Senior Ladies Short Jan 26 7:30 PM

[brightphoton]

If Rachel is to make a choice between school and skating it should be school all the way. It would be a waste to put all her effort into skating and delay her graduation date and future plans just for skating since even with a full effort she isnt a real contender to make the Sochi Olympic team. She is no longer a favorite of the USFSA, her skating has plateaued, and there are just too many talented girls coming on strong now. Plus she has already been to an Olympics and placed respectably, that is as good as it gets for her. On the contrary I think she should only keep skating if it is just a part time thing she is doing for fun at this point, her chances are no longer there to make it worth putting of something just to put all her energy into it.

I think I would've agreed with you in the past, but seeing Caroline Zhang pull a complete 180 from stick-a-fork-in-her to her current position makes me question writing anyone off.

[macy]

has anyone seen any LP practice reports???

[Sasha'sSpins]

After looking at the protocol, I was right. Vanessa got the best step sequence last night. It was easy, it was fast, it was nice. Kudo to her on this front.

Girls who are overscored: Mirai, Ashley, Alissa,
Girls who are underscored: Caroline, Vanessa, Rachael. I don't understand why all 3 got negative GOE for their flips.

Actually the only one overscored (and for a long time now) is Rachael Flatt. I'm glad she finally got the scores she deserved and wasn't held up on PCS. And if you think Nagasu is slow then Flatt in comparison looks like she's skating through molasses. And mind you I felt bad for BOTH Mirai and Rachael, but Flatt more so.

*Respectfully clipped for space*
Rachael: Given her GP performances, this one was stellar. But it's pretty obvious that no matter how well she does the judges have no intention of letting her anywhere near the world team, and she'd be lucky to get 4CC at this point. I expected her to score a 57 or 58...but 52? Yeah, the USFSA hasn't forgiven her for last year and they are making her pay out the @$$ for it. It's odd that that same program scored 62+ last year. She genuinely looked shocked when her scores came up. What I found interesting was that even though she was marked so low, no one in the audience seemed to protest the results. In the first group, I believe it was Haley Dunn who received a low score and the crowd booed very loudly. Everyone seemed to be accepting of Rachael's placement. Ah well. Her number is up at this point. The international judges have written her off and now the US ones has as well. I hope she has a strong skate for her sake, but I don't know how much more of Rachael we'll be seeing.

^^^
THIS!! Flatt is going to have to claw her way back into their good graces after last year's Worlds fiasco. But like Caroline-she could work hard and fight back but with Stanford-it is extremely hard to serve two masters.

Now it seems like Mirai is the one that doesn't want to be out there sort of like where Caroline was the last couple years. Mirai better take a page from Caroline's playbook and decide if she really wants to continue to skate and to work her *** off and try to improve. Caroline had a lot more problems to correct then Mirai does. Mirai has or used to have more speed and doesn't have to rework her jump technique like Caroline did but i don't see a fierce competitor when i watch Mirai . I see someone who just goes through the motions.

After seeing Caroline's performance here, and the re-born Alissa in her mid-20's these past couple of seasons, not to mention the successes of Carolina Kostner and Mika Ando in their 20's, I'm not quite ready to give up on Mirai just yet. She's 18 and may just be going through a phase. The clock for Sochi is ticking but it ain't over til it's over. Anything can happen the next two years. Mao Asada was having problems of her own but seems to be getting it back. I'm hoping the same for Mirai. As long as she still loves it (even if it doesn't seem like she does at the moment) I'm definitely still a fan.

[Jtsmith12]

Will does the Ladies LP start ?

[SLouise]

Will does the Ladies LP start ?

7pm eastern/4pm pacific

[bekalc]

After seeing Caroline's performance here, and the re-born Alissa in her mid-20's these past couple of seasons, not to mention the successes of Carolina Kostner and Mika Ando in their 20's, I'm not quite ready to give up on Mirai just yet. She's 18 and may just be going through a phase. The clock for Sochi is ticking but it ain't over til it's over. Anything can happen the next two years. Mao Asada was having problems of her own but seems to be getting it back. I'm hoping the same for Mirai. As long as she still loves it (even if it doesn't seem like she does at the moment) I'm definitely still a fan.

Mirai is extremely talented and she's never one that you can write off. But Nagasu's situation isn't the same as the other girls. Nagasu's issues seem to be work ethic, and drive not technique/competitive nerves etc... Asada for example is known for having an incredible work ethic; Zhang, in order to fix those jumps; has to have a work ethic too.

Mirai is very talented but I question if she really wants to put in the work necessary to be a big star in this sport. She may change her mind someday, but I can't help feeling if she isn't motivated by now when will she be?

[Nadine]

7pm eastern/4pm pacific

Oh no, I'm going to miss this. Why oh why does it have to start so early; even if it started at 7PM I may have made it, but 4PM, no way. I usually don't have time to watch skating on the weekends, darn, especially now, Nationals. :(

[Spun Silver]

I don't buy the theory that Rachael is being punished. She simply can't match her past performance level now. Even last year's outstanding EOE scored almost 4 points under Agnes's majestic SP. But I'm kinda allergic to conspiracy theories so I may miss one occasionally.

[SLouise]

Oh no, I'm going to miss this. Why oh why does it have to start so early; even if it started at 7PM I may have made it, but 4PM, no way. I usually don't have time to watch skating on the weekends, darn, especially now, Nationals. :(

The final two groups will be shown on NBC. I don't know if they will tape delay on the west coast, or not. Either way, I don't think the final groups will start until 7 or later, so you should be able to at least see them.

ETA: I just realized it 9pm eastern = 6 pm pacific not 7. NBC coverage starts at 9 on the east coast.

[Poodlepal]

We know what Rachael is doing when she'd not skating: she's studying, what, chemical engineering or something? But what is Mirai doing? I know she came to Skate America, I believe, with a boy and wearing a sort of skate-punk outfit (NOT the look she skates with, LOL.) Is she in school as well, or is she just having fun? What is the cause of her "lack of work ethic" if that is, in fact, the case?

[ks777]

Mirai is just lazy, I think. I was a big fan of hers but she hasn't really "wow"ed me since the US Jr national title. She hasn't improved that much since. Very disappointing considering her talent.

[Spun Silver]

^ I just hate hearing that word (lazy) applied to skaters. I don't think there is a single one of them whose so-called laziness can compare to most people. It's such a moral judgment and anyway I don't think it fits Mirai. Something's off, for sure, but I'm pretty sure it's more complicated than laziness. Wouldn't she and Frank have split by now if that were the problem?

[emma]

I have no idea if Mirai is lazy or not; nor if she likes skating or not (I don't even know if she felt 'put off' during her short, but she did look like she was'); I somehow doubt she is lazy, maybe she lacks focus, but even that I don't know. But, reading about her long commutes and training situation, my thought was: that is a huge problem, especially for someone that needs to work on or up to the 'focus' part of training and competing. And, for someone who is not in school - I think that sort of 'full time at one place/rink/facility' with a full team from on to off ice stuff (like patrick in Colorado springs) would be the kind of thing she might thrive in. WHo knows, maybe she'll rock the LP and all of our 'tunes' will shift. But I worry about a talent like her not wanting to do it, do it for the wrong reasons, or have a less than optimal training/living situation.

[skfan]

i still see tremendous promise in mirai. i don't know if she will find her footing in time to build momentum for sochi, but i will always watch mirai every opportunity i get.

The final two groups will be shown on NBC. I don't know if they will tape delay on the west coast, or not. Either way, I don't think the final groups will start until 7 or later, so you should be able to at least see them.

ETA: I just realized it 9pm eastern = 6 pm pacific not 7. NBC coverage starts at 9 on the east coast.

will the warm-up groups be 4, 5, 5, 5? so only the top 9 after the short will be on NBC ? :(

[drivingmissdaisy]

^ I just hate hearing that word (lazy) applied to skaters. I don't think there is a single one of them whose so-called laziness can compare to most people. It's such a moral judgment and anyway I don't think it fits Mirai. Something's off, for sure, but I'm pretty sure it's more complicated than laziness. Wouldn't she and Frank have split by now if that were the problem?

ITA. Certainly there are skaters who work harder, but the amount of training needed to even maintain the technical content nowadays is a lot. Improvement is not always linear; injuries, body changes or lack of confidence can result in a set back and skaters always aren't able to conjure up their previous peak level.

I think another issue was that many of us fell in love with the cutsie, smiley character of Miria's skating in the past. She is a woman now and I think some fans miss the youthful exuberance she once had. It is interesting to compare her with a young Michelle or Sasha, both of whom skated maturely as youngsters so as they grew older there was never a change in identity.