U.S team going to the Olympics, some bold statements already!

1. There will be 0 medals for U.S men in Turin. Weir might make the top 5 though. All 3 will make the top 10.

2. Inoue/Baldwin will finish in the top 5 if they land their throw triple axel, and skate a clean short. If they fail to do one of those things they wont be in the top 5though.

3. Cohen will finish anywhere from 2nd-5th in Turin.

4. Belbin/Agosto will finish between 2nd-4th in Turin.

5. None of Liang, Hughes, Meissner, Csizny will crack the top 6 in Turin. Any of them might finish anywhere from 7th-15th.

And then again...maybe not. The ice is slippery and don't forget about the...
...

Piel said:

And then again...maybe not. The ice is slippery and don't forget about the...
...

Click to expand...

Hey I gave myself a wide range in all my forecastings. I did not give a specific placement for anybody. 2nd to 5th is a wide range, so is 7th to 15th, so is out of the top 3 for the men, with the exception of 4th or 5th for Weir, the others it could be anywhere from 4th to 10th within reason. Belbin/Agosto I gave 2nd to 4th, that is a huge range for dance.

It's completely Sasha's to win or lose - although I'm leaning towards lose. She could end up anywhere from 1 - 6; it'll all depend on her and Slutskya I think, regardless of Michelle's presense (I'm 99.99% she'll be there, but you never know...)

Sasha will be in the medals at the games, though it might not be the color she wants.

Irina will not win. (my bold prediction)

Irina will not win? Ok soogar, that intrigues me. Why do you think that because, for the first time, I actually agree with you. (although in the back of my mind I know that Irina will more than likely win)

Sasha won't gain gold. I think it will be a Japanese lady personally, but I'm not sure which one.

I think Johnny Weir will finish 2nd or 3rd.

I think B/A will come out and win gold or silver.

I think we won't see a US pairs in the top 5 at all.

I dont agree it is Sasha's completely to win or lose. I believe if both skate cleanly Irina will get the nod. We all know Sasha wont be trying a triple-triple, Irina might try one but even if she doesnt she will get the nod IMHO.

Johnny Weir will finish no higher than 6th. I didn't realize how bad his LP is until I saw it live today. Jump stalking to bad music. I wish he'd go back to Otonal.

Matt Savoie will not finish in the top 10.

Evan will finish higher than Johnny, but not by much.

I don't know, Doris, if Matt skates as well as he did tonight, he has a chance at the top 10.

Irina's been too inconsistant the past 2 seasons to win, IMO. Although I think she is probably one of the most deserving, I just don't see it happening.

It would be great to see Belbin and Agosto medal, but I dunno if they will....
Possibly bronze? I think that would be the highest they would be "allowed" (so to speak).Navka and Kostomorov (sp) don't do a thing for me, but they'll get the gold bearing no major breakdowns.

I would absolutely love to see Johnny and Evan in the top 4, and Matt in the top 8. All three really good skaters, Matt maybe a little inconsistant, but who knows, he could do something like he did tonight and pull off a top 5. Besides, gotta root for the Illinois Boys .

My personal belief is no way will Johnny and Evan both finish in the top 4, if one finishes as high as 4th, the other will be lower than that IMO. I agree on the dance, Navka/Kostomarov have gold wrapped up with the judges probably, and Belbin/Agosto wont have it as easy as some are predicting for a medal either.
Irina is actually very consistent compared to Cohen, Arakawa, Suguri, or Kwan the last couple years IMO.

Now that Kwan has officialy been named to the team:

6. Kwan will finish between 4th and 7th in Turin I predict.

Lcp88 said:

Irina's been too inconsistant the past 2 seasons to win, IMO. Although I think she is probably one of the most deserving, I just don't see it happening.

It would be great to see Belbin and Agosto medal, but I dunno if they will....
Possibly bronze? I think that would be the highest they would be "allowed" (so to speak).Navka and Kostomorov (sp) don't do a thing for me, but they'll get the gold bearing no major breakdowns.

I would absolutely love to see Johnny and Evan in the top 4, and Matt in the top 8. All three really good skaters, Matt maybe a little inconsistant, but who knows, he could do something like he did tonight and pull off a top 5. Besides, gotta root for the Illinois Boys .

Click to expand...

Irina's been too inconsistant? I don't know if you can get much more consistant than Irina has been! Podium finishes at all her events the last 2 seasons, IIRC. She's as close to a lock for the Gold as anyone else.

I like Irina and think she has a real shot, but she came in second at the GPFand all the health and family problems that shes been battling with the past 2 years could affect her mentality, and she didn't compete at Russian Nat's this year, so I just think she won't have as much confidance as she'll need.

Slutskayafan, I like your predictions. They sound good to me.

Doris, I too was very disappointed with Johnny's LP. First time I've seen it. He could put on any music and do that program for all the relation the choreography has to the score. Very sad because with a great LP, I think Johnny could very well be on the podium. Even high on the podium.

Evan Lysacek still doesn't do it for me like Matt Savoie does, but the judges seem to prefer Lysacek. For me, Matt is the best skater with the best programs of the US men. Smooth, smooth, smooth, but still exciting.

Poor Rohene Ward. They build him up on both shows and he tanks both programs, especially the LP. I'm sure State Farm was hoping for a happier ending when they flew his mother and nephew out, but I think Rohene needed his mother a lot more the way things went. Interesting what DB said about popping and how Rohene pops all the time in practice.

At least Alissa has two GP medals to show for the season, although I'm sure Nationals were really hard for her with all the hype.

Nice tribute to Michelle. Not too gushy and not too restrained.

Rgirl

I predict Kwan is going to come out blazing at the Olympics. What placement she gets, I don't know but I'm sure having been forced to sit home much of the season and watch it go by her, I'm sure she is just DYING to prove herself.

I think that Weir and Lysacek have equal chances of medalling or at least being among top five. Savoie, well, he might be among top ten on a good day for him and bad day for many other skaters.

I really loved Weir´s and Lysacek´s performances!!! I´m very biased though as they both are my huge favourites among international male skaters. I´m not that crazy about Savoie, although there is flow also in his skating, but something is lacking, I don´t know what, LOL. Besides, he seems to have a scary looking technic in some jumps, looked slow and with not that much ice coverage (maybe it ws just on TV?). I though definetely agree that he deserved the 3rd place for the Olympics and am feeling happy for him.

Rgirl, Johnny looks better on camera than at the arena. The Swan is perfect for him, because like a swan, he is lovely to watch, but like a swan, he is not being lovely for his audience, and does not trouble to "play" to them.

Evan is one of those performers who looks better live, and is fortunate to have the face and body language that allows him to interact with the audience very well. Think Robin Cousins. However, he has a range of performance that goes from ...Espania Cani to Carmen....he has been using the Espania Cani sp since John Baldwin started skating. He could have been thrifty, however, and use the same costume for both, although he has included some of the Don Jose theme.

Rohene didn't tank in the short. He fell on a fully rotated 4t. Everything else was perfect. And his problem there wasn't popping. Besides Popping is the symptom. Headcase is the problem. And I think perhaps, if everything isn't perfect in the approach to a jump, hewon't go for it . He needs a dose of Todd Eldredge who certainly helped Michael Weiss. What did Dick Button say about popping in practice?

Rohene needs a good coach and the commitment to listen to the coach. And double runthroughs, rather than practicing, as Doggygirl said, enough tricks to fill 2 LP's. His practices are entertaining, precisely because they are entertaining free form performances. He never develops the muscle memory to carry him through the nerves.

I think of him as the perfect person to send to 'Top Jump" if they ever run that competition again. Because give him 2 shots at something and he can do anything.

This last summer he tried to conquer his competition nerves by competing at a whole slew of little competitions. NYC, Liberty in PA, one in Colorado, and one in Detroit. And he got so that he could get over the competition nerves, more or less, for small crowds. He still would splat a couple of times a competition, but wouldn't just blank out the whole performance, like he did yesterday. Joesitz saw him in NY, and I saw him at Liberty, and have fond memories. Apparently the huge crowd Saturday was way too much for him..

slutskayafan21 thanks for starting this thread with the range thing.

My thoughts on the range of each skater/pair of skaters.

Sasha 1-4
Kwan (haven't a clue though if really healthy 1-5)
Kimmie 8-12

Johnny 3 (outside shot on 3) -8 (I do not like this program at all!)
Evan 3 (see above) -6
Matt 3 (With the skate of a lifetime. I think he has the best LP of the US men) - 10

I & B 5-8
H&P 10-15

B&A 2-5
G&P 8-12
S&OM 12-18

slutskayafan21 said:

Now that Kwan has officialy been named to the team:

6. Kwan will finish between 4th and 7th in Turin I predict.

Click to expand...

A healthy Kwan finishing 4-7? A healthy Kwan with COP programs could finish 1-3.