The Legacy of Michelle Kwan | Page 2 | Golden Skate

The Legacy of Michelle Kwan

I think Sasha is just interested in skating in the Olys. She got a lot of publicity and glitzy invitations the last time out. I don't blame her for wanting that again.

I really doubt Kwan will skate Nats but I think if they honor her in Spokane, she will do a farewell program.
 
Joesitz said:
I think Sasha is just interested in skating in the Olys. She got a lot of publicity and glitzy invitations the last time out. I don't blame her for wanting that again.
Click to expand...

Can't disagree there. However, for someone who supposedly craves the spotlight that much, she seems surprisingly shy.

One has to be VERY careful when seeking fame, though. Most of the folks only see the glitz, glamor and extravagant lifestyle, not the lack of privacy, scrutiny, looney fans, and folks just waiting to exploit you. Breakout reality "stars" usually find this out the hard way.

I really doubt Kwan will skate Nats but I think if they honor her in Spokane, she will do a farewell program.
Click to expand...

I think that would be a nice touch. The fans would dig that one, and there could be some closure to her career. I wouldn't mind seeing that happen.
 
Last edited:
Joesitz said:
I think Sasha is just interested in skating in the Olys. She got a lot of publicity and glitzy invitations the last time out. I don't blame her for wanting that again.

I really doubt Kwan will skate Nats but I think if they honor her in Spokane, she will do a farewell program.
Click to expand...

I agree on both points. Sasha's so called "acting career" has been a dud and I can see her - even with acting talent - as not being the easiest girl to cast.
A ticket back to the Olympics is the best thing she can hope for on several different levels. I like Sasha so i don't mean this in a bad way - just the situation for her as I see it.

With Michelle - if she did a "farewell performance" at Naionals I would love to be there to stand and cheer for her.......for several minutes, and then again when she finished skating. :love: :love: :love:
I will never forget the first time I saw Michelle skate Live - she was so young, but was already dropping many triples - and skating with that special joy she brought to the ice. I guess she was 13 or 14 when I saw her in Philly.
 
janetfan said:
Thanks for your answer. It feels like GPF is awarding points just to get skaters to show up.

Is this sport - or a beauty pageant? :p
Click to expand...

I think the ISU is trying its best to make skating into something more than just a once-every-four-years phenomenon. True, you don't become "immortal" by winning the Grand Prix Final. But you don't become immortal by winning the Olympic gold medal, either -- you just get your name in the almanac, along with who won the 100 meter hurdles in 2000 (Olga Shishigina).

I think the athletes by and large like to compete. I think they like to square off against each other and they like to win. I don't think they look at events like the Cup of China or the Nebelhorn trophy as beauty contests (?)

As for how Sasha decides to handle her training schedule this season, it's hard to know what advice to offer her (not that she asked me ;) ). Maybe she feels it best to skate as many competitions as possible before Nationals. Maybe she will figure it is better to stay home in December and rest and practice.

I fully expect that Asada, Kim, Rochette, Ando and other strong Olympic hopefuls will do their best to win their Grand Prix events and to clobber the competition n the finals, rather than to lay back (like Casey at the bat) and say, "I'll just blow off the early season and save myself for Vancouver."

JMO.
 
Mathman said:
I think the ISU is trying its best to make skating into something more than just a once-every-four-years phenomenon. True, you don't become "immortal" by winning the Grand Prix Final. But you don't become immortal by winning the Olympic gold medal, either -- you just get your name in the almanac, along with who won the 100 meter hurdles in 2000 (Olga Shishigina).

I think the athletes by and large like to compete. I think they like to square off against each other and they like to win. I don't think they look at events like the Cup of China or the Nebelhorn trophy as beauty contests
Click to expand...

Actually, I would tend to disagree with you about the importance and value for an American skater who wins an OGM in figure skating. I see no comparison to Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Flemimg, Scott Hamilton and the athletes who won the OGM in 110 meters high hurdle, or other sports that are not as important in USA. Other than Tara (who seems to have disappeared,) most of our OGM winning figure skaters have enjoyed a good life in the skating world with substancial and lasting fame. Others, like Dr. Tenley Albright or Sarah Hughes chose a more academic path after their comp careers were over and attended prestigious universities and still remain recognized for their accomplishment. I think you are right to say they are not "immortal" but to down play what winning the OGM meant to most of our skaters would not be factually very realisitc.
That is jmo.

I think the GP series is nice and good in many ways. I really can see no reason or significance to the GPF though and actually thinks it makes the other GP's very diminished in importance.
If a tennis player wins the US Open that is big! There is no "final" to go to because being champion of USA is a big deal. Being champion of France in tennis is a big deal. Being the winner of SA or TEB means almost nothing because the ISU says so. They say that you and the runners up have really not proven much and to be a GP champion you need to go to yet another event.
You can win a county beauty pageant but then you are told you have to enter and compete at the state level to become "Miss Michigan." But if you win that you are not much because you have to go to Miss America next. The GP's feel very similar to me.
I think they do it all wrong and that is why almost 99% of all Americans do not care about Skate America. It feels as meaningless to me as a "beauty pageant."
You may disagree with my silly analogies here - but unfortunately I am correct about what a meaningless event Skate America is in our country. It barely if ever makes the newspaper in most cities and I wonder if it has a future without major changes. In comparison to a GP medal, an OGM is close to immortality.
 
Last edited:
janetfan said:
I think the GP series is nice and good in many ways. I really can see no reason or significance to the GPF though and actually thinks it makes the other GP's very diminished in importance.
Click to expand...

That is an excellent point. It is certainly true that the whole idea of the Grand Prix "series" and final was motivated by the ISU wanting to grab up control of all semi-independant figure skating events.

Back to the Jennifer Kirk article, here is my favorite part.

Jennifer Kirk said:
Following [2005] Worlds, [Michelle] joined the cast of Champions On Ice, and we toured across the country performing almost every night for a couple of months. After such a taxing season, and in the midst of all the travel, lack of training time and sleep as a result of the tour, most of us skaters were happy to perform a show number with one or two triples each evening. But not Kwan. Perhaps angered by her [relatively disappointing] performance at Worlds and fueled by the desire to amend that skate at an upcoming made-for-TV competition two weeks into the tour, Kwan went out every performance and skated her competitive long program under spotlights, without more than 20 minutes of practice each day, with no five minute warm-up, in full competition mode….

And the kicker? I never saw her miss a jump. In the time between Worlds and the Marshalls challenge, I never saw Michelle Kwan miss a triple jump–and she was performing six triples in her program per show. Now that is a champion and a competitor.
Click to expand...

:rock: BTW, Michelle won that Marshall’s event, Sasha was second and Jennifer Kirk third. Michelle got straight 5.9’s on the second mark. This famous lunge, captured by photographer Michelle Woydila, is from that competition.

http://www.usfigureskating.org/content/events/200405/marshallsus/action/kwan1.jpg

Lysacek won for the men, with Weir second and Goebel third.

knee_bolero_lunar.gif
:)
 
Red Dog said:
I think that would be a nice touch. The fans would dig that one, and there could be some closure to her career. I wouldn't mind seeing that happen.
Click to expand...
:laugh: Of course you woulldn't. You would even encourage it. Here's a chance to rid ourselves of Kwan. Let's do it quickly. No?
 
janetfan said:
Actually, I would tend to disagree with you about the importance and value for an American skater who wins an OGM in figure skating. I see no comparison to Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Flemimg, Scott Hamilton and the athletes who won the OGM in 110 meters high hurdle, or other sports that are not as important in USA....
Click to expand...

Well, I can't argue with the success of our famous gold medalists. :clap: Still, considering the Olympics strictly as a sporting event, I have to confess that I am not as impressed as I ought to be.

As a public spectacle, on the other hand, oh, yes!

Lets' say you are a javelin thrower. You go to the World Javelin Throwing Contest. You throw your javelin 100 meters. This is farther than anyone else and you win the World Championship in your sport.

Next year you go to the Olympic Games. You throw your javelin 100 meters. This is farther than anyone else and you win the gold medal.

The athletic achievement is the same, so what's the difference? The difference is, more people were watching the second time. Public spectacle.

That is why I admire Scott Hamilton more for winning the world championship of his sport four times than for winning a gold medal at the Olympics (especially since Brian Orser outskated him at Sarejevo. ;) )

(Of course if Michelle Kwan :love: comes back and wins in Vancouver I may change my tune. :laugh: )
 
Mathman said:
Next year you go to the Olympic Games. You throw your javelin 100 meters. This is farther than anyone else and you win the gold medal.

The athletic achievement is the same, so what's the difference? The difference is, more people were watching the second time. Public spectacle.

That is why I admire Scott Hamilton more for winning the world championship of his sport four times than for winning a gold medal at the Olympics (especially since Brian Orser outskated him at Sarejevo. ;) )
Click to expand...


I agree with you about Scott's achievements but the vast majority who only saw him at the Olympics might not. Like you, I share a similar opinion - but I think we would be in a minority about this.
BTW, I think the sport of javelin throwing is highly over rated.
The ancient Greeks used to also play the now defunct sport of "javelin catching."
Unfortunately this once noble sport has died out do to the high insurance rates ;)
 
The ancient Greeks used to also play the now defunct sport of "javelin catching."
Unfortunately this once noble sport has died out do to the high insurance rates
Click to expand...

lol!:laugh::laugh::laugh: cool idea, i will apply it in plushthread

by the way, overrated?have you any idea what it needs to throw it just one meter from your feet?:yes:
I love classic athletics!
 
seniorita said:
..by the way, overrated?have you any idea what it needs to throw it just one meter from your feet?:yes:

I love classic athletics!
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, Achilles could throw his spear 400 meters, and with such force that it shattered the shields of his opponents and went all the way through their bodies.

Not only that, but then the goddess Athena would magically return the spear to his hand. :rock:
 
Mathman said:
If I remember correctly, Achilles could throw his spear 400 meters, and with such force that it shattered the shields of his opponents and went all the way through their bodies.
Click to expand...
In school they told us that this was hollywood-effects:eek:
is there actually anything you dont know mr mm?:p
 
Joesitz said:
c'mon RD, you even admitted that you were an 'anyone but Kwan' fan, unless you've changed your mind. :)
Click to expand...

:rofl: oh come on Joe, that was SIX YEARS ago! She had been on a winning streak and I simply wanted someone else to win, that's all. I tend to cheer for the underdog (usually, not always) and Kwan wasn't one at the time.

I obviously wasn't on the forums during SLC, when I really wanted MK to win that one. (Yes, I did, shocking as it might be. :cool: ) Of course, at that time I hadn't watched skating since Tara won in 1998. :p
 
I'd love to see Michelle have one more try on that Gold Medal!

She has a surgically repaired hip that is optimally functioning, she is really training and is starting to land all those triple jumps and those amazing spins/spirals!

I want to see her in the Oly's as well

She's taking it one at a time and is feeling how is her body adjusting to everything, she's uncertain now, she is surely training for those ice shows for the professional circuit, but who knows , if she feels she is competent enough, we may witness the brilliance of MK in full effect once more!
 
The legacy of :bow::bow:Michelle Kwan :bow::bow:is simply one of awesomeness... This is simply one extraordinary young woman...

If you don't believe me, check out my all-time favorite, jump and cheer moments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptj_tO7tIXg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWQSoIEAxns


The one that made me a diehard fan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKmUW8wPB0s

The one that made me obnoxious:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F8981E15D7F35EA7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&v=oRyaaU9LuZc

The one that made me call into work citing "sickness":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_BFYZPuqEA

The one that broke my heart - but in a good way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF4e1mtzr_Y

And of course - my all time, gut wrentching, favorite... skated to my favorite song of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4MbfKSX10I

She's simply the best & regardless of what she chooses to do in the future, I will ALWAYS be a chicken-eating, junior mint popping, obnoxious uber... I. would. even. consider. voting. republican. if. she. EVER. ran. for. office. - thus risking my moveon.org membership... :laugh::laugh:
 
Oh no you did it again! I have no choice but click on every link for the rest of the day. I practice monthly Kwan day.:p
 
christinaskater said:
She has a surgically repaired hip that is optimally functioning, she is really training and is starting to land all those triple jumps and those amazing spins/spirals!
Click to expand...

I assume this is speculation/hope on your part, not based on a real sighting.
 
Kwanford Wife said:
She's simply the best & regardless of what she chooses to do in the future, I will ALWAYS be a chicken-eating, junior mint popping, obnoxious uber... I. would. even. consider. voting. republican. if. she. EVER. ran. for. office. - thus risking my moveon.org membership... :laugh::laugh:
Click to expand...

:rofl:

Hey, if Arnold could do it, why not Michelle? :yes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

4everchan
Your top 5 from Canadian Nationals
Replies
9
Views
888
RatedPG
R
A
Figure skating and the philosophy of sport
2
Replies
33
Views
4K
Anna K.
A
el henry
How much interest can Alysa Liu revive in figure skating in the US?
27 28 29
Replies
570
Views
54K
SmileHappy34
S
N
Thinking of starting figure skating
Replies
5
Views
1K
Query
Q
dorispulaski
2026 World Figure Skating Championships | Exhibition
5 6 7
Replies
128
Views
9K
Johar
J
Back
Top