Cynthia Phaneuf switches to Orser

evangeline said:

When I think "national icon," I think of people like Wayne Gretzky, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, etc. People who have instant name recognition among the general populace, rather than a very small subset of the population.

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Whether YOU think she's an icon is neither here nor there. Barbara Ann Scott has a star on the Walk of Fame, the Order of Canada, a spot in the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. As a child, my most cherished possession was my Barbara Ann Scott doll. It's hardly a small subset of the population who knows who she is.

These are great news! Now I want to hear Mirai is leaving Frank Carrol. He may be a great coach, but it certainly isn't working for Mirai.

Dragonlady said:

Whether YOU think she's an icon is neither here nor there. Barbara Ann Scott has a star on the Walk of Fame, the Order of Canada, a spot in the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. As a child, my most cherished possession was my Barbara Ann Scott doll. It's hardly a small subset of the population who knows who she is.

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The level of disrespect in this post is astonishing when you consider what evangeline actually said. If the average person on the street doesn't know who she is, how much of a national icon is she really?

No coah is right for every skater all the time. Different coaching styles and personality matches may serve a skater best at different stages of her career. Orser seems like a caring, stern, and proud Dad to his students. It just may be right for Cynthia to switch from a montherly to a fatherly coach at this time, seeing her competition results have not matched her talents, looks, and especially her steadfast dedication to her competitive skating career. I applaud her courage to break from an old paradigm on her contiunuing quest for success and wish her the best.

I'm glad to hear it, but I would have been over the moon had it been Mirai Nagasu, and that's the truth.

Brian Orser is a miracle worker, and I want him to do his magic on e-v-e-r-y single American skater that needs it. And right now it's Mirai, Rachael, Agnes (who reminds me of Cynthia the most), Adam Rippon (he needs to go back to him imho), and Brandon Mroz. These ones have the most potential, that's why I list them first & foremost, as they were the first ones to come to mind.

Now to go off topic, my apologies, but from what I saw of the mens field at the 2010 Olympics (sitting in the Gold section mind you, close to the ice), here's how the men "measure up" in terms of height:

1.) Evan Lysacek ~ he's tall, dark, and handsome, stood out like a 1940's movie star. Seriously, his height commands attention. He was the tallest amongst the men. Kinda like a cross between Cary Grant & Jimmy Stewart; swarthy looks of Cary but the height of Jimmy.

***ps: Brandon Mroz is the one that reminds me of Jimmy Stewart the most, height, looks, et al; wish he would do a program that revolved around the concept of "It's a Wonderful Life", one of my all-time favorite movies starring James Stewart of course ***

2.) Evgeni Plushenko ~ only a few inches shorter than Evan, but his tall proud stance, breadth of chest, killer looks, and shocking mane of wispy blonde hair above that "tiger blue" stare drew all eyes. He was thee star and everyone knew it, the skaters, the fans, the audience, himself, et al. I'll never forget that, nor that magical night when Zhenya made history, becoming the second man in history to have medalled in three Olympics (it's like how Bjorn Borg had a special relationship with Wimbledon, I see the same with Zhenya, Olympic ice loves him). ps: he reminds me of a cross between Paul Newman & Steve McQueen; has Paul's movie star aura combined with Steve's killer stare.



And then there was everybody else, seriously, unforgettable in terms of height. Except I would have to say that one guy from Russia was about as tall as Evgeni, as well as Jeremy Abbott, but lacking star quality & power.

Then everybody else was about average in height, including Brian Joubert, and I guess Chan, but b/c he has a longer torso compared with his legs he looked smaller, however his stretch helps him. Jmho.

Now for the shortest of short, ALL the Japanese men, they honestly looked like fleas on ice, which I wrote about at the time. It was shocking, really. But interesting enough 9 mos. later when I saw Daisuke Takahashi at Skate America, live, front row seat, I nor the audience didn't mind at all b/c he shone like a young Elvis Presley on ice skates.


By the way, regards icon & status, et al, I'm shocked, appalled, and disgusted at the ignorance of youth in general. Most, if not all (except the well-educated & respectful) think that the world honestly revolves around the here & now, them only, with not a thought nor care for those that came before. It is truthfully a sad commentary on the times in which we live, and that's all I have to say about that.

I'd like to see Brian work with Kevin Reynolds!

Reading skating forums, I think most Canadian fans would want Brian Orser to take over Joanne Mcleod's brood of skaters!

Almost any coach would be preferable to Joanne McLeod. She helped wreck the careers of Sandhu and Mira Leung.

dorispulaski said:

I'd like to see Brian work with Kevin Reynolds!

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So would I!!!!!

chuckm said:

Almost any coach would be preferable to Joanne McLeod. She helped wreck the careers of Sandhu and Mira Leung.

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She did a great job with Sandhu. It isn't her fault he didn't compete well.

drivingmissdaisy said:

She did a great job with Sandhu. It isn't her fault he didn't compete well.

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She also wasn't to blame for Mira. If I remember correctly, it was Mira and her mother who ruined that career.

Puchi said:

These are great news! Now I want to hear Mirai is leaving Frank Carrol. He may be a great coach, but it certainly isn't working for Mirai.

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I think Mirai just needs to stick with it and find her focus and her drive and I suspect that part of that is sticking it out with Frank C.

People can correct me if I'm wrong but it seems to me that half the time these coaching changes never work for the skaters. In the case of Cynthia, it's probably a good idea because she has struggled for so long and really needs to get out of her rut. Same thing with Alissa when she finally left Julie Berlin after a decade. It's not so much a matter of those coaches being bad, I suspect, but just needing something new to get out of a rut. In Mirai's case, she was in a rut and went to Frank Carroll and ended up having a great 2009/2010 season. Last year she was injured and struggled to find motivation in a post Olympic year. She was hardly the only one. See Yuna and Rachael Flatt. I think Mirai needs to settle herself down and just get into the grind - Frank was good at motivating her for the Olympic year and I think he can do it again if Mirai just sticks with him.

drivingmissdaisy said:

She did a great job with Sandhu. It isn't her fault he didn't compete well.

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Sandhu didn't compete well because he didn't train properly. He stopped when he made a mistake and quit skating so in competition, he fell apart when he made a mistake so yes, I hold McLeod responsible for many of Sandhu's poor training habits. She didn't teach him good work habits and tolerated his diva behaviour and let him get away with a lot of crap. Sandhu was the "star" talent who was going to put McLeod on the map internationally.

Again, with Mira Leung and her mother, McLeod tolerated the mother's interference with her coaching.

Coaches have to establish with their skaters what is exepcted of them in their training, how the coach wants them to work. Skaters who disiplay poor training habits should be corrected in the same way that bad technique is corrected, and for the same reason. MacLeod lets her skaters run the show.

McLeod has also had a habit of blaming the judges for poor PCS marks, which doesn't give skaters much incentive to improve.

The thing that always worried me most about MacLeod was her comments when she whined about low PCS marks , edge calls and UR calls. She has done this several times with her skaters.

Those comments suggest an unwillingness to admit that there are problems to be fixed. You have to admit there is a problem first before you can fix it.

She also overhypes her skaters way too much.

I don't necessarily want all of her students to go to Orser ( though that would not be a bad idea) as long as they all leave her.

I worry about Nam Nyugen's development since unfortunately he is with Joanne.

Tinymavy15 said:

Cousins skated pairs, so his height would have worked to his advantage (at times). I think that several of the pair skating men are taller than the average singles skaters, especially the russian and european teams.

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Cousins is the 1980 MEN'S Olympic Champion. I don't believe he skated pairs internationally. You must have confused him for someone else.

Article today about the move that interviewed Cynthia:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...ver-love-of-skating-with-orser-134356653.html