even just leave my favourite sport without a writer, frankly, it would be better for people who theoretically want to read about figure skating. Hate readers are good for numbers in the short term, but this style is turning away fans of an under serviced sport.

There isn't a ton of skating coverage, but I beg of you, go to the CBC, the Globe and Mail, a skating magazine, anything but the Toronto Star for your figure skating news.

Canadian Nationals 2016- Men

Patrick Chan is finally back. For the first time since he returned to competitive skating, we've seen him skate the way we all know he can. Both programs were very strong, and he has upped his technical difficulty so that he stands a chance at a podium finish at Worlds. He actually nailed his quads and his quad combos, which is new for him this season. I do think that he's still very nervous about the quad, which is obvious when we watch the three-turn going in. Each time he does the three into the quad he jumps the turn, which is a sure sign he's nervous, and therefore up in his knees. Overall, his programs are strong, I like both, and if he can just skate like this going forward, we might just see Patrick working his way back up the ranks.

Nam Nguyen was beyond disappointing. It was very obvious just how slow he is watching him here. The spins were not good, and he looked so much slower than anyone else that he couldn't manage to keep up. As a first season senior, some of these issues are forgivable, but at this point he needs to up the ante to keep up, especially with Patrick back. He looked really nervous, which is understandable, seeing as this was the first time he's ever really experienced really pressure. Defending a national title against a former world champion is tough, but it comes down to the problems in the basic skating that are holding Nam back. He's going to need to keep working on skating skills, presentation, and spins all summer to get the assignments he wants next season and the seasons going forward.

Kevin Reynolds is back at nationals, which to be honest, was kind of surprising after the disaster at last year's nationals. But, he did pretty well, especially considering he hasn't really been competing on the big stage this season. Last year's nationals must have been a blow to his ego, but it looks like it gave him a fresh start and a chance to prove himself with less pressure. He has always been a strong competitor in Canada, even if he's not the most consistent, and hopefully going forward we can keep up this kind of skating, and move on from the stuff we saw from him last year.

Nicolas Nadeau was my favourite surprise skater at Canadian nationals. He's still a junior, but he was pretty exceptional. He's a little rough around the edges, but he has good musicality, and commits 100% to every performance. When you hear that his favourite skater is Kurt Browning the reason for the style becomes clear, and he is taking the best of Kurt's skating and applying it to the IJS, creating enjoyable programs to watch with some pretty great skating. The structure of the programs is great, and some of the jumps were good. Especially for a junior, he's got good technical elements and if he continues improving, he'll be a fantastic skater to watch.

Liam Firus is a skater I love, and I really don't understand the people who think his placement wasn't justified. He had very good jumps, though some of them weren't necessarily as difficult as the planned technical elements of the other men, but he did all of his technical content. He also has great spins and step sequences, choreography, transitions, and skating skills. I'm not a huge fan of his freeskate, but if I can learn to love any Moulin Rouge program it might be his. He commits 100% to the program regardless of how the technical elements are going.

Skate Canada 2015- Ice Dance

The ice dance event came out about how I think we all expected.

Weaver and Poje have a brand new short dance, and, especially considering they've only started working on it a couple weeks ago, it's pretty good. It's not the most original, but I can't fault them for that. They had to essentially re-start with only two weeks between competitions. The music restrictions are really stringent, and from what I've heard, they were told at past competitions that the Elvis music doesn't technically meet the requirements. It is close, but since it doesn't meet the requirements, they would face a mandatory deduction at every competition with that program for the entire season. They didn't really have a choice at this point, and this has happened to a couple of teams already. The freeskate is good, but blends in a little with all the tradtional, classical freedances this season. Especially since this year's short dance is a waltz, it would be nice to see some more variation in the free, but again, I can't fault them too much, as they did try to be different but were left with no choice but to change the short dance.

The Shibutani's finished in second here, and they finally have some pretty good programs. I have to say, even though they're skating to Copellia, which is about a doll, I'm really sick and tired of all the pairs and dance programs where the lady is playing a doll. It's really not effective because it can't be maintained. Skating is too fluid to have half a pair stiff and wooden for the entire program, so it comes and goes throughout the program, which loses a lot of its impact. The freedance is fine, but not the most original. I really don't think it's one that's going to stick out in my mind going forward. I am a whole lot happier with their choreography this year than last year, but I do really like them, so I want the best choreo for them.

Bobrova and Soloviev made their return to ice dance here after taking time off for injuries. They were solid here, but a lot of the fundamental skills are kind of weak. Their hold is not good. Every time they are in waltz hold she sticks her butt out, so their upper bodies are much closer together than their feet. I don't know if they are just to apprehensive to skate in close hold, but if that's the case they should really just skate in a more open hold. But maybe she just doesn't have good technique and can't help but stick her butt out, in which case, that needs to be their focus until it's fixed, and fixed for good. Senior ice dance teams really shouldn't be skating like that.

The other ice dance teams weren't really worth talking about. I didn't find the others to be either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad.

Skate Canada 2015- Ladies

Like in Skate America, the ladies event was full of less than stellar skates, except, unlike in Skate America, the judges here were far tougher.

I saw more spins invalidated at Skate Canada than I have at the senior level I think ever.

The short program was pretty disastrous.

Ashley Wagner had a surprise upset, winning the Ladies event. She won the short, and had a strong free, finishing second behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. I'm a fan of the short, but it has been no secret that I am no fan of the Moulin Rouge free. If anything, it may have gotten worse. She said she was working on the transitions in the free, but there were really no transitions in the program. Where she has added 'transitions' it is just arm movements, and the prayer hands make no sense for Moulin Rouge.

Elizaveta Tuktaysheva had a disappointing skate here. Her short program was a complete disaster. She wasn't able to complete basically any of her jumps successfully, and without the jumps her programs don't have much of anything left. Her choreography isn't much of anything, so she relies on the jumps which were less than stellar in Alberta.

Yuka Nagai is a new lady on the scene, coming out of Japan, and she had a stellar display here. She's still young, fresh out of junior, and so she needs some more refinement. Her jumps are pretty good, but her choreography is still a little more simple than is ideal at the senior level.

The other ladies were overall pretty dismal. Kaetlyn Osmond had a really rough weekend. Her short program placed her in fourth, but that doesn't mean it was good. She missed a spin and her double axel. She had a rough freeskate as well, but everyone else had better freeskates, and she finished overall in 11th, but had the lowest freeskate.

Polina Edmunds had a rough short program. It looked good on the surface, but she had two underrotation calls and had a spin invalidated (I'm still not sure why), which put her behind Kaetlyn Osmond in the short. She also had four underrotation calls in the free. Her biggest problem this season is the jumps, but the new style is helping her PCSs.

Elizabet Tursynabeva had a disastrous short program. She finished in 12th in the short, and though she had the 4th best free, she finished overall in 7th.

Skate Canada 2015- Men

The men's event sure as hell didn't come out the way I thought it would (which is illustrated by my fantasy skating scores looked for Skate Canada).

Patrick Chan won the event, which is something I didn't imagine he could do. I was sure he would finish in second going into the event, but Yuzuru Hanyu bombed the short program. Patrick had surprisingly good programs, especially the free. He managed two clean triple axels, which we know has always been his problem jump. I like his programs, but they don't necessarily have the impact that he can have. The programs are nice, but are so similar to the style he's done in the past, so they lose a little bit of the impact in the comeback.

Yuzuru Hanyu finished the event in second, but was 6th in the short program. His technical score in the short was 10th. Yuzuru was saved entirely by his PCS. Without the PCSs, there's no way he could've recovered from the short. I like his programs well enough, but that short program was a complete trainwreck. He did very well in the freeskate, and he definitely needed to to save himself.

Diasuke Murakami won the freeskate, in large part because the top skaters had a rough day. He skated well, but his skating skills is not quite as good, and he doesn't have the flow or ease of edge skaters like Chan or Hanyu have. So, despite his clean jumps and good spins, he couldn't hold onto his place at the top. He's a very good skater, and between him, Hanyu and Shoma Uno, Japanese nationals will be very interesting.

Adam Rippon finished in 4th place, he had two good skates, but the quad lutz is still pretty far off clean. If I were his coaching staff, I would take that out of the short, because he doesn't do the footwork into the jump, which is a required -3 GOE. He's also not getting around in competition. His programs are pretty good, but the Beatles medleys are already getting a little bit old. Also the hair. I know he likes it, but I am really not a fan. His costuming is also a little strange, as it always is.

Nam Nguyen finished in 5th, which was due in large part to the way Skate Canada set up the event. By having Canada's top 2 men compete against Yuzuru Hanyu essentially ensured that Nam wouldn't make it to the GPF. It is really disappointing that Nam didn't have the chance to end up on the podium. The best case scenario for Nam going in was third place. He definitely needs to work on his skating skills and spins, but at just about any other event he would've been basically guaranteed a place on the podium with skates like he had.

Skate Canada 2015- Pairs

The Skate Canada pairs event was strong, especially in the short program.

Just about all the pairs had a strong short program, some of the couples struggled in the freeskate, but overall both programs were pretty good here.

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, obviously, won the event. They had good skates, but did not attempt the throw quad lutz. They still had the most difficult throw triple in their program, which still worked to their benefit. Their freeskate has a greater emotional impact that was missing a little from last year's programs. Certainly, the emotional impact was amplified by the quality of their skating this weekend. Even though I'm really (really) not a fan of Moulin Rouge, their short program doesn't irritate me like the others do.

Tarasova and Morozov finished in second, but well behind Duhamel and Radford. They don't have a quad like the top teams in the world, but they could easily make their triple twist a quad. Their triple twist is beyond impressive, its gigantic, and she seems to hover in the air forever before coming back down.Their programs are good, but the short program wasn't the most logical choice for them. Riverdance doesn't have the right tone for them, and so the selection they made from the soundtrack was odd. I like them, but they're not my favourite, in large part because they are the epitome of the Russian pair team.

Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro did the best they've done since joining forces, but their programs had some pretty big blemishes. In the freeskate, he couldn't get her up into one of the lifts. Unfortunately, this was not surprising. They always struggle with the lifts, he isn't entirely strong enough to execute the lifts. He always lets his butt stick out in the lifts, and he always or almost always seems to struggle to get her into the air. Their jump elements are looking better, but he really needs to improve his strength to get the lifts into the air. The last thing I will say is that I absolutely hate their freeskate. The sexy Leo voice over the (less than amazing) music from Baz Luhrmann's  Romeo + Juliet. I am really not a Baz Luhrmann fan, and music from his films seems to have overtaken the skating world.

Merissa Castelli and Mervin Tran had a good showing here, especially as a new pair team. They really need to work on the side by side jumps, but all of their other elements were pretty strong. The throw double axel may be worth the least in terms of points, but throw axels always look strange, and are harder to complete. I like their programs, but I would like them a whole lot more if they could just land their jumps.

Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek only skated in the short program. I really like them, and I am beyond impressed with Valentina for making the transition to pairs so quickly and so well. However, they had to witdraw because he apparently got a concussion before the short program. I really wish skaters would not skate with concussions, I wish they would take care of themselves before getting on the ice.

Autumn Classic International Entries- Update for Denis Ten

The other day when I wrote about the entires for the Autumn Classic, Denis Ten was listed as competing, but, according to his Facebook page he has withdrawn and Skate Canada has just not processed it yet, leaving him on the roster.

This is a big disappointment for those of us attending the Autumn Classic. This year it is not part of the Challenger Series, so unlike last year, many of the top level skaters will not be attending.

Autumn Classic International Entries- The Big Matchups

Skate Canada has finally released the entries for the Autumn Classic for this year. It can be found here.

The Autumn Classic runs from October 12-15, in Barrie, Ontario at the Allenadale Rec Centre (home of the Mariposa School of Skating)

The competition will include Junior Mens and Ladies competitors, as well as competitors in all four senior events.

The highlight of the event will certainly be the senior men. We'll see a match-up between Yuzuru Hanyu, Denis Ten, and Nam Nguyen. We will also see Leslie Ip, Javier Raya, Sean Rabbitt, and Alexander Johnson, among others.

The next most exciting event at the Autumn Classic will be the pairs event. We'll get to see Meaghan Duhamel and Eric Radford as well as Hayleigh Bell and Rudi Sweigers (hopefully), Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan, Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran, and Jessica Pfund and Joshua Santillan.

The ladies event will feature Elizabet Tursynbayeva, Amber Glenn, and Angela Wang. Other skaters include Isadora Marie Williams, Netta Schreiber, Haruka Imai, and Tyler Pierce, among others.

The ice dance event will showcase the new team Nicole Orford and Asher Hill, as well as teams like Danielle Thomas and Daniel Eaton, and Andrèanne Poulin and Marc-Andrè Servant among others.

Though the Autumn Classic is a new event there are some high profile skaters attending. The season is off to a great start.

I'll be at the event on Wednesday and Thursday, and I'll be updating as I go.

Let me know in the comments below if you'll be there!

Thornhill Summer Skate: Up and Coming Young Skaters- Novice and Pre-Novice Ladies

Overall, the novice and pre-novice ladies are very promising. They are exactly what Canada needs right now, up and coming young female skaters who are not in pairs or ice dance. We all know those skaters are in short supply right now.

These girls do still have the same issues as the higher level skaters, and who can blame them? The focus with young skaters tends too much to be on jumps, improving those and those and those alone, and everything else seems to fall to the wayside.

Like most skaters, the girls have the jumps they need, they have the spins (which were surprisingly good this weekend, a pleasant surprise for me), but the basic skating skills that are the base of everything we do are missing.

Their step sequences lose all the flow they have in the rest of their programs, sometimes coming to a dead stop midway through. This stems, in part, from shallow edges and from stiff knees, but the biggest problem is a lack of time spent learning the skills. I know from experience that many skaters neglect skills when they first start skating, sometimes forever, and in some cases until they are successfully executing double jumps, rather than starting right away with the base skating skills they need.

Watching the warmups, I noticed great extension from almost all the skaters, and they are clearly very flexible, but when it comes to the performance, they don't use their extension or flexibility as much or as well as they can. There were quite a few spirals and camel spins with bent knees, which is an easy fix that improves the overall impression of the element and the program. I know they can do it, but during the performance, they don't have the confidence yet to extend their lines completely.

Another quick and easy fix that will improve the overall impression of the program is holding the end pose. Many of the girls were in and out of their end pose before the music had even finished. This leaves the audience and the judges with the impression that you don't want to be there, or that your skate went poorly and you are desperate to get off the ice. This is the last thing they see, and you don't want to leave a negative final impression.

Most of the issues these young skaters have comes down to confidence on the ice. With better confidence, they will lift their heads, straighten their backs, and stay on the ice and take their time with their bows, which will not only leave everyone with a more positive impression, but will also make most of their elements significantly easier.

Overall, I'm glad I saw all these young skaters perform, and I look forward to what we'll see from them in the future.

Grand Prix Announcements- Who's Going Where in 2015

The 2015 Grand Prix circuit is going to be full of exciting showdowns. Almost all of the grand prix assignments have been announced already.

One of the most exciting events will be the men's event at Skate Canada. Right away there is going to be a showdown between Yuzuru Hanyu and Patrick Chan. Skate Canada will be Chan's first major event in a long time.