2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating | Page 167 | Golden Skate

2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating

The Team USA fund is the one that helped Gracie. ...

Thanks for your reply.

I think you mean a Team USA fund within U.S. Figure Skating?
(As opposed to a Team USA fund that is part of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.)


... Also, I am sure some Sectionals skaters and skaters at other events have expectations. But I have seen people skate with no expectations and it is awesome. The young lady who finished last at Collegiates had been in a car accident several months prior and was happy to be alive and skated into last place with great joy. She said she had fun and learned a lot. And I very much enjoyed her performance. ...

What I was/am trying to say is that I do not think that skating with great joy is possible only for competitors with zero expectations.

I think that it is possible to have some expectations of oneself + associated stress/nerves AND to compete with great joy.
In other words, I do not believe that joy has to be mutually exclusive from expectations/stress/nerves. YMMV.

(I have never attended sectionals or collegiates, but I am thinking [for example] of competitors at U.S. Challenge Skate, which I have attended for three years.)
 
Thanks for your reply.

I think you mean a Team USA fund within U.S. Figure Skating?
(As opposed to a Team USA fund that is part of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.)




What I was/am trying to say is that I do not think that skating with great joy is possible only for competitors with zero expectations.

I think that it is possible to have some expectations of oneself + associated stress/nerves AND to compete with great joy.
In other words, I do not believe that joy has to be mutually exclusive from expectations/stress/nerves. YMMV.

(I have never attended sectionals or collegiates, but I am thinking [for example] of competitors at U.S. Challenge Skate, which I have attended for three years.)

Yes. This is the link Brent gave me. https://fs12.formsite.com/USFSAIT/donations/index.html

I think it would be possible but much more difficult. Where is the U.S. Challenge Skate?

US Regionals and Sectionals are bad enough unless Gracie is there but there is almost literally no one at Collegiates. Those skaters are lucky if there is a parent there. It isn’t uncommon for there to not be a coach. If it is ever held near you you might want to go.
 
I think the judges are ready to reward Bradie for her hard work and consistency. And they will reward Liu but they want to send in a US champion to compete for a medal and this year it is Bradie. Liu is not eligible. Liu will continue to progress as a senior skaer as she transitions actually into seniors. Her body type unlike many of the Russians seems suited for the quads and 3A's - it's in her genes in respect to body type. I am more enamoured with Mariah's skating but Bradie works so hard and gets the job done. Not the most engaging skater but she uses everything she has to the max. She is kind of like Rochette or Osmond only they had more flair and perhaps more amplitude on their jumps.

IN respect to funding that is great if the USFA can support the treatment of its skater for diseases and such. It shouldn't be all about money or medals for that matter. Gracie has had a rough patch with her skating issues and her dad. She is going to Nationals and who knows. It is so odd to see her chasing instead of being chased.
 
Yes. This is the link Brent gave me. https://fs12.formsite.com/USFSAIT/donations/index.html

I think it would be possible but much more difficult. Where is the U.S. Challenge Skate?

US Regionals and Sectionals are bad enough unless Gracie is there but there is almost literally no one at Collegiates. Those skaters are lucky if there is a parent there. It isn’t uncommon for there to not be a coach. If it is ever held near you you might want to go.

Thank you for the link, moonvine.

U.S. Challenge Skate is in Salt Lake City.
(If U.S. International Classic ever moves to a different location, presumably Challenge Skate also would move.)

I thoroughly enjoyed attending Philadelphia International and Summer Championships in 2017 and 2018, and highly regret that the scheduling this year -- including collegiates -- did not work for me. :(
I would very much like to make it to collegiates another year.
I did know that it is not uncommon for coaches not to travel to collegiates. (Thus the heartwarming photos of skaters -- e.g., Max, Alex Johnson, Angela, and Mirai -- putting each other on the ice, and sitting in the kiss and cry with each other. :ghug:)

I am talking about self-expectations along the lines of: "I want to get full rotation on my axel" or "I want to get Level 2 on my step sequence."
Not along the lines of: "I want to get on the podium."
 
When it comes to the Ladies event, I see the podium looking similar to last year. With Bradie making the final I think she'll get Silver and Mariah Bronze. I don't see anyone beating Alysa.
 
I am still rooting for Mariah. I don't think Alysa will clean up her UR's which have been occurring all season called or not in a couple weeks. There is also no way she's going to come out skating much faster than the JPG and she still does not deserve senior level PCS. Bradie made the GPF and worked hard for it but Mariah is fresh and motivated and just might peak at the right moment. Between the two of them clean I think Mariah should have the edge.
 
It’s weird to me how people always think there is this shadow group behind the scenes that meet and collectively decide how all the judges will vote before anyone ever skates, and then instruct the judges what to do.

Each judge has their own preferences and biases I am sure. But I don’t think collectively there is a consensus among the professionals who deserves to win nationals so I don’t really see that as a factor.

To the extent there is a shadow group deciding the nationals winner based on strategy however it would make the most sense to back Alysa. Winning nationals is not going to get Bradie onto the podium, whereas Alysa losing to Bradie will only make her eighth or ninth in the long line of US flameouts from the past decade.
 
It’s weird to me how people always think there is this shadow group behind the scenes that meet and collectively decide how all the judges will vote before anyone ever skates, and then instruct the judges what to do.

Each judge has their own preferences and biases I am sure. But I don’t think collectively there is a consensus among the professionals who deserves to win nationals so I don’t really see that as a factor.

To the extent there is a shadow group deciding the nationals winner based on strategy however it would make the most sense to back Alysa. Winning nationals is not going to get Bradie onto the podium, whereas Alysa losing to Bradie will only make her eighth or ninth in the long line of US flameouts from the past decade.

There actually is more of a benefit to having a clear US #1 senior on the GP circuit. Alysa can be third at US nats, but she is still the #1 junior. At a senior level, it would be easier for USFS to throw their support behind one senior lady for when Worlds rolls around. The reality is ever country's #1 skater on the senior level tends to get a boost in scores.
 
I would just keep in mind that Alysa's SP will be worth more points at Nationals than it is on the junior circuit. (As she can replace the double axel with the triple and put in the lutz for the combination).
 
I would just keep in mind that Alysa's SP will be worth more points at Nationals than it is on the junior circuit. (As she can replace the double axel with the triple and put in the lutz for the combination).

Yeah. I forgot about the different between Jr and Sr layout rules. I know her layour at GPF was 2A, 3A+3T and anothe jump in the SP.
 
Small bump in the FS score as well with a choreo sequence that juniors don't have! If she lands her quads and 3A's cleanly, I'd imagine nationals judges would give her great GOE (which really scales higher for these elements).

With the mini wake up call at JGPF, I think she and her coach are probably focusing on minimizing the UR's, but I do hope judges dock her accordingly and not give her any passes. However, if she lands everything, Bradie and Mariah's PCS buffers won't be enough if they don't go clean.

Nationals sure will be interesting with these three being neck-to-neck for the gold, and Gracie finally making her return!
 
It’s weird to me how people always think there is this shadow group behind the scenes that meet and collectively decide how all the judges will vote before anyone ever skates, and then instruct the judges what to do.

It's wrong to characterize corrupt judging as some sort of conspiracy theory by people wearing tin foil hats. Of course people are going to wuzrobb of their favorite skaters, but it has been a genuine major issue in the sport. John Curry talked about the corruption of figure ranking, accusing the judges of pre-choosing who was going to win and trading votes, you put our country in first in one discipline, we'll vote for your country in another discipline.

Curry: If you look at the results of Worlds and European Championships over the years, you will find that the results of the final results of the previous year are almost always exactly reproduced in the figure results of the following year. So that means that every year, in memorium, whoever came first, second, and third one year, comes first, second, and third in figures. Well, people just aren't that consistent. You know, with the best foot in the world, no one could possibly be that consistent. And it simply means that the judges look at the results in the year before, and they don't want to be expelled from judging for putting someone in the wrong place, or so forth. So they they simply perpetuate it.

Interviewer: So you're saying that when they look at the tracings, that they ignore the wobble.

Curry: I don't think they see the tracings, frankly. I don't think they see the free skating a lot of the time. I don't think they see anything. I think they go in with their little marks all worked out. You'll find that the night before the finals of every competition, the judges all sort of retreat to their various mathematic experts. And they know exactly what they have to give each person in order to achieve the result they wish to achieve, and still remain within the ISU guidelines of not being out of many places of the final result.

Interviewer: You appreciate that what you're actually saying is that skating is corrupt?

Curr: Yes, it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv9M3rsDchU&t=4m08s

It didn't help that back when in Curry's time, the compulsory figures section was essentially closed-door. You never knew if so-and-so really did do the figures better than anyone else. Then we changed to the short program instead of compulsory figures.

Not to mention, back in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics, they literally found judges who traded votes, I'll vote for your ice dancers if you vote for our pairs skaters.
 
Yeah. I forgot about the different between Jr and Sr layout rules. I know her layour at GPF was 2A, 3A+3T and anothe jump in the SP.

Triple loop. Because everyone is required to do a triple loop in the junior SP this season. And everyone is required to do a 2A in a junior SP. This means Alysa can either have the 3A in the combo or a 3 Lz in the combo in the junior SP, but she cannot have both. In a senior SP she can do both and compete a program with all triples. While everyone else will be doing a 2A along with their triples.
 
I would not underestimate Alysa. Even with her under rotations in the JGPF she still scored a 133. Once you add the senior Chreographic sequence, that becomes a 137. Her layout will have a much higher BV.

3A
2A —> 3F
3Lo —> 3Lz+3T * 1.1

This is an additional 3.53 BV points. She scored 71 in the JGPF, so that would make her nationals layout potential score around 75. Plus she’s more than capable of landing clean 3As. She will be very tough to beat even if she underrotated her 4Lz, which still have a BV of 9.2 if she misses. She still scored a 7.23 for her 4Lz In Torino, which is still on par with a clean 3Lz. I’d say her estimated FS score should be around 142-145, with a total score of around 217-220. Of course, I’m being very pragmatic. If she skates like she did in on practice ice, her score will be much higher.
 
https://fs-gossips.com/bridie-tennell-i-have-been-often-called-brandy/

Interview with Bradie. She mentions that she was training the 3A before her foot injury in the summer and wants to put in next season

i wonder what her progress was like on the 3A before her injury. she doesn't get a lot of height on her 2A, so i'm interested to know if she was getting the rotation. she is a hard worker and if she wants it, she'll make it happen.

regarding nationals, i think it would be marvelous if Mariah won. i think she has the edge over Bradie based on the GP and she'd get a PCS boost internationally. although i wonder if she could handle the pressure of being a US champion.
 
Although I think it deserves its own thread, congratulations to Kimmie Meissner for being selected for the Hall of Fame!
 
Triple loop. Because everyone is required to do a triple loop in the junior SP this season.

Actually, the junior requirement is double or triple loop this year.

Of course the skaters who have triple loops and are aiming to place as high as possible will want to do the triple. But that is not required by the rules.
 
Also, if the caller is strict, both Bradie and Mariah are likely to get their own !s or <s.

Exactly! This is why I give the edge to Bradie. Her triple triple is off a Lutz and Mariah's is off a flip. I give pcs to Mariah but if they're both skate cleanly......I go with Bradie. I love them both and hope they make it to worlds.
 
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