Championship Ladies SP

[ManyCairns]

Kandidy, you're the best in the whole wide world .... thanks for posting the vid. Sasha is just beautiful, her costume, her music, wow!!!

Totally unimportant compared to the good performance, of course, but since there were quite a few comments during her warmup about Sasha's costume, I have to say I thought it looked more can-can than Spanish. I actually never have liked many of Cohen's costumes ... but she is undeniably attractive and she really did a great performance in her SP, considering her long absence especially. Good for her.

PS: And I actually did find the Hall of Fame Induction of interest. Of course I recognized Sarah, Todd, and Jenni, but who was the older gentleman being inducted? TIA.

 

[jenaj]

Rachel had slow spins, terrible positioning, sub-par spiral sequence. She landed some good jumps but that is the only thing to sing about in her program. .

Rachael got level 4 on her spiral sequence and 2 of her spins, and positive GOE on all of these elements. Maybe from a purely aesthetic point of view, she is not up to the level of Mirai and Sasha. But there is no mark for posture.

 

[dannyascii]

Mirai's SP has been my favorite American ladies short this season since I saw it during the Grand Prix, so I was very happy that she skated so well. Good short for Sasha...not going to get my hopes up for the long though.
Did anyone else feel scores were slightly inflated? I mean, there were a lot of +3 GOEs thrown around...

 

[demarinis5]

^^Yeah they were a bit generous but imo in a fair way. No one was held up.

 

[Dee4707]

Well D you just have to excuse some people because when they miss the sale they do an awful lot of clucking.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

I woke up this morning with skating on the brain...very glad to see that Ms. Cohen had a fine skate and that my namesake, Mirai, shined like the star she is!

I would quite happy if this were our olympic team.

 

[Spun Silver]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/oly...olid-nagasu-spectacular-in-early-skating.html
Here's where Rachael says her jumps were shaky. (I didn't notice myself.)

 

[silverlake22]

Rachael got level 4 on her spiral sequence and 2 of her spins, and positive GOE on all of these elements. Maybe from a purely aesthetic point of view, she is not up to the level of Mirai and Sasha. But there is no mark for posture.

Rachael knows how to work the CoP, she is not my favorite skater, but I respect her a lot and think she has a great work ethic and great jumps. She deserves to be up their with Nagasu and Cohen.

I agree that Nagasu should have had a bigger lead over Cohen, but she is only 16 and lacking a bit of Sasha's maturity and presence. In terms of technical skills though (jumps, speed, spins, spirals) I think Mirai is better than Sasha, but I'm ok that Sasha's PCS were a bit higher. The top 3 were amazing and good for Ashley for not letting that one fall phase her.

Actually, the ladies results are a lot like the men's after the SP.

1.) Mirai /Jeremy: the icredibly talented underdogs!
2.) Sasha / Evan: the elegant veterans
3.) Rachael/Johnny: the fierce competitors
Ashley gets to be by herself
4.) Christina/Adam: the up-and-coming youngsters dripping with talent
5.) Amanda/Armin: the surprise youngsters
6.) Alissa/Ryan: the crowd pleasers who sometimes falter

interesting isn't it?

 

[KellyWil70]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/oly...olid-nagasu-spectacular-in-early-skating.html
Here's where Rachael says her jumps were shaky. (I didn't notice myself.)

Hersch didn't even mention Sasha!!

 

[MKFSfan]

Day after thoughts...I totally agree with the top 4 placings...

Mirai really, really, REALLY impressed me!! I hope she can keep it together and skate lights out tomorrow. I really do believe she deserved more of a lead, had better jumps, spins, speed and love her dress! She skated with a lot of spunk and personality. I'm sure she was super nervous but thought she did a great job looking like she was having fun out there. Hope this continues tomorrow!

Sasha looks great in red, not crazy about all the cut out design and hate the sleeves. I didn't notice last night she brought back her Dark Eyes rose for her hair. Her spiral sequence was the highlight of the program for me, great tension and extension as always, beautiful Russian Split and loved the forward charlotte. USFSA gave her a welcome back gift by ignoring flutz and UR combo. Also thought she had too much set up time between footwork and flip, but the flip was really well done. The only place I thought she looked less flexible than she used to was in the layback spin, just didn't have the stretch she used to, nor the attitude turn out, stretch or speed of Mirai (or Caroline or Alissa for that matter!).

Rachael really fought for her program and on 2nd watching, I didn't think the jumps were as sloppy as I originally thought. She had a MAJOR save on the 3flip and still pulled out a nice 3toe. The lutz and axle were a bit tight, but not terrible at all. She is just too slow, not sure if she was taking her time out there or what, but compared to the others in top 4, she seemed very s-l-o-w.

I have to rewatch Ashley's program , haven't seen it on youtube yet, but LOVE this SP for her. Very well done and if she can hit all her jumps, there would've been a virtual 4 way tie.

 

[Dee4707]

I woke up this morning with skating on the brain...very glad to see that Ms. Cohen had a fine skate and that my namesake, Mirai, shined like the star she is!

I would quite happy if this were our olympic team.

KW were you able to see the video of Sasha's SP????

 

[prettykeys]

I'm very happy for Sasha, and she looked stunningly gorgeous in her lacy blood red dress.

However, my favourite program was Mirai's! And she's so adorable in the K&C ^_____^

 

[NorthernLite]

Actually, the ladies results are a lot like the men's after the SP.
1.) Mirai /Jeremy: the icredibly talented underdogs!
2.) Sasha / Evan: the elegant veterans
3.) Rachael/Johnny: the fierce competitors

In no universe do I think of Evan as "elegant" like Sasha, and I especially don't think of Johnny as a strong competitor.
But back to this event, the ladies were a pleasant surprise in some ways. (And I guess the disappointing jumps from Alissa really aren't a surprise at this point.)

I'd had no idea Mirai was in the "place" she seems to be, mentally and physically. I suddenly became so nervous for Sasha I couldn't even watch the beginning (and haven't rewatched yet today) so I can't comment on the opening mistakes. But I will say her footwork section at the end is what really grabbed me. It was very fierce. I'd also forgotten how appealing Rachel's SP is, even though I'm not a big fan of hers overall. I'm probably going to be busy at least part of Saturday (missing the dance live), but I may forgo some evening events to come home and watch the ladies. It's going to be more exciting than I'd anticipated.

 

[inside edge]

Sasha looks great in red, not crazy about all the cut out design and hate the sleeves. I didn't notice last night she brought back her Dark Eyes rose for her hair. Her spiral sequence was the highlight of the program for me, great tension and extension as always, beautiful Russian Split and loved the forward charlotte. USFSA gave her a welcome back gift by ignoring flutz and UR combo. Also thought she had too much set up time between footwork and flip, but the flip was really well done. The only place I thought she looked less flexible than she used to was in the layback spin, just didn't have the stretch she used to, nor the attitude turn out, stretch or speed of Mirai (or Caroline or Alissa for that matter!).

USFSA gave her a welcome back gift by ignoring flutz and UR combo.:yes: :yes:

 

[katymay]

USFSA gave her a welcome back gift by ignoring flutz and UR combo.:yes: :yes:

Yup. That is about the size of it.

 

[MKFSfan]

Was this posted?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ing-sasha-cohen-short-program,0,6586088.story

Sasha Cohen was the headliner. And she put on a brilliant show.

Yet Mirai Nagasu still upstaged Cohen on the judges' scorecards, which provided an accurate reflection of Thursday's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

"She (Nagasu) must have been pretty good to beat that performance," said Cohen's coach, John Nicks.

Gotta give credit where credit is due...Sasha was nice but Mirai was better, even if the scores have them so close.

David Kirby, an international technical specialist not working this event but doing a closed-circuit radiocast in the arena, told his listening audience that Cohen took off from the wrong edge on the lutz. But the technical panel did not penalize her for it.

 

[katymay]

Wow!

Marai's is up on youtube as well, and after watching it she deserved to be slightly in first
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SDtAQbCP-o

WOW! That was a great program, thank you for posting it! Amazing! I hope she does as well in the long. Beautiful solid jumps (legal lutz-yeah!), terrific speed-just wow! love her dress as well. Simple and elegant.

 

[silverlake22]

Was this posted?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ing-sasha-cohen-short-program,0,6586088.story



Gotta give credit where credit is due...Sasha was nice but Mirai was better, even if the scores have them so close.

ITA. If Mirai brings it in the LP I think they could potentially put her above Sasha so long as she deserves it like she did in the SP. I so want Mirai to go to the Olympics, but whoever finishes 3rd will probably get to go to Worlds (I'm assuming Sasha won't go) so that would be cool too.

I hope USFSA sends Christina and Amanda to Jr. Worlds! Along with Kiri or Agnes, whoever ends up winning.

Tara said that Christina is hugely talented :agree:

 

[Tinymavy15]

62.55??? That seems a bit high. I like her and all but they must be trying to keep her in the hunt.

That's certainly what I thought. Overall the judging was fair until we go to that. They realized that young talent Gao was in 4th, within striking distance of the team and remidied the situation with one of the favorites. Very depressing.

Sasha: I honestly thoughtbshe would withdraw after the warmup. I have never seen her that nervous. I don't think she really performed the music until the footwork- but maybe I was too focused on the jumps to enjoy the program. Needless to saying am so proud of her for gong for it alll ans rating on her feet.

Mirai was awesome. I was jumping up and down at the end of her skate. I just knew she was going to skate well, and to see her in the warm up selling everything. What a star!

 

[Layfan]

ITA. If Mirai brings it in the LP I think they could potentially put her above Sasha so long as she deserves it like she did in the SP. I so want Mirai to go to the Olympics, but whoever finishes 3rd will probably get to go to Worlds (I'm assuming Sasha won't go) so that would be cool too.

I hope USFSA sends Christina and Amanda to Jr. Worlds! Along with Kiri or Agnes, whoever ends up winning.

Tara said that Christina is hugely talented :agree:

That's very true. That's why Alissa shouldn't give up. She could still rally to 3rd and maybe go to worlds .... I except that if the Olympic team has Mirai, Flatt or Wagner they will go to worlds, too. But Cohen wouldn't, so that would open the door for the 3rd place finisher.