Not surprising. One does have strong feelings for an all-time favorite.Mathman said:Still...I am already missing Michelle like the Dickens. However accomplished the athletes of the future may turn out to be, I do not expect to see another that I will have such an emotional investment in.
MKFSfan said:I'm sure any consistent, artistic skater who skates from the heart, connects with the audience and becomes a constant face at the top of podiums, Dick will start saying,"Shades of Michelle Kwan." I imagine also that when skaters like Caroline Zhang, come up to Seniors with supreme flexibility and wonderful spins, we'll get,"Shades of Sasha Cohen."
Mathman said:Still...I am already missing Michelle like the Dickens. However accomplished the athletes of the future may turn out to be, I do not expect to see another that I will have such an emotional investment in.
Joesitz said:I don't think it is sad for an athlete to retire from competion.especially if the athlete has a chestful of awards and titles. The athlete understands the aging process and accepts it as we all have to do.
An avid fan of an athlete may feel sad about his favorite retiring.
Joe
Kathy said:Skating without Michelle? well it will never be the same for me. I miss her terribly. I'll watch as a casually interested fan, and be open to another skater snatching my interest, but it was Michelle who elevated my interest in skating from casual observer to someone immersed in the sport, and in her absence my enthusiasm will definitely wane. I think the difference is that there are many fans that are or were fans of figure skating period, and for those skating goes on its way as skaters age and the young ones take over - and I think that is great. But there are many like me who were drawn into figure skating by Michelle, and though I have gained a fondness of the sport through her that will never die, it was her presence that defined my rather obsessive enthusiam over the last several years, and it just won't be there without her. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be such a fan that I would spend thousands of dollars to fly cross country to watch figure skating events I would have thought you were crazy, but that is what I did to watch Michelle compete. Now I'll watch on TV, it will take someone amazing to raise my interest to that level. That said, there are interesting skaters on the horizon and it will be interesting to see what develops.
ladybug said:Such a stellar career and she wasn't able to give us and herself one last skate of a lifetime which she worked darn hard to do.
Ladybug
She won her ninth nationals in 2005. That was so close to the Olympic year that it probably encouraged her to push herself for a final hurrah.soogar said:Well she had won 2003 Worlds and her 9th Nationals a few years ago...
So sad. She cries all the way to the bank and is still raking it in despite the injuries.Red Dog said:I always thought 2003 was the end of her prime. Onwards it was just a downhill ride, and unfortunately for her it must end like this.