Jason Brown's Future Prospects 2.0

Icey · Nov 18, 2013

I think he has a reasonable chance of being on the Olympic team if he is not penalized for not having a quad. He has demonstrated a skater can medal without the quad. Petty of me, but I really wish he would get a different hair style. lol

RobinA · Nov 18, 2013

I like the guy and he seems to have potential. If he were 20 and had the same issues I might be worried, but isn't he 17 and newly in seniors? As a male he is several years away from his peak strength. This is not his Olympics, although I hope he goes for the experience. He's 2018 if he can remain healthy and avoid the temptation to go to Tarasova.

Skater Boy · Nov 18, 2013

BlackPack said:
Jason isn't only artistic but also very entertaining to watch on and off the ice. His interviews are a riot as he is such a joyful and funny guy. Comparing him to PC is misleading. PC has way too many haters and bombs his interviews frequently. PC has deep edges that are even deeper than Tessa Virtue's - that's the extent of his talent. When it comes to sportsmanship and entertainment factor, PC isn't like Jason Brown. There are skaters who are artistic but are very boring to watch when they can't get it together. Remember Petr Barna? Jason inherited Rohene's moves and emulated them in execution.

Jason does seem to have it all although age wise he ain't so young when you consider PC or Hanyu ironically. IMHO Barna was hardly the artist. Lambiel and Buttle were artists. Curry and Cranston from years ago. But Jason does seem to have some great style and is getting consistent with the axel. He has a real shot at Nationals. Though as artisitc as he is what he is lacking besides jumps is the quality of skating while entertaining does not mean his skating skills and such are at the top and they aren't - yet but who knows. we all tend to jump on the bandwagon after one skate or competition or drop a skater. Time will tell but I would like to see a few more cnosistent skates.

Skater Boy · Nov 18, 2013

Icey said:
I think he has a reasonable chance of being on the Olympic team if he is not penalized for not having a quad. He has demonstrated a skater can medal without the quad. Petty of me, but I really wish he would get a different hair style. lol

ITA Nice hair sort off but it just sort of hangs there aesthetically it should look like it has purpose or frames the face; his just hangs. I suppose for a formal event slickit back might work but yeah you need the lioness or Gwendel Pez look. A pony on a guy in skating tends look more utilitarian. getting the hair out of the way than any other reason.

karne · Nov 18, 2013

RobinA said:
I like the guy and he seems to have potential. If he were 20 and had the same issues I might be worried, but isn't he 17 and newly in seniors? As a male he is several years away from his peak strength. This is not his Olympics, although I hope he goes for the experience. He's 2018 if he can remain healthy and avoid the temptation to go to Tarasova.

Actually, Jason will be 19 on December 15.

And why on earth would he go to Tarasova?

Skater Boy said:
ITA Nice hair sort off but it just sort of hangs there aesthetically it should look like it has purpose or frames the face; his just hangs. I suppose for a formal event slickit back might work but yeah you need the lioness or Gwendel Pez look. A pony on a guy in skating tends look more utilitarian. getting the hair out of the way than any other reason.

Lord of the Rings program with it in elven braids. Please?

*

I was just thinking...one thing that may contribute and make Jason so special is that I don't think he's ever had a serious injury. Kori is probably to thank for that.

Mrs. P · Nov 18, 2013

karne said:
I was just thinking...one thing that may contribute and make Jason so special is that I don't think he's ever had a serious injury. Kori is probably to thank for that.

In hindsight, Kori was very smart to not push the 3A too hard in the 2011-2012 season. We discussed Jason's growth spurt extensively in the original thread, but what I didn't have at the time was the article from when he won the junior title at nationals in 2010, which states that he was 5'1".

The video from the Chicago Tribune that I posted on the first page of this thread, Jason states that he was about 5'7" as of Dec. 2011. That means he grew six inches just under two years, with about half of those growth coming post 2011 nationals.

So much of that three-year waiting period for the 3A was likely Jason dealing with the adjustments that comes with being taller and all that jazz. So it makes sense that he finally got the 3A in the 2012-2013 season when he had one year under his taller body and could really focus on being consistent with it.

In this case, Kori's extensive medical and sports science background really came in handy.

KKonas · Nov 18, 2013

The way the American men are skating these days, Brown is at least pretty consistent as well as great fun to watch, and could very well make the Olympic Team. If not, 4C's could certainly be in his future.

CanadianSkaterGuy · Nov 18, 2013

Part of the Olympics is putting on a show for the world. Not everyone watches figure skating save for the Olympics when it's a marquee event. For that reason, I think Brown should go to the Olympics.

The lack of quad certainly means he won't be competitive, but he will bring wonderful energy to the event, and you can bet that people will be incredibly receptive to his programs. :biggrin:

There are a lot more technically superior skaters who will place higher but won't be even half as interesting to watch.

noskates · Nov 18, 2013

First of all, have to take umbrage with the poster who said all Patrick Chan has is deep edges. Clearly that person did not see his SP and LP at TEB. Like him or not, Patrick is much more than deep edges!!!!

Jason's hair. I believe he just graduated from high school. I also get the sense that he isn't vain about his appearance. I really dont' care if he shaves it as long as he keeps skating and entertaining the way he has. He's a joy to watch and I look forward to many more competitions with him.

Mrs. P · Nov 18, 2013

wordsworthgirl said:
I hope more than anything that Jason can develop a consistent second triple axel and a consistent quad toe WITHOUT having to leave his beloved and extraordinary coach. Their bond is so unique and touching. and I think she has been one of the major reasons he's developed so beautifully not only as a skater but also as a human being.

So I posted this elsewhere, but chances are you might have not seen it and also it gives a lot of interesting perspective given the past few days.

The interview with Kori Ade is from 2011, just before Jason debuted as a senior at U.S. Nationals.

http://www.manleywoman.com/episode-45-2011-us-nationals/

Worth listening to Kori's voice, but here's the most interesting part of the transcript from that interview:

Tonight I sat down while he was doing his 45-minute warm up and I wrote him a three-page letter. All week, while he’s been home and I’ve been here with my novice competitor, he’s been asking for motivational quotes on his text messages. I really avoided doing it, because I don’t want to sound clichéd and say, keep your head up, keep working hard — that’s so generic at this point. I said, I’ll give you your motivational stuff when it’s time for you to hear it. So I sat there and I knew that’s when it was going to hit me, that I had gotten a skater to senior level from march-march-glide. That’s a huge journey, a long, long journey.

So I wrote a three-page letter, and I said — I knew that when I met Jason, he presented me with the greatest challenge that I could be presented with as a coach. And I knew that it would take a lot of directing his energy and harnessing his talent, and a lot of education for me. Because I don’t have a strong competitive background, I didn’t intend to be a coach. I intended to have a career in medicine, and I sort of got looped into coaching and had to learn to be a great coach. So I believe in the power of learning, and I believe that having a skater like Jason has allowed me the opportunity to foster that, because I had to. So I don’t know — it’s probably in my personality to keep learning, but I knew because of Jason that I had to do it. It wasn’t a choice, because I care about him.

And several times in my coaching journey with him, judges or officials have said, you know, it’s really in his best interests for you to pass him along to somebody. Because I wasn’t a well-known coach, I was a nobody. And I just am really grateful to the Brown family for trusting in me, and believing in me. My favorite story that I tell other coaches is that I had another skater that started with me when she was a beginner, and when she got to the double axel, her mother — even though she made final rounds at juvenile and was progressing really well — sat me down and said, you know, we think you’re wonderful, but we know you’ve never taught a double axel before, and we don’t want our child to be the guinea pig. And I remember those words so vividly. It was a pivotal moment for me, because it was at that moment that I said, I need to go learn, because I will never have this conversation again. Ever.

And I think that’s what forced me to seek out apprenticeships and to find people that I knew I trusted to guide me. And there have been a lot of people along the way who have said, you can’t do it, or, you don’t know what you’re talking about. And I think as a coach that hasn’t proven themselves, I’ll be up against that for the next ten years, and I’ve been up against it for the last ten years, but if it’s your passion, which it has become for me, you just keep your head up, and you keep showing up every day, and you’re consistent with what you do, and you find people that know a little bit better, and you just learn. And I have to say, I’m probably the biggest nerd there is, because I spent five years at Lake Arrowhead with a video camera and notes, sitting on the side of those elite sessions, watching those elite coaches teaching, and taking notes, and then going with my video camera and filming the tracings on the ice and figuring it out. I’ve probably spent $100,000 figuring out how to be a better coach. To me, that’s my master’s degree, and I think that’s what Jason has done for me, to force me to be the best coach I can be, and I thank him for that. Because if I didn’t have a talent like that, that I had to stay one step ahead of — that was the bulk of my letter. Congratulations on getting here, I’m so proud of you, thank you for letting me be on this journey with you, and it’s amazing that you have pushed me to this level.

I can only imagine how thrilling it is for her that she has now coached her first skater to a Grand Prix medal. And I hope there are many more to come...

karne · Nov 18, 2013

I think that the longevity of their partnership is a marvel. It's very rare for a skater to have the same coach for so long. Thirteen years they've been together now. The only comparison I can think of is Plushenko and Mishin who have been together for twenty years - but Plushenko was 11 years old and already landing triples when he came to Mishin. There is every chance that Jason and Kori can best that figure - Jason would be twenty-five on their twenty-year anniversary, and if he keeps on the way he is, with no injuries, there's every chance he could go longer than that.

Here is a telling quote from Jason:

She is the first coach I ever had and will be the last coach I ever had. She is like my second mom. She stands by me and stands by my decisions. She knows me better than I really know myself. I think I got really lucky to have her. For me, it is such an advantage because when I compete I feel so comfortable with her. I feel every step of the way I’m doing it with her and she understands, she understands what I’m going through. She has been there through it all. She knows my good days, she knows my bad days, she has been at my worst events and she has been at my best events,” said Brown.

From here.

Mrs. P · Nov 19, 2013

karne said:
I think that the longevity of their partnership is a marvel. It's very rare for a skater to have the same coach for so long. Thirteen years they've been together now. The only comparison I can think of is Plushenko and Mishin who have been together for twenty years - but Plushenko was 11 years old and already landing triples when he came to Mishin. There is every chance that Jason and Kori can best that figure - Jason would be twenty-five on their twenty-year anniversary, and if he keeps on the way he is, with no injuries, there's every chance he could go longer than that.

The other one that comes to mind is Brian Boitano and Linda Leaver. I believe she was Brian's only coach.

I totally relate to Kori's "being a total nerd" approach to her learning because that's how I am too. I was decent in school, but I thrived when I was thrown into the environment and forced to learn for the sake of doing well in that given environment. There are probably only a few things from my university studies that helped my career, but my internships was what paid dividends in spades.

So I appreciate how Jason was a real-life learning lab for her. She's a smart cookie though -- it's not easy to harness that kind of talent and translate it into competitive success. How many times have we heard of people with raw talent and spark who weren't able to thrive in a competition setting?

Of course Jason is at the beginning of his senior international career, so there's still a lot of work to be done. But as I said in the original thread, I really appreciate Kori's longtail approach to coaching.

With this greater reward given to the quad, I don't blame a lot of skaters for trying it because even a failed 4S or 4T is worth a lot of points. However, even from when he was a novice, Jason has always been able to stay relevant despite not having a given jump because he was able to shine in other parts of his skating and as others pointed out, when you have people with sloppy programs with a quad, Jason's relatively clean programs sans quad but with great choreography, spins and steps really stands out.

Mrs. P · Jan 16, 2014

Thought it would be fun to bump this thread up...since he's going to the OLYMPICS and all...

Also, worth noting these prophetic posts.

CanadianSkaterGuy said:
Part of the Olympics is putting on a show for the world. Not everyone watches figure skating save for the Olympics when it's a marquee event. For that reason, I think Brown should go to the Olympics.

The lack of quad certainly means he won't be competitive, but he will bring wonderful energy to the event, and you can bet that people will be incredibly receptive to his programs. There are a lot more technically superior skaters who will place higher but won't be even half as interesting to watch.

"Incredibly receptive" is probably an understatement at this point. :biggrin:

KKonas said:
The way the American men are skating these days, Brown is at least pretty consistent as well as great fun to watch, and could very well make the Olympic Team. If not, 4C's could certainly be in his future.

And he did!

Jason Brown's Future Prospects 2.0

Icey

RobinA

Skater Boy

Skater Boy

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

KKonas

CanadianSkaterGuy

noskates

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

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