I've never seen her do it before. In fact, AFAIR, the only US lady to land 3A2t in the SP was Tonya Harding, and I think she only did it once at Skate America, I think in 1993? (Not sure of the year)
Here's a link to Mr. Ski's video of Melissa's SP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uVNW8hA-R8
Unfortunately, the camera is dying the slow death, and the camera work is therefore not up to his usual standard. I'll be linking to some other vids he took as we get them uploaded, but don't expect too much. I apologize in advance. Melissa's is one of the better ones.
Ski has been ill, and his stamina is still not up to par, so we only saw the Sr. Ladies SP (parts A & B) and the Sr. Men's SP.
Sylvia has already given you the placings and the jump calls, so I'll just throw in some random impressions.
The ladies' field was very skimpy. Ashley Wagner was at the event, but not skating. She is being monitored tomorrow. She was sitting with Adam Rippon, watching the Sr. Men. Adam is also being monitored tomorrow. Adam has his curly hair back. Patrick Chan is still here. I saw him in the lobby, talking to friends. No one is absolutely positive he is skating in the LP. I have my fingers crossed.
In fact, the audience was skimpy at the ladies' event, because there were no major names skating. The arena was packed full for the men's SP.
The reason Ryan Bradley placed so low in the Men's SP would be that he fell on his quad toe combination, which was downgraded to a 3t, and did a 2A. OTOH, his footwork was a lot more complex than in previous years, and I wonder whether that hasn't been a focus for him this early in the season. He skated to a version of Dark Eyes I hadn't heard before. He also may be nursing some injury--he wasn't performing for the crowd in the same way he did last year at Liberty, but it may just be focussing. This may be a great program later in the season. (8th, I think)
Armin Mahbanoozedeh fell on his 3A attempt, but had a very nice combination.
I really like Tommy Steenberg's program. He had some unique moves and a Bobrinesque kind of sideways flip in his footwork. His jump content was weak (2a, 3s, 3/2) but it was very entertaining. (No vido
) The batteries died.
Shaun Rogers managed his 4t but it was low, so no combo. Good 3A and 3 lz-and then he missed a spin entirely (should have gotten no points because it stopped before it started) He could well have finished higher.
Keegan Messing gutted out holding on to his triple axel with a very low Stojko-esque landing. His spins are absolutely amazing for their speed, and he had a couple of great positions, too. He ran out of rink on his triple triple combination and was only able to get a single toe because he was at the boards. He has amazing acceleration and changes of direction very much like Scotty Hamilton in his competitive days. (6th)
Jonathon Cassar did a program reminiscent of Ryan Jahnke. He has a great spread eagle sequence and a lot of style. We did not get a video. Think he was third?
Ross Minor landed all his jumps to finish second. He skated to a version of Carmen performed on the trumpet. He may or may not have put a hand down on the 3A, but a great effort for him. His father sat near us, and he was obviously thrilled with Ross's performance. His spins were rather weak, and the ending with a Sandhu butt spin was not the greatest choice for Carmen , I thought.
Douglas Razzano won with a well performed, fluid performanced. He did reverse lunges (forward and backward, one right after the other) which I really liked.
Please dont apologise for the quality. I am sooooo thankful for the videos:yes: I hope you guys are having a wonderful time at the competition and I hope Mr Ski is feeling much better soon. Give my thanks to him for the videos as well.
