Here is a two-part post:
For the most part the majority of posters have kept this a civil and thoughtful discussion and I appreciate that. Of course we all have our favorites, likes and dislikes, and varying perspectives on the sport.
Indeed, it was wonderful to see that the U.S. ladies came back very strong in the fp, after very poor outings in the sp for Gracie and Ashley. Apparently, they did receive a lot of support from many of their fans, as Ashley specifically gave a shout out to her supporters while in the kiss 'n cry. U.S. ladies were definitely in danger of losing a third spot, so it is great redemption that they showed grit and determination under some serious pressure. Despite Ashley saying that she had nothing to lose, indeed she was faced with dropping further, staying in the same position or moving up by skating as cleanly as possible and with grit, which she certainly showed. It is important that all three U.S. ladies shook off the implications and the heavy burdens. Good that they reframed the situation and went out there with the mindset of simply showing what they are made of, and what they are capable of achieving.
In answer to some posters' comments/ queries on my previous posts: Thanks for the thoughtful responses to my comments, especially from sowcow, sandpiper, Parsifal, andromache et al. Regarding Polina's scoring, sowcow, I think it has to do with the fact that Polina is the 3rd place U.S. skater with less experience than Gracie and Ashley, and she does have things to work on still in regard to technique, speed and overall fine-tuning. In the same vein, if Mao and Suzuki were competing at this Worlds, Satoko would not be rated as highly if Mao and Suzuki skated their best. Satoko has some prescient lovely qualities that have not yet fully blossomed, but she is a diamond on the ice. Her intensity, precociousness and elegance makes up for the fact she still needs to work on presenting and opening up more to the audience. I look forward to seeing Satoko develop further, as I do Polina as well.
When I mentioned that U.S. skaters should be more encouraged and supported unconditionally, I am talking about the U.S. fans and media showing more support for U.S. skaters rather than the constant negative criticism that is mainly bandied about. I don't mean that constructive criticism is not needed. Definitely everyone should feel free to offer constructive criticism to all skaters, which should include praise for their hard work and accomplishments, as well as keeping it real regarding areas they can improve upon. However, a lot of the time on forums and in the press, there is a lot of negative, nasty, ill-informed and biased critiques of skaters in general, and in the U.S. of our skaters in particular, that tend to be exactly like, or similar to the following refrains:
“Why are U.S. men not performing quads?” “They are not macho enough unless they perform quads.” “How dare Jason Brown win without performing quads?” “How dare Jason and his coach take their time training the quad? They need him to just go for it.” “How dare Jason think he could just go for the quad at 4CC and do well when his quad wasn't ready?” “Why did Jason practice so many quads in warm-up at 4CC when his quad wasn't really ready?” (Oh, duh, obviously Jason was damned if he didn't, and damned when he did!) “Why are our top ladies not performing 3/3s consistently?” “Ashley Wagner is too old, and she's not Michelle Kwan.” “What did Adam Rippon possibly think he could accomplish coming back instead of retiring?” “Adam deserves to be lightly regarded by the judges.” “How dare Gracie Gold think she's good enough because of all the hype surrounding her name and her looks?” “How dare Gracie Gold go out there and have nerves?” “How dare Gracie Gold skate to that music?” “How dare Gracie pretend to be injured and use that as an excuse to skip GPF?” (Believe it or not there was an entire thread on a skating forum dedicated to this ridiculous slam.) “Gracie doesn't know how to compete.” “Neither Gracie nor Ashley compete well unless they are coming from behind.” (No matter who thinks this faulty analysis is true based on recall of specific events, I don't believe it is true at all). “Frank has dampened Gracie's high-flying jumps, and she's being packaged too much like a princess.” “How dare she, and how dare Frank?” “How dare Ashley assert herself and refer to her younger competitors as sonograms, even though it was in lighthearted jest of everyone calling Ashley too old?” “How dare Polina speak with confidence and think she deserves to be on the podium?” etc. etc.
The above simplistic, niggling and OTT criticisms serve no positive purpose and should cease. Of course some fans will always continue to be snarky, but I think the media has an obligation to educate themselves better about the sport and learn how to cover it with more thoughtful journalism, and more positive approaches to writing about the complications that skaters in the U.S. are currently faced with, rather than the continual status quo, clueless, hyped, and ill-informed, simplistic and overly negative or overly saccharine, one-dimensional articles that are usually published.
In particular, PLEASE STOP with the predictable, ubiquitous questioning of the U.S. ladies about their Russian counterparts. There was more than enough of that this season, to the point where it seemed to psyche-out Gracie and Ashley too, although to a lesser degree. Good for the Russian ladies, but they are NOT the best thing since sliced bread. They have stuff they need to work on too. Why all of a sudden are the Russian ladies the be all and end all!? A lot of the reason has to do with fs politics and perceptions and due to the high profile the Russians gained into the lead-up to and during the Sochi Olympics. Just because I make these observations does not mean I hate the Russians. I am simply pointing out the OTT hype surrounding the so-called Russian baby ballerinas. Look at it like it actually is, please. The Russians were stronger in pairs and ice dance traditionally and now having paid more attention to building and improving their singles programs, they now have plentiful talent particularly among their ladies. Definitely success fluctuates, varies and is cyclic for a variety of reasons for skaters in every country and every discipline.
Politics always plays a role in judging and in popular perception within the skating community. Sure skaters' talent and actual on-ice performances matter too, but oftentimes their on-ice performances are impacted by off-ice pressures and negative critiques. IMHO, the current Russian ladies field is plentiful, but it is not a monolith of talent. Individually, the talent varies for each individual skater. In general, yes many of the Russian ladies tend to have technical consistency, desire and determination, along with a certain kind of grace. But, they are not all ballerinas with great line and musicality. Many of them are over-rated on PCS simply because they can jump and have the Russian lineage. I absolutely feel that Liza Tukt deserves her success. Her jumping has been spot-on, and mastering her beautiful 3-axel sealed the deal for her being the favorite at Worlds since the sport is so heavily weighted toward technical risk-taking these days. Artistry is looked upon as an afterthought (good if you are Russian and have some semblance of artistry, and even if you don't, landing the jumps is mainly what matters most). In any case, most judges do not know how to evaluate performance skills. Under IJS, the PCS are clearly manipulated based on matters having little to do with skaters' actual performance abilities.
but still can see merit in smaller ones ...especially if they satisfy the most basic of qualifications like fully rotated and correct entry. Personally...I don't like the idea of events being decided almost solely by jumps....especially when spins are judged so leniently in comparison. I think Mathman secretly worked some voodoo magic to convert me to a 6.0 supporter.
. And I'm willing to admit that I'm being unnecessarily harsh on Gracie. So in the end, it's just ironic that we ended up having this fruitless debate
. 
An maybe I'm the only one here but I admired Anna P., especially during the SP, as well. There is something "heroic" when skaters fight for each element. I love that. 
