- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
While it's certainly not true to say these skaters never brokethrough, I think the difference between accomplishments and talent is notable for Tomas Verner and Nobunari Oda.
I think a lot of the young American skaters are undone by the hype. I don't think any skater is helped by the media declaring the next great thing before they've won anything, and in some cases, before they've even entered a senior competition. I don't think Sasha was helped in the slightest by having Dick Button say "Sasha has it all" on national TV when anyone who knows the slightest bit about skating could see that her basic skating was weak and that she was skating on the flat of her blades much of the time. I don't think Gracie Gold is helped by articles with the heading "The Gold Standard" either.
Naomi Nari Nam's mother was quite blunt in her criticism of the US media after the Sports Illustrated cover story with the tag line "She's got next!". Reporters followed her at every event the following season and it completely unnerved her. Her mother said she wished that article had never appeared. Naomi was dealing with puberty and injuries the following year and the hype and expectations destroyed her confidence.
Sasha was hounded at Jr. Worlds by reporters trailing her everywhere, expecting her to pick up a medal and move on the Sr. Worlds. She blew up and finished well off the podium. I friend who was there said she felt sorry for the kid.
Canada has done a similar thing with their young men. Expectations for young Canadian Men are just as high as they are for young American Women. Rod Black called several young men "The Next One", and none of them were. Jason Denomme was "The Next One", as was Emanuel Sandhu and Fedor Andreev, among others. It happened so many times that we started calling it "The Curse of 'The Next One'" because after being named The Next One, these skaters' careers fizzled. I remember he almost referred to Jeff Buttle as The Next One, and just before the words came out of his mouth, he paused, and said something else, like Canada's best hope at Worlds.
Let the kids grow up and accomplish something, and then celebrate it. I'd rather talk about what they've accomplished, rather than what they might do.
Canada has done a similar thing with their young men. Expectations for young Canadian Men are just as high as they are for young American Women. Rod Black called several young men "The Next One", and none of them were. Jason Denomme was "The Next One", as was Emanuel Sandhu and Fedor Andreev, among others. It happened so many times that we started calling it "The Curse of 'The Next One'" because after being named The Next One, these skaters' careers fizzled. I remember he almost referred to Jeff Buttle as The Next One, and just before the words came out of his mouth, he paused, and said something else, like Canada's best hope at Worlds.
I would put Fedor Andreev here, too. Many of those men in Canada are like so many young women skaters in the US, so much depth it's hard to breakthrough in your own country. Jayson Denomee had asthma, so he ran out of steam. He disappeared after 2005 (I think he retired). So many were looking to be the Next One, but fell short.
The mention of Denomee makes me think of Langdon, another skater from the same time period. IIRC, he finished in the top 10 at worlds in '98 and then failed to make the national team in '99, after a disastrous skate which left him in 7th? place at Canadian Nats. I don't think anyone had actually hyped him up to be a serious world contender though.. he was kind of just a placeholder second-guy in between Stojko and Sandhu.
I have fond memories of Derrick Delmore. I never knew if he was truly about to break through or was just featured because he was a bit of a good example, being African-American and apparently quite a top student as well.
Does anybody remember when Lifetime used to broadcast the junior worlds? I remember one year the US was sending three giggly girls with cute names: Kimmie (Meisner), Katy (Taylor?) and someone named Dannie. I think Kimmie came in second to a Russian named Kristina Obsalova. I always remembered that name, but she was never seen again. I wonder what happened to her.
Yeah, 1997 was his best year, second at Canadians, 9th at Worlds. Eighth at Worlds the following year, slipped to third at Canadians and was in Sandhu's shadow because of the COA not allowing Sandhu to go to Canadians. I say we should have sent Sandhu, or any third skater. We had three spots, we wasted that third spot because of the COA's red tape. Langdon was forgotten but came through for Canada at Worlds and finished 12th in Nagano. After that, it all went downhill. As you said, he had a disastrous performance in 1999, in fact, he had a disastrous sesaon that year, with an ankle injury that hampered his training. Then he had to withdraw from Canadians the next year due to a knee injury. You're right that he was a place holder, Sandhu took over his spot and the attention, and was believed to be The Next One. Had Langdon had better luck after '99 he may have been able
to regain a spot on the World Team or National Team, but there was so much depth in Canada and everyone was jockeying for position.
He was a classy guy. He'd just go about his business, he never complained or made excuses. Denomee was also a good guy. Ben Ferreira was another one, never really made any big marks internationally though he did go to Worlds a few times, but was a good sportsman, never once complained about anything and had a positive attitude. When he took the ice for his last performance at Canadians in 2006, he got a standing ovation before he even started, everyone liked him.
Sandhu wasn't allowed to compete mostly due to the COA's red tape. They said he hadn't competed in enough senior events (He just turned senior) to meet their standard so he couldn't go. The only one who had (aside from Stojko) was Jeff Langdon, so because of that the COA said we could only send two despite securing three berths. So Sandhu wasn't allowed to go. Sandhu never got over it, he was bitter about it until the day he retired.
You had to like Ben Ferreira, he was such a likeable skater, even if he never made any big noise, he was a good embassador, and also a spokesperson for Medic Alert.
I didn't know that Ben was a medic alert spokesman - cool. Another Canadian man I miss a bit is Chris Mabee.
There was also Hanae Yokoya, a Japanese skater during the 90s, before Japan became the force in single skating it is today. She was tenth in the world twice, then fell to twenty third (I think she was injured) then disappeared.
2004 World JUniors, I googled it. Kimmie was second, Katy was third. Yukina Ota won. Danielle Kahle was the third girl. I remember she skated to Beauty and the Beast at the 2006 US nationals.
Wow you must be such a hard-core skating fan to remember a (seemingly on a world scale) obscure skater as Hanae! Her showing at Skate Canada and NHK in the 95/96 season was wonderful (finishing 2nd to Michelle and Lu Chen, respectively). She had such a gorgeous lutz and had charisma. The following season she went overseas to work with a different team and an ambitious new age program and never really came back to the top form. Her body change didn't help at all.
Someone mentioned Yukina Ota. She's like Sasha Cohen of Japan, in that she had such beautiful lines and flexibility, but her skating skills weren't the greatest. Her SP at Skate Canada 2003 (came 2nd after Sasha I think) was so special.
Tanja Szewczenko looked like she was having a great "comeback", winning both GP events in the '97/'98 season only to lose the GPF to Tara. She didn't go to Nagano for a reason I can't recall.
Naomi Nari Nam- Remember the mean comment from the ABC reporter at '99 Nationals? "This is what the skating world has been waiting for" next to Michelle?
Gosh I miss the 90s!!!