2018 US Championships Sr. Ladies SP

[skatinggold]

I guess Ashley is not going to the Olympics. They gave her the message with her PCS. Lower PCS than Bradie is just not right. USFSA is probably pissed at her for withdrawing at Skate America like that. I think the tech panel is a mess, they were harsh on some skaters like Karen, two of Karen's beautiful spins were downgraded but closed a blind eye on others.

 

[frida80]

At the Olympics, you want your winner to look really formidable. Hence why all national champs have inflated scores. Last year Kaitlyn had Yuna Kim level scores with errors. It’s nothing new.

This year we have no shot of a podium. At least for the American audience, I guess we must have a great looking skater to focus on.

I’m not sure if Ashley has lost love, because I’m not sure if she ever really had it in the first place. She’s always been the less loved one. That second choice that they put up with. They have Bradie now, so once again they have another option. But she always fights to be seen anyway. I hope that’s enough on Friday.

 

[Procrastinator]

Looking at the protocols:

Ashley and Mirai were both hammered in transitions. HUGE discrepancies among the judges for Bradie. 1/3 were mostly in the 7.75 range, 1/3 in the 7.75-8.50 range, and 1/3 in the 8.75-9.00 range. Weird, weird discrepancies. GOEs way too high, but Mirai and Karen also have lots of undeserved +3s.

I wouldn't say there's a "fix." They're rewarding clean skates and punishing lack of transitions.

And Ashley did beat Bradie handily in interpretation, with scores in the 8.50-9.00 range, while Bradie had scores in the 7.25-8.50 range.


---

Here's another observation: The judges are really trigger happy with the +3 button when it comes to spins. Bradie, Mirai, Karen all benefitted from that. Guess who isn't a good spinner? Ashley. So she didn't benefit from that GOE bump (and, even then, one judge tried to give her a +3 for her flying sit!).

 

[schizoanalyst]

and thankfully we finally have a lady who appears to not only fully rotate her jumps without question and doubt but also appears to handle the pressure well (to be honest the jury is still out on that. its still too early but so far so good). Isn't that what US fans have been begging for for the last 10 years?!?! We appear to finally get it and all people want to do is moan

She's consistent. That's it. Everything else is extremely generic and middling. It's a bit much to ask people to be excited about that.

 

[skatinggold]

Bradie did not deserve higher PCS than Angela WAng and some other people. Sorry, but she is not artistic at all.

 

[WAC172]

I think Mariah Bell's performance had the most character (even though obviously not skated as good as other people's).

The results here definitely make Friday interesting. I think Chen is probably the most vulnerable. She skated well enough tonight, but she was not far from disaster I felt on that first combo. To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with Mirai either. I feel like we heard all summer how well she was hitting the triple axel, and then when it came time for the grand prix, her results were not great. Then tonight, the same thing. What is going to change going forward? I didn't realize how much of a benefit a poorly executed triple axle was over a double axle, surprised there's not more of them around in the short.

 

[twirlingblades]

I'm not really a huge fan of any of the ladies, but I will be heartbroken for Ashley if she doesn't make the team. It must hurt to have 3 nationals titles, with none coming in Olympic years. I also think she was hosed in PCS, but that's just me.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Karen.

I'm guessing it might be Karen too, given the huge PCS boost she got and the much lower than expected PCS Ashley got. Karen is prone to URs and Ashley does better in the FS, but I'm wondering if the writing is on the wall for Ashley.

It would be really interesting if Angela (who was a pleasant surprise!) won bronze, and Ashley or Karen were 4th, in which case you'd get another Mirai/Ashley 2014 scenario.

I am happy for Mirai though - I actually thought she'd be ahead of Tennell with the 3A advantage technically, but Tennell was obviously uber-boosted on her PCS.

Tennell should go to the Olympics given her technical ability, but I hope the USFSA isn't scratching their heads as to why her PCS is sub-30, unless they politic like they've never politicked before to bump up her PCS internationally.

 

[temadd]

Looking at the protocols:

Ashley and Mirai were both hammered in transitions. HUGE discrepancies among the judges for Bradie. 1/3 were mostly in the 7.75 range, 1/3 in the 7.75-8.50 range, and 1/3 in the 8.75-9.00 range. Weird, weird discrepancies. GOEs way too high, but Mirai and Karen also have lots of undeserved +3s.

I wouldn't say there's a "fix." They're rewarding clean skates and punishing lack of transitions.

And Ashley did beat Bradie handily in interpretation, with scores in the 8.50-9.00 range, while Bradie had scores in the 7.25-8.50 range.


---

Here's another observation: The judges are really trigger happy with the +3 button when it comes to spins. Bradie, Mirai, Karen all benefitted from that. Guess who isn't a good spinner? Ashley. So she didn't benefit from that GOE bump (and, even then, one judge tried to give her a +3 for her flying sit!).

The problem is that Ashley's spins are greatly improved. Again these judges are too afraid to judge what they see and judge by reputation. .Karen's spins are clearly better but I don't think we can call Ashley a weak spinner anymore.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

And then there was Judge 2 who was way out of line with the rest of the panel judging Wang's 3L, giving her a -3. Everyone else had her at 0 through +2. :scowl:

 

[flipsydoodle]

Lynn Rutherford just tweeted this:

"In the mixed zone, @AshWagner2010 said she and Raf would "go back to the drawing board" after #USchamps18 and consider working up a new short. She's inspired by the freshness of "La La Land" and wants the same feeling in the short."

The arrogance of this astonishes me. Work up a new program right after nationals? She’s assuming she’ll go to the Olympics? With a repeat performance on Friday, she might not even make the Worlds team.... she might get 4CCs, but that’s in, like, 2weeks. No time for a new short before then, and Ashley doesn’t do 4CCs anyway.

I’ll bet USFSA got royally ticked when AW said at Skate America that it really wasn’t an important event for her. That her main focus was on Nationals so she could be on the Olympic team. Most anyone else would have loved to have been given the chance to skate at Skate America. If she felt that way, she could have declared herself injured 2 weeks before so someone else could have her spot.

I’ll bet that whole incident at SA didn’t go down well with USFSA. Reality check time...... No more favors....

 

[skatespin]

TBH, i'm not sure why Angela Wang is so far behind Bradie's score.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Looking at the protocols:

Ashley and Mirai were both hammered in transitions. HUGE discrepancies among the judges for Bradie. 1/3 were mostly in the 7.75 range, 1/3 in the 7.75-8.50 range, and 1/3 in the 8.75-9.00 range. Weird, weird discrepancies. GOEs way too high, but Mirai and Karen also have lots of undeserved +3s.

I wouldn't say there's a "fix." They're rewarding clean skates and punishing lack of transitions.

And Ashley did beat Bradie handily in interpretation, with scores in the 8.50-9.00 range, while Bradie had scores in the 7.25-8.50 range.


---

Here's another observation: The judges are really trigger happy with the +3 button when it comes to spins. Bradie, Mirai, Karen all benefitted from that. Guess who isn't a good spinner? Ashley. So she didn't benefit from that GOE bump (and, even then, one judge tried to give her a +3 for her flying sit!).

Truth!!

I’m far more concerned with the skating than any of the judging.

 

[TCAngel18]

If I am Ashley, I pull the fastest Nick Saban I can, and start mentioning “Body of Work” in interviews.

In college football this year, after Alabama lost to Auburn, they were considered out of consideration to make the playoffs, but Nick Saban started mentioning Body of Work in his interviews, and Alabama got the nod over Ohio State and USC.

 

[KweenAsada]

Hmm..this was interesting!

This title is Mirai's for the taking. This is the second year in a row that the judges have put her in the perfect position going into the free. They are so ready for her to make a statement and if she hits, she's the winner. Now or never, girl. Also, my dearest Mirai, start prepping that triple axel/triple toe for the Olympics. Why not!

I think Bradie is in unless she straight up bombs and I think Ashley will overtake Karen and the 4th place girl(whose name I do not recall).

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I'm not really a huge fan of any of the ladies, but I will be heartbroken for Ashley if she doesn't make the team. It must hurt to have 3 nationals titles, with none coming in Olympic years. I also think she was hosed in PCS, but that's just me.

Oh, it's not just you. She was indeed shortchanged in PCS. Probably deserved more like 34-34.5 (Nationals scoring, mind you). And I'd have had Karen a bit higher (just above 34... with Nationals scoring). Tennell would be around a 31.5-32 for me.

 

[klutzonice]

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with Mirai either. I feel like we heard all summer how well she was hitting the triple axel, and then when it came time for the grand prix, her results were not great. Then tonight, the same thing. What is going to change going forward? I didn't realize how much of a benefit a poorly executed triple axle was over a double axle, surprised there's not more of them around in the short.

Other ladies step out from triple jumps all the time, and this is the triple axel we're talking about - no need to be so harsh on Mirai!

 

[topaz emerald]

She is SO SOLID! brillinat skate...so HAPPY for her. And she deserved an ovation. She better make the team....shes the only one with two Olympic worthy programs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9XL-Jle5PI

 

[twirlingblades]

Of course now TSL is trashing Wagner on twitter. No wonder she probably hates them.

 

[temadd]

Other ladies step out from triple jumps all the time, and this is the triple axel we're talking about - no need to be so harsh on Mirai!

I don't think that's being harsh I think it's just being honest. That was a very two-footed landing.