2017-18 State of U.S. Ladies Skating

[frida80]

I'd like to know what happened to Emily Chan and Tessa Hong. I think I might a jinx of some kind. I really liked both of these young skaters and as soon a do, they seem drop like stones in the rankings.

Emily and Tessa are both going to nationals! Tessa scored a 181 at sectionals and looked a lot stronger since the JGP. Emily hasn't gotten her loop or flip back, but she still scored well enough to go to nationals.

 

[Shani]

You forgot honestly Gracie Gold. She is still eligible to compete at nationals based on past performance at Olympics and Worlds.

 

[Mrs. P]

You forgot honestly Gracie Gold. She is still eligible to compete at nationals based on past performance at Olympics and Worlds.

She's already announced she won't be at Nationals.

 

[Shani]

Its sad. Maybe she will rethink. I hope US will go top 3 at Nationals for Olympics on selection. There is no preselected criterion that allows for international results other than Karen Chen's 4th at worlds. Congrats to Bradie Tennell

 

[Seren]

I am a die-hard Diva Wagner fan, but even I'm losing my patience with her. I understand that she was injured today and couldn't compete. Makes sense. She wants to make sure she's healthy for Nationals/ makes the Olympic team. Fine; good plan; I concur. But it's always something with her.

At Skate Canada she wasn't trained/ was too loose/ felt rusty. But she chose not to do any senior Bs heading in to her GPs. Here, she had a mysterious ankle infection. At Worlds she was tense and heartbroken. At Nationals she needed to work on her spins and execution. At Cup of China 2016, the caller was too harsh. Da da da da da da. Whenever she doesn't skate well, she has an excuse, a learning experience, etc.

Lady, you're 26. It's almost put up or shut up time. Either skate like the 3-time National Champion and World Medalist you are, or don't. But I'm tired of listening to her move the goal post and declare herself a work in progress and list off the things she now knows she needs to improve every time her skating is not up to snuff. Enough talking. Try your best to get better. And, as the saying goes, just do it. Let the work speak for itself.

:hslap:

 

[R.D.]

..... But it's always something with [Wagner].

At Skate Canada she wasn't trained/ was too loose/ felt rusty. But she chose not to do any senior Bs heading in to her GPs. Here, she had a mysterious ankle infection. At Worlds she was tense and heartbroken. At Nationals she needed to work on her spins and execution. At Cup of China 2016, the caller was too harsh. Da da da da da da. Whenever she doesn't skate well, she has an excuse, a learning experience, etc.

Lady, you're 26. It's almost put up or shut up time. Either skate like the 3-time National Champion and World Medalist you are, or don't. But I'm tired of listening to her move the goal post and declare herself a work in progress and list off the things she now knows she needs to improve every time her skating is not up to snuff. Enough talking. Try your best to get better. And, as the saying goes, just do it. Let the work speak for itself.

I have to say, I agree that it's getting old. It was, at one time, a refreshing departure from the usual "ice princess" attitude, but there comes a point where you just have to ultimately let the skating do the talking. If you keep saying it needs to be done, you know what to do...at some point one would expect it to happen. The issue is that she talks a good game, then has a sub-par skate and reveals something previously unknown/kept under wraps. Which is fine but why did you talk up a good game in the first place? Confidence obviously was misplaced.

But now I'm ranting, and that doesn't help anyone. It is what it is, and she appears to be injured. The thing for her now is to rest and recover (being careful not to rush back into things), and forget those folks insinuating that she's a quitter. We need her to be healthy again - whether one likes her or not, a strong Wagner helps make a US team strong.

 

[andromache]

At Skate Canada she wasn't trained/ was too loose/ felt rusty. But she chose not to do any senior Bs heading in to her GPs. Here, she had a mysterious ankle infection. At Worlds she was tense and heartbroken. At Nationals she needed to work on her spins and execution. At Cup of China 2016, the caller was too harsh. Da da da da da da. Whenever she doesn't skate well, she has an excuse, a learning experience, etc.

Lady, you're 26. It's almost put up or shut up time. Either skate like the 3-time National Champion and World Medalist you are, or don't. But I'm tired of listening to her move the goal post and declare herself a work in progress and list off the things she now knows she needs to improve every time her skating is not up to snuff. Enough talking. Try your best to get better. And, as the saying goes, just do it. Let the work speak for itself.

I mean, she's basically required to do interviews. It's completely natural to acknowledge what you did wrong and what you're going to work on to get better after a bad outing. What should she say after a bad skate? Should she wallow? Refuse all interviews (keep in mind she needs all the exposure she can get - skating isn't a cheap sport). I'm not sure what you expect. If she is incapable of skating like she used to (which is obviously the case), all she can do is try her best, work to improve her deficiencies, and that's exactly what she says she does, and probably really does do. I have no doubt she's trying her best to get better, but she's got a lot of limitations to work past, unfortunately.

She's never been the most talented skater and she had relatively poor coaching for years and years that ingrained awful habits. She's doing her best, but is obviously in decline with age and injury. She's working her butt off anyway. If she comes up short, I'm not going to blame her attitude for it - she is who she is, and at this point, she's the skater she is. I appreciate that she's always been good at owning her flaws and trying to fix them, even when it doesn't necessarily bear fruit in competition.

 

[andromache]

I have to say, I agree that it's getting old. It was, at one time, a refreshing departure from the usual "ice princess" attitude, but there comes a point where you just have to ultimately let the skating do the talking. If you keep saying it needs to be done, you know what to do...at some point one would expect it to happen. The issue is that she talks a good game, then has a sub-par skate and reveals something previously unknown/kept under wraps. Which is fine but why did you talk up a good game in the first place? Confidence obviously was misplaced.

Again, part of being a professional athlete is to do interviews and talk to the press. A struggling skater who is about compete shouldn't be publicly complaining about their problems or tell everyone that they expect to do poorly. It has a negative impact on how the judges will perceive the skater, probably has a negative psychological effect on the skater, and just gives fans something else to whine about regarding the skater's behavior.

 

[mrrice]

Again, part of being a professional athlete is to do interviews and talk to the press. A struggling skater who is about compete shouldn't be publicly complaining about their problems or tell everyone that they expect to do poorly. It has a negative impact on how the judges will perceive the skater, probably has a negative psychological effect on the skater, and just gives fans something else to whine about regarding the skater's behavior.

True, and I believe they get fined if they skip the press conferences following GP Events. I'm sure these skater don't want to talk about injuries or bad performances but, I think it's part of their contract.

 

[penguin]

I can understand the complaint. I love Ashley and have found her candor refreshing and welcome, but for me, what I'm starting to tire of is that every time she has a subpar performance, the reasoning is something NEW, something ELSE. Maybe that's not fair to her, maybe she's unlucky and it really is always a new factor affecting her, but it does start to sound like an endless string of excuses. I don't prefer the canned media-trained replies either, but sometimes all that needs to be said is, "Yeah, that wasn't great. I can do better."

 

[Shani]

In Russia the state pays for athlete training. In the US the parents or athlete pay. At $30 to $100 for 30 minute coaching and $10-$30 per hour for group freestyle ice its not cheap.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

In Russia the state pays for athlete training. In the US the parents or athlete pay. At $30 to $100 for 30 minute coaching and $10-$30 per hour for group freestyle ice its not cheap.

Both get funding at the national level though right? I know in the US we fund our national athletes too.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I can understand the complaint. I love Ashley and have found her candor refreshing and welcome, but for me, what I'm starting to tire of is that every time she has a subpar performance, the reasoning is something NEW, something ELSE. Maybe that's not fair to her, maybe she's unlucky and it really is always a new factor affecting her, but it does start to sound like an endless string of excuses. I don't prefer the canned media-trained replies either, but sometimes all that needs to be said is, "Yeah, that wasn't great. I can do better."

Well in the kiss and Cry after the SP she said she tightened up (or something like that) and Rafael immediately shot back "Why?" His attitude seem to say "you're full of ****." And it's not the first time there was an exchange like that after a performance. Many times she tries to explain her feelings of what went wrong (or make excuses if you want to call it that) he shoots back at her almost like a dismissal. So Rafael doesn't exactly believe any of her "excuses" either from the sound of it

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

In Russia the state pays for athlete training. In the US the parents or athlete pay. At $30 to $100 for 30 minute coaching and $10-$30 per hour for group freestyle ice its not cheap.

Most top skating coaches in the US are around $50-75 per 20 minutes.

 

[mrrice]

Most top skating coaches in the US are around $50-75 per 20 minutes.

Oh yeah. Trust me, one on one time with a coach is extremely rare and very expensive. We paid $50. for half an hour and that was in 80's.

 

[twirlingblades]

I love Ashley to death, but I think she is one of those athletes that is all talk *sometimes*. You can work really hard and talk about winning nationals and medalling at the olympics or whatever, but you need to go out there and DO IT.

I'm sorry she's hurt, but the spectacle of WDing halfway through a program was ridiculous imo. Either WD before the long, or skate through. The drama is getting old.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Oh yeah. Trust me, one on one time with a coach is extremely rare and very expensive. We paid $50. for half an hour and that was in 80's.

erm...I'm aware.

 

[tosca]

I love Ashley to death, but I think she is one of those athletes that is all talk *sometimes*. You can work really hard and talk about winning nationals and medalling at the olympics or whatever, but you need to go out there and DO IT.

I'm sorry she's hurt, but the spectacle of WDing halfway through a program was ridiculous imo. Either WD before the long, or skate through. The drama is getting old.

I got Tonya Harding flashbacks hahaha

 

[dailytg20]

I always took Ashley's "talking a good game" as the run-of-the-mill positive reinforcement stuff that most athletes say. You hear it from boxers, wrestlers and other participants in individual sports. In fact the only time I remember not hearing this type of talk is with Gracie after Worlds, which was jarring, and now we know she was dealing with a lot of issues at the time.

It's fine to be frustrated with her performance and/or perceived lack of progress, but I think some of you are putting way too much stock in these sound bites.

 

[charlotte14]

Most top skating coaches in the US are around $50-75 per 20 minutes.

I read somewhere that Frank Caroll was $100??