Is Rachael Flatt the (emotional) underdog?

[hikki]

I think maybe we don't get emotionally involved because Racheal dosen't. She said she was mad after the SP at nationals being in third but we didn't see it. She was happy after the freeskate, but she didn't cry, or scream like Tara or anything like that. She is always happy, upbeat but never seems nervous or pressured or worried. She never really suffered a setback or a disappointment, two silvers at nationals could have been frustrating, but she always skated well she made the world team when she was age eligible. With Mirai she is emotionally connected to her skating, so we are. With Sasha you felt her passion in Malguena, Dark Eyes, Carmen and Rach. She could do things nobody else could do. Kimmie was not exactly a star, but she had that girl-next -door quality that you felt like you knew her. She seemed like an average girl worked hard and didn't have an attitude.

Racheal is successful, she does it all, not so perfectly that we sit back and say wow and cheer, but just complacently. She has a life outside skating, and while that is great, I think that is also why I could not get into the Hughes girls' skating. I guess sub-consciously we know that they have a whole other world to succeed in, while so many of these other girls live and breathe skating.

A late reply but I wanted to say you brought a very interesting point.

 

[janetfan]

I guess under the rules two-footed landings are less costly than URs, no? I was surprised to see that Mirai lost the FS to Ashley too, since I can never see URs. But as you say rules are rules ...

Another thread prompted me to watch to watched both of Mirai's programs from SC and I could not believe the difference. It was like two different skaters. She barely smiled at SC and even though her lines, spins were as good as ever and you could see her musicality, Mirai didn't sell Carmen at all. What did Frank Carroll say to that girl between SC and nationals?

I thought Rachael, Ashley and Mirai all improved throughout the season but Mirai's improvement in terms of her performance was astonishing.

I don't know what Carroll said to Mirai but have read he started a "no cry" rule after Mirai's SP at SC. It was reported that he threatened to withdraw Mirai from the LP at SC if she didn't get a hold of her emotions. They probably talked about this after SC and there was a big difference in the way Mirai handled herself at Natls compared to what we saw at her two GP events.

I did notice when Mirai stepped off the ice after her LP at Natls she gave Carroll a hug - which I hadn't seen her do before. You can also hear him say to her 'no crying, no crying."

Somewhere there is a clip or article where Mirai talks a little about this and what I remember is that she said crying takes too much energy and she wants to focus her emotions in a more positive manner.

We will see what happens in Vancouver. Maybe it is better for Mirai that the pressure of the Natl championship is on Rachael and she will be the one expected to challenege for a medal. Rachael showed alot of poise at Worlds last year and she appears to be up for the challenge.

 

[mskater93]

Rules are rules - but Ashley had a couple of two footed landings which CoP does not seem to mind very much. Her last lutz was not very good either but I don't know if it was marked as a flutz, or if the poor air position was penalized or the shaky landing. I guess if she rotated 3 times we should view this as a good jump. I did not like it though.

I did like Ashley's LP and thought on the whole she skated it pretty well. I thought Mirai skated a better LP - but then again I have a harder time thinking mistakes I can't see are really so bad. Seeing mistakes that either are ignored or just have a very slight penalty still seems wrong to me. But since the skaters and coaches know the rules it is fair.

Ashley was rightly penalized on the GOEs for the 2 footing (otherwise it would have been even closer as I believe she lost 4-5 points in GOEs for the two footed jumps).

As for under-rotations - in real time the thing that's going to give the tech panel cause for calling review on those jumps is the "inside out" of the landing blade as the skater hits the ice. In real time, on the 3T in the combination and the 3Lz, you can see it looks like Nagasu lands on the inside part of her blade and then rocks over quickly. It's very slight, but if you know what you are looking for, easy to spot. Because at least one member of the tech panel saw that, they called review and landings are in HD super slow motion.

 

[janetfan]

Because at least one member of the tech panel saw that, they called review and landings are in HD super slow motion.

So along with the earbuds it might be good for fans to be issued special HD goggles so they can see more clearly what is wrong with some of these jumps. :yes:

Or maybe it is time for skating to be broadcast in 3D - but again we will need the special 3D viewing glasses.

Despite a lifelong fear of heights - if I have to go to so much trouble to enjoy skating I think I would rather sign up for a space shuttle mission. I bet they know how to use all of this technolgy too and I hear the food is great .

 

[Charlotte Elizabeth]

For me I will never feel the same while watching different skaters. What Sasha was able to do will never be possible for someone else in the near future, at least for me. When I see Racheal, I see that she does wotk hard, work on her choreography,her jumps...But I don't see her being exited about the music and the moves she does. Her SP this year suits her very well and even though we know that it's well chogeographed piece of music we can possibly, if we try, see Racheal in it. Mostly what I see when she skates is a girl who is hard-working, intellegent and study really hard. Her reaction at her US title this year was also nothing special. She didn't scream, didn't jump all over the place, nothing like that. She simly smiled as she just got a high mark for her French class or something. I don't blame her in any way. I just know that this kind of attitude will never work for me. I will never receive emotional plesure when I watch her. If you compare her to Mirai, you see a big difference. Especially at Nationals Mirai gave evrything she had to her performance. She had this special enjoyment while skating. And it payed off.
Racheal works on the ice. And does it very well. But not much more.

 

[Nigel]

For me I will never feel the same while watching different skaters. What Sasha was able to do will never be possible for someone else in the near future, at least for me. When I see Racheal, I see that she does wotk hard, work on her choreography,her jumps...But I don't see her being exited about the music and the moves she does. Her SP this year suits her very well and even though we know that it's well chogeographed piece of music we can possibly, if we try, see Racheal in it. Mostly what I see when she skates is a girl who is hard-working, intellegent and study really hard. Her reaction at her US title this year was also nothing special. She didn't scream, didn't jump all over the place, nothing like that. She simly smiled as she just got a high mark for her French class or something. I don't blame her in any way. I just know that this kind of attitude will never work for me. I will never receive emotional plesure when I watch her. If you compare her to Mirai, you see a big difference. Especially at Nationals Mirai gave evrything she had to her performance. She had this special enjoyment while skating. And it payed off.
Racheal works on the ice. And does it very well. But not much more.

I just watched Flatt's Lp in HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAGTaptk0WE
Not sure what you mean Charlotte Elizabeth that she has no enjoyment. No reaction to her performance? Not sure what you were watching...LOL

This piece of music is not character driven like Nagasu's Carmen so yes, perhaps, it is more challenging to present a classical piece of music that is not character driven, but my goodness, Rachael is very expressive!

 

[chuckm]

I just watched Flatt's Lp in HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAGTaptk0WE
Not sure what you mean Charlotte Elizabeth that she has no enjoyment. No reaction to her performance? Not sure what you were watching...LOL

This piece of music is not character driven like Nagasu's Carmen so yes, perhaps, it is more challenging to present a classical piece of music that is not character driven, but my goodness, Rachael is very expressive!

I have always thought that Rachael was expressive. The footwork section of her FS is driven by the music, and Rachael outscored Mirai on the footwork.

 

[Charlotte Elizabeth]

I just watched Flatt's Lp in HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAGTaptk0WE
Not sure what you mean Charlotte Elizabeth that she has no enjoyment. No reaction to her performance? Not sure what you were watching...LOL

This piece of music is not character driven like Nagasu's Carmen so yes, perhaps, it is more challenging to present a classical piece of music that is not character driven, but my goodness, Rachael is very expressive!

I adore The piece of Rahmaninov she was skating to and for me she just didn't expess the music enough. Maybe she was expressive but not in a way you could be skating to this piece. Did you watch Sasha's Rahmaninovs Concerto N2 program? This is just so different and I so much more prefer Sasha's expression. I think she understands and enjoys the music.