2023 U.S. Nationals Sr. Men's Free Skate

[dorispulaski]

Hint: there should be FanFests for Kirk and for Samuel.

 

[4everchan]

Hint: there should be FanFests for Kirk and for Samuel.

Last time I adopted a skater, I had to transfer the adoption paper to another GSer since I couldn't keep up... Poor Conrad.... still my son at heart... So i will skip on Samuel though he certainly deserves a page in here !

 

[mercybuckets]

Finally caught up, at least on the last two groups. I'll have to watch clips of the others.

Chaotic thoughts:

I don't think adversity is bad for Ilia at all, especially considering he really is competing against himself in a lot of ways among the US men right now. We know he can put two decent programs together and he clearly has a healthy amount of grit/defiance considering that last combo. Not the way he wanted to win but I think he's deserving nonetheless. Also I am very pleased with myself for telling my mum to watch out for him back in 2019, though I didn't imagine him turning out quite like this. I mostly started following him because his rink is very close to where I went to grad school.

Jason, forget intelligent comments, I'm just grateful I get to see Jason skate again. His spiral is so gorgeous, I wish I had that kind of flexibility lol. The fall is already forgotten as far as I'm concerned, though I did prefer his SP.

Samuel Mindra top ten finish!! I started following him in juniors and he has not disappointed! I don't mind that he played it safe with the 3A at all, I just love to watch him skate (even to whatever that music was haha)

Jimmy Ma with the scream at the end, so happy to see him hit like that

Max Naumov is back and he improved on his top 5 finish! I was so disappointed when I missed him in person because he was injured. It's good to see him back and looking so good.

Andrew T national medalist in 2023 was not on the bingo card but I kind of love it, he looked amazing out there

Yaro's nationals redemption makes me happy

Overall, I would say that was a better nationals than I could have hoped for in the men's free. There were so many good programs!

 

[skatedreamer]

Well, dang it all.

After all the talk about Sam’s music, I’ve got myself a big fat “Love Story” ear worm. I even started singing it, for crying out loud!

Seriously, though, by itself it’s a lovely tune. It might be fun for a pairs or ice dance team to revive it. Remember S/P’s wonderful rendition of it in Salt Lake City?

What knocked me sideways today was hearing it mashed up with my #1 favorite Chopin Nocturne. That, my friends, was simply too much for my aging brain cells.

My bottom line:
Chopin — YES
“Love Story” — yes
Chopin + “Love Story” — NYET!

 

[moonvine]

Mine too. The fact that he could interpret that music so well was a pleasant thing to witness. Alex Johnson was in my head watching him. I hope he's young because I'd love to see where he can go from here.

Samuel is 18. He has medalled in the past at junior nats. This is his first year skating as a senior at Nationals

 

[reader3]

Brown and Malinin are both from the same country: US.

She said county not country. CK lives in the same county in VA that Ilia is in.

 

[theblade]

I actually think that Samuel Mindra skating to old school music is pretty punk rock. Andy Williams is an amazing vocalist.

Although "Where Do I Begin" does indeed lend itself to pairs more readily.

 

[mrrice]

Samuel is 18. He has medalled in the past at junior nats. This is his first year skating as a senior at Nationals

 

[Greengemmonster]

Oh no no no. Ilia....you don't need all these shows during the season.

*Sigh*

I think he should have gone to 4CC.

There are a few dangerous skaters there and it would have been a good chance for him to prove that he can stabilize and beat them before heading to worlds where the skaters are even more dangerous!

 

[karne]

Didn't the USFed ask Brown to come to Nationals in the hope to get a spot for worlds and with Ilia, secure the 3 spots for men at 2024 worlds? I read this on this board... If that's true, it would be quite counterproductive to not send him based on... the criteria..

No. Jason made the decision to come on his own, as part of his new planning, and also because even as early as Beijing he was already saying that it would feel weird to end his career in front of empty stands.

I'll guess USFS were pretty bloody happy when he said he would, though.

 

[4everchan]

No. Jason made the decision to come on his own, as part of his new planning, and also because even as early as Beijing he was already saying that it would feel weird to end his career in front of empty stands.

I'll guess USFS were pretty bloody happy when he said he would, though.

Thanks. @el henry already explained where this rumour came from and also detailed Jason's goals.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Wow, that was a pretty intense and entertaining final group. The last two groups altogether. I notice how they didn't use the sp positioning for fp skate order, which we'd become accustomed to. I guess they determined it's fairer to randomly pull skate order numbers by group section.

I was so happy for Andrew Torgashev pulling out two great skates. My favorite performances of the men's event, alongside the phenomenal Jason Brown. What courage and beauty Jason displayed! Plus, Jason nearly won again!!! If he had not made the mistake on his final jump, and had Ilia not had the presence of mind to improvise more tech content at the end, boy we would be celebrating an unexpected Jason Brown victory.

I looked at the NBC broadcast, and then I viewed the World feed on Peacock. NBC wasted too much time showing a fluff feature on Ilia twice. Once was enough. I think we get it that he's favored, and he's very talented, especially technically and athletically. I never doubted Ilia could and would land another quad axel, because he's landed it a number of times. I believe at this point that Ilia is around two clean out of five attempts in competition? Or maybe it's three out of 5 attempts. He can't be perfect every time. I think the build-up for the 4-axel was a bit overdone by NBC. Too much hype is never good especially when dealing with a young person. Ilia was honest about not really feeling it this time. There were probably a bit too many media distractions for Ilia, and he wasn't in the mindset he needed to be in. Still, he wasn't doing too badly until he began doubling and missing jumps. Good for Ilia throwing that final 3-jump element in his fp.

Again, congrats to Andrew T! His medal is so well deserved. Many thanks to Jason Brown too, for sharing another special journey with us. Such memorable moments!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Andrew T was on my bingo card because I remember how well he skated in the sp at 2020 U.S. Nats. And then he was injured, had surgery and rehab, and he took extensive time off to re-tool his technique under Raf A.

Speaking of which, I so enjoyed seeing Tomas Verner in the kiss'n cry, first with some junior men, and later with some seniors. Tomas was always a great skater, and so handsome. It was nice that Johnny gave Tomas a shout-out. They are good friends. Their era in the sport brings back so many memories. Johnny indicated that Tomas and Misha Ge have been working with Raf's coaching team in California. I guess Raf is cutting back on traveling to events with his students.

 

[skaket023]

Well, so enjoyed that.

I feel bad for Tomoki. He had such a good short.

I'm happy about Max and Andrew. Very much looking forward to 4CC now.

Mindra and Martynov are one's to watch, that's for sure.

Liam looks like a young Robinhood. I really like his skating. Hope he develops that quad.

 

[Ruthypegs]

That is how I watched US Nats last year through a combo of Peacock and the ISU. I saw your posts about this supposed feed, but the weird shutdown of her commentary made me think the feed was pulled in some way and that is why we never found it. I can only imagine Ted Barton in Canada shaking his head and saying that that is no way to grow your sport and talent. It takes a country to raise a skater, but that only happens if they SEE the skater and once they are invested, then a network has something to promote.

Okay I am going to bed now...

Great points! I think UK is even worse at growing the sport - we just won silver at Europeans, but zero mention on the national broadcaster BBC.

Also, look at this ice dance team (aged 13 and 15) and tell me that their talent doesn't deserve to be nurtured and broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49EcG96ONSE (This was at last year's British Nationals - look how many in the audience... )

 

[16Olympics]

Hey if you haven't already check out this young US junior man - a Scott, Kurt combo with the nerve of Candeloro...

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

He's electrifying!

 

[labgoat]

Great points! I think UK is even worse at growing the sport - we just won silver at Europeans, but zero mention on the national broadcaster BBC.

Also, look at this ice dance team (aged 13 and 15) and tell me that their talent doesn't deserve to be nurtured and broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49EcG96ONSE (This was at last year's British Nationals - look how many in the audience... )

I love the rebirth of British ID and will definetly keep and eye on thes two thanks for putting them on my radar.

 

[Seven Sisters]

I am with our friend 4everchan on this one. When I heard that music and the voice of Andy Williams no less, I was utterly amazed that anyone could have chosen this—something my dear grandmother might have liked—for a nice young male skater in 2023.

BTW my Grammy also was a huge fan of the Lawrence Welk show

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

i'll miss you

Awww,

Please give kitty some pets from me, OK?

Promise. The one who jumps the Axels actually doesn't appreciate being petted that much (she is a beauty and wants to be admired from afar), but I'll pet and cuddle the other ones double.

Hopefully you won't have nightmares about cacti..he sure is fine to watch though.

I don't mind dreaming about my cacti - I embrace them with all their cactusness.

And back on topic: Ilia did it, wooohooo! 3Lz-3A-3T is the most badass spontaneous three-jump combo I've ever seen in competition. Ilia never fails to bring some extra excitement to the sport.

 

[el henry]

People, Andy Williams had hits in the 70s. I was alive in the 70s. My grandmother could have cared less about Andy Williams. The Mills Brothers, maybe.

But for Sam, Chopin is old. Andy Williams is old. Thus, they go together.

And I would have rather heard that mashup than techno Carmina Burana of Andrew T. (despite how much I love Andrew T.)