Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

I think Michelle should retire when Barry Bonds and Jerry Rice retire. When they are no longer putting out the goods. How come nobody says Barry Bonds should retire, so that all the younger kids can hit all the homeruns? What about Jerry Rice, should he step aside so the younger players can catch all the touchdowns? Please.

Reason for Michelle to retire:

When she is good and ready!!

Re: To retire or not to retire?

.........."it may be true that michelle is a big draw... but the lack of her presence wouldn't hurt the sport... those true to it would stick around as always... like they were there BEFORE michelle was.... ".......yeah right, wanna bet? 42

Re: To retire or not to retire?

There is no real reason for MK to retire - so why would she.

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

I thought Elena S. is only about 18 years old. Did I miss something? Besides Elena joked (to Rod Black of CTV) "she will be world champion when Michelle Kwan retires."


Ladskater

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

Elena is 23. This was her first worlds in 5 years.

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

She looks younger than 23. Judging by the program she skated in the Parade of Champions on Sunday, it looks like she may have the same choreographer Irina S. uses. I hope she gets some better choreography - that program was a bit "over the top" in the drama dept. I didn't care for it. I loved her program in the competition. I look forward to seeing her skate again.

Ladskater

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

Mathman - How long did Joe Louis last as a boxer? I believe it well past what his body could take. That's not an easy sport.

Joe

Re: To retire or not to retire?

engrstr,
"it may be true that michelle is a big draw... but the lack of her presence wouldn't hurt the sport... those true to it would stick around as always... like they were there BEFORE michelle was.... "

:rollin: :rollin: :rollin: I dont know if you were at Worlds or not, but if you were, you should have done the following:

A. Listened to conversations around you when you heard the words "Michelle Kwan" and then looked at the smiles that followed those faces, be it a six year old or a 59 year old.

B. Sat through ANY ladies practice. Whether it was sp or lp. She got the only standing ovations from any skater.

C. Attended the ladies SP. The audience went berserk and was chanting in unison "6!" "6!" It wasnt just a few, but the entire arena.

D. Taken a look around the arena. For every sign/poster/banner for a skater, MK had 6 times that. I should know, i hung some of them up. :rollin:

E. When you were in a DC cab, you should have asked the driver to name any skaters that he knew. I took a few cabs, only one cab driver could name more than 2 eligible skaters, but each named MK.

F. Watched the crowd during the lp. enough said. There wasnt any music during her footwork AT ALL.

G. Talked to some of the skaters that came to DC. Terry Gannon said that even her fellow competitors were in awe of her. Now after worlds we are finding out who they were: Fumie S., Joanne Rochette...

H. Asked many why they even bought the tickets in the first place. You would be surprised at how many only bought it for MK. Ladies LP was almost sold out, 16,116.

I. Found out how many Eva Cassidy fans who dont even like figure skating came just to see Mk's FOG at the MCI center.

J. Just look at her competitors and see the way they skate w/o Michelle around them and with Michelle around them. They know- if she is there they are going to have to skate on fire! MK brings the "competiton" to the competition. Its always more exciting when they have the chance to beat the legend.

Take a look around. Kwan is in a special contract with ABC and USFSA to attend pro-ams because they know her name means money and viewership. period. Example: Skate America 2002 broke all records for most attendance, and this was after the OLY year. When Kwan said she was to compete people loved the fact that she didnt retire and was going to continue.

The country (USA) relates to MK. They have seen her struggle and then pick herself up again, and then stumble, and then rise again. For many, they lost interest from the sport a long time ago but just watched for MK. It makes the USA proud to have someone like that representing them that they could relate to.

You seriously wound have to be in denial to say that MK doesnt draw crowds and that the crowds would stay if MK didnt. I wouldnt be surprised if the networks and the ISU put MK in a contract to stay eleigible till 2006 to keep viewership up!

"skating doesn't lose true fans as a result of their favorite skater leaving... " :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: Just wait till she does. Dont expect to watch all your competitions on ABC!! (but instead on espn once for Nationals and once for Worlds, either w/o the short programs.)

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

Joe: Joe Louis was born in 1914, became a professional fighter in 1934 (age 20) and became world champion in 1937 (age 23).

He fought until 1949 (age 35) with 4 years out to serve in the army (1942-46).

Despite having earned more than $5 million dollars in the ring (and that was back when $5 million dollars was some money :lol: ), he soon found himself broke and had to go back into the ring. In 1950 (age 36) he fought and lost to Ezzard Charles and in 1951 (age 37) he was badly beaten by Rocky Marciano. 36 and 37 was too old for that sport. (Somebody tell Evander Holyfield. :lol: )

Kwansong: *cheers and applause*

But I have to take you to task for one thing:

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>A. Listened to conversations around you when you heard the words "Michelle Kwan" and then looked at the smiles that followed those faces, be it a six year old or a 59 year old.[/quote]

So 59 is the oldest possible age a decrepit codger could possibly be? My 59th birthday was last week. You could have said 6 to 96, you know. Which, when I'm 96 I plan still to be around, cheering Michelle (just entering her prime at age 60) on to her 42nd national championship.

Mathman

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

mathman,
I just put in any age, im sorry if i offended anyone. Actually if it helps the little child that was talking about Michelle next to me was actually 3 and not 6. I should of said:
"from 2yrs to 107yrs."

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

Of course you didn't offend me, Kwansong. I was just goofing around. Trust me, no one named "Kwansong" could possibly say anything that I didn't like.

MM

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>skating doesn't lose true fans as a result of their favorite skater leaving...[/quote]
If their favorite skater is forced out against his or her will, the way you want a certain skater to be, it will.

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

This is actually my first time posting here- I just had to reply. First off, for those who say that Michelle should retire to give others a chance, I 'd like to point out something. As a competitive athlete, you always want to succeed against "the best of the best". I bet that Tara treasures that OGM even more because she beat a clean Michelle in '98. I also bet if you ask Sarah and Sasha, they are proud of the fact that they competed and won their respective competitions (Olympics and GPF) against the top skaters (for Sarah, it was Michelle and Irina, Sasha- Irina). There was no "stepping aside" in winning either of these competitions- they did it with good skating. Another thing, Michelle is an athlete and figure skating is a sport (contrary to what some may think). As long as she is putting out programs like this year's Worlds, she should compete. If you really believe that figure skating is a sport, her decision to stay eligible should be respected.

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

I totally agree, Hirshey Girl. And welcome to the Forum. I hope you like it here.

Mathman

Re: Reasons for Michelle Kwan to Retire

I would also like to add, that I watched very little skating this season. I only watched Skate America, Nationals & Worlds, because Michelle was skating. And trust me, I sat through lots of silly made-up competitions over the years (I've got all the video tapes to prove it!).

After the judging scandal at the Olympics, my husband and I were so disillusioned by what happened, we decided that we weren't going to watch skating this season. Well, I couldn't not watch Michelle, so I tuned in to only the events she skated in. Thats the power of Michelle. I love figure skating. But right now, if Michelle doesn't skate, I feel no connection to the skaters. I have no interest in any of the other skaters. So, when Michelle decides to step away from "amatuer" skating, so will I.

Behold the Power of Michelle

International Figure Skating magazine's sales double when Michelle is on the cover.

Go to a book store and count the covers of FS books with Michelle on them and then count the books with other skaters on them. Michelle is featured on more than any other skater. She also has a passel of bios written about her more than any other skater the last time I checked.

Othes have given good examples of Michelle's drawing power. While skating would not end when Michelle retires the viewership will drop on TV & tours. I love almost all skating but no one touches me like Michelle. If i miss an event on TV that doesn't have Michelle in it I am not nearly as upset as when Michelle is there! to me she epitomizes what great skating is. She might not be the best in the world at any one thing but she among the best at them all and the very best at putting it all together into a harmonious whole.

I know I am supposed to be thinking up silly reasons for her to retire but i am going to state one on why she should NOT until she actually wants too - because by having such a good skater competing she pushes others to work harder at all aspects of their skating so they can beat her. Michelle has worked harder to best others in the same way. Nicole Bobek had a glorious spiral so Michelle one-uped her with her change edge spiral. In 1994 MK had all the jumps , spins , etc. but not enough persentation to medal at worlds so she went home, worked her behind off and came back with 2 wonderful programs full of skills to merit high presentation marks and won over Chen Lu in one of the greatest ladies skating events ever! When LuLu finished I thought as much as I admired Michelle there was no way she could top that but she did!

Re: Behold the Power of Michelle

"Now as for figure skating, speaking as an outsider, I so often hear people questioning Michelle's decision to stay when no one suggests it's time Irina, Fumie, Elena quit."

This was posted on another thread that has been closed. I just want to mention that so many people have suggested Fumie should retire since she won the World bronze last year. They say she is past her prime (after NHK and GP Final this season), being held up by judges (after Nationals, Four Continents and Worlds this year), and taking away spots from younger skaters (all the time).

So if she wins she is held up, if she loses she is a wash-up. And she is "taking away opportunities from younger skaters" by placing high in Worlds and securing spots for Japanese ladies year after year... I mean, could it get any more ridiculous? If Ota, Nakano or Ando deserves a spot in Worlds next year, let them beat Fumie or Shizuka or Yoshie at Nationals. After all, they have three spots, thanks to a skater who "should have retired"...

Re: Behold the Power of Michelle

Reasons Michelle Should Retire........

Her programs (with the exception of her straight-line footwork)<span style="text-decoration:underline">all look the same to me</span> only the costumes and the music seem to change - do something new!!

As far as competition goes, I agree with the majority - may the best skater win (no matter what their age is!) If I were an athlete I'd want to know that I'd won against the best competition out there!


O.K......go ahead and blast me. I'm not a "troll" and I think Michelle has <strong>loads</strong> of talent and skill - sometimes I just like to see skaters branch out and try something really new (that includes Irina, who is my favorite.) But perhaps that's secret to Michelle's great success - she sticks to what has worked well for her in the past - why mess with success??

Re: Behold the Power of Michelle

"Why mess with success?" That was the question everyone was asking after MK left Frank...

If you think about it, almost every skater's programs look the same on the surface. Sasha's Carmen and Rach are both front loaded with in your face tricks. All of Irina opera LPs have the same basic elements (even the same spin combo in all of her programs), Michelle skates and jumps and always doing 4 spins and the Triple Lutz at the end. However, if you would actually take Sasha's, Irina's, and Michelle's programs and evaluate them, then you can see differences.

IMO, none of MK's programs have looked the same too me (with the exception of maybe Salome and Taj Mahal)

SKater's programs

Most skaters programs start to look the same over time. Each skater has a certain way of moving that can become predictable. After you've watched for a while, you can predict the jump, you know what the spiral and spin will look like. That doesn't mean that it's bad skating.

This was especially noticeable during Improv On Ice. All the skaters utilized certain signature moves. I love Kristi and Paul W, but many of their programs looked the same by the time they retired as pros.