We have such a deep field of men and women, so why is the pairs division in a slump? :(
US-Pairs
We have such a deep field of men and women, so why is the pairs division in a slump? :(
It's always been a little slumpy.
1. More fame and forutne could be had for a single skater in US.
2. Americans tend to be more independant.
3. We don't have a big tradition to build on.
4. Russian skaters, back in the day, were all but forced to do pairs.
5. With the US usually taking a medal or two in the singles and the USSR taking a medal or 2 or 3 in pairs & dance, both sides of the cold war could leave having saved face.
6. It's dangerous, in addition to scary.
7. Considering all of the pairs females who get slapped around by thier partners, maybe US ladies are too strong to stick with that bs.
just some theories.
Good list, Berthes G. Not much interest in Pairs for Americans. They do look for the Ladies and somewhat less for the Men.
Joe
I've also heard that it's hard to find a good partner where you live.
because there are 4 times as many girls trying to make a name for themselves in skating than there are guys because of the homophobia that comes with the sport...
It's too bad Ina & Zimmerman left. I think they would have had a chance for a medal at the 2006 Olympics. Unfortunately in the U.S. Ladies singles is more important. I guess I'm one of the few that far prefers ice dance and pairs to ladies singles.
My guess is that the same goes for Chinese today.4. Russian skaters, back in the day, were all but forced to do pairs.
Very unfortunate but true. It's the same in gymnastics.because there are 4 times as many girls trying to make a name for themselves in skating than there are guys because of the homophobia that comes with the sport...
At my rink, there is ONE male skater. One. I occasionally skate at another rink, and there were two, but I'm not sure how much longer either of them will tolerate being called "[color=red]*[/color][color=red]*[/color][color=red]*[/color]" by the hockey players who practice later. The teacher in me did have a chat with the hockey players, but I don't know how much good that did.
:(
Laura
I think that famous coach (non-white, I believe) suggested that Tai and Randy get together in pairs. What a team they were!! Absolutely brilliant but as luck would have, one heluva bad break. Maybe that coach, if she is still around, could pair up another duo.
Joe
I wonder what we can do to get those 2 crazy kids to reinstate. They probably could have made the podium at last year's US nats splatfest, lol.I think that famous coach (non-white, I believe) suggested that Tai and Randy get together in pairs. What a team they were!! Absolutely brilliant but as luck would have, one heluva bad break. Maybe that coach, if she is still around, could pair up another duo.
It is a shame that we didn't keep up that semi-tradition: Tai & Randy, Peter & Kitty, Watson & Oppegard. Things have kind of fizzled out since Kristi & Rudy broke up imho, in terms of major medal potential pairs.
Joe-
That "non-white" coach was Mabel Fairbanks. She had to bribe Tai and Randy with candy to get them to skate together.
I've read this too. You'd think with the deep field of ladies talent, there would be more ladies looking to move into pairs. We could maybe get some decent teams together. Who would be good candidates? I always thougt Tonia Kwiatkoski should have moved to pairs. She didn't have a hugely successful singles career.Originally posted by lil_icesk8er915
I've also heard that it's hard to find a good partner where you live.
Thoughts?
Thanks DLk - Mabel Fairbanks! I was just wondering are there any Pairs coaches in the US? Even I&Z went with Moskvina. But it comes down to the interest in Pairs and working at a discipline which is highly dangerous and time consuming.
Joe
True, A lot of US teams are coached by Russian Coaches, but I don't think its due to lack of good American ones. John Nicks lives and coaches here and has done well, Johnny Johns in Detriot has coached teams to National titles, and a few UD coaches also have done some (Ron Ludington, S&D's old coach.)
I do think its more of a succes thing. All the little girls on the ice where I skate idolize and want to be a Michelle Kwan. No one's ever said they've wanted to be a Tai Babalonia or Irina Rodnina (sp on both.) Parents are the same way, IMO. They want their kids to have success by themselves, not with a partner.
I skated pairs for a little while, and I found it interesting that whenever non-skating people asked what kind of skating I did, when I told them "pairs" they'd always sort of look blankly at me and say "is that the kind (insert popular ladies single's skater's name here) does?" and I'd have to explain everything to them.
Maybe the public only views singles skating as "real" skating.
Laura
I think this is an interesting topic and I agree w/ the reasons everyone has posted so far... there are a few male skaters at my rink and I guess that's fairly rare (even tho there are only 4-5 that I see regularly). I've never seen pairs practicing but that's probably bcs I only go to public sessions, not freestyle yet. Anyway I'm not sure about who should get together but I hope in the next few years we'll see a trend toward more American pairs skaters... I hope the field deepens a little bit!
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