2018 US Championships Sr Men FS | Page 87 | Golden Skate

2018 US Championships Sr Men FS

They need to send Adam over Ross. Adam is so far ahead of Ross it feels wrong to even have them in the same sentence. Vincent is a 17 year old up and comer who needs to work on his skating skills but otherwise has already eclipsed Ross career-wise, as the latter has been going nowhere fast for years. It's a painful, cruel decision to have to make but it's right there plain as day. If they were willing to do it to sentimental sweetheart Mirai, I assume they're willing to do it here as well.
 
Oh my goodness. I couldn't watch tonight and just caught up.

Adam..thought he was home free after that last 3-3 and then disaster. Unbelievable for him.

Ross..incredible. Skate of his life when it mattered most. He was on exactly zero people's radars coming into this but he delivered under immense pressure. It will be hard to deny him.

Vincent..that first combo is so solid. He has great potential but I do think Adam will be named ahead of him in a "body of work " situation. Him and Adam are "tied" under Tier 1 criteria...with Vincent beating Adam here and with Adam qualifying for GPF. Adam will have the edge in Tier 2 criteria, the 2017 GP series. Though Vincent scores major points in the Tier 3 criteria, with his silver at Nationals last year and his world junior title. He also beat Adam by 1 point at Finlandia this year. This is such a difficult decision for the selection committee.

Nathan...fantastic. He finally got a solid FS under his belt and that program has come a long way, artistically. I see him as the favorite going into Korea...Nathan performed better than Uno and Kolyada did at their national championships, and with the uncertainty surrounding Hanyu and Chan....it could be his time. This 3A issue is worrisome, though. He needs to figure that out.

Jason...sad, but unfortunately not unexpected. At least he was in Sochi...I wonder if this will be the end for his career.
 
OMG...Ross seems nice and all but after the 4S;3/3 I got bored. I'm sorry.. Should I even watch Vincent? That quad/triple he did in his short was divine but he's just not someone I watch....sloppppy.
 
They need to send Adam over Ross. Adam is so far ahead of Ross it feels wrong to even have them in the same sentence. Vincent is a 17 year old up and comer who needs to work on his skating skills but otherwise has already eclipsed Ross career-wise, as the latter has been going nowhere fast for years. It's a painful, cruel decision to have to make but it's right there plain as day. If they were willing to do it to sentimental sweetheart Mirai, I assume they're willing to do it here as well.

If he had lost to Vincent, I'd agree with you, but it's going to be very tough for USFS to deny their silver medalist at Nationals. Remember, Mirai took bronze in 2014. If she had beaten Polina, she likely would have gone in her place. Either way, it's a tough decision.
 
It's hard to not give Ross a spot - he was the first qualifier behind Nathan. He basically did what any one of the guys could have optimally expected to do with Nathan competing.

But I'm for Nathan, Adam and Ross.

Although the irony of Rippon over Zhou and pulling the same thing his bestie Ashley did over Mirai in 2014 would be incredible.

This was the first thing i thought is going to happen when i saw adam placed so low.
 
Watched the performances. Thoughts:

1. I'm so glad auser warned me about how emotionally draining this would be.
2. It was noticeable how many skaters had inferior free programs as compared to their shorts. I'm used to the free giving skaters more of an opportunity to express themselves but that was not the case here. Give me Jimmy, Alex, and Alexei's short programs any day over their free programs.
3. This is completely random but I love that Tim is the only skater who transitions well out of that sit position with the leg behind into a crossfoot spin. I hate when they can't untangle the leg from the sit.

Grant: Great skating and well interpreted program. It was one of my favorites despite the mistakes. I felt so sad when he was saying goodbye at the end.

Vincent: Good for him. I still think his free is overambitious in its content and I hate the music choice, but he's a good competitor and he's growing. I don't see the point of going for all of those quads, especially in second half if he cannot rotate them.

Ross: This was a Rudy Galindo moment. Wonderful to watch. I was so shocked when he landed that quad. He performed the hell out of Queen.

Adam: This was like a movie where I knew the ending but still expected it to go differently. I cannot believe he popped those jumps. He was skating beautifully and he's competed so well this year. My heart broke for him.

Jason: His spiral and split jumps are life! It was so messy technically though. Not a huge surprise since Jason never seemed to get comfortable this season. Kudos to him for remaining positive despite the fact that he was obviously disappointed.

Nathan: Not buying it Vera. I'll leave it at that. I was thrilled to see his jumps back. He didn't pop the sal, which was a minor victory in itself. Having said that I was still mourning a bit at the lost potential of that program. I guess I'll just have to keep rewatching Autumn Classic. So many of the small things and the movements that I found effective are gone. The footwork sequence, which was killer, doesn't have the same impact anymore. I will give him props for owning his Paul Wylie spread eagle moment at the end though. I understand that he wants to win, so the program has to serve the jumps but I'm still saddened by it.

Team: I'm glad I don't have to choose. I want them to pull an Adam body of work move but over whom? Ross can be wildly inconsistent and I do not know if his very American style will play as well at the Olympics. But he seized the moment and he's in second so it seems wrong for him not to go. Vincent is the future and could use the experience.
 
I'm incredibly sad that Jason is not even mentioned in this thread. It's sad but it's the reality that he did not have the season nor the National experience to even be considered.

I'm listening to the press conference and it saddened me to hear Vincent Zhou talk about a hip problem he had last year as a junior. 17 and a hip problem! Will he be walking at age 21?

Well Jason is even below Hochstein. There's not much case that can be made. And his 'body of work' is inferior to Rippon's.
 
Sending Chen/Miner/Zhou to the Olympics and Chen/Zhou/Rippon to Worlds is the answer that best balances rewarding people for showing up when it counts with a concern for the bigger picture and caring about future spots. It's also a decision that few would find that controversial. Unfortunately, I can see USFS totally messing it up and doing something stupid.

I completely agree with literally everything you said. Especially the last statement 🙄. I hope the US fed makes us swallow our words!
 
Is it USFSA that made a "big deal" out of this nationals or was it the media/fans? I'm pretty certain they have been more than clear that it is about body of work now.

People keep saying PR would be terrible, but why would it be terrible NOW after they have already said it isn't just about nationals. No one should be shocked if Ross (or Vincent, honestly) isn't chosen merely because they medaled this one time.


When the USA WAG program switched the criteria from Olympic trials to selection committee in 2000, they had a paper drawn up informing the coaches that no matter what the placement was at the trials, the selection committee has the last word. The coaches had to sign on to it. They were mad about it, but eventually it paid off for the program to have that flexibility. I know about this paper because they pretty clearly made a point to tell the NBC commenters about it and they talked about it on air both at the nationals and the trials. If USFSA wanted to make it clear that the selection committee's choices were what counted, they would make sure that's what the media talked about.
 
Btw. During Adams kiss and cry time, they had to go on the loudspeaker and give a very stern warning that flash photography was not allowed. I wonder if that had anything to do with Adams performance?
Flash photography can cause senior international skaters to pop their jumps.
 
Vincent Zhou hasn't exactly had a terrible season: he won silver at 2017 Finlandia and was 4th at 2017 CoC. And he's the reigning JWC and was the 2017 US Senior silver medalist.

Send the top 3 to the Olympics, then send Chen, Zhou and Rippon to Worlds. I'd hate to see Ross revert to his GP form when spots for 2019 Worlds are at risk.

If this is the mindset regarding worlds then it should be the mindset regarding the Olympics. During the press conference after the ladies decision, the selection official said that the goal is to send whoever is most likely to win a medal. Reverting to GP form would certain work against Miner in this respect.
 
Dumb question, considered how dang long I’ve been watching skating. I know an Axel is required in the short program for men, either double or triple. Is it required in the Long? If not, if I’m Nathan, I ditch it. Go for the 5-6 quad long program, with no Axel.

4Lz
4F/3T
4F
4S
4T/2T/2Lo
4T
3Lz
3F

If this program is a bit much, take out the 4S, take off the 2R on the Quad Toe combo, make a 3Lz/1Lo/3S.

If the Axel is required, just go for a 2A at the end, and take out the weakest quad.

Nathan rarely ever performs a strong Axel with good GOE. Go with your strengths.
 
Dumb question, considered how dang long I’ve been watching skating. I know an Axel is required in the short program for men, either double or triple. Is it required in the Long? If not, if I’m Nathan, I ditch it. Go for the 5-6 quad long program, with no Axel.

4Lz
4F/3T
4F
4S
4T/2T/2Lo
4T
3Lz
3F

If this program is a bit much, take out the 4S, take off the 2R on the Quad Toe combo, make a 3Lz/1Lo/3S.

If the Axel is required, just go for a 2A at the end, and take out the weakest quad.

Nathan rarely ever performs a strong Axel with good GOE. Go with your strengths.

Yes..axel is required.

MEN
A well balanced Free Skating program for Men must contain:
• maximum of 8 jump elements (one of which must be an Axel type jump);
• maximum of 4 spins, one of which must be a spin-combination, one a flying spin and one a spin with only
one position;
• maximum of 2 step sequences of a different nature.
 
It is actually interesting to contemplate this choice when you have no strong preference....

If Ross had been third, I think the USFS would throw him over for Adam in a heartbeat. But second? How do you not send the silver medalist? So now the decision is, do you throw over Vincent for Adam?

I’m just glad I have Deniss, Misha, and Julian in guaranteed Olympic spots:biggrin:
 
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