- Joined
- Nov 12, 2009
I will not believe for a second that Weir was actually injured; but he has only himself to blame for that since he has a past littered with such incidents
Really? Really? Care to enumerate them?
I guess I don't understand why there is such animosity toward Weir and Lysacek coming back and yet people are falling all over themselves wishing that Plushenko is successful in his comeback! Plushenko is older, has wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more physical problems, and it's not clear to me after all his surgeries how he can compete on the international level with success. Time will tell. I tend to have faith that the USFSA tries their best to field a team with the best possibilities and if that includes Weir and Lysacek - so be it! If it doesn't? So be that, too! If Jeremy had skated clean at Nationals this year this conversation would be totally different. I still tend to think that if he can lay down 2 good skates there are only a few men in the world that can beat him. I can't and won't try to predict what the US Men's team will do in Sochii because it's well over a year away. Anything can happen between now and then - anything! I will say that Keegan Messing has never impressed me with his skating and really hasn't done anything to warrant being in the mix. Don't give up on Adam Rippon!! He turned himself around this year. His freeskate was commendable. He screwed up in the short program or this conversation would also be different. Aaron is going to be handed his hat on a platter unless he improves dramatically in his presentation - dramatically! Brown has a chance if he can get his 3A and a quad. He's charismatic and the crowd loves him. He has the presentation skills. At the age of 18, just barely, it's not impossible for him to get those jumps this year. Farris is a wild card IMO. He had a great skate at Nationals. Was it luck or can he be consistent in the future. Dornbush is doomed to be an also-ran. He never quite seems to get it together. And I have no opinion on Miner!!! Maybe a good choreographer and some great music might help. He has the skills.
You have faith in Rippon but not Dornbush, Farris, or Aaron? Seriously? If Max lands his stuff I expect him to do quite well at Worlds. Farris has been skating consistently well for the past two years, his meltdown at Nationals last season was more of the "odd performance out" than his good skate here, if you paid attention to JGP you'd know that, his scores at junior competitions have been very comparable to the international scores of Rippon, Miner, and Dornbush and it's good USFS finally recognized his ability and marked him fairly at Nationals this year. Dornbush is always rewarded with good scores when he skates well, both Nationally and internationally. Sure he's not the most consistent for the time being but he is definitely capable of landing a solid 3axels and 4toes which cannot be said of Rippon or Brown at this point. And Ross has a good choreographer and good music this season and it's made a word of difference. Honestly, I see Aaron, Farris, and Dornbush as our top 3 guys for the next quadrennial, along with maybe Ross if he continues and Jason if he can get his technical up and land it consistently. Chen and Zhou are good too but they won't be taken seriously in seniors until they go through puberty which will take a few years. I think maybe we have to just give some of these guys a chance. Max is an incredible technician and Ricky and Josh are two of the most complete skaters in terms of jumps, artistry, spins, presentation, etc. in the US men's field currently.