Kirk & Lease w/PJKwong on Ladies

[rkuang]

I don't know about Jenny, but Dave (Aunt Joyce) has never shown an American bias (there is no North American bias--the US and Canada are rivals). If anything, he is harsher on American girls he hates, like Rachael Flatt and, until recently, Ashley Wagner. He loves Yu Na, generally, but was somewhat critical of her in this video, mainly because she hasn't competed that much and not because of her skating. But his favorite this year isn't an American; it's an Italian!

THIS.

I'm not sure why Americans (or North Americans) always get generalized into not being able to watch figure skating objectively, but if we're talking about bias--as in patrioticism--I'd suspect a lot of viewers have that. It's not wrong for us to want our skaters to do well, and it doesn't mean we want others to do badly.

In regards to this discussion, I don't hear any bias, honestly I don't. If you listen to their US nationals recap, they were EXTREMELY critical of the way it was judged and felt Ashley didn't deserve to win at all. And it was PJ (a Canadian) who thought it would be between Ashley and Yuna, neither of whom are from her own country. If there is any bias, it's certainly not because of nationality as much as...well, maybe she just likes Ashley and Yuna about the same.

[hurrah]

Y

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Well, I personally think it's far more reasonable to predict Ashley beating Caro, who only has ONE flip and ONE lutz counting both SP and FP. If Ashley goes clean, and Caro has a couple of misses I don't see why Ashley wouldn't place higher.

And to predict that Caro's gonna beat Mao who's attempting two triple axels, three flips and a flutz or Yuna who's attempting three lutzes and two flips also blows my mind. I mean, sure all the planned content might not be executed properly, but Caro's as likely or even more likely to make mistakes.

[rkuang]

Well, I personally think it's far more reasonable to predict Ashley beating Caro, who only has ONE flip and ONE lutz counting both SP and FP. If Ashley goes clean, and Caro has a couple of misses I don't see why Ashley wouldn't place higher.

I agree with you on this, just in terms of BV because Caro's is still lower compared to her closest competitors. But her components have skyrocketed the last two years. I have no idea how well Caro will do though. Some seem to love her while others still seem her technical weakness. We shall have to see. Honestly, all of the top ladies have had major screw-ups this season, so I have no idea.

[drivingmissdaisy]

Wagner was SICK at Nationals (flu). She went to the practices, but did very little skating to conserve energy. Her problems in the FS were not because of pressure, but rather to lack of stamina because she was so ill. She didn't go to 4CC because it was too soon after Nationals, and Ashley needed time to rest and recover.

In interviews Ashley did admit the pressure got to her more than she thought it would. Going into the lutz she stated that she was doubting herself. Yes, her illness had an impact, but she was ill in Paris and skated extremely well. So the pressure of defending did play some role in her performance.

[dorispulaski]

Well, this year's worlds isn't that definitive now. Ashley is in Ontario, but her skates are in lost luggage land.

[Mrs. P]

Well, this year's worlds isn't that definitive now. Ashley is in Ontario, but her skates are in lost luggage land.

I don't think it's a panic moment. Ashley clearly was disgruntled about not having luggage, but it wasn't an "OMG where the heck is my stuff" type tweet.

She had tweeted earlier that she had to sprint to her connecting flight in SF. Chances are the luggage didn't make it. I'm thinking that it's probably on its way.

[FlattFan]

I'm surprised at the frequency of skaters losing/missing their skates and their luggage. Every single event, GPF, Euro, Worlds, somebody missed their skates. Seriously?
I travel a lot and it only happened to me once in the last 10 years. I can't be that unlucky. Half of the time, I hope they would delay my bags so I can claim some reimbursement.

[Mrs. P]

Okay all, Ashley's luggage made it.
US Figure skating tweet:

Her luggage made it and @AshWagner2010 is on the ice for her first practice in London #TeamUSA #FSWorlds13

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I find it weird that they were so harsh on Yu Na Kim. It's not like she hasn't done well at NRW and Korean nationals. I wonder if they would still consider Yu Na as the underdog after this week's practices. Guess we'll know in a few days!