Mirai was 4th and highest placement for us at the Olympics in a PACKED field in a final that wasn't a splatfest, so I have a hard time stomaching people calling her overhyped. As far as I'm concerned, she lived up to every bit of hype.
Yes, having issues and now getting over them (good for her), but no different than Wagner's long string of dubious-terrible performances prior to last year...
Unfortunately, Gracie's name makes it impossible for her to avoid being [over]hyped. That part is in brackets, because she's more than capable of living up to it. The ball's in her court.
So glad for Gracie- she was just unconscious in the fs, huge lutz combo, NICE loop (no pop or flub), no worries or jitters.
After that final scratch spin, much relief out there, whew!
Now that I'm hearing about all this drama in the ladies, I'm really excited- I hope they show the entire free on NBC, backstage drama and all, meltdowns, everything...haven't been this excited for a while. The countdown to Sochi just got really fun.
The first half of Czisny's performance in 2009 was magical. And she fell once, not twice. There were also no other great performances by the ladies at 2009 Nationals - Caroline Zhang and Rachael Flatt did well technically in that competition, but their performances were abysmal.
Wagner's performance tonight was mostly flat and seriously marred. I would have placed her 7th in the LP (behind all of Gold, Hicks, Cesario, Wang, Gao, Zhang). It was not good. I suppose she deserved 2nd overall because of her SP, though.
The ISU simply must address the inadequacies of the scoring system, or else admit flat out that they have abandoned the concept of figure skating as a spectator sport.
You cannot ask people to pay their money to watch a sporting event where they see one amazing program after another, then they give the prize to a lackluster performance with two falls.
The excuse that we must arrange it so that we can send the "right" skaters to worlds doesn't cut it.
The ISU simply must address the inadequacies of the scoring system, or else admit flat out that they have abandoned the concept of figure skating as a spectator sport.
You cannot ask people to pay their money to watch a sporting event where they see one amazing program after another, then they give the prize to a lackluster performance with two falls.
The excuse that we must arrange it so that we can send the "right" skaters to worlds doesn't cut it.
Maybe it's a lost cause. Think back to the 1988 Olympics when Midori Ito stole the show and still lost to mediocre performances because of figures that the audience didn't see or care about. So......
Yes, the inadequacies that count both the SP and the LP, the horror... :sarcasm:
True. (Although Liz Manley's free skate wasn't exactly mediocre. : ) ) But back then the reaction of the ISU was to overhaul the system by tossing out figures. It seems that now their reaction is, we know best -- if you don't like it, go watch some other sport.
Ashley's tech score in the LP was beaten by Gracie Gold, Courtney Hicks, Jasmin Siraj, Christina Gao, Angela Wang, Samantha Cesario, and even the USFS whipping girl Caroline Zhang.
I am not trying to pick on Ashley here. I think her injury took more out of her than she is admitting. Still, her LP performance was not the second best of the night. And yet, that is how it was scored.