Ladies SP

[emma]

I agree with Kurt. I feel like Caroline will always have trouble with consistency on the flip and lutz if she does not correct that high leg kick. I watched the SP on the ice network and her leg was kicked so high her body looked parallel to the ice(almost like a backward spiral position). I fear for her hips the way she is taking off on the loop jump and she needs to work on her axel technique too. She needs alot more power in her stroking to gain speed. I actually think the lack of speed/power in her skating is what will hold her back the most if it not improved significantly. I don't mean to be tearing her down because I love her spins, spirals, and neat footwork(I loved her straight line FW in the short today). I think she has displayed great artistry on the ice in the past. She already has so many terrific qualities and is still young with time to work on her jumping technique.

thanks for the detailed post - I did notice the mule kick; i just thought the commentary sounded harsh, particularly in light of the relatively bad performances from a number of skaters. But, I see your points.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

It is so nice to see Joanie back to her Firebird form. The routine was gorgeous and without reference to the musical she was Summertime. She can win this.

Oh Bebe, if you hadn't fallen, you would have been Silver.

other than the 2 mentoned above, the Ladies just don't have it.

 

[fumie_fumie]

I didn't watch CBC either, but I think that they're very odd comments considering how the other ladies skated. It's not like Caroline was following Yu-Na and Mao's best SPs. Too much homerism. Joannie was good, but not that good. And did they eat their words after Carolina skated?


BTW, the ladies SPs are now up for on demand viewing at the icenetwork.

I watched both Joannie and Carolina compete in the arena and Joannie was that good. You wouldn't know what you are missing by watching it on youtube or icenetwork.

 

[emma]

I watched both Joannie and Carolina compete in the arena and Joannie was that good. You wouldn't know what you are missing by watching it on youtube or icenetwork.

thanks for your reports - joannie looked really good on Youtube, you are sooooo lucky to see it live!!! I really, really hope she skates a good FS.

 

[Tinymavy15]

This is very strange competition. It's bad when everybody skates bad. I wish Bebe would have landed that darn flip....she could have even medaled!
yeah, i was expecting Caroline to go out and be unfased by all the others problems, but she is getting older, wiser and more nervous.
Did anybody skate clean?

 

[flying camel]

This is very strange competition. It's bad when everybody skates bad. I wish Bebe would have landed that darn flip....she could have even medaled!
yeah, i was expecting Caroline to go out and be unfased by all the others problems, but she is getting older, wiser and more nervous.
Did anybody skate clean?

I think only the girl from GB.

 

[ChrisH]

I watched both Joannie and Carolina compete in the arena and Joannie was that good. You wouldn't know what you are missing by watching it on youtube or icenetwork.

That's a lot to lay on one performance. I was there at Golden West to see Caroline put 20+ points into her nearest competitor in the LP. If Caroline comes back and beats Joannie in the LP, then what are you and the CBC announcers going to say, that Joannie appears like she doesn't belong out there competiting against Caroline?

Do the CBC announcers know that Caroline won senior GP silver and bronze medals last year and finished 4th in the GPF? How about showing Joannie's competitors some respect rather than suggesting a total revamp of technique based on one fall in the SP? Caroline did finish 3rd best out of 12 ladies in the SP. Did the announcers suggest that Carolina Kostner (7th), Cynthia Phaneuf (9th), and Myriane Samson (12th) should revamp their jump techniques? It's comments like those from the CBC that encourage fans to root for others to beat Joannie.

 

[oleada]

Saying that Caroline needs to revamp her jump technique isn't exactly something that's new or based on this SP alone - her jump technique does have a lot of issues, is unpleasant to watch, could lead to injuries and it's hardly orthodox.

 

[LKR722]

thanks for the detailed post - I did notice the mule kick; i just thought the commentary sounded harsh, particularly in light of the relatively bad performances from a number of skaters. But, I see your points.

Oh I certaintly think Caroline belongs out there with the other senior ladies. She has already proved that by medaling in the GP last season. I just think she needs to learn the correct jumping technique to able to compete with the likes of Joannie, Mao, and Yu-Na for the major podiums. I think Caroline's time will most likely be after the 2010 Olympics. Getting this experience in competition will help her, and I think she will be tremendous skater if she can change some of her jumping technique.

 

[beep_beep]

That's a lot to lay on one performance. I was there at Golden West to see Caroline put 20+ points into her nearest competitor in the LP. If Caroline comes back and beats Joannie in the LP, then what are you and the CBC announcers going to say, that Joannie appears like she doesn't belong out there competiting against Caroline?

Do the CBC announcers know that Caroline won senior GP silver and bronze medals last year and finished 4th in the GPF? How about showing Joannie's competitors some respect rather than suggesting a total revamp of technique based on one fall in the SP? Caroline did finish 3rd best out of 12 ladies in the SP. Did the announcers suggest that Carolina Kostner (7th), Cynthia Phaneuf (9th), and Myriane Samson (12th) should revamp their jump techniques? It's comments like those from the CBC that encourage fans to root for others to beat Joannie.

I'm not too sure whether to blame CBC (entirely) on this or not...
(I haven't watched it, I´m going solely on what's been said here, and I haven't watched Caroline's SP yet)
It seems that they're playing it exactly like NBC does for US skaters...hwell:

 

[bekalc]

That's a lot to lay on one performance. I was there at Golden West to see Caroline put 20+ points into her nearest competitor in the LP. If Caroline comes back and beats Joannie in the LP, then what are you and the CBC announcers going to say, that Joannie appears like she doesn't belong out there competiting against Caroline?

Do the CBC announcers know that Caroline won senior GP silver and bronze medals last year and finished 4th in the GPF? How about showing Joannie's competitors some respect rather than suggesting a total revamp of technique based on one fall in the SP? Caroline did finish 3rd best out of 12 ladies in the SP. Did the announcers suggest that Carolina Kostner (7th), Cynthia Phaneuf (9th), and Myriane Samson (12th) should revamp their jump techniques? It's comments like those from the CBC that encourage fans to root for others to beat Joannie.

Caroline also skated in very weak GP events last year. Joannie had I think almost 20 points higher than Zhang in scores, she just had the misfortune in skating in much tougher events than Zhang did. And nobody is basing this on seeing one skate from Caroline.... Kurt's seen her before as has Tracy Wilson.

 

[Tinymavy15]

It really is a pity that Carolina skate so poorly. For once she wore something that was not hideous and I though the chreo went with the music (for once). I thought that she could do a pretty good tango...it is her style.

 

[AwesomeIce]

It really is a pity that Carolina skate so poorly. For once she wore something that was not hideous and I though the chreo went with the music (for once). I thought that she could do a pretty good tango...it is her style.

She's never been an early-season skater, though. I'd expect the program to look much better in the coming months.

 

[lmarie086]

It really is a pity that Carolina skate so poorly. For once she wore something that was not hideous and I though the chreo went with the music (for once). I thought that she could do a pretty good tango...it is her style.

She's never been an early-season skater, though. I'd expect the program to look much better in the coming months.

Isn't she just coming off of a foot injury as well? Or maybe I'm confusing her with someone else...

 

[feraina]

With regards to her fall on the 3F, I think that she wasn't leaning forward enough. Her air position at World Juniors was leaning slightly forwards.

Leaning forward is dangerous. She fell on the 3F at 2007 junior National's because of that. I think for today's 3F, she was leaning a little too much forward during take-off as she reached back & up with her free leg -- it looks like maybe she hit her toepick on her left foot, and then lost a lot of speed going into the jump. I actually think she fell because she didn't have enough speed coming out of it.

But, you are right, she did not under-rotate the 3F -- I saved the 700K Icenetwork video and can replay it in slow-mo in full screen mode, and it's clear that she rotated fully. It was weird, it looked like she didn't have the confidence she would land it, so she was reaching for the ground on landing instead of standing up tall and attacking the 3T.

 

[R.D.]

It seems that they're playing it exactly like NBC does for US skaters...hwell:

then someone ought to explain to me why Scott was basically waxing poetic about Yuna Kim and saying how she's so great and phenomenal and miles ahead of everyone else :think:

ABC/ESPN had plenty of American bias as well when they had coverage. I would not single out NBC for this behavior.

NBC didn't even show us Kimmie's or Rachel's SP at SA. I'm SURE if ABC were covering it, they would have shown all three Americans and maybe the leader and that's it.

 

[fiercemao]

Joannie is a solid skater, but she's not all that specutacular outside Canada. Her spins are pretty awful, and she hasn't produced any memorable programs in recent years.

I would take CBC commentators' rants with a huge grain of salt.

 

[beep_beep]

then someone ought to explain to me why Scott was basically waxing poetic about Yuna Kim and saying how she's so great and phenomenal and miles ahead of everyone else :think: .

No one was nearly as good... especially with the american girls making mistakes (like many else, don"t take me wrong, I really wanted them to rock it).
I was thinking more on the men's competition (and the Lysacek vs. Kozuka forget Weir thing)

ABC/ESPN had plenty of American bias as well when they had coverage. I would not single out NBC for this behavior.

True, true, true, true....

 

[AwesomeIce]

Isn't she just coming off of a foot injury as well? Or maybe I'm confusing her with someone else...

I had heard that she was injured, but I didn't know it it was just rumor or conjecture or whatever. Don't know if it has been confirmed anywhere.

 

[bekalc]

then someone ought to explain to me why Scott was basically waxing poetic about Yuna Kim and saying how she's so great and phenomenal and miles ahead of everyone else .

Just because commentators are rooting for their own nations, doesn't mean that they can't appreciate a truly great skater. Besides it wasn't look the American skaters were anywhere near her level.