2017-18 State of U.S. Ladies Skating

[Bluediamonds09]

Yippee!!! Looks like Ashley is going to 4CC. On the Today show, just now, she said that she’s training for a competition right now.

 

[sinnerspinner]

I think you mean she didn't win Olympic bronze in 2010.

It might be more precise to say that many Mirai fans are cray-cray (not all, as is implied). Or (I'm admonishing myself to be fair) ... it may be just the highly vocal Mirai fans. But you make valid points about so very many of the comments about Mirai, whether they're here at GS or at other places in the universe. The continued, vocal angst (and its accompanying bitterness against Wagner) about 2014 did a disservice to Mirai herself, and it probably held her back over the past 4 years. But I'm really happy that she was able to rise above her "story" and the way it was perpetuated by so many of her fans.

Mirai really is a great example of perseverance of training and of spirit ... qualities that Ashley has praised her for.

Yes, those are just the vocal fans. I'm a Mirai fan, and I'm happy for Bradie.

As far as Ashley, the anger wouldve been better placed at the skating powers that be. Ashley was not gonna be like, "Nah, that's cool. I'll stay home from the Olympics ."

I"m not a staunch believer in BOW, so I'm not opposed to bradie going to the Olympics. She earned it, and she was very consistent and clean. Mirai did have at least one awkward landing.

 

[mrrice]

As befits a true Cinderella, I am hoping that Fairy-godfather Frank Caroll will wave his magic wand and transform Bradie from an ice princess into a class act. :luv17:

That's exactly what people said about Gracie when she skated to "Life Is Beautiful" in 2013. She went to Frank and became a Princess but, she never looked happy. Maybe Bradie could use better choreography but, the girl has skills. Unlike Gracie, and several other top ladies from around the world, Bradie has nerves of steel. If it aint broke....Don't fix it.

Outside of Russia, she would have been on every other National Podium with her skate from Nationals. Maybe not gold, but her program was technically difficult and she did it perfectly...

 

[skylark]

Yippee!!! Looks like Ashley is going to 4CC. On the Today show, just now, she said that she’s training for a competition right now.

Yippee!!! I second your emotion. I just hope and pray she's talking about 4CC. I said elsewhere on the forum that we know she's fierce and a fighter, so I would think she'd want to compete there. I can hardly wait to see LaLaLand again ... and in Taiwan, there will likely be very appreciative audiences. I'm sure that for her own feelings and her own happiness, this would be the right decision.

 

[skylark]

Yippee!!! Looks like Ashley is going to 4CC. On the Today show, just now, she said that she’s training for a competition right now.

Then how about this: https://www.northerniceanddance.com...ab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/imag0879aa.jpg
Or, one with sleeves but still a horizontal cut at the armpits: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4f/3a/fd/...ice-skating-outfit-figure-skating-dresses.jpg

Oooh, nice. I especially like the second one; it has the vibe of the dress in the Kenneth Branagh Cinderella movie.

It's fun to see people engaged this way. And I, for one, would love to cut just a few inches off her hair and have Tarah Kayne share with her the hairstyles that give her face and upper body more balance. Tarah has a similar longish face and smallish head; she's made her look a little more balanced since 2016.

Having said that, Bradie is a young woman who knows her own mind. I admire that. She stood up to the pressure of people at Champs Camp telling her she needed to change her program, full stop. ETA: They wanted her to change the vocals section of the program.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Having said that, Bradie is a young woman who knows her own mind. I admire that. She stood up to the pressure of people at Champs Camp telling her she needed to change her program, full stop.

I didn't know people asked her to change her programs early in the season. It's a good thing she stuck to her guns; both Karen and Ashley struggled with picking programs and I think it distracted from the necessary work on technical elements. Any other program that Bradie would skate to might only improve her PCS scores marginally, but that edge probably wouldn't be compensated for if she made even one major error.

 

[mrrice]

I didn't know people asked her to change her programs early in the season. It's a good thing she stuck to her guns; both Karen and Ashley struggled with picking programs and I think it distracted from the necessary work on technical elements. Any other program that Bradie would skate to might only improve her PCS scores marginally, but that edge probably wouldn't be compensated for if she made even one major error.

I think Bradie's strategy was perfect. Do what you can do and do it well. Her big tech scores were enough to overcome the PCS lead that Karen, Mirai, or Ashley may have had over her. I think her plan was to win Nationals and not worry about the rest of the international field.

I think that was Ashley's mistake. I think she approached the season trying to beat Evgenia, Kaetlyn, and Sotoko and went with MR because it was a proven winner. I think if she had gone with La La Land from the beginning, she might have lost some battles but she would have won the war..

I hope that made sense. I'm looking forward to seeing Ashley at 4CC. I think her new LP will have more mileage on it and she could possibly win with it.

 

[chuckm]

Let's be realistic: even the best version of LLL was not going to beat Evgenia, Kaetlyn, Satoko, Carolina and Alina Z. Technically and PCS-wise, Ashley is not competitive with those skaters any more.

 

[mrrice]

Let's be realistic: even the best version of LLL was not going to beat Evgenia, Kaetlyn, Satoko, Carolina and Alina Z. Technically and PCS-wise, Ashley is not competitive with those skaters any more.

100% Correct......That's why I think it was poor planning for her not to stick with La La Land. If she had skated it perfectly, she might have knocked Karen off the team. Though she did as well as could be expected, it wasn't enough to beat the top ladies who had been doing their programs for months. Now, she won't have the chance to go to the Olympics and that has to be sad for her this late in her career.

 

[skylark]

I didn't know people asked her to change her programs early in the season. It's a good thing she stuck to her guns; both Karen and Ashley struggled with picking programs and I think it distracted from the necessary work on technical elements. Any other program that Bradie would skate to might only improve her PCS scores marginally, but that edge probably wouldn't be compensated for if she made even one major error.

A clarification: They asked her to change the vocals on the music.

Prepared, and confident with their material. When Tennell brought Cinderella -- including a vocal to "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" as well as selections from the Prokofiev ballet -- to U.S. Figure Skating's Champs Camp this summer, some officials suggested she change the vocal to something more mature. After due consideration, Tennell stood her ground.

"We took the advice to heart," Myers said. "We tried 10 different versions and nothing was as good as the original (edited by Hugo Chouinard). So, we stuck with our plan."​

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018...rella-story-unflappable-tennell-wins-us-title​

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[skylark]

I think that was Ashley's mistake. I think she approached the season trying to beat Evgenia, Kaetlyn, and Sotoko and went with MR because it was a proven winner.

I disagree. I believe what Ashley says. She said at the time of the change that skating to MR made her feel like the athlete she was in 2016. It was only after competing MR again that she found that instead, she needed to feel fresh and new with her program, and La La Land did that for her.

I think if she had gone with La La Land from the beginning, she might have lost some battles but she would have won the war..

I hope that made sense. I'm looking to seeing Ashley at 4CC. I think her new LP will have more mileage on it and she could possibly win with it.

Yesss! Of course I'd love to see her finish strong with it; but what I really want is for Ashley to have a skate that she can be proud of, and happy with the way she skated.

I forgot to say earlier, mrrice, that your comment about it being almost impossible to judge a program that you were seeing for the first time really resonated with me. I feel the same, not having ever been a dance judge or any other kind. But I see things the second time that may change at least some of what I think and feel.

 

[skylark]

Let's be realistic: even the best version of LLL was not going to beat Evgenia, Kaetlyn, Satoko, Carolina and Alina Z. Technically and PCS-wise, Ashley is not competitive with those skaters any more.

I truly wish and request that posters would respect what skaters say, and not try to put words in their mouth or thoughts in their head. Saying things like the above creates its own momentum. You drew a conclusion from a speculation of mrrice, and stated it as being "realistic" or a fact. Some other people may actually start to believe that's what she was thinking.

Thinking the worst about people and then saying it publicly ... can mushroom. Just like a nuclear bomb. That's probably a huge part of the anger, bitterness and resentment of Ashley that are so prominent all over this forum.

Ashley never said she was trying to beat any specific skaters. She's careful not to speak in those terms; she talks about herself. She said that she was training hard to bring to nationals and Olympics what she knew she was capable of doing. She wanted to medal (of course!) Most people love that about her; she's a fierce competitor and fearlessly declares what she hopes and plans to do.

But she never mentioned trying to beat anyone specifically. Ashley is very classy that way.

 

[mrrice]

^^^ Skylark......Great comment. I remember Ashley saying that she thought the Russian girls were amazing and I think she has a ton of respect for them. Plus, I don't think she blames other skaters for her numbers, or any loss she may have. She stated that she was furious with the judges, not her fellow skaters.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

One thing I would add is that I really don't like vocals in competitive programs. The commentators talking over some of the programs didn't bother me too much, but we had never seen Ashley's programs, and I personally wasn't familiar with the song lyrics. Having those somewhat muted while Tara Lipinski was adding meaningless commentary at the beginning of Ashley's FS detracted from my ability to relate the lyrics to the choreography, and skaters should probably be mindful of that.

 

[Figure 8's]

Well, I am a pretty rabid Mirai fan, so I will jump in here.

I thought Mirai should have won the bronze in 2010. She was a faster skater in 2010, and in many ways a better performer, yet got hosed in PCS. The medal winners were pre ordained in 2010, Why shouldn't fans of the 4th place finisher be upset?

2014. I was one of the biggest complainers on GS. However, I thought Wagner should have been added, replacing Edmunds who had little senior experience and edged Mirai by 3 points with questionable high PCS. My wrath was directed entirely at USFS, not at Ashley. I was told repeatedly on this forum in 2014 that it was perfectly fine to dump the 3rd place skater, but it was positively impossible to dump second place Edmunds. Think Ross Miner.

2018 I was in San Jose all week, and this year Bradie is a jumping machine who earned a well deserved win. I watched a number of practices, and Bradie made no obvious jumping mistakes all week. I am very happy that Mirai made the team, and have no problems with Bradie's win.

I agree that Mirai should have won bronze at the 2010 Olympics. Matter of fact I just watched it again on U Tube and I thought to myself, if she had skated like that all these years since, She would have been winning right and left. After 2014's disappointment she did not give up. She came back and worked her butt off and it paid off this year. I think she should be highly commended for what she did.

 

[LiamForeman]

One thing I would add is that I really don't like vocals in competitive programs. The commentators talking over some of the programs didn't bother me too much, but we had never seen Ashley's programs, and I personally wasn't familiar with the song lyrics. Having those somewhat muted while Tara Lipinski was adding meaningless commentary at the beginning of Ashley's FS detracted from my ability to relate the lyrics to the choreography, and skaters should probably be mindful of that.

I agree and posted that after the finals. Tara should have known to keep her mouth shut at least during the opening vocals. I had no idea what tone Ashley was trying to set. And STILL, because there aren't any LLL performances on Youtube without her yapping, I probably will never know what she was skating to.

 

[skylark]

One thing I would add is that I really don't like vocals in competitive programs. The commentators talking over some of the programs didn't bother me too much, but we had never seen Ashley's programs, and I personally wasn't familiar with the song lyrics. Having those somewhat muted while Tara Lipinski was adding meaningless commentary at the beginning of Ashley's FS detracted from my ability to relate the lyrics to the choreography, and skaters should probably be mindful of that.

I don't think it's the skater's responsibility to think about what the commentators will do. I agree with you that it's a travesty how Tara and Terry Gannon (among other commentators) seem to feel like they have to fill in the more quiet parts, or the parts where the skater may not be doing exciting elements, but are creating key moments that express emotion, character, and the music.

It's the skater's job to skate programs that will create a moment in the arena, transfer emotion from themselves to audiences and judges (and, as I believe, to worldwide audiences). Sometimes lyrics can assist in that.

This is why I love the British Esp commentators so much. They respect what the skaters are trying to create. They keep their comments during the programs to a minimum, and only say things that will assist viewers in appreciating the program.

 

[skylark]

I agree and posted that after the finals. Tara should have known to keep her mouth shut at least during the opening vocals. I had no idea what tone Ashley was trying to set. And STILL, because there aren't any LLL performances on Youtube without her yapping, I probably will never know what she was skating to.

:agree:

When she skates it at 4CC, we'll be able to tune in, after the fact at least, to B.Esp. videos.

 

[klutzy]

If you haven't seen this girl, you should watch her now. This is definitely the best lady i've seen from US Nationals, and i believe it's a future of US skating.

Yeah, we know but she's 12--so we're hoping that she makes it through adolescence. She's so young that she can't even go to Junior Worlds for more than a year.

 

[stella luna]

I agree that Mirai should have won bronze at the 2010 Olympics. Matter of fact I just watched it again on U Tube and I thought to myself, if she had skated like that all these years since, She would have been winning right and left. After 2014's disappointment she did not give up. She came back and worked her butt off and it paid off this year. I think she should be highly commended for what she did.

She's not getting enough props amid the Ashley kerfluffle.