Does Emily Hughes have a shot at the National Title? | Golden Skate

Does Emily Hughes have a shot at the National Title?

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
I think she does! Kimmie hasn't been consistent this year. Emily hasn't either, but she is a Hughes. :love: They are full of surprises. Really though, Em has been practicing hard and I think she just might pull it off. Notice, I wrote think she might I think she has a shot if Kimmie can't pull off what she did at Worlds. Emily has spunk and pizazz very similar to Sasha Cohen in Sasha's younger years. She is hungry and wants it. Oh, I can't wait!

Go Em~ :rock:
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
IMO, Emily might also have extra motivation that Kimmie doesn't have -- recognition as a skater in her own right, rather than being Sarah's sister (or Michelle's alternate). This might help.
 

flying camel

Medalist
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
I love's Emily's short this year. I think she could actually win the short program. But she has not proven to be a LP skater. I don't see that changing with Nationals. She has too much trouble with the flip & lutz. I think she will end up third.
 

nymkfan51

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I don't know really ... the odds are against it, I think.

What Emily has over Kimmie, IMO, is personality on the ice. Plus, I think Emily's programs are wonderfully constructed for COP. She puts her whole being into the presentation of them, and this makes for a very pleasant end product.
What she does not have are the jumps. She doesn't even attempt a 3 loop anymore, and her lutz has become a substantial problem as well. She hasn't done anything close to a clean LP this season and that does not bode well for her winning Nationals. I think Kimmie would have to really bomb to lose, and besides that, the usfsa will hold her up to a certain extent as the current world champion.

It's certainly not impossible, but my guess is she's looking at silver if she skates well.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I have to agree with the last post. Emily's jumps seem to have gone south, especially the lutz and flip, and without those, she has little or no chance of beating Kimmie. It might be possible for someone else who DOES have consistent jumps to pass her as well.

Unless Emily's jumping has undergone a major change for the positive, I think she will be fighting for second or even third.
 

iloveaxel

Match Penalty
Joined
Oct 13, 2006
Emily

Unfortunately Emily actually has a shot, I don't want to see such horror movie though!

She is really not pleasant to watch.
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
I'm curious.....why would you say it woudl be unfortunate and like a horror movie? I think she is youthful, fun, spunky, sweet. I never thought of her skating as scary or having horror like movie qualities. :rofl: I know, different strokes for different folks.... BUT for all the Emhaters out there, what makes her so horrifying?
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
I'm curious.....why would you say it woudl be unfortunate and like a horror movie? I think she is youthful, fun, spunky, sweet. I never thought of her skating as scary or having horror like movie qualities. :rofl: I know, different strokes for different folks.... BUT for all the Emhaters out there, what makes her so horrifying?
:agree: I enjoy watching her. She is not at the top of my list but enjoyable all the same.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I don't think Emily's skating is a horror show, but she is more than a little uncontrolled. She seems to throw her body into the jumps and the result is she has to 'save' the landings. This season, she is popping and underrotating the important jumps (lutz and flip).

I think maybe her coach was trying to get Emily to clean up her jump technique and the end result has been that she's lost her timing.
 

waxel

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 18, 2005
I wouldn't say I am an Emhater, but I do not enjoy her skating much and don't see her winning Nats. I do rather like her SP though.

However, who WILL win? The US is not having a great year. No ladies making the GPF (or skating well in general), Evan and Johnny constantly injured, Belbin & Agosto's less-than-stellar FD ... and I don't think John Baldwin has landed a sbs 3T all season.

This may the year for surprises. Who knows? Maybe Emily does have a shot.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Emily and Kimmie are totally different types of skaters IMO and both are not at their peaks.

For me, Emily is more of a power skater. She also emits her energetic personality when she skates. I enjoy her skating much more than Sarah's.

Kimmie is a bit more reserved in her personality on ice, but she has a sense of determination in her routines. She's a strong competetor when it really counts. She gives off a strong sense of competence that I find lacking in the other US ladies at this time.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
I guess my problem with her is that she doesn't choose a skating style (music and costume) that fits her body type. She is a very solid, strong, athletic looking girl but this season is skating to 19th C. ballet music in a wispy pink little ice-princess dress. It doesn't suit her. I think she looks better in a unitard or pants and skating to contemporary music (e.g. her Proud Mary exhibition).

That elated smile of hers gets positively irritating after a while. It would be nice to see her express some other emotions.

Her jumps look heavy and low and her spirals are not pretty. People will say vociferously that she does not need to lose weight, but some elements might benefit from a bit more lightness.

Last, she always rides on her sister's accomplishments. I don't think people would pay half as much attention to her if it weren't for Sarah. So she seems overhyped. That is not fair to other skaters or even Emily herself. I suspect that USFS is encouraging it too in the effort to get publicity and audiences.

All this said, she's obviously a fine skater - but not one I much enjoy watching most of the time. I would be disappointed if she won because I think there are many more gifted skaters in the U.S. (some of whom are not competing as seniors yet).
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
She is a very solid, strong, athletic looking girl but this season is skating to 19th C. ballet music in a wispy pink little ice-princess dress. It doesn't suit her. I think she looks better in a unitard or pants and skating to contemporary music (e.g. her Proud Mary exhibition).

:agree: :agree: :agree: I totally agree, Pink and White are not her colors, nor the colors of the programme either IMO. She looked good in black and the "darkish" blue and "panted" outfits.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I have to agree with the point of Emily's choice of FS music. She consistently chooses ballet music, and she is physically the antithesis of the delicate ballerina-type skater. I don't much like the choreography in both SP and FS that has her waving her arms about like aimless fly-swatters.

I'd prefer to see her skate to more modern music and a natural use of the arms.

I also agree that the USFS is aggressively 'pushing' Emily because of name recognition. We're probably doomed to see even more of this because of the absence of Kwan and Cohen. I'm not sure that that will contribute towards the judges 'helping' Emily to win the US Championship, but I hope that is not the case if Emily doesn't skate well.

I'd much rather see the introverted Kimmie win the championship based on her SKATING talent than exuberant Emily win based on her sister's name.
 

iloveaxel

Match Penalty
Joined
Oct 13, 2006
I'm curious.....why would you say it woudl be unfortunate and like a horror movie? I think she is youthful, fun, spunky, sweet. I never thought of her skating as scary or having horror like movie qualities. :rofl: I know, different strokes for different folks.... BUT for all the Emhaters out there, what makes her so horrifying?

Not a Emilyhater per se. But her so-called 'spunky' is really getting tiring. She is so unpolished and sloppy. Her jumps are heavy. As everybody else pointed out she's overhyped just because of her sister's name, it does annoy me from time to time. I hate her spiral sequence trying a Sasha thing, which is absolutely a horrible position.

I generally don't like 'muscular' type of female skater, she indeed needs to lose a few pounds.
Anyway, she is just not my cup of tea.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
With all the money on dresses that she spends -- the same designer as Slutskaya -- you'd think she wouldn't look like a 1960's Long Island housewife. Those halter dresses emphasize her muscular shoulders, and make her look heavier and bulkier than she is. In my opinion, she should wear long-sleeved dresses with a shallow, wide V-neck, and skirts that flare a little more from her waist.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
FWIW, one of my all-time favorite ballet dancers was one who had something of an Emily body type - Martine van Hamel. Most of all I loved seeing her in Swan Lake - a role usually associated with a more ethereal type of dancer. But van Hamel had a grand, flowing classical style all her own and she made that ballet absolutely breathtaking. She was wonderful as the bravura black swan but even better as the other-worldly white swan. She made the two completely different. Oh, I miss seeing her!

So I know it is possible for one built like Emily to be a gorgeous skater. But she needs to build on her own strengths and stop trying to be something she's not.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Re. this question, I think we're trying to create a rivalry that doesn't exist. Emily has NEVER beaten Kimmie in the major events, and to top it off Kimmie has the jumps and Hughes doesn't. This is no contest...Meissner will take this one. Maybe Hughes can give it all she has, but she'll need some MAJOR help from Kimmie in addition to the skate of her life in order to win. Just like Kimmie herself needed major help from Cohen (which she got) in addition to the skate of her life to win the World championship. Impossible? No. Unlikely? Very.
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
did Kimmie get help from Cohen, or did Kimmie just live up to her potential while cohen skated a "Sasha Program?" Has a clean Cohen ever beaten a clean Kimmie? Remember, Fumie and Sokolova also beat Cohen in the LP at Worlds. Alas that is a different thread but a fun one! I think Emily could very well challenge Kimmie if she skates clean. There is no real rivalrly in US skating at the moment, but hopefully after Nationals there will be one!
Hey Red Dog, come to think of it. Sasha never won the LP in any of her GP events or events, except US Nationals last year and that was a messy win. Maybe R&J wasn't such a great idea for SAsha? One more question taht might be fun. When have Kimmie and Emily ever gone head to head in an international event except Worlds and the Olympics?
 
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