Michael Weiss, the Grand Prix and the Olympics | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Michael Weiss, the Grand Prix and the Olympics

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
I read Matt was working on a master's in urban planning, which he must have completed. I guess a law degree would also be of help.
 

emma

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
I'm getting these skaters all confused...was Matt in urban planning or was that Jeff Buttle??
 

sk8er1964

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
emma said:
I'm getting these skaters all confused...was Matt in urban planning or was that Jeff Buttle??

I'm pretty sure Matt did his masters in urban planning, because I remember hearing that on tv at Nats, and thinking that was really cool (because my MPA concentration was urban planning ;) )
 

mpal2

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Matt was urban planning. I think Jeff is in chemical engineering, but I'm not 100% sure.
 

MFarone

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Country
United-States
I really like Michael's older programs. The programs I saw at 2004 and 2005 Nationals were just not as good as his previous programs. I know Brian Wright who did some of Michael's older programs passed away, but he needs to find a real choreographer. Michael has nice line and extension but at Nationals this year he was slow and tentative. I'm hoping he can come up with one last hurrah for the coming year and at least be really happy with his programs. I don't know if he can medal without a clean quad, but it would be great to see him do a good clean program with great footwork and maybe some interesting jump entrances.

Maureen
 

michaelfsfan

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 21, 2005
MFarone said:
I really like Michael's older programs. The programs I saw at 2004 and 2005 Nationals were just not as good as his previous programs. I know Brian Wright who did some of Michael's older programs passed away, but he needs to find a real choreographer. Michael has nice line and extension but at Nationals this year he was slow and tentative. I'm hoping he can come up with one last hurrah for the coming year and at least be really happy with his programs. I don't know if he can medal without a clean quad, but it would be great to see him do a good clean program with great footwork and maybe some interesting jump entrances.

Maureen

I think most skating fans will agree that Michael needs better choreography that will showcase his strengths, but it's kinda difficult to fire your current choreographer and hire a new one when she also happens to be your wife, right? :biggrin:

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that he lacked the usual spark and determination at this year's Nationals. As I mentioned before, Michael has good spins, decent footwork and solid jumps (excluding the triple Axel and quads), so all he needs is good choreography, more finesse in his moves and more consistency with those two jumps in order to challenge the rest of the skaters in the mens field.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
In a feature in the latest Spotlight on Skating, they make the point that Michael Weiss ticked off U.S Figure Skating by skating for SOI last year. As a punishment they did not invite him to compete in the Marshall's invitational in March, replacing him with Shaun Rogers.

I wonder if this will hurt Mike's chances to make the Olympic team.

Mathman
 

emma

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Mathman said:
In a feature in the latest Spotlight on Skating, they make the point that Michael Weiss ticked off U.S Figure Skating by skating for SOI last year. As a punishment they did not invite him to compete in the Marshall's invitational in March, replacing him with Shaun Rogers.

I wonder if this will hurt Mike's chances to make the Olympic team.

Mathman

Since skaters have to get permision from USFS to skate in SOI and remain eligible...this seams particularly mean spirited...does it represent (also maybe) some attempt by the USFS to get Michael Weiss step aside to 'let' someone else in?? I'm not a huge fan of his, but I always appreciate his determination and how he has rather consistently gottent he job done when it counted...
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
The whole thing seems weird to me. I do not understand why USFS would be for or against any particular skater.

I guess I do understand a little bit why they play ball with COI and punish skaters who want to do SOI. COI pays them off, SOI refuses to.

IIRC both of the last two USFS presidents, along with the chief executive officer, resigned over the last two years because the "volunteer" board that runs the show was dominated by political bickering and backstabbing among different factions. There just seems to be a lack of professionalism throughout the organization.

Mathman
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I was just informed by email that it was Derrick Delmore who replaced Michael at the spring Marshall's Invitational. Shaun Rogers was already slated to complete, on the strength of his 6th place finish at U.S. Nationals. (Delmore was seventh.)

For the ladies, they just went down the list of the top six finishers at Nationals. The plan was to do the same for the men, but when 5th place Weiss fell out of favor they replaced him with the seventh-place finisher, Delmore.

My apologies to the Rogers camp, and thanks for the correction!

Mathman:)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Mathman - Have you read anything about the Campbells and the Marshalls for this season? Where and when will they be held? Will it be all American? Has the Association forgiven Michael?

Joe
 

MFarone

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Country
United-States
New choreographer?

Perhaps Michael can persuade Don Laws to fire Mrs. Weiss and get a new choreographer! No, just kidding, I'm sure it's a touchy situation. Maybe Michael is just getting to that age (28-29) when men seem (to me) to lose some of the technical edge. It's got to be terribly hard on the body practicing quads and 3A all those years. I also think that collision and fall in the warmup in Portland really impacted Michael which was a real shame.

Do you think he is anticipating some the USFS changes by signing for more Disson shows and skating with SOI rather than COI?

Maureen
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Linny said:
Maybe his kids wore him down... speaking for myself, I can say I surely wore MY parents down.

Any other eligible skaters with kids? Alexander Abt, Tatiana Navka come to mind. They have one child, right?What about top athletes in other sports? Think it affects their "fire"?Linny
Both MacEnroe and Agassi had their Tennis go downhill after marriage.

Joe
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Several pairs teams competed when one, or both, partners had kids. I recall reading somewhere that, when G & G were practicing for '94 Olys, Artur Dmitriev watched both little Daria and Artur Jr. -- and Katia and Sergei watched both kids when Artur Sr. and Oksana were practicing.
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
attyfan said:
Several pairs teams competed when one, or both, partners had kids. I recall reading somewhere that, when G & G were practicing for '94 Olys, Artur Dmitriev watched both little Daria and Artur Jr. -- and Katia and Sergei watched both kids when Artur Sr. and Oksana were practicing.

Where do you remember reading that? That sounds really cute. :) Although, I thought G&G were mostly based in Moscow; while Dmitriev was based in Petersburg.

By the way, it was Natalia that he skated with in 1994. :)
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
I read the article in one of the sports magazines at my dentist's office. It had a lot of stories about different skaters before Nagano. Among other cute stories was the one with Kwan and Lipinski going to an amusement park in a bad part of town while touring with COI. It started getting dark, and the two ran all the way back to the hotel -- holding hands.
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
Thanks. I do remember hearing about Michelle & Tara and COI; but I hadn't heard the babysitting story before. :)
 

Eeyora

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
attyfan said:
I read the article in one of the sports magazines at my dentist's office. It had a lot of stories about different skaters before Nagano. Among other cute stories was the one with Kwan and Lipinski going to an amusement park in a bad part of town while touring with COI. It started getting dark, and the two ran all the way back to the hotel -- holding hands.

imagine if they ran into a die hard skating fan like myself. I would probably faint with the shock of seeing them.
 
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