Thoughts on the season so far | Golden Skate

Thoughts on the season so far

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Ok, here are my oh so humble thoughts on the season so far.

Spoilers Warning..... This thread may contain references to recent GP events. Leave the thread if you wish to remain unspoiled
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Ok, here are the huge changes that I noticed this season. First, Kimmie has grown stronger. She has proven her ability to do a great SP and LP back to back, though the LP has an error or two. This means that Mao will be shaking in her boots. You see, because Mao has the habit of fudging the SP, come Worlds time Kimmie can actually beat her! I bet Mao is very aware of this. Mao has a lot of pressure riding on her medals: the whole country is keeping an eye on her ever since skating became popular and thrust her into the limelight. Kimmie, on the other hand, hasn't really made anyone expect amazing things of her, so she is taking it easy and less likely to have a nervous breakdown at Worlds. So, all that taken together pretty much means that Kimmie will be on the rise this year.

Also, another person who might do well is Carolina Kostner. She gets huge PCS scores even when she screws up her jumps. If she manages to land most of her jumps with just a few minor bobbles, she will definitely be in the top 5 and might even get bronze.

Oh, also, the USFA seems to have bungled their well-orchestrated plot to get rid of Johnny Weir. I think it's important for them to keep the handsome and the virile Lysacek as the front face of U.S figure skating since the publicity people have managed to paste pics of him and Kimmie into all USFSA promotional materials, be they TV ads, website banners, or what have you. These people are mortified to have to acknowledge Johnny's existence. For the sake of not being forced to put Johnny on USFSA promotional materials, the judges will be flooded with subconscious and subtle messages asking them to inflate Evan's scores at Nationals to the max! I expect that Johnny will lose Nationals of his own accord by virtue of doing jumps that are easier than Lysacek's. However, if by some stroke of fate, Johnny manages to win the US Nationals, expect USFSA to wash their hands of him by making no reference to the men's skaters in their promotional materials and by sticking to Kimmie and Belbin + Agosto instead.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Ok, here are the huge changes that I noticed this season. First, Kimmie has grown stronger. She has proven her ability to do a great SP and LP back to back, though the LP has an error or two. This means that Mao will be shaking in her boots. You see, because Mao has the habit of fudging the SP, come Worlds time Kimmie can actually beat her! I bet Mao is very aware of this. Mao has a lot of pressure riding on her medals: the whole country is keeping an eye on her ever since skating became popular and thrust her into the limelight. Kimmie, on the other hand, hasn't really made anyone expect amazing things of her, so she is taking it easy and less likely to have a nervous breakdown at Worlds. So, all that taken together pretty much means that Kimmie will be on the rise this year.

Umm...I don't think Meissner's LP was all that great at SA. She made some un-Kimmie-like mistakes and it worried me a little. Then I remembered that it was only the first event of the season, and to cut her some slack. Asada had some troubles of her own as well, especially in the SP but pulled through in the FS. Based on the points, it looks like not much contest between the two of them. Still, I suppose it's enough of a reason for Kimmie fans to hold out hope.
 

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Umm...I don't think Meissner's LP was all that great at SA. She made some un-Kimmie-like mistakes and it worried me a little. Then I remembered that it was only the first event of the season, and to cut her some slack. Asada had some troubles of her own as well, especially in the SP but pulled through in the FS. Based on the points, it looks like not much contest between the two of them. Still, I suppose it's enough of a reason for Kimmie fans to hold out hope.

Yes, but remember that both Yuna and Mao screwed up their SP, while Kimmie managed to keep it all together in hers. It's not the fact that her LP was that great. It's that overall she managed a pretty good SP + LP, while her main competitors cracked up in the SP.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I see your point. But at the end of the day, it's all about how many points you have in the end, and Mao racked up more points in their LP than Meissner IIRC. I think Yuna did too but I could be wrong...I'm not quite remembering the exact numbers.
 

April

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
I very satified with Team USA. Weir's work ethic is paying off. Evan's doing quads. Kimmie look more mature and determined. Zhang is fantastic. Emily,well, she does not come off as a bull in a china shop. B/A actually have choreography that is suitable for their senior status, not so cheesy. It's rather pleasing to see B/A doing a lyrical FD, however, the chemistry is off, not passionate enough for me.
 
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debdelilah

On the Ice
Joined
May 6, 2006
Oh, also, the USFA seems to have bungled their well-orchestrated plot to get rid of Johnny Weir. I think it's important for them to keep the handsome and the virile Lysacek as the front face of U.S figure skating since the publicity people have managed to paste pics of him and Kimmie into all USFSA promotional materials, be they TV ads, website banners, or what have you. These people are mortified to have to acknowledge Johnny's existence. For the sake of not being forced to put Johnny on USFSA promotional materials, the judges will be flooded with subconscious and subtle messages asking them to inflate Evan's scores at Nationals to the max! I expect that Johnny will lose Nationals of his own accord by virtue of doing jumps that are easier than Lysacek's. However, if by some stroke of fate, Johnny manages to win the US Nationals, expect USFSA to wash their hands of him by making no reference to the men's skaters in their promotional materials and by sticking to Kimmie and Belbin + Agosto instead.

I don't think this is what is happening at all; I think they only stopped promoting Weir because it seemed he was out of shape, getting high PCS with underrehearsed programs with very weak technical content. "Masculinity" didn't matter to them when Weir won Nationals three times in a row, with lots of complimentary commentary by Dick Button and others about him. Even his detractors seemed surprised at what happened at the Olympic FS, and expected him to bounce back at 2006 Worlds. Kerrigan's comments in praise of Lysacek's style over Weir's came at the point last year where Weir's TES were dreadfully low, competition after competition, and it seemed like he would never bounce back. Now that he HAS bounced back, Kerrigan has already changed her opinion--there's an interview done on 11/12 with her posted on the ice network, in which she says she likes both Weir's and Lysacek's styles equally, and expects an exciting showdown at Nationals.
 

visaliakid

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Country
United-States
Oh, also, the USFA seems to have bungled their well-orchestrated plot to get rid of Johnny Weir. I think it's important for them to keep the handsome and the virile Lysacek as the front face of U.S figure skating since the publicity people have managed to paste pics of him and Kimmie into all USFSA promotional materials, be they TV ads, website banners, or what have you. These people are mortified to have to acknowledge Johnny's existence. For the sake of not being forced to put Johnny on USFSA promotional materials, the judges will be flooded with subconscious and subtle messages asking them to inflate Evan's scores at Nationals to the max! I expect that Johnny will lose Nationals of his own accord by virtue of doing jumps that are easier than Lysacek's. However, if by some stroke of fate, Johnny manages to win the US Nationals, expect USFSA to wash their hands of him by making no reference to the men's skaters in their promotional materials and by sticking to Kimmie and Belbin + Agosto instead.

The opinion above indicates a belief that the leadership of U.S. Figure Skating would condone, and be involved in deliberate efforts to discriminate against one of their past and maybe future champions because of his opinions and lifestyle. This is a very serious charge to insinuate. Also suggested is possible collusion with national judges to keep Johnny from winning if he deserved to. There is absolutely no proof that exists that can substantiate such claims.

U.S. Figure Skating has given all it's champions their fair share of promotion and honor due them. Regarding Johnny, last year Evan won the national championship with a superior performance in the Free Skate and deserved to win, and deserves having his photo on USFS promotional material as Johnny did when he held the title.

Personally I find it extremely distasteful when Johnny or anyone (including U.S. Figure Skating and it's leadership) is trashed in public, using frivolous and unsubstantiated pronouncements.

I don't buy the premise. U.S. Figure Skating has more important business to deal with than such nonsense. Keeping the sport of figure skating a strong and viable presence in the U.S. and on the world stage requires their saavy promotion of the sport and all it's top-flight athletes. Furthermore the current leadership has done more to improve the internal and public functioning of U.S. Figure Skating than numerous past administrations. President Ron Hershberger, Executive Director David Raith, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Ramsey Baker and the entire leadership are due great credit and kudos for providing a new thinking and direction for the sport in this country.
:thumbsup:
 
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krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
The opinion above indicates a belief that the leadership of U.S. Figure Skating would condone, and be involved in deliberate efforts to discriminate against one of their past and maybe future champions because of his opinions and lifestyle. This is a very serious charge to insinuate. Also suggested is possible collusion with national judges to keep Johnny from winning if he deserved to. There is absolutely no proof that exists that can substantiate such claims.

U.S. Figure Skating has given all it's champions their fair share of promotion and honor due them. Regarding Johnny, last year Evan won the national championship with a superior performance in the Free Skate and deserved to win, and deserves having his photo on USFS promotional material as Johnny did when he held the title.

Personally I find it extremely distasteful when Johnny or anyone (including U.S. Figure Skating and it's leadership) is trashed in public, using frivolous and unsubstantiated pronouncements.

I don't buy the premise. U.S. Figure Skating has more important business to deal with than such nonsense. Keeping the sport of figure skating a strong and viable presence in the U.S. and on the world stage requires their saavy promotion of the sport and all it's top-flight athletes. Furthermore the current leadership has done more to improve the internal and public functioning of U.S. Figure Skating than numerous past administrations. President Ron Hershberger, Executive Director David Raith, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Ramsey Baker and the entire leadership are due great credit and kudos for providing a new thinking and direction for the sport in this country.
:thumbsup:

Well I think you underestimate the potential for certain federations to get fixated on specific skaters.

Take Japan. In 2006, Nakano beat Ando hands down at the Japanese Nationals, but the Japanese federation as well as sponsors had gotten so invested in marketing Ando that the federation sent her to the Olympics over Nakano who skated better and therefore deserved it more.

My contention is that Weir has managed to piss of the USFSA with his unconventional style , his habit of uttering inane comments, as well as his inconsistency to the point where they have become invested in Lysacek and would not want to see Weir overshadow him.
 

seafoam

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 23, 2006
U.S. Figure Skating has given all it's champions their fair share of promotion and honor due them. Regarding Johnny, last year Evan won the national championship with a superior performance in the Free Skate and deserved to win, and deserves having his photo on USFS promotional material as Johnny did when he held the title.

I would agree with your point, except that at the time his picture was left off both the promotional brochures and the website for 2007 Nationals, Johnny was the three-time and current National Champion. Evan hadn't won yet.

Anyway, I think if Johnny wins, especially internationally, they will promote him. If he doesn't, they won't. It's in their best interest to have at least two strong contenders in the Men's competition. Not that the Federation isn't perfectly capable of shooting themselves in the foot, but that's how I see it.
 
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Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Except for Stephane, everyone skated their best during these early run-throughs.

The only skaters that got to me as overwhelming were: Virtud/Moir, Slavenko/Szolkowy, and Johnny Weir.

There were others that could be and should be better (Joubert, YuNa, Davis/White, and Pang/Tong

The above is just my opinion and has nothing to do with placements but just how I thought their skating was or should be.

It's at the half way mark and lets see improvements in the GPs, relevant Nationals, Euros, 4CCs, and WORLDS.

Joe
 

Hsuhs

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Having been here for a year it's not really hard to make a prediction of who is going to say what after seeing the poster's name.

I thought Nats' scores were always inflated.
I think usfsa will have to promote the winner of the men's, whoever he is b/c it's their job. Appointing someone as a most popular skater is beyond usfsa's control.
I also think Johnny will try his best this season, he'll do all the "right things" and that will pay off.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Having been here for a year it's not really hard to make a prediction of who is going to say what after seeing the poster's name.
And in my case it has nothing to do with medals. Just my own private likes and dislikes from all over the world.

Joe
 

dwiggin3

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
The opinion above indicates a belief that the leadership of U.S. Figure Skating would condone, and be involved in deliberate efforts to discriminate against one of their past and maybe future champions because of his opinions and lifestyle. This is a very serious charge to insinuate. Also suggested is possible collusion with national judges to keep Johnny from winning if he deserved to. There is absolutely no proof that exists that can substantiate such claims.

U.S. Figure Skating has given all it's champions their fair share of promotion and honor due them. Regarding Johnny, last year Evan won the national championship with a superior performance in the Free Skate and deserved to win, and deserves having his photo on USFS promotional material as Johnny did when he held the title.

Personally I find it extremely distasteful when Johnny or anyone (including U.S. Figure Skating and it's leadership) is trashed in public, using frivolous and unsubstantiated pronouncements.

I don't buy the premise. U.S. Figure Skating has more important business to deal with than such nonsense. Keeping the sport of figure skating a strong and viable presence in the U.S. and on the world stage requires their saavy promotion of the sport and all it's top-flight athletes. Furthermore the current leadership has done more to improve the internal and public functioning of U.S. Figure Skating than numerous past administrations. President Ron Hershberger, Executive Director David Raith, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Ramsey Baker and the entire leadership are due great credit and kudos for providing a new thinking and direction for the sport in this country.
:thumbsup:

Well said - though I think whoever negotiates the airing of GP, National and World events is doing a terrible job - coverage here in the US is awful.
 

dwiggin3

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
My contention is that Weir has managed to piss of the USFSA with his unconventional style , his habit of uttering inane comments, as well as his inconsistency to the point where they have become invested in Lysacek and would not want to see Weir overshadow him.

I agree that he's said and done things that are questionable - but unconventional is not a crime. While they may have been uncomfortable with the things he said/did, Johnny's "bad press" is of his own making. It's not USFSA's fault that Evan stepped up to the plate when johnny spaced out.
 

museksk8r

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Oh, also, the USFA seems to have bungled their well-orchestrated plot to get rid of Johnny Weir. I think it's important for them to keep the handsome and the virile Lysacek as the front face of U.S figure skating since the publicity people have managed to paste pics of him and Kimmie into all USFSA promotional materials, be they TV ads, website banners, or what have you. These people are mortified to have to acknowledge Johnny's existence. For the sake of not being forced to put Johnny on USFSA promotional materials, the judges will be flooded with subconscious and subtle messages asking them to inflate Evan's scores at Nationals to the max! I expect that Johnny will lose Nationals of his own accord by virtue of doing jumps that are easier than Lysacek's. However, if by some stroke of fate, Johnny manages to win the US Nationals, expect USFSA to wash their hands of him by making no reference to the men's skaters in their promotional materials and by sticking to Kimmie and Belbin + Agosto instead.

It's only the reasonable thing to do IMO to give Evan the most promotion at the moment because between he and Johnny, Lysacek is the one who is providing the USA their best results internationally. Johnny has produced a 5th, 4th, 7th, and 8th place finish at Worlds along with a 5th place at the Olympics. Evan has produced a 3rd, 3rd, and 5th place finish at Worlds along with a 4th place at the Olympics. Evan has proven he is willing to add the difficult elements necessary to compete with the elite men internationally by including the quad combination in his SP and LP. All of Evan's promotion has been deserved IMO. Based on his resume and technical difficulty, the reality is Lysacek is currently the USA's best shot at a World or Olympic podium at the moment.

If you really want to talk about unfair promotion, you really should be focusing on the USA ladies. Emily appears to me to get a lot of unreasonable promotion compared to Kimmie. Emily has produced a 7th place at Olympics and an 8th and a 9th place finish at Worlds. Kimmie has produced a 6th place at Olympics and a 1st and a 4th place finish at Worlds. Kimmie is more consistent and, like Lysacek, always attempts the technical difficulty necessary to compete with the international elite by going for a 3+3 combination in the SP and in the LP where she normally attempts 2 of them. Despite this, Emily IMO is presented as the national darling with seemingly more camera and publication coverage than Kimmie. It's certainly not her results that are getting her the attention, so I assume she must be favored because of her bubbly personality and her resemblance to Sarah. Emily in some ways is like the American version of Mira Leung. All PR hype with little substance. Kimmie, on the other hand, is more business-like in her approach, quietly getting the job done for the American ladies with her gutsy competitive spirit and seemingly unphased by the spotlight. Whatever it is, I see it as unfair to Kimmie. At least Evan does produce results and medals, which are promotion worthy.
 
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flying camel

Medalist
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Weir and Evan look good for the beginning of the season. They are bringing out the best in each other. I expect they will be hitting those Quads by nationals.

The American girls have been a little disappointing. Caroline looks good and competitive, so does Wagner. I hope Wagner gets a World team spot. Alissa & bebe have self distructed yet again. Will these two ever learn to skate under pressure. There were seven falls betweent them at Cup of China. I don't think Alissa managed one triple. I would hate to see these two on a World team together. It could be ugly. Maybe they will do better at their next outing, I hope.

I can't say I was all that impressed with Kimmie. Her program is boring to me. It needs a lot of work. Plus she needs to use some other parts to that music. I would like to see the program she dumped.

I can't say anyone skating in the GP has a program I am in love with. I taped them but have only rewatched after I taped it. Maybe You tube doesn't do all the programs justice. I will have to say for sure once I see them on TV.
 

OldSkaterMom

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Good grief!!! You talk as if there was a conspirancy to replace Johnny with Evan as National Champion. How insane!! Evan won because he had the winning program. That was was simple to see by anyone who had eyes. Even if Nationals inflates scores, Evan still would have had to have been given credit for what he did, and he had the skate of his life. Evan was trained; Johnny wasn't. I don't know why people have to make anything else of it. What happens this year remains to be seen. My money is still on Evan because he is still better trained. Johnny is becoming better trained. However, Johnny starts to meltdown when he starts to make mistakes, unless he develops mental toughness too.
 

bostonskater

Rinkside
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Actually, it's Evan who is currently out of favor with US Figure Skating, not Johnny. What goes around, comes around! :laugh:
 

museksk8r

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Actually, it's Evan who is currently out of favor with US Figure Skating, not Johnny. What goes around, comes around! :laugh:

Why? Because Johnny barely beat Evan at Cup of China by only 2 points? That's not a comfortable enough win IMO to give Johnny any kind of edge. Evan can make those points up easily with a LP skate that is anywhere close to his true potential because of the superior difficulty he has over Johnny. At least wait and see how Johnny fares at Cup of Russia and the Grand Prix Final (if he makes it) before crowning him the top American man again. Just being realistic.
 
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