Cohen and Nicks Plan for Success | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Cohen and Nicks Plan for Success

kyla2

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
I predict again that Sasha will skate much better than expected at Nationals. She will have more confidence because she has an old friend in her corner. She will be more at peace because she will be "home." Lokk for her best performance all season.
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Predict

I adore the prediction in the post before mine... especially since it doesn't go so far as to predict that Sasha will win. Just predicts her best performance all season. That prediction is like flipping a coin and suggesting that it will land on heads or tails. Sasha will hardly have to put much effort into skating better than she did at her previous performances this season.

I guess what would impress me the most were if Sasha were to give it a genuine shot, make a great effort, maybe not be perfect but show her heart a bit out there by fighting for the landings... and if she didn't get gold, be gracious and grateful for having done as well as she did. No disappointment - just real joy at having the chance to skate. For a skater like that, I'd buy a ticket to COI (or shop at Marshall's or eat Smart Ones).

Linny
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Red Dog said:
You really think it's a 50/50 shot that she'll win those two events...?
Not 50-50, but as good a chance as the other top competitors. For Nationals I'll say 45% Michelle, 45% Sasha and 10% somebody else. For Worlds, 20% Sasha, 20% Michelle, 20% Irina, 20% Shizuka, 20% someone else.

For the Olympics I would throw in Miki Ando, Carolina Costner, Joanne Rochette, Yukina Ota and a couple of others and give them all about a 10% chance (the same chance Sarah Hughes had in 2002).

Mathman
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Mathman said:
Not 50-50, but as good a chance as the other top competitors. For Nationals I'll say 45% Michelle, 45% Sasha and 10% somebody else. For Worlds, 20% Sasha, 20% Michelle, 20% Irina, 20% Shizuka, 20% someone else.

For the Olympics I would throw in Miki Ando, Carolina Costner, Joanne Rochette, Yukina Ota and a couple of others and give them all about a 10% chance (the same chance Sarah Hughes had in 2002).

Hey, I like those statistics! You're pretty good at math! ;)
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Joesitz said:
When Cohen quit Nicks and went to TT she was expecting the best known coach to bring her to first place. TT almost did that, but TT has rules too, which caused the clash of personalities between mother Cohen or Sasha or both. I am not sure who and it doesn't matter. After signing up with Wagner she was writing, she is finally having fun again. After leaving Wagner she wanted to go home to Nicks. This is what we know, and the rest will be in USA Nationals and hopefully, in Moscow Worlds, and then what to do with Nicks if there is no first place. It's Sasha's way and so be it.

Joe

IMHO, Sasha's stay with John Nicks will depend completely on her results at Nationals and Worlds. If she wins gold medals at both (which, quite frankly, I don't think will happen), she'll stay with Nicks. If she wins silver and/or bronze medals at both, she might stay with Nicks through the 2006 season and train like mad for the Olympics. If she skates poor performances at either competition - two falls or more - I wouldn't be surprised if she bolts and finds another coach. After all, she seems to blame the coach, not herself, for her technical problems. It seems that she needs to find a coach who is a magical combination of strict taskmaster and fun-loving companion. Does such a coach exist? What's Christy Ness doing these days? :rofl:
 

Ogre Mage

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Work ethic

None of Sasha's coaches have blasted her work ethic. From all reports she trains hard. But there HAVE been reports that she and her inner circle are headstrong and don't take direction well.

When she was working with Nicks in 2000-02, I did not like her choreography. Hopefully she will not regress on this front. Her basic skating, mediocre in 2000, is now respectable. Her spins, spirals and footwork have gotten better by leaps and bounds -- but the jumps remain the fly in her ointment. Nicks is getting a far more fully-formed skater than the one who left him two years ago. But I suspect the headstrong attitude remains. We shall see what happens.

If Sasha continues to be a constant medalist on the National, Worlds and Olympics podium, but does not actually win a major championship, would you consider her career to be a success? Or would she have failed to live up to the hype?
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Living up to Hype

It's a shame that she was hyped as she was. If the audience had not been prepped to expect a wunderkind, they'd have been thrilled with the performances they got and perhaps Sasha herself would have been more genuinely pleased.

There are much beloved skaters who don't have half her credentials...

Linny
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Ogre Mage: "If Sasha continues to be a constant medalist on the National, Worlds and Olympics podium, but does not actually win a major championship, would you consider her career to be a success? Or would she have failed to live up to the hype?"

Of course I would consider her to be a success. Anyone who can commandeer pages and pages of webtalk with every new entry in her online journal is by definition a celebrity of the highest order.

But it isn't what I think that counts, it's what Sasha and her family think about Sasha's career. It may well be that her family is putting pressure on her to win a major championship, and that's why she is so obsessed with winning.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Not 50-50, but as good a chance as the other top competitors. For Nationals I'll say 45% Michelle, 45% Sasha and 10% somebody else. For Worlds, 20% Sasha, 20% Michelle, 20% Irina, 20% Shizuka, 20% someone else.

I kind of like the way you broke it down :) but in order to agree with it I have to switch a few numbers...I would put it, maybe, 70% MK and 20% SC for nats, and maybe increase Slutskaya's and Arakawa's numbers up a little as well.

IMHO, Sasha's stay with John Nicks will depend completely on her results at Nationals and Worlds. If she wins gold medals at both (which, quite frankly, I don't think will happen), she'll stay with Nicks. If she wins silver and/or bronze medals at both, she might stay with Nicks through the 2006 season and train like mad for the Olympics. If she skates poor performances at either competition - two falls or more - I wouldn't be surprised if she bolts and finds another coach. After all, she seems to blame the coach, not herself, for her technical problems. It seems that she needs to find a coach who is a magical combination of strict taskmaster and fun-loving companion.

As long as we're the audience (and I don't see that changing :laugh: ) we won't know for sure why Cohen is doing what she is doing. We can only speculate. And of course this speculation accounts for almost 1/4 of the discussion that goes on here and other forums (except for Sasha's fan board of course). That said, I think I concur.

It's a shame that she was hyped as she was. If the audience had not been prepped to expect a wunderkind, they'd have been thrilled with the performances they got and perhaps Sasha herself would have been more genuinely pleased.

There are much beloved skaters who don't have half her credentials...

Couldn't agree more. This and I think living in the shadow of Kwan (arguably one of the greats) also contribute to the endless disappointment we see in skating fans who pay attention to Cohen.
 

kyla2

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Linny, not heads but tails. I am predicting she will skate well enough to possibly win Nationals. I am not on the fence in my prediction. I bet she surprises everyone here and at MKF with her effort. This is from a diehard Michelle Kwan fan.
 

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Ogre Mage said:
If Sasha continues to be a constant medalist on the National, Worlds and Olympics podium, but does not actually win a major championship, would you consider her career to be a success? Or would she have failed to live up to the hype?

Yes. I certainly would consider her career to be a success. I bet she'll get enough endorsements. And SOI would run quick to sign her up. The problem was with herself, last year she won the silver at worlds, the first world medal. But she looked disapointed at K&C.

Yes. I would also say she has failed to live up to the hype in a way. But had there was no such kind hype, she might win a gold or two already. Since she would not be under the pressure and having higher expectation for herself. And we might not be able to see her beautyful skating. I still think she is one of the most beautyful skater at the worlds in this era.
 

peachstatesk8er

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
Ogre Mage said:
If Sasha continues to be a constant medalist on the National, Worlds and Olympics podium, but does not actually win a major championship, would you consider her career to be a success? Or would she have failed to live up to the hype?
I think thus far Sasha has had a very successful career. I'm hoping it continues to only get better.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Yes. I certainly would consider her career to be a success. I bet she'll get enough endorsements. And SOI would run quick to sign her up. The problem was with herself, last year she won the silver at worlds, the first world medal. But she looked disapointed at K&C.

Maybe because she was in a position to win the gold medal (she had to beat Arakawa) but froze up and couldn't do it? I imagine she would be happier if she came from behind to place 2nd, but in this case she didn't. She had a chance to WIN, and of course in Cohen's mind (IMO) winning is everything, which is why she was so conservative in the freeskate.

The only time I'll say Cohen even has a bit of a chance to win nats is if she screws up the short. Then she can say she has nothing to lose and go for it in the freeskate. Otherwise she'll just go conservative and Kwan will just :rock: the house, as usual...
Here's to someone coming out and beating them both (like that's ever going to happen, HA)
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Hollow

It's not in my nature to truly care about the placements. I like to see the right skaters medal, but gold,silver or bronze, they're all precious medals in my book.

What I want most from Sasha and for Sasha is a performance that is not hollow. Please, Sasha, show us why Brian Jones wished they could all be California Girls!

Linny
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
You know, I'm actually starting to think expectations for Cohen may actually be on the rise judging by posts here and at other skating forums. People are expecting her to be more relaxed (because of her move, I suppose) and to "finally deliver". She will be hyped up on the broadcast and we'll have a repeat of last year. It will just be a "vicious cycle" until MK decides to retire.

There hasn't been a Nats more predictable than this one, IMO. :sheesh:
 

bronxgirl

Medalist
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Linny said:
What I want most from Sasha and for Sasha is a performance that is not hollow. Please, Sasha, show us why Brian Jones wished they could all be California Girls!

Linny

I think you mean Brian Wilson :)
 

ChiSk8Fan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Linny said:
Where did I get Brian Jones? My mind must be going...
Linny

Brian Wilson.....Davy Jones....Brian Jones....

Both were pop stars who enticed the girls. Is this the line of logic that lead to Brian Jones?

Imagine the monkeys performing California Girls, or the Beach Boys doing the Monkeys' Theme :cool:
 

ceg15

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 2, 2004
I think too that Sasha's career so far has been a huge success, she is one of the most beautiful skaters in the world in the moment.

She had a chance to WIN, and of course in Cohen's mind (IMO) winning is everything, which is why she was so conservative in the freeskate.
-Originally posted by Red Dog.

Maybe winning is everything in her mind but her thinking that winning is everything, is better then her thinking that losing is everything. And I think that thinking winning is everything can be good. I mean who doesn't like to win?
 
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R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Maybe winning is everything in her mind but her thinking that winning is everything, is better then her thinking that losing is everything. And I think that thinking winning is everything can be good. I mean who doesn't like to win?

No, no, what I'm trying to say is that this mindset is what gets her down every time (IMO), and also why she might see anything else as a failure. IMO she'd benefit from finding a different approach to her competitions.
 
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