I was telling someone who watched it with me that if only this girl doubled a few jumping passes, she'd be Laura Lepisto.
Your thoughts on Skate America
- Thread starter nolangoh
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I was telling someone who watched it with me that if only this girl doubled a few jumping passes, she'd be Laura Lepisto.
They had schedule regionals at the same time. So coaches, skaters , parents , family and friends from I believe three surrounded states were there!
I was in the crowd (3rd row) and most of the 1st row seats weren't sold. Typically, it's because these seats are reserved for businesses who don't bother to use them (makes me mad!!). Of course, the seats were filled in by people who moved down once they saw they remained empty once the events had started.
The two ladies who sat in front of me were Americans of Japanese descent who brought flags of every country, and waved them and applauded for ALL the skaters. The only truly partisan audience members I encountered were the Russian pair Astakhova/Rogonov, who sat next to me for the SD. They applauded only for the Russian and Israeli ice dancers. The skaters who got the most applause were Mariah Bell (a standing ovation for her FS), Shoma Uno, Adam Rippon, the Shibs, and of course, Jason Brown. Ashley and Gracie got plenty of applause, but not as much as the others.
I personally didn't like Ashley's FS---it just didn't have the impact that Jeremy Abbott's did when he was in his prime--and somehow I don't think it will even when she cleans it up, because she doesn't have Jeremy's blade mastery.
The two ladies who sat in front of me were Americans of Japanese descent who brought flags of every country, and waved them and applauded for ALL the skaters. The only truly partisan audience members I encountered were the Russian pair Astakhova/Rogonov, who sat next to me for the SD. They applauded only for the Russian and Israeli ice dancers. The skaters who got the most applause were Mariah Bell (a standing ovation for her FS), Shoma Uno, Adam Rippon, the Shibs, and of course, Jason Brown. Ashley and Gracie got plenty of applause, but not as much as the others.
I personally didn't like Ashley's FS---it just didn't have the impact that Jeremy Abbott's did when he was in his prime--and somehow I don't think it will even when she cleans it up, because she doesn't have Jeremy's blade mastery.
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- Sep 8, 2016
By far the biggest surprise was Mariah's performance and it is what everyone is talking about to this day. After watching her performance again and several other skaters as well as scrubbing the score sheets, I am not as convinced that she did as well as I originally thought.
What I mean by this is that I have always thought you can only compare athlete to athlete when pitted against one another at the same competition. By doing this, yes, Mariah won the FS on Saturday. However, I am not sure we are going to see such mistake ridden performances by so many top level competitors at other competitions down the road. After all, it took a near perfect skate from Mariah to match up against multiple mistakes by every other skater to put her on the podium. Does that make her a true contender or just a competitor who took advantage of the situation?
Did Mariah skate well, yes! Did she deserve second place, yes! If she skates like this going forward and her competitors step up their game, will she still make the podium, I'm not so sure. But this is why you have to compete, because on any given day the underdog can rise up. I'm just not convinced that the cookie will continue to crumble in her favor unless she continues to improve and work hard. She can only control what she can control and so far so good!
What I mean by this is that I have always thought you can only compare athlete to athlete when pitted against one another at the same competition. By doing this, yes, Mariah won the FS on Saturday. However, I am not sure we are going to see such mistake ridden performances by so many top level competitors at other competitions down the road. After all, it took a near perfect skate from Mariah to match up against multiple mistakes by every other skater to put her on the podium. Does that make her a true contender or just a competitor who took advantage of the situation?
Did Mariah skate well, yes! Did she deserve second place, yes! If she skates like this going forward and her competitors step up their game, will she still make the podium, I'm not so sure. But this is why you have to compete, because on any given day the underdog can rise up. I'm just not convinced that the cookie will continue to crumble in her favor unless she continues to improve and work hard. She can only control what she can control and so far so good!
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- Dec 1, 2015
well I don't know the point gaps lying in 6th place after her short program, but she had to make up a lot of ground to get from 6th to 2nd.....and I believe Ashley was 1st after the short, Mai Mihara was 2nd, and Gracie was third......and I don't recall Mai making that many mistakes yet she got bronze and Mariah a silver.........
So far so good, but when the time comes, it's up to the judges no matter how well she skates.
Mariah was about 4 points behind Gracie, Mao, Mai and Gabby and 9 points out of first place. So her moving up from 6th to 2nd was not out of the realm of possibility in this comp, especially after Mao and Gracie's subpar skates. Mai made a couple of mistakes (doubling a jump, two footing a triple triple), which bumped her down to 3rd.
Of course, if everyone had skated clean, she probably would've been 5th or 6th in the end, but that didn't happen, so I'm thrilled she was able to take advantage of that.
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- Feb 2, 2011
What was with screaming? It was constant. I feel sorry for anyone sitting near the screamers.
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- Dec 1, 2015
but Mariah made mistakes too, I think she doubled an intended salchow in her combo jump, and wrong edge on her last flip jump, and her footwork was slow, but then again so was the music at the section of her skating. Her jumps also werent as clean or strong in her short program....She also doesn't have the reputation yet.....just needs to be given more international assignments by USFSA, as I think her body may be at its prime now.
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- Dec 29, 2011
I'm pretty torn on the 'screamers'. On one hand, the stadium was empty enough, so it's good the few people that were there were making a lot of noise. It's not as if skaters weren't underappreciated in general and wouldn't probably be happy to hear the cheering from the stands at least. Then again, screaming like a hamster on a marshmallow stick roosted over a campfire doesn't exactly sound like the classical cheering... I feel like, as a skater, maybe that would have been more irritating or distracting. But yeah, I can't help it anyway... just that I showed SA videos to non-FS fan friends of mine, who now think FS is that sport that only pre-puberscent little girls watch /Am going to show them Yuzu fan videos next
I've posted so much about SA and didn't even mention Sergei once until now - shaaaaame on me! Sergei was :luv17: and totally slayed. Hopefully he's going to manage to keep that level throughout the season. He also has the cutest, sunshine-iest smile :luv17:
And then Jason was
, Shoma kicked butt and Boyang has kept his word on working his behind off to get the PCS up. I'm so impressed with him!The ladies field was a little duh though, and given that I'm not too enthusiastic about the current ladies field... still not sure if I should get Ladies SP tickets for worlds, that was not exactly good advertisement. Gotta wait for a few more performances
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- Mar 5, 2014
Not only he applauded the other skaters he also acknowledged them when he "almost" ran into them or when his jumpings got too close to their paths during practices - such a gentleman. The highlight was my friends and I saw him at starbucks :luv17: and he was so nice, offering to take pictures with us. I have always appreciated him as a skater and was sad for him during his struggles but now I really appreciated him as a person as well. His LP was one of my favorites and I was so happy that he delivered. He was solid during practices landing jump after jump and it was so great that he kept up the momentum.I was there and was SO happy for him. He had such a great skate and the audience (in general) really enjoyed it! Glad to see him so happy after his skate. I also loved that in the practices I went to see, after the other competitors would finish their programs, he would applaud each competitor! He was the only one doing that!
I'm so glad I was not the only one enjoying their program and you said it so well - it was ballet on ice.
I was so excited to find out that Mariah would be in SA and am so happy to witness her gorgeous programs. She brought down the house with her long program. I was on my feet before she finished that last spin.... and the audience as well. I got to meet her a few times during practices and in the hallway and she was such a delight - very sweet girl.
Oh Shoma what can I say. He was great and I'm happy for his win. I had a chance to say hi to him in the hallway before practice but he was in the zone. He did say hi back
. He was always lighthearted during practices, laughing at himself and/or spreading out when he fell but he was so focused when it counted and he delivered (except for the second triple axle at the end). Well deserved medal.Very happy for Seguin and Bilodeau as well as Denney and Frasier. They deserved to be medaled for their great efforts. Sad for Vanessa especially with the way Morgan reacted in the K&C - I don't like it a bit. Vladimir was not happy either and he let it show even during the medal ceremony - he could use some growing up....
Most importantly the skating was amazing, most of the skaters put in their best effort. Regardless of not being on the podium Mao was absolutely wonderful and her programs were beautiful and had the potential of becoming masterpieces. I liked the dramatic side of Mao, her facial expressions were intense yet her steps were light and her glides were smooth and tender - pure art on ice. The jumps that she landed were soft and she always pushed for perfection. How can anyone not love her. It's sad to think that people have problems with her being invited to the gala. I was sad for not being able to stay to watch her skate her new exhibition program - had to go directly to the airport :sad4:
Quite impressed with Mai Mihara, she did very well for her first major competition. She was such a breath of fresh air. The future is bright for the girl.
Overall SA was a well organized event. Perfect weather in Hoffman Estates. The arena was easily accessible and parking was running smoothly. The parking attendants would not cut you any slack, you better do what they said and go where they pointed you to...
- some of them were dancing while directing traffic - no complaints from me. The sound system could use some improvements. During practice some parts of Ashley's music for the long program had so much static I was wondering if it was intentional but all that disappeared when she actually skated.
Ah the Zambonis crew, I was so afraid when those old men were patching the ice, with the way they moved it could take all night and I saw one of them slipped
, but they got it done - the ice was re-surfaced without any hitch.And btw Rohene deserved a medal for being an absolute "diva" and Marina and Igor for being the busiest coaches of the event.
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That's not true. I am a paying customer as were many around me and the screamers were on my row and the one in front of me, which was directly behind the technical panel. There were plenty of paying customers who gave them looks all weekend.
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There were a few points where the tech panel turned around and looked at them.
Tech panel headphones aren't generally soundproof. Screams are very audible and go straight through you.
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- Feb 16, 2014
I was on the opposite side and can confirm they were nowhere close to the skaters' tribune. But I don't see why it matters whether they sat next to "paying customers" anyway. Anyone with functioning eardrums would have been annoyed.
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- Dec 1, 2015
I think screaming annoyingly for a skater is ok, I wouldn't mind it, lol, as long as they are cheering them on, they can scream as loud as they want, makes the sport more exciting.
Most people manage to cheer for skaters and show their appreciation... without behaving like attention-seeking 5-year-olds. There is simply no need for such annoying behaviour.
They usually have rules on photography and such, which specifically mention not discrupting or obstructing the enjoyment of other spectators. Why then, do they allow screamers to annoy the entire arena, and the global TV/internet audience, all night?
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When a screamer is sitting right behind you, the plain fact is it is not only annoying, but the constant screaming is damaging to your hearing! Loud, high pitched, repetitive noise destroys nerve cells in the inner ear.
That is one reason why I bring ear plugs when I go to a skating competition---just in case I wind up in front of a screamer. In my experience, even politely asking the screamer to stop, explaining the damage to the ear, has zero effect and can even make the screaming louder.
It is, after all, infantile behavior, and there is no reasoning with an infant.
