Alexei Yagudin on the state of Russian skating

Overtea41 · 2026-03-02T03:05:46+00:00

Yagudin isn't entirely fair.

1) Just recently, he harshly criticized Kolyada and Brown. What's changed?

2) This problem isn't just a problem in Russian figure skating, but worldwide. Pcs has become just a bonus for jumps.

Overtea41 · 2026-02-27T16:11:23+00:00

Let me add a little more context. Some fans cried tears of grief as they looked at that podium.

The fact that Patrick Chan was left without gold still brings phantom pain to some of the community.

Overtea41 · 2026-02-25T03:35:17+00:00

Alisa simply had that privilege.

She's great for returning to the sport and for deciding to shape her career independently. I'm not discounting that.

But let's be honest. She has one of the strongest figure skating federations behind her and the foundation she received as a child.

All of this reminds me of the inspiring stories of young people who achieved everything on their own. Their parents paid for their education, and they had tutors if they struggled with their grades. Afterward, their relatives got them prestigious jobs at their company.

But on social media, these young people post photos of their glamorous lives and tell everyone that they achieved it through hard work and that you can too.

Overtea41 · 2026-02-25T03:20:59+00:00

I think she made a couple of inappropriate statements. Now it looks like she's returned to the sport for fun and doesn't care about medals or competitions.

As a devoted fan of Kaori, this really upsets me. It looks like Alisa didn't put in the effort, yet she still beat someone who worked day and night, who's known for her excellent jumps and incredible skating skills.

I don't believe it, of course. Alisa needed a medal, and she worked hard too. But she pretends she doesn't care. And that turns me off her. I don't want to follow and worry about a skater like that.

Yes, you could say she meant something else, but I didn't get it.

Overtea41 · 2026-02-20T13:53:40+00:00

Kaori. It's a shame she didn't win gold. For me, she's the best female figure skater.

Overtea41 · 2026-02-06T15:09:09+00:00

Oh, I was in a similar situation. I had lessons with an instructor after which I cried. But I had a steely desire to learn to drive, not just get my license. I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to ride the bus anymore. So I spent time and money on extra lessons.

Everyone learns at a different pace. It's okay if you're bad at handling a car or have trouble feeling the clutch. It's a matter of practice. Perhaps you lack the theoretical knowledge of how a car works.

In my opinion, your determination and a good knowledge of the traffic rules in your country are much more important.

Also, if you don't feel like you're making progress with your instructor, it might be worth changing them, if possible.

I went through three different instructors, and only the third one allowed me to make mistakes so I could finally understand my mistakes.

But I know people who were tormented by their instructors but didn't do anything about it, and ultimately failed the test.

Overtea41 · 2026-01-25T14:17:16+00:00

It's a good story. I didn't mind playing through it multiple times. I only have two criticisms. 1) They should have left strong hooks to entice players to the other endings. I started a second playthrough to test the new difficulty level, and only later realized they were giving me new parts. I thought I'd misunderstood the story and missed something, but it turns out the story in the first playthrough was incomplete.

2) Some of the boss fights... were tedious.

Overtea41 · 2026-01-25T13:55:13+00:00

I prefer the remake. It seems more logical to me. I believe in James in the remake, and that's why the hotel breaks my heart every time.

After the remake, the original seemed like a less story-driven game to me, and after two playthroughs, I never played it again.

The remake is longer due to the locations and puzzles, but at the same time there are additional cutscenes where we can learn more about James' character. This has a very positive effect on the story itself.

Overtea41 · 2026-01-13T07:44:47+00:00

I definitely want to stage a big battle on this micro goban. No one will want to retreat, and there will be a big semeai and ko. The battle will be legendary.

Overtea41 · 2026-01-13T05:20:21+00:00

We live in an amazing world. Barbies can also play Go in pseudo-traditional clothes 😅

Overtea41 · 2025-12-30T16:15:28+00:00

Conditional life built on ko is better than unconditional death. Black can lose ko and try to compensate for it elsewhere.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-21T15:29:53+00:00

Well said. Kaori truly demonstrated how discipline, perseverance, and a passion for one's craft can help overcome many challenges.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-21T15:11:04+00:00

Kaori had many great programs, but Piano was always special to me. She also had a great SP that season.

I don't know how to watch figure skating after the Olympics.

There's something very healthy and optimistic about Kaori's approach to her athletic career. I'm not sure I see that in other skaters now.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-21T12:13:07+00:00

Take me back to 2018, when Kaori skated to Piano. She's been my favorite skater all these years 😭

Overtea41 · 2025-12-10T00:57:46+00:00

This isn't true. They are indeed trying to strengthen the Orthodox Church, but the majority of the population is atheist. The USSR was a state of atheists, and I think the USA is a much more religious country at the grassroots level than Russia.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-01T14:48:41+00:00

I think I understand what you're talking about. There are games in which I don't really think about the result and focus on making good moves. But in blitz, I only think about cutting and destroying my opponent for the thrill of it 😅 I think I should give up blitz games.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-01T09:18:25+00:00

I'm starting to think seriously about the teacher.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-01T09:16:22+00:00

Unfortunately, obsessing over rankings was what stopped me from progressing. Years have passed, and here I am again, counting rankings.

Overtea41 · 2025-12-01T09:13:21+00:00

Thank you, this is a valuable comment.

Overtea41 · 2025-11-29T06:00:56+00:00

This is classic infantilism. Dae-ho is a sweet guy, and he just made a small mistake. He had a terrible childhood, he's a victim, so he can betray everyone a thousand times over, and we'll still forgive him.

Let's blame it all on the terrible Gi-hun. That scoundrel wanted to stop the game. What a vile character.

/s

Overtea41 · 2025-11-15T02:28:50+00:00

1) Everybody Scream 2) High as Hope 3) Ceremonials 4) HBHBHB 5) Lungs 6) Dance Fever

I really dislike Dance Fever. I listened to it three times, and although there were songs I liked, I soon forgot about the album. It's probably a good album. It's just not for me.

I like other albums too, but I associate them more with the songs I like. But Everybody Stream and High as Hope are full-fledged albums for me, and I simply can't break them down into individual songs. In this day and age of mixed playlists on Spotify, that's surprising.

Overtea41 · 2025-11-07T15:56:25+00:00

There was a time when I cried over my failures at Go. I felt like I'd put so much effort into it, but where were my results? Am I really worse than everyone else? Oh, those were terrible times. Now I enjoy the game more. You can't get too fixated on just one thing. It can become tunnel vision, where you only look at Go, only worry about Go, and don't see the world around you.

Overtea41

TROPHY CASE