Michelle's Proof-of-Recovery Skate, Jan 16 | Page 7 | Golden Skate

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

attyfan

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Mathman said:
Bravo. To me, that is the whole thing in a nutshell. At the end of the day, however, I do trust Michelle to keep her head on her shoulders and make a rational decision based on what is best both for the sport and for her own legacy.

MM :)

ISo much of Michelle's commercial desireability is due to her sportsmanship that I don't think she will be too badly hurt if she says, even after getting a bye on
Jan 14, that "I can't be up to par in time, I'm stepping aside ..." Since she has said that she is willing to do this, I think she will keep her head on straight.
 

mzheng

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Jan 16, 2005
sk8fanconvert said:
I also worry that MK might not see the picture clearly, that she's surrounded by yes-people, who depend on her Olympic hopes even more than she does herself.
If anything it's the ppl surround her told her not to compete. Some one at FSU posted that MK who herself wanted to compete at Nationals, even she is not ready, it's ppl who surround her convinced her not to. And MS confirmed as well. She's been a true trooper, a warrior.....When time comes I believe Kamp Kwan will make the right decision. She's been consistant with her words for all these years.
 
S

SkateFan4Life

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Don't expect Michelle Kwan' skate in front of the USFSA officials to be televised **unless** she skates a program what decisively proves she is fit and ready to compete at the Olympics. If she skates brilliantly, then expect CNN and/or the major sports networks (particularly NBC, who will be telecasting the American coverage of the Olympics) to show this skate.

I am disappointed that Michelle had to withdraw from Nationals, as this is an event she has owned for the past decade. She has won every National title since 1996, with the exception being 1997 when Tara Lipinski won the title. With her withdrawal, this opens the door for Sasha Cohen to finally win the title. Of course, the nay-sayers will say (assuming that Sasha wins) "She won this title only because Michelle was injured and wasn't competing". Well, that's the way it goes with competitive figure skating, particularly in these days when there are so many injuries.

My concern is whether or not Michelle will really be able to compete. A groin injury is something that can resurface and cause all kinds of issues, just when you think you've recovered from it.

Another concern I have - and this in no way detracts from Michelle's wonderful record of great skating - is that she hasn't really mastered the COP mindset. In other words, she was still coming to terms with the new order of things, at least as far as last season was concerned, and she did not change her programs to emass the kinds of points she needed to win with the new scoring system. Most of the other top skaters have managed to adjust to this change, however difficult it may have been for them, and I'm sure it was a major change, but Michelle did not "get with the program", so to speak.

Michelle states that she believes she will be ready to compete at the Olympics, and I hope that is true. However, I also hope that her skate before the UFSFA judges is evaluated in terms of the new judging system. Sasha, Kimberly, and Alyissa have tweeked their programs to score high marks with this system. Has Michelle done the same?
 
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flowjo35

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Aug 25, 2004
SkateFan4Life said:
Another concern I have - and this in no way detracts from Michelle's wonderful record of great skating - is that she hasn't really mastered the COP mindset. In order words, she was still coming to terms with the new order of things, at least as far as last season was concerned, and she did not change her programs to emass the kinds of points she needed to win with the new scoring system. Most of the other top skaters have managed to adjust to this change, however difficult it may have been for them, and I'm sure it was a major change, but Michelle did not "get with the program", so to speak.

Michelle states that she believes she will be ready to compete at the Olympics, and I hope that is true. However, I also hope that her skate before the UFSFA judges is evaluated in terms of the new judging system. Sasha, Kimberly, and Alyissa have tweeked their programs to score high marks with this system. Has Michelle done the same?

Actually I think one of the reasons Michelle went to TT for her programs this season is to get someone with COP experience. TT has done programs for skaters that have scored well with COP, when skated well (ie. Sasha and SA). She also stated in a recent article that she has gotten her programs evaluated by judges to see what levels she would score under COP and some changes had been made to get the most points possible. So I think after last season, Kamp Kwan is doing everything possible to score well under COP. I hope it all works out for her.
 

slutskayafan21

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Mar 28, 2005
It will be interesting to see if Kwan skates at the Olympics, if she can equal the PCS scores she got for her programs last year. The judges seem to not be scoring any of the skaters as highly as last year in PCS scores so it will be hard.
 

mzheng

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Jan 16, 2005
slutskayafan21 said:
It will be interesting to see if Kwan skates at the Olympics, if she can equal the PCS scores she got for her programs last year. The judges seem to not be scoring any of the skaters as highly as last year in PCS scores so it will be hard.
Set the tone of PCS scores that MK's Olympics program suppose to get? Is it too hurry? How about after watching what the CoP programs she has first?

Michelle has had internatioinal level judges and callers came to evaluate her CoP programs.
 

slutskayafan21

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Mar 28, 2005
mzheng said:
Set the tone of PCS scores that MK's Olympics program suppose to get? Is it too hurry? How about after watching what the CoP programs she has first?

Michelle has had internatioinal level judges and callers came to evaluate her CoP programs.

Unless they are much improved over last year I am projecting them to score lower PCS scores since PCS scores seem lower this year for both men and women in general. Just my opinion. I expect Cohen, Suguri, Slutskaya, all to score lower in PCS than Worlds last year at the Olympics as well; as well as Buttle, Lambiel, and Joubert among the men. Arakawa might score as high on PCS as last years Worlds only because she was so awful in the final free program at Worlds.
 
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orchid

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Oct 28, 2004
soogar said:
And Sasha has beaten Michelle numerous times internationally. Michelle might own nationals, but Sasha's results speak for themselves and bode very well for the Olympics.

Just when has Sasha "beaten Michelle" except for the 2005 Worlds, when Kwan skated less than her best?
 

slutskayafan21

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orchid said:
Just when has Sasha "beaten Michelle" except for the 2005 Worlds, when Kwan skated less than her best?

Sasha beat Michelle at the 2004 Worlds as well. Sasha and Michelle are 2-2 at non-cheesefests since the start of the 03-04 season, and 4-4 including cheesefests. Sasha has been atleast event with Michelle the last 2 seasons
(excluding this season since Michelle has not competed yet, and Sasha even only partialy).
 
S

SkateFan4Life

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attyfan said:
ISo much of Michelle's commercial desireability is due to her sportsmanship that I don't think she will be too badly hurt if she says, even after getting a bye on
Jan 14, that "I can't be up to par in time, I'm stepping aside ..." Since she has said that she is willing to do this, I think she will keep her head on straight.

ITA. Michelle became the big star from Nagano, thanks to the gracious way she accepted her silver medal. She seemed genuinely happy with her performance, and she said she had been thrilled to compete at the Olympics, and she was honored to win a medal for her country. What's not to love about that attitude? And, she stayed in the game and continued to compete.

Michelle was deeply disappointed at winning bronze at Salt Lake City, and she cried throughout her exhibition program of "Fields of Gold". Yet, she continued to compete, and she continued to add National and World titles.

I agree that Michelle will honestly evaluate her physical condition, and if she truly believes she cannot compete at the high level she wants to compete at, she will withdraw her petition for a bye for the Olympic team. I'm sure Michelle would not want to skate at Torino if she was injured, able to only land doubles, etc. It would be very sad for her many fans and for the huge television audience to see her skate a faltering program caused by her injury.
 

soogar

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Dec 18, 2003
show 42 said:
Soogar, to my understanding, the Olympics is all about winning medals (as is any competition). It's not necessarily about letting the young, untried athlete "have their moment in the sun". The strongest team members are always sent, the ones with the most experience. There are athletes in other sports who have been to the Olys two and three times, perhaps even four........Assuming she can compete and with Michelle's 13 plus years of experience in the field, I can't believe her one less than stellar year of CoP experience will be the determining factor to whether or not she goes to Italy...42

Well the Olympics are also about giving exposure to the younger skaters to set them up for the next Olympics. The USFS needs to look ahead to 2010 and think about giving promising younger skaters a chance to experience an Olympics without the pressure and get used to competing on that stage. Right now, Sasha is the best shot for a medal. Most likely Michelle will be out of the medals. Whether Michelle continues to compete until 2010 or not, Michelle most certainly will not be a factor in the 2010 Olympics. On the other hand, Kimmie and Emily (possibly Bebe and Alissa as well) are young enough to be groomed into top contenders for the 2010 crown.

Just because Michelle has globs of international experience and achieved her best results as a teenager doesn't mean that she should be sent to the games. However Michelle certainly has the right to request a bye. My concern is that with all the dollar signs around Michelle (similar accusations were made about Miki Ando being placed on the Japanese team) that Michelle will not be evaluated fairly and will be placed on the team at the expense of a younger skater. I am concerned whenever there are dollar signs and marketing involved that when balancing the interests of two skaters that will not medal, the more famous skater will be chosen. Michelle has already competed in 2 Olympics and medaled in both. As for Michelle losing the spot in 1994, she was only 13 years old and had lots of time to compete. Skaters competing now are older and presumably in their prime years.
 

swannanoa54

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Aug 19, 2003
soogar said:
Well the Olympics are also about giving exposure to the younger skaters to set them up for the next Olympics. The USFS needs to look ahead to 2010 and think about giving promising younger skaters a chance to experience an Olympics without the pressure and get used to competing on that stage. Right now, Sasha is the best shot for a medal. Most likely Michelle will be out of the medals. Whether Michelle continues to compete until 2010 or not, Michelle most certainly will not be a factor in the 2010 Olympics. On the other hand, Kimmie and Emily (possibly Bebe and Alissa as well) are young enough to be groomed into top contenders for the 2010 crown.

Just because Michelle has globs of international experience and achieved her best results as a teenager doesn't mean that she should be sent to the games. However Michelle certainly has the right to request a bye. My concern is that with all the dollar signs around Michelle (similar accusations were made about Miki Ando being placed on the Japanese team) that Michelle will not be evaluated fairly and will be placed on the team at the expense of a younger skater. I am concerned whenever there are dollar signs and marketing involved that when balancing the interests of two skaters that will not medal, the more famous skater will be chosen. Michelle has already competed in 2 Olympics and medaled in both. As for Michelle losing the spot in 1994, she was only 13 years old and had lots of time to compete. Skaters competing now are older and presumably in their prime years.

However, in light of everything, all the commercials regarding the Olympics are touting that we are sending our best. They don't say "we are sending our youngest in any Olympic sport to gain experience for 2010." And despite that, I think sending our best wouldn't be to send a younger skater in order to have them "gain experience" for the next Olympics.

If we are truly sending our best, I believe our best should include Kwan and Cohen. And if Kwan cannot skate, as she has stated, she will withdraw. But that should be her decision, not the decision of every Tom, Dick and Harry figure skating fan in the universe who wants a younger skater to go to gain some experience for 2010. If this is what is true, than Irina should step aside because she withdrew from her Nationals as well. She should allow some of the younger Russian skaters (are there any) to gain experience as well.

And I don't ever remember reading that the Olympics was ever about giving exposure to younger skaters or any other athlete for that matter. The Olympics, historically, has always been about sending your best to compete against their best, not about giving people experience. If that was the case, then let's not send our best at all. Why even have medals?
 

attyfan

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soogar said:
Well the Olympics are also about giving exposure to the younger skaters to set them up for the next Olympics. The USFS needs to look ahead to 2010 and think about giving promising younger skaters a chance to experience an Olympics without the pressure and get used to competing on that stage. Right now, Sasha is the best shot for a medal. Most likely Michelle will be out of the medals. Whether Michelle continues to compete until 2010 or not, Michelle most certainly will not be a factor in the 2010 Olympics. On the other hand, Kimmie and Emily (possibly Bebe and Alissa as well) are young enough to be groomed into top contenders for the 2010 crown. ...

Are you sure? The last time an OGM went to a skater with prior Oly experience was Kat Witt in 1988; maybe, not sending K/E/B/A to Torino could be the best favor the USFSA could do them. Also, I don't
 

Piel

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soogar said:
Well the Olympics are also about giving exposure to the younger skaters to set them up for the next Olympics. The USFS needs to look ahead to 2010 and think about giving promising younger skaters a chance to experience an Olympics without the pressure and get used to competing on that stage.

Oksana, Tara, and Sarah really suffered from all of that first Olympics pressure, didn't they?:rofl:
 

show 42

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And I don't ever remember reading that the Olympics was ever about giving exposure to younger skaters or any other athlete for that matter. The Olympics, historically, has always been about sending your best to compete against their best, not about giving people experience. If that was the case, then let's not send our best at all. Why even have medals?

Well said, realistic............42
 

show 42

Arm Chair Skate Fan
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As for Michelle losing the spot in 1994, she was only 13 years old and had lots of time to compete. Skaters competing now are older and presumably in their prime years.

Soogar, doesn't this also apply to the 13 and 14 year old skaters coming up now? They too have "lots of time to compete". 42
 

Piel

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The U.S.F.S./Olympic selection committee will choose who they want for the U.S. team following their rules. Anyone who isn't happy with that needs to put on their big girl panties and deal with it.:biggrin:
 

cianni

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Jul 28, 2003
Oh Dear

I am always amazed at the way some fans manage to think up some less then intelligent reason to put a skate down. Good intelligent post . Realistic51. I tend to ignore some posters its like feeding the trolls. Sports would not be sports if every athlete had to step down for a younger one. I guess the skaters over 20 all need to step aside, like Irina. Arakawa, Fumie, Corwin,Sokolova, Fontana,and all the rest. Maybe the age limit shoud be 21 so Sasha can win. The skaters will retire when they deem fit not when fans think they should.
 

Piel

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Everybody, all together.......................

Remember Dan Jansen?:rock:
 

attyfan

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Slightly OT, but does any one know if Michelle skis? Is there any way she can replace Bode Miller? After all, one thing that does happen with Olys is that there are always some athletes that give other countries a rather negative picture of Americans, and I would like to see Michelle around to counter it.
 
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