Usa Today, Michelle's Press Conference

An Article in USA Today, says that Michelle will hold a press conference today. On the front page of the Sport's section, it says that Michelle has a news conference scheduled today to announce/clarify her status at nationals. It mentions if she withdraws, she could seek an injury waiver which would allow U.S. Figure Skating to still consider her for an Olympic bearth.
I checked out MKF also and they mentioned it.

So here comes the 'bye'...just as some of us have been predicting! [Heck, I really hope that I'm wrong & that Michele WILL skate but....I've been around too long.]

Here's another prediction:

To appease $pon$or$, ABC will probably give Michelle an announcer role for Saturday night's Ladies Finals telecast ("Backstage Pass with Michelle"??? or some other gimmick). Michelle has to appear somehow, to justify the advertisement fee for each 30-second spot. Without Michele in the telecast, fees goes way down (even with Sasha there).

The NBC Effect:

This arrangement would also make NBC & Olympics advertisers happy. Why? Because if Michelle's condition is a big mystery, then Mr & Mrs Public can be duped into thinking that the "Michelle of Old" will be entering the Olympics as the Gold Medal Queen. What do once-every-four-year viewers of figure skating know about the reality of Michelle's condition? What do they know about Code of Points & the reality that Michelle has minimal experience in it? Sell those million-dollar-a-minute advertisement spots! That's what it's all about!!! NBC & Coca-Cola will be real happy. To heck with whether or not Michele stands a chance at making top-five (or even top-ten) in Torino. PHONIES!

Didn't Irina and T&M get to skip Russian nationals because of illness?

Frau Muller said:

So here comes the 'bye'...just as some of us have been predicting! [Heck, I really hope that I'm wrong & that Michele WILL skate but....I've been around too long.]

Here's another prediction:

To appease $pon$or$, ABC will probably give Michelle an announcer role for Saturday night's Ladies Finals telecast ("Backstage Pass with Michelle"??? or some other gimmick). Michelle has to appear somehow, to justify the advertisement fee for each 30-second spot. Without Michele in the telecast, fees goes way down (even with Sasha there).

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I hope that scenerio is not true. I would love to see all the top skaters at their best and completing.

Me too Millie, especially at Turino. I think that Kwan is still among the three best U.S. ladies and if it takes skipping nationals for her to be her best at Turino then by all means skip nationals....it's not like she is the first person in the world to do so. On the bright side this assures Cohen a U.S. title which can be nothing but good for her confidence and in the eyes of the judges is always a good thing. This could result in even a stronger team for the U.S. ladies. To the skate gods... . Thanks Paula!

Piel said:

Didn't Irina and T&M get to skip Russian nationals because of illness?

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True, illnesses happen! However, neither Irina nor the T/M team were to have faced competition for their titles at Russian Nats. No lady or pair comes close to them (no - not even Petrova/Tikhonov). Hence -- no whif of phoniness comes from the Russian scenario.

US National Ladies is a whole other ballgame, with (a) the abilities of the revered nine-year champ in question and (b) a mega-buck$ impact if the "results" don't happen as the USFSA, the networks & advertisers expect them to be. So the best way to ensure the expected Olympic Ladies Team is to yank Michele out of the competition & ensure her 'champ image' in the eyes of the public (which translates to happy advertisers & happy NBC).

EDITED TO ADD:
Piel, I sure hope that none of this happens but I'm afraid that it might. If so, it's no great service to Michele's image, in the end. It would also be a disservice to Olympic skating because, in the end, the public would figure it out. BEST SCENARIO - Michele *does* skate in St Louis & skate to her capabilities; the judging is FAIR; Michele earns a spot on the team by winning gold, silver or bronze at Nats; nobody will be able to scream that a 4th or 5th-place finisher 'wuz robbed'; fans & general public are happy; advertisers & networks are happy. No manipulation necessary! That is the plan I desire because I love this sport & its skaters!!!

Let's wait for the Announcement. There will 50 different speculations about this including mine.

Joe

Kwan has never been known to be dishonest or phony. I trust the U.S.F.S.A more than I trust the Russian Fed as far as honesty goes...call me a crazy nationlistic Kwaniac IIRC the only person guaranteed a spot on the World/Olympic teams is the National champion the other places are at the discretion of the powers that be . This exact situation has happened in other sports should Kerrigan have been left off of the 94 team? By the looks of her at Marshall's Kwan has not been able to practice her jumps as much as needed due to the injury. The goal is to send the team who can best medal in Turino.... not to reward a one time skate. The best for the Olympics has been determined over a period of time not just by the results at nationals. In gymnastics they don't announce the team until after the training camp after nationals. The U.S. team is stronger with Kwan.

Frau Mueller ITA that Kwan medaling...nah make that winning nationals is the best scenario. Let's be realistic. Who else are you going to send? Cohen is a given. Even with Cohen and Kwan that third spot is iffy. Czisney I love but I think that a not 100% Kwan is still a better bet than Allisa and much better than any of the others. Take away Kwan and we are sending two wild cards,IMO. Kwan's experience and maturity could be more important than a 3/3.

Piel said:

To the skate gods... . Thanks Paula!

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Yay! We have skate gods!!! I second Piel's thanks to Paula with the infamous...

As for Kwan & the press conference ~ While in principle, I agree with all the previous comments, I'd like to address the whole advertising dollars question & the implication that allowing the general public to view Kwan as a true contender (which I'm still convinced she is, provided she's healed...) and the label of phoniness...

While its difficult for skate fans to seperate the sport from the business side of skating, it is important for all of us to remember that to the casual skating fan & those who only tune in during the Olympics, Kwan is US skating. Period. This is based on her longevity, popularity and status as a B-level celebrity. Why? Because the USFSA hasn't taken a different approach than to ride her coat tails for years... That's just the reality.

Why this is important to keep in mind is that as viewership dies and Kwan's impending retirement looms, we skating fans are faced with lean viewing in the not to distant future. The ISU hasn't been smart about managing their contract with US markets. The ABC contract ends in 07 and ESPN simply doesn't care about skating. With the end of Monday Night Football on ABC, ESPN probably won't continue its "chick" coverage on Mondays of the GP and skating will end up squashed between cheerleading (which is a sport) and Poker (which is not) ~ And this is best case senerio... skating just might end up like US gymnastics which is televised every blue moon & then not promoted...

Yes, sports advertising is a dirty business with very little emphasis on the actual sport, but its not "fair" (gosh, how I hate that word...) to say its phony to make the money while its available because without US ad dollars, skating is facing a bleak future ~ in terms of general coverage. So please don't blame sport marketers for presenting an unrealistic view of the sport, blame the USFSA for lack of vision...

Having climbed off of my soapbox, I sincerely hope that Kwan skates, the competition is fair and the US sends the best team. But if that scenerio doesn't play out, I hope that she skates well without causing a setback, goes to 4ccs for the feedback & is 100% in Italy. I also hope that Target gets my XBOX 360 sometime before the rapture...

Piel said:

Me too Millie, especially at Turino. I think that Kwan is still among the three best U.S. ladies and if it takes skipping nationals for her to be her best at Turino then by all means skip nationals....it's not like she is the first person in the world to do so. On the bright side this assures Cohen a U.S. title which can be nothing but good for her confidence and in the eyes of the judges is always a good thing. This could result in even a stronger team for the U.S. ladies. To the skate gods... . Thanks Paula!

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Oh my skating gods, they have arrived, My worst nightmare. Piel, I can take anything except those little guys.:no. No Thanks. Sandra. Paula, how can you do this to us.

I checked out USA Today and found no mention of Michelle Kwan having a press conference.

Please provide the USA Today link, or I will have to conclude that this is just another hoax.

I did read it on the cover of the sports section for USA today titled " Kwan to announce status for nationals".

The news conference is 2:30 EST.

Why should Michelle's request for a "bye" in '06 be considered more "phony" than Todd's request in '92? Michelle has the same right as any other injured, big name skater who qualifies under the then-existing standards to seek a bye. Under the current standards, Nats would be disregarded; the next priority event is the GPF (no one but Alissa even made it, so no one else beats Michelle on that count) and then Worlds '05 -- where Michelle's 4th place trumps the junior Worlds placement of Kimmie and/or Emily.

I googled "Michelle Kwan" in USA Today and got zip.

millie said:

An Article in USA Today, says that Michelle will hold a press conference today. On the front page of the Sport's section, it says that Michelle has a news conference scheduled today to announce/clarify her status at nationals. It mentions if she withdraws, she could seek an injury waiver which would allow U.S. Figure Skating to still consider her for an Olympic bearth.
I checked out MKF also and they mentioned it.

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What is MKF? how do I log onto it? As a skating fan, I know I should know this, but I don't.......

Darby

MKF = Michelle Kwan Forum... it's the local hangout for internet Kwan fans

This just in on SkateToday.com via press release: Kwan Withdraws!
http://www.skatetoday.com/06usnats/index.php

I was really hoping that my earlier prediction wasn't correct. I had a feeling we weren't going to see her at Nationals this year. Am keeping my finger's crossed that she'll be put on the Oly team..... 42

Oh man. The excitement factor just plunged. :disapp: Now Cohen basically has this one in the bag. Yawn.