Yesterday I wrote here that "Andrew's free skate was not too bad, all things considered." As a very big fan who devours all his performances in detail and has listened to his interviews and learned his skating history, I can easily see the subtle differences between performances and recognize the progress he is making. I still am so moved by his Nationals free skate, for all the reasons I already said. I like looking for the positive in general, especially in a Fan Fest.
Today, though, I realized that if you're not a super fan who knows what Andrew has been through all throughout his career, it's very easy to look at that program and say, "Oh, that was terrible." He landed only a 3Lo, a 3F, and a 3Lz+3T. That's it. If you're not into Andrew's music or movement or style and he's not jumping well, the choreographic intention and passion can escape you. I am someone who watches for choreographic details with all skaters, so it jumps out to me if a skater skates with choreographic intention. I know other fans may not be like me.
I don't care about Andrew getting medals. He can finish wherever and we'd still love his skating. However, medals/high placements bring you a higher chance of getting future international assignments. If the non-Ilia quadsters besides Andrew suddenly become more consistent (Camden, Max, Tomoki, Jimmy, the up-and-comers from juniors), Andrew could easily get left behind. I don't care about Andrew's placements, exactly, but I do hope he can get future assignments (and be uninjuried and able to skate at them). I hope last year/this year won't be his two seasons of opportunity and then he doesn't get any more internationals because the U.S. quadsters all pass him by. The thing about enjoying a skater even if they don't medal is that you have to see them skate; they have to be in the competition.
Take Deniss Vasiljevs; no quad consistency, other jumps can be so-so, but he has very pleasing skating and spins. He has been able to be on the circuit for YEARS skating with the same tech content because Latvia can send him wherever they want since he's their only male singles skater. (The European skaters can do Challengers much more easily to begin with, but that's a whole other topic). Andrew's triples, in fact, seem much more reliable than Deniss's, but due to injuries and representing the U.S., Andrew's competition opportunities have been so few compared to Deniss.
I wouldn't want Andrew to be a Deniss and be the only top skater in a country, but it has its perks. Skaters representing weaker feds can compete a lot, provided they get the tech mins.
Andrew may do very well at 4CC and surprise everyone (that's my secret wish!), but I am suddenly so nervous about his future, even if he says healthy. Again, not because of medals or even the Olympics, but because I want him to get to do more international competitions. The only reason he got SA was as a host pick and he was our bronze medalist and went to Worlds. Now Camden is the bronze medalist going to Worlds. By the way, Camden has been able to skate much more often than Andrew and it hasn't gone great for the most part. If only Andrew could skate poorly at as many GPs as Camden has.
I have nothing against Camden or any other US Men, to be clear. I'm just feeling frustrated that Andrew is seemingly "so far behind" if other skaters get their acts together. He's been rather unlucky in his career with injuries, although no one is more unlucky than Joshua Farris. I want to cry just thinking about Josh's career.
Last year at Nationals and Challenge Cup Andrew got so lucky; this year his fabulous Nationals SP kept him up there (and Lombardia and SA allowed him to get 4CC).
And no, I don't care if Andrew gets consistent quads or not, except that he wouldn't be at such an obvious disadvantage if he did.
I guess you could call this post a cry for help!
Sorry it is so long. Calm me down, please!!!
Is it as bleak as I'm imagining?
Thanks so much for listening.
that he feels well.
)
(If Jimmy Ma had scored any more points in the SP, though, Andrew would have been 6th). I wish him good health and stamina at 4CC, for sure. It's such a quick turnaround, especially given his recent injury.
I've followed Andrew since his JGP days and it's nice to see him winning new fans almost a decade later. As Jason is still holding his own in a field of quadsters with even less jump content, I'm not worried about Andrew's prospects as long as he stays healthy. There is room in every generation for a Gooey Knees Team Representative 
ANOTHER CLEAN SP!!! This one has the benefit of a mostly silent commentator. 
