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Well, objectively... Yulia earned one more point for the team than Plushy! Such a monumental achievement! :-)

Jokes aside, this result just shows the effect of expectation vs. reward. Yulia is 15; she still seemed vulnerable. Heck, her programs even used her vulnerability to tug at the heartstrings (this is not a criticism against Yulia--I love her and her programs, and I wanted to give her a hug after that disaster at individuals). Frankly, it's easy to see why she caved under pressure after the team event, especially with those journalists hounding her (the same ones who later slammed Plush, I'll bet).

On the other hand, Plush has been the forerunner of Russian figure skating for over a decade. He started competing in seniors before Yulia was even born. Even with all the injuries, he seemed so... untouchable. It was inconceivable that the guy who brought home three Olympic medals (and contributed greatly to the fourth) would withdraw on home ice.

Plus, I'm not sure how much regular people knew about his injuries. Canadian TV here didn't even mention those during the team event, just said he barely competed over the past four years (without explaining why he didn't compete.) NBC seemed more concerned about rehashing Vancouver. :kli_ny: (though credit to them for being complimentary outside of that dumb intro). I suspect Russians knew more about the injuries than overseas people, but considering the timing of the poll, it looks like a gut reaction without knowing the facts/circumstances. Also, as Cekoni said, some of those respondents might be upset about the situation, rather than feeling like Plush himself should've done more. At least we know one thing: Plushy is always at the centre of attention--to be at both ends of the poll! ;;-)))

The ones I feel most sorry for are actually Tatiana and Maxim. I mean, geez, these two brought the pairs Olympic gold back to Russia, but only 7% picked them?! I guess it's once again expectation vs. reward. Yulia was a breakout hit. Tatiana and Max ended up as an expected, "good day at the office" win.

^I got the sense that Russia was pretty disappointed with hockey too. Even here in Canada, I caught a whiff of Russian disappointment amidst our jubilation that we won. And obviously, the poll shows how people were still more upset with the hockey team (at least Plushy got some "proud" votes as well). Not sure who got attacked by the journalists more though. Maybe it's easier to blame Plushy since he's one person, while you can't point to a single hockey player who was to blame?

(Sorry, I don't know if Google translated your post correctly. I suspect you'll need to read mine with translation too.)

2006 Olympics LP: Without comments is probably best. But I'd love to see the B.Eurosport version again if you have that too. I ask because it seems like so many people don't like that version of Godfather (up to preferring the Euros 2006 version), and I just don't understand why. I'm trying to look at it with fresh eyes--NBC version is extremely anti-Plush, B.Eurosport completely fanboys over him. :-) I want to be able to view the program on its own, or if that's not possible, at least have the two versions together so they cancel out.

2014 Olympics SP: I think it was broadcasted on Australian TV. I'm still hoping they'd put it up on Youtube but it seems like they're skipping the short programs (for everyone, not just Plush. I feel bad for Yuzuru Hanyu since they just put up his two-fall LP).

Hi, apologies if this is a bother, but I wonder if anyone has videos of the following:

- 2006 Olympics long program with no commentary, British Eurosport guys, or non-English commentary
- 2012 Europeans short and long programs with B.Eurosport
- 2014 Olympics team short program with the same commentators that are on the official Olympics Youtube (one of the Eurosport guys + an Australian woman, I believe)

Plushy's costume "Tango Roxanne" and Yana's wedding dress in Moscow's shopping mall "Vegas" :hi_hi_hi:

Vasilisa ‏ @Vasilisa1202

Случайно наткнулись в @VegasMall на костюм @EvgeniPlushenko #Сочи2014 http://pic.twitter.com/VfhtcoM1NG
Костюм @EvgeniPlushenko во весь рост вместе с коньками #Сочи2014 http://pic.twitter.com/yg707R8j82

Там же свадебное платье Рудковской выставлено @VegasMall http://pic.twitter.com/P0acyClsk7

Are those the exact outfits worn by Plushy and Yana, or are they replicas? The Tango Roxanne outfit looks slightly thinner than the version Plushy wore... or it could just be the angle.

Either way, sparkles! :plush45:

^Is it bad that I kind of want Plushy to dress like that last image for a program? Just once? (Exhibition, of course, since the hat will go flying off in competition).

Plushy's in third and fourth place, behind Yuna! Lol, wouldn't it be something if the American website's poll gets taken over by a Korean and a Russian? :-) (Okay, that sounded a bit malicious, but it amuses me!)

Btw, the image they used for quad combinations is strange. It's the Sochi long program... one of the very few instances where Plush didn't land a quad in combination. :kli_ny:

WWE = World Wrestling Entertainment
WWF = World Wildlife Fund (an organization dedicated to protecting the cute fuzzy creatures of this world :-): )

After the LP, Peter Carruthers said about Plush (paraphrased): "He's not your typical figure skater guy. He's like a boxer in a ring, or some WWF guy." I assume he meant WWE, since I don't see what Plushy's fist-pumping has to do with protecting animals.

(I'm probably being too harsh on Carruthers. It is an honest mistake, and I did get a very good laugh out of it).

Plushy is in first and second place! To think he started out of the top ten when the poll started. But we must keep voting! (Never underestimate the Yuna fans, lol. I'm sure most of them are lovely people, but as they fight for their Queen, so must we fight for our King.)

^This is a very strange contest indeed. The winner could very much be determined by who pops up most in the match-ups (by sheer luck), rather than which move is really most beloved.

IceNetwork is pretty darn biased. Not the worst journalism around, per se, but I still haven't forgiven them for some of their articles after Plushy's withdrawal. Goodness, nobody snaps a screw just to get attention!

Nonetheless, voting time! I've decided to refresh the page until Plushy comes up. :plush45: I'll vote for other moves I love when they come up... but mainly Plushy.

(Btw, sometimes, by sheer luck, the match-ups make sense--Yuna's triple lutz-triple toe vs. Mao's triple axel. Sometimes, it's just bizarre--Sasha Cohen's I-spin vs. an ice dance lift?)

And yes, why multiple laybacks from American skaters? When none of them really add anything special?

Зачем Ягудин продолжает доставать Плющенко?:
http://taini-zvezd.ru/public/zachem_yagudin_prodolzhaet_dostavat_plyuschenko/
...
:ni_zia:

Why Yagudin continue to annoy Plushenko?

Well, 34-year-old Alexei Yagudin can not live without Evgeni Plushenko! At least once a month, he need to let go some message! We just forgotten scandal, which Lyosha arranged because Zhenya withdrew from the competition in the Olympic Sochi, but here is - another insolence!

- "All around asked why I kept to "maliciously" talk about Evgeni - grins Yagudin. - But, to be honest, I absolutely spit on it, what Plushenko's doing! The main thing - let he be healthy! I do not speak sarcastically. I honestly express my opinion, when someone is interested in it!"

But to do this without maliciousness, it is not possible? He says that he "spit on what his opponent does", but then immediately adds fuel to the fire. Why he continues to annoy Plushenko? One answer is obvious: it seems that Lyosha's choking toad (knot in throat) ! Liked, or not - but his 31-year-old rival is more successful and famous!
I'd like to give Yagudin the benefit of the doubt, since I don't like playing attitude police when athletes are involved. But all these comments about Plushy really do make him look like a bitter, jealous man. Maybe he didn't understand the situation in Sochi (potential paralysis!) and might think differently now. But he should know that Evgeni Plushenko--of all people--would definitely "go until the end" if there was any way he could.

Maybe he's annoyed that every time someone interviews him, they ask him about Plush? And he's annoyed that, in Russia at least, he seems more known for being "Plushenko's rival" than "Alexei Yagudin"?

Yagudin does seem like the perfect man for a dirt-smearing campaign. He gets to insult Plushy; TAT gets someone to politic for her since it'll look "better" or "more objective" (LOL) than her speaking out against Plush directly.

Yagudin praised Yulia's contribution? Wow, that just makes his bitterness more obvious. Objectively speaking, the ones "carried" most by their team were Bobrova/Soloviev, who 1) only skated one segment, coming in third 2) and didn't medal in their individual event. Should Yagudin criticize them, perhaps? (I don't, personally, begrudge B/S of their medals and I think they did as much as they could for their team. But just saying, by Yagudin's weird logic...)

Prankster situation: I was laughing at Yagudin there. The whole incident makes him look ridiculous. Seems like he's still stuck back in 2001 or something.

Одну из своих работ художник назвал «Плющенко и плач», посвятив ее снятию спортсмена с соревнований одиночников на Олимпиаде.

Woah, this person has clearly never watched figure skating in their life.

IceNetwork's It's Your Move finale! We got both of Plushy's moves into the top 10. Now, let's get him to #1! (I'm going to place my weight behind quad combinations, because it's what he's more known for, even though I personally find his Biellmann more memorable).

Vote here: http://www.icenetwork.com/fans/its-your-move

Voting is unlimited, from what I could tell. If the site gets stuck, just go back to the link above and you should be able to vote again.

Thank you, WhiteBamboo, for these posts. Very informative, well-argued, and excellently researched. Thank you, for shining out a little bit of the truth.

There's no way I can match your research. My own, simpler take on the situation, through the lens of basic logic:

1) The selection for Sochi is basically "Who's better for the Team event, under Olympic pressure?" (Answer is, obviously, Plushenko. Especially after Europeans). Russian Fed. knows any candidate they send will have little chance of winning gold at individuals. Tarasova, on the other hand, is invested in getting Kovtun to the Olympics, hence all the politics about withdrawing after the Team event.

2) Since the Fed. chose to send him, Plushenko was obviously going to go, no matter if he skates one program or four. He's basically been about Sochi, Sochi, Sochi non-stop in every interview for the past four years. I'm sure he thought he could skate the four programs if he needed to. (WhiteBamboo, thank you for finding the interview where he talks about how they used to do 2 LPs in GPF. That was the first thing that came to mind when people said he must've known he couldn't skate four programs).

3) He did his job in the Team event. He basically couldn't withdraw at that point, because everyone would say it's fake (thanks to Tarasova/Russian Fed's "rule clarifications" painting him into a corner). He's damned if he withdraws in time and damned if he doesn't. The only way he gets out of it looking clean is if he skates individuals.

4) That's why it would be colossally stupid to say he "chickened out" of individuals. Because skating there and landing off the podium would still look tons better than WD. And considering his obsession with both Sochi and skating, why would he not want to skate? In this crazy inconsistent men's field (see: 2013 Worlds, '11-'12 GPF), he actually beat Patrick Chan in the Team event. Why the heck would he skip off home now? (His marks in the Team would've made for a comfortable bronze, btw). Perhaps this would be an offensive statement, but: If he were the coward people labelled him as, he would never have made it out of Volgograd.

5) Of course, then there's the x-rays, the operation, the screws. Guess that's all an elaborate ruse from the doctors? :kli_ny:

All the time they are convinced that Plushy "stole" Team medal from Kovtun, no matter how he skated there (due to successful performances of other Russian skaters) - they are completely indifferent to others, or how he would performed at individual - only is important that one more medal will be in their possession.
Everyone is so smart after the fact. But when they were selecting the teams, they didn't know how their own athletes would perform, or how well other countries' athletes would perform. It's logical to select Plushy, who has a history of delivering under Olympic pressure. Can you imagine if their men's candidate had bombed the SP (first event) like Jeremy Abbott from the US did? And the rest of the team needed to dig themselves out of a hole? (Illinyk/Kastalopov, for instance, are a wonderful but inconsistent team. Who knows how they would've performed if the pressure hadn't been off them?) It's not like Plushy bombed both his programs and got the medal anyway. Media was praising him to the heavens until his WD.

- Persistent destruction of other skating school in Russia (especially in St.Petersbirg), with the intention to stay only one - CSKA Moscow
Likely why Plushy wants to stay in competition... And why Mishin won't retire. I heard Tamara Moskvina was going to retire, but it seems like she's still going to take care of Kavaguti/Smirnov. The whole situation is very, very sad. I pray Liza and Petrov have some good things in store.

- Completely pointless advertising campaign of Kovtun (given on his so far achievements) .... last was hilarious campaign on his military service of one week :ps_ih: that's same for all athletes (Plushy also served 2003) - as well as others russian skaters in the same time (Katsalapov, Soloviev, for example), were in army when and Kovtun. About all of them was only 1 text - about Kovtun? 100 texts, in which in the panic writes about how Plushenko's "rival" was sent in the army, far away from the skating, why, where...? :kli_ny: Even Piseev talked about and try to calm "agitated public". Also about that talked Averbukh "He will become a man in the army", and his coach, Buyanova: "What's the problem?" As part of the campaign: 10 interviews with Kovtun, 5 TV news (how he cuted his hair, he took the gun, his shooting, how other the soldiers see him...), and few big photo-albums from this 7 days :ps_ih:
Oh yeah, this was really weird. Isn't his so-called military service just some very basic training that doesn't cut into his skating at all? It's not like they're sending him to the front lines or something. What's the big deal, the big advertisement for?

Sorry everyone, false alarm. Looks like we can keep voting for It's Your Move until the end of the day today. Plush is currently at #1 (quads) and #3 (Biellmann). I recommend voting non-stop for his quads to keep them in the lead (we could try to get his Biellmann to #2, but it seems like bad taste to make him go 1-2. :mi_ga_et: Like we're bullying all the other fandoms or something. Plus, better to not lose the #1 slot by dividing focus).

List of articles in that issue of IFS: http://www.ifsmagazine.com/articles/32718-ifs-turns-20

COVER STORY:
Two Decades of Transitions
Historic Leaps, Twizzles & Spins

FEATURE STORIES:

Daisuke Takahashi
Trailblazer Takes a Timeout

Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje
Twirling to the Top of Their Game

Brian Joubert
Not Done Yet

Adelina Sotnikova
Inspired by Olympic Triumph

Elvis Stojko

Hits a High note in "Chicago"

Jason Brown
Takes a Quantum Leap into the Future

They Said It!

Quotable moments from the Past

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH:

Javier Fernández, Gracie Gold, Madelaine Edwards and Zhao Kai Pang and Brooklee Han

SKATING & TOURING:
Top Tour Offerings for Next Season

I assume Plush will be in the first one. Or maybe the "Quotable moments" article.

We did it, everyone! :ya_hoo_oo:

Such a strange poll. It seems like voting technically still "hasn't closed," hence why the Yuna fans are complaining in the comments (sour grapes, haha). I assume Plush was the one who had the most votes on the moment voting officially ended, hence why he won. I was very confused last night when midnight came and went and the voting went on. Still not sure when exactly it ended (what timezone does IceNetwork use?)

Я имела ввиду каскад 4-3-2. Ну а 4-3-3 он вообще первым прыгнул еще в 2002 году. И повторили его лишь единицы, да и то спустя
много лет!
Training reports from Sochi said he was still doing 4-3-3 (more proof he wasn't planning to withdraw from the beginning), if I recall correctly. I think he stopped the three-jump quad combinations because COP doesn't reward them. Nonetheless, he still did 4-3 in his Team SP--quad combo at the age of 31!

Hmm... I'm not sure about IceNetwork's assessment that he won silver in Vancouver for his quad combos. In retrospect, perhaps we could say he lost gold by doing the out-of-favour quads. Maybe he should've skated a safe, squeaky clean, and backloaded all-triple program.

cekoni wrote:No, Russian media are just turned into a media eager only for a sensation, rumors and bad news

Okay, well, that too. I was trying to be positive here.

Thank you for the reports! :plush39: Excited and worried that he's got the triple axel back already. Still proving that age is just a number! The emperor--no, the immortal --of figure skating. *bows* (But please take it easy, Plushy!) He looks so happy in shows, I kind of don't want him to return to competition. I want him to skate forever, for the fans, without needing to collect dumb COP points for the judges.

cekoni wrote:Plushy was named as the best russian skater in 2013/14 season, in a poll of russian sports journalists

Looks like the journalists did something right for a change.

Ah, sensationalist headlines! "2018 Olympic Comeback" from "I will try"? I think Plushy will be surprised to hear they have so much confidence in him. :hi_hi_hi:

But my favourite is actually this understatement, from the Moscow Times article:

If Plushenko does make it to South Korea's Pyeongchang Olympic Games in 2018, he will be 35 years old — an age considered above average for any professional figure skater.
"above average"?! For pairs, maybe. For singles, let's try "Completely insane and unheard of ever since they moved beyond double jumps." (Let's face it, 31 is already insane and unheard of, let alone 35).

I'm still worried, and I still think he has already done more than he needs to (retirement isn't quitting--he's already gone further than anyone has before, and probably further than anyone ever will). But all I can do is support him and hope.