This tweet by a twitter acquaintance got me thinking today:
"I know that Jason is like the ideal son,etc but I'm
genuinely surprised the federation supports a quadless skater"
I can see where they're coming from, I understand the confusion. But when I think about it from an interest/development/marketing point of view, I have to think that USFSA is actually doing the clever thing this time:
After Riverdance and its gazllion views, there was a lot of talk about how USFSA would be
stupid not to use that to their advantage. I believe that Jason singlehandedly brought back many, many fans who had dropped out because of various reasons, and also brought in new fans. Here was a kid who, with his team, had learned to play the COP-game better than almost anyone else at the moment: backloaded, quality elements, crazy transitions and touching routines -> as many points as possible without a quad. That the kid is just adorable was a huge bonus.
So we have a kid who is bringing in not only old and new fans maybe even around the world (=cash), and new kid skaters to USFSA (=more cash).
Many, many people (myself partly included) went off fs when it became almost the norm to medal with falls over clean programs. Ordinary people do not get how an underrotation - which is often very hard to spot and doesn't affect the program as a whole too much - is punished so harshly compared to (in their minds) a huge mistake like a rotated fall. By ordinary people I mean those who maybe used to watch during 6.0, when a fall was almost a 90% guarantee of no medal at all, and 99% of no gold. And it appears that the more quads in programs, the more likely those mistakes are, not only on the quads but other jump elements as well. Quads are so draining that this is almost inevitable.
There will most likely always be people who will always be convinced that any win without a quad jump attempt is, to them, invalid.
I've developed the impression that there are two types of viewers: those who don't really mind even big and multiple mistakes and can look past them and enjoy the performance notwithstanding, and those that feel that the glaring mistakes deflate the tech quality, performance and their enjoyment of it significantly. Regarding falls it's like the first group appreciates the athletic difficulty and is willing to reward even fully failed attempts, and the 2nd group, while also appreciating the athletic difficulty, finds it hard to consider an element "partly" successful and worth a lot of points if it ends in a fall. In terms of high jumping, the first group sees that the athlete got over the bar, and it doesn't matter that much that the bar wobbles and falls. The second group sees the bar fall and thinks that the jump was unsuccessful and should not be considered as though the bar had in fact been 10 centimeters lower and the jumper had cleared it. The first group consists mainly of fs fans, the second of fs fans
and casual viewers
and potential viewers.
The challenge here is to
please both sides while at the same time
increase interest in the sport and attract young athletes.
So when you think about the popularity and the longevity (heck, actual survival) of the sport as something other than a niche/four-year curiosity, supporting Jason makes an awful lot of sense.
Now the US has - thanks to quads - 3 spots for Worlds.
2/3 of those spots went to men who have quads.
Only 1/3 went to one who doesn't. That means that
most of the competitors in the team have a quad, and the
one that doesn't has good-to-excellent consistency and bucketloads of charisma which will reach people even through their screens. I'm absolutely not saying that Adam and Josh do not have charisma - they certainly do. I just feel that Jason and some of his programs possess the kind of crossover charisma that will not only delight fs fans and casual watchers - it will delight people who don't normally care about fs
at all. This manifested in the never-before-seen virality of that one clip on youtube. I believe that all three have the ability to bring in completely new fans, but that in Jason this ability appears to be the strongest.
To my mind this is the ideal scenario for both maximising medal chances and upping the popularity of the sport.
Adam and Josh have the goods, but the delivery is not 100% guaranteed. Jason has different goods and there's a good-to-excellent chance that he will deliver, if not in both then in one skate at least.
So the best case scenario for USFSA is as follows:
1) Adam rotates and lands both quad Lutzes and does everything else cleanly. He has an excellent chance of medalling if that happens (that LP is a masterpiece)
2) Josh does a pristine clean (quadless?) short with +3s for the Axel, putting him in the final flight where he lands his quad toe. He also has a chance of medalling if he truly goes squeaky clean (That LP is also awesome)
3) Jason goes as clean as he possibly can and doesn't forget to pack the springs he wore on his feet at Nationals. He gets the crowd going and is rewarded with great PCS,
possibly even good enough to get him in the final flight as well. And even if he ends lower,
his LP in turn is a huge crowd-pleaser, meaning he could get very decent scores even in the next-to-last flight.
-> All 3 men in the top 12, one possibly even medalling.
4) Other top contenders make multiple mistakes
-> All 3 men in the top 10, one or even two medalling.
Obviously this is the absolute ideal situation
So the way I see it, USFSA is covering all the bases:
a) Send in the
quads to keep 3 spots and potentially medal,
b) Send in the
consistency to ensure 2-3 spots even if one or both quads headcase.
c) Give the young ones experience and a chance to make their mark (especially applying to Josh)
d) Nurture the potentially growing interest in FS in the US
What do you think?
He lands quads beautifully, his other jumps are good, and his confidence will grow with more international competitions. I agree that the World team is right; but to leave Max out of 4CC is to deny one of team USA's best skaters a chance to improve his international competitive skills. It also leaves the impression that they are not backing him.
