2017 U.S. Nationals Championship Ladies SP

[KatGrace1925]

Mrs P, you know I respect you and your opinions, but let's be real.

There really wasn't a combo among the top tier that would have been a legit 3-3 internationally.

Again, the tech callers at US Nats are doing these women no favors.

What slow motion replays were you watching...

 

[bookworm94]

It's nationals, It is a common thing in many other countries as well. But I don't think this trend is doing anyone any good.

Mrs P, you know I respect you and your opinions, but let's be real.

There really wasn't a combo among the top tier that would have been a legit 3-3 internationally.

Again, the tech callers at US Nats are doing these women no favors.

 

[KwanIsALegend]

What was the problem with Gracie finding her opening pose? That was so weird.

 

[yuzushenko]

Ashley lost first place because she lost levels on her spins. Let that be a lesson for Worlds Ashley.

i dont think she's interested in learning. it has been brought to her attention for years, and it has cost her at other competitions as well, and yet here we are. i dont think she's interested in improving her transitions and skating skills either which is a real shame

so refreshing to see charlie being real about that issue regarding ashley. i hope she at least paid attention to what he had to say, from a fellow olympian/teammate/skater. but alas, i think she's going to keep using the 'age' excuse to avoid working on the issue, which is rich seeing as she told journalists to stop referencing her age in every interview (which i agree, her age shouldn't be brought up all the time, but when she herself brings it up as an excuse for not doing certain things, it makes you wonder if she's peaked or not).

surprised by the calls, very generous. i wonder if USFS is doing this to still stay afloat internationally, seeing how high the scores at russian nationals were and how successful the japanese skaters were at their nationals. it's a bit sad though that even the supposedly best in the U.S. can't land a clean triple triple. even with propping up skaters and being lenient on the < calls, the U.S. is still behind countries like russia and japan.

really happy with the top 4 skaters. i think gracie should have definitely been further down though, near 8th place. glad she attacked that combo though, it's an improvement. but her performance is just so subpar the rest of the group. her face looks so blank, a deer in the headlights throughout the entire performance. absolutely no ounce of interpretation, she looks completely dead inside. she really needs to learn how to perform.


was really impressed with karen, tessa, and mirai. i would love to see mirai do a triple axel but given her lead, it might be unwise to attempt it. i don't really expect karen, tessa, or mirai to be clean in the free, though. we just haven't really seen them pull two (relatively) clean programs back to back, and i can definitely imagine mirai succumbing to the pressure and doing some more < or double footed landings, given how close she is to finally getting back on the top of the podium for the first time in 9 years. but we'll see. it would be nice to see them all skate clean, and it would be quite refreshing to see karen win nationals.

honestly, i dont think ashley really deserves it...she doesnt seem to be pushing herself as much as the others, just a lot of OTT two foot glides to coast her way through. she obviously isn't trying to improve her levels. she mentioned that she went to a spin specialist in san francisco at the start of the season for two days...and that was it. she always talks about how she's going to work on transitions and how she isn't going to take transitions out from her programs and how she will add more with shae, but nope. never happens. im really tired of all this talk.

in an ideal situation i would love karen to win, just to see who USFS sends to worlds. i imagine they would have to send the national champion, and then ashley has the international experience, and mirai is in great shape and about to peak at this time, with a 3A in her arsenal. i can't imagine that they'd bop mirai a 2nd time just to include gracie, who has had a shameful season. i was absolutely astounded at how entitled gracie was to suggest that she could get on the world team because "they did the same with Kwan in 2006." she has not the record no the actual talent to be anywhere in kwan's league, nor to warrant that type of favor after such a bad season, and with little to no improvement to show for it. i cant imagine USFS taking mirai off the world team like they did in 2014 for sochi, so that leaves ashley; and she's the reigning world silver medalist with the best chance of getting on the podium and 3 spots, so i can't see them removing her either.

but keeping gracie off the world team might give her time to truly work on improving herself, and with the olympics coming up, she could definitely use the extra time to get in physical and mental shape. she needs to work on her technique and get the confidence back by getting those clean jumps under her belt.

but if mirai or ashley win nationals, then they will most likely boot karen off the team since she lacks experience (though personally i feel it would be the most unwise thing USFS could do. karen is so talented, she should be sent to worlds if she merits the 3rd spot and be allowed to compete against the other young international skaters. get her name out there for 2018). she is of age now so there should be no excuses, they already sent her to junior worlds how many times? push the younger ones to rise up.

 

[deedee1]

Karen with her solid skate made my day. I loved her huge opening Lz. She was so determined throughout, wasn't she? esp her fierce look right before 2A, as if telling herself 'I will NOT miss this one!'. So much improved in presentation, she now skates like a top senior lady. Job very well done!
:thumbsup: to Caroline. So nice to see her again at a competition. Welcome back! Good luck in FS.
Both Mirai and Gracie looked tensed to me. Hope they will relax a bit and skate better in FS.
A little more speed and ice coverage from Gracie and Ashley would have been much appreciated.
Sad for Mariah.... But gutsy of her for trying to tack 3T for the combo. :yes:
Tessa Hong will be a real threat to those who're aiming for the Oly Games next season. Wow. Such a talent.

As for UR calls or not, I would not complain much personally if the tech panel stays stable and fair to all skaters because, you know, it is the Nationals. It happens everywhere.

Game's not over yet. Go girls! :clapper::clapper:

 

[Eclair]

Gracie Gold was scored perfectly. She's got great skating skills and that combo was comparable to last years. Her PCS is where it is because of program constuction, transitions and skating skills. The girls got great edges and commitment to her coreography. Her jumps are coming back now that she is conditioning correctly and she has a fire to fight for it now. She had a similar issue Skate America 2015 and was scorred similarly by the international judges so it was consistent with how Gracie scores as well. I was actuallt expecting the judges to inflate it and I was surpised when it was a fair score.

Mariah had just as much SS, program construction, transitions and commitment to her choreography. Still Marah got 30 PCS while Gracie 32. Should have been lower for Gracie. She has great SS, no-one is denying that. But the way she performed, she should have been even in PCS with Mariah (who in my opinion showed more commitment in choreography, while being just as good in SS, program construction and transitions as Gracie. )

 

[Mrs. P]

Mrs P, you know I respect you and your opinions, but let's be real.

There really wasn't a combo among the top tier that would have been a legit 3-3 internationally.

Again, the tech callers at US Nats are doing these women no favors.

I was simply replying to the poster's claim that there wasn't slo-mo or it wasn't used. By virtue of reviewing it they had to look at some sort of replay.

I personally thought some, perhaps all, could be UR. I also acknowledge that in person, or the camera angle could provoke a different call

Also it's worth noting that the tech panel in novice ladies was quite strict...so it's also not universal that us nationals panels are leininet.

 

[lbamda]

In SP there was an auction of unprecedented generosity for forgiveness of UR.

 

[OS]

Mrs P, you know I respect you and your opinions, but let's be real.

There really wasn't a combo among the top tier that would have been a legit 3-3 internationally.

Again, the tech callers at US Nats are doing these women no favors.

To be fair... they are no lesser lenient than those at most other nationals if you know what i mean. It is all a bit smoke and mirrors these competitions.

For me i just want THE 'moment' for these skaters, and it happened at least twice or thrice last night so it is all good. Let's see how the men measure up

EVERY skater deserves an opportunity to succeed and fail, and every 'brand' had to start somewhere.

 

[Mathman]

Most satisfying performance, to me: Livvy Shilling.

Best music: Livvy Shilling.

 

[Mathman]

What was the problem with Gracie finding her opening pose? That was so weird.

Did she start out with her LP opening pose, then realized that this was the short program. (?)

 

[Ares]

My favourite performance:

Mariah Bell - so much energy, musicality & entertainment. Lovely Broadway step sequence & linking steps. :luv17: Shame about error on 3t in combo + that illusion feature on last spin was bad but otherwise nice.

Also surprisingly good skate from Caroline Zhang.

 

[andromache]

Honestly why do so many people assume the worst of Ashley, like she is intentionally being lazy or refusing to work on her flaws or trying to trick everyone?

IMO, it's probable that her issues with jumps and reworking them means that there is less time to work on everything else. She had much better spins when she was with John Nicks, but her jumps were much worse. Ashley learned bad jump technique at the very start of her career, and that's a deficit she's always had to work her butt off to overcome. If you don't like her skating, fine, but stop implying she is a bad person or a lazy athlete. And if you don't like her results, blame the judges, not her.

Lol at everyone who thinks they are so much smarter than the judges, who must be blinded by her "trashy" makeup. You're all so perceptive only you can see what's REALLY going on!

 

[Biellmann]

Just watched a few videos.
I don't like Karen Chen, both her skating and personality, so that's it.
Gracie :confused2:
Some here complain about Ashley and her "slow" spins, well, she is actually spinning to the music (at worlds, one of the british commentators mentioned it).
Courtney :disapp:
Paige
Nagasu is not my cup of tea
Mariah :noshake:

 

[Ares]

They didn't score Ashley's 2A or Mirai's 3Lo as <. Mirai's was definitely 2-footed.

Mirai's 3lo looked very close to being 1/4 underrotated but maybe she'd didn't cross that mark after all? Or they were more lenient as it's in USA Nationals, either way it would not be offense and abuse if she got UR for that. Overall I think they kept equal standards for every skater (bar maybe few misshaps) so it's not awful. But I noticed underrotation in real time so maybe she deserved that call, otherwise low GOE should be attiributed for two-footed landing. As for combinations of Mirai & Ashley - I think they were OK so I 'd tilt to agree with panel on that. I'd give < for Ashley's 2A though. As for placements I agree with them.

 

[Mathman]

I am so sad for Gracie. It seems like competitive ice skating is just a torture for her.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Karen Chen was SOOOOOO good. Huge 3-3 combo, great spins, amazing spiral (nobody in the world does it this good anymore, NOBODY), and all of the inbetween movements were worked into the music really well. She has those strong basics and puts the emotion into it as well. This is great skating. She just missed the ending of the program a little, but that's okay. The other ladies really shouldn't have been close to her in the score.

There really wasn't a combo among the top tier that would have been a legit 3-3 internationally.

Again, the tech callers at US Nats are doing these women no favors.

Karen and Mirai were legit on that combo, it was close but they got there. Karen in particular had such amplitude that trying to nitpick is really the opposite of what the sport should be doing. Ashley, on the other hand...same old story. Cheated but they gave her credit.

 

[gravy]

Honestly why do so many people assume the worst of Ashley, like she is intentionally being lazy or refusing to work on her flaws or trying to trick everyone?

IMO, it's probable that her issues with jumps and reworking them means that there is less time to work on everything else. She had much better spins when she was with John Nicks, but her jumps were much worse. Ashley learned bad jump technique at the very start of her career, and that's a deficit she's always had to work her butt off to overcome. If you don't like her skating, fine, but stop implying she is a bad person or a lazy athlete. And if you don't like her results, blame the judges, not her.

Lol at everyone who thinks they are so much smarter than the judges, who must be blinded by her "trashy" makeup. You're all so perceptive only you can see what's REALLY going on!

But they're my STRONG FEELINGS!! They have to be right about Ashley being a trash skater because I say so!

I am so sad for Gracie. It seems like competitive ice skating is just a torture for her.

Really? I didn't get that vibe at all. The only "torture" I felt during her short was her winding up for her 3F, she slowed down so much after her split leap!

 

[Art&Sport]

Has anyone been able to get Skate Radio via a computer this year? (Not through the app.)

I kept checking the IN backstage channel during the Pairs SP ... and nothing.

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v1219104283​

The IceDesk show has concluded on the backstage channel, but still no Skate Radio.

(I never had a problem getting Skate Radio on my computer in past years.)​

...

I believe if you check out the event schedule page on IN, you will see a paragraph where they indicate that SkateRadio will be made available on IN during NBC network's coverage. Otherwise, you can access SKateRadio via IN's new app (download onto a mobile device).

But I totally agree that IN is terrible. They do not give us a good product for the yearly fee. MLB provides the service, so why isn't it as sharp and free from glitches as it is for baseball? Because they don't care about fs fans apparently. Often home computers need tweaking and a computer's download speed is a factor, but overall that's still no excuse because IN's transmission is still spotty for livestreaming. And the picture is very fuzzy. I don't understand why they don't do a better job for the biggest event which is the reason why most people buy their service in the first place.

 

[Mathman]

Really? I didn't get that vibe at all. The only "torture" I felt during her short was her winding up for her 3F, she slowed down so much after her split leap!

I thought that all the spark went out of her from the moment the combo didn't go exactly right. She stopped performing and seemed to me to want nothing more than to get off the ice.