2013 US Nationals Senior Men LP

[Art&Sport]

I too echo those who speak of all the wonderful moments of this Nationals, including Wesley Campbell's Ave Maria, both of Adam's program, especially his revised fp with a different look for him, Jason Brown, Alexander Johnson, and so many others in all the disciplines.

[silverlake22]

Also I sort of feel with the placements at this year's nats, the judges are sending messages to the guys.

Max - Keep jumping like this and you will be rewarded and likely get on the Olympic team.

Ross - You're our go-to guy. At this point, you're the solid number 2, and you can become the number 1, but if you want to do that, you've got to keep working on the quad and developing more personality, artistry, etc. But you've been so close to number 1 for awhile, that you must know we'll give the spot to you if you can prove to us you DO have what it takes to be the top US man.

Jeremy - You better get your act together if you want to go to the Olympics next year. One youngster has blown you out of the water with his technical arsenal and another one with a similar arsenal and similar strengths is hot on your heels, and the Steady Eddie whose not the national star (or not yet at least) has beaten you for the second time in three years. We'll reward you for what you do well, but you have to earn it or someone else will take advantage of your mistakes and place ahead.

Josh - We notice you and admire you're potential. You're in the back of our mind regarding the 2014 Olympics, but we want to make sure you stick around and stay hungry for 2018. You can compete with the big guys already, and with more consistency on the quad, you can definitely be higher up on the podium. Keep improving and working hard and your efforts won't go unnoticed.

Dornbush, Rippon, Brown - We like your skating a lot and will reward you for what you do well, but to get on the podium and close the score gap to get there, you need to be upgrading the content (Adam, Jason) - getting those 3axels rock solid and consistently putting the quad out, or really work on keeping the errors to a minimum (Ricky), because with the international field the way it is, you're gonna need everything you've got to be competitive.

[karne]

I would also like to say:

FREE MAX AARON!

Staying with Tom Z is not going to do anything for his PCS. But leaving him could. Follow Josh's example!

[ImaginaryPogue]

Brian Joubert, Florent Amodio and Javier Fernandez are better "presentation-wise" than Max Aaron. Michal Brezina we can negotiate.

Seriously.

[Art&Sport]

I know, and Aaron was actually cleaner than Bradley was. But Bradley actually was a performer. Aaron landed everything effectively and backloaded the bananas out of this program, but this is a program that will score 6s internationally for it's choreography and transitions, not eights.

Exactly. The guy that was perfect was perfect to his abilities, but his abilities aren't the best. The overscoring alone on transitions and choreography handed this title to him, and when you add in the other PCS (three components above eight?) it's ridiculous.

Unfortunately, Bradley did not "perform" to his own standards at Worlds 2011, plus the Moscow crowd simply did not get his fp. It was dead in the arena which made it doubly hard for Bradley to skate the heck out of that program. Also, don't forget that Bradley too was coached by Tom Z. A young Bradley had potential to be as elegant as Josh Farris, but Bradley stuck with Tom Z his entire career and any chance for artistry went out the window. At the least Max has been working with Pasquale Camerlengo.

Yes, some of Max's scores were a bit much (but he did land some wonderful jumps and the program was exciting). The high PCS for him won't necessarily be repeated at Worlds, but you never know, what with Florent Amodio getting high PCS (with all Florent's lousy Morosov choreo and posing, he sure ain't better than Max Aaron PCS-wise, IMHO). But there enters fs politics. U.S. team just have to go out and give it all they've got. It's a completely different game being played now and the stakes have anted up.

[Mrs. P]

I wish instead of showing Gracie's program again, they would have shown Alex Johnson's amazing FS. For heaven's sake he finished 5th in the FS!

[Mrs. P]

Love this tweet from Jeremy Ten:

Jeremy Ten ‏@j3r3bear

Holy Shibutani I can't even function I'm so excited for @MaxTAaron! I knew u could do it!!! So proud of @Alex_M_Johnson too. #Inspired

[Art&Sport]

Jeremy's problem is the quad. He doesn't have one. By opening with a certain fall he throws the whole program off. Leave off the quad, J., and instead concentrate on not doubling your triples.

I though Max Aaron had the best short program, too -- the most entertaining, anyway.

ITA, Jeremy had trouble effectively training the quad this season due to his back problems. The smarter strategy for him might have been to focus on doing a clean program, instead of forcing out a quad he wasn't comfortable with right now.

[skatingfan4ever]

I was disappointed that Ross finished behind Max, but Max earned it via those SPECTACULAR jumps, including two AWESOME Quad Salchows! Poor Jeremy - a gorgeous, moving program that was never skated to its full potential. Sigh

[skatingfan4ever]

Jeremy Ten's tweet is GREAT! Holy Shibutani is a clever expression Love it.

[Mrs. P]

World team has been announced: https://www.usfigureskating.org/Stor...908&type=media

MEN
2013 World Championships
Max Aaron
Ross Miner

Alternate 1 - Jeremy Abbott
Alternate 2 - Adam Rippon
Alternate 3 - Joshua Farris

2013 Four Continents Championships
Max Aaron
Ross Miner
Adam Rippon

Alternate 1 - Richard Dornbush
Alternate 2 - Brandon Mroz
Alternate 3 - Stephen Carriere

2013 World Junior Championships
Jason Brown
Joshua Farris
Shotaro Omori
Alternate 1 - Harrison Choate
Alternate 2 - Jay Yostanto

Yikes, they really didn't give Jeremy a break -- he didn't even get a 4CC berth. And the alternates list for 4CC is nuts 1st, 2nd and 5th?! And the alternates are 6th, 9th and 10th place finishers? And why didn't they include Alexander Brown in any of the alternate lists even though he finished 7th?

[Art&Sport]

I'll always be a Jeremy fan. He is an exquisite artist and that's why I enjoy watching him.

ITA. I was sending hugs out to Jeremy too. The gift he possesses can never be taken away. I hope he regroups and figures out what he's going to be able to do for next season. Even without a solid quad, if Jeremy could consistently skate cleanly, his PCS could keep him high in the standings. But Nationals is hard and it takes a lot of energy to compete there in order to try and gain a Worlds spot.

Also, let's break it down. Putting top three Worlds medal contenders aside (Hanyu, Dai, Chan), IMHO Ross Miner is competitive with Javi Fernandez, especially if Javi makes mistakes. In addition, IMHO, both Ross and Max are highly competitive with Takahito Mura, Michal Brezina, Joubert, Amodio, Gachinski, Song, Ten, et al. (I don't believe Kozuka or Oda made it out of their killer Nationals).

[karne]

Not sure why they didn't see fit to send Josh to 4CCs. Why not give him a little international experience at the top level? He could still go to JW after.

[evangeline]

Also, let's break it down. Putting top three Worlds medal contenders aside (Hanyu, Dai, Chan), IMHO Ross Miner is competitive with Javi Fernandez, especially if Javi makes mistakes. In addition, IMHO, both Ross and Max are highly competitive with Takahito Mura, Michal Brezina, Joubert, Amodio, Gachinski, Song, Ten, et al. (I don't believe Kosuka or Oda made it out of their killer Nationals).

Why on earth is Javier Fernandez not a Worlds medal contender. He has the highest international season's best of 274.87 of all the men so far (http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/...13/sbtsmto.htm) and his SB LP score of 186.97 is 10 points above Yuzuru Hanyu's second-highest international SB LP score. Javi's current international SB is also literally 40 points above Ross Miner's international SB of 235.37. The only way Ross is competitive with Javi is if Javi has a meltdown.

[KwanIsALegand]

So Jeremy's season is done, that's it ( assuming he doesn't go to worlds as an alternate) That was pretty cold of the USFSA, wow.