What's Your Take on the USA Team for Worlds?

Joesitz (RIP) · Jan 13, 2004

The Teams have been established so what do they need to win the gold? or stand on the podium?

LADIES Michelle Kwan; Sasha Cohen; Jenny Kirk

MEN; Johnny Weir; Michael Weiss; Mathew Savoie

PAIRS Innoue and Baldwin; Orscher and Lucash

DANCE Belbin and Agosto; Gregory and Petuchov;

Joesitz (RIP) · Jan 13, 2004

Both Kwan and Cohen will be on podium probably with Seguri. They are all seasoned Worlds skaters. However, the order on the podium is up to question. I can think of no one in particular for first place although I do have a favorite.

Michael or Johnny might make the podium but that will be difficult for either of them. Too many good senior men round the world, and Plushenko will be the gold.

Innoue and Baldwin; and Orscher and Lucash, I am hoping for a top 10 for both of them. No one is going to touch Shen and Zhao.

Belbin and Agosto will definitely win a medal and Gregory and Petukhov will make a name for themselves. However, L&A and D&S are more than likely definites.

Joe

show 42 · Jan 13, 2004

Good assessment, Joe.

Ladies-Michelle, Sasha (or flip-flopped),and Arakawa (just a hunch)

Men- Plushenko, Sandhu, Weiss (Weir is amazing, but this is his first Worlds, and I think the hype will get to him)

Pairs- The Americans, no where near the podium not even in the top 10

Dance- The Americans, a good chance to make a spot on the podium (Ben and Tanith) 42

dewet · Jan 13, 2004

LADIES
Michelle Kwan- will win easily
Sasha Cohen- definately will medal if clean, but knowing Sasha, she'll make a mistake or two
Jenny Kirk- top 8

MEN
Johnny Weir-first worlds, top 10, maybe top 6
Michael Weiss-top 6
Mathew Savoie- top 10

PAIRS
Inoue and Baldwin- top 12
Orscher and Lucash- top 15

DANCE
Belbin and Agosto-top 6, maybe medal

dorispulaski · Jan 13, 2004

Ladies: Michelle and Sasha have a clear chance for the podium. Jenny was undergraded at NHK, so I just hope for top 10 for her.
However, Fumie, Carolina, Shizuka, Miki and Elena S and Elena L are formidible, and we will be lucky to get more than one girl on the podium. Sasha has to have 3 good skates, and that's still a problem for her.

Men: Weiss has a chance at 3rd. But he will need his quad in all 3 skates. Johnny Weir almost surely will not make the podium. Top 10 is best I can hope. He is too new a face and is pretty much quadless, except in practice. Savoie? maybe 12. I expect this crew of men to have trouble making the total 13 points needed to keep 3 slots for worlds. I'm hoping Weiss and Johnny will squeak it out. I like Matt, but if Timmy can get his body fixed , I would hope usfsa would consider sending him instead of Matt.

Dance. B&A will make top 5, but 3rd is going to be a stretch, but they might make it. I think N&K have gold sewed up. I am hoping that G&P as new faces will yet manage to get 12th or so.

Pairs. Oh the pairs. I&B have been more valued on the international circuit than at home. If John's foot improves enough to land his 3t, they have a shot at top 10. O&L have been getting bad grades, but they have improved so much since SA that I hope they might make 10th. Heck, you never know. Medal for either? No way.

At least that's what I think.

dpp

Ogre Mage · Jan 13, 2004

Thoughts on USA Team

Ladies -- Sasha and Michelle will be in a dogfight with Fumie Suguri and Shizuka Arakawa. That's 4 top skaters and 3 spots on the podium. I am quite sure Michelle will take one of the spots. Anything could happen with the other 3. As for Jenny, she should easily make the top 10. I am hoping for top 6 but that is stretching it.

Men -- Weiss definitely has a shot at bronze. Weir and Savoie are both in a similar position to Jenny. Johnny might have an outside shot at top 5 or even bronze if he is clean and the others falter since he is the U.S. Champ. But he definitely needs the quad guys to make mistakes.

Pairs -- No comment.

Dance -- I don't watch the dance event.

Ladskater · Jan 13, 2004

Joesitz:

Sandhu will be a "force to be reckoned with" at the Worlds. Unless, he runs out of gas, there is no stopping this guy. He was brilliant at Canadians. Ben Ferreira also had two brilliant skates. He really gave Sandhu a contest. So the US guys will have their work cut out for them!!!!

shine · Jan 13, 2004

DORISPULASKI said:
Savoie? maybe 12. I expect this crew of men to have trouble making the total 13 points needed to keep 3 slots for worlds. I'm hoping Weiss and Johnny will squeak it out. I like Matt, but if Timmy can get his body fixed , I would hope usfsa would consider sending him instead of Matt.

Why, because he can land quads? When oh when will CoP finally be in use for these championships.

Kasey · Jan 13, 2004

Women: Michelle will be on the podium somewhere...the other two, I think top 8.

Men: Weir and Savoie, top ten. Weiss, top 5, maybe even bronze, but would need to be perfect and clean.

Pairs: Lucky for top ten at all

Dance: Belbin and Agosto, top 6 maybe.

Kasey

Jaana · Jan 13, 2004

I wonder how Cohen might fare in freeskate is she does not happen to be 1st after the short programme? Maybe I´m wrong, but I think the hype after her short programme win in US Nationals got into her. I have seen skating fans mentioning that Cohen should just concentrate on skating her best and not in trying to win the gold. And "to concentrate" is the key word for her... As she now lost the gold medal in US Nationals, I would expect her having better chances at Worlds than if she would have won the Nationals.

About men, I would imagine that Weiss will succeed best. Also I hope that Goebel will manage to fix the problems and will be selected into the US team instead of Savoie. There is about two months until the competition.

Belbin & Agosto, I would expect them to medal at Worlds, or at least the fourth place.

The pairs, no opinions since I don´t even remember the names..

Marjaana

Ptichka · Jan 13, 2004

Ladies
Michelle Medal, probably gold
Sasha Hopefully medal (may be silver), likely top 4.
Jenny Top 10, may be top 8

Men
Michael Top 5.
Johnny Really a wild card. I'm going to say top 10. but it could really by anything.
Matt Top 15

Pairs
Inouie & Baldwin Hoping for top 10 (if they are clean)...
Orcher & Lucash No clue

Dance
Belbin & Agosto 3d or 4th (it will be between them and GrushGons)
Gregory & Petukhov Top 15

Spirit · Jan 13, 2004

Michelle will fall, Sasha will fall, Fumie will fall and Shizuka will fall. Jenny Kirk will win Worlds.

I don't really believe that, but predictions which simply follow the odds are so boring.

Besides, hardly any sporting event follows the odds perfectly. There are always upsets. The trick isn't picking whether they will happen, but to whom and when.

(Actually, I'm just trying to get my post total up to 100 so I can have an avatar.

)

Spirit · Jan 13, 2004

Correction: there are almost always upsets.

Yay! 100!

tharrtell · Jan 13, 2004

Ladskater said:
So the US guys will have their work cut out for them!!!!

Lad, I don't think people have high expectations for the US guys!

Ladies: Michelle and Sasha both contenders for gold.

Men: I hope Johnny skates 3 clean performances. It will be very interesting to see where that puts him - assuming he's quadless.

Pairs: No hope, but would love to see I&B skate clean. I really like this pair. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Dance: I think B&A have a legit shot at bronze.

All in all, I'd just like to see everyone to skate to their abilities and let the chips fall as they may.

Lcp88 · Jan 13, 2004

Ladies looks like our only real shot this year at a 1-2 (or 2-3) podium finish. I think belbin and Agusto will do well, but not medal. Gregory and whatever also have what it takes, but I'm thinking they'll only be placed in the 8-15 range. Since Johnny doesn't have a quad in his program yet, maybe 7th? Mike could medal, but who knows. He did do well on the Grand Prix circut, but he has a tendency to mess up his SP, which could have an effect on his over all placement. Pairs? ehhhh :rolleye:

Inoue and Baldwin will probably make the top 10, but Orcher and Lucash could be anywhere (and thats hoping they land a few things.)
Laura

Antilles · Jan 13, 2004

I think Michelle will be on the podium, and that Sasha will finally get there. Third spot to a Japanese lady.

Outside shot for the men. I'd love Sandhu to be on the podium, but he has a tendency to self destruct. Candians and GPF were more the exception than the norm for him.

Pairs-they'd be lucky if one made the top ten. By far the weakest discipline for the US.

Dance-I want B&A on the podium, but I think they will end up fourth (or lower if they have mistakes). Top 12 realistic for G&P.

Joesitz (RIP) · Jan 13, 2004

tharrtell said:
Lad, I don't think people have high expectations for the US guys!

Men: I hope Johnny skates 3 clean performances. It will be very interesting to see where that puts him - assuming he's quadless.

I watched Johnny practicing his quad sal. He hit it 50 per cent of the time. Not a safe bet, but if he skates late, he may give it a whirl.

When I think of the men's competition at Worlds, I am absolutely flabagasted. Just think: Plushenko; Joubert; Van Der Perrin; Klimkin; Lambiel and the new wunderkind, Gryazev. Given Honda is still in the mix where can you put the American and Canadian boys?

My advice for the present: Check out the results of Euros! and the ensuing comments of Jaana and Pitdhka, both posters who tell it like it is.

Joe

hockeyfan228 · Jan 13, 2004

Ladies:
Kwan-1st, Cohen-3rd, with Suguri winning the silver. Kirk-9th.

Men:
Weir-6th, Weiss-7th, with some combination of Honda, Lambiel, Li, Sandhu, and Klimkin between Plushenko and Weir.

Pairs:
Innoue/Baldwin-9th or 10th, Orsher/Lucash-11th or 12th. Second time at Worlds for each, and they each did well last year as newbies.

Dance:
Belbin/Agosto-fighting it out with Grushina/Goncharov for 3rd, Gregory/Petukhov-9th or 10th.

(Edited to add Kirk.)

Rgirl · Jan 13, 2004

I don't know why I think this, but I think Weir will surprise people. A lot of the guys on the GP circuit were landing a quad--then not much else. Johnny is a very well-balanced skater. If he can skate clean, I say watch out.
Rgirl

pipsqueak · Jan 13, 2004

Michelle or Sasha have chances equal to the others at the Worlds of winning or placing in the top 3.

I was totally shocked by Weir's performances, figuring that his nerves would once again bring him down. I was pleased to see that, unlike last year, when the men left out the quads and concentrated on skating a balanced program, it made for beautiful
skating. However, I don't know what the rest of the world is doing, so I can't say if Weir can place high at Worlds with the exact same performances that he delivered at nationals.

Pairs: YEs, yes, we usually have pitiful pairs here in the US. However, I think that Inoue and Baldwin are the strongest skating singles to have taken on /mastered pairs in many years. They were the only ones doing well internationally this year, too. I'm hoping that they will be in the top 10 again---and maybe even inch upward IF they can put together clean programs.

Dance. I don't know. But, no matter what, I think Belbin and Agosto will be "First Rate".

What's Your Take on the USA Team for Worlds?

Joesitz (RIP)

Joesitz (RIP)

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