Emily Hughes - What happened to her fans?

Joesitz (RIP) · May 19, 2009

There are six GP events before the Final (Maybe there should be more). Mao and YuNa will each be in two of the for a total of 4. with a total of 30 points each.

Joannie and Miki will be looking for the two other GPs for their totals which could be 30, 28 or 26. These, imo, are attainable scores for Mao, Yuna, Joannie and Miki to qualify for the Finals.

The remaining would be Finalists who can attain 26 or tie each other with 24 would be:

Yukari Nakano
Laura Lepisto
Sara Meier (healthy)
Carolina Kostner (revamped)
Caroline Zhang
Rachael Flatt
Kimmie Meissner (will be improved)
Mirai Nagasu (can she get 2 GPs?)
Ashley Wagner (can Hill do it for her?)
Sasha Cohen (the ever popular)

Which of the above mentioned can fill up the 2 spaces of the Final?

One can name a favorite but can't do a true prediction without the GP Assignments due at the end of the month, I believe.

antmanb · May 19, 2009

Joesitz said:
There are six GP events before the Final (Maybe there should be more). Mao and YuNa will each be in two of the for a total of 4. with a total of 30 points each.

Mao and Yuna are in two different pools tho - Yuna in the 1-3 and Mao in the 4-6. It is possible that Yuna and Mao might face each other in at least one of their GPs meaning that the 30 point total for each could be spoilt by one or other.

Joesitz said:
Joannie and Miki will be looking for the two other GPs for their totals which could be 30, 28 or 26. These, imo, are attainable scores for Mao, Yuna, Joannie and Miki to qualify for the Finals.

While it's a fairly good bet that the top four from the previous worlds will qualify for the final it's difficult to say anything about whether they will and with what points until we see two things:

1. Which GPs they are assigned to. (Because Mao is certainly a wild card in terms of ruining a clean sweep of 30 from the top 3 at worlds).

2. How they are all skating come October - the improvements these guys will surely be working on over the summer. All four of them have had ups and downs in their careers and none of them are the model of consistency.

Ant

PolymerBob · May 19, 2009

The one thing that always struck me as unusual about Emily is that she is so happy. When she does well, when she does poorly, when she falls 4 times. She is always smiling and happy. When Caroline came off the ice after a poor ( for her ) short at Junior Worlds, she was almost crying.

I would like to see a little of that from Emily. At least I would know she takes skating seriously.

R.D. · May 19, 2009

A better counterexample is Meissner, who is usually smiling and happy but looked so crushed after her disastrous Nats FS in '08.

Dee4707 · May 19, 2009

chuckm said:
Yes, she cited injury in her withdrawal announcements, but you have to wonder whether she was really injured or just reluctant to compete because she was so out of shape (i.e. undertrained) that she would have had an embarrassing placement.

I totally agree with you on this.

As far as Kimmie is concerned, I think her days are numbered. Sad to say but I really think they are.

chuckm · May 19, 2009

Emily has always cited injury as her reason for withdrawal from previously planned events, and it is usually an ankle injury. Even going into Nationals 2007 (her best Nationals finish), her coach said Emily had a slight ankle injury.

She cited her ankle as her reason for withdrawal from Nationals 2008, Collegiate Championship 2008 and Nationals 2009.

If she indeed has a problem with her ankle, even when she has been off the ice for long periods, then you'd think that going back into full-time training would further exacerbate the injury.

R.D. · May 19, 2009

chuckm said:
If she indeed has a problem with her ankle, even when she has been off the ice for long periods, then you'd think that going back into full-time training would further exacerbate the injury.

And it just might...but who knows at this point. Honestly, I think her chances (of a successful return) are even slimmer than Cohen's, but I wouldn't mind her proving me wrong.

ETA: Then again, "a successful return" would likely be defined differently for each of the two of them. For Hughes it would be Top 10 in the World; for Cohen it would be Medal Contender. So in that case, it may be more even.

As far as Kimmie is concerned, I think her days are numbered. Sad to say but I really think they are.

And as much as I hate to say it, I agree. I really want to give her another chance, and we'll see how she responds to the enormous challenge ahead. But if she doesn't improve drastically, she'll find herself left behind even on the National scale. That is, if that hasn't happened ALREADY.

Joesitz (RIP) · May 20, 2009

Emily is coming back to face a competition much stronger than when she left it. Even those Eastern Ladies for Regionals will not be easy for her.

chuckm · May 20, 2009

Emily should be able to place top four at North Atlantic Regionals, but Eastern Sectionals might be tough if she isn't fully rotating her triples.

PolymerBob · May 20, 2009

Well this is sad. Emily was at the last Olympics, now we're debating how she will do at Regionals?

Of course, we could do the same with Michelle.

Mathman · May 20, 2009

To me, it is not sad. There is a time for every purpose under heaven.

chuckm · May 20, 2009

Michelle has two Olympic medals, five World Championships, 9 US Championships, a Junior World Championship, and countless GP gold medals. Her career is legendary even if she never sets a single foot on competition ice ever again.

Emily has won no international championships, has no Olympic or World medals, and her international medal total includes one silver (4CC 2007) and two bronze (JW and GP). Nationally, she has won one bronze (2006) and one silver (2007).

Michelle and Emily simply aren't in the same league.

Particle Man · May 20, 2009

I would definitely say Emily was the rightful winner of Nationals gold in '07. That was probably her peak. But yeah, the rest of the stuff is true. I don't consider Emily to be a top-level skater per se, probably a couple notches down. Several notches down even, depending how big the notches are.

Technically speaking, we don't have a US ladies skater who is at the absolute top level anymore. That level has been redefined by the asians.

Sasha'sSpins · May 20, 2009

Red Dog said:
Here's a possible explanation to the original point:

I think Emily's fans are just hoping that she can get back in the swing of things and keep herself healthy.

But the Cohen fans are more vocal and there are many more of them. So, they're up in arms about HER return, as if they really "missed" her, even though they could see her all this time in SOI :scratch:

Seeing a favourite skater in an ice show is nothing like seeing them at competitions-and I don't mean cheesefests. Surely you realize those are two entirely different atmospheres.

Speaking for myself that is where skaters like Sasha and Michelle have been sorely missed-in competition.

Particle Man · May 20, 2009

Sasha'sSpins said:
Seeing a favourite skater in an ice show is nothing like seeing them at competitions-and I don't mean cheesefests. Surely you realize those are two entirely different atmospheres. Speaking for myself that is where skaters like Sasha and Michelle have been sorely missed-in competition.

Bingo. Two completely different things. Competition brings thrills, suspense, pitfalls and triumphs, and the personal challenge to be one's best. Sasha may be a great show skater, but I'd rather see her in competition any day.

chuckm · May 20, 2009

Particle Man said:
I would definitely say Emily was the rightful winner of Nationals gold in '07.

In your opinion, maybe, but certainly not in mine.

I think her not winning that Nationals was a huge blow to Emily. At 2007 Worlds, the US champion (Meissner) was 4th and Hughes was 9th. The USFS judges would seem to have been right on.

R.D. · May 20, 2009

If Hughes had not fallen, she would have won Nats '07. She knew it, we all did. She sealed her own fate- no "was robbed" to speak of here IMHO.

Particle Man · May 21, 2009

I didn't have a problem with the LP. The SP score made no sense. After the SP, Kimmie was several points ahead of Emily for no clear reason. The final score after the LP was very close, about half a point. Emily lost because she was underscored (or Kimmie overscored) in the SP. Explain to me why Kimmie should have been so far ahead in points after the SP, and I'll say the judging was fine. I don't see it though.

Mathman · May 21, 2009

The reason that Kimmie was "so far" ahead of Emily (3.57 points total) in the short program was that Kimmie's combination was 3Lz+3T (10 points) and Emily's was 3F+2T (6.80).

What was controversial about the SP was whether or not the second jump of Kimmie's combo was fully rotated. It looked short in the replays, leaving the impression that she got a break because she was world champion and was expected to win anyway.

What really brought attention to the judging was that Rachael Flatt also did a 3Lz+3T combination -- a better one than Kimmie's -- but Rachael's was downgraded leaving Rachael way down in 6th place.

Particle Man · May 21, 2009

So what you're saying is, Kimmie was held up and Emily was the rightful winner. Agreeing with me in the first place would have been faster. :laugh:

Emily Hughes - What happened to her fans?

Joesitz (RIP)

antmanb

PolymerBob

R.D.

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

chuckm

R.D.

Joesitz (RIP)

chuckm

PolymerBob

Mathman

chuckm

Particle Man

Match Penalty

Sasha'sSpins

Particle Man

Match Penalty

chuckm

R.D.

Particle Man

Match Penalty

Mathman

Particle Man

Match Penalty

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