Chris Howarth is from British Eurosport, aka Yuzuru Hanyu's biggest fanboys. Even if he completely bombs his programs they will always find something good to say about him. So yeah, it must have been a compliment. But I agree with you, Joshua's step sequence is beautiful, less packed and therefore, I could say, less overwhelming and easier to appreciate, and I think his choice of music helps there, even if many hate his SP music I think it suits his style greatly. Yuzuru's and Javier's step sequences are very impressive technically but sometimes you can't take it all in since it can be too much and too fast.
2015 Worlds Men Free Skate March 28
- Thread starter Mrs. P
- Start date
This post just reminded me of how much I really miss those fast straight line step sequences!
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- Jul 31, 2014
There were A LOT of records broken at this nationals. Off the top of my head Alexa and Chris in Pairs and Ashley Wagner as well. I am not sure this is such a good competition to use as a baseline.
Hell, Josh got a 43.43 after a 33.68 at NHK. And in the long from a 68.28 to 93.12 so it is hardly like Jason is the only one getting love at Nationals. While Josh is a lovely skater, I think he got more of a "we love you" message at nationals than Jason after the season he had.
Well thank you for taking another look at Max. I understand not being a fan, but if you value the quad, than really he is being undervalued.
Just for fun. I decided to look at USA men's quads from last season (2013-2014 as I already did this for this year) Grand Prix.
Max Aaron - Skate America FS - 4S+2T +0 GOE. Sadly all his others at Skate America were -GOE, I'll give a no loss of points quad a pass. . . barely.
And that is the extent of American +GOE quads on the Circuit for the year. Jeremy has a 4T with "only" -.14 GOE in the SP at Canada, and Max had a -.14 at NHK for a 4S+2T
At worlds Max had a +0 GOE on a 4S+3T in the SP
Jeremy manged to get a +.71 GEO on a 4T in the FS.
So, again, we are not really seeing that many successful quad attempts by USA men.
Maybe the only positive GOE quad of last season should have given Jeremy more love, but really he was in the top three after the SP and kinda had a meltdown in the long. I don't think he should have been held up, even over Max Aaron.
Josh and Adam, it has been a long time since they actually completed a quad at competition. I am not sure if either actually have any clean senior quads to their name.
So, even if Jason was favored, it is not like he was favored over people who are actually completing real quads cuz we don't really have that.
(Full disclosure: I've liked Jason since his first Nationals. He just had "it" and it grabbed me. Skated with heart like Michelle Kwan did back in the day maybe. Whatever. I love him.)
He did get a points bump at Nationals but so did everyone (but Max maybe). Should he have been #1? Maybe. Josh and Adam made good cases but they had pretty uneven seasons. Jason was consistent from the start. I think that gives you more of a bump than anything else. Showing that you aren't a headcase, that you have it under control, the judges expect you do do well and maybe reward you a little more heavily than someone who comes in from nowhere and skates lights out. While the audience loves a Cinderella story, the federation loves someone they can count on to not bomb. And once you have a reputation for consistency, it works for you. When you are a reputation for headcasing or under-rotating, it works against you. Alyssa was one of the few skaters I've seen turn the negative assumption around and end up doing very well. Adam seems to be turning his career around but is still in the early stages. If he is solid next year, he should start getting the "we know you can do it under pressure" bump. Same for Josh (at NKH Trophy had was 30 points behind the 10th place guy and almost 100 points behind the winner--just terrible. So turning it around for Nationals was a great accomplishment, but you can't blame the national judges for not giving top marks to a guy who brought home a <170 internationally, no matter how well he skated that day.).
Jason knows he needs a quad. We all know they are working on it. We also all know it isn't ready. Maybe it will be ready next year, maybe it won't. I know they will want it before '18. Maybe he'll have two by then.
How many quads did Evan Lysacek do? You don't need a quad if everything else you do is top notch and those with quads throw them out and fail (and your federation politicks correctly, amiright?). Right now, there are many men who are doing them consistently but the tide could shift again in a few years with fewer guys doing them again. Who knows?
Max Aaron has really grown on me. I want him to be one of the three guys for Worlds next year. I want him to have a great season and not get held down on the PCS because he is a "hockey player" or whatever. I know his reputation is for not having artistry but he is really working on it and I respect that. I also think he is improving--I liked the programs he picked this year and last year and how they worked with his strengths. Maybe if he could get Buttle to choreograph him something he could start getting some respect--but I don't think him doing an artsy piece to angsty male singer will work (yeah, I disliked both jeremy and Josh's SP music (also didn't much like Jason's SP music so I am an equal opportunity hater)).
He did get a points bump at Nationals but so did everyone (but Max maybe). Should he have been #1? Maybe. Josh and Adam made good cases but they had pretty uneven seasons. Jason was consistent from the start. I think that gives you more of a bump than anything else. Showing that you aren't a headcase, that you have it under control, the judges expect you do do well and maybe reward you a little more heavily than someone who comes in from nowhere and skates lights out. While the audience loves a Cinderella story, the federation loves someone they can count on to not bomb. And once you have a reputation for consistency, it works for you. When you are a reputation for headcasing or under-rotating, it works against you. Alyssa was one of the few skaters I've seen turn the negative assumption around and end up doing very well. Adam seems to be turning his career around but is still in the early stages. If he is solid next year, he should start getting the "we know you can do it under pressure" bump. Same for Josh (at NKH Trophy had was 30 points behind the 10th place guy and almost 100 points behind the winner--just terrible. So turning it around for Nationals was a great accomplishment, but you can't blame the national judges for not giving top marks to a guy who brought home a <170 internationally, no matter how well he skated that day.).
Jason knows he needs a quad. We all know they are working on it. We also all know it isn't ready. Maybe it will be ready next year, maybe it won't. I know they will want it before '18. Maybe he'll have two by then.
How many quads did Evan Lysacek do? You don't need a quad if everything else you do is top notch and those with quads throw them out and fail (and your federation politicks correctly, amiright?). Right now, there are many men who are doing them consistently but the tide could shift again in a few years with fewer guys doing them again. Who knows?
Max Aaron has really grown on me. I want him to be one of the three guys for Worlds next year. I want him to have a great season and not get held down on the PCS because he is a "hockey player" or whatever. I know his reputation is for not having artistry but he is really working on it and I respect that. I also think he is improving--I liked the programs he picked this year and last year and how they worked with his strengths. Maybe if he could get Buttle to choreograph him something he could start getting some respect--but I don't think him doing an artsy piece to angsty male singer will work (yeah, I disliked both jeremy and Josh's SP music (also didn't much like Jason's SP music so I am an equal opportunity hater)).
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Friendly reminder: We have a nice U.S. men's thread that has been neglected. (I need to get some stuff over there!)
Probably best to continue the Nationals/US men pecking order over there: http://goldenskate.com/forum/showth...e-U-S-Men-s-Figure-Skating-for-2014-15/page71
Probably best to continue the Nationals/US men pecking order over there: http://goldenskate.com/forum/showth...e-U-S-Men-s-Figure-Skating-for-2014-15/page71
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