#both times I watched skate Canada 2019

[gogogogolev]

2023 Autumn Classic International FS results, final results, and Stephen's protocol.

Ok this is really late my apologies.

Let's start with that costume. I was hoping to see Stephen in blue since he revealed it's his favourite colour. Have been wanting to see him in something ombré forever. I was actually telling my mom yesterday I wish he'd wear ombré as it would suit him so well. To get both in one costume? I was screaming. Thank you to whoever designed that.

Now the technical. First of all, big props to Stephen for not letting those early mistakes get to him. He held it together and kept going, and that is so important for his progress as an athlete. Full respect for that. In terms of that content I was surprised to see his Lutz come back from its exile. It was a nice one, and I think nailing that helped settle him down after the first fall.

The 4S in the second half looked good, and that 3F3A sequence was amazing. That's smart thinking, to put two of his best jumps together like that. And finally we have some variety in jump layout. He must have grown tired of the layouts he'd been doing for the past four years. Level 4 spins are always welcome. The choreography looks interesting and so different from last season. The crowd was clapping along to his step sequence, which is great. It was a level 2 but I'm sure with mileage it will improve.

It was the first time out with this program and it wasn't bad at all plus he managed to get a medal so I'll take that. I haven't had time to go through comments but what little I have seen suggests people like this program. Also a strange little fact: this is Stephen's first time winning bronze at an event. He did win a small bronze for the FS at 2019 Junior Worlds, but he's only ever won gold or silver otherwise. This is his first international senior medal and I'm just proud of him for picking himself up after last season and coming out here and making a statement. If you were writing him off after last season you should think twice.

Also shout out to the two MVPs with Stephen - Bruce and coach Lee Barkell. Bruce went to Montreal to watch Stephen and cheer him on, and has been supporting him online as well. I think you can even hear him in the crowd, and I'm sure his support buoyed Stephen. As I've stated previously Stephen's best skates in the past couple of years have come with Lee by his side. Stephen is a Californian now, but I hope he can continue to work with Lee and become more successful under his (occasional) tutelage.

Back in January 2022 when Stephen was forced to withdraw from Nationals I was going through it but was encouraged by the kind words of a coach (an acquaintance) who reassured me Stephen would be back. They were letting me know that Stephen would be selected for Junior Worlds without stating it outright, but I didn't comprehend that in my state of mind. I just calmed myself down by thinking about when he'd be back. At that time I told myself he would be here for 2022 SCI, 2023 Nationals, and also 2023 ACI. I'm glad to see that all worked out without any more withdrawals. Let's manifest more good things.

Stephen has now done a JGP, JGP Final, Grand Prix, and Challenger Series event within Canada. He's just got one international left to do here...and that's enough from me. :)

Way to go Stephen! Congratulations and looking forward to seeing more.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

4CC 2023 Men FS - Personal recap

I normally post this on @jennibeultimate but wrote it on the wrong acc 😅 anyway here you go

Catching up on 4CC Men right now.

Last group recap by order:

Shun was phenomenal! 👏👏👏Very well done! 4Lz!!! The free skate really is his strength this season! So happy for Shun! 🥳🥳🥳(now Shun only a bit work on steps and PCS and you'll can get on top) So cute in the leading corner not knowing what to do 😊 Congrats on the Bronze 🥉!

Jun is just amazing. Every time I see him I love him more! ❤️ Love this program, one of my favorites! It just wasn't his competition but he fought hard for everything! (Also one of the few 4CC champions that really tried to defend their title, last one was Boyang in 2019)

Welcome back Boyang! Missed you! What a fighter. 👏👏👏You can see him still not being 100% back on track, but it's a start. I am happy locating to a new training base is working out for him. 😊

Jimmy Ma is always enjoyable to watch, sadly he hardly ever gets it together in both segments of the competition. His SP was great and his FS sadly a disaster. Anyway he has come far for where he started years ago.

Keegan will be missed so dearly when he retires! 😭😭😭

Will I cry tears everytime now Keegan skates until his last comp? I think I will! What a loss this will be for Team Canada! Keegan proves that you can get better with age! He was brilliant! Magical! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ And what a perfect music and program for the last season of his career! What a fighter through out all these years! And what a score!!! ❗❗❗Medal at his last 4CC! Beyond happy for Keegan! 🥈

Kao the champion! 🥳🥳🥳🥳

Kao Miura is the discovery of the season for me! The speed is amazing, the jumps - just wow! And you will always get a bonus point from me for using Disney's Beauty and the Biest! @JSF And then you send your 4CC champion to JUNIOR Worlds???? You must be kidding me! (I mean Kao will win this without a doubt but what a step back for his phenomenal senior season!)

Some honorable mentions from the groups before:

Koshiro Shimada 's feel for the music is extraordinary. This program is such a joy. I think for the first major international competition it was fine. I hope to see him more often in big events in the future. (but on a sidenote it also proves that JSF did the right decision to not send him to Worlds, even when it's very cute that he said in the interview zone that he does better with his best friends around)

I also enjoyed both other Korean skaters Siyeong Lee (finally a good free skate!) and Jaeseok Kyeong. Jaeseok especially for the shining personality and fun he sparked on the ice. 👏👏👏

One thing I hope ISU considers next time is the high altitude for the skaters in Colorado Springs, especially when you have skaters competing there that don't have good training conditions daily and now way to get used to an environment like this. (not adressing the absolutely unnecessary and tone deaf comment from ISU's social media about it, did that in a separate post before)

This was fun to watch! Thank you!

[anewbeginningagain]

I think the core audience for skating shows outside of the Olympic seasons are general skating fans who are attending CSOI (or SOI) as a brand almost and will be happy to see whoever is put in front of them. Of course having a big name like VM or Nathan Chen in the US would bring more casual fans but I tend to think that the casting doesn’t matter a whole lot as the people who go every year won’t mind seeing the same folks over and over.

I was never a big Weapo fan when they skated competitively but they are a good show skating team. They tended to be strong in lifts and that plays well in the show programs. I’m sure the Canadanes would be excellent too and would love to see multiple dance teams rather than so-so singles skaters honestly.

That said, as long as CSOI is the dominant brand, it’s not likely another show will be able to supplant it. I mean even VM could only sell out one tour immediately following major viral success/fame. (I know the fandom likes to blame the drop in sales for RTR on personal drama, but the fact is that there isn’t a sufficient audience to support 2 tours annually, and CSOI was earlier in the year and the established brand — I went to both in 2019 and RTR was a far better show — better skaters, choreo, music etc., but it wasn’t enough. If anything, it shows what an anomaly the success of TYCT was.)

Maybe IAM needs to consider branching out to do more virtual shows or something?

I think most of the current line up are good show skaters including WeaPo (though I will say that having seen them during TTYCT I only enjoyed one of their programs), I just think that for many years SOI and CSOI truly gave representation to competing skaters and watching the current seasons where 90-95% of the CSOI line up have been (very) retired skaters just makes me sad for the current skaters, many of whom are some of the top in the world.

It is true that in North America there's barely room for skating shows in general, and only CSOI is barely surviving (emphasis on barely). TTYCT sold amazingly as well as CSOI 2018, both were close to sold out in many cities, but it makes perfect sense considering the success the Canadian delegation had in PyeongChang, they had a lineup completely made from World champions and Olympic medalists, it was incredible. RTR sold not as well but it also made sense and as you said it had nothing to do with made-up personal drama or how it was promoted, it was a tricky time in the year and skating is not as big and most of the lineup was international (which tbh was amazing and for me a much better line up) which also might have been tricky for some viewers. Either way, having successfully produced two tours probably showed TS that the market is limited and that it's more effort than it's worth and I totally not blame them for it.

Bottom line is that CSOI is basically the only remaining show in Canada and them having a lineup that is so disconnected from the current skating field just disappoints me.

[sunskate]

I will collect my thoughts a bit more but this was my first season watching skating, specifically ice dance, and how exciting it was!

My favorite programs definitely included both RD and FD for LaLa, Lolo and Nik’s FD, Kaitlyn and Jean Luc’s FD, both of CPom’s programs, Green/Parsons RD, and Piper and Paul’s Evita (I know it was unpopular, Broadway really gets me feeling things and I thought they did it well even if not super innovative or complex).

I liked Lily and Nathan’s programs, hope they can get a boost next year. And Miku and Tyler at Canadian Nationals made me emotional with their FD. There were other things that I grew to like in pieces, like some parts of Lilah and Lewis’s Gaga, Charlene and Marco’s FD music, Madi C’s outright star energy on ice. I guess I liked at least a small something from most teams. Maybe I’ll develop more of a critics lens as I keep watching the sport, but I think I just appreciated what these athletes did throughout the season on the whole.

Recently, loved Hannah and Ye! They did so well at World Team Trophy. Of the other juniors, I watched a few but mostly at IAMO with Scott Moir being the head coach of the school, but I really enjoyed Noah and Jordan’s FD and liked Layla and Alex’s as well (Broadway again, yes!)

Also in general I’ve been loving watching any and all BTS from IAM and IAMO. I��ve been reflecting on how important it is to have community in general, and particularly as adults when that more easily fades away, and I’m so happy to see the community of skaters who seem to truly support each other coming out of that school. I can’t wait to see what happens in the off season, I’m not sure how long I can wait for new programs, I can’t believe the whole summer has to come and go!

Thanks for being such a fun and informative source of information this season. Looking forward to more!

Aww I love this- thanks for sharing 🥰 i get critical sometimes and disappointed by judging shenanigans, but the teams themselves, anyone competing at the senior GP level is a highly accomplished and dedicated athlete, and some are beautiful performers and artists - it makes me really happy to watch. and seeing the talent in juniors and watching their progression is also❤️

have you watched Broadway RD season??? 2019-20 and 2020-21 both were Broadway/operetta/musicals. if you love Broadway, there were so many fun programs - Lolo and Nik’s Bonnie and Clyde was my favorite those seasons, but it was a good theme for variety. Skating ISU on youtube has entire RD events still up, like from 4CC and Europeans in 2020, which adds up to most of the top teams, though you might need a vpn. maybe you know all this, but if you didn’t, you might really like it☺️

i love the sense of community and kindness and friendship the skaters at the IAM schools have too - it makes the sport better when schools foster those values. you can feel the night and day difference in women’s skating this season compared to the Eteri years. the winning at all costs mentality was so toxic that it’s like the sun came out in their absence

we don’t have to wait for the whole summer to come and go🤗 there are summer competitions 🥳 the very first ones start end of June, just over 2 months from now. the first one with a good number of dance teams is often Lake Placid International end of July, and Skate Canada has been streaming its Next Gen development camp from July sectionals around the same time. and then JGPs start Aug 23 in Bangkok this year

[off-the-deep-end]

In another case of I-didn’t-like-it-the-first-time-through-but-I’ve-made-a-complete-180: actually, Origin is bangin’.

I like the music and how the program utilizes the music! It adds to the elements and the elements add to it!

This may be the first time I really appreciated how organic Yuzu’s jumps and spins feel. He doesn’t really telegraph them; they naturally flow from the music and steps before.

Ugh. So good.

[icevirtuemoir]

Hello! Since you’ve been following VM for a longer time, do you have any suggestions or playlists of their performances? I would love to see their evolution from young kids to successful olympians. Also, it would be nice if they did a documentary about them.

Hello! I also would love to see a documentary about their whole journey. That being said the CBC Roxanne documetary did a good job at capturing their prep for the 2017/18 season. There is also the tv show, but you have to take that whole thing with a grain of salt, a critical eye and a sense of humour.

As for recommendations, there are some links below the cut and for the 2014 onwards ones if you google it you'll find the best one available in your region. Depending on how much time you have, watching all these videos can easily kill a whole day. I would recommend watching at least one of each program and if you want a masterclass in pattern dances watch their CDs. If that's too much then here are my recommendations for hitting the best points of their competitive carrer with bolds being the ones you absolutely can't miss because the list was still very long:

1998 First competition | 2004 Canadians FD | 2005 Nationals FD | 2005 Junior Worlds Ex or 2006 Nationals Ex | 2006 Junior Worlds FD | 2007 Worlds OD | 2007 Worlds FD | 2008 Nationals FD | 2008 Worlds FD | 2009 Worlds FD | 2009 TEB Ex | 2010 Olympics CD | 2010 Olympics OD | 2010 Olympics FD | 2010 Olympics Ex | 2010 Worlds CD | 2011 Worlds SD | 2011 Worlds FD | 2012 Worlds SD | 2012 Worlds FD | 2012 Skate Canada FD | 2013 4CC SD | 2013 Worlds FD | 2014 GPF FD | 2014 Olympics SD | 2014 Olympics FD | 2014 Olympics Ex | 2016 Skate Canada RD | 2016 NHK FD | 2016 GPF RD | 2016 GPF FD | 2017 Nationals RD | 2017 Nationals FD | 2017 4CC FD | 2017 Worlds RD | 2017 Worlds FD | 2017 Skate Canada RD | 2017 GPF FD | 2018 Nationals RD | 2018 Nationals FD | 2018 Olympics RD | 2018 Olympics Team FD | 2018 Olympics RD | 2018 Olympics FD | 2018 Olympics Ex

Thankfully, the lovely @ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs made this amazing masterpost of all of Tessa and Scott's programs from 2003-2014. I did a quick check and all the links I tested still work! The quality for some of the older ones the quality is not great but the CBC recently uploaded their 2007 Worlds FD and 2008 Worlds FD in higher quality.

To add some content from pre-2003 that is not on that masterpost:

1998 - Their first competition ever

2000 - Ilderton skating show

2001 - Ilderton skating show (Grease (both), Tessa, Scott, Bows) and Pre-Novice National Championships

2002ish - Demonstrating a Pattern

2003 - JGP Slovakia OD, FD

If you want to watch through the evolution of Moulin Rouge I also found this post I made with links to all it's outings:

Post-2014 in the professional circuit they did so many shows and there are so many videos I can't link them all there but if you want to search them here are the program names (and the show if they're specific to a certain tour):

2014 - Top Hat and Tails, Into the Mystic, Try (Stars on Ice Canada)

2015 - How Will I Know, Good Kisser, Hip Hip Chin Chin (Stars on Ice Canada)

2016 - What's Love Got To Do With It, Sorry

2017 - Purple Rain

2018 - Long Time Running, Moulin Rouge, Shape of You (Stars on Ice Canada), Fields of Gold (Stars on Ice Canada), You Rock My World

There is also the 2018 Thank You Canada Tour and the 2019 Rock The RInk Tour which they produced and are worth watching in full!

[virtchandmoir]

Olympic champion Scott Moir back on the ice with new coaching gig

The Olympic athlete has been named head coach of the Ice Academy of Montreal's second campus in Ontario

February 11, 2021

Scott Moir, 33, has been named the head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal's second campus located in southwestern Ontario.  (Jordan Cowan/On Ice Perspectives)

After a 22-year career in ice dancing and winning five Olympic medals, Scott Moir says he ready to try new things. 

Three years removed from capturing the gold in Pyeongchang alongside longtime skating partner Tessa Virtue, the 33-year-old from Ilderton, Ont., is set on coaching the next generation of elite ice dancers.

Earlier this month, Moir was named head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal's (I.AM) second campus located in southwestern Ontario. 

"It's a huge honour," Moir told CBC News. "My goal is to make these athletes better and for them to thrive as humans and as athletes."

Moir is no stranger to I.AM. He and Virtue trained at the academy for the last two years of their careers under head coaches and founders of the Montreal campus, Patrice Lauzon, Marie-France Dubreuil and Romain Haguenauer, who led them to capturing their second Olympic gold medals in 2018. 

Scott Moir and Tessa Virture embrace their coaches Patrice Lauzon and Marie-France Dubreuil. The pair worked under Lauzon, Dubreuil and Romain Haguenauer for the final two years of their careers. (Sofia Rodriguez/CBC)

The transition into the new role seems like a natural fit. Since stepping away from the sport alongside Virtue in 2019, Moir said he still found himself dropping by at the local ice rink to help coach young athletes.

Moir said the partnership with I.AM came from a desire to give back to the local community and being able to offer them an elite service without having to leave Canada.

"I want to get back in the arena with these athletes and discover new ways to be extremely excellent. And I think that's what this journey is all about. The plan is to teach, but also to learn."  

"I want to get back on the international stage. I want to bring in Olympic champions to southwestern Ontario and I want it to be done the right way," Moir said, adding that he wants to ensure his athletes accomplish fulfilment both on and off the ice.

"The way that Patrice, Marie-France and Romain saw [Tessa and I] as human beings, they respected that and pushed us to be our best not only on the ice, but off the ice. It had a long lasting effect on my life, so I want to be able to do that."

Moir's new position has already caught the attention of high-profile athletes. On Monday, it was confirmed that U.S. ice dancers and two-time World Junior medallists Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko will be training under Moir's supervision at I. AM.

Virtue and Moir announced they were stepping away from the sport in 2019 after 22 years and numerous Olympic and world titles. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images/File)

This new chapter in Moir's career comes after spending 22 years with a professional partner. Moir and Virtue were paired up in 1997 at ages nine and seven, respectively. Moir said he won't be taking on this task alone, adding that he'll be working alongside a team of other coaches, including his mother Alma and his aunt Carol.

As for a future collaboration with Virtue, Moir said the possibility is always on the table.

"I don't want to get people too excited, but she had talked about what it would be like to come back inside the rink and I want to make sure that that's always available to Tessa Virtue."

"Watching Tessa and Marie-France create our last couple of programs together with Sam Chouinard, I was really in the front row of genius happening. So anytime that I can get her back in the arena, I'm going to do that."

Virtue is in the midst of obtaining an Executive MBA at Queens University. The 31-year-old from London, Ont., has also partnered up with brands, including Nivea, Adidas, The Brick and Kashi all while continuing to empower young women.

"We look back at these crazy, young kids, but we always were on the same page and I think now our relationship is at a really beautiful point where we're starting to figure out where each other wants to go and we're really just cheering each other on," Moir said.

—CBC

[toplinetommy]

You Bring the Moon and Stars to Me (Part Five) - Tyson Jost

Synopsis: A Soulmate!AU where your soulmark only appears once you fall in love with your soulmate

Words: 7.3k

Warnings: mentions of injury

a/n:  type of injury is purely speculation since the details were never released, also his injury happened at an away game but for the sake of the story let’s pretend it was a home game. im thinking there will be 3 more parts but dont quote me on that and ofc feedback is always welcome, i hope you enjoy! 

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

January 2019 - Loveland, CO

It was like the second you had Tyson back, he was gone again. The day they got back from their Eastern Canada road trip, he was on his way to Loveland to start working with the Eagles. He hadn’t been able to spend much time with you, his schedule being just as hectic as always. Especially with the additions of the extra workouts Tyson had started to partake in. You rarely saw his car in the driveway of the Rookie House when you were over at Caitlyn and Jack’s.

His hair had been extra messy the last night you saw him the day he went back down to Loveland for the first time this season. You assumed it was due to his hands continuously pulling at it from being stuck in his head about his new playing situation. Since then, the image of your best friend being down in the dumps hadn’t left your mind. Throughout the time of knowing Tyson, you only really knew him as the cheery guy with a smile on his face 24/7. He was the most strong-willed person you had ever known.

A week and a half later and he still hadn’t seen any NHL ice time, still working his ass off at the AHL level to earn his roster spot back. You’re sitting in one of the many conference rooms at your office, listening to an executive give their monthly project updates when your phone rings. You see Tyson’s face covering your screen, begging to answer his FaceTime. You hit the lock button on your phone, stopping the vibrations, and turn your phone over, turning your attention back to the presentation in front of you. 

The vibration stops momentarily before it starts again, to which you ignore. The third time your phone rings, you know it must be important, so you excuse yourself as you push out of your rolling chair and leave the room.

As you slide to answer, Tyson’s face pops up onto the screen. His hair is wet and the lighting is terrible, so you assume he had just showered at the practice facility.

“What did you need? I was in a meeting.”

“Sorry, I’ll be quick. I know I was supposed to come over to your place later for my pre-game meal but I’m really tired,” He whines.

“And you couldn’t have just texted me that?” You ask a sharp bite to your tone. He knew you worked the third Saturday of every month. He had even admitted to you one time that he’d check your Snapchat location to see where you were when you weren’t answering, so you were even more confused when he called not once, but three times.

“I need a favor, I’m gonna take a nap on one of the guy’s couches. Can you bring me my game-day suit?”

“Sure, just text me the time you need it by and the address,” You agree. “I really need to go, though, so I’ll text you later.”

“Thank you, Y/n! Love you.”

You spit out a quick ‘love you’ before hanging up and shoving your phone into your dress pants pocket before walking back into the meeting and apologizing about the disruption.

You park your car in Caitlyn’s driveway before making a bee-line across the street towards the Rookie House. You lift your hand to knock on the door before you remember Tyson telling you that no one was home and you needed to find the spare key. You jog down the stairs to his bedroom in search of his game-day suit. 

You look on his bed, which is a mess and un-made, causing you to roll your eyes, not seeing the suit he said he had laid out this morning when he left for practice. You move to his closet, hoping to see a suit in the front that had been previously picked out, but still no luck.

Instead of shooting him a text or calling him to ask where it is, you let your hands slowly pass over the multiple blazers he has hanging up. Your hand lands on a navy blue blazer with slightly exaggerated lapels, being unfamiliar with it you pull it out. Granted, you rarely say Tyson in suits, and even when you did you always noticed his love for different shades of grey. You smile to yourself as you pull it out and lay it over the bed smoothly before going back to his closet to find a dress-shirt to match.

A few minutes later you have a white-shirt with small polka dots on it picked out with his navy suit. Alongside that, you picked out his brown belt and grabbed his brown dress shoes, and started looking for a pair of socks. You pull open all of his drawers, finally finding the one that holds his socks and you end grabbing a pair of simple grey ones.

You set the suit and shoes in the back seat of your car once your back at Caitlyn’s before she’s walking out in a Colorado crewneck and jumping into your passenger seat.

“Can you look for a place we can get dinner after I drop this off to Tyson?” You ask of her as she buckled her seatbelt and you back out of her driveway. The two of you make banter and eventually find a wing place to eat as you drive down the highway to Loveland. 

Once you arrive at the apartment Tyson had texted you the address of, you’re climbing up the stairs to the front door, suit, and shoes in hand, before rapping at the door. You kind of knew you were cutting it close with his suit delivery, so you were anxiously tapping your foot as you waited for the door to swing open.

Tyson opens the door a tired look on his face as he’s taking a bite of what you see is a home-made sandwich. “You’re a lifesaver.” He groans, stepping to the side to let you in.

“It’s not a problem,” You assure, folding over the suit over the tops of your arms. “Here’s your suit.”

“Where’s the one I had laid out?” He asked confused as he reaches for your outstretched arms to take his clothes from you. You knit your eyebrows in confusion as you think back to how you didn’t see a suit set out anywhere in his room.

“There was no suit laid out in your room, which is a mess by the way,” You point out quickly. “So I just picked one out from your closet, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Thank you,” Tyson smiles, rubbing his thumbs over the lapel of the blazer. The image of you browsing through his closet popped into his mind, a rather domestic image that caused his smile to grow wider. The thought of you doing that without being asked to caused butterflies to slight erupt in his stomach and his cheek started to heat up with the thoughts racing through his mind.

“I think you need some new socks, all of them were so boring.” Tyson laughs at your statement. “Get some striped ones or ones with polka dots, I don’t know, just not plain grey and black ones.”

He nods his heads stifling a laugh at your odd request before the owner of the apartment appears from a hallway in his suit. Tyson quickly introduces the two of you before he’s pushing you out the door so he can get dressed and head to the game. As you turn your body to head back to your car, Tyson stops you.

“I have exciting news before you go.”

“Yeah?”

“This is my last game,” He beams, his eyes squinting from how wide his smile is. “I’m playing against Vancouver after the all-star break in a few days.”

You shriek at the news your best friend is sharing with you, “Oh my God! That’s amazing!” You open your arms welcoming Tyson in a congratulatory hug. “Told you you were a superstar,” you whisper as you pull away. The two of you share a soft look before you finally let go of your friend saying you’ll see him later.

You and Caitlyn are sitting in the lower bowl of the Budweiser Event Center, enjoying your beers and each other’s company while also focusing on the two teams in front of you. The both of you had agreed how nice it was to be back at a hockey game, both of you not being able to attend any in a little over a month with how busy you were. It was especially nice seeing Tyson play, you could see the jump in his body as he floated around the ice seamlessly.

It’s late in the game when it happens. Tyson’s skating down the far half-wall about to cross the blue line to enter the zone with the puck when an opposing player plows through his lonesome figure, sending him into the wall with a very loud thud. You gasp, leaning forward in your seat and reaching out for Caitlyn’s hand. You watch him as he stands up, grateful for the fact that he’s even able to do that quickly given the harshness of the hit, but watch him as he skates away back to the bench slowly.

He immediately walks down the tunnel to the locker rooms and you lean in your seat further, bringing your free hand to your face to bite on your cuticles out of nervousness. Caitlyn squeezing your hand combined with the loud voice over the arena speakers announcing the penalties brings you back down to earth. Your fingers stay at your lips for a moment longer until the sudden urge to scratch at your elbow envelops your mind.

“Hey, he’s probably fine and just got the wind knocked out of him.” Caitlyn reasons. You both know she has no idea what she’s talking about, but the thought behind it is welcomed. The remainder of the game feels like a lifetime as you anxiously check your phone for texts from Tyson, tweets from the team, anything that may give you insight on what’s happened.

At the same time as the final buzzer sounding throughout the arena, your phone vibrates in your hand where you’re holding it tightly. A text from Tyson pops up.

Tyson: im okay

Tyson: sorry it took so long to text you i was going through concussion protocol

Y/N: so you’re fine?!

Tyson: no

Tyson: i have a concussion

You groan at the response, showing Caitlyn your conversation before typing out a response saying you’ll meet him by the locker room shortly.

Tyson emerges from the locker room, holding an ice pack to his left shoulder. Upon seeing the ice pack, your shoulders drop out of sympathy for him and you feel a pang in your chest. As he approaches you, head down to avoid the bright, white, LED lights in the hallway, you let out a low ‘Tyson’.

“Hey.”

“You said you just got a concussion,” you point to the icepack on his shoulder.

“It just hurts.” He winces, eyebrows knitting in pain. You give him a side-hug, careful to not aggravate his shoulder.

“I, uh, I’m going to need a ride back to Denver,” Tyson starts. “I can’t drive.”

You rub his good shoulder, trying to comfort him as you look back towards Caitlyn. “Can you drive my car home and I’ll drive his car home? You can just park it at your house.”

Caitlyn agrees, the three of you walking out to the parking garage making small talk before you go your separate ways. The hour-long drive is spent in quiet, Tyson leaning his head against the window with his eyes closed for the most of it. He only lifts his head when he feels the car drive over the junction between the black asphalt of the street and the concrete of his driveway.

The two of you walk into his home, him instantly making way down the stairs to his bedroom while you opt to go to the kitchen to get the both of you glasses of water. Another few moments pass before you decide to venture down to his room.

He’s in the dark, only his bathroom light illuminating his vast bedroom. He’s laying on his back in the middle of the bed, his legs dangling off the edge. He groans a little at the noise of your feet padding along the hardwood before sitting up and leaning back on his hands. 

“You feeling okay?” You ask, moving to sit down next to him and hand him the other glass of water.

“I’m fine,” He mumbles and you know he’s just processing the injury and everything going on with his career so you stay quiet, letting him be the one to decide when to speak. Instead, you too lean back on your hands, resting yours right next to Tyson’s, pinkies touching. His hand flinches at the touch but he doesn’t move away.

“I just can’t catch a break it seems,” He breathes out barely above a whisper. He lays back onto the bed, falling into the fluffy comforter and rubs his face with hands. 

“Tys,” you drag out. You twist your body around, tucking your legs underneath you on the bed to face him. There’s a pull in your body that wants you to reach out and move his hands from his face or even put a reassuring hand on his thigh but something in you stops you. “Things like this happen to everyone, you just have to get healthy and play just like you were when you got the call saying you were going back to the Avs.”

“But if I would’ve just been skating with my head up I could’ve avoided the hit.”

“That guy absolutely blew into you, I don’t think much would’ve stopped him from doing that. It was a dirty hit and he knows it.”

Tyson mumbles out an ‘I guess’ before sitting up abruptly with a groan. “You want ice cream? I want ice cream.” He decides, standing up and reaching out for you. You grab his hand, standing up from his couch and following him up the stairs to the kitchen. 

“I didn’t think you health nuts even knew what ice cream was.” You joke, trying to lighten the mood. Throughout the whole time you knew Tyson and his roommates, the most unhealthy thing you had seen them eat were chocolate almond butter cups and those were from Whole Foods so it barely counted as junk food in your eyes. Tyson pulls out a pint of ice cream and you look to inspect it, noting the words ‘dairy-free’ on it. 

You roll your eyes, “I take that back because of course you have the ice cream that’s considered healthy.”

Tyson laughs at you as he grabs two spoons from the drawer across the kitchen from you. He smiles instead of responding right away, and your face mirrors him, a large smile now playing at your lips. 

He places the two spoons on the island next to the pint, going to the edge of the kitchen and turning the light off so the only light in the kitchen is the light from the entryway and the light on off the back door creeping through the large kitchen windows. Tyson takes a seat next to you on the barstool opening the ice cream and digging his spoon in. 

The two of you eat the first few bites in silence before Tyson sticks his spoon into the pint one last time. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

“Of course, I do have one request though.” You start, Tyson raising his eyebrows in curiosity. “Can I help pick out your suits more often? That was fun.”

“That just means me bugging you more about my colorblindness, ya know.” He jokes. “But, I’ll take it.” 

“I think you need to incorporate more prints into your closet, all of your suits are so plain.”

“I have two striped ones, what are you talking about?” He asks incredulously with a laugh.

You put your spoon in your mouth, eating the bit of soupy ice cream that’s still left. As you chew you mentally go through his closet. “Yeah, but you need some plaids and checks.”

“We’ll see about that.” 

You laugh at his inability to stray away from solids, even though you’ve seen him in some crazy printed t-shirts before. You dig your spoon in the ice cream for one more bite before clasping the lid back on. Tyson moves to put it back in the freezer, but you stop him and do it yourself, also placing the two spoons in the dishwasher. 

“So, what’s next?” You ask, talking about the next steps of his concussion injury and training. 

Tyson leans back in his chair, running one of his hands through the hair on the back of his head. “Pretty much just rest until it goes away, then play some more in Loveland, then hopefully get the call to come back to Denver full-time.”

You watch him as he speaks from across the kitchen, focused on the softness and uncertainty in his voice. He was not only in physical pain from the hit a few hours prior, but also clearly mentally beating himself up. Tyson was one of the hardest workers you had ever met. He was someone that went to practice early and stayed late if it meant more ice-time and reps, someone that put in those extra miles on his morning runs, someone that watched and studied game-tape until his eyes were strained from the blue light of the screen. Knowing how hard he worked day in and day out only made your heart ache more at the circumstances the brunette found himself in.

You walk quietly over back to Tyson, standing next to him where he’s sitting. He turns around to gaze up at your face before you begin speaking.

“You’re the hardest worker I know, I believe in you.”

Tyson, in a moment of both vulnerability and bravery, lens his head forward and rests his head on your chest. You’re surprised by his actions and your movements are stuttered before you wrap your arms around his neck and run a hand through his curls. He lets out a hum, his eyes fluttering shut at the newfound comfort you’re giving him. 

The two of you stand for a few more moments, reveling in the contact and the quietness surround you due to the late night and emptiness of the home. Your eyes glance to the clock, noting how late it’s gotten. You want to pull away to tell him you should head home soon, your breathing starting to slow due to being tired. Your early work morning combined with the whirlwind events that happened over the past two hours pushed your mind to the point of exhaustion. 

However, you don’t move away, knowing this is what your best friend needs most right now. The feeling of comfort and being with someone that knew him as deeply as you did being something he desperately needed. An itch on your elbow pulls you out of your thoughts and Tyson whines when you slightly pull away to scratch at it, to which you chuckle.

“I had an itch,” You pause, leaning back away from Tyson so he has to sit up straight. “And besides, it’s starting to get late. I should head home soon.”

Tyson doesn’t whine again but slouches his shoulders and puffs out his lower lip, giving you a puppy dog look that you haven’t seen much when he’s sober. “Please stay.”

The request surprises you. Sure, the two of you are insanely close, but the two of you never really had sleepovers due to your schedules and only ever stayed over on drunken nights when it was an easy decision to make. Come to think of it, the last time you guys even slept in the same house was before you dated Aiden, when you shared a hotel room at the Landeskog wedding.

You contemplate the thought, being one that usually didn’t mind driving home at the late hours of the night. His eyes were puffy, a sure sign from how tired he’s been lately, the scrape underneath it from his visor bright red, and his overall aura was screaming please, so you give in. “I need sweatpants then.” you motion to the jeans adorning your legs and he jumps up.

“You got it.”

You follow him down the stairs back to his bedroom and watch him move around his room, cleaning up some of the mess and tossing you a pair of sweats.

Once you reemerge from the ensuite bathroom, you see Tyson laying down in bed, covers up to his armpits. He turns his head towards you then pats the emptiness beside him, gesturing for you to lay down. He’s got this dopey look on your face that melts your heart and you smile, holding your jeans to your chest tightly.

“I can sleep on the couch, it really isn’t a big deal.”

“It isn’t but why sleep on the couch when there’s a perfectly comfy spot for you in a bed?” He jokes. You can barely see his facial features now that you’ve turned the bathroom light off and you flip the flashlight on on your phone, being careful not to shine it towards his face. You smile nervously as you set your jeans down by your shoes at the foot of the bed and carefully climb into bed next to him.

“Maybe leave a little room for a girl, jeez,” You comment, trying to maneuver around Tyson’s sprawled out body. You miss the way he rolls his eyes as he dramatically pulls his body into a plank-like position. You set your phone down on the dresser next to you before getting comfortable despite the anxiety you’re starting to feel. Your stomach shouldn’t be in knots right now, should it?

“I know I said it before, but I really appreciate you coming tonight.” Tyson starts, sighing out a large breath of air. He’s twiddling his fingers in front of him, occasionally bringing them to his lips to bite on his hangnails. “It means a lot having someone by my side through all of this. It can be hard talking to Kerfy and JT sometimes.”

You turn your body to face him, still leaving a substantial amount of space between the two of you in the expanse of his king-sized bed. “That’s what best friends are for, Tys. Don’t ever hesitate to talk to me. It can be about anything, hockey, family, music, whatever you want and I’ll listen. Just know that you can talk to JT and Alexander too, they’ve been in your shoes being in the AHL and they just want to see you back with them just as much as the rest of us. Well, maybe not more than your family and me. We’re your biggest fans.”

“Biggest fans, eh?” he quirks an eyebrow up.

“Yeah, didn’t you know? We’re all in a group chat and it’s called Tyson Jost’s Fan Club. We just send pictures of you back and forth.” You joke, causing a loud, boisterous laugh to escape from Tyson’s mouth.

“You’ve never even talked to any of them besides my Grandpa, shut up.” He lets out once he’s calmed down from laughing, a loud yawn following.

“We should go to sleep, it’s been an exhausting day for both of us.”

“But I’ve missed talking to you.” He admits. And honestly, the statement has you thinking. This probably is the most time the two of you have spent alone together in months, so you give in and talk with him about anything and everything until he suddenly stops responding and you see his mouth droop open with heavy breaths of air coming out.

Sleep didn’t find you as easily, though, as you gazed at your best friend across the bed, thoughts consumed your brain. The two of you had nowhere near a physically affectionate friendship and all of the small touches and long gazes that happened throughout the day have a smile forming on your lips as you continue to look at the brunette in front of you. Yeah, the two of you laid soft touches on the other but it was usually when you had alcohol in your system or when you were especially tired. The look he gave you in the kitchen moments prior is what stuck with you as you drifted off to sleep.

The next few days for Tyson were spent just like that night. You would go over there after work and stay until you headed home later that night. As the days passed those late-night drives were spent with more and more yawns but it was worth it if it meant seeing Tyson and keeping him company. 

That was until today. You had gotten behind on your project at work from being at Tyson’s so much recently so you had told him last night when you left his house that you’d see him in a few days. As your phone rang during your lunch break with Tyson’s face filling the screen, you should’ve known what he was about to say was coming.

“Please come over later, I’m going insane being by myself. The guys don’t get back from the all-star break until Friday and I can’t look at any screen or sleep because of my concussion so I need you to entertain me.” Tyson rushes out. 

“Aren’t you supposed to see the team doctors today?” You ask confusedly. It was barely 1:30 in the afternoon so you thought he would be at the training facility still.

“I already did, I still have a concussion,” Tyson confirms. “I just have to go back every other day to get checked. They said it’s looking better and it’s less serious than they thought which is good.”

“Yeah, that’s good,” you nod. You really do want to see him later, getting used to seeing him every day for the past few days. Part of you knows that one day won’t hurt either of you and that you know you’ll just be at his place tomorrow, but something in your mind is telling you to go over there after work. “If I come over later, I’m bringing my laptop, I need to get some stuff done to prepare for a meeting I have on Thursday.”

“That’s fine, I’ll order us food even, as a thank you.”

You want to argue with him, not wanting him to spend his money on you but the two of you have had that conversation a hundred different times all ending with the same result. You usually said you made ‘big girl’ money and were proud of it to which he said he was proud too, but he also made ‘big boy’ money and had enough leftover to comfortably spend it on his closest friends. 

“Sounds perfect,” You smile. “My lunch break is about to end, so I have to go but I’ll text you when I leave later.”

Tyson says goodbye and the rest of your workday flies by and next thing you know, you’re pulling your car into Tyson’s driveway. You see the garage open so you walk thought it, closing it as you enter the door inside. Once your dinner is consumed the two of you migrate to the living room couch where you pull your laptop on your lap to start working on your meeting notes.

“What’re you doing?” Tyson inquires, leaning towards you to get a better look at your screen.

“I have a meeting to kick-off a project later this week so I’m just making sure I have all of my notes done.” You explain, typing away at the keyboard. “It’s a bigger one, so there are a lot more steps and handoffs and stuff you might not understand.”

“No, tell me, I wanna know.” He urges, scootching his body closer to yours so your thighs touch. As he stops moving, you think of how easy it would to just fall into him and rest your head against the broadness of his chest. You focus more on the screen in front of you, dimming the brightness so it doesn’t hurt Tyson’s eyes and explain it to him. Before long, his head plops onto your shoulder, snores escaping his slightly ajar mouth. You gaze at him, noticing the cut that was once bright red on his cheekbone is now just a scratch and you reach out to run your finger over it. He stirs at the touch, and you freeze out of panic before focusing back on your laptop and continuing to work. 

The stillness around you makes your eyes start to droop and you slowly start to slouch more and more on the couch before resting your head atop Tyson’s and joining him in sleep. 

Your phone ringing on full-volume next to you pulls you from your sleep. You see Caitlyn’s name as you grab it and slide to answer the phone.

“Are you still at Tyson’s? I was closing my garage and saw your car across the street.” She asked in way of a greeting.

“Uh, yeah, we fell asleep.” You say, voice groggy and laced with sleep. You open your eyes more, looking to Tyson’s still sleeping figure and noticing the movement the two of you have made. His head isn’t on your shoulder anymore, as it fell in his sleep to use your chest as a cushion. His hand that’s closer to you is draped across your thigh the other outstretched along the couch. “What time is it?”

“Almost 10:30. Wait, what do you mean we? Like, you and Tyson sleeping together?” She asks, almost in a shriek-like voice. Your body jumps awake at the notification of how late it’s gotten, Tyson sliding off your body from the movement.

“I was working and he fell asleep next, well on me, and then I fell asleep. Shit, I didn’t think I’d fall asleep for this long.” You curse. Tyson stirs next to you, slowing opening his eyes and groaning at the disruption in sleep. “I gotta go though, I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

“Who was that?” 

“Caitlyn, she was confused since she saw that my car was still here.” You respond, sitting further up and moving your laptop to the coffee table in front of you. Tyson looks at his phone checking the time before letting a ‘holy shit’ seeing that it’s also pitch black outside.

“I’m gonna head out soon, I think.”

“You can stay, ya know.” 

“Yeah, I know, but I don’t have any of my work stuff for tomorrow and I don’t want to have to rush around in the morning.” You explain, rubbing your hands along your thighs. You lean forward, pushing a hand through your hair to fix the mess that was caused from your nap and stand up. He sits up further on the couch before joining you in standing, a loud sigh coming from his mouth.

“I’ll still see you tomorrow though, eh?” He checks.

“Yes, I just have to make sure my work is all done since I clearly didn’t get much done here.” You laugh. He follows you to the front door of his house, unlocking and opening it for you. Once your coat is slipped on you open your arms to hug him, “Such a gentleman.”

“For you? Always” He jokes cheekily. You smile at the comment before pulling back, but Tyson doesn’t let go of you so easily. You look up at him, then back to your feet, then back up to Tyson once more.

“Okay, I really gotta go,” You yawn.

Instead of letting you go, Tyson moves one of his hands from around your shoulders to the back of your head and pulling you into him. His lips land on the curve of your forehead before he whispers out a bye. You smile and close your eyes in content at the gesture, before you walk down the sidewalk to your car, turning once to wave to your best friend. The smile didn’t leave your face the entire drive home, and you honestly probably fell asleep with the same glee-filled smile plastered onto your face thinking of the new addition of the physicality of your friendship and how you could really get used it.

February 2019 - Denver, CO

“Do you want to go get lunch together? I haven’t eaten out for lunch in so long.” Caitlyn asks, barging through your office door. You peer up at your friend, abandoning the email you’re working on in front of you.

“I actually have lunch plans with Tyson, we’re getting poke.” A slight frown playing at your lips, as you decline her offer. “What about margs sometime this week? It can be a girl’s night.”

She smiles at your suggestion nodding her head, “That sounds perfect! Do you want to go out for them or stay in?”

“Hmm,” you hum. “Let’s go out tomorrow? Taco Tuesday at Aztecas?”

“Ooo, yes! Meet there at 7?” She asks, moving further into your office and sitting in the chair on the opposite side of your desk. you nod your head in agreement, turning your focus into the computer screen in front of you again. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him haven’t you?”

“Who?” You ask, directing your attention back to her from where you started typing at your computer again. 

“Tyson.”

“Oh, yeah.” You say, quickly typing out the details of your email so you can focus on your coworker in front of you. “I guess we kinda have. When he got his concussion two weeks ago I was one of the few people that were in town with the timing of it all and stuff.”

“Every time I looked out my window, your car was in his driveway.” She notes, eyebrow quirked. 

“I would just go there, like, right after work and then I’d leave when I wanted to go to bed. We would just get food and hang out, just like we used to.”

“You mean like back before you had a boyfriend?” She asks. “Like last season when you guys were always getting dinner together or like all summer when he was constantly calling you?”

As Caitlyn concludes her questions, you lean back in your office chair thinking back on the past few months. You hadn’t really paid attention to your new habits with Tyson, but you were spending way more time with him than usual, but you just thought it was the extra free time the both of you have had lately. When you were with Aiden you only saw Tyson maybe once a week and most times it was in a group setting.

“I guess, yeah.” You smile. You had thoroughly been enjoying all the time you spent with him lately, all the laughter and banter was welcomed and the two of you knew exactly what to do to annoy the other one without ever crossing a line. “Do you think we were touchy before, me and Tys?”

Caitlyn crosses one leg over the other, “I don’t think so? Like you guys were just always with one another when we were in groups. When you were drunk, though? That’s another story.”

With Caitlyn answering the question the way she did, you knew you had to address the newfound physicality and affection between you and Tyson. Before you can get into more detail on why you chose to bring that up Caitlyn asks you,

“Have you guys been more touchy lately?” 

“We take naps together now, which is like, kind of a lot in a way? I don’t know,” You stop yourself, taking a deep breath as you try to gather your words to describe the feeling. “You know me, I don’t take naps but it’s like, we’ll be watching tv or something and he’ll just fall asleep and it’s not like he’s on the other side of the couch, Caitlyn. He’s right next to me and then he’s asleep with half his body weight on me and the feeling like, lulls me to sleep and we’ll wake up in the same position and not talk about it.”

Caitlyn watches you as you avoid her gaze as you talk, unsure of what she’s going to say about the new information. Especially when she was the one friend you had that really made you dig deeper as to why you felt certain things. The two of you hadn’t spent much time together outside of work lately, with her and Jack living together and you spending so much time with Tyson after his concussion.

“I also spent the night when he got hurt, like, as in I spent the night in his bed.”

“What?” She exclaims, jumping forward to the edge of her seat. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Nothing happened,” You assure with a chuckle. “We fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed and woke up that way.” You think back to that night and how when you woke up, you would’ve assumed the two of you would’ve moved positions throughout the night, but you somehow didn’t and woke up face away from him, back inches away from his. 

“How do you feel about those changes in your guys’ friendship?” 

“I think I like it. Part of me kinda thinks I just like the extra attention I’m getting, but the other part just thinks that’s just how we are now, ya know?”

“I see what you mean about the just liking the extra attention part, but I think it’s just how you guys are. Even if the two of you weren’t being physically affectionate through your friendship, the two of you were still affectionate in other ways.”

What she says makes sense, as you think about all the small quirks your friendship consisted of. He was always getting you refills at parties and the bar, offering to be the one that drove, grocery shopping together, while you helped make sure he kept his room clean and urged to him to let loose with you every once in a while. He kept you young while you grounded him. 

“All I know is that I haven’t even realized how much time I’ve been spending with him lately, which I’m really grateful for.” You smile softly. “He’s actually gonna be playing again in a few days I think.” 

The two of you continue talking about Tyson being able to return to the team and solidify your plans for tacos and margs tomorrow before she’s bouncing out of your office.

A few days later, Tyson was thankfully cleared to play again. Spending the first few days back in Loveland before getting the call to return to Denver. A call you hoped, primarily for Tyson’s sake, that was a more-permanent decision the coaching staff had made. You hadn’t seen him much in those few days, letting him get acclimated to the pace of the NHL once again. 

The three of you settle into your seats, feeling at ease from being back at the Pepsi Center for the first time since Tyson’s call-up. This time, however, you didn’t complain when Tyson offered to get the three of you tickets. You all hadn’t been able to go to any of the other games since Tyson’s call-up due to work events, Valentine’s Day, and your mom’s birthday, but as Tyson said the date didn’t matter as long as you’d come to one sooner rather than later.

It happens fast, you look from Caitlyn next to you to the ice in front of you due to an increase in cheering and you watch as Tyson catches as a pass on the edge of his blade before slapping a one-timer at the goal from the slot, goal horn sounding as the puck passes the goal line. You jump, arms thrusting in the air and loudly cheering ‘that’s my fucking best friend’ into the expanse of the crowd.

The next two periods flew by, Varlamov getting the shutout while Calvert and Agozzino added to the scoresheet. You all head out, walking towards the parking garage down the street you parked out as you send a great goal text to Tyson and telling him to call you when he gets a chance. 

An hour later, when you’re back in you’re apartment getting your stuff ready for your workday tomorrow, your phone finally rings, notifying you of an incoming call from Tyson. When the facetime call connects, you see him, a wide-smile and wet curly hair all over the place.

“Hey! Great game!” You exclaim, the happiness behind your words coming though with the wide smile that’s filling your face.

“Thank you! I’m glad you guys were able to catch this game.” He smiles. His phone is shaking from him walking around his house, as you watch the background change from his kitchen to the stairwell to his bedroom before he’s plopping down onto his bed. “It was so good to score, y/n, I want to bottle that feeling.” 

His eyes twinkle in the dim lighting of his room as he speaks, the sight of it making you feel more than elated for your best friend. “I’m really proud of you, I know I tell you that a lot, but you deserve feeling that way all the time, Tys.” You say softly, voice laced with sincerity. 

“I just have to continue to play the way I did tonight, and then there’ll be no doubt I’m supposed to on the roster. I know my roster spot isn’t a given any night and it never will be, but I want everyone to be confident in the decision to put me in the line-up every night.” He rambles. As he speaks you’re making your way to your bathroom, ready to start your nightly routine. 

You set your phone against your mirror as you put your hair into a low bun before grabbing a washcloth to wash your face. He starts talking your ears off about how happy he is to be back with the guys and the team chemistry as you finish getting ready for bed. You miss the way he looks at you as you brush your teeth since you’re too focused on the movements of your actions, but what you don’t miss is the ding on your phone with a new text message. 

Once you’re done spitting out your excess toothpaste and wiping your mouth, you grab your phone and head to your bed before looking at the message. “Tyson, what did you just send me we’re literally on the phone.” You laugh before fully opening the text and seeing the picture attached. It’s a screenshot from your call taken only a few minutes ago. Tyson’s dark smiling face in the top right corner while your face fills out the screen. At first glance, it looks like an accidental screenshot but with closer examination as well as Tyson’s muffled laughs on the line, you see the toothpaste dribbling down your chin and your eyebrows are knitted with determination.

You groan loudly as you swipe back to your FaceTime call, “Tyson, I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You don’t know that, maybe I’ll just hang up and stop coming to your games” you stick your tongue out. 

“No!” Tyson interrupts. “You have to at least come to my games, you’re my good luck charm now.” He pouts, mouth quivering from trying not to smile.

“Fine.” You huff, a smile cracking on your lips. The two of you talk for a little while longer, both in bed, eyes drooping and words slurred with sleep. You’re not sure when you fall asleep and you’re more unsure if you even hang up your call before you’re snoring.  

You end up going to his next game two days later against Winnipeg, where he scored once again and recorded two assists. After that performance, he continued to insist that you were his lucky charm, to which you laughed and brushed off the comment.

tag list: @reavenedges-lies​ @oilers2997​ (let me know if you wanted to be added!)

[striveattemptfail]

Football Vs. Husband: Which Do You Know Better? | Zimbits ft. Tater, G, 1.8k

Summary: Bitty gets quizzed on two of his favourite things: Jack and...... football?

Based on the Buzzfeed video of the same name. Takes place sometime in Sept-Oct 2019. Minor spoilers for 4.25 Faber and 4.26 Check, Please! (If you can call em spoilers LOL.)

Read on Ao3

A/N: Fun fact: At the time I wrote this (2017), it was set in the “future” (2019), but now that year is literally the past for us hahahahahahskfjasldfjasldfjklaskdfj. In the fic summary I say “minor spoilers” because what I originally wrote as wish fulfillment in 2017 became canon in 2020.

Anyway, this is a near verbatim copy of Ned Fulmer getting quizzed on his wife vs football—like fr some of the dialogue is exactly the same LOL. Thanks to @smol0ctopus​ for the beta and the omg stream! please server for advice!<3 Any other mistakes are mine.

YouTube transcript of Football Vs. Husband (Check, Please! #151: A Falconers Special!) [Descriptive captions by biittyyreciipees, airhockeycanbeviolent, and f4lcsboy: Check, Please! Captioning Team]

Eric Hey, y’all! Didja miss me? Because I sure did miss you! Now, today’s video is a lil special. Y’all’ll see that I’ve got myself some lovely guests here from Providence’s own Falconers team. (gestures towards Jack and Tater) Say hi guys!

Tater (waves) Hi!

Jack (single nod, smiles) Hello.

Eric I’ve got here regular guest and my husband, Jack Zimermann, and his teammate, Alexei Mashkov—

Tater But you call me Tater!

Eric (laughs) But we call him Tater! Tater, why don’t you explain what’ll happen here today?

Tater Is collaboration with Falcs TV! We had special tournament to see if players knows their SOAPs more than favorite thing.

ONSCREEN CAPTION SOAPs = Significant Others And Partners, for all y’all non-hockey fans out there! Click here (highlighted annotation inserted) to watch the tournament on the Falconer’s official website or check this video’s description!

Eric I had me such a great time over on Falcs TV with Jack that I wanted to share the fun with y’all here!

Tater (nods) Zimmboni crush everyone in tournament!

ONSCREEN CAPTION “Zimmboni” is Jack’s hockey nickname, like “Tater” is for Alexei. Everyone on the team has one! In fact, I have one too: Bitty! But Alexei likes to call me “B”.

Jack (shrugs, gives small smile) I know history. I know my husband.

Eric (laughs, blushes)

Tater Now, is time to see if B know Zimmboni just as much!

Eric I’m feelin’ pretty confident that I do. What do you think, sweetpea?

Jack I think Bits knows me better than myself, to be honest.

Eric Jack! (blushing again)

Tater Yes, yes, is very cute! But I’m want to ask questions now, yes?

Eric (turns to camera) Now, I tried to get ‘em to quiz me on baking—because y’all and your mama know that I love it—but Jack here insisted that I get asked about football instead.

Jack Baking’s too easy. I figured you’d appreciate the challenge. You know a lot about American football, eh?

Eric (rolls eyes) “American football”—I know y’all in Canada just call it football too! Now, I’d argue, but that’ll take up the rest of this video, so I guess it’s time to get to the quiz!

Tater Yes!

(video transition with dramatic music)

Tater (holds up stack of cards in hands) Here, I’m hold questions about NFL and college football, plus questions about Zimmboni for B to answer. Like during Falcs’ tournament, I’m ask SOAP about their favorite subject first, then ask about their partner. B, is ready?

Eric As I’ll ever be!

Jack Gonna crush it, Bits.

Eric Let’s hope so, sweetheart.

Tater Will be good, B, I’m sure! Question one, name five offensive positions in the NFL.

Eric Lord, how easy—quarterback, running back, wide receiver, offensive tackle, tight end.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater See, B! You be fine! Name five of Zimmboni’s favourite foods.

Eric Ooh, alright. So PB&J sandwiches, chicken tenders... scrambled eggs, uh, cassoulet... (Caption Note: French food pronunciation is not butchered, because food)

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 4/5

Tater One more, B.

Eric Hm, let’s see—

Tater (snickers) Remember this easiest question in stack.

Eric Oh, hush, you.

Jack Bits? Maybe a dessert?

Eric (hits head with base of palm) Oh, goodness me, right! Maple sugar crusted apple pie.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater (nods) Yes. Okay, how many minutes in football quarter?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Quarters in the NFL and NCAA football are 15 minutes.

Eric 15 minutes.

Tater How long is Zimmboni’s pre-game ritual?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 15 minutes max. Like all athletes, hockey players have specific rituals before their games.

Eric About thirty minutes?

Tater (whooping laughter) 15 minutes, max.

Jack (laughs)

Eric (gasps, shakes head) That is not true, that can not be true! Honey, I’ve seen you take 15 minutes making your pre-game PBJ sandwiches. (scoffs)

Jack (makes a face)

Tater Sorry, B. Must give big zero for that question.

Eric (rolls eyes) Hmph!

Tater B, you get 20 seconds—name as many starting quarterbacks in the NFL as possible. Ready, set, go!

Eric Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady—ugh—Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Carson Palmer.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 8

Tater Have 10 seconds, name as many as Zimmboni’s lineys when he finally move to first line.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Lineys = Hockey linemates. Fun fact: Jack moved from third to first line during his first season in the Falcs back in 2015!

Eric (opens mouth)

Tater But! Must name them by nickname!

Eric (single nod, determined expression)

Tater Okay? Ready, set, go!

Eric Alright so excluding Jack, that’ll be you, Tater, then we got Marty, Thirdy, Guy, and Snowy if you count the goalies!

Tater (solemnly nods) Always count goalies!

Eric Then that’s five for five. Gettin’ a lil easy there!

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater Haha! Okay, who are on cover of Sports Illustrated for this season’s NFL and college previews?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. were on the cover for the NFL preview. Trevor Lawrence was on the cover for the college preview.

Eric Oh, Coach and I were just talkin’ about this! I know the NFL preview was Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, but the college preview... (brief pause, placing chin on fist contemplatively) I think it’s Trevor Lawrence?

Tater Correct! What magazine cover did Zimmboni appear on first?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Trick question! Jack’s first ever appearance on a magazine cover was not as a hockey player. He first appeared on People Magazine as a baby with his parents, Robert “Bad bob” Zimmermann and Alicia Zimmermann.

Eric Can I ask a question?

Tater ...no.

Eric Well, shoot, alright. If you mean his first cover as an athlete, I’ll say Sports Illustrated, but if you mean his first one ever I think it’s People Magazine when he was a baby.

Tater (censored beep) Wow!

Jack (raises eyebrows) You remember that?

Eric Well, you told me! And Alicia did show me when we visited for Christmas one year. (smug smirk)

Jack (covers face in hand, exasperated sigh) Of course she did.

Tater Next question! How many Super Bowl rings does Tom Brady have?

Eric Oh goodness. I think it’s five?

Tater Six!

Eric What?

Tater Is six!

Eric (groans) Of course it’s six. Whatever, it’s fine, I try not to think about Tom Brady anyway. I don’t mind getting this one wrong. In fact, I’m kinda glad because I certainly don’t care for the man. Like, who—

Jack Bits. We’re in the middle of a game right now?

Eric (blushes) Oh, right.

Tater It’s alright, B, haha. But we move on with game now, yes? (single nod) Now, how many rings Zimmboni normally wear?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1.

Eric One! He usually just wears his wedding ring, but today he’s got his 2016 Stanley ring! Wanna show it off, honey?

Jack (sheepishly holds up hands to show the two rings)

ONSCREEN CAPTION Fun fact: The team who wins the Stanley Cup get matching rings. Jack got his first one when the Falcs won the Cup in 2016!

Tater Is tough one now: How many times have the Atlanta Falcons made the playoffs?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 14.

Eric (sighs) Oh Lordy, that's hard. Alright, so by the time I was born they were at five so— (voice continues in fast forward) —they did in ‘98, then... ‘02? After was 2004, not 2005, or ‘06... so the next one was 2008. Then there was that streak from 2010 to 2012. Then the next one was 2016, and then ‘17. Not ‘18 and ‘19. So that’s... (begins to count on fingers)

Tater (back to regular speed, looking impressed) You have answer, B?

Eric I'm gonna go with fourteen as of this year.

Tater (censored beep)!!!

Eric (laughs)

Jack (censored beep), Bittle.

Tater Is amazing! You have both number and years!

Eric I’m Southern, and my daddy’s a football coach. (shrugs) Can’t help it!

Jack (chuckles) This is why I wanted you to answer stuff about the football instead of baking.

Eric (rolls eyes, swats Jack’s arm) Oh, this boy.

Tater Next question! What is most number of times Zimmboni fight in one season?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 3 fights.

Eric Ooh, shoot. I should know this one too, huh? Okay, so his first season he only got in one fight— (voice continues in fast forward) —and second season was also one, I think. After that, uhh, I think he finally got in two. Last year was three maybe? And this season hasn’t even started. But last year? Was it three? I don’t quite—hm.

Tater (back to regular speed) Your answer, B?

Eric I’m gonna go with three fights for last season.

Tater (shaking his head)

Jack What did I say?

Tater (censored beep) Is correct. (huffs) What year did Falcons join the NFL?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1965.

Eric Uhhh, oh goodness, I know Coach told me this at some point... (pause) I think it was 1965?

Tater Correct! What year Zimmboni first try skating?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1992. Fun fact: Bad Bob had Jack skating as soon as Jack could walk!

Eric Skating, huh? ‘Cause I’ll bet the son of Bad Bob tried on his first skates before he even turned one, huh? (smiles cheekily)

Jack (nudges with elbow, gives Eric a small smile) Not the question.

Eric Oh alright, not the question. Hmm, I know it was before you turned three so, I’ll say... (drawling out answer) nineteen-ninety... two?

Tater (throws cards out of hand, shaking his head) Is correct again!

Eric Oh my god!

(high pitched sound as Eric fist pumps the air)

Jack (laughs, bringing an arm around Eric before kissing his cheek)

Tater B, I'm frustrate to say you know Zimmboni as much as you know football.

ONSCREEN CAPTION FINAL SCORE: Football = 6, Husband = 6. T I E ! ! !

Jack Knew it. Told you so, Bits.

Eric That sounds like a chirp, and I will not have that on my vlog, Mr. Zimmermann. So with that, I guess we’re done! (looks towards camera, claps once) Well, that about does it for today’s video! Thank you so much to my special guests, Providence Falconers’ Jack Zimermann and Alexei Mashkov, for joining me today. (gestures towards Jack and Tater)

Tater (nods with a wide smile) Thanks for having us, B!

Jack (smiles and nods) Always great to be here.

Eric Be sure to check out the Falcs TV videos too! Link in the description or right over here! (points to space, highlighted annotation inserted) And thanks for tuning in! Next week, I’ll have a new video for y’all on the best ways to add protein to your favourite sandwiches.

(Eric, Jack, and Tater wave at the camera)

Eric Bye, y’all! See ya next time!

(More notes on Ao3.)

[threecupsfull]

Tessa Virtue transcript Player’s Own Voice episode 6/12/2019

Anastasia Buscis podcast recorded April 25, 2019

Anastasia: She's half of Canada's greatest ice dancing duo, the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history, and now Tessa Virtue has sashayed from amateur glory to a dazzling professional career. When she and Scottie Moir and the cream of Figure Skating aren't performing to packed houses Tessa has advocacy work and endorsements and campaign partnerships almost too many to name. She is simply everywhere. Put on the earbuds, it's time for a cozy chat with the one and only Tessa Virtue. It's Player's Own Voice, I'm Anastasia Bucsis

A: Are you more athletic or artistic? Because it seems like incredible success in figure skating, but you also have this other side: fashion, media, everything, like where, where does your passion lie now?

Tessa: Hmm.. I think it's still in the balance between the two, and that's what I always loved about skating, you know, it’s so technically demanding and yet the artistry and the art that accompanied that, allowing people and hopefully connecting with people so that they feel something was always the driving force for both Scott and me, and now I think the balance is more about, you know, business and art, which is not so different really, but I'm learning so much. It's been a steep learning curve, and in fact I've been studying a little bit, and I hope to pursue that a little more even next year, but you know sort of learning on the fly, and I get just as much joy out of negotiating a contract as I do designing a new pair of eyewear for Bonlook, you know, I think it's all of that sort of the marriage between the two, and I feel so lucky that I get to do both.

A: I love the artistry and the athleticism of figure skating. I said that to Jo Rochette. She was on the podcast, and she was like "what?  like I didn't know you're such a figure skating fan,” and I that is what I love about figure skating is that it's so physically demanding but so artistic. I remember watching Oksana Baiul win in 94, and I was like, I want to be a figure skater. My parents didn't allow me to do it. They knew I was gonna be too tall.

T: well, and in your world you had to do the same motion.

A: Yeah, it's not very artistic T: so did you have to find an outlet to find-  to sort of feed that creative part of your soul?

A: Yes. And talking about the balance and getting pleasure out of having a business deal or creating glasses. I have a little astigmatism I might need some of those glasses. How do you find that now going from preparing for the Olympics to seemingly a million projects?

T: it's strange and no matter how prepared you are I don't think you can fully anticipate the feelings and emotions that come with a post-olympic sort of crash or transition, if you will. I mean I ticked all the boxes. I had school, had a great support network, I had success. We had stepped away from competition whether temporarily or permanently on our own terms. I mean I was so, so fortunate and privileged to to be in that position, and also I had opportunities. And yet still there's that inherent just, void I think when you've, and you know, when you've worked for something with such singular focus, and you invest everything, every moment of your day is filtered through a lens of "will this help me win the Olympics?" and then you're sort of thrust into this world where you're trying to do a hundred different things and maybe not all that well, and, and there's no chance to sort of insulate yourself in that protected bubble in order to pursue a dream. There were a lot of shifts and challenges in the last year but also really surprising highlights, because it's also refreshing and liberating to, to sort of feel that pressure come off, and slowly I can almost feel it tangibly as the days go by that I'm feeling less of that stress, and I didn't realize what a heavy weight that was to carry that Olympic, you know, pressure.

A: Olympic pressure same how lonely is that?

T: it can be isolating. it can be. I feel so lucky because, you know, people always ask what changes when you win the Olympics?  Are you a different, you know, what changes in your life? Do you feel different? And the reality is that nothing really does... so we- I have a great group of friends, my family has always been supportive, and I mean I'm so kind of caught up in work that there aren't many opportunities to even face that, and in fact I think when I am on my own, then I am very comfortable, so I kind of embrace it, but it can be isolating only because sometimes I just feel caught in this balancing act of wanting to be vulnerable and, and honest and then also not wanting to sound ungrateful or complain, right? and as a private person also just managing, you know, how much of yourself do you give to others, and how much do you keep for yourself, and in wanting to share my story and have some kind of impact on others, specifically young girls and athletes, you know, you have to put yourself out there a little bit, and and that sort of just comes with the territory.

A: And that's exhausting though too. I,  I mean when I was struggling with my mental health, that was really, you just summarized it, it's like I'm skating around in a circle for a living, I'm making good money, I get to see the world, all my college is paid for, you know, what do I have to complain about. So I completely identify when you say, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to come across as being ungrateful, because you have had a lot of opportunities.

T: What was the impetus for you to come out and speak openly about your mental health?

A: I never want anyone to feel like they're alone, and I don't want anyone to feel that way because I felt so incredibly alone. I felt that when I was in the closet too, really struggling, and I think vulnerability and human connection is really one of the only things that never will go out of style.

T: Right, and we're all craving that now, you know, the ability to really connect on a deeper level, and I think that's something I mean, it's so empowering, and you've impacted so many people just by using your voice. I think that's admirable.

A: thank you T: of course A: What do you not do in public now, though. Like what, like what can you not do in public? T: ooh. That's a good question. It's, I've never really been much of a partier, so that was always something I was cognizant of, you know, not being photographed with some, an alcoholic beverage or- A: I've tried to get you drunk so many times T: I'm sure it's worked on occasion, but, you know that's not really been a sacrifice for me, I think- what don't I do in public?  That's a good question

A: this is like one question I don't even know where it fits in, but I'm like what kind of toothpaste does Tessa Virtue use? Like do you- T: Colgate

A: Yeah bigwig. Like what are you cheap about? When you go to a supermarket, and you're like, oh you know toilet paper is on sale, are you getting that sale?

T: I don't find myself in a grocery store that often because I'm not home a ton. um... I don't even know. I, okay, well I'm gonna flip that, because one thing I will indulge in-  I'll always have fresh flowers at home. That would be something that I treat myself to.

A: I like fresh flowers too T: Yeah and certain things when I'm on the road, whether it's candles, soap, lotion, like just things that make me feel like I'm in my comfort of home environment, right?

A: I steal the lotion from hotels T: Do you?

A: I've got so many little hotel things, and I'm like yeah I'm making money

T: do you have a favorite?

A: Uh no I you know what probably just a good old like Ramada whatever they use, that's my go to- um so Scotty was of course on the podcast, and I pulled a quote he said: At times I didn't know how to handle my relationship with Tessa." What do you think he meant by that?

T: ...I'm not sure... I think in any case when you've had a, a partnership that spans over two decades across the early childhood years, teenage, you know into our 20s and now 30s. Of course it's, there are complexities that are just hard to to comprehend, and it's all we've known, so it's also really hard to have any sort of objective perspective on it, and until maybe there's an outsider you trust to weigh in like a sports psychologist or mental prep coach that we worked with, but.. I think probably in the pressure to identify what that partnership meant to us, and, and how it could be labeled or how it could be relatable for others to really understand, maybe that's where that confusion comes in, because it's something that we've valued and cherished and nurtured. We've really worked hard at that partnership and that relationship, but when you're so in it, I think perhaps we're the people that, that understand it the least.

(audio clip: if you wanted characters you got characters if you wanted feeling well you drowned in it) A: very interesting because you guys are quite a bit different too T: oh we're so different.

A; like you're- T: Like talk about balance right? That was at the beginning- I think that's really what works for us

(audio clip: They are the greatest ice dancers of their generation, maybe of all time. the incomparable Virtue and Moir)

T: I mean, you know, we're such different people, but you put us on the ice together, and that's our safe place. That's where no matter what is happening we come together, and we work towards a common goal, and we really feed off of each other. I mean Scott's all heart. He's, he's such a feeler, and I'm in my head, and you know we can bring out the best in one another, and I think with that.. nurtured level of support that we've given each other, we really are our best when we’re on the ice together, and it's fun even now to sort of step back into that world, and, and feel that comfort and ease, and we had sort of a break of seeing each other and skating together recently, and we got back on the ice and started stroking around together, and Scott said, "oh it's like a security blanket," you know, and there's there's such comfort with that

A: Your, your differences obviously you just said you can feed off of it. At times did that breed chaos? Like were you too different? How did how do you keep that manageable? T: I think the pursuit of something like an Olympic gold breeds chaos because there there are so many moving parts and so much expectation on ourselves and from others, but when we really fundamentally started to understand that we process things differently and approach things very differently, we were able to sort of separate that, and you know, we come together and say this is, you know, this is how I'm interpreting your actions right now, true or false? and give the other person a chance to, to explain, or you know, I think if anything we’re maybe a little bit too protective of one another, because we're the team that. you know, something happens, and it doesn't go very well I'll say, "I'm so sorry that was my fault" and he'll say "no no it was me," and you know, so I think we go to great lengths to ensure that we both feel confident and comfortable on the ice. A: You guys will forever be linked together. It's given you a million opportunities, but how difficult, and I'm sure you've been asked this one million times, and I apologize here's a million and one: first date, how often are you asked, "are you dating?" I mean, when you go on a date, is that what everyone asks you?

T: Well I hope I'm not saying yes to any date, and then they think that I'm somehow still in a relationship with Scott. I think anyone coming into my life in that capacity knows the situation with Scott, because.. I mean there's no hiding it, and also there's it's been since I was 7, so it would come as no surprise to anyone that I have a meaningful partnership with Scott. A: Let's go back: 2010, 2014, 2018, what's your favorite Olympic moment? T: As an athlete? Nothing tops being on the ice in Pyeongchang. We were so.. laser focused and dialed in and so incredibly prepared and just different athletes. We were mature, we had a different approach, a different team with B2Ten. We were, we really were unstoppable. And that feeling was palpable, that electricity, and it almost felt like a home games because there were so many Canadian flags and supporters.

I would say as an entire experience a month-long experience, Sochi, which always surprises people, because often people sort of avoid the Sochi subject with us. They think maybe it's a point of contention, but really it was such a beautiful moment in our career. We came together, and we were proud of our performances, and there was something about the team. It was so tightly knit. The Olympic bubble was easily accessible-  I mean you could get to so many different events. I don't know, there was just, It was so much fun. I often say it was the best month of my life.

A: Sochi was the best time in my life. It was, I'm the happiest I think I've ever been right now, but for an actual experience, Sochi like 52 billion dollars, oh my god, we can never do that again. Like talk about Olympic excess, I'm ashamed about that, but for just fun, and women's hockey team winning.. like the team was a family. I don't even know how to-

T: Is that what it was do you think? A: It was the team I think

T: yeah it was special A: In Vancouver we were treated like rock stars, and it was unbelievable, but like there was -  the one thing about Vancouver was that we were, we were downtown essentially, so you could go on one of those little electric bikes and be surrounded by a hundred thousand drunk Canadians all being super pumped up, but you kind of got.. the team aspect kind of got lost T: everyone was

A: Everyone was visiting their families, and in Sochi there was nothing to do. T: Only, well there was only two places A: yeah

T: mostly just Swiss House really A: So when everyone was like finished competing, Russians like their vodka sometimes, yeah. Um Sochi being the highlight for for party culture, Pyeongchang

T: you said party culture by the way

A: Pyeongchang being a highlight for for sport, what was your weakest aspect of being a figure skater do you think?

T: Like my weakness as a skater?

A: mmm-hmm

T: Oh geez, I mean how long do we have here? I feel I could go on and on about all the things I would still like to improve upon in my own skating. Whether that's posture, power, ability to express.. specific styles of movement. There's so much that I wish that I did better, so much I wish I could do better, but I think that's what.. keeps us going, even in preparing for our upcoming tour this fall, it's the idea that we still have more potential to explore, and more in us to to give, and I realized that in the Pyeongchang preparation, that for my whole career I was striving for that performance where I would feel I had really perfected it and nailed it, and great as Moulin Rouge felt on the ice in Korea, I knew, even at the time, that I would look back and wish that I had done some things differently, because that's just the nature of the beast when, when you're in a subjective sport like that. You know, I'll always watch that video and wish my hands were different, or I wish that I, you know moved my upper body, you know, in a better way or something, but I'm sort of just had to come to terms with that, and I think that in and of itself is kind of beautiful, because you just sort of have to accept the moment given all of the factors surrounding a 4-minute performance, it's the moment that you could create, and that's sport. That's what love about it. A: How has growing up as a figure skater obviously being judged affected how you live your life?

T: As I approach 30 I think..

A: Me too, baby girl

T: I have such a better understanding of who I am and what I stand for and what I think my purpose is and can be and how I see myself, and that's what I place most value in now are those closest to me, you know.. it's affected, I think it forced me to do a lot of self-reflection and, and forced me to analyze really what's important, and so often it's not what we look like or how we present.

It's about how we make people feel and how we empower others, and I feel so much more confident and comfortable in my own skin now, and I'm grateful for that. I think probably a part of that was because I was in a judged sport for such a long time, and I had other people deciding my fate and success, and that was, you know, sort of the benchmark you, you aim for, but it's in the hands of others, and at some point you just have to think, okay, it's not the color of medal that will dictate the kind of person I am.

A: Do you ever feel pressured to answer questions the way you know people want them answered?

T: Not really - not really because I'm not sure I know how people want them answered. I was always sort of conscious and careful to not become that robotic sort of, you know, I gave 110 percent, and we always wanted to give people insight into what was happening, but at the same time I mean you can only share what, what you've come to terms with in your own heads, and that no matter what I - it was important for me to just sort of be genuine so I'm not sure that I even still know how I should be answering things, but if I'm honest, and if it comes from a place of authenticity, then I think that intention, I hope, comes through at least.

A: I sometimes feel pressure when people ask about the Olympics, because I feel as though I need to tell them the little nugget about playing ping pong and beer pong with Sidney Crosby.

T: Right A: You know what I mean: "How is it with the NHL boys?" "Oh, Marc-Andre Fleury's really nice, you know

T: You want to give, you want to share your experience, but that's nice, and I think that is something that Canadians crave, but also do you feel a little bit of pressure when people talk about your success and the accolades or things that come along with that in... A: People don't talk about my success

T: Well, they should, your career was formidable, but I - sometimes I think there's a pressure if anything just to.. throw in those reminders of just how much work it takes, right? Because if you're going to be a role model, people need to understand that it's not just about the podiums and the sponsorships, it's about all of the work and the resilience and the sacrifice and the deprivation and everything that goes into it. So if anything, sort of shining some light on that end to ensure that there's a greater awareness of the holistic approach to the career maybe.

A: I think you must be one of the most hard-working athletes I have ever met, and I'm celebrating, of course, every sponsorship and opportunity that you've gotten post-Olympics. I hope you're making at least 15 bucks an hour, because you work so hard.

T: thank you A: Again you have not taken one breath... You haven't taken a breather. Going from competition to shows, you know, amateur to professional, how does that change your goals? Does it change your goals? Does it change your relationship with Scott? Like... T: It changes everything and nothing at the same time. It.. we've had to redefine what it means to entertain, and you're sort of entertaining the masses instead of nine judges, and yet sort of satisfy some creative need in you as an artist, so it's sort of finding that the precipice of challenging yourself enough so that it's satisfying and rewarding but also playing to your strengths and playing the hits so that the audience is getting what they want and what they've expected, and I'm not sure we've found that yet, but we're, we’re playing with it, and it's it's changed in that, and I'm trying to do some self analysis, you know, even just as I am back on the ice these days, you know, how do I feel in this realm, and I miss the benchmark of being the best, and I certainly miss being at our best, but I think that's okay if we're not, because the the goal has shifted.

It, we never will be at that Olympic peak again, and we're so lucky that we get to do our sport and craft for an extended period of time. I'm sure that every single other sport and athlete wishes they had that chance, so I don't want to waste it, but that's part of why we wanted to produce our own show and tour, so that it wasn't just four minutes that we had to tell a story. It was two hours that we could bring people along with us and control the lights and the ambience and the music and the, the flow of things, and I think when we can dive into a project like that, that's-  and invest ourselves and really commit.  That-  that is more fulfilling, you know, then just throwing on a costume and doing a one-off. A: You and Scott have ushered in this Renaissance Golden Age of figure skating. I mean, I don't think it's been this popular since Tonya Harding.

T: That's nice. There was something certainly to the Pyeongchang Games, and I'm not sure, maybe it was because the NHL guys weren't there, if the social media had an impact, but there's also just been a different focus on dance in general in our culture. It's become more mainstream with shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars, and I think accessibility to the arts in that realm has certainly been more present and magnified, so I'm not sure that we can take all that credit, but it's very nice of you to say.

A: The one skater that I do miss is Joannie Rochette. I'm sorry to bring up her name again.

T: oh, I know

A: I had one of the best nights of my life with you at her-- remember? T: That was a great

A: The white wine and oyster night.

T: It was so fun-  she's a special, well I mean she's just an incredible woman, and she's such a force, but she's someone who got better and more consistent in her show skating light, life almost after the pressure of competition. She really found her her rhythm and her style and was constantly pushing herself in - and was so nonchalant about it. You would see her afterwards and say oh the number was okay, but then every night I would go out and watch her on tour, and she just delivered and was so consistent and alluring and enigmatic really, because there's just something about Jo that's mysterious, and you just want to, you want to get to know her.

A: She's becoming a doctor!

T: I know, amazing

A: I think yeah

T: And so inspiring A: So, such a smarty pants T: I was also with her as she started - she was still touring as she started to get back into school, and any five minute increment where she could have her books open, she was studying it was on the bus, it was between numbers in a show, it was during dress rehearsal. It was constant, and I saw that and was so inspired and impressed and really awed by her tenacity.

A: You have accomplished, you know, everything that there is to accomplish and very proud of you. How do you define success now?

T: I'm working on that. I'm working on that-  the new definition, and I think it's- I'm starting to learn what it feels like when I'm doing something that has meaning and relevance and purpose and.. something that gets beneath the surface and feels substantial and significant, and and whether that is work with Fit Spirit and creating access for young girls and in schools, to activity and resources so that they can stay physically fit, or partnering with someone who is equally motivated to.. to foster this new narrative of self-esteem and young girls, because it does need to change, needs to shift. I guess really it's about the fulfillment of a certain process instead of the end result and the end goal.

And it was Adam Van Koeverden when he retired who said he'll never be the best of anything again, and, you know, so that benchmark has to change, and that's okay. That's that's healthy, and it's also really exciting. So I think it's just about finding things that... spark something or ignite a new passion and fire within me. I'm not sure I've totally found it yet, but I'm okay with that too.

A: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

T: In ten years-  I think running some business. I mean, I'm hoping to study more seriously next year, and I know that that's where my passion lies, and as an athlete I've had to be my own boss really for most of my career, all of my career, and so maybe something entrepreneurial. I'm not sure what shape that will take exactly, but I'm learning so much, and I'm surrounded by so many incredible mentors who are helping to guide that and show me what is possible, but I'm also really excited, you know, maybe in that sphere, it's not really about me. It can be about a company, but it's not my face and my likeness and image and personality out at the forefront. I think I'll be happy to take a back seat.

A: I was just gonna say because you are so public-facing, but you're a very private person.

T: right A: And that has to be exhausting in some capacity.

T: I think I've come to terms with really just making the most of the opportunities presented to me, and this is the.. this is where I am right now. This is the work that is available to me, and I - I love the work and the byproduct of that, though, you know there are some sacrifices, but that that's the case with any kind of job, so I'm happy to work for that now. It's just.. I also need to know where it's leading, and there has to be sort of an end goal to it. A: Do you want kids?

T: I don't know

A: Me too! Like I'm almost turning 30. I'm like, I don't know what I want from my own life. Like, and it doesn't freak me out though. I always thought I wanted to get married, I thought I wanted to have four kids.

T: hmm and that's changing a little bit?

A: Yeah T: Yeah I'm the youngest of four,I've always been surrounded by adults. When I was nine my best friend was 25, and now some of my best friends are in their 60s and 70s, and so I've never really had that maternal instinct, but it's also sort of abstract to me. Perhaps if I found that partner where I thought I want to do this as a team, you know, let's do this together and, and create a little family unit but it's not top of mind.

A: We're all just trying to figure it out.  Thank you, baby girl for taking the time.

T: Thank you

A: I really appreciate it

T: What a pleasure

A: Tesla Virtue it's always a pleasure. Come visit more T: I will A: come to my birthday T: I would love to, although it doesn't sound like it's gonna be.. a rager. Not that that's why I would be signing up actually A: No, we're gonna yeah --- T: no, PJs and A: seriously I'll probably watch Netflix and go to bed. I won't even have a glass of wine. I'm tired T: yeah A: but if you came over maybe T: We'll have to celebrate A: Yeah thank you. Tessa and I recorded that chat in studio 319 here in the Broadcast Center in downtown Toronto. Evan Kelly did the Technical Operations Player’s Own Voice podcast is a CBC sports production

[salty-over-figureskating-costume]

Kaori Sakamoto's 2019-2020 FS costume

Ok so I'm here it's pride month and I'm Gay™

Kaori oh, Kaori. Ngl for me there is nothing in this world that Kaori Sakamoto wouldn't look gorgeous in, so let's make it real clear I'm in love with this costume.

Now I have never seen Matrix, so all I know about it is the general aesthetic that pop culture presents about it, so for me glossy black and green is a good representation of the source material, and since the music is from the movie, I dare say it's a great fit for it.

I absolutely love the contrast between the glossy faux latex and the mesh as it keeps the whole look from being too one note. It gives it a very nice contrast, that's interesting to look at, plus the slits of mesh down the back and the bodice make it quite attractive if I do say so myself.

I like that the green crystals are only one side, it gives it just enough punch but it doesn't make it look too busy.

Another thing I really like about this outfit is the skirt. It has a great length in general, but particularly on Kaori this length and shape of skirt is really great, obviously cause she looks good (again I think she looks amazing all the time) and because it really highlights her jumps.

Kaori has really beautiful buttery jumps and the movement on the skirt makes her entrances dramatic, the rotations very cool and the landings absolutely great, 'cause as she comes down the skirt follows that same motion and settles when she continues.

Another great thing about this skirt is the fact that it's translucent and light. Had it been a heavier material it would've made everything look very stiff, so the lightness of the skirt helps balance the costume out.

And now a moment of longing silence for this version of the costume that was never used in competition.

Sadly for all of us Kaori only used this version during the practice session at, I believe, Skate Canada. And boy oh boy, do I think of it every day.

I absolutely love the neckline with the plunging cleavage and the lines. The matte black in contrast with the kinda harness made out of faux latex is just great to look at.

It has a beautiful silhouette, it's very elegant and kinda sexy and it makes Kaori's legs look miles long.

And if I wasn't a sucker for open backs before I sure am now, like good god, look at that.

The belt and the little mesh looking bit on the skirt are some of my favourite parts of the dress, they make it racy while still serious. The shape of the skirt itself is awesome, definitely one of my favourites, and the touch of green going up from de hem is at the absolute perfect place for it to look as a part of the whole thing while also enhancing it.

The only thing I'm not as fond of is the green on the forearms, I think it looks busy over the lines of mesh, then again this is just nitpicking 'cause I really like those shapes on their own.

So to sum everything up: I love Kaori Sakamoto. Both dresses are just beautiful (although I do prefer the second version, but alas, the hem was uncomfortable so Kaori bid it adieu) and I am further convinced that emerald green and black are a match made in heaven.

Edit: I now know I'm a fool and that she wore the second dress not at Skate Canada, but at IDF.

Also yeah I've just never watched Matrix

[geckomoon]

Yuri!!! on ice as irl skaters (part 1???)

Its 2020 and I miss yoi so here are my personal headcanons about which irl skater the you cast skate &/or act like because why the hell not.

(photos at the bottom of the post because I couldn't get the format to work the way I wanted it to)

Yuri Katsuki ➡️ Boyang Jin (China)/Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)

Yes, 2 people because PARALLELS.

So my reason for saying Yuri is like Boyang is because, his step sequences are always gorgeous and his jumping power, oofttttt, and that one scene where Yuri tries a jump and lands in the wall, you know the one. Boyang Jin is known for jumping super close to the boards and scaring the hell out of us all, seriously, just watch one of his skates, it's amazing and terrifying. Also Boyang is a bit of a nerd and Yuri is canonicaly pretty into video games, nuff said.

Boyang is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a five-time (2014–2017, 2019) Chinese national champion.

Evgenia however, this is more of a parallel in how her 2018/19 season went and how Yuri kinda flopped. Zhenya had a crappy start to the 18/19 season, she'd just switched coaches and mover halfway across the world, for the 1st time in her senior career she didn't make the gpf. However by the end of the season she had bounced back and won bronze at worlds and my god what a skate that fp was. Remind you of anyone huh???

Evgenia has a lot of medals (and actually made a cameo in the end credits of episode 10) She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Also, she is a huge Anime fan and has a sailor moon exhibition program and its adorable.

Victor Nikiforov ➡️ Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

I know a lot of people compare Yuri to Yuzu but I think Victor is a better fit.

Yuzuru has a legion of super duper dedicated fans, they are pretty scary at times. If you watch the 2018 Olympics, the ice literally was covered in Pooh bears after his skate. People love this man, and rightly so. Clearly Yuri isn't the only one who loves Victor, he's very popular in the yoi skating world and almost everyone loves and looks up to him.

His skates are almost immaculate every time. Not only is his technique amazing but his artistry is what really sets him apart from other skaters who may have higher bv on jumps etc. Not that he dosent have high bv, seriously he tries combos that are super wierd just for the bv (see the wierd 4t-3a combo thing he does idk). Plus he's dead set on doing a quad axel. See Victor's super high bv with all the quads and also the fact everyone goes nuts over how his skating is 'like no other'.

Also his medal collection is absolutely mad, he is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), two-time World champion (2014, 2017), four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), Four Continents champion (2020) and three times silver medalist (2011, 2013, 2017). Just like how Victor is canonicaly an Olympic champion and 5x world champion and probably many time euros champ.

Also, he's a sweetheart, he literally crawled behind Shoma Uno because he didn't want the attention taken away from Shoma. I love him.

Victor Nikiforov gives big Yuzuru Hanyu energy.

Yuri Plisetsky ➡️ Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)/Alexandra Trusova (Russia)

Again, 2 people.

It's canon that Yuri P was modeled after Yulia for the flexibility and artistic portion of his skates so I feel like I don't need to elaborate much in it however his determination and his wanting to back load with quads reminds me a lot of Sasha Trusova.

Sasha only started juniors the year after yoi came out (she had a Makkachin tissue box which was given to her by Evgenia M which is adorable) so she was not really that popular when the show was being made but she really made a statement when she became the 1st woman to land 2 quads in 1 program (4 salchow and 4 toeloop) at the age of 13 at 2018 junior worlds.

She has just started senior and this season she had 5 quads in one program and I think I cried. She now has a quad sal, toe, flip and lutz and is apparently working on a loop. On top of that she can land a 3 axel but has yet to do so in competition. Did I mention SHE'S 15 AND I'M TERRIFIED.

She currently holds the world record for the free skate (166.62 points). She is the 2020 European Bronze Medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela champion, the 2019 Russian national silver medalist, and the 2020 Russian national bronze medalist.

Her determination to win and high TES reminds me of Yurio a lot.

Phichit Chulanont ➡️ Nam Nguyen (Canada)

This one is fun.

I love Nam with all my heart, he's actually my favourite male skater and not just because of his skating. However his skating is great. He is the 2014 World Junior champion, 2019 Skate Canada silver medalist, and two-time Canadian national champion (2015, 2019). He has placed as high as fifth at the World Championships, in 2015. He's not the best skater ever, kinda like Phichit but his personality shines through so much when he skates and I love it.

My main comparison to Phichit is the fact that Nam Nguyen is a huge meme. His Instagram is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen (@ namnamnoodle). I can't explain it with words seriously just go look at it, he makes memes using professionnally taken skating photos of himself and honestly it's just a giggle. He's almost always posting on his story and half the videos he takes end up on fan twitter and everyone freaks out.

Also he's good friends with Evgenia, thought I'd mention that seeing as who I compared her to :)).

Yeah, Phichit and Nam are memes and I adore them both.

Jean-Jacques Leroy ➡️ Nathan Chen (USA)

Jj is definitely more of a technical focused skater. He tends to put all his eggs in the '800000 quads' bucket and isn't as artistic, in my humble opinion.

Just like Nathan surprisingly, though Nate isn't as egotistical (not a dig, just an observation).

Nathan is compared to Yuzu a lot, and had actually scored higher than him a few times in competition. He is an amazing jumper and is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. Currently he is two-time World champion (2018, 2019), a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), and four-time U.S. national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

So yeah, he's good.

However at the 2018 Olympics (he was only 18 at the time) he bombed under pressure in the team event and in the sp, only to come back with a WR free skate, but didn't medal because of his sp score,kinda like how Jj bombed at the GPF. (Ngl, I cried in school when I saw Nate bomb at the Olympics, I was so upset).

Also, Nathan is super smart and is training to be a doctor. Not related to Jj but I thought I would point it out.

Christophe Giacometti➡️ Adam Rippon (USA)/Javier Fernández (Spain)

Chris is a hard one to pin to an irl skater because he's just so... Chris.

The closest comparison I can get is Adam Rippon but dialed up to 11 because Adam is quite a bit more tame than Chris is. However he did have a point in his sp where he literally beckons the judges to him in a way that can only be described as vaguely sexual. Seeing that at the Olympics was an event I'll tell you that.

Adam was the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games. (team bronze).

Plus, I'm pretty sure he owned a Chris plushie at one point or another.

However other than the obvious Chrissness, his technique and medal winning achievements most closely match up with Javier Fernández (who may I add is pretty much Yuzuru Hanyu's best friend). He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), a three-time Rostelecom Cup champion (2014–2016), a two-time Grand Prix in France champion (2016–2017) and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018). Javi is an amazing skater but usually ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Yuzuru on the world stage, but with euros, he literally won 7 times consecutively. Anndddd, he was the flag bearer for Spain at the 2014 Olympics and I still cry about it.

Otabek Altin➡️ Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)/ Matteo Rizzo

So it's canon that Otabek was based on Denis (rip Denis) so like Yuri and Yulia I do not feel like I need to elaborate much as you can read it on the wikia page. But Otabek also reminds me of a less talkative version of Matteo Rizzo. Matteo is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion.

The reason he reminds me of Otabek is that they just joth exude the same level of cool and I can't explain it any further than that. That's it. Just watch him skate and you'll see.

So that's all I have for now because this post got pretty long so if this gets enough attention I'll do a part 2 :)).

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

What are, in your opinion, some of the best competitions to watch in which Yuzuru participated?

My favorite comps to rewatch in chronological order:

2013 GPF - Yuzu won against Patrick Chan for the first time and imo laid his first steps for his legacy with this win.

Though the first comp that comes to mind are NHK 2015 and GPF 2015. Both times Yuzu was just tremendous.

2017 4CC - it was a mini-Worlds with so many high level skaters participating Yuzu, Shoma, Nathan and Patrick Chan. Yuzu yoloing the 2nd half of his program is also epic.

Worlds 2017 was a very good competition overall. Yes Yuzu's SP was disappointing for him but the FS was sheer perfection. And overall also from other skaters' performances this was a very good competition.

2018 Olympics ofc. Perfect SP for Yuzu and the big happiness with the win. Just the whole story of the 2018 Olympics is inspiring. The injury and no one knows if he could even compete and then he won in this amazing fashion.

The GP Helsinki 2018 was also very good. A good overall competition and Yuzu had two good performances. One of his best first GPs he ever did.

2019 Skate Canada is one of my favorites. Finally Yuzu won Skate Canada. And with superb performances.

These are my favorites I like to rewatch.

Some other noticable mentions Japanese Nationals 2020 and 2021, GPF 2014 and Olympics 2014.

Tbf I didn't watch all men figure skating comps before 2013 in full besides the World and European Championship as I wasn't following men skating this close at this point. I watched all of Yuzu's performances, but not the rest of each competition.

[opiatemasses]

Are You an Ethical Sports Fan?

Sports wouldn’t be where they are today without fans. Some of the greatest moments occur when fans and teams join together to celebrate a championship in their city, a standing ovation for an athlete’s first game coming back from a serious injury or playing their last game before retirement. Conversely, fans can also be terrible and contribute to some of the worst moments in sports.

On June 10th 2019, during game five of the NBA finals between the Golden States Warriors and Toronto Raptors, Kevin Durant went down with a ruptured Achilles in his right leg. This was a sad scene, however what happened next was even more shocking.

Toronto fans started cheering, provoking headlines and controversy. Toronto went from steps away to celebrating their first championship to being publicly humiliated for their fan behaviour. We as fans cheer for our favourite teams, however celebrating injury is wrong and unethical. This incident resulted in backlash from athletes, organisations and sport analysists:

Demarcus cousins, a teammate of Kevin Durant said that 'we're only idolized as superstar athletes, not human beings.'

Bob McCown one of Canada’s leading sports talk radio show hosts described this incident as “embarrassing” and that he is “…afraid that this is a legacy that will linger for some period of time”.

And this incident even caused a Toronto Raptors fan to create a GoFundMe:  Toronto Man Starts GoFundMe for Kevin Durant’s Charity After Raptors Fans Cheer Injury.  

This was an example of an unethical event, as nobody should ever wish harm on another person and this should be agreed upon everyone. Just like racism is wrong and unethical and although the cases of reported racism are decreasing internationally, as in 2019 there were 131 incidences compared to 137 in 2018, racism is still prevailing today. However, this blog will focus on issues that are not sufficiently discussed and most likely some of us are guilty of without realising.   

High-Performance Sport Built on Sacrifice of the Athlete’s Body

To understand how to be ethical sports fans towards athletes, it is important to gain an understanding of sports. An article by Nathan Kalman-Lamb contended that athletes involved in high performance spectator sport are both dehumanized and exploited. The whole idea of high-performance sport is predicated on athlete sacrifice (for more information look at reference for Hughes and Coakley). Although fans don’t necessarily want players to get hurt, fandom requires athletes to be willing to put themselves to potential pain, danger and harm in the course of their careers. An example from a hockey fan interviewed by Kalman-Lamb:

“If you get injured on the ice, if you get a slap shot in the knee, and you can’t really stand on it, you’re told to stay on the ice until the whistle goes. You’re not told to lie down or skate over to the bench, you’re going to play through the pain . . . it’s awesome to see”

With this said, because fans expect athletes to be willing to sacrifice and give it their all, when they feel like the athlete is not performing to those standards, they can be upset or angry. An example of what a hockey fan said watching a player who appeared not trying hard enough:

“That drives me wild. I feel almost a little personally offended, you know? You are professional, you are getting, in most cases, a really good paycheque. . . at least give good game, you know.”

These fans’ expectations can be linked to their own experiences as subjects of capitalism, that players should be enduring pain rather than rejecting it.

Mental Health

Mental health awareness is a significant issue. According to the National Institution of Mental Health around 20% of adults in the United States experience a mental disorder. However, this number is higher for professional athletes, with 35% of elite athletes suffering from poor mental health. The culture of sports makes athletes prone to mental health problems as mentioned before, athletes can be dehumanized and exploited. And a paper by Rice et al. (2016) found that the psychological impacts of injury, overtraining; public/media scrutiny and managing the pressure to perform were all stressors that potentially can increase the vulnerability of athletes to mental illness.

Below is a video of DeMar DeRozan, an NBA pro opening up about some of the hard choices he had to go through in his career.

Taking Action

First, we have to understand that athletes are human beings, they are not untouchable, they feel pain, depression and so on just like me or you. Athletes are no different from anyone else working their job, in their case playing a game for our amusement. And we have to understand that the whole idea of high-performance sport is built on the sacrifice of the athlete’s body, making them potentially more vulnerable to mental illness. What are some ways for us to start becoming better sport fans from our house?

Don’t insult or threaten athletes on social media for not playing through an injury, sitting out a game, or talking about how much you want sports to come back when there is a pandemic going on now.

Do not make negative comments on athletes’ personal life and decisions.

If we put ourselves in their shoes how would we feel getting constant insults or threats for what we have said or done. I would definitely feel upset and even maybe scared.

Prioritized humanity and ethics over whether our favourite team or athlete wins or loses.

With the global pandemic and not being able to attend live sports, now is an opportune time to reflect on our own behaviours as sport fans, so when live sports return we will be better sport fans and more importantly better people.

N0811725

References

Hughes, R., & Coakley, J. (1991). Positive deviance among athletes: The implications of overconformity to the sport ethic. Sociology of sport journal, 8(4), 307-325.

Kalman-Lamb, N. (2019). Athletic Labor and Social Reproduction. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 43(6), 515-530.

Rice, S. M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P. D., & Parker, A. G. (2016). The mental health of elite athletes: a narrative systematic review. Sports medicine, 46(9), 1333-1353.

[sunskate]

Would you be able to give me a rundown on Scott’s teams? Just what you think of them and what growth you’ve seen? I know it’s only his second season coaching but it’s also my first watching! Trying to understand what my feelings should be about for ex the JGP skaters coming in 6/7 and S/W coming in 5 at Lake Placid etc. Thank you!!!

I would say trust your own reactions ☺️ if you enjoy a team, their placement doesn't matter. I really like Dozzi/Papetti -their tango program is😘 I don't know if I can be much help, but I had fun thinking about your question- this ended up being more than you might want to know lol -

His two top teams are CPom and Sales/Wamsteeker- they both were up and coming a few seasons back and then stalled a little bit and switched to Scott.

Carreira/Ponomarenko won🥈at 2018 Junior Worlds, and in their first 2 senior seasons 2018-20, they medaled at 6 Challengers and won🥉at a Grand Prix so there was a feeling that they were a team to watch.

They were getting results and were 4th at US Nationals. But in 2019-20, their then-coach Igor Shpilband had them skate Farrucas for their FD, and it exposed areas that weren't strengths - they're not the most fiery team, so it was a risk to skate a flamenco (esp the one associated with VM). Christina wasn't holding herself in lifts and there was more mention that Anthony was the stronger partner. Then the lockdown season 2020-21, their FD didn't feel like anything new, and they had the bad luck to have to withdraw from Nationals because of a close covid contact. CPom, especially Christina, are big VMies, and around that time they decided to switch camps and go to Scott.

Christina grew a lot their first season at IAM.O. She was noticeably stronger and projected her performances more. Best of all was that she looked more confident, like there was an internal shift. Anthony was dealing with injury, and that understandably held them back, especially in lifts, but it was kept quiet til the end of the season, so while some of their struggles got chalked up to growing pains from switching camps, some commentators blamed Scott.

Meanwhile, Green/Parsons had a stellar season and overtook CPom for the #4 spot in the US, and now some younger US teams including the Junior World Champs Oona and Gage Brown have seniored up, so this season, CPom will want to come roaring back.

They're probably aiming for the #3 US spot, but they were 7th at Nationals this past January, so top 5 would be progress and top 3 would be really exciting. Fingers crossed that they have great programs this year!

Then Scott's top Canadian team are Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker- they've been around long enough that they competed against VM. They were #4 in Canada 2018-2020 but had other🇨🇦 teams going ahead of them (Lajoie/Lagha, and Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen switching to🇨🇦) and needed a change.

These two have a good connection and are expressive - I used to think they had a quiet personality as a team, but I think it's that more power would give them the oomph to be impactful. Their speed has improved since they've been with Scott (compare their 2020 Samson & Delilah FD to this season's Phantom FD), but it's still not a strength. I wish they skated with more extension - with their long limbs and good unison, they have nice lines and look so good when they do extend their free legs. They came to Scott already with good lifts, especially the stationary and rotational. Their straight line lift is striking (Wang/Liu is another team with a tall male partner who does a similar lift). Their spin has improved and is faster.

Gilles/Poirier, Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen, Lajoie/Lagha are the top 3 🇨🇦 teams. S/W are among 6 other senior teams who have international assignments from Skate Canada and are competing for the ranks below them. S/W so far have been placing behind Lauriault/LeGac and Soucisse/Firus so they're probably #6 in 🇨🇦 and need to skate lights out at their Grand Prix and keep improving in general to be considered stronger contenders.

[harimaron]

Day 12 - favourite skating program by an underdog:

I decided to split this up into two (one for ladies and one for men), simply because there are way too many “underdog” skaters whose programs I really like and it’s hard to pick a favourite. Because I can. Both of these are from 2019-2020 season (otherwise I would’ve been picking forever). 

1. Kazuki Tomono’s “Moulin Rouge” FS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlhtV8IVNqM

I have gushed about this program a lot during the Grand Prix season, and then he performed it at Nationals and it got even better. There are way too many amazing skaters from Japan (my other contender for favourite men’s program was Keiji Tanaka’s “Hip Hip Chin Chin” btw because I really vibed with that program this season). I was really happy with Kazuki’s programs this season (have you seen the story behind his short?). I think he makes a good team with Misha.

2. Marin Honda’s “La La Land” FS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC8-BbE-FU4

I’m a fan of Marin Honda and I’ve made it known in the past. Unfortunately, the ladies field is super competitive and her technical skills haven’t been too consistent lately. (Hey, figure skating is hard!) But I always love watching her skate and this program was a lot of fun. Plus her costumes are always top notch (she will probably make an appearance when I get up to favourite costumes). 

This video is from Skate Canada, where she chose to still skate right after she and Keiji got into a car accident in the taxi they were taking (Keiji even finished on the podium). It was a scary time and we were all worried for them and glad that they were okay in the end.

31 Days of Figure Skating | @anythinggoe