Emily Hughes - What Do You Think?
- Thread starter Joesitz (RIP)
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Honestly I prefer more Emily Hughes than her sister. First of all she has both a TRUE Lutz and a TRUE Flip. This is something difficult to find today in Ladies. 
She skates with energy and joy and transmits this feeling to the public. And she must be also a nice person. Ok, she lacks in artistry, but she will improve.
Sarah Hughes was also a beautiful skater. But she lacked the emotional connection with the public IMO. Maybe it was because of the music she always used. IMO, the music pieces Sarah used are very difficult to sell to the public. And to me were pretty boring. But she deserved that medal at SLC. Obviously I would have prefered Kwan, but Sarah's program was the program of her life. I'll stop now, because I'm going off topic.
She skates with energy and joy and transmits this feeling to the public. And she must be also a nice person. Ok, she lacks in artistry, but she will improve.Sarah Hughes was also a beautiful skater. But she lacked the emotional connection with the public IMO. Maybe it was because of the music she always used. IMO, the music pieces Sarah used are very difficult to sell to the public. And to me were pretty boring. But she deserved that medal at SLC. Obviously I would have prefered Kwan, but Sarah's program was the program of her life. I'll stop now, because I'm going off topic.
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Agree, I like her (her Sp this year, not Lp though). She has nice spirals!, can jump correctly, ok spins and personality. But not the smooth skating and artistery (face expersions with the music, a lot of different emotion, soft arms movments, etc) that I peferr, but still.
/Lena
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
Toni - First of all, what does Kwan have to do with all this? This is about the Golden Skate and whether or not it only about opinions. You don't see that?
My problem with the post was that there was an implication that the Forum is only for opinions. For the umpteenth time, if you read my posts, I have said there is nothing wrong with opinions. What I am saying for the umpteenth time is that there is more to Golden Skate Forum than opinions. You seem to avoid that. You are non-committal as to whether GS is only about opinions and not considering many other topics of education, information, and most of all debating on the issues confronting figure skating
Brilliant. What sport is not objective?
That is your opinion and you can keep that. I wont. That is my opinion.
You have the power to move this to another folder if this nonsense must continue. I put in a very constructive topic about Emily which give many opinions and suggestions about her. Let the thread ride as it should.
Joe
It seems to me that the biggest detractors of Emily are the same people who rush to sing Michelle's praises. Some of the venom directed toward Emily seems to be in part due to Sarah's upset win over Michelle Kwan. JMO
oooh...very forward of you...I love it...that's my type of statement 
However, I don't agree...I think it's a style issue and I think the two have rather contrasting styles- one with a "ta-da" "boom" attitude and the other with a softer, inner, expressive one. It makes sense to me and wouldn't surprise me. People who like one style will likely not fancy the other and hence some of the harsher statements. There has been a little bashing of her though even from folks who AREN'T Kwan fans and I'm not sure where that stems from.
However, I don't agree...I think it's a style issue and I think the two have rather contrasting styles- one with a "ta-da" "boom" attitude and the other with a softer, inner, expressive one. It makes sense to me and wouldn't surprise me. People who like one style will likely not fancy the other and hence some of the harsher statements. There has been a little bashing of her though even from folks who AREN'T Kwan fans and I'm not sure where that stems from.
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I think Sasha fans probably find Emily's power skating not to their taste. Emily's spiral is way lower in quality than either Kwan's or Sasha's, because she gets that high leg position by dipping down so low from the waist that her hand is nearly touching the ice.
I think both Kwan and Sasha fans expect both audience interaction AND connection to the music. Kwan had the ability to get completely into the music and at the same time, share her feelings with the crowd. Sasha had the ability to wow the crowd with her flexibility while getting into her music. IMO Emily plays entirely to the crowd when she skates, with not that much attention to the music. She feeds off the reaction of the crowd rather than the music itself. Sarah Hughes was the complete opposite: so completely into the music that she rarely established a connection to the audience.
I think both Kwan and Sasha fans expect both audience interaction AND connection to the music. Kwan had the ability to get completely into the music and at the same time, share her feelings with the crowd. Sasha had the ability to wow the crowd with her flexibility while getting into her music. IMO Emily plays entirely to the crowd when she skates, with not that much attention to the music. She feeds off the reaction of the crowd rather than the music itself. Sarah Hughes was the complete opposite: so completely into the music that she rarely established a connection to the audience.
oooh...very forward of you...I love it...that's my type of statement
However, I don't agree...I think it's a style issue and I think the two have rather contrasting styles- one with a "ta-da" "boom" attitude and the other with a softer, inner, expressive one. It makes sense to me and wouldn't surprise me. People who like one style will likely not fancy the other and hence some of the harsher statements. There has been a little bashing of her though even from folks who AREN'T Kwan fans and I'm not sure where that stems from.
Well commenting on style is one thing- however many comments seem to be personally directed toward the skater and doesn't have anything to do with criticism.
As for Kwan- I find there are similarities between her and Emily. Interesting how people comment that Emily is so heavy on the ice when she and Kwan both have heavy stroking and deep edges. Michelle never flew across the ice like a Carolina- her blades seemed to stick to the ice, just as Emily's do. The major difference between Michelle and Emily is in the physique and the control- Michelle is a more precise, controlled skater. Emily is a heavier taller skater therefore her skating looks heavy in comparison. Michelle is smaller and even though her skating is heavy (at least to me it was) it doesn't have the same appearance.
I like Emily better than Kwan because even though Emily lacks the jump consistency- I feel she is a better all round skater with great basics and great spins (which is something Michelle sorely lacked) plus she is an energetic performer.
I also find the comments directed toward Emily quite puzzling because they seem to consistently mirror the opinion that Emily is overmarked and can't make the top 10 at Worlds etc and they say the same things over and over again and then the girl goes out and proves them wrong. If she's such a poor skater and a non-medal threat as everyone seems to believe, how come there are so many threads on her. As far as I know, she's 2nd at Nationals and top 10 in Worlds- why do so many people find her threatening? Is it because they can see her competitive confidence and know that she is working to achieve those goals that naysayers think she won't accomplish?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
you brought up Michelle and the whole idea of opinion vs fact when you quoted Red Dog and dismissed their post because they weren't as knowledgeable. Don't put this on me as bringing the thread and *heaven forbid* the board down.
I do see facts discussed on the board. But I do see more opinions than anything else. It's a forum where opinionated people come together and say things that may or may not be backed up by facts. However it still comes down to personal preference. Skating is subjective, much more so than football, golf, or other sports. You have that dang artistic mark. I see great artistry in Emily's skating, many on this thread don't. That's my opinion vs another. I don't think anyone can claim it as fact. So yes the board does work with facts, but it's a place where every day people, and skaters, can come together and just chat about skating in all it's forms and that basically means opinions reign. I'd be hard pressed to find one post that didn't bring at least a hint of opinion...
I was merely calling you on your post towards Red Dog because it seemed you were dismissing anything they said because of their 'lack of skating knowledge'. If this thread stated at the beginning that all you wanted were fact finding know it alls then you should have said such. I would not have posted my opinions of Emily's skating because I would not qualify. BUT, you said 'what do you think'. So that meant it opened up a whole realm of interpretation. Michelle Kwan was brought in to compare Emily's skating to hers...
Education, information, and debate are all worked with a bit of fact and a whole lot of opinion. Not just on the board, but in real life. I've been in classes where a teacher can take one fact and come to one conclussion and another teacher take that same fact and spin it the other way. This is how it works. Life is fully of opinions based on facts. But any more, how can we be sure that the fact is not just an opinion that has been agreed to be fact?
and now I've gone complete circle and am beginning to repeat myself, so I'm taking that as a sign that I've had my say. honestly, I don't owe an explanation of my opinions, but I'll feed you anyway
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Are you correct in this assumption? If so, then I must be correct in my assumption that all the negativity towards Kimmie is from the Sasha fans upset that Kimmie took Sasha's 2006 World title. Leave Kimmie alone Sasha fans!
How funny! SASHA took away Sasha's World title because she skated the poorest FS of any World Championship in which she'd participated. Of the 3 segments, only the SP was a good skate, and with a two-footed lutz, that wasn't even as good as her SPs at most of her previous World Championships.
If Kimmie hadn't skated as great as she did at Worlds 2006, Fumie Suguri, who won her QR, was 2nd in the SP and 2nd in the FS, would have been World Champion.
If Kimmie hadn't skated as great as she did at Worlds 2006, Fumie Suguri, who won her QR, was 2nd in the SP and 2nd in the FS, would have been World Champion.
However, something's wrong with this statement. How could Kimmie have "taken away [Cohen's] world title" when she didn't have it in the first place? :scratch: The way I see it Kimmie won Kimmie's world title.I think people forget that but also, people are forgetting the X Factor. If Kimmie wasn't there or skated worse, who knows how the rest of the skate would have played out? I think other competitors' performances do play into how skaters do but I'm just speculating. Can any competitive skater out there shed some light on this? I'd be interested in your perspective.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2006
I am puzzled by all the attempts to discern patterns in poster penchants. This poster can explain her own penchants. I started to list them... then remembered they're all in my sig and user title!
Although Sasha is my favorite, I like many skaters of many types... including quite a few I didn't list! If I'm not a Kimmie fan, it's not because she beat Sasha at Worlds, it's because of her own weaknesses. I have to respect her toughness, though! I agree that Sasha lost Worlds herself although I'm not lol about it, pace chuckm. I guess she just used it all up at the Olympics.
Although Sasha is my favorite, I like many skaters of many types... including quite a few I didn't list! If I'm not a Kimmie fan, it's not because she beat Sasha at Worlds, it's because of her own weaknesses. I have to respect her toughness, though! I agree that Sasha lost Worlds herself although I'm not lol about it, pace chuckm. I guess she just used it all up at the Olympics.
I see Emily as top Ten in the world, but not top Five. Her scores don't seem high enough to compete with the Asian Army.
So you might ask- why do certain folks knock specific skaters (Kimmie in particular here)? Note that by "knock" I'm not referring to constructive criticism but the really harsh kind or the bashing kind. Maybe it's because they perceive her as blah and despite that she continues to win. It's not fair to them that she with her "blah" skating places above their favorites and wins medals. If the skater should start a winning streak, the dislike usually intensifies. It's been always about perception
Or maybe they're just venting frustration that their favorite didn't or couldn't deliver that night and are taking it out on the skater(s) that beat her.
But the key word is FRUSTRATION more than anything else. It could be for any reason but people deal harsh criticism or bash out of frustration more often than any other reason. What is the CAUSE of that frustration depends on the person, and it can be due to what I mentioned above or something entirely different.
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Sasha skated first in the final group and laid a gigantic egg. The title was up for grabs for anyone who could beat her FS score (114 and change--very low for Sasha) plus another 4-9 points. Any one of the skaters who followed could have had the World Championship by scoring:
120.26 Kimmie
118.30 Fumie
123.49 Elena S.
121.48 Yukari N.
123.74 Sarah M.
123.23 Joannie R.
Kimmie and Fumie handed in performances with enough points to pass Sasha's SP lead. I believe Elena Sokolova and Joannie Rochette could have done the same if they had skated lights out.
So I don't get the Kimmie hate when Sasha herself blew her shot at the big one, even before the competition by attending red carpet events instead of practicing. I can recall reports at the time that Sasha was spending very little time at the rink and was thinking of withdrawing.
120.26 Kimmie
118.30 Fumie
123.49 Elena S.
121.48 Yukari N.
123.74 Sarah M.
123.23 Joannie R.
Kimmie and Fumie handed in performances with enough points to pass Sasha's SP lead. I believe Elena Sokolova and Joannie Rochette could have done the same if they had skated lights out.
So I don't get the Kimmie hate when Sasha herself blew her shot at the big one, even before the competition by attending red carpet events instead of practicing. I can recall reports at the time that Sasha was spending very little time at the rink and was thinking of withdrawing.
What a detour this thread just took...
That's assuming a LOT. I totally cannot agree that most of the Kimmie hate/harsh criticism comes from bitter Cohen fans. There seems to be a general consensus among fans that Kimmie has very plain, unimpressive skating especially for someone at the level she is at. Lots of people, regardless of who they're fans of, have said this very same thing. I don't see a lot of Kimmie HATE, though- just boredom with her. There is a loong thread on another forum about how plain and "boring" she is and you can't tell me that EVERYONE who responded is a bitter, sore Cohen fan.
This Sasha fan was one of the first Caroline Zang fans. I fell in love with her skating in Juniors at Potland when she was to sick and weak to do her jumps at the end of the program. I would even change my Sasha avatar to a Caroline if it were available.
