That was gorgeous. Thanks for posting. Never get tired of that program. I didn't realize she tried 2 triple-triples there, one landed very cleanly. Sorry, but Mirai and Alissa can never top this. There is only one Sasha in a lifetime.
First off, good. I'm glad there is "only one Sasha" because in this day and age of cookie cutter COP programs, there needs to be variety and that comes through in the skater's personality. I get what people are saying about Sasha's killer attitude being what kept her on the podiums despite mistakes, I agree. That's the difference in Sasha Vs Alissa-Alissa seems to skate as if she doesn't believe she deserves to be there, whereas Sasha skates with the belief she is the best. IMO, that was the difference for Kimmie too-she skated the best of her life at 2006 Worlds and deserved the title but the feeling at the end was different than when Michelle, Irina, Tara would win a big championship-it felt like disbelief, like,"WHAT did I just do?!" instead of a laying down the gauntlet, a "Beat that!" type of satisfaction.
That all said-I believe Mirai has all the tools to be the next best thing for US Ladies Skating, but it will take time, and of course, it remains to be seen if she'll stay healthy. She does need more confidence, but I believe her growth spurt hit her at the wrong time-both affecting her confidence and has impacted her physically. She has all the pieces-has the basics, speed, spins and spirals, the attitude and presence. She needs to go back and reclaim that sassy confidence we saw as a Jr and in the SP at 2008 Nats. If she can rotate those jumps...she seems to have the ability to stand up when it counts, but URs kill her. Rachael has all that, but she lacks that "IT" presence I believe Mirai possesses. She has terrific basics, super consistency and great jumps, just so s-l-o-w and aside from her initial layback position, needs work on spins and spirals. But she has a lot of confidence, so she may go places. If we could just combine their strengths, we'd have the Super Skater!
I think COP has ended the trend of a sudden superstar at 15, 16 years old. We Americans have been spoiled by Michelle, Tara, NNN, Sarah, Sasha, Kimmie (even Emily, she may have her issues but she brought a lot of pizzazz and command to the ice)-they all came up and stole the show. I really thought Caroline was going to follow in their footsteps. She appeared to have all the pieces, just lacked speed and power, but as she got taller, she seems to have been left behind technically. She did remind me of a young Sasha-came across SO well on TV, but in person was just too slow and small to fill the ice. Sasha outgrew that. I hope Caroline can. But for now, I think our best hope is Mirai, but in the next quad.
Back O/T to Sasha-I think that Rach jump layout is what Sasha hopes to complete this season.We can pretend the 3/3 attempt was a 3flip/3toe since it was an obvious flutz. The 3toe^3salchow sequence would need to be reworked to meet COP requirements, but I think that was the cleanest I ever saw her land that sequence. I would expect her to switch the 2nd flip/flutz (no idea what she attempted) for a 2nd salchow, and then have a 3 combo with the flip. She won't max out potential jumping points with this layout (repeating 3toe and 3salchow) especially since she doesn't get many +GOE's for her jumps but if she can go clean (I know, I know...) this layout should hold her in good stead. And I think her salchow (and axle) is her best shot at +GOE's. Of the top competitors only Miki and Joannie seem to go for 7 triples, and both repeat the lutz-Joannie also repeats the salchow, Mikki (seems like she) repeats the toe.
I'm getting SO excited for Nationals!!!
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