- Joined
- Feb 13, 2018
I really enjoyed Bradie's "'This is Me" gala program. She didn't look stiff or awkward; she looked quite natural and happy. It'd be great to see her do a program like that.
2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating
- Thread starter Spirals for Miles
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2012
Who is Polina's coach now? She had ur problems in her best days though she always looked surprised by the calls. If she wants to be competitive again, she needs a coach to fix that problem, in addition to get back in shape and injury free.
seems like her career is over for good
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2018
I don’t think Bradie is incapable of finding an artistic style that works for her — and I was frankly amazed at the difference between last season and what we saw at ACI — but she does need to improve her skating skills. Her programmes actually do a fairly good job of hiding that weakness, in that her choreo takes advantage of her long limbs and ability to hit interesting angles, but she’s going to be stuck in that style unless she can gain more control over her blades. There’s not much flow to her skating, the knees are often stiff, etc. But she’s quite young as a competitive skater, so there’s a lot of room for growth. I’m not sure if she’ll end up becoming a true threat to the top women or not, but she’s certainly aware of her weaknesses and working on them.
I do wish she’d do something modern that takes advantage of her limbs. For some reason, I always think of Lady Gaga when I see her.
Can we please not do this? Her career will end when she's ready. Let's at least give her a chance to try to come back.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2015
Especially after she’s announced she’s working on coming back from injury. She gets to make that call.
whats wrong about being realistic? she is a beautiful sight on the ice, but jumping wise she will have a hard time, tall as she is. salch are not enough anymore
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
she couldn't do toe jumps because of her injury, not because she just couldn't do them. you're being judgemental, not realistic.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2016
Angela Wang is the only US lady this week. I think we all know that if she were to skate clean, she’s so good that she could medal, even in this deep field. Based on her past I’m not getting my hopes up.
What do people think of Angela? Is she well- liked? I’m just so , so confused by her because, say what u will about the consistency of Ashley, Gracie, Mariah, and Karen, but at least they’ve skated well enough when it really counted.
What do people think of Angela? Is she well- liked? I’m just so , so confused by her because, say what u will about the consistency of Ashley, Gracie, Mariah, and Karen, but at least they’ve skated well enough when it really counted.
Angela Wang is the only US lady this week. I think we all know that if she were to skate clean, she’s so good that she could medal, even in this deep field. Based on her past I’m not getting my hopes up.
What do people think of Angela? Is she well- liked? I’m just so , so confused by her because, say what u will about the consistency of Ashley, Gracie, Mariah, and Karen, but at least they’ve skated well enough when it really counted.
I thought was was underscored at US Nat's, and even with mistakes,( In the long, as I remember her short was near perfect?) she was one to watch. Now though? Disappointed. But it is the year after the Olympics, and perhaps to be expected.
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
I don’t have high hopes for Angela skating clean, I have to admit. I think it may be a rough outing but all I can do is hope it isn’t. She switched to Kaetlyn’s coach this year so we will see if he made any changes.
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2018
Never heard of her, but ladies is not a discipline I care much about any longer and I haven’t bothered following the US women for the last decade.
Based on what I saw on YouTube, Wang seems... inoffensive? I like her more than Mariah Bell, but Bell is the kind of skater I call “human Ambien.” Inoffensive. Soporific. Lacking in anything that causes you to remember their performance. (Nicole Schott’s Schindler’s List programme was the ur-example of this for me.) Wang seems to have a bit more personality and capability for the dramatic, which is more memorable than Mariah’s “I guess that was nice but it wasn’t about anything?” free skate, but neither of them impress me on the technical side or have any outstanding qualities (such as notably good sit spins, jump height, etc.). But Wang’s FS is the mash-up no one asked for: one of Kwan’s costumes set to Yuna’s music.
The US women aren’t terrible — Bell just isn’t my particular thing but she’s not awful, for one — but I do think Mariah and Karen are a huge step down from Ashley and Gracie, who were better than just “the best we have in a weak field.” (Which... is kind of what the US team feels like these days.) In an attempt to make figure skating exciting again, the standards for a solid US ladies skater have been bargained down and bargained down and bargained down, to the point where we had NBC trying to push Bradie as competitive with the top women with a straight face during the Olympics. Ashley Wagner was never my favourite skater and she had plenty of problems, but she wasn’t the hot mess Karen Chen was. And I vastly preferred her “love me or hate me” drama to Chen’s “the cobbler’s children have no shoes” pityfests. Ashley was at least amusing. [emoji23]
- Joined
- May 27, 2018
- Country
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- Joined
- Feb 14, 2018
I feel bad for laughing but oh my god, "the cobbler's children have no shoes."
When she posted about boot problems during the Olympics, my soul began channeling Tyra. (Okay, I wasn’t actually rooting for her, but I wasn’t rooting against her... even if my cat and I will never forgive her for those bird sounds.)
Wagner is, to borrow a line, definitely messy and someone who lives for drama, but she also would have your back in a fight if you were right. Chen wouldn’t even make it to the fight, because boot problems omgz.
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
Totally disagree on Bell. She has IT-factor
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2018
Mariah is a matter of taste and/or her free skate not quite connecting with me (and I dislike the music in her SP). I do think she’s one of the more talented US women, but she has some issues she still needs to work through in terms of technique. Just to be clear: I wasn’t trying to suggest she doesn’t have talent — she does, and I acknowledge that. It’s just that she, for whatever reason, hasn’t had an impact on me personally.
^ Sure, that’s absolutely fair! Just wanted to say I see things differently. 
I’m still working on my Skate Canada live recap...I might post it before the start of the next GP, LOL, but I definitely came away feeling good about Mariah. I was unsure about her Celine Dion SP, but it was very well received by the audience, which may partially be because we were in the land of Celine. But I really enjoyed it, never the less.
I’m still working on my Skate Canada live recap...I might post it before the start of the next GP, LOL, but I definitely came away feeling good about Mariah. I was unsure about her Celine Dion SP, but it was very well received by the audience, which may partially be because we were in the land of Celine. But I really enjoyed it, never the less.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
Mariah has been hit or miss with me - it's definitely dependent on her programs. Chicago got pretty tiring, West Side Story was bad, East of Eden and Born on the Fourth of July were okay but a little dated and bland. Her Little Talks and Titanic programs were both fabulous and made people sit up and notice her though. I think this season is the first time that she's had programs that come close to being as good as those two.
I think they've figured out that more contemporary music suits her.
I think they've figured out that more contemporary music suits her.
