Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran pair up. | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran pair up.

fleeting

Queen Anissina
Medalist
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
I am not too thrilled that skating means shopping for a partner and a nation. Representing a country should be an honor like buying a new pair of socks that you throw out if you don't like the color. But that's just me. I am a bit surprised Canada is so nice since they lost their no. 2 and 3 teams and their top team is rather aged.

Marissa and Mervin would have a much easier time representing Canada. But Marissa wants to skate for the United States, even if it means it's harder to break into the top standings... Mervin's represented both Japan and Canada, and Marissa's only represented the US. It makes sense that she cares more about representing her home country than Mervin does - Marissa won a bronze medal with the US team at the Olympics. Being on the US team probably means a lot to her.

And who knows? Skate Canada could put it into limbo at the last minute. You just never know with federations.
 

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
.. Mervin's represented both Japan and Canada, and Marissa's only represented the US. It makes sense that she cares more about representing her home country than Mervin does - Marissa won a bronze medal with the US team at the Olympics. Being on the US team probably means a lot to her.

I am sick and tired of the holier-than-thou pronouncements that Castelli "cares more" about representing her home country. (And I am American.) Your post makes NO sense, IMHO.

After Tran's partnership with Takahashi ended through no fault of his own, I feel sure that he very much looked forward to the bright side of a new partnership -- meaning the opportunity to skate for his home country of Canada. His pride is palpable in this photo from Aug 2013.

I like Castelli, but I hope that she realizes how lucky she is that Tran is willing to skate for the U.S.
Skating for Canada would have meant a lot to Tran.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
I am sick and tired of the holier-than-thou pronouncements that Castelli "cares more" about representing her home country. (And I am American.) Your post makes NO sense, IMHO.

After Tran's partnership with Takahashi ended through no fault of his own, I feel sure that he very much looked forward to the bright side of a new partnership -- meaning the opportunity to skate for his home country of Canada. His pride is palpable in this photo from Aug 2013.

I like Castelli, but I hope that she realizes how lucky she is that Tran is willing to skate for the U.S.
Skating for Canada would have meant a lot to Tran.

I don't think either one is more patriotic or cares more. Obviously for any skater, representing their home country is going to be a special thing.

Castelli's comments seem to indicate that not representing the US would be a deal breaker. Thats her prerogative just like it was her choice not to continue with Simon and not to skate with LeDuc if that rumor is true. Tran obviously had the opportunity to decline to pair up with her on the condition that he would have to skate for the US and he made the choice that skating with Castelli was worth the trade off of not representing his home country. I don't think there's anything wrong with her insisting on the US and I don't think there's anything wrong with Tran deciding skating with her trumped repping Canada. They both made choices they felt were right for them.
 

slider11

Medalist
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
It seems to me that Marissa and Mervin strategized and decided it would be easier to take a top spot with the US over Canada with Duhamel and Radford and maybe Moore-Towers and Marinaro having a hold on the top spots in Canada. Seems like things are up for grabs in the US with pairs. But maybe in a year one or more teams in the US will rise to the top. I'm a Zhang/Bartholemey fan myself.
 

fleeting

Queen Anissina
Medalist
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
I am sick and tired of the holier-than-thou pronouncements that Castelli "cares more" about representing her home country. (And I am American.) Your post makes NO sense, IMHO.

After Tran's partnership with Takahashi ended through no fault of his own, I feel sure that he very much looked forward to the bright side of a new partnership -- meaning the opportunity to skate for his home country of Canada. His pride is palpable in this photo from Aug 2013.

I like Castelli, but I hope that she realizes how lucky she is that Tran is willing to skate for the U.S.
Skating for Canada would have meant a lot to Tran.

I definitely agree with you! I didn't mean to come across that way... It's just that Marissa has, in her words, made it clear that she only would consider skating for the US. Even when Canada has a pretty weak field with the breakup of MT/M and L/S and considering the ages of D/R.

I also absolutely agree with you in term's of Mervin's skills - Tran is amazingly gifted and had he continued with Takahashi, they would have been spectacular (even though the JSF is to blame for that). Skating for his country would have meant a lot to him, and I'm sorry if it seemed like I dismissed that idea, because I know it would have.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Thank you for the news, Golden411! I hope Skate Canada keeps their word.

I'm Canadian and have no problem if Tran's decision. If I were an elite athlete, I would try my best to reach the highest levels of the sport, even if that means representing another country.
 

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I definitely agree with you! I didn't mean to come across that way... It's just that Marissa has, in her words, made it clear that she only would consider skating for the US. Even when Canada has a pretty weak field with the breakup of MT/M and L/S and considering the ages of D/R.

I also absolutely agree with you in term's of Mervin's skills - Tran is amazingly gifted and had he continued with Takahashi, they would have been spectacular (even though the JSF is to blame for that). Skating for his country would have meant a lot to him, and I'm sorry if it seemed like I dismissed that idea, because I know it would have.

Thanks for your reply. Glad to know that you did not intend to sound dismissive of the importance of Canada to Tran.

I do remain unhappy that other posts regarding the Castelli/Tran partnership have placed her upon a pedestal for what seemed to be a my-way-or-the-highway approach to skating for her country. If Tran had been equally rigid, the partnership would not have been viable ... and yet I don't recall any praise for his more flexible attitude.

Instead, some of the GS posts seemed to be quick to assume -- erroneously, IMO -- that skating for Japan in the past proves that Tran doesn't care whether he skates for Canada or not. I believe that the exact opposite is more likely to be true. I think it would have been a very high priority for him to find a Canadian partner with whom to make a fresh start post-Takahashi -- in order to have clear sailing (skating? ;)) toward representing his own country in international competition, including the Olympics. If I were Tran, I would have resolved to never let myself get entangled in citizenship issues again. And indeed his first new partner was Purich of Canada. I bet that Tran did quite a bit of soul-searching before agreeing to put aside his desire to skate for Canada in order to accommodate Castelli's desire to skate for the U.S.

The only quote from Castelli that I have read is from the IceNetwork article:
Castelli said she never considered representing Canada, telling icenetwork, "I'm American all the way."
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014...li-tran-teaming-up-despite-logistical-hurdles (Jun 10)​

I regret that the IN article did not quote Castelli more extensively. I really hope that she did not intend to sound so self-righteous (indirectly throwing Tran under the bus) and I really hope that she did make comments (for which the reporter did not have room in the article) acknowledging that lucky for her, Tran made a tough choice for the sake of their partnership.

Perhaps in future interviews, Castelli will have a chance to show respect for Tran's feelings for Canada and appreciation for his invaluable contribution to their partnership by skating for her country. As I said before, I like her, so my eyes and ears will be perked for what she has to say along those lines.
 

humbaba

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
I'm sure skaters' feelings about skating for another country cover a broad spectrum. Some might insist on representing their native country, no matter the consequences, while others are more pragmatic. Some skaters may have pragmatism forced upon them because there are no suitable partners for them in their own country.

I'm sure this was not an easy decision for either Tran or Castelli. I'm a fan of Marissa. Had things gone the other way and she had opted to skate for Canada, I would be sad. But I would much rather see her skate for another country than not get to skate at all.
 

Scatcat

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 20, 2013
I'm sure skaters' feelings about skating for another country cover a broad spectrum. Some might insist on representing their native country, no matter the consequences, while others are more pragmatic. Some skaters may have pragmatism forced upon them because there are no suitable partners for them in their own country.

I'm sure this was not an easy decision for either Tran or Castelli. I'm a fan of Marissa. Had things gone the other way and she had opted to skate for Canada, I would be sad. But I would much rather see her skate for another country than not get to skate at all.
:clap:
 

Sequinedream

Match Penalty
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
I'm sure skaters' feelings about skating for another country cover a broad spectrum. Some might insist on representing their native country, no matter the consequences, while others are more pragmatic. Some skaters may have pragmatism forced upon them because there are no suitable partners for them in their own country.

I'm sure this was not an easy decision for either Tran or Castelli. I'm a fan of Marissa. Had things gone the other way and she had opted to skate for Canada, I would be sad. But I would much rather see her skate for another country than not get to skate at all.


:agree:
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Thanks for your reply. Glad to know that you did not intend to sound dismissive of the importance of Canada to Tran.

I do remain unhappy that other posts regarding the Castelli/Tran partnership have placed her upon a pedestal for what seemed to be a my-way-or-the-highway approach to skating for her country. If Tran had been equally rigid, the partnership would not have been viable ... and yet I don't recall any praise for his more flexible attitude.

Instead, some of the GS posts seemed to be quick to assume -- erroneously, IMO -- that skating for Japan in the past proves that Tran doesn't care whether he skates for Canada or not. I believe that the exact opposite is more likely to be true. I think it would have been a very high priority for him to find a Canadian partner with whom to make a fresh start post-Takahashi -- in order to have clear sailing (skating? ;)) toward representing his own country in international competition, including the Olympics. If I were Tran, I would have resolved to never let myself get entangled in citizenship issues again. And indeed his first new partner was Purich of Canada. I bet that Tran did quite a bit of soul-searching before agreeing to put aside his desire to skate for Canada in order to accommodate Castelli's desire to skate for the U.S.

The only quote from Castelli that I have read is from the IceNetwork article:
Castelli said she never considered representing Canada, telling icenetwork, "I'm American all the way."
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014...li-tran-teaming-up-despite-logistical-hurdles (Jun 10)​

I regret that the IN article did not quote Castelli more extensively. I really hope that she did not intend to sound so self-righteous (indirectly throwing Tran under the bus) and I really hope that she did make comments (for which the reporter did not have room in the article) acknowledging that lucky for her, Tran made a tough choice for the sake of their partnership.

Perhaps in future interviews, Castelli will have a chance to show respect for Tran's feelings for Canada and appreciation for his invaluable contribution to their partnership by skating for her country. As I said before, I like her, so my eyes and ears will be perked for what she has to say along those lines.

I don't see why Castelli has to thank Tran publicly for skating for the US and I see no problem with her quote to IN. Pairs is essentially a business partnership. Tran must not have been satisfied with his business prospects in Canada after the failed pairing with Purich and the obvious lack of pair girls in Canada currently (see the current plight of Moskovitch). He tried out with the reigning US pairs champion whose terms of a partnership were that they skate for the US. He could have declined but decided the potential gains of skating with a strong partner outweighed the loss of not skating for his home country. I don't see it as some altruistic sacrifice on his part and I don't think she owes him or Canada anything as the choice was Tran's. I don't doubt it was a hard choice on his part but it's the one he made.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I don't see why Castelli has to thank Tran publicly for skating for the US and I see no problem with her quote to IN. Pairs is essentially a business partnership. Tran must not have been satisfied with his business prospects in Canada after the failed pairing with Purich and the obvious lack of pair girls in Canada currently (see the current plight of Moskovitch). He tried out with the reigning US pairs champion whose terms of a partnership were that they skate for the US. He could have declined but decided the potential gains of skating with a strong partner outweighed the loss of not skating for his home country. I don't see it as some altruistic sacrifice on his part and I don't think she owes him or Canada anything as the choice was Tran's. I don't doubt it was a hard choice on his part but it's the one he made.

Hi, flutzy. What I object to is the applause for Castelli from those who believe that she "cares more" than Tran about skating for one's own country.
My reply would be that Tran OTOH seems to "care more" about being a cooperative partner than Castelli does.

Again, the brief quote by IN does not necessarily indicate the full scope of Castelli's true mindset, but I do feel that in isolation, it gives an unfortunate impression of throwing Tran under the bus. To me, those few words sound as if Castelli is patting herself on the back for being "American all the way" and by unflattering implication, dismissing the importance of Canada to Tran. The quote sounds also as if she is gloating that they have agreed to skate for her country. I am a fellow American to Castelli, and the quote makes me cringe.
IMO, Tran deserves a partner who respects and appreciates the difficult choice that he did make. That is why I hope to read/hear more from Castelli. YMMV. (I will leave it there.)

ETA:
Yes, it is a business partnership -- a business partnership between two human beings (and between two old friends, according to the IN article).
If I were Castelli's new partner, looking ahead to many hours/days/weeks/months/years of working extremely closely with her, it would strengthen my commitment to the partnership if she treated me not only as a business partner, but also as a human being -- who has feelings -- and as a friend.
Tran had to make a tough decision, and I hope that Castelli will have the decency not to feel entitled to rub his nose in it -- especially in public. The IN quote (in the absence of any other published remarks) struck me as insensitive at the very least, but it is possible that future comments from Castelli will overcome my misgivings. I hope so. (Now I really, really will try to leave it there ;).)​
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I guess I am having trouble and it is just me that representing a nation clearly has nothing to do with national pride it is a business, it is about olympic and world glory. Sadly or forgotten there, usually, can only be three medallists. Not everyone can improve, not everyone can move up, not everyone can win a medal, someone is going to drop, lose not get medal. It is almost like a pro team - shopping around for that winning combination. I am sure the Reed's love skating and maybe even Japan but let's face it it is a bit of egotistic, narsicissic reasons skaters skate for certain countries. I know that's life Iguess it just feels kind of wrong.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Hm.. I like what I'm seeing so far. Marissa is better matched with Mervin, I think. Not fully there technically, but good start.
 
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