What I think is that the US sent the wrong team to 4CC's, not to Worlds. They should have believed in their winner take all philosophy, and sent at least 2 of the Worlds team to 4CC's (which is what they usually have done. Usually its the winner that doesn't go). What they did by sending none of them was say to the world, "Our nationals was a fluke, and these are at least 2 of our top guys (maybe 3)." Or at the very least, they said, "All of our guys are not World class right now, so we're giving all 6 a chance for some experience." Neither is a good thing to do.
Having used their normal method to select the Worlds team, finishing first at Nationals, they should have assessed the situation more sensibly. They were sending Ross to Worlds without the World getting to see the "new, improved" Ross that we saw at Nationals. Whomever else they sent to 4CC's, Ross should have been on that team, in order to spiff up his international reputation. I'm with Blades of Passion: I would have Ross 6th at Worlds. And he might have scored there if he had gotten a chance to get some more time in front of international judges.
Worse, Ross should have finished ahead of Dornbush at Nationals. Dornbush's SP was very, very overscored, and Ross (again because of his lack of reputation) underscored mostly in the SP, but even a bit in the LP. He should at least have been ahead of Mroz, Razzano & Messing in the SP. Leaving him home from Worlds would have been the most significantly unfair thing that could have been done by USFS.
Adam Rippon has shown almost no ability to land a triple axel this year, in a year when over half the guys at Worlds were throwing quads, let alone triple axels. And at Four Continents, he finished fifth with 210.01 points. A perusal of the Worlds scores shows that Adam would have scored below Ryan Bradley there, and would have finished no better than 14th. Sending Adam to Four Continents was pure stupidity. Armin Mahbahnoozedeh scored 200.67 at Four Continents-need I say more about him and his chances at Worlds? Neither should have gone to Four Continents.
I could make a case for leaving Dornbush home from 4CC's (& send him to Jr Worlds and Sr Worlds, although that is not something USFS usually does, as he would surely have won Jr Worlds) or leaving Bradley home Then you could send Abbott there to get his international card punched for the year.
So their problem in this year isn't their system, but not believing in their system.
Having used their normal method to select the Worlds team, finishing first at Nationals, they should have assessed the situation more sensibly. They were sending Ross to Worlds without the World getting to see the "new, improved" Ross that we saw at Nationals. Whomever else they sent to 4CC's, Ross should have been on that team, in order to spiff up his international reputation. I'm with Blades of Passion: I would have Ross 6th at Worlds. And he might have scored there if he had gotten a chance to get some more time in front of international judges.
Worse, Ross should have finished ahead of Dornbush at Nationals. Dornbush's SP was very, very overscored, and Ross (again because of his lack of reputation) underscored mostly in the SP, but even a bit in the LP. He should at least have been ahead of Mroz, Razzano & Messing in the SP. Leaving him home from Worlds would have been the most significantly unfair thing that could have been done by USFS.
Adam Rippon has shown almost no ability to land a triple axel this year, in a year when over half the guys at Worlds were throwing quads, let alone triple axels. And at Four Continents, he finished fifth with 210.01 points. A perusal of the Worlds scores shows that Adam would have scored below Ryan Bradley there, and would have finished no better than 14th. Sending Adam to Four Continents was pure stupidity. Armin Mahbahnoozedeh scored 200.67 at Four Continents-need I say more about him and his chances at Worlds? Neither should have gone to Four Continents.
I could make a case for leaving Dornbush home from 4CC's (& send him to Jr Worlds and Sr Worlds, although that is not something USFS usually does, as he would surely have won Jr Worlds) or leaving Bradley home Then you could send Abbott there to get his international card punched for the year.
So their problem in this year isn't their system, but not believing in their system.