Sasha Cohen - Premature Crowning?

SkateFan4Life · Dec 13, 2004

With all due respect to Sasha Cohen, I really wonder why the media gives her so much attention and why she is featured first and foremost on the USFSA website as the "star American skater". True, this lady has a great deal of talent, but it's talent that has not yet been tuned to greatness, IMHO.

Cohen has won a number of GP competitions with watered-down rosters of competitors, and she has blown several chances to win both the US and World titles, as well as an Olympic medal. The US and World titles were hers for the taking last year, yet she made several mistakes in both of her long programs and was relegated to second place (again).

I am quite dismayed to see so much press coverage on this girl. It's as if the media has already decided who is going to win the 2006 Olympic gold medal.
IMHO, they are really getting ahead of themselves. Sasha has yet to prove herself to be a champion. She's still a wannabee, IMHO.

R.D. · Dec 13, 2004

SkateFan4Life said:
With all due respect to Sasha Cohen, I really wonder why the media gives her so much attention and why she is featured first and foremost on the USFSA website as the "star American skater". True, this lady has a great deal of talent, but it's talent that has not yet been tuned to greatness, IMHO.

Cohen has won a number of GP competitions with watered-down rosters of competitors, and she has blown several chances to win both the US and World titles, as well as an Olympic medal. The US and World titles were hers for the taking last year, yet she made several mistakes in both of her long programs and was relegated to second place (again).

I am quite dismayed to see so much press coverage on this girl. It's as if the media has already decided who is going to win the 2006 Olympic gold medal.
IMHO, they are really getting ahead of themselves. Sasha has yet to prove herself to be a champion. She's still a wannabee, IMHO.

It's all about the expectations..."Oh, wow, she's great! I expect her to be great ALL the time!"

VIETgrlTerifa · Dec 13, 2004

Red Dog said:
It's all about the expectations..."Oh, wow, she's great! I expect her to be great ALL the time!"

How about some of the time?

J/K

StillBlueLake · Dec 13, 2004

Yeah, Sasha is pretty much NEVER clean, yet people are always talking about her like she's the next gigantic star. She IS a star, but she's almost never clean.

I think Sasha and her team do play up to the media quite a bit. Her website and endorsements are very marketing heavy. That's fine, but it sets her up for more pressure when she doesn't produce......once again.

sk8m8 · Dec 13, 2004

In the insecure and unsure world of skating, I think they call this "making hay while the sun is shining"

Vash01 · Dec 14, 2004

Sasha has been viewed as a championship caliber talent ever since she appeared on the national scene in 2000. Instead of suddenly reaching the top, she has made gradual progress toward it. She is the reigning world silver medallist- no small achievement. At the 2002 Olympics, after SP she was in a position to win the Olympic gold without ever competing in worlds. She only narrowly missed winning an Olympic medal. She definitely has the talent to be at the top. I see nothing wrong in others viewing her as a top skater.

Vash

Mathman · Dec 14, 2004

I think the reason everyone has such high expectations of Sasha is because it is easy to imagine the kind of performance she is capable of. Put together the best of what we have seen of her, take away the mistakes, and she is awesome.

Mathman

Doggygirl · Dec 14, 2004

The business angle....

Media coverage is all about viewership and money. The media needs to promote stars, future stars, suspected stars, etc. to create public interest in watching these events. If no skaters ever agreed to by "hyped" I suspect the limited coverage we get today would decrease.

So selfishly speaking, if media hype helps promote the TV coverage of the sport by generating more public interest, then I'm all for it regardless of who the hype is about.

DG

ChiSk8Fan · Dec 14, 2004

Sasha being marketable

I am finishing the book, "Cracked Ice", and it is under this influence that I have been interpreting the news and looking at the actions of the ISU, the Member federations, the TV stations, the magazines and the skaters. Instead of seeing figure skating as amateur sport, this book shows figure skating to be professional sport and a career. The motivations for everything seem to be in getting ahead in the business. Deals, performance, assessments, pay days, endorcements, conferences, meetings, networking etc. etc. etc.

Sasha is marketable, and she and her team know it and take advantage of it no matter how she skates. Her mistakes in the jumps at big competitions do not matter to her fans. When she does live up to a great skate or two, her popularity and marketablity will rise again. Her team's work with the media and websites and marketing tools is what is going on, not simply hype. Sasha and her team are making a living by creating a business centered in her skating and marketability.

It's not personal, it's business. I don't understand any "dismay" over her situation and career moves.

Now, how she has performed is the subject of an entirely different matter which would take us off topic. She is lovely. She is flexible. She has amazing extension in her spirals and beautiful spins. She flutzes. She front loads her numbers. She uses stale music. She is charismatic and full of personality. She falls. She has failed to better her jump technique or learn to compete combinations and clean programs. She has trouble being coached for long periods of time by one team or person.

In terms of performance, I see many similarities to her and Nicole Bobek. But this seems off topic.

Joesitz (RIP) · Dec 14, 2004

Hey Chisk8fan - Your take on the whole scope of amateur (very loose adjective) figure skating is a hoot. It's not amateur. It's professional and has been for years - and I think maybe since Sonia Henie became the richest woman in the world with it.
I agree!!

As for Sasha - She came on strong in that Cleveland Nats. I along with so many others thought that she was going to be the next teenage Oly champ a la Lipinski. It didn't happen, but Vash is correct, and I agree. She is doing it slowly.

There seems to be a problem with consistency so it's difficult to predict when she will be "on". Having seen her QR in Dortmund I feel it easy to say that when Sasha is "on", she's a winner.

Joe

chuckm · Dec 14, 2004

Sasha herself supplies a lot of fuel to the "Sasha's the best" fire. Remember the picture on her website last year before Worlds? It showed Sasha standing beside a globe of the World and seemed to be a statement that she was about to win her first World Championship.

Every word she puts in her journal sets off a wave of postings. Sasha knows how to play the publicity game, and she plays it well, even if it backfires on her every now and then.

peachstatesk8er · Dec 14, 2004

SkateFan4Life said:
With all due respect to Sasha Cohen, I really wonder why the media gives her so much attention and why she is featured first and foremost on the USFSA website as the "star American skater". True, this lady has a great deal of talent, but it's talent that has not yet been tuned to greatness, IMHO.

I think Sasha has, in the past, gotten a lot of attention on the USFS site because she was attending more comps than any other US Ladies medalist. I haven't noticed a great deal of it this season, unless you count the Marshall's Skate With Sasha thingy.

Cohen has won a number of GP competitions with watered-down rosters of competitors, and she has blown several chances to win both the US and World titles, as well as an Olympic medal. The US and World titles were hers for the taking last year, yet she made several mistakes in both of her long programs and was relegated to second place (again).

I think people that are pessimists look at it that way, and those who are optimistic, positive people look at it like, wow, 4th in SLC (when few thought she'd come back from her injury), 4th at 2 Worlds (nothing to sneeze at), 3 Silvers at Nats, moved up not just one, but two spots at Worlds last year, etc., etc. As for the GP, well, when's the last time a skater who won did so against a non-watered down field?

I am quite dismayed to see so much press coverage on this girl. It's as if the media has already decided who is going to win the 2006 Olympic gold medal.
IMHO, they are really getting ahead of themselves. Sasha has yet to prove herself to be a champion. She's still a wannabee, IMHO.

No, what she is, is one of the best skaters in the world.

peachstatesk8er · Dec 14, 2004

chuckm said:
Remember the picture on her website last year before Worlds? It showed Sasha standing beside a globe of the World and seemed to be a statement that she was about to win her first World Championship.

Or maybe it was just a picture of her next to a globe because she made the world team.

I know people like to assume she's a narcissistic, spoiled brat of an egomaniac, but I don't see it. To each their own.

Piel · Dec 14, 2004

SkateFan4Life said:
With all due respect to Sasha Cohen, I really wonder why the media gives her so much attention and why she is featured first and foremost on the USFSA website as the "star American skater". True, this lady has a great deal of talent, but it's talent that has not yet been tuned to greatness, IMHO.

Cohen has won a number of GP competitions with watered-down rosters of competitors, and she has blown several chances to win both the US and World titles, as well as an Olympic medal. The US and World titles were hers for the taking last year, yet she made several mistakes in both of her long programs and was relegated to second place (again).

I am quite dismayed to see so much press coverage on this girl. It's as if the media has already decided who is going to win the 2006 Olympic gold medal.
IMHO, they are really getting ahead of themselves. Sasha has yet to prove herself to be a champion. She's still a wannabee, IMHO.

Depending on the competition she has been the number one or two U.S. lady skater since SLC and several times the number one or two lady in the world.. IMO anyone who consistently finishes in the top ten in their country is a pretty talented skater so why would anyone be dismayed that skaters of that caliber are being promoted? As fans of the sport I think that we should be delighted that the sport is receiving press for something other than a judging controversy. If promotion guaranteed a title Kwan would have two OGMs by now, LOL.. Considering that there are only a few titles to be won each season should only those lucky few that win be worthy of press?

gezando · Dec 14, 2004

peachstatesk8er said:
All that matters is she's one of the best to the judges. Thankfully, fans don't count.

,

Ha

a very usable quote

Linny · Dec 14, 2004

Drive me Nuts

There are skaters who elate me... there are skaters who make me cry for the beauty of them. Sasha is a skater who keeps me on edge. I always watch her with my fingers crossed.

Linny

peachstatesk8er · Dec 14, 2004

gezando said:
Possibly, she is one of the best to some, and serves as " bathroom breaks" to others.

It's true she may be a bathroom break for some people, but that doesn't take away from the fact that she's one of the best in the world. #2 at the moment.

All that matters is she's one of the best to the judges. Thankfully, fans don't count.

Mathman · Dec 14, 2004

Thanks, Doggygirl and ChiSk8Fan, for the interesting take from the business angle. Judging especially from Sasha's web site, I think her team is primarily marketing her to the younger fans. Michelle, in contrast, is usually marketed in a "family values" package. Pile the kids into the Chevy and take 'em to Disneyland.

I think that Sasha needs that one major championship, whether it be U.S. Nationals or Worlds or the Olympics, really to cement her commercial position, and hold it against the newest generation of "I'm next" skaters.

Mathman

SkateFan4Life · Dec 14, 2004

I will definitely have my fingers crossed when Sasha competes at Nationals next month. Assuming that she's healthy and injury-free, I expect that she will win one of the medals. But will she win the gold medal? Probably not. IMHO, Michelle Kwan will continue to reign as US champion as long as she remains eligible. She knows how to rise to the occasion, and she does so brilliantly.
Sasha consistently disappoints me with her sloppy long programs. My sincere apologies to all of her fans, but IMHO, Sasha reminds me more and more of Nicole Bobek, another superbly talented young skater with loads of potential who just never reached the top, due to injuries and error-laden programs.

R.D. · Dec 14, 2004

Mathman said:
I think the reason everyone has such high expectations of Sasha is because it is easy to imagine the kind of performance she is capable of. Put together the best of what we have seen of her, take away the mistakes, and she is awesome.

Mathman

This is right on...I think this gets to the heart of the media hype, the expectations, and the crucifying if she doesn't do so well...wait, let me re-phrase that- if she's not PERFECT. The frustration from fans just comes from fantasizing. That's it. SC has not hit that so-called "magical performance" that everyone seems to be waiting for. If you expect that from her EVERY time, or even any time, expect to be VERY disappointed. Personally, I'm in no hurry. I may not be her fan, but I really wonder how she feels when she "can't get it together" and is constantly reminded (by the media)- does it lower her self-esteem?

Now, that being said, she's not having that great a season right now (she seems to be having a plethora of problems) so I don't expect her to come out swinging at this year's nationals or worlds. I think a 2nd place finish at Nats (even if she deserves 3rd or 4th, I still see her getting 2nd :sheesh

and a 3rd or 4th place finish at worlds would be a good recovery for her. Now, this doesn't constitute being PERFECT, it just is around what she would place skating as she is right now.

To some people at least one skater constitutes their "bathroom break". The Mens, Pairs and Dance competitions constitute my dinner break.

Oh yeah, I guess some ladies skaters, too...depends on the competition.

Sasha Cohen - Premature Crowning?

SkateFan4Life

Guest

R.D.

VIETgrlTerifa

StillBlueLake

sk8m8

Vash01

Mathman

Doggygirl

ChiSk8Fan

Joesitz (RIP)

chuckm

peachstatesk8er

peachstatesk8er

Piel

On Edge

gezando

Linny

peachstatesk8er

Mathman

SkateFan4Life

Guest

R.D.

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