Michelle's Proof-of-Recovery Skate, Jan 16

[cianni]

Im sure the USFA , Michelle and the DR. will know whether Michelle is fit. Michelle said if she isnt 100% she would pull out and I have never seen her do anything that would question her integrity. How about this, Sasha or the 3rd skater gets injured before or during the OLYs will that be different then Kwan. I think in some fans minds that would be the case.I guess its OK to be injured unless your Kwan. Any skater can injure themselves at any time so dont get your hopes up that it will be Michelle it may be your favorite and you might get what you wish for. Let the process take its place. Sasha will win the Nats by default and some can now focus on that.

[sk8addict]

Im sure the USFA , Michelle and the DR. will know whether Michelle is fit. Michelle said if she isnt 100% she would pull out and I have never seen her do anything that would question her integrity. How about this, Sasha or the 3rd skater gets injured before or during the OLYs will that be different then Kwan. I think in some fans minds that would be the case.I guess its OK to be injured unless your Kwan. Any skater can injure themselves at any time so dont get your hopes up that it will be Michelle it may be your favorite and you might get what you wish for. Let the process take its place. Sasha will win the Nats by default and some can now focus on that.

There will be NO default champion. Sasha was bound to win the Nationals; Michelle in or not. Chelle HAS been injured ALL season. She would be lucky to be in the top 3 without the judges holding her up after being off the ice so long. She has not been able to get feedback from the judges on her programs like everyone else. She has only competed in COP once.Didn't you watch Marshall's? Kwan has NOT beaten Sasha in COP EVER!!!. You say CHILL OUT!!! You just unleashed the mother load! default indeed...you Kwanaddicts need to grow up. Kwan is not an Irina. No miracle comeback in the the near future. You don't love skating you only love Chelle & you are blinded by that love.

[Frau Muller]

Im sure the USFA , Michelle and the DR. will know whether Michelle is fit. .......

Yeah, and so will NBC and Coca-Cola. Let's not forget them. They'll be sure that Michele is fit enough to get on a plane to Italy, carry a flag, do the interview thing, keep viewers intersted & February 'sweeps month' ratings up.....

[nymkfan51]

They better give her a bye, is all I have to say.
I see no other lady (other than Sasha) who stands near as good a chance to medal as Michelle. Who? Alissa? ... Emily? ... Kimmie? Sorry folks, they have hardly made a case for themselves this season. Alissa is the only one who had any success at all, and even she crumbled when put up against the big guns.

Michelle won't go if she is not physcially able ... so to me this a no brainer.

[kyla2]

Not to worry, there is no way in the world they will not give her a "bye" if she wants it, and she does. I just hope and pray she can recover and skate but I am not counting on it. This has been one hell of a year as far as I am concerned.

[cianni]

We wont see if Michelle can or cannot win Nats. unless you have a power greater the the rest of us and know, I sure dont know what I cant see. Sasha will win by default and I will LMAO if she loses but that wont happen because she will be gifted. You like Sasha,I like Kwan but without the competition with both there Sasha wins by default and that wont change because you unleash your Sasha gushwhich felt more like anger. No Michelle, she wins by default. End of conversation.

[Frau Muller]

No Michelle, she wins by default. End of conversation.

I'm not so sure of that. Alissa has artistry to rival Cohen's and a heck of a lot more natural personality & musicality out on the ice. Alissa also has more solid jumps. G-P Final was a fluke - as Uncle Dick often says "Every skater has to go through one trial by fire where she performs poorly." That was it for Alissa; now everyone watch out!

Unlike Sasha's trademarked "SashaSplatfests," which happen all too often. Let's not forget - Sasha had it "In the Bag" for the 2003 G-P Finals...Fumie beat her big time. I was there in the stands in Colorado & remember that night very well.

ANYTHING CAN & WILL HAPPEN IN ST. LOUIS!

[sk8addict]

We wont see if Michelle can or cannot win Nats. unless you have a power greater the the rest of us and know, I sure dont know what I cant see. Sasha will win by default and I will LMAO if she loses but that wont happen because she will be gifted. You like Sasha,I like Kwan but without the competition with both there Sasha wins by default and that wont change because you unleash your Sasha gushwhich felt more like anger. No Michelle, she wins by default. End of conversation.

Shasha BEAT Michelle the last time they competed. Sasha has improved since that time. I doubt Michelle has had that opportunity since she has been off the ice. I Liked Michelle for years...until she got distracted by school & life off the ice & then the rest of the world overcame her technically. Using default sounds like anger to me. I also like Allisa, Bebe, Yebin, Angela, Amber, Jenny Kirk & Jenny Don and Jane Bugavea, not to mention Stephanie Rosenthal.. I don't wrap my love of skating into one person. Maybe you are young & have grown up only knowing Kwan as your champion. There were great skaters before her & I have seen many of them go on to professional skating. It's not the end of the world. LMAO soulds like hate.

[mzheng]

There will be NO default champion. Sasha was bound to win the Nationals; Michelle in or not. Chelle HAS been injured ALL season. She would be lucky to be in the top 3 without the judges holding her up after being off the ice so long. She has not been able to get feedback from the judges on her programs like everyone else. She has only competed in COP once.Didn't you watch Marshall's? Kwan has NOT beaten Sasha in COP EVER!!!. You say CHILL OUT!!! You just unleashed the mother load! default indeed...you Kwanaddicts need to grow up. Kwan is not an Irina. No miracle comeback in the the near future. You don't love skating you only love Chelle & you are blinded by that love.

Only hope Sasha has the same confidance as you do. LOL. Otherwise she had no need to make a round at South Cal rinks (not only Lake Arrowhead) to scoop out the fields just before the Nationals, like she did last year.

[sk8addict]

Only hope Sasha has the same confidance as you do. LOL. Otherwise she had no need to make a round at South Cal rinks to scoop out the field before Nationals, like she did last year.

She was on the podium at the last worlds. Sound smart to me. I have several skater friends who never watch their competition. I don't get it? I would be at the boards every time I got a chance & by the tv as well. skating

[cianni]

Over confidence will get you every time. No Michelle I win. Might be her undoing but I think not she will be gifted no matter how she skates. I agree Alissa does rival Cohen but she isnt mentally tough yet and the judges wouldnt let her beat Cohen without Kwan they need Cohen to win. So win by default it is. I dont know who would win without the skater there to skate as some do. I also dont have a crystal ball to look in and see Cohen wins over Michelle. We will never know.

[mzheng]

She was on the podium at the last worlds. Sound smart to me. I have several skater friends who never watch their competition. I don't get it? I would be at the boards every time I got a chance & by the tv as well. skating

Smart? or Lack of confidance?

[Kwanford Wife]

There will be NO default champion. Sasha was bound to win the Nationals; Michelle in or not. Chelle HAS been injured ALL season. She would be lucky to be in the top 3 without the judges holding her up after being off the ice so long. She has not been able to get feedback from the judges on her programs like everyone else. She has only competed in COP once.Didn't you watch Marshall's? Kwan has NOT beaten Sasha in COP EVER!!!. You say CHILL OUT!!! You just unleashed the mother load! default indeed...you Kwanaddicts need to grow up. Kwan is not an Irina. No miracle comeback in the the near future. You don't love skating you only love Chelle & you are blinded by that love.

I swore I wasn't going to post on this thread (or any others for that matter) until after Nationals, but I just had to add my two cents based on this comment...

If Sasha had been injured, missed Nationals and pursued a bye to the Olympics, I believe the prevailing thought would be that Michelle would win Nationals by defualt as well... Much like '99(? - can't remember & no time to look it up...) with a somewhat flawed Arianne program, simply because the competition was weak without Tara or a new standout. This year's Nationals will mirror that... Competition without an equal is sorta like the whole bringing a knife to a gun fight analogy. I do appreciate Alyssia & Kimmie, but don't see either of these two as on the same level as Cohen or Kwan ~ but more as the future of US skating, IMHO.

Further, I don't see how its fair to say who would win Nationals this year... Nationals is the official sponsor of the "Kwan Lovefest." I'm not sure how one could say with all certainty, until Kwan's withdrawl yesterday, that Cohen was a shoo-in for a victory. That's not Kwan-obsession but historical fact (see '03, '04, '05 as evidence... ) But hey, now we will never know and guess what? Life goes on...

I can't help but add that I do feel a bit sad for Sasha... For years she's been heir apparent to the Nationals crown and the year she's finally the hands down favorite & should be receiving all the perks that go along with that, she doesn't because (or despite..) Kwan pulling out becomes the hottest skating topic & Sasha gets pushed aside once again...

Regardless, it should be quite an interesting couple of months in skateland...

[swannanoa54]

There will be NO default champion. Sasha was bound to win the Nationals; Michelle in or not. Chelle HAS been injured ALL season. She would be lucky to be in the top 3 without the judges holding her up after being off the ice so long. She has not been able to get feedback from the judges on her programs like everyone else. She has only competed in COP once.Didn't you watch Marshall's? Kwan has NOT beaten Sasha in COP EVER!!!. You say CHILL OUT!!! You just unleashed the mother load! default indeed...you Kwanaddicts need to grow up. Kwan is not an Irina. No miracle comeback in the the near future. You don't love skating you only love Chelle & you are blinded by that love.

First of all, I never said the Nutcracker was like skating at Marshalls. However the USFS denied Bobek's bye. And I also am well aware of the circumstances surrounding Kerrigan's injury AND that she had to do both her programs in order to get the "bye" WHILE she was still not totally healed from the "whack".

You know something, what is with this "kwanaddicts need to grow up" stuff. I mean really. I realize you are addressing someone else with that pitiful post up there, but let's put this in perspective. Kwan is my favorite skater. I happen to like others as well. I've watched figure skating for a long time. Watched Peggy Fleming win her OGM, btw. I guess I don't need to grow up anymore than I already have, thankyouverymuch.

I prefer to see Alissa win Nationals if Kwan isn't there because I happen to like Alissa and Emily and Bebe more than I like Sasha and her flexibility. And Kwan only finished by less than a point off the podium at Worlds in 2005, so I don't know what the problem is there.

I think Sasha will win Nationals. But never you, sk8addict, nor I will know, at this point, if Sasha could outskate Kwan despite her injury under COP at THIS Nationals. There's no way of knowing that and there won't be at this point in time. And I guess you haven't read many of the press releases where Kwan HAS had international judges come out and look at her programs. I realize it isn't the same as competition, but she HAS gotten feedback on her programs in order to better tweak them. I love it when people make statements about the judges holding Kwan up before the competition has even started.

[millie]

This is the mentality of the Kwanatics. The attack has begun. These past few post has nothing to do with Michelle, but the vendictist. Michelle is injured and cannot skate, why have a vendetta against Sasha? According to you guys, from here on in, who ever skates, will win by default because Michelle is injured and cannot skate. This means that whoever wins at the Olympics, wins by default because Mao cannot skate there. Give it a rest.