Emily Hughes on Today Show

hrmsk8ngnutt · Oct 17, 2008

Emily Hughes was on Today this morning. She was there to promote Skate for Life which airs on Saturday 10/25. A brief interview precedes her performance. Here is a link to the clip:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/27236059#27236811

Herm (sk8ngnutt)

asparaguss · Oct 17, 2008

I actually think the YouTube video of the same clip is a bit clearer and less pixellated. Plus, it also shows two short earlier clips of Emily warming up, which aren't included in the MSNBC video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPbTueg0_gM&fmt=18

Nice costume, great hairstyle, but I do think Emily looked more attractive earlier this year, when she was curvier/fuller-figured.

AdamFan · Oct 17, 2008

Show skating appears to be where she belongs. Emily thrives in a performance environment.

fiercemao · Oct 17, 2008

Groshkova said:
Show skating appears to be where she belongs. Emily thrives in a performance environment.

She withers in jump department.

Emily's jumps in the latest regionals:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/content/events/200809/regionals-NA/senior-details.pdf

SP: 3f<, 3lz+2t, 2a
LP: 2a, 3f<, 2lz+2t, 3s<+2t, 3t<, 3s, 2a

Two clean triples in sp and lp combined. Ferocious downgrades by technical controller. :rock:

:chorus:

HCOSurfer · Oct 17, 2008

fiercemao said:
Two clean triples in sp and lp combined. Ferocious downgrades by technical controller. :chorus:

You're so sweet.

Anyway I think she looks great, she looks to be in better shape than she was at the beginning of last season. I really hope she can pull things together and fix those under rotation problems.

asparaguss · Oct 17, 2008

HCOSurfer said:
I think she looks great, she looks to be in better shape than she was at the beginning of last season.

Well, I guess it's all in how one defines "better shape" (because "thinner" does not automatically mean "better")

1. Skating-wise: She performed this same number ("Taking Chances") at Ice Chips earlier this year, when she was fuller-figured, and at that time, she cleanly executed two triples. But there were none in this performance. Also, she fell on a triple (again, doing "Taking Chances") at Skate for Hope in August, when her weight loss was already visible So Emily's weight loss has not made her a better skater. In fact, just based on jumps, she was a better skater when she was fuller.

2. Looks-wise: Here's where everyone will have their own aesthetic preferences. I personally think curvier looks better than thinner, so I think Emily also looked better when she had a fuller/shapelier figure.

silverfox · Oct 17, 2008

asparaguss - you sound exactly like kioewen, another poster here. He would go on and on about Emily's curvier figure and curvier figures in general..

Emily is absolutely in better shape than she's been in awhile. When I saw her up close at Mid Atlantics, I was impressed with how muscular she's become. i don't know if she's lost weight, or if her figure is more compact and dense because of the muscles she's packed on . Take a look at her shoulders, arms, back, thighs and calves. She's a physical powerhouse.

Her jumps - Weight and muscles notwithstanding, Emily was/is not a consistent jumper and she gets dinged for under rotating her jumps. She lost her loop a couple of years back, has trouble with her flip, the salchow is inconsistent and her best triple seems to be her triple toe. She does however have a beautiful landing on her double axel.

I hope she and Bonni can fix her jumping problems so that she can have a good skate at TEB..

Tinymavy15 · Oct 17, 2008

I had no idea the Rockerfeller rink was open already! Emily looked very happy, and I like that she wore a "from the rack" dress... really humanizes her.

Lissy · Oct 18, 2008

My goodness I miss her. I really hope the world team will be Kimmie and Emily. That was a really beautiful performance. Can't wait for next weekend!!

asparaguss · Oct 18, 2008

The point is simply this: The case of Emily proves that weight loss is NOT some sort of magical cure-all, as it is often presented to be. A skater can get thinner, and it will obviously do nothing for her technique. At that Mid-Atlantics show, Emily's jumping looked more unsteady and uncertain than ever. In fact, her jumping was better earlier this year, when her figure was fuller.

Since Emily has lost weight, and it hasn't improved her skating (if anything it's hurt it), then what was the point -- except to please a few skating fans on message boards who like gaunt figures?

If the weight loss had done something for her skating, then one could say she is in "better shape." Since it has not, then her current shape is not "better" at all.

Binthere · Oct 18, 2008

She's a great ambassador for the sport IMO.

CB1AB2 · Oct 18, 2008

I thought she looked great.

demarinis5 · Oct 18, 2008

Binthere said:
She's a great ambassador for the sport IMO.

I agree. Her ongoing support for a cure for breast cancer is admirable.

flying camel · Oct 18, 2008

She just needs to spend more time practicing. Maybe she will take off the spring semester or go part time.

chuckm · Oct 18, 2008

Lissy said:
My goodness I miss her. I really hope the world team will be Kimmie and Emily. That was a really beautiful performance. Can't wait for next weekend!!

That would be a great selection for Worlds 2009--IF what you want most is for the US to be down to one lady for the Olympics.

flying camel said:
She just needs to spend more time practicing. Maybe she will take off the spring semester or go part time.

What she needed to do was take off the FALL semester. The spring semester starts after US Nationals.

R.D. · Oct 18, 2008

Hey, if she can do it, more power to her. I won't suggest what she "needed" to or not to do.

It won't be easy, of course, but that goes for everybody.

AdamFan · Oct 19, 2008

I hardly think she is 'gaunt'. She looks much more fit than she has in a while. I don't think her weight loss is hurting her skating. No one ever usually does triples at the Rockefeller rink because it is so darn small. She looks better than she did at Mid Atlantics. Her real problem is that her 'best' just isn't good enough at this point. It is unlikely that she'll be able to compete with the top 4-5 ladies in the country. Why didn't she ever attempt the loop after 2006? Since she doesn't have a 3/3, she can't afford to be down a triple. I thought she looked better under Mark and Scott last year than she ever had. She had a much better fall season than usual. Why did she stop working with them?

chuckm · Oct 19, 2008

Emily's lutz is also not often on display, and she repeatedly underrotates her flip. She's had UR calls on her salchow and toe loop as well.

The UR problem started in the fall of 2006 and has gotten steadily worse since then. I think Emily has been growing and she's having jump problems much like Kimmie Meissner's last year. While Kimmie's been focusing all her energies on solving her problems, Emily's attention is split between school and skating, and skating is getting short shrift.

AwesomeIce · Oct 19, 2008

I know Emily was injured last year, does anyone know how much time she spent off the ice?

I think that she looks good physically. She's not so thin that you could blame her jump problems on her weight, as she is still quite muscular. Like others have said, she's never been super consistent on her jumps, and she frequently gets them downgraded anyway. I think her problem is that she is trying to balance an Ivy League education and elite level skating, it is soooooo hard to do well at both at the same time. I wonder if her hip is still bothering her a bit and has limited her jump training at all?

In terms of this particular performance, overall I think it was sloppy, but she has really great energy to her skating, I think her love for the sport really shines through. Her split jumps look as good as ever, and I love that dress, it is absolutely adorable and flatters her figure.

I hope she has a respectable, if not outstanding, performance at her GP event this year, and that she skates well at Nationals. I don't expect to see her on the World team, but I would like her to have a good experience at Nats.

pista04 · Oct 19, 2008

I was never a HUGE fan of her, but she is adorable. Her new look is great, and hopefully its not throwing off her jumping (compared to being able to land when she was fuller). The one thing I love most about her (and Kimmie for that matter) is that she seems so approachable. Mirai, Caroline and Rachael, although I love Mirai and truly enjoy Caroline/Rachael, seem like if I did meet them in person, I'd be too scared to even say anything. And I'm not a shy person. Haha.

Emily Hughes on Today Show

hrmsk8ngnutt

asparaguss

AdamFan

fiercemao

Match Penalty

HCOSurfer

asparaguss

silverfox

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win

Lissy

asparaguss

Binthere

CB1AB2

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!

flying camel

chuckm

R.D.

AdamFan

chuckm

AwesomeIce

Match Penalty

pista04

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