Belbin and Agosto have withdrawn | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Belbin and Agosto have withdrawn

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
I've had dental surgery where I had all my wisdom teeth yanked, after chronic infections from them being impacted that lasted years. At no point did any of the doctors involved told me to avoid strenuous activity after the surgery. And in fact, the aesthesia wore off in a day and I was back to normal and feeling better than ever. Now, either my doctors were horribly negligent, or Belbin's is being overly-cautious, or she's lying. Unlike Phil Hersh (at least with his current personality), I don't have a problem with calling out an athlete for being full of bovine offal. If she does go to skate and drops dead as a result of the strenuous activity rupturing her jaw or something, eh, I'll send some flowers to her funeral.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
snip
(PS to above: Michelle DID skate the GP series for many years and then decided enough was enough around 2002, except for stepping in at SA on some occasions as a fill-in. ISU didn't like it but by that point, MK could pretty much pick her involvement in competitions.)

I know she did and an I watched every televised GP event that she competed in.
 

i love to skate

Medalist
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
I've had dental surgery where I had all my wisdom teeth yanked, after chronic infections from them being impacted that lasted years. At no point did any of the doctors involved told me to avoid strenuous activity after the surgery. And in fact, the aesthesia wore off in a day and I was back to normal and feeling better than ever. Now, either my doctors were horribly negligent, or Belbin's is being overly-cautious, or she's lying. Unlike Phil Hersh (at least with his current personality), I don't have a problem with calling out an athlete for being full of bovine offal. If she does go to skate and drops dead as a result of the strenuous activity rupturing her jaw or something, eh, I'll send some flowers to her funeral.

Really?? I would say that your doctor misinformed you then - you are at least supposed to avoid physical activity, heavy lifting, etc. for a couple days. I don't think it is unreasonable for an oral surgeon to suggest an athlete avoid training for 6 hours a day until a week later.

Wisdom teeth are tricky things - I was laid up for a week and didn't feel back to normal until two weeks later - as I said before. You are the first person that I have heard that was back to normal the next day.
 

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
In fact, I remember the next day was Thanksgiving, and I participated in the strenuous activity of overeating. Om nom nom nom.
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Why on earth did Tanith have her wisdom teeth pulled in an olympic season? That is absurd to me. They were in this long, they could have stayed in for 4 more months.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Why on earth did Tanith have her wisdom teeth pulled in an olympic season? That is absurd to me. They were in this long, they could have stayed in for 4 more months.


Well, the wisdom tooth was infected....I mean, there's only so long you should allow an infection to remain in a body.


When I had surgery for my wisdom teeth, my cheeks swelled up like a chipmunk's and I was stuck in bed for a few days...so I can't help but sympathize with Tanith, even if the timing may be a bit too convenient.

I've had dental surgery where I had all my wisdom teeth yanked, after chronic infections from them being impacted that lasted years. At no point did any of the doctors involved told me to avoid strenuous activity after the surgery. And in fact, the aesthesia wore off in a day and I was back to normal and feeling better than ever. Now, either my doctors were horribly negligent, or Belbin's is being overly-cautious, or she's lying. Unlike Phil Hersh (at least with his current personality), I don't have a problem with calling out an athlete for being full of bovine offal. If she does go to skate and drops dead as a result of the strenuous activity rupturing her jaw or something, eh, I'll send some flowers to her funeral.

Maybe you were lucky, but there definitely are post-extraction problems.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Her surgeon probably wants her to rest so the infection doesn't spread. Infections can take longer to get over and really hinder training. Do I thinks she's lying-No. Do I think they are being overly cautious yes and rightfully so.:yes:
 

Buzzz

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I hope everything turns out ok. I would much rather them missing out on the GPF than the Olys.
 

mycelticblessing

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Wisdom teeth are tricky things - I was laid up for a week and didn't feel back to normal until two weeks later - as I said before. You are the first person that I have heard that was back to normal the next day.

Wow, that's sounds awful! I haven't had mine pulled out (and I hope I never will have to) but most people I know do have about 4 days of rest before going back to work.

It doesn't help the non-Asian and especially the North American skaters, that once again the GPF is in East Asia (5th time in 10 years and 2nd year in a row). Adding up travel, recovery, pre-competition, competition, return, recovery, and you pretty much blow about 10 days of your life where you lose productive training time. Not to mention having to deal with long-haul transpacific 11-12+ hour flights and the risk of picking up illness during the travel, in a very bad flu season year.

I didn't think about that, but you're right. Asia and America is like night and day. The flight is horrible, the jet lag is horrible, the time difference is also horrible and having just pulled out your wisdom tooth a week ago would make everything much, much worse!
 
Last edited:

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I am just going to throw this out there, but I certainly don't know when Tan got the infection or for how long she had been on anti-biotics.

If you would have seen the Belbins at the Albany airport after SkateAmerica, you would have known something was wrong. There was almost no one around but Mr. and Mrs Belbin and I at the Delta counter..
Mr. Belbin and his wife tried to check in using the Kiosk and he got frustrated more than I thought someone should have with no line at the counter and then I tried a kiosk and couldnt get it to work either.
So we were in line, them ahead of me with Tan(I think it was her in a hat but it was hard to tell) on a couch behind us. I listened to Mr. Belbin frustration directed at the agent and then heard their name, so I said to the wife quietly, "Belbin as in Tanith?"
And she didnt really look at me but said politely, "Yes" so all I said was , "She is so beautiful on the ice" and the wife said nothing. Then after I checked in, I saw all three of them together
and no one looked happy....at the time I put it down as just being tired but now I wonder if she was in pain and people on antibiotics can not feel right either.
I have had oral surgery 3 times and there is no way one should get their blood pressure up after surgery.

Be that as it may, and not talking about B/A, canceling a competition (that you will never be remembered for anyway) for strategic reasons in an Olympic year can be a wise decision.

Wow, that's sounds awful! I haven't had mine pulled out (and I hope I never will have to) but most people I know do have about 4 days of rest before going back to work.
 

Dyan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
It seems to me that B/A are almost always pulling out of the GPF for one reason or another? I don't think this is the first time, anyway. With the timing, I can understand the skepticism. But, do agree that they don't owe "us" anything, they only owe it to themselves to take care of their health, and as athletes to be in peak from for the most important competition. Best of luck...

IMO B&A haven't missed any more GPF's than any other skaters; in fact some skaters have missed more. Before this season the only GPF's that B&A have missed since they began qualifying was in 2008 and they withdrew after the OD last season due to Ben's back injury.

eta:
I hate to add to the negativity but in fairness I should mention that while searching for information on a couple of other dance teams I noticed that B&A also did not compete at the GPF for the 05/06 season. However that was due to a hip injury Ben was suffering from and at the point B&A wouldn't have had any reason to "duck" anyone.

I still stand by my original comment that B&A haven't dropped out of any more competitions than many of the other dancers.
 
Last edited:

Bruin714

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
I think someone might have said this already on another thread, but Belbin & Agosto's advantage is the CD, so I think with scores the way they've been so far this year, B&A would rather have their first head to head match up with Davis & White include the CD. ----> US Nationals

Whether coincidentally or on purpose, it's a pretty good strategy. I think they're banking on Virtue & Moir defeating D&W. With this loss, USFSA will more likely endorse B&A coming into the Olympics.

On the other hand, if D&W places ahead of B&A on the strength of their OD & FD at the GPF, then US Nationals become a much closer competition. And the silver medalist at Nationals will likely not make it on the podium at the Olympics. So B&A have more to lose than to gain at the GPF, especially if Belbin is not 100%..

In any case, this is so thrilling in Ice Dance that there are five teams so close to each other in ability in the world competing to get on the podium and we don't know who will win GOLD even after the Grand Prix Series. Since I've been a fan since 1995, there's never been an Olympics where I wasn't able to predict the winner long before the competition even started.
 

~tapdancer

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
I really don't see how V/M defeating D/W at the GPF will benefit B/A. A lot will depend on the scores and I think V/M are as much (if not more) of a threat to B/A than D/W are. Even if V/M win the GPF, if D/W's scores are as high or higher than they have been getting already, that doesn't bode well for B/A. I think the USFSA must be anxious right about now, on the one hand B/A have their record to stand on but D/W have been outscoring them so far, except for the CD but I don't worry so much about that, the point difference can be easily made up. It's going to be a battle at nationals, regardless of how the GPF turns out.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Someone said that it was unlikely that the American national silver medalists would get on the Olympic podium. In normal years this might be true, but this year, there are two dominant American international teams and not much going on in Russia. There is indeed a possibility that two American couples might make it onto the podium, it seems to me. Why not? The Soviets used to do that all the time. Off the top of my head (please correct me if I'm wrong), I can recall 1976, two Soviet couples followed by the Americans O'Connor/Millns. 1980, two Soviet couples sandwiching the Hungarian couple Racoszy/Sallay (who became that year's world champions). 1984, Torvill/Dean leading two Soviet couples. 1988, two Soviet couples plus the Canadians Wilson/McCall. 1992, two Russian couples plus the Duchesnays. 1994, two Russian couples plus the returning pros Torvill and Dean. 1998, two Russian couples plus Anissina/Peizerat. 2002 and 2006 (had to look these up) had winners from three different countries, but in 2006 the third couple was from Ukraine, so two former Soviet countries were on the podium.

So why not two couples from one country? I'm just asking.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
Russia has a history of excellent in Ice Dancing and Ballet. Being a Russian dancer is simply analogous to being an amazing dancer, in the minds of some.

The U.S. isn't viewed in the same way for Ice Dancing, IMO. There isn't a necessity to award the country.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
If I predicted right now, I'd say the Olympic podium will see Russia + Canada fighting for the top spot and one of the American teams (probably B+A) will get Bronze.
 
Top