Michelle's Announcement

[Ice Princess]

I read another article pretty much the same this morning-I think she made a good move. It'll give her body time to heal. I was surprised to hear she was moving to another state also. Best wishes to Michelle!!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I read another article pretty much the same this morning-I think she made a good move. It'll give her body time to heal. I was surprised to hear she was moving to another state also. Best wishes to Michelle!!

and heal it must. I know a few dancers who jumped the gun after arthroscopic knee surgery and it didn't do much for the surgery. Let's hope she just takes it easy for however long it takes.

 

[R.D.]

so does this tend to be a common surgery/injury among skaters?

 

[SeaniBu]

And what if the relationship flops? Surely she can't have then done all that moving trouble just for nothing.

Don't worry, I am still in the Denver area. As long as she realizes money isn't everything she could have me

I want to make sure RDs question doesn't get overlooked about the commonality of this surgery procedure being common?

 

[R.D.]

well, MK isn't exactly "broke" herself, is she? She doesn't need this guy's money. She has enough to support herself for a very long time.

 

[SeaniBu]

You're getting my hopes up RD I don't mind being a "Membo" as they say:agree:

 

[R.D.]

Well, nothing can hurt, right? Maybe it's you that can find her and somehow get her to confirm this "boyfriend" for us.

 

[SeaniBu]

I am to busy following around Fumie for any of that nonsense
J/K. Two of my Nephews are going there - DU - and I have schooled them well to be on the look out.

 

[R.D.]

I take it DU is a large campus? right? If it has more than 6,000 students I'd say forget it...it's gonna be pretty tough to find her unless they find themselves taking the same classes as she is...(or the best bet might be the school library)

 

[Mathman]

I sent MK my email address, just in case she needs any help with calculus.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

HA! I knew Red Dog secretly worshiped Michelle Kwan... He loves her... Why else all the "she has a boyfriend she loves enough to move to denver? that's just speculation!" talk???

Seriously, though... Denver has the top sport doctors in the country, DU has top notch poly sci & international studies programs AND her boyfriend lives there... that's a classic case of having your cake & eating it too (or in her case a really nasty salad with blueberries & italian dressing...) I've moved across country for less... And let's not forget, at 26, Michelle is a grown woman, not a teenybopper...

 

[MKFSfan]

so does this tend to be a common surgery/injury among skaters?

From what I've gathered, this type of injury is more commonly seen among dancers. I'm sure Joeitz can enlighten us more (he seems to have inside knowledge! I apologize if I'm wrong.) I was chatting with my friend's husband-an orthropedic Dr. this AM. He said it's common when doing moves that require extreme flexibilty and turn out of the hip joint, more so than what the person is naturally capable of, which is why you see dancers with this injury. But it probably is becoming more common amongst skaters now that it's practically required to yank your foot up to your head in spirals and spins, doing beillmanns, catch-foots, etc. which apply so much torsion to the hip joint, and causing the bone to grind against labrum.

 

[R.D.]

I sent MK my email address, just in case she needs any help with calculus.

Good one MM


And thanks MKFSfan for answering my question. :agree:

 

[SeaniBu]

But it probably is becoming more common amongst skaters now that it's practically required to yank your foot up to your head in spirals and spins, doing beillmanns, catch-foots, etc. which apply so much torsion to the hip joint, and causing the bone to grind against labrum.

I think that has a lot to do with all the comments of what constitutes a good position in those elements. If people would stop complaining about a good Beilmann and such being the type you have to "yank so high" then there would be less of them yanking so high. IOW, if there were less complaints about the "ice cream cone" and people saying / thinking the only good ones were "eye of a needle" than there would be less of them yanking the leg so high and causing some of this issue.

 

[R.D.]

Sean- I don't think it's about the fans. It's about what gets you points. And right now Beilmanns are the way to go. (Other contortionist positions don't hurt either...or do they?)

 

[SeaniBu]

I agree, but sometimes fans have expectations that are unrealistic. I find the Bielmann to be a lovely position myself, whether their leg is 1" or 8" above their head. And yes the B-mann is the way to go:agree: in pleasing fans and requirements - but saying that the only good ones are when you rip your leg out of your socket.???? What I am trying to point out is the expectations of said position, not the fact the position is being done.

Did I really sound like I was saying that??

 

[R.D.]

Any position like that, any way you do it has injury potential written all over it. But you're right in that the "better" positions tend to require more flexiblity, which leads to more injury potential.

 

[SeaniBu]

The more I think about this I remember hearing something that said the more a "body part" (limb or the like) is stuck out from the skaters center of gravity, the more difficult resulting in higher point value. But that may have some "if, ands, and buts" about it. But with that in mind I would think Fumie's would be off the center gaining more points then say Alissa's. I guess the degree of difficulty is relative there, but how relative is the COP???

 

[ilovepaydays]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Anschutz

FYI....wikipedia article on Michelle's boyfriend's father. Wow, I wonder if Christian is an conservative as his dad. Or how well they get along. I am not sure about Kwan's religious beliefs, but I have dated enough guys from conservative Chrisitian families to know that a lot of them HATE their kids bringing home someone who is even a little bit liberal.

 

[MKFSfan]

I agree with what you are saying, seanibu. Obviously there are certain body types that enables certain people to attain positions others cannot do or do well. I think the layback spin is really the only part of COP that is not "fair" to all body types-not everyone has a flexible lower back and not everyone can do a beillmann. Apparently, many skaters can do the catchfoot layback. For level 4spirals, for one requirement, skaters have to have a 180 split in a position, right? So, yanking your foot to your ear has got to be torturous on the hip joint. Other positions that get checked off for the sequence still demand flexibility, like the COE abrasque spiral (fullfills unsupprted change of edge) or fan spiral (twisting body, difficult variation) or Chinese spiral (catchfoot), but you don't need perfect 180 degree split to achieve that requirement.

My point being, I hate seeing skaters do certain positions (beillmann) just because the rules dictate they need to do them. Not everyone can do every position well, but the ones who do should include them. I love Alissa, Emily, Fleur Maxwell's beillmann. I can appreciate Irina's due to the speed she maintains and the fact she can do them on both feet. Compared to them, many come off as doing it JUST to get that level, not because they are quality positions. Quantity over quality. I realize everyone wants to win and will do what they need to. But look at Kimmie and Fumie- they were able to get level 3-4's on their spins, and neither included contortists positions. A Y-spin gets marked the same as an I-spin. A donut spin is a variation of a camel spin, just like a back catchfoot. Etc.

Regardless the damage extreme flexibility may have on joints, edge jumps like the loop create havoc on the hip joint, too. All that heaving into the air and checking rotations causes tremendous wear and tear of the ball and socket, so it's not just about flexibility. In Michelle's case, it sounds like the training of 3loop ending combos is what hurt her over the last few years, and add COP friendly spins, well, it was bound to happen.