Any Sasha updates?

[Olympia]

I didn't mean anything spiteful about Tara. She won her medal fair and square. I just always feel bad when a clearly smart kid doesn't complete her education but doesn't do anything else of significance instead. Also, one of my supervisors knew some track stars who medaled at the Olympics. They were never able to succeed in anything else. My supervisor feels that many athletes expend so much energy on their training that when their athletic career is over, they have no other resources. Maybe I'm reading too much into Tara's post-Olympic life. I guess I'm more used to people like Scott, Brian, or Kurt, who continue as performers (I remember that Tara did that for a few years, but not for long), or Paul Wylie, who not only continued his skating career but got a business degree afterward. Or people like Michelle and Sarah, who turned their goal-oriented attention to other successful endeavors. Or even Mary Lou Retton, who became a successful motivational speaker. I'm not used to seeing someone who just wants to waft from day to day. It's her own business, of course, and if she's happy, terrific. But the worrywart in me--well, worries. That's all.

 

[Layfan]

There are resentments that go back much further than 12 years ago for some fans.

In the case of 1998 we remember how the votes fell and which group of judges preferred Tara and which preferred Michelle.

There were also comments made that have not been forgotten.
Sometimes I wonder if Irina might have won Gold in SLC if not for some of the bad feelings from Nagano. You know what they say about "payback"?

I also think feelings about 1998 might depend on our ages. Fans who were not very old didn't experience it the way some of us did. Watching on YouTube is good but hardly compares to watching the competition unfold.

Had I been a judge I would have placed Michelle first that night because her skating was technically very good and her artistry superior to Tara.

Maybe I am not fit to be a judge

To me, it's just one of those decisions skating fans have to live with because it IS a sport that relies on judging. When the competition is this close, it legitimately comes down to subjectivity. That's just the way it is.

Someone else could easily turn that statement around and it would be perfectly reasonable: "Had I been a judge I would have placed Tara first that night because her artistry was good and her skating was technically superior to Michelle."

Chacun a son gout. Or as Irina liked to say "It's competition."

But ... weren't we talking about Sasha?

 

[demarinis5]

snip

ETA: And figure skating is such an ethical sport it makes good sense to play by the rules

Touché!

 

[Layfan]

Maybe you all have already seen _ it's a couple of days old _ but here is a fuller Reuters story about the interview with Sasha. She says she isn't as flexible as before but her jumps are higher and stronger - but she is still working on the consistency.
I wouldn't know about her jumps. But based on youtube videos of her recent touring performances, I'll say two things about her flexibility: 1. She is not as flexible as before. 2. She is still the most flexible skater out there by a mile.

http://www.reuters.com/article/olym...091124?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=11617

 

[janetfan]

Was wondering about this performance....

Pretty polished skating and performing for one so young :yes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdtieKCRRkQ

 

[chuckm]

Maybe you all have already seen _ it's a couple of days old _ but here is a fuller Reuters story about the interview with Sasha. She says she isn't as flexible as before but her jumps are higher and stronger - but she is still working on the consistency.
I wouldn't know about her jumps. But based on youtube videos of her recent touring performances, I'll say two things about her flexibility: 1. She is not as flexible as before. 2. She is still the most flexible skater out there by a mile.

Also based on youtube videos of her recent touring performances: her jumps are in NO WAY higher and stronger. She double-foots or falls out of her exhibition 3Z/3F attempts.

 

[PolymerBob]

I'll say two things about her flexibility: 1. She is not as flexible as before. 2. She is still the most flexible skater out there by a mile.

Can you imagine, Sasha and Caroline on the same ice?
Nationals will be a real flexibility battle.

 

[MKFSfan]

The one thing about the flexibility comment-I have wondered if she has been having back pain or just less flexibility because when you watch her spirals from the last few years, her back is noticeably lower. The split seems about the same to me, and I think her I-positions seem even more stretched out, so who knows. I have wondered in the past if Sasha were to focus more on strength and less on flexibility, it that would help her land her jumps in her LPs. But going on the jumps we have seen over the last few months, I haven't noticed much change.

 

[bigsisjiejie]

The one thing about the flexibility comment-I have wondered if she has been having back pain or just less flexibility because when you watch her spirals from the last few years, her back is noticeably lower. The split seems about the same to me, and I think her I-positions seem even more stretched out, so who knows. I have wondered in the past if Sasha were to focus more on strength and less on flexibility, it that would help her land her jumps in her LPs. But going on the jumps we have seen over the last few months, I haven't noticed much change.

It's a fact of aging that you lose flexibility, and it starts to become noticeable in your 20's. Even if you keep working on it every week. Although Sasha is still relatively more flexible than most skaters, I've no doubt she can tell that she has lost some of the flexibility that she had even 3-4 years ago. This situation won't improve. The good news is that properly trained, you can get stronger as you go through your 20's. Theoretically, it's possible that she could offset her ooh-ahh flexibility positions with stronger jumping, but from what others are reporting here about her recent performance outings, that's not happening.

 

[MKFSfan]

Very true...the age factor...I was also thinking about Michelle in the 2006 COI tour. She was not jumping du to the hip injury and yet her flexibility in some moves looked much improved. I had chalked it up to stretching out more and not working on certain strength moves since she couldn't jump. I always wondered if there was a link between being hyper-flexible and maybe not having the strong legs to land jumps. Just random thoughts!

 

[janetfan]

Very true...the age factor...I was also thinking about Michelle in the 2006 COI tour. She was not jumping du to the hip injury and yet her flexibility in some moves looked much improved. I had chalked it up to stretching out more and not working on certain strength moves since she couldn't jump. I always wondered if there was a link between being hyper-flexible and maybe not having the strong legs to land jumps. Just random thoughts!

It is hard to explain Plushy then. Always one of the most flexible guys and such a strong jumper.

 

[MKFSfan]

I never really thought of Plushy as being unusually flexible, but he did have some flexy moves, and he seems to have lost some flexibility as he's gotten older. I don't think he included any catch foots, either in spins or transitions, at CoR, and I don't recall him doing the beillmann in 2006, but I could be wrong. But there's no denying he's the King when it comes to jumps!

On the other side is Shawn Sawyer. WOW moves galore, but struggles with the jumps. If he could just land what he is capable of, he would be a contender every time out.

 

[gsrossano]

Stopped by the rink today to see what Sasha was up to. Nothing as it turns out -- not there. Frank and his skaters were though. Maybe this is old news, but learned Sasha has given up the place she was staying at Lake Arrowhead and seems to be training down the hill now. He comeback plan seems directionless to me.

 

[MKFSfan]

No rumors surrounding the move down the hill?

Did you see Mirai? Or Carolina?

 

[janetfan]

Stopped by the rink today to see what Sasha was up to. Nothing as it turns out -- not there. Frank and his skaters were though. Maybe this is old news, but learned Sasha has given up the place she was staying at Lake Arrowhead and seems to be training down the hill now. He comeback plan seems directionless to me.

When she pulled out of SA Sasha said she was back with Nicks as her main coach but planned to still see Arutunian part time.

Not sure if she would need a full time place to crash under those circumstances.
She also said she was spending more time in rehab than she was on the ice leading into SA and that the drive to Lake Arrowhead bothered her injury.

But as far as comebacks go I don't think this has been full of too much good news.

RD and Chuck can fill in the blanks

 

[R.D.]

RD and Chuck can fill in the blanks

No need to do so. I think gsrossano's report speaks for itself.

 

[Olympia]

Oh, rats, rats, rats. It certainly doesn't sound like good news, does it, gsrossano? Sasha seems, as one of you put it, directionless.

I also went back as you did, Janetfan, to watch that early routine she did. She was exquisite and commanding from the word go--never looked like a junior, never went through an awkward period. Her jump technique in the air was enough to make Dick Button rhapsodize. And remember how she pointed her toes for every move even from the start? Whatever held her back seems largely to have been mental--but even with her difficulties, she did tremendously well through her whole senior career. I mean, she has a pretty respectable medal count for a supposed head case--an Olympic silver is not to be sneezed at. So it's especially regrettable to realize she probably won't be able to give it another run, because we could really use someone of her (former?) high quality on the team. She was one of those people who could, so to speak, skate the telephone book and make it fascinating.

What's frustrating is not just that there don't seem to be any ladies like that in the U.S. right now; there barely are any like that in the entire world.

Well, as long as Sasha keeps training and our other ladies don't give up either, I'm not going to give up on any of them. Hey, you never know! Keep saying "Paul Wylie" and cross your fingers.

 

[janetfan]

Oh, rats, rats, rats. It certainly doesn't sound like good news, does it, gsrossano? Sasha seems, as one of you put it, directionless.

I also went back as you did, Janetfan, to watch that early routine she did. She was exquisite and commanding from the word go--never looked like a junior, never went through an awkward period. Her jump technique in the air was enough to make Dick Button rhapsodize. And remember how she pointed her toes for every move even from the start? Whatever held her back seems largely to have been mental--but even with her difficulties, she did tremendously well through her whole senior career. I mean, she has a pretty respectable medal count for a supposed head case--an Olympic silver is not to be sneezed at. So it's especially regrettable to realize she probably won't be able to give it another run, because we could really use someone of her (former?) high quality on the team. She was one of those people who could, so to speak, skate the telephone book and make it fascinating.

What's frustrating is not just that there don't seem to be any ladies like that in the U.S. right now; there barely are any like that in the entire world.

Well, as long as Sasha keeps training and our other ladies don't give up either, I'm not going to give up on any of them. Hey, you never know! Keep saying "Paul Wylie" and cross your fingers.

The comments were appreciated by grossano but with all due respect they don't make me think any differently at all.

Sasha could be skating tonight and was possibly doing gym work or rehab this afternoon.

It is possible that today was a day she worked with Rafael.

Sasha might have had a tummy ache from eating to much turkey and gravy yesterday.

I will stop now but can think of a few hundred more reasons why Sasha wasn't training with Carroll's skaters today at the exact same time.

It was also the day after a holiday and Olympic Silver medalists are allowed to spend time with family.

 

[MKFSfan]

If Sasha is back with Nicks the majority of the time, and employing RA as a consultant, it makes perfect sense why she would not be seen at Lake Arrowhead. Perhaps she is only there once a week, or perhaps RA travels to Aliso Viejo to work with her (he used to travel to Michelle's rink to work with her when he is based in Lake Arrowhead).

No reason to panic just yet!

I do't think Sasha is as much of a head case as some like to make her out to believe. She never showed the mental toughness that her major competitors showed in her day-Michelle, Irina, Sarah, Fumie-but she was far from having the serious meltdowns like some of the skaters we see today. I do think when it came time to rely solely on muscle memory in competition, due to fatigue, nerves, adrenaline, etc, Sasha's not so strong skating basics/technique let her down. It's been hashed to death, but as pretty a skater as she is from the boot up, she was not the strongest from the boot down, and I believe that was her undoing at times, not always about her mental ability...although she did succumb to pressure too.

 

[Olympia]

Thank you for talking me down from the precipice, MKFSfan and Janetfan.

Your point about Sasha being a great skater from the boots up is wonderful, and it makes sense. I've heard people criticize her stroking. Yet her air position during jumps is very nice and tight, generally, which would make sense in this regard. I also like your suggestion about how she might not be able to count on muscle memory in the high-stress situations, and I really like the distinction you make between being a head case and not having quite the mental toughness of some of her fellow competitors, such as Irina and Michelle (and, going further back, Lipinski and Witt).

And Janetfan, you're right. Maybe she was just not on the rink that day.

As I said, I'm not giving up, but after reading the comments by the two of you, I'm feeling serenely persistent rather than anxiously persistent. Thanks so much!