Kirk & Lease w/PJKwong on Ladies | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Kirk & Lease w/PJKwong on Ladies

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Agreed, Wagner isn't really a contender with that group of three at the top. I disagree with Jenny that Adelina cannot beat Ashley; I actually expect Adelina to place ahead of Wagner. I sense from interviews that Ashley is feeling the pressure to bring back three spots, and she didn't respond well to the pressure of defending her national title.

I don't think it was pressure that did her in, honestly, at Nationals. It really sounds like she just ran out of energy. The mistakes she was making in the FS were not nerve mistakes but rather just being exhausted.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
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.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
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.

She had the flu? Thought it was just the effects of food poisoning?
 

rkuang

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
For the record, it seems Ms. Wagner has landed in London and she seems to be healthy. So this will be the test of whether it was her injuries or the pressure that caused to make mistakes. There's really no way of knowing until we see her perform again.
 

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
Oh, come on. There was a North American bias to what they were saying, and reacting to what I wrote by bringing up Michelle Kwan's very impressive 5 time Worlds medal also says something, doesn't it?

I just got a little upset, that's all. The general tone of the interview was so 'political', so unlike the other podcasts I've seen, which is more down to earth and showing the skating world to be what it really is. PJ Wong I thought was particularly defensive, over-eager to get her point across and talking over Jenny and David.

I mean, did they really have to say the stuff they said about Akiko? And saying that the bronze is Ashley's to lose (over Yuna of all people)?? Really??

BTW, my own reaction to the interview tells me I'm over my Yuna-hate. I realized alot of my feeling against her was really about the scoring system, and she added fuel to that by making allegations about practice obstruction that riled me up. But she's since gone publicly and set the record straight, and since the scoring system is far more reasonable now, I can just sit back and enjoy her skating. I'm kind of relieved about that.

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!
 

rkuang

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
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

Medalist
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Y
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

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
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

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
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

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Well, this year's worlds isn't that definitive now. Ashley is in Ontario, but her skates are in lost luggage land.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
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

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
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

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
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

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
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!
 
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