I'd like to see:
Arakawa - get complete control of the ice and repeat her Dortmund performance.
Cohen - to show she has a 3x3 of any kind and the Morosov choreo
Kwan - to show she has a 3x3 of any kind, and the TT choreo.
Kimmie - a little more maturity and the 3A.
(I'm not sure of others who are doing this thing)
Irina - a real spiral.
Mathman said:If despite these handicaps Irina is able to pull off a decisive victory, then I think it's curtains for the other ladies' Olympic hopes.
Joesitz said:It is based on the CoP, isn't it? If Irina wins I think the other gals should take a lesson in what it means to be a competitor. They must skate their hearts out in the GPs or forever forget the Olys.
Joe
ITA MM - I can't see a tennis player not at his best in any competition; or a baseball player holding back until the World Series or a Diver not caring about how he enters the water. holding back....duh!Mathman said:I don't think Irina built up slowly last year to peak at worlds. Yes, she gave a terrific skate when it counted most. But the fact is, she won every event she entered last year, both early and late.
That's the way to go, IMHO. Why hold back? I think you only trick yourself if you keep saying, well, I won't give it my all in the first part of the season, then miraculously I will get suddenly start skating better in January.
Mathman
Joesitz said:ITA MM - I can't see a tennis player not at his best in any competition; or a baseball player holding back until the World Series or a Diver not caring about how he enters the water. holding back....duh!
Mathman said:I will be most interested to see Irina's performance. Everything will be stacked against her. It is early in the season (Irina typically tends to peak much later). It follows directly on the heels of the Japanese event, forcing Irina to face travel woes, jet lag, loss of practice time, etc., which her main competitors won't. It's in the U.S., where the hometown crowd will be shouting themselves hoarse for Michelle and Sasha, especially Michelle.
If despite these handicaps Irina is able to pull off a decisive victory, then I think it's curtains for the other ladies' Olympic hopes.
On the other hand, if Irina falters and lets the American and Japanese ladies off the hook, then Let the Games Begin!
Mathman
Mathman said:I don't think Irina built up slowly last year to peak at worlds. Yes, she gave a terrific skate when it counted most. But the fact is, she won every event she entered last year, both early and late.
That's the way to go, IMHO. Why hold back? I think you only trick yourself if you keep saying, well, I won't give it my all in the first part of the season, then miraculously I will get suddenly start skating better in January.
Mathman
Red Dog said:Actually it may sound ridiculous but I actually believe there is a slight truth to the "holding back" phenomenon. I can't quote the source unfortunately but I heard that some NBA players particularly "coast" through the regular season until they get to the end (where playoff rankings matter). I don't know if the same is true for other team sports.
But in skating the mentality seems to be different IMO. Have you ever seen a skater TRULY give it her all in a pro-am or GP event? I really think that if you were objective and compared their performances in GP to the ones in major competitions, you'd have to say no. (Or you may discover that the performance is worse, which means that they felt under pressure. This actually proves my point as well, because they feel it's more important to them).
Really, think about it. Would you look at a pro-am or the Worlds the same way? Would you approach an NFL pre-season game and the conference finals the same way? A tennis pro-am and Wimbledon the same way? NO!
Vash01 said:It won't be long before others catch up with Irina.
attyfan said:I think the "peaking" idea is not uncommon in skating. I recall hearing on an ABC fluff piece that Yags worked on the idea of "peaking at the right time" -- Worlds (or Olys), whereas I heard somewhere that Plush is the "give it all you've got, all the time" type. ...)?