In Michelle's biography I think she mentioned he had an 80% rule...she had to land the jump 80% of the time in practice for it to be in the program. I like to see skaters "go for it" but I totally understand the strategy and smarts behind this rule.Originally Posted by Mathman
RRRiigghhhtttt...Evan won with a few triple toes but superior artistry held him up..Insert rolling eyes icon...Evan may not have landed a quad at the Olys. But he did land 8 triples, a gorgeous 3lz/3t, 2 3ax, complimented by a complete program that milked all the points under COP that Evan could muster. Plushy may have done a quad but he was a shadow of himself jump wise, and had very little to surpass Evan. IIRC, Evan beat Plushy on the TES mark, and the two tied on the PCS mark. Daisuke was amazing, showed superior artistry, with a fall. So, the right man won that night, without the quad. No need for Carroll to politic artistry Vs technical ability.
Especially under 6.0 where clean programs with all triples held more weight than difficult, poorly landed combos/jumps.
Last edited by MKFSfan; 05-24-2010 at 11:13 PM.
Exactly. and as we have seen, things have not changed all that much under CoP.
If Frank Carroll had done nothing else in his career than improve Tim Goebel's posture, the skating world should be grateful.However, I think Lori Nichol deserves the most credit for trying to get Goebel to improve his presentation. IIRC he started working with Nichol a full year before he went to Carroll for coaching. Tim will never be an artist, but there was a thousand percent improvement in that year, even before Carroll came on board (if i am remembering the sequence of events correctly).
I don't think it is correct to say that Goebel came to Carroll in order to get a reputation for being some kind of artist. But yes, to improve his second mark, absolutely. And it worked, although he never became anything like a silk purse.
Here is an article about Frank from Brennan/USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...m?csp=obinsite
"I wanted it desperately for Linda, and for Michelle too," Carroll said in a interview last month. "Time has taught me a lesson. I won't go there this time. The Olympic gold medal is so elusive, like buying a winning lottery ticket."
"You train someone the best you can, you work hard, you leave no stone unturned. But in the end, it's out of your hands."
"All season long, Lysacek said he was thinking of the gold medal not for himself, but for Carroll."
OT but why exactly did Carroll 'fire' Timmy? I don't know the story/reason. Thanks.
No one knows the true reason why Tim was asked to leave. Many rumors revolve around work ethic.
Yeah that whole chapter is very shadowy, but I think (as do others) that Frank recognized that Tim's peak years were past and that Evan was the pupil with more potential.
THIS. I was all choked up! One of my favorite Olympic memories- I love and adore Frank Carroll!
Beautiful blog-Olympicfanatic! Loved it!
Last edited by ranjake; 05-26-2010 at 09:32 AM.
What did Frank do with Chris Bowman ? Thats right-- nothin !!!
Bowman's problems were beyond the help of any figure skating coach.
With Kwan and Goebel, I believe Carroll was working with injured skaters. I have no facts on this but I think Danny was laying out plans for Michelle's future.
With Bowman, he had to deal with an addiction.
With Lysacek, he worked with a dreamer who never lost sight of his goal.
Most posters here talk about their favorite skaters and not much of the Coaches who got them their Technical prowess, and their Choreographers who gave them the winning performance. No skater that I am aware of has done it alone. Maybe Curry.
I am also happy for Carroll as I am for Lysacek, and of course, Nichol. It takes Three to make an Oly Champ.
I agree with you, Joe! It's good to remember that the skaters are, so to speak, standing on giants' shoulders when they compete. And in fact, I've always said that the person in skating I most want to meet is Lori Nichol. Ah, to talk music with someone who finds such marvelous pieces to use for skating programs! Her work is magical.
This Olympics I was strongly conscious of two coaches, Carroll and Orser, for two different reasons. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Of course for Orser, I wanted him to experience the gold--not just as a capstone to his skating career, but in tribute to the marvelous job he had done in nurturing, protecting, and carefully preparing YuNa for the most important competition in the history of Korean skating. (No pressure situation there!)
Carroll has, of course, a far longer and more central history as a coach, and he's one of the most respected coaches in the Western Hemisphere. After all the times he was a "bridesmaid" at the Olympics (counting Tim with his bronze as well), it was high time for him to have a skater on the top step of the podium. As you say, Evan was the ideal protegee, one of the hardest workers in skating today--steady, calm, the ideal competitor. My heart literally leaped when I realized that Carroll was the winning coach as Evan's name was called.
And I got to rejoice for Nichol twice this year! She was the choreographer for Evan and for Shen and Zhao as well. Except for that pulse-stopping moment when Shen's hand slipped in the lift, that was one glorious program, the pinnacle of Nichol-esque grace and musicality.
As for what Carroll did for Chris Bowman...I seem to remember that he was one of Bowman's first coaches, probably his first coach as a senior skater. Chris was one of the heartbreak skaters, like Bobek and Harding, loaded with natural talent and with no stability at all. Addiction was just one part of his shortcomings. And even so, he won a world bronze. So Carroll did impart a certain amount to him, after all.
I agree with everything. I was fortunate enough to watch Lori at work during the summer of 2008 when she came to LA to work with Caroline Zhang among others. Watching her at work is just a splendid experience, you can tell she is loving every minute of it. I was too shy to approach her and didn't want to interupt the other student's what must have been very expensive time with her, but had a great exchange when she expressed approval over my freeskate music choice that year. She mentioned it was one of her favorites and sinice then I keep waiting to see if she has used it for any of her skaters but on the senior level anyway it has not appeared.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks