Andrew Torgashev

[el henry]

@skatingfan4ever as far as I know, Andrew only skated those programs in local summer comps due to his nagging injury. I'm not even sure I ever saw the Imagine Dragons one, but that could just be my memory.

Flamenco at Glacier Falls, 2021

 

[skatingfan4ever]

@skatingfan4ever as far as I know, Andrew only skated those programs in local summer comps due to his nagging injury. I'm not even sure I ever saw the Imagine Dragons one, but that could just be my memory.

Flamenco at Glacier Falls, 2021

That's what I thought. Thanks for confirming. And look, the thread finally made it to page 10!

In Polina's podcast, Andrew sounded a bit nervous and unsure, but in the Ice Tea Podcast, he sounded so at ease, like it was just three friends chatting casually. Maybe that says something about Polina's interviewing skills, or at least the subject matter she was asking him about, rather than Andrew as an interviewee. I get the feeling Andrew could happily talk about music/choreography for quite a long time.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Here are my random Andrew-related thoughts today. I so wish Ted Barton could have been commentating Andrew's Nationals LP (and his SP for that matter). I know it's unrealistic, but Ted would have been so thrilled that Andrew put it all together, finally. Ted gave Andrew's skating such glowing compliments when commentating him on the JGP and Junior Worlds. He liked his skating so much that when Andrew won JGP Kaunas in 2018, Ted started the winner's interview with, "I've been waiting a long time to do this interview. I am so happy to be able to do this and so proud of you." How sweet is that!

Instead, we were stuck with Tara and Johnny. But, I still have Andrew's FS on my DVR to show a friend, because she's not a hardcore skating fan, so no way would I send her a VK link and a timestamp, when the TV quality is crystal clear with no buffering. But, I will warn her to ignore the commentary when we watch it together, along with both of Jason's programs.

I'm still sad that Andrew's SP was never broadcast on TV. On the 3-hour (with commercials) Men's LP broadcast, NBC showed Jason's and Ilia's SPs but none of the other Men's SPs, instead showing fluff, talking about Ilia/his 4A, and replaying the winning LPs in other disciplines. There was time to show more Men's SPs before the 2nd group of LPs, but sadly NBC decided not to do that. As a hardcore skating fan, I was like, "WHY?!?!" And Andrew skated way too early to be in the actual Men's SP broadcast.

Sorry about going on a little rant again.

 

[el henry]

This is the place to rant in favor of Andrew, @skatingfan4ever so rant away!

I do not have cable or rabbit ears, so I cannot watch network television, but that is outrageous that Andrew was "Chacked". Especially such an outstanding skate. I generally like fluff, but not at the expense of watching a beautifully skated program like Andrew's.

I am no fan of Tara and Johnny's, although for some reason they have come over to the bright side when it comes to Jason after criticizing him for years and years. I would hope they do the same for Andrew.

Ted Barton was a doll when he interviewed Andrew, I am such a fan overall of Ted.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

This is the place to rant in favor of Andrew, @skatingfan4ever so rant away!

I do not have cable or rabbit ears, so I cannot watch network television, but that is outrageous that Andrew was "Chacked". Especially such an outstanding skate. I generally like fluff, but not at the expense of watching a beautifully skated program like Andrew's.

I am no fan of Tara and Johnny's, although for some reason they have come over to the bright side when it comes to Jason after criticizing him for years and years. I would hope they do the same for Andrew.

Ted Barton was a doll when he interviewed Andrew, I am such a fan overall of Ted.

You must have been quite busy during Nationals. Did you manage to watch all the segments in each discipline before they disappeared from Peacock? Well done, if you did. That's a lot of skating to fit into one week, plus Euros was happening too!

Johnny and Tara do like Andrew's skating and complimented him nicely and were happy for him, but they didn't really mention his comeback. Terry mentioned it for about 5 seconds before the commercial haha. I suppose I simply prefer having no commentary these days. Sigh. Truly, you are not missing anything by not having Tara and Johnny. They have their good moments, but other moments make me cringe.*

I seem to remember some years where NBC replayed 4 or 5 Men's SPs before starting to air LPs, but maybe those were Olympic years or something. It would have made sense to me to replay more Men's SPs to fill the hour instead of fluff and programs from other disciplines. But, no one asked me.

What I truly find most disappointing/mystifying is that Andrew's LP was not uploaded to NBC's YouTube channel. He won the BRONZE MEDAL, for heaven's sake. Who knows why it's not there.

NBC usually shows the last two groups per segment at Nationals. And, skating nerd that I am, I figured out that Andrew had to skate in the first SP group because he currently has no World Standings Points. The 2022-23 Official USFS Rulebook, Rule 2721, says that (in Seniors), first, skaters who earn byes to Nationals draw to skate within the last 2 SP groups. Then, other skaters with World Standings Points draw, from highest to lowest in the World Standings, for the remaining spots in the last 2 groups, overflowing into the first group as needed. Skaters who have no World Standings Points draw last, for the positions that are left. This year, Dinh Tran was the lowest skater in the World Standings and ended up in the first group. The other 5 skaters in the first group had no World Standings Points. Which means, next year NBC most likely will show Andrew's SP because he will be skating within the last 2 groups. (Though I may have cut the cord by then anyway, but that's another thing altogether).

*Such as, whenever Johnny compares competing to a "political campaign" (impress the judges, improve your reputation so you'll be seen as reliable and get chosen for teams). I have no doubt there are political factors in skating, but no, I don't think it needs to be said on the air. Even something more benign like "this skater has developed a reputation for under-rotating" becomes tiresome for me.

 

[el henry]

@skatingfan4ever I certainly did not watch all the skating live, I am not as big a fan of other disciplines as I am of the men.

I watched the men's SP live. The men's FS was the same time as an important game for my beloved Eagles. I broke from the game to watch only three men: Sam Mindra, Jason and Andrew.

I do not know what I will do for Worlds (please Andrew next week get those minimums) as I don't know what the time difference will be. And someday I hope Peacock will provide replays (although we subscribe for other reasons.) otherwise I may need to learn the wide world of VPNs. Since we just figured out how to use a Firestick six months ago, that may not be immediate.

Challenge Cup has a free livestream and how I hope they have replays

 

[skatingfan4ever]

@skatingfan4ever I certainly did not watch all the skating live, I am not as big a fan of other disciplines as I am of the men.

I watched the men's SP live. The men's FS was the same time as an important game for my beloved Eagles. I broke from the game to watch only three men: Sam Mindra, Jason and Andrew.

Gotcha. It helps to focus on one discipline, because otherwise you could be watching skating all day for several days straight. I did not see much live either, and by the time I was "ready" to watch the Men's SP, the Peacock stuff was gone and my DVR (NBC) only had the last 2 groups. (By that point I had heard about Sam and Andrew doing so well, so of course I wanted to see their SPs -- VK to the rescue).

Jason, Andrew and Sam were my top 3 favorite men also, although I liked Sam's short more than his free. But he's one skater I will be watching out for as time goes on. His skating is exciting.

otherwise I may need to learn the wide world of VPNs

My Andrew Nationals situation was my motivation to re-subscribe to my VPN for a couple of months. That way, regardless of how early he skates at Worlds, I'll be able to watch the ISU stream if the Peacock timing doesn't work out. I didn't want to be nervous about missing him, or anyone else. NBC will hopefully show him, since he's American. But I have planned ahead for all scenarios.

(please Andrew next week get those minimums)

Yes, I second that. I can't see how he won't get them, but I also didn't think that Vincent Zhou could skate badly enough to miss the LP at 2021 Worlds. You never know.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Thinking back over all the complaining I've done here about NBC and Peacock, I feel the need to make some last editorial comments. The real problem was with me, because I didn't plan ahead well enough to watch certain Nationals segments closer to when they happened. And, usually, watching the last two groups is fine with me. It just so happened that Andrew and Sam were in the first SP group, so suddenly it mattered to me. I also was watching the NBC coverage with a "saving the best for last" mentality. I watched Euros coverage first, then I watched Nationals pairs, then dance, then women, and then men. I simply ran out of time for Peacock, and it was gone when I really wanted it. I was "catching up" via the NBC coverage and realized again how much I'd rather have no commentary, or at least different commentary.

I learned some lessons for the future. I'll do my best to prioritize watching Peacock while it is available. I'll start by watching my favorite disciplines, and even certain skaters within those disciplines, to make sure to fit those in, and if I miss some of the rest, fine. I also need to assume the coverage could quickly disappear and plan accordingly. Though this gets tricky, depending on the time zone and the starting orders. Live figure skating is very long, especially with ice resurfacing in there too, and I would rather not be stuck in one spot for hours at a time. We all have real lives that matter more than figure skating. If I go start something else, then I could miss the skater(s) I want to see. Unless the timing is precise enough to set a timer for "x amount of time" and then check the stream again. Any helpful tips about this would be MUCH APPRECIATED. Maybe this should become a separate thread in The Edge?

All this is to say that while I wish NBC's coverage had been different, the real issue was my lack of planning/prioritizing and making incorrect assumptions. I am at peace with it now because I decided what to do differently for future competitions, and definitely for the next Nationals. Live and learn. I don't need to complain anymore; I'll just make different choices.

All is well. Thanks for listening.

 

[Sackie]

Don't think there is any doubt that Andrew will get him Mins at his next event. It is a done deal.

 

[el henry]

Don't think there is any doubt that Andrew will get him Mins at his next event. It is a done deal.

From your lips to the skating gods' ears

I have been following Andrew since he was 14, and of course have been a huge fan. I have only one photo of myself with a skater, and that skater is Andrew. So I say with love, consistency has not been Andrew's middle name.

that said, if he can skate anywhere near as well as he did at Nats

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I have only one photo of myself with a skater, and that skater is Andrew.

Lucky you, to have been able to meet him in person!

 

[el henry]

Lucky you, to have been able to meet him in person!

I am not a "meet the skaters" kind of person, and I do not go to many comps at all.

I did attend Philadelphia International a few times when Andrew skated, including 2019. He won that year.

That comp, in a club rink, you really do trip over skaters in the hallway. I was walking around with someone much friendlier than I am, and we stopped to talk to Andrew. I asked him about choreographing his own program and told him how impressed I was that he had done that. He was very soft spoken (I don't know why I wasn't expecting that), and he was talking to someone else, maybe Mark Ladwig?, about how the feedback was that he should change the ending of one of his programs, but he had done the choreo and he didn't want to change it. My secret sources from four years ago

For this, yes, I do consider myself lucky.

 

[noskates]

Gotta admit that I used to hear El Henry expound about Andrew and my response was always "yes dear!" But after seeing him live at Nationals I am a newfound fan. It was like he was on fire - everything just came together and I think he even surprised himself. It's such a pleasure to me to see someone really put their heart into their program and just not do one jump after another with nothing in between. I do hope he makes his mins and we can see him at Worlds. As far as Peacock goes - I'm cancelling it. I'm not getting up in the middle of the night even to see Jason.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Okay, Andrew fans. You might say I have too much time on my hands, but I've been researching how Andrew can get on the GP next season. Assuming he gets the mins for Worlds and competes there reasonably well, here are 3 ways he can get 1 or 2 GPs.

1. Dream scenario would be to finish no lower than 12th at Worlds (could be tough given who is likely to place above him) because he would get 2 GPs.
2. Top 24 in Season's Best Total Scores get 1 GP. His 256 at Nationals would currently put him 12th on that list (yes, I know it's Nationals scoring but whatever; the potential is there).
3. Host Pick at SA (he is the reigning US bronze medalist, but who knows which other skaters might be in the running)

The top 24 in the World Standings also get 1 GP, but there aren't enough competitions left for Andrew to accumulate enough points for that.

I sure hope we get to see Andrew on the GP next season. His skating deserves to be seen by a wider audience again, hopefully with improved jump consistency. Maybe he can at least get a Challenger? We shall see. I'm already feeling nervous and excited for the possibilities.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Slightly , but I have a couple of questions not really about Andrew but not worth starting a new thread for:

1. How do Challenger assignments work? Can skaters "ask" their federations to send them to certain Challengers? Is it completely up to the federation which skaters to send where? Clearly the USFS assigned Andrew to Challenge Cup; he didn't assign himself. But I didn't know if Challenger assignments worked differently. Some skaters seem to do a lot of Senior Bs and others do them once in a while or never.

2. Why were there only 4 Senior Men at Eastern Sectional Finals? The rules allow for 18 skaters plus byes at the Sectional Finals (top 4 skaters per region, next 6 best overall). So does having 4 skaters there mean that only 4 Senior Men in the entire Easton Section skated in the NQS this season? That would surprise me, but it's the only explanation I can think of.

 

[el henry]

Slightly , but I have a couple of questions not really about Andrew but not worth starting a new thread for:

1. How do Challenger assignments work? Can skaters "ask" their federations to send them to certain Challengers? Is it completely up to the federation which skaters to send where? Clearly the USFS assigned Andrew to Challenge Cup; he didn't assign himself. But I didn't know if Challenger assignments worked differently. Some skaters seem to do a lot of Senior Bs and others do them once in a while or never.

2. Why were there only 4 Senior Men at Eastern Sectional Finals? The rules allow for 18 skaters plus byes at the Sectional Finals (top 4 skaters per region, next 6 best overall). So does having 4 skaters there mean that only 4 Senior Men in the entire Easton Section skated in the NQS this season? That would surprise me, but it's the only explanation I can think of.

1. Eastern Sectional finals: your explanation sounds as good as any. There are fewer men skating out of Eastern clubs.

2. The Fed assigns you to Senior Bs/ Challengers. A skater can certainly ask for or angle to be assigned to certain comps, and I imagine it depends on your standing when and how you are assigned.

I think, for example, the Fed tries to keep coaches together (Jason and Jordan Moeller were both assigned to Lombardia when they skated with Kori).

I like your thinking about GP spots, here's hoping

 

[zebobes]

I think that while rights to music are super complicated, USFS needs to figure something out in order to post the best skates of each discipline in an easy to access place to build their audience. You can even delay it by a week if necessary, but they really need to help their audiences get to know the skaters in advance of competitions. I've been watching Andrew for a long time... Unfortunately, I was there when he bombed at Junior Worlds and didn't make the Free Skate, so I could only watch him sit in the crowd and watch the competition... but to younger/newer fans, he's a brand new skater that they haven't heard of. The one youtube channel that was posting great youtube clips of US nationals got their page taken down by a copyright claim.... Sigh...

I don't like taking things for granted... Andrew should easily make the tech minimums, but you never know what might happen, so I will be anxiously waiting for his results this week.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

1. Eastern Sectional finals: your explanation sounds as good as any. There are fewer men skating out of Eastern clubs.

2. The Fed assigns you to Senior Bs/ Challengers. A skater can certainly ask for or angle to be assigned to certain comps, and I imagine it depends on your standing when and how you are assigned.

I think, for example, the Fed tries to keep coaches together (Jason and Jordan Moeller were both assigned to Lombardia when they skated with Kori).

Makes sense. Thanks for answering.

I like your thinking about GP spots, here's hoping

I think scenario #2 (or #3) is much more likely than #1, but wouldn't it be AMAZING if he finished top 12 at Worlds?! I didn't think Camden would finish as high as he did last year, but various factors aligned just right. Maybe it will happen for Andrew too. I admit I have rather low expectations, since Andrew skating so well in both Nationals programs was so unexpected. The lower one's expectations, though, the more one is ready to be pleasantly surprised, as opposed to being too disappointed.

ETA: Looking at Andrew's protocols from Easterns, he did not have a great jumping competition. His SP got 67 and his LP got 143 and his total was 210. Nationals was a HUGE improvement, but it really shows that (at least in his career so far) it depends on the day with him. I have never felt this invested in a skater who needed to get minimums, build/rebuild from scratch after injuries, is so inconsistent with jumps, etc. It's nerve-wracking! And to think, many skaters from smaller feds have to worry about these things year after year! Much respect to any lesser-known skater who wants to keep skating. It's a difficult and unforgiving sport, that's for sure.

Fun fact: Maxim finished one spot ahead of Andrew at Easterns, and then Andrew finished one spot ahead of Maxim at Nationals. Both of them were/are making comebacks to competitive ice.

 

[el henry]

Well, congratulations Andrew on achieving the SP minimums which is why he is at Challenge Cup in the first place!

I understand that Andrew is competitive and wants to show off his many talents, but given the closeness I do wish he had dropped the quad from the SP. Relay racers don't run full out in qualifying heats, and that is what this is for Andrew.

But all's well that ends well.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

The protocols aren't up yet, and I couldn't watch live, but according to the competition thread he had 2 falls. My guess would be on the 4T and 3A. Somehow I can't picture him falling on the 3F. Anyway, I am SO relieved that he got it, barely.

EDIT: Just looked at the protocol. Fall and UR on the 4T. Fall and q on the 3A. Successful 3F+3T. Level 4s on spins and StSeq.
Finished 10th of 18 skaters. TES: 35.50 PCS: 36.83 Total: 70.33 Link to protocol: https://knsbfigureskatingresults.nl...------QUAL000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf (go to page 4). My dream scenario had Andrew finishing 5th or so at this competition. Oh well.

The truly scary thing, looking ahead prematurely to Worlds, is whether he'll be able to make the Free Skate or not. He'll have to skate better than that and/or hope that enough others have a worse day than him.

But for now, getting tomorrow's min is all that matters.