2017-18 State of U.S. Men's Figure Skating | Page 100 | Golden Skate

2017-18 State of U.S. Men's Figure Skating

brightphoton said:
well ....

at least Vera got rid of the neon Tron stripes from Nathan's costume
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That was his FS costume with a more subtle zipper. I wonder if we'll see something new (please don't be monstrous, please don't be something montrous) for the individual events.
... (Part of me was worried in January that cutting the curls would be a Samson-like issue, and while I don't think it's actually true... :ohwell: )

At least there's a week now to shake it off and come back for redemption. I really hope there isn't a shell-game regarding with who we expect to see in the Team FS.
 
I hope the NBC hype train isn't getting to Nathan. He seems like a cool cucumber with a level head, so maybe it was just nerves. It's only day one of the Olympics and I'm already sick of the hype around him and all the puff pieces, but this is the Olympics and NBC so it's to be expected.

I suppose it's best to mess up in the team event and save his best for the individual event. Also, thanks to the Knierims 4th place finish, the US is currently in 2nd behind Canada. That all could change after Sunday but it's nice that they didn't suffer too much from Nathan's sub par outing.
 
apgold said:
I hope the NBC hype train isn't getting to Nathan. He seems like a cool cucumber with a level head, so maybe it was just nerves.

I suppose it's best to mess up in the team event and save his best for the individual event. Also, thanks to the Knierims 4th place finish, the US is currently in 2nd behind Canada. That all could change after Sunday but it's nice that they didn't suffer too much from Nathan's sub par outing.
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:2thumbs:

I think the Nathan we know will come roaring back for the individual events. He'll be angry with himself, and every bit of emotion helps. But you're right, he's pretty unflappable. His answers in the interview, as always, struck just the right tone and content.

I've still got a bee in my bonnet about the early hour. Someone in the comp thread said, for a 10:00 start, the athletes would need to get up at 4 to get ready, get their training in, etc. It seems to me that when they aren't accustomed to beginning a competition that early, it could have an effect. Circadian rhythms alert ... when many of them have already traveled halfway around the world in the past week. Looking at how much better the pairs event was in comparison to the men's, it seems even more likely. Those 2 hours could have made a difference.

Great skate from the Knierims. They looked so happy and thrilled just to be there, and to be having this experience ... which I'm sure helped them so much. they've "banked" an Olympic moment already!
 
skylark said:
:
I've still got a bee in my bonnet about the early hour. Someone in the comp thread said, for a 10:00 start, the athletes would need to get up at 4 to get ready, get their training in, etc. It seems to me that when they aren't accustomed to beginning a competition that early, it could have an effect. Circadian rhythms alert ... when many of them have already traveled halfway around the world in the past week. Looking at how much better the pairs event was in comparison to the men's, it seems even more likely. Those 2 hours could have made a difference.
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Agreed. Annoyingly - every individual event is held at 10:00 am. The events in Sochi, Vancouver, and Torino were scheduled in the afternoon and evening.
 
el henry said:
IF you take the team event seriously
you DON'T make decisions about the whole event before the SP is even skated.
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So your lawyerly criticism (as it rather seems to me, who knows almost nothing about lawyers' thinking) is that the US committee isn't taking the event seriously?

If so, I think you're onto something. It seems to me that they were totally expecting US athletes to be able to get the team bronze ... and counting on it ... but not even to challenge for silver, as Canada and OAR would duke it out. It reminds me, actually, of so many of the conversations around GS, in which people seem to be predicting with 95% certainty about the outcomes. When it seems to me that anyone who watches figure skating would know that anything can happen.
 
Did anyone else think Chen was "trying too hard" in non-jump content? He came off overly aggressive and exaggerated (thus fake) in his choreo today. That worries me because I believe that has an impact on jumps as well. Even his spins were not up to his usual standard.
 
Check Leslie Jones' Twitter account: some exhilarating FS comments there
[emoji23][emoji23]
 
schizoanalyst said:
Agreed. Annoyingly - every individual event is held at 10:00 am. The events in Sochi, Vancouver, and Torino were scheduled in the afternoon and evening.
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Someone said NBC pushed for this schedule. I didn't read direct info on this but they certainly requested that the swimming events in 2008 be scheduled in the morning for prime time in the US. I remember athletes saying that they had to drink couple espressos each morning to get their body awake. So, blame NBC if you want.
 
Bcash said:
Someone said NBC pushed for this schedule. I didn't read direct info on this but they certainly requested that the swimming events in 2008 be scheduled in the morning for prime time in the US. I remember athletes saying that they had to drink couple espressos each morning to get their body awake. So, blame NBC if you want.
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I just don't get why America would get such preferential treatment(When the Olympics aren't even anywhere near their country) when continents like Europe would be much better served by afternoon times. And when we compare the entire continent of Europe to USA, it has quite a bit more population also. Unfortunately, this means that I can't watch this and couldn't see Nathan Chen who's my favorite skater in this SP.

It also does seem like the skaters themselves aren't able to skate to the best of their abilities, as we could see by many of the sub-par SP performances here. I can only hope they will perform better in the FS.

apgold said:
I hope the NBC hype train isn't getting to Nathan. He seems like a cool cucumber with a level head, so maybe it was just nerves. It's only day one of the Olympics and I'm already sick of the hype around him and all the puff pieces, but this is the Olympics and NBC so it's to be expected.

I suppose it's best to mess up in the team event and save his best for the individual event. Also, thanks to the Knierims 4th place finish, the US is currently in 2nd behind Canada. That all could change after Sunday but it's nice that they didn't suffer too much from Nathan's sub par outing.
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Yes, that's important. Hopefully he'll be able to concentrate on the individual event without worries or feeling like he let his team down.
 
Shayuki said:
I just don't get why America would get such preferential treatment(When the Olympics aren't even anywhere near their country) when continents like Europe would be much better served by afternoon times. And when we compare the entire continent of Europe to USA, it has quite a bit more population also.

Unfortunately, I now can't watch almost any of these competitions. Would certainly have enjoyed seeing Nathan skate today also(He is my favorite of all the contestants in this team SP).

Even if we assume that it's not just me being selfish here, afternoon times tend to be much more comfortable for the actual athletes and it would be a shame if we had a sub par competition just because of the push to have the competitions so early in the morning. We did notice it in this SP as well.. very few skaters had passable skates, many their worst of the entire season.

I can only hope that Nathan and co. have a better FS performance but if it's also scheduled for so early in the morning I'm not really able to be very confident in that...
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$$
 
I don't think Nathan is quite the cool customer that people think he is. He is very bright and thoughtful and reserved but he does seem to be affected by the big moments to the point where his confidence and/or concentration is compromised. I never thought he was a good bet for Gold but was hoping for a podium finish and still am. I also don't think Shoma is that sure a bet. I think Jin and Hanyu and Fernandez or perhaps someone unexpected with be top three. I hope I'm wrong but well we'll see.
 
skylark said:
So your lawyerly criticism (as it rather seems to me, who knows almost nothing about lawyers' thinking) is that the US committee isn't taking the event seriously?

If so, I think you're onto something. It seems to me that they were totally expecting US athletes to be able to get the team bronze ... and counting on it ... but not even to challenge for silver, as Canada and OAR would duke it out. It reminds me, actually, of so many of the conversations around GS, in which people seem to be predicting with 95% certainty about the outcomes. When it seems to me that anyone who watches figure skating would know that anything can happen.
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You got me with the “lawyerly” , I can’t help it.:biggrin: I don’t know whether we are supposed to take the event seriously or just treat it as a WTT. And, having been immersed in a team sport recently, I am also bringing those vibes to the event:)

So to tie it into US men, maybe Nathan would want to take it easy as he has a realistic chance at an individual medal, but what does that do the “team”? Meryl and Charlie skated *both* the team SD and FD in Sochi. They are the reason that Jeremy and Jason (since this is the men’s thread ;) ) have team bronze. It didn’t seem to hurt their individual medal chances, taking the team event seriously enough to skate both events. But then do we get to the OMG quads are so hard, Nathan can’t possibly be expected to skate them all? Decisions, decisions. But it does all come back to the how seriously do we take it model?:scratch2:
 
I worry about Nathan, Vincent, and all the multi-quad guys. The timing on those jumps has to be so perfect that even the slightest bit of nerves can throw them off. The Sochi event was ugly and most guys were only trying one type of quad, I can't imagine what this event is going to be like when most are doing two types in the SP alone. Hopefully nothing like what we saw last night.
 
el henry said:
You got me with the “lawyerly” , I can’t help it.:biggrin: I don’t know whether we are supposed to take the event seriously or just treat it as a WTT. And, having been immersed in a team sport recently, I am also bringing those vibes to the event:)
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Aha, oho, I knew it! I'm patting myself on the back big time. :yes2: Not the first time I noticed it, :)

So to tie it into US men, maybe Nathan would want to take it easy as he has a realistic chance at an individual medal, but what does that do the “team”? Meryl and Charlie skated *both* the team SD and FD in Sochi. They are the reason that Jeremy and Jason (since this is the men’s thread ;) ) have team bronze. It didn’t seem to hurt their individual medal chances, taking the team event seriously enough to skate both events. But then do we get to the OMG quads are so hard, Nathan can’t possibly be expected to skate them all? Decisions, decisions. But it does all come back to the how seriously do we take it model?:scratch2:
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Meryl and Charlie had been to an Olympics in 2010. They'd been preparing for Sochi since they got down from their Oly silver medal podium. (Charlie said as much, in his so charming Charlie way!) I take it that just being at the Olympics and stepping on Olympic ice is different ... from such sources as Scott Hamilton, Tara and Johnny, Evan. And not to mention that by 2014, Meryl and Charlie were superhuman in athleticism and consistency. Literally superhuman!

Someone in the comp thread said that if you're doing quads at 10 a.m., that means you're doing triples at 6 a.m. That puts it in perspective for those of us (um ... me) who can't bodily comprehend the amounts of energy that doing a quad jump requires and expends. I read somewhere that the toe pick launching oneself into a quad toe (or flip or lutz) increases the pressure on the toe geometrically. I don't recall the number of multiples, but it was high.

Which brings me back to my complaint. These athletes are accustomed to being ready to compete in mid-afternoon, or sometimes around noon at the earliest. It gives perspective on why yesterday's pairs event was overall so much more enjoyable.
 
No problem. Nathan has got his first Olympics jitters out of the way before the individual competition starts, and by at least holding on to fourth, with the worst short program he has ever skated, he has not hurt USA's prospects for a team medal, thanks in part to Scemica-Knierim & Knierim's respectable skate.

In the LP, Adam, sans the 4Lz << , can sit back and rack up the slay count as the quadsters stumble and bumble and crumble one by one. ;)
 
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