2017-18 State of U.S. Men's Figure Skating | Page 4 | Golden Skate

2017-18 State of U.S. Men's Figure Skating

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
Very true. Some very high profile skaters have missed at least one season in the past couple of seasons, and Virtue/Moir are the only ones who come to mind as not having struggled at least somewhat, for whatever reason. Chan, Mao, Kostner (not saying she wouldn't consider this year's results a success, but it was clear at Worlds she's not currently where she was), V/T, etc. And dance hasn't leapt forward technically the way men's has. Josh isn't as high profile as them, but it just goes to show that what you said is true. Comebacks are hard.

It's easier to come back and start back up where you left off in Ice Dance since there are no big elements like jumps required and Ice Dance hasn't changed at all really since V/M last competed. Getting jumps back is harder to do then any element in Ice Dance especially for a top team like V/M.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Remember that at last year's Nationals, the podium was Nathan, Vincent, and Jason. USFS opted to send Jason to Worlds over Vincent. I disagreed with that decision but the strategy worked and they secured a third Olympic spot.

My point - don't count Vincent out!

I am really optimistc that Adam will come back event stronger. I was lucky to see him in practice a couple of weeks back and he looks good. And he was a great attitude about his state of recovery.

If I were to guess, those 4 are vying for the 3 spots. Nathan pretty much has a lock on one so the fight is really between those the other 3.

:sarcasm:

There's a certain quad-landing matador who will have an awful lot to say about that. I know you don't give a flying camel about him, but it'd be nice for him not to get thrown on the trash heap just yet, since he's still landed a damn sight more quads in competition and more consistently than the three you mention above (and let's not even get started on the "Chen is a total lock" junk).
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
....
One final thing: when he's healthy, Jason, like Nathan, is an incredibly gritty, consistent competitor. Many of the other US guys are not.

This; so much this.:agree:

Sometimes I get the impression that because Jason is a naturally extroverted and enthusiastic person, his grit, determination, and will to succeed are discounted.

Big mistake.:noshake:
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
I see the US men's team being two skaters who can land quads consistently and the 3rd spot going to the best all around skater which to me is either Jason or if he's back in form Josh.
 

concorde

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
I see the US men's team being two skaters who can land quads consistently and the 3rd spot going to the best all around skater which to me is either Jason or if he's back in form Josh.

I would put Adam in that category as well.
 

Tavi...

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Well, thankfully for all of us starved for men's FS news, the Broadmoor Open and the Aerial Figure Skating Challenge are coming up in about 3 weeks!

We know that Josh, Emmanuel S, Max, Vincent, Jason, and Alex K will be competing in the team jump event at the Aerial Challenge; Tim D, Ryan B, and Jeremy A are team captains, so we'll get to see all of these guys jumping soon - and there will be a Facebook Live broadcast!

https://twitter.com/aerialchallenge/status/870356946859081730
https://www.facebook.com/AerialFigureSkatingChallenge/posts/724045201131248:0

No word on who will compete at the Broadmoor Open yet, but many of the above guys have participated in the past. And although neither Nathan nor Adam are listed for the team jump challenge, I've heard Adam has been training a lot in Colorado, and Nathan has previously participated at Broadmoor, so maybe we'll see one or both of them there. Last year's Broadmoor Open was streamed by Pro-Event Photo; no word on this year's yet.

http://broadmoorskatingclub.com/events/broadmoor/
 

Ice Dance

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Nathan has previously participated at Broadmoor, so maybe we'll see one or both of them there.

I'll be surprised if Nathan is ready by the Broadmoor. He has had a later season & SOI touring than he has in the past. My impression--based on one of his interviews--is that he is getting/was getting his programs later than normal. (Which, of course, makes sense as he was a junior the last time he competed at the Broadmoor).
 

Tavi...

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
You may very well be right - he had a long first senior season, and as you said, he was on tour until very recently. Adam was also on tour and was probably set back in training by the injury, so he might well forgo it too.
 

bevybean

On the Ice
Joined
May 26, 2017
I would understand the importance of quads in men's skating right, but I just want to point out: At Worlds for the Gala they didn't ask Nathan with all his quads to perform, but they asked Jason to.
 

frida80

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
I would understand the importance of quads in men's skating right, but I just want to point out: At Worlds for the Gala they didn't ask Nathan with all his quads to perform, but they asked Jason to.

Well Jason is an entertainer so he does great exhibitions. But to be fair, Nathan had just broken his skates in the FS and had a slight sprain. He wasn't going to perform regardless.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Well Jason is an entertainer so he does great exhibitions. But to be fair, Nathan had just broken his skates in the FS and had a slight sprain. He wasn't going to perform regardless.

This is correct. Several of us talked about it last year after Nathan didn't perform in the gala. He said his ankle was sore and that he had a problem with one of his blades. Perhaps the blade problem was the cause of his ankle sprain.
 

frida80

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
This is correct. Several of us talked about it last year after Nathan didn't perform in the gala. He said his ankle was sore and that he had a problem with one of blades. Perhaps the blade problem was the cause of his ankle sprain.

I don't know exactly what happened. All I know is his left boot broke during that first 4Lz. It takes a lot of power to thrust off a bad skate doing a quad. I may take a look at replays and see how far his left foot curved during take off. Probably won't though since it sounds painful. It's amazing that he landed 4 quads and a 3A after that. :eek:hwell:
 

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
There's no need to feel sorry for Nathan. Those quads have gotten him sponsorship deals with Coca Cola and Nike, as well as an invitation to skate in a major show in Japan this summer.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
There's no need to feel sorry for Nathan. Those quads have gotten him sponsorship deals with Coca Cola and Nike, as well as an invitation to skate in a major show in Japan this summer.

I certainly don't feel sorry for Nathan as he is the new National Champion and has looked spectacular over the Summer. We were speaking about the Gala that followed Nationals, that's all.
 

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
I certainly don't feel sorry for Nathan as he is the new National Champion and has looked spectacular over the Summer. We were speaking about the Gala that followed Nationals, that's all.

I think the discussion was concerning Helsinki Worlds, where bevybean implied that Nathan was snubbed by not being asked to appear in the Gala.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
I think the discussion was concerning Helsinki Worlds, where bevybean implied that Nathan was snubbed by not being asked to appear in the Gala.

Ohhhhhhhhhh. That's completely different. When I've been to World's, everyone in the final flight's was invited to do something in the Gala. So, they asked Jason instead of Nathan? That's quite a snub. Are we sure that Nathan didn't decline the invitation?
 

frida80

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Ohhhhhhhhhh. That's completely different. When I've been to World's, everyone in the final flight's was invited to something in the Gala. So, they asked Jason instead of Nathan? That's quite a snub. Are we sure that Nathan didn't decline the invitation?

I think he declined. His skates were in no shape for skating at that point.
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
I think the discussion was concerning Helsinki Worlds, where bevybean implied that Nathan was snubbed by not being asked to appear in the Gala.

Chen was 6th in the results and Brown 7th and the latter got invited as the next skater because Chen was unable to perform. Nobody was snubbed....
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
We don't really know whether Jason was invited instead of Nathan (or as a replacement). It could be that Jason was going to get the invite regardless and Nathan's spot went to any number of skaters, even someone(s) in another discipline. It does seem Jason does generally get invited to galas, even if he doesn't place super high, like he did at 4CC this year.

I think the tl;dr conclusion one can make is that people find value both in quads and performance.
 
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bevybean

On the Ice
Joined
May 26, 2017
I think the tl;dr conclusion one can make is that people find value both in quads and performance.

I didn't know Nathan was actually injured at Worlds though I knew he had skate problems. And I was implying more of the above rather than an actually snub to Nathan. (I've got to work on more specific posting)

The quads are impressive and important in terms of pushing the technical aspects of the sport. But to the untrained eye, it's hard to see a difference between a triple and a quad, but you don't need a lot of "training" to see performance quality. And the level of performing that Jason does during his programs is a rare thing --not that he is the only one who can do it, but not everyone can. And I think it speaks to his skill at the elements he does have to be comfortable enough to truly perform his programs. I think it would be sad to completely leave the "performers" out of the Olympic conversation. I think it might become quite conundrum for federations to consider as the quad trend grows. You don't really want to cater the sport to the casual fan, but if you really need a ton of knowledge to appreciate the sport then the fan base is being constricted rather than growing.
 
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