2015-16 State of U.S. Men's Figure Skating

[andromache]

Thx, andromache .

The Jamie Wright photos were only on Facebook, I think. To my eyes, his hair looks longer than the mystery man's? But am not sure that Jamie can be ruled out :think:.

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkatingLesson/photos/pcb.746544542134183/746544305467540/?type=1&theater​

.

His hair looks messy/long in some of the photos, but in others appears to shorter/neater like we're used to seeing Josh's (and mystery video man's). Plus the outfits are basically the same, although the sleeves are pushed up on the guy in the video.

I'm spending way too much analyzing this and have no conclusion. Someone with twitter should tweet at TSL and ask if Josh was there, though if he was, it's surprising to see that TSL wouldn't share video/photos, unless Josh and/or his coaches asked them not to, which is also a possibility.

ETA: There are one or two Josh and/or Jamie Wright possibilities in this video of Tessa Hong (plus lots of shots of Max running through his SP as well): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUBMMYhrgT8&feature=youtu.be, but again, it's impossible to tell.

We Josh fans are getting pretty desperate.

 

[apgold]

We Josh fans are getting pretty desperate.

LOL, ain't that the truth! I'm sure Dave and Jenny will mention if they saw Josh at World arena, they talk about him too much not to. It seems they are there as guests of Tom Z. (not Christy and Damon), so they are focused on showing vids of Tom's students.

 

[ice coverage]

LOL, ain't that the truth! I'm sure Dave and Jenny will mention if they saw Josh at World arena, they talk about him too much not to. It seems they are there as guests of Tom Z. (not Christy and Damon), so they are focused on showing vids of Tom's students.

fwiw, TSL's offerings from the World Arena have included two videos of Liam Firus (Team Christy) as well as the photos of Jamie Wright (Team Damon, IIRC).
Plus stuff of other non-TZ skaters: Alex Johnson (lots of Alex ); Scimeca; Maddie Aaron.

All of which proves exactly nothing either way re Josh's presence or absence.

Sorry for hijacking the thread re Josh.

In any case, glad TSL showed Max's training looking good. He's doing Sensei PM proud.

My guess is that TSL will visit Monument tomorrow?? So with any luck, we'll see Jason and Team KoRo.

 

[Jammers]

Jenny and Dave need to hit up LA considering that's where most of the top Senior US Ladies are Gracie.Ashley,Polina and Karen Chen. Not sure if Courtney Hicks is still based in California though.

 

[AsadaFanBoy]

Isn't Polina in LA sporadically to train with Frank? Otherwise she's at the Sharks arena (GO SHARKS!).

Also...after having lived in Orange County and bumping into Ashley Wagner out and about a few times...OC is not LA. Oh how I longed to rid myself of the monotony of OC and live in LA.

Why did I go to a boring OC college? Why?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Polina trains in San Jose with her coach David Glynn.


Back to the Men
Just out of curiosity regarding Josh. What injuries has he sustained over the last few years? Seems like that guy is bit tender or prone to this type of thing. Maybe I'm under the wrong impression here and need to be enlightened. Is it a recurring injury or is he just randomly hurting different parts of his body.

 

[karne]

Video of Max Aaron working on his stroking exercises . From TSL's visit to the World Arena:
https://instagram.com/p/6VOW9SqEOd/

Wow. I am biased, but I really am impressed. Go, Max!

I had to watch this video four times before I was even aware there were other people in it. Gorgeous.

Even as a hopeful Josh fan, I am more inclined to think that the tall dark handsome stranger is Jamie. I simply cannot imagine that Joshua would be on the ice training right in front of them, and we would not get even a single comment from TSL about it, even if there were no pics or vid, even if Josh had asked them not to (I would think we'd still get a "Josh has asked us not to talk about his training at this time").

Though, if this was a National session at the World Arena, then Joshua would be pretty well the only tall dark handsome stranger who would fit that bill...

Just out of curiosity regarding Josh. What injuries has he sustained? Seems like that guy is bit tender or prone to this type of thing. Maybe I'm under the wrong impression here and need to be enlightened.

Josh has quite the laundry list of injuries. He had osteochondritis dissecans at 14 (and this was when he was under Z, hence my long-standing mistrust of the latter), got toepicked into by another skater at 15 (both required surgery IIRC), and then of course at 16 came the Horror Nationals with the torn hip muscle and broken ankle. The ankle that was broken is the same one that has been subject to the various sprains he has had the last two years.

I don't know if his food allergies/asthma play into this anywhere, though it's possible that without being able to ingest dairy, he may be subject to injury of the bones more easily. Still, I am sure he is taking the appropriate supplements/replacements. Either way, I would really really love for all his injuries to just go away and let us enjoy him.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

@Mrs. P - sorry, I wasn't trying to say that the only thing Nathan has going for him is the 4T, just that Nathan clearly has a very good 4T right now and Jason doesn't.

@canadianskaterguy, Nathan popped one of his 3As in this competition, so does that mean his 3A isn't secure either? I agree with Mrs P that Jason's 3A problems have to do with adding the quad. In his last 2 ISU comps, 5 of his 6 3As were fully rotated with +GOE; one was downgraded. As to the quality of Jason's quad and what he's prioritizing and whether his PCS will ever be high enough to overcome a shaky 4T, don't you think maybe you're rushing to judgment a bit? Last season he was criticized for not trying the quad. So now he's tried it 3 times in comps and it doesn't look very good. Don't you think it's a little soon to say he'll never get it? And FYI, his PCS at his last two ISU comps was quite good - about 85 and 89 in FS.

I don't think Jason won't ever get a quad, however he still needs to get his quad to a point where it's actually beneficial to even attempt it (as they say it's most important that you rotate the jump at least, and Jason isn't even under-rotating at this point from the quad attempts we've seen from him). Looking at his technique, I'm not particularly confident in his ability to get a consistent quad this season, but 2018 is a way's away. I mean, I'm surprised how fast Chen was able to get a quad himself, so you never know when things are going to click. If Jason does get a consistent quad though, he will be a force... but I kinda view him like a Shawn Sawyer at this point - lovely to watch and all the potential to be a huge player but a major element (a 3A in Shawn's case, a quad in Brown's case) keeps holding him back.

 

[mrrice]

Video of Max Aaron working on his stroking exercises . From TSL's visit to the World Arena:
https://instagram.com/p/6VOW9SqEOd/

Wow. I am biased, but I really am impressed. Go, Max!

I can't believe that's Max. It's a miracle!!!!

 

[Tavi...]

I don't think Jason won't ever get a quad, however he still needs to get his quad to a point where it's actually beneficial to even attempt it (as they say it's most important that you rotate the jump at least, and Jason isn't even under-rotating at this point from the quad attempts we've seen from him). Looking at his technique, I'm not particularly confident in his ability to get a consistent quad this season, but 2018 is a way's away. I mean, I'm surprised how fast Chen was able to get a quad himself, so you never know when things are going to click. If Jason does get a consistent quad though, he will be a force... but I kinda view him like a Shawn Sawyer at this point - lovely to watch and all the potential to be a huge player but a major element (a 3A in Shawn's case, a quad in Brown's case) keeps holding him back.

Ha ha well I agree I'm a little confused about the true state of Jason's quad and what the strategy is for this season. It definitely looks not ready. According to Kori's TSL interview, they put it in at 4CC so that he wouldn't have an excuse during the gran prix this year to say well I've never done it in competition. She didn't care at 4CC if it was downgraded, she just wanted him to be able to continue with the program. I'm wondering if that is also the strategy here, and if they will then take it out for Skate America and maybe NHK, until he can rotate it better. It must take a lot of courage to go out and perform a program with an element you know isn't ready - especially when you are as scrutinized as he is. I guess only time will tell.

When did Nathan start working on the quad? His is really nice - very elegant and easy.

 

[musicfan80]

I almost feel like this next season for the U.S. men will go like last season and with the exception of Jason, we weren't sure who the other two spots were going to go to. I mean, did anyone here think that Adam AND Josh were going to place ahead of Max, Jeremy, Ross, and Ricky?

 

[aromaticchicken]

I almost feel like this next season for the U.S. men will go like last season and with the exception of Jason, we weren't sure who the other two spots were going to go to. I mean, did anyone here think that Adam AND Josh were going to place ahead of Max, Jeremy, Ross, and Ricky?

Last year's nationals final group of men really was a huge toss up. I remember being in the arena just kind of jaw on the floor with what was happening haha

 

[carriecmu0503]

Not only has Jeremy been removed from the ISP, he is not listed under the funding envelopes. He would have been eligible for envelope B funding based on his results last season. I think it is safe to say he is NOT competing this year. He wouldn't have turned down funding if he was even undecided.

 

[Ice Dance]

When did Nathan start working on the quad? His is really nice - very elegant and easy.

No idea. But I remember reading posters' reactions to his quad at sectionals last year. He couldn't train the triple axle due to the injury. That gives you a lot of incentive to train something else. Apparently a solid quad toe is the result.

 

[Tavi...]

No idea. But I remember reading posters' reactions to his quad at sectionals last year. He couldn't train the triple axle due to the injury. That gives you a lot of incentive to train something else. Apparently a solid quad toe is the result.

In this 1/12/2015 article he says he started working on the quad about 5 months before and that he started landing them after about 2 weeks. So, about a year ago.

ETA here's the link:

http://www.icenetwork.com/news/2015/01/06/106218770

 

[aromaticchicken]

In this 1/12/2015 article he says he started working on the quad about 5 months before and that he started landing them after about 2 weeks. So, about a year ago.

ETA here's the link:

http://www.icenetwork.com/news/2015/01/06/106218770

Started landing them two weeks later?!!!

 

[Tavi...]

Started landing them two weeks later?!!!

Yeah amazing, though he didn't say how clean his landings were! Actually if I recall in his TSL interview he said that he found the 4T much easier than the 3A because the quad just requires a more...aggressive approach or speed or power or something like that, whereas the 3A requires much more precision or finesse. I don't have the words right - maybe someone else will remember it more exactly.

ETA @canadianskaterguy, have you seen this - thought you might enjoy:

http://instagram.com/p/6X46PeqEBV/

 

[karne]

I almost feel like this next season for the U.S. men will go like last season and with the exception of Jason, we weren't sure who the other two spots were going to go to. I mean, did anyone here think that Adam AND Josh were going to place ahead of Max, Jeremy, Ross, and Ricky?

I picked Josh, but not Adam, which proceeded to send me into convulsions of agony once it became apparent what was going to happen.

I was basically bawling my eyes out from the moment Adam landed the first triple Axel of his long program, after staying on his feet for the 4Lz<<. I knew that from that moment it didn't matter - the judges would put him above Max, and Max would miss out. Again.

 

[aromaticchicken]

Yeah amazing, though he didn't say how clean his landings were! Actually if I recall in his TSL interview he said that he found the 4T much easier than the 3A because the quad just requires a more...aggressive approach or speed or power or something like that, whereas the 3A requires much more precision or finesse. I don't have the words right - maybe someone else will remember it more exactly.

Yah I remember the same thing. Also, his body type is extremely slight (like yuzuru) and his rotation speed is extremely fast. Its true that when does do the quad it looks like he snaps into air position much faster than, say, Jason or Josh does

 

[Jammers]

My dream US Men's team for 2018 is Jason. Josh and Nathan. Those 3 really are the present and future of US Men's skating.