Time for Emanuel Sandhu to Move On...

This is the exact same argument people have used in regards to Kwan going pro. I'm sure there will be people using it with Plushenko soon. It's crap. If those "up and comers" want their chances, they need to earn them, like the old-timers have.

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Is Eman really earning his? Really, Chris Mabee's skates at 4CC would have kicked Eman's Olympic butt. Michelle Kwan and Plushenko are still giving their very best, Emanuel has rarely ever skated his best. If he were going out at competitions and doing all he could do, I wouldn't make the argument that he should step aside but he is not. It is a waste of taxpayer's money and bursary fund money if he cannot pull it together better than what he has. Besides, he's not very interested in skating when his own coach is saying to him, "I think you're more interested in modelling than skating." Comparing him to Kwan and Plushenko in this matter is like comparing an apple and a kumquat.

In the US- Pro Skating competitions pretty much died around '00.

They had built up over time & were in there stride in the early 90s. Then after Tonya/Nancy they exploded. The same skaters were performing the same routines against the same competitiors over and over and over. Because there was so much to do the competitions didn't really draw the best out of the skaters & most poeple got tire of watching. I think the death blow was the '99 World pros becoming a pro-am. No one wanted to take on Yagudin and Kwan since they were doing full ISU routines. After that it all just slipped away. Also none of the skaters since '98 have really panned out as pros with the exceptions of the pairs but they just weren't a big enough draw to 'sell' events.

I don't know if the pro scene will come back because there are not that many 'name' skaters to draw an audience beyond the basic skating fan. It's really quite sad.

Ice dance might be a good idea for Eman. He is really too inconsistent in his jumping to succeed in men´s skating. On the other hand he has won titles: Canadian champion and GPF champion. I hope that Eman will be more consistent at Worlds!!!

I wonder if he has the right coach? He would need somebody to help in the jumping and also in the mentality. And certainly he would need to train more and concentrate just on skating for a while.

I've watched Emanual in Exhibition skates and Professional shows many times ... he BOMBS as frequently in those formats as he does in Eligible Competition events. Unless he purposely decides to skate ala Shae-Lynn Bourne sans jumps, he has no future in the pro ranks either. I don't think Champions on Ice, Stars On Ice, Disney or whomever are the least bit interested in hiring someone who can't lay down the goods on demand. Unfortunately for Emanual, that is precisely what the lad has proven to be true in his case. What do they say? You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. Well in Sandhu's case, you can give him all the assignments on the calendar but you cannot make him perform/jump.

As to what happened to the pro-comps? IMHO, the ISU. When the ISU decided two things, first, to add $$$ to the eligible format to entice the amateurs to stay amateur rather than winning their World medals and moving on, and second, to allow eligibles to compete against pros in the pro/am competitions, they signed the death certificate for pro skating. Who hasn't remarked about there being a definate lack of new blood in the pro events?!? Well why would there be? There is more than enough $$$ in the eligible format today. No one has to turn pro first before they can make a living off skating. Doesn't Sasha drive a Mercedes? Sandhu drives the latest and greatest Mercedes convertible and prides himself, as does Weir, on his designer luggage and clothing. Takeshi Honda drives a Mercedes wears Rolex watches etc.. Jeff Buttle drives a brand new flashy BMW (heard he couldn't get the sales team at the Mercedes dealership to pay any attention to him, so he left and went across the street to the BMW dealership ) The list goes on of skaters who have all the toys and have bought new homes etc. all before turning pro. That was not the case in Scott Hamilton, Paul Wylie, Victor Plushenko, or Kurt Browning's days before the greedy ISU stuck their controlling nose into the pro world. :scowl:

Kasey said:

This is the exact same argument people have used in regards to Kwan going pro. I'm sure there will be people using it with Plushenko soon. It's crap. If those "up and comers" want their chances, they need to earn them, like the old-timers have.

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Exaclt - very well put, if those young skaters can go out and beat Sandhu, then they've earned their spot at that competition. If they can't then tough. If they can't beat sandhu at nationals then what chance have they got at doing any better than him in internatioanl competitions anyway?

Ant

I don't want Eman to retire, unless he wants to move on with his life. It is easy to get frustrated with him. I certainly was pulling for him, because I felt he had the ability to make the men's event a real competition. I was disappointed.

Still, I hope he stays. I think skating needs artists desperately. That drive for creativity and originality is being killed off. Eman has that and skating needs that probably more than Eman needs skating. We are in desperate need of "Currys" and "Cranstons" and I think Eman is the closest thing that we have to it right now. I really hope Eman can come back and get it together and win under COP. To heck with winning, if he just gives some more of his best performances, that might help. Maybe he would inspire others to stop skating by the point sheets and create something really special.

We need some serious creative spark going on and no one can deny Eman has spark.

Added: I just wanted to point out that until his last season, Curry was known to fold under pressure more often than not. Cranston had his problems too.

Eman is not temperamentally suited to competitive skating. It's as simple as that. The sooner EMAN figures that out, the happier he will be.

SusanBeth said:

Added: I just wanted to point out that until his last season, Curry was known to fold under pressure more often than not. Cranston had his problems too.

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As far as I remember Curry did not fold under pressure much, except with maybe one exceptional year? I have understood that the biggest problem in some years before the 1976 Olympics was that the judges did not always get his jumps right, because he was so effortless in them. Besides it took some years for the judges to start appreciating his skating style. The audiences started to love him much, much earlier, LOL. Anyway, John Curry was the skater who got me interested in men´s skating.

chuckm said:

Eman is not temperamentally suited to competitive skating. It's as simple as that. The sooner EMAN figures that out, the happier he will be.

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Are you saying that you know more about Eman's temperament than Eman?

As far as Curry went, there was a documentary in which a great deal of credit was given to Curry discovering EST which helped him perform in 1976. EST is a bit hard to explain to anyone who didn't live through the "me decade". I don't have records of all those years, but I am sure the judges knew the jumps. They watched practices back then too. I am sure his style was marked down, but my understanding was that he messed up often due to nerves.

I agree that it's a fork in the road moment - he either has to make some major changes in terms of coaching or approach, or move on to his other interests. He can only go through this cycle for so long. And I agree that it's not healthy for him to say in his profile pieces that he has anger and resentment towards the officials over the 1998 Olympics situation. Carrying that anger onto the ice is not healthy.

Sk8n Mama said:

Is Eman really earning his? Really, Chris Mabee's skates at 4CC would have kicked Eman's Olympic butt.

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Yes, but Eman EARNED his way to Olympics. If Mabee had skated at Canadian nats like he did at 4CC, HE would have been at Olys, and could have proved whether he truly has the mettle you are crediting him with. Saying that a skater from ONE competition could have beaten another skater at ANOTHER, larger and more intimidating competition is, to use your own words, comparing apples to kumquats.

At the risk of being flamed, in a perfect world, Eman and Johnny would be competing against the ladies, and Irina would be competing against the guys.

Canadian skaters "Men"

I thing it will be a good chance for orther skaters to improve themself. The systems give chance for the skaters who have experience unless new skaters did better, they have chance to downgrade a note to pass the skater they want.

we have Christopher Mabee, Nicholas Young, Marc-andré Craig, those skaters didn't have the chance to prove what they are able to do, because Skate Canada give the chance to the other and they have to wait ......

Eman and all those skaters could have difficulty and it is not a reason to throw them away, the skater only have to decide to quit or to continue for the good reason

JillLaQ said:

At the risk of being flamed, in a perfect world, Eman and Johnny would be competing against the ladies, and Irina would be competing against the guys.

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Now THAT's funny!!!

Wow, y'all are a tough group... Eman has a hstory of meltdowns, sure. But he also has a record of delivering high drama, technically brilliant and winning programs. Yes, he didn't live up to his potential at the games, but that can be said of a lot of skaters and athletes... If Canada's younger skaters want his spot because he's so terrible, let them beat him and win it... until then, its not fair for the fans to call for his retirement... I do wish, however, I hadn't bet on him to take the silver in the men's competiton... he owes me 10 bucks...

JillLaQ said:

At the risk of being flamed, in a perfect world, Eman and Johnny would be competing against the ladies, and Irina would be competing against the guys.

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I think you are implying that lyrical male skaters have feminine like styles. Would you include the wonderful Sasha Abt in that category?

As for Irina, I think she would have at least five gold medals if she entered into the Summer Olympics and competed with the women. In figure skating she is what is termed as a power skater a la Heiss, and nowadays: like Elena S. , Joannie, Emily and others.

I think styles of skating come out of personalities and they should be judged on what they have to offer. I also think there are too many figure skaters even in the top 15 who do not have any style. I won't open the can of worms and name them here.

Joe