Sasha on Michelle | Golden Skate

Sasha on Michelle

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
"I won't lie. I love the attention. I love the spotlight,' said Sasha Cohen upon arrival in Turin" for the Olympic Games.

The May issue of Spotlight on Skating just came out, featuring almost 70 pages of in-depth coverage of the Olympics and World Championships, mostly by reporter/feature writer Lynn Rutherford. Here are some excepts from Sasha's news conference, given the day that Michelle announced her withdrawal from the Games.

"No matter what she does, whether she skates or not, Michelle will always be the focus of attention," said Cohen with just the slightest of sighs.

"I just answer whatever questions come my way. The Michelle questions are the hardest.... I have to shift my focus away from other people and onto myself. You can ask me the questions and they bounce right back."...

(Michelle's withdrawal) "kind of humanizes the sport. She's someone who has been an icon, who has always been there. We've seen her hard edge when competing. It proves you can be at the top of the sport and have good and bad times. You have to deal with what life gives you."

Still, Cohen made it clear she did not particularly fear Kwan as a competitor, especially under the ISU judging system.

"Michelle's participation was never an issue for me. For me, it's about my own performance."

"Is (her withdrawal) a relief? No....I placed ahead of Michelle twice at Worlds and under this new system, the emphasis is on quality. The NJS can change the orders quite a bit."
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Thanks Math for the really neat comments made by Sasha regarding Michelle. At least now it is in print the genuine regard, respect and admiration that Sasha feels for Michelle. Now I wonder how everyone feels after a 50 page thread on what a snot Sasha was toward Michelle.

Dee
 

MKFSfan

Medalist
Joined
Mar 15, 2006
Hm, I don't get the impression Sasha has a "genuine regard and admiration" for Michelle at all. Don't get me wrong, I don't think she's bashing Michelle or hates her, and I do think she respects her as a competitor, while realizing Michelle is the "It Girl" in skating as long as she is around. She comes across kinda PC but not real empathy in her statements where Michelle is concerned, and seems annoyed by the Michelle questions/topics (but really, who could blame her? At the biggest competitions of her career-Olympics and Nationals-and the focus is all on MICHELLE.)
 

julietvalcouer

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Not being a snot? That little barb at the end about quality is Sasha being sweet and admiring? She could have just said that she feels her strengths are more rewarded under COP than Michelle's, but instead to chose to phrase in such a way that implies she has "quality", Michelle does not.

Whatever. Bring on Kimmie, Yu-Na, and Mao.
 

Kwanford Wife

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Mathman "[i said:
Is (her withdrawal) a relief? No....I placed ahead of Michelle twice at Worlds and under this new system, the emphasis is on quality. The NJS can change the orders quite a bit."[/i]

Congrats Sasha on all you've accomplished in skating. You are the best silver medalist in history... Must be all that quality... ;)
 

antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Kwanford Wife said:
Congrats Sasha on all you've accomplished in skating. You are the best silver medalist in history... Must be all that quality... ;)

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
julietvalcouer said:
She could have just said that she feels her strengths are more rewarded under COP than Michelle's, but instead to chose to phrase in such a way that implies she has "quality", Michelle does not.

Whatever. Bring on Kimmie, Yu-Na, and Mao.
She woulda, coulda, shoulda!! Read the sentence again and THINK!!!

Dee
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
Greatest title of a thread ever, thanks MM.:rofl: I didn't know what to think at first, in a fight, getting on her case or "what?"

I do think they were fairly respectful comments for a person who gets the invitation to do an interview and half of it turns into a discussion about someone else. I think she did hold back her true feelings, which is pretty impressive.

I do like julietvalcouer's comment of bring on Kimmie though:agree: But still hope SC performs well in the future - keeps some heat and turns in 3 clean. Maybe some day she'll just let it out, "did you want an interview with MK, or what. If I am in the wrong place please tell me. I thought this was going to be on my skating. Otherwise just make your assumptions as usual and leave me the *BEEP* alone. Thank you good night":p
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
SeaniBu said:
... Maybe some day she'll just let it out, "did you want an interview with MK, or what. If I am in the wrong place please tell me. I thought this was going to be on my skating. Otherwise just make your assumptions as usual and leave me the *BEEP* alone. Thank you good night":p

If Sasha did say such a thing, I think it is highly likely to inspire a "Sasha Is Copying Johnny Weir's Honesty" thread. How many posts do you think such a thread would inspire?
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think that's a particularly candid response from her. Still, she should just say outright that she's tired of all the MK questions. At least she admitted she loves attention- and hence why she must feel just a LITTLE BIT frustrated that Kwan gets all the attention all the time (and she doesn't even have to BE there!)
 

anniemg

Rinkside
Joined
May 17, 2004
Nothing new from Sasha...She always said that she respects her and I do believe what she says about the fact that she skates for herself and not against someone else.

I think the phrase about 'quality' didnt come out right. I think she meant that the NJS considers the overall skating quality(spins, footwork, spirals etc) and not just the jumps.
 

Mafke

Medalist
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
First, I'm a huge Kwan fan and not especially a Cohen fan. But, I feel sorry for Cohen when she ends up having to talk about Kwan, give her a break already having to spend so much time talking about a competitor must be a major drag.

She gets huge respect from me for not snapping at a reporter: "HEY! If you're interviewing ME then ask questions about ME!!!" (which is what I'd be really tempted to do in her place).

She's been respectful and sportsmanlike enough for a long time now, let's give her a break and stop the micro-analysis searching for offense already.
 

Lanie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
If I was Sasha I'd be ripping people's heads off if they kept asking me about other people to my face and asking what I think about a competitor instead of asking myself about, well, ME. I feel kinda bad for her, always in Michelle's shadow and that's how it's always gonna be -- now Sasha's in Kimmie's. It's gotta suck.

I do wonder what all Sasha said because it looks like they just picked and chose quotes from her from the news conference instead of providing full comments, thus the wonderful ellipses...
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Nothing new for me from these quotes it's just Sasha being Sasha. I do think
she handled her self well with the press regarding the hoopla going on about
MK it must of been annoying for her. At that time to me her responses about MK always seemed to be on the cool side but it could have been annoyance at being asked the same questions over and over about MK.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Lanie said:
I do wonder what all Sasha said because it looks like they just picked and chose quotes from her from the news conference instead of providing full comments, thus the wonderful ellipses...
The full quotes are in the copyrighted magazine article. I tried to pick excepts that were representative.
 

Lanie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Mathman said:
The full quotes are in the copyrighted magazine article. I tried to pick excepts that were representative.

Ooh, okay. :)

I've heard those before - and I think I saw this at Borders the other day. I don't look at magazines unless my friends drag me to look at wedding ones. :laugh:
 

dancindiva03

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Kwanford Wife said:
Congrats Sasha on all you've accomplished in skating. You are the best silver medalist in history... Must be all that quality... ;)

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!

Sasha will choke no matter what. There are some things that NJS will never be able to change.
 
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