Mclaughlin/Brubaker Split

dorispulaski said:

I'm not surprised. She grew and things were never quite as easy afterward. Rockne is just a little too short for a male pair skater. I hope if he finds a new partner, it is one who has finished growing, and is very petite. Do any of you remember Mariel Miller?

http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00007639.htm

Well, she grew, too.

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Mariel Miller towers over McLaughlin and Mariel/Rockne often struggled with lifts and did not have a decent triple twist even as Juniors. Keauna was much better suited for Rockne not only in terms of the technical content, but in terms of matching body lines, presentation, etc. Most girls will struggle with timing and what not during puberty, but I think the most important thing is avoiding a growth spurt where you sprout up in height, and Keauna has stayed pretty short. From the article that Silvia has posted, it does not sound like Rockne wanted this split at all. I hope Keauna has thought long and hard about this one and continues to do so. You do not get an opportunity to skate at this level very often... If she is "burnt out", a sports psychologist (or a new one) could help. I also question how motivated John Nicks may have been coaching a young team at the beginning of an Olympic cycle. It is partly the coach's job to keep his athletes mentally focused and inspired. There are a lot of coaches to consider in Southern California if a coaching change could have possibly helped. I thought this being a non-Olympic year would have been enough to settle the nerves quite a bit.

R.D. said:

Wow, I don't keep up with these splits but this one got me.

I hope they did not take their Olympic defeat too hard.

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It seems like Keauna did take it too hard. I don't think you could question her love for skating beforehand. She has mentioned wanting to have a professional career in skating, she has written on the USOC website as recently as January that skating was her "life passion" and that she had the "greatest skating partner in the world". That all doesn't change in a couple months, and I assume it wouldn't had they gone to the Olympics. It's a huge shame if she put all the eggs in the Olympic basket, she was too young to do that, and I hope that she has spoken to someone that can help her feel better about this.

Tonichelle said:

it took Jeremy Barrett a long while to finally find the right partner. Rockne is already a superstar so it should be easier for him to have his pick of the crop.

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I'm sure it's a lot harder than you think. Barrett is also short for a pair guy and I believe never found a good partner once Denney left him in 2006 to pursue a singles career. It wasn't until mid-2008 that Barrett was reunited with Denney. You could probably find some Junior level pair girls who are still around 5'0", but what good does that do if they are going to grow before they are even old enough to skate Seniors? A 5'8" guy really cannot skate with anyone much more than 5'0", at least not anywhere near as successfully as he would want. And a 5 ft 16+ year old (nevermind a good pair girl) doesn't grow on trees. I wish Rockne the best of luck, but it's sad that it has come to this.

I am sorry to hear this news. I wish Rockne good luck in finding a new skating partner.

This is devastating...being the same age as McLaughlin, I felt somewhat like I could understand her (why? I don't know, hahah). When Denney came along, being the same age, I felt almost even closer to McLaughlin, as she was struggling to compete with the new talent....and I truly believed it was the beginning of a new Pairs dynasty in the US, led by McLaughlin/Brubaker and Denney/Barrett. With college looming for Keauna (and I, hah) I know the stress that is slamming down on her, and definately wish her the best of luck in her senior year.

gold12345 said:

I'm sure it's a lot harder than you think. Barrett is also short for a pair guy and I believe never found a good partner once Denney left him in 2006 to pursue a singles career. It wasn't until mid-2008 that Barrett was reunited with Denney. You could probably find some Junior level pair girls who are still around 5'0", but what good does that do if they are going to grow before they are even old enough to skate Seniors? A 5'8" guy really cannot skate with anyone much more than 5'0", at least not anywhere near as successfully as he would want. And a 5 ft 16+ year old (nevermind a good pair girl) doesn't grow on trees. I wish Rockne the best of luck, but it's sad that it has come to this.

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no, I didn't say it was easy, but I don't think he's going to have trouble finding girls willing to try out either.

What's the process of selecting a partner like? Can anyone with pairs experience shed some light on this?

It seems like Keauna did take it too hard. I don't think you could question her love for skating beforehand. She has mentioned wanting to have a professional career in skating, she has written on the USOC website as recently as January that skating was her "life passion" and that she had the "greatest skating partner in the world". That all doesn't change in a couple months, and I assume it wouldn't had they gone to the Olympics. It's a huge shame if she put all the eggs in the Olympic basket, she was too young to do that, and I hope that she has spoken to someone that can help her feel better about this.

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She is young, and I can totally understand- one day you love something, the next day you can't stand it any longer. I get the impression she just wants a break, and isn't retiring completely (at least for now). I personally think M/B may have been banking a LITTLE too much on the Olympics, though. Everything was set up for them to be hyped as America's next great pairs team and that came crashing down the day of the pairs free skate in Spokane. I still remember the shot of Keauna leaving the arena in tears. That's why I said I hope they didn't take it too hard- and allow that setback to contribute to their ultimate breakup. One wonders if they would have stayed together had they made the Olympic team. But woulda, coulda, shoulda- what's done is done and we move on.

After rewatching their final performance at 4CC....she looked done. So done. Mentally exhausted, and somewhat relieved after they finished their rough skate. She seemed to feel almost entirely out of it, going out there and just doing the motions....Again, all the best. I have a feeling we will see them both again. At least I hope so.

Perhaps Kristi Yamaguchi could be coaxed out of retirement! Now there's a dynamite tiny pair girl with amazing competitive spirit?

However they couldn't do the 3S. Can Rockne learn a flip or lutz?

pista04 said:

After rewatching their final performance at 4CC....she looked done. So done. Mentally exhausted, and somewhat relieved after they finished their rough skate. She seemed to feel almost entirely out of it, going out there and just doing the motions....Again, all the best. I have a feeling we will see them both again. At least I hope so.

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I would have expected her to be mentally exhausted there regardless. That was literally days after the disappointment/shock at Nationals, on the other side of the world in Korea. I did worry after Nationals that they may take the Olympic disappointment too hard. It pretty much had been drilled into their heads that they were going to be in Vancouver, and they had such a good shot at it. I had hoped they would have been able to let it go by now and just get fired up for the new season. I hope this isn't the end for her, as I'm not convinced she actually doesn't like competing and skating anymore. Or at least I hope one competition wouldn't be enough to ruin that for her.

So sad to read this news. I have always liked this team. I hope Rockne finds a suitable partner, and that Keauna eventually returns to skating in some capacity. Wishing both of them all the best in their futures.

I sure wish I knew how to pairs skate (well skate at all that is). I would be his partner in a minute!!!

Maybe he could give Angela Maxwell a shot. She's tiny (unless she grew when I wasn't looking, lol) and seems to have that firecracker personality a pairs girl needs.

Spun Silver said:

Maybe he could give Angela Maxwell a shot. She's tiny (unless she grew when I wasn't looking, lol) and seems to have that firecracker personality a pairs girl needs.

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Hasn't she left the sport herself? I know she was having injury problems and coaching problems. Then it surfaced that she was done skating. A switch to pairs would seem very unlikely at this point.


One more thing about Keauna... Had M&B made the Olympic team that Nationals night, would this even be happening? I really tend to think no. She doesn't seem like the type who would become disinterested in skating and suddenly distraught about everything. I worry about Nationals being so stressful for the skaters that they feel compelled to quit after one night. I wish they would truly consider expanding the criteria for picking the Olympic team (and I don't mean simply listing additional competitions to fulfill a USOC requirement) so that everything is not riding on that ONE performance. Take some of the stress off the athletes. The US has to be one of the only countries that places so much emphasis on Nationals to the point where top athletes will actually quit the sport the minute they do poorly (Weir last year is another example). I just find it very odd that Nationals is THAT stressful. A guy like Weir coming off of Grand Prix success and a young pair skater who had been part of the top US pair team for a few years should not have felt the need to walk away from the sport after one rough Nationals performance. Thankfully, Weir did not quit for long, and for Keauna's sake, I hope she will eventually return and end on a much better note. But I think this country has a bit of problem helping it's skaters to get through disappointing outings. If you look at other countries' top pairs, you would never see a disastrous day leading to a split.

Are you sure about Angela Maxwell? That's sad news, if true. She is something special.

It reminds me of Kimmie when the puberty kicked in and she lost her jumps as well as her confidence. Keauna was so young when she paired up with Rockne, did not make it for GP due to the age limit. They're on fire at the Jr.Worlds, "future of US pairs", I recalled. It's so sad to see they ended up this way. I hope Rockne find a new partner. Wish both of them luck and happiness. I also hope Denney/Jeremy continue to do well since she is also pretty young, hope the puberty monster won't touch her.

gold12345 said:

I worry about Nationals being so stressful for the skaters that they feel compelled to quit after one night. I wish they would truly consider expanding the criteria for picking the Olympic team (and I don't mean simply listing additional competitions to fulfill a USOC requirement) so that everything is not riding on that ONE performance.

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Technically, that is what happened at these Olympics. The problem is that the team in all 4 disciplines exactly matched National results, so we don’t know if anything else was considered.

I think that a more inclusive system could work, but only if was an exact formula that took into account scores and placements from ISU events. It should not be left up to the USFSA to interpret results as they see fit.

I am disappointed since I didn't think they reached their potential.

I do think there was too much pressure on this young team. Winning everything as Juniors, a lot of people expected the same at Seniors immediately and I don't think that's realistic.

Didn't she also grow a lot just before moving to Seniors.

Anyway, I believe that the pressure of expectations and dealing with her body changes were a large contributing factor in her decision. Perhaps she really does just need a break.

I wonder if they thought about not competing this season and just concentrating on learning to skate better together. I think it would've benefited their team to do so.

It's possible that she might change her mind by next year... and if he doesn't find a suitable partner, maybe they could re-team.


Unless he finds a partner immediately or unless he finds a partner who is a really strong singles skater with some pairs skills, I'd be surprised if he was able to compete this year.

PolymerBob said:

I think that a more inclusive system could work, but only if was an exact formula that took into account scores and placements from ISU events. It should not be left up to the USFSA to interpret results as they see fit.

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um, why shouldn't it be up to the team to choose who's on the team? that's how it's done. would you rather the ISU pick who goes and who stays?

this is what's wrong with how we teach sports in this country now. nobody loses everyone wins. Then we realize that's not how it's done in olympic sport and suddenly every time a player/athlete loses and then gets discouraged we blame the sport. Someone had to lose, someone had to stay home. Keauna would not have had an easier time at teh Olympics. They were expected to make the team, yes, they had sponsors riding on that hope, so I understand she let people down, but there are a lot of other skaters who also didn't make the team that had sponsorships and they're continuing on. It's not the sport that's cruel as it is the individual on themselves. No matter what sort of criteria they use, she'd still be discouraged if she didn't make the team.

Spun Silver said:

Maybe he could give Angela Maxwell a shot. She's tiny (unless she grew when I wasn't looking, lol) and seems to have that firecracker personality a pairs girl needs.

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I like this idea, too!

gold12345 said:

Hasn't she left the sport herself? I know she was having injury problems and coaching problems. Then it surfaced that she was done skating. A switch to pairs would seem very unlikely at this point.

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There hasn't been any type of "official" announcement, but I noticed that Maxwell's name was recently removed from the Team C funding envelope on the USFS site, which indicates that she won't be competing in singles this season at least. I do wonder if she would consider trying pairs?

Tonichelle said:

um, why shouldn't it be up to the team to choose who's on the team? that's how it's done. would you rather the ISU pick who goes and who stays?

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A couple of things. First, I did not write "must be", nor "should be"; I wrote "could work". There is a subtile difference. Secondly, the ISU cannot pick our international teams, but their result can be used. If ( and only if ) ISU results are used, USFSA officials should state ahead of time what formula is used. If they want to add the base 10 logarithm of the Grand Prix Final score to the hyperbolic tangent of the placement; then add that to the Nationals score, that's fine. But the formula should be stated ahead of time. That way there's no argument.

And if they want to keep things the way they are, then that's fine too.

Request to PolymerBob or a moderator: Could a new thread be started on the topic of U.S. international team selection so we can keep focused, more or less, on the McLaughlin/Brubaker split? Thanks in advance!

ETA: I went ahead and started a thread myself -- link is: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...S.-Olympic-team-selection&p=507611#post507611