Any Sasha updates?

[janetfan]

Poor Asia. No celebrities to look up to. No cultural diversity. Stagnant tastes.

My remarks were not meant that way.

A more honest answer from you might have been about explaining why a skater like Michelle never reached one tenth of the popularity in the USA that skaters like Yuna and Mao have reached in their homelands.

Can you answer that? I guess you could but chose instead to insinuate my remarks were biased against Asian culture.

 

[R.D.]

Kim is not an American skater and never will be. Nor do I have the desire to make her one.

Let the Koreans have their "star", and let us find one for ourselves.

 

[silverlake22]

Supposing (well, not supposing, really, but necessary since it's not official yet) she skips the year due to her ill-preparedness. She claims to "miss competing", "love pushing myself". Does one think then, logically, she would try and return next season instead? (Ha!)

Nope. It's just because of the Olympics, if she plans another comeback in the future I can almost guarantee it will be 4 years from now. Sasha's a diva, those reasons are maybe true, but I'm sure it's more like "i miss competing at the Olympics" and "I love pushing myself when it results in me winning Olympic medals". Haha

 

[i love to skate]

Of course we all know how that turned out and I feel that is reason behind the Sasha/Nicks spilt.

I thought she was training with him now? Or am I completely out of the loop?

But it will take the first fairly judged Dance competition in Olympic history for it to happen

Well dance has been the discipline that has consistently been judged the best. 2006 Olympics was a fairly well judged event so I don't really have any doubts that it will be in Vancouver, either.

My remarks were not meant that way.

Can you answer that? I guess you could but chose instead to insinuate my remarks were biased against Asian culture.

You might want to go back and reword your post then Janetfan. It does come across that way when you use phrases such as "starved for celebrities", "our culture is constantly evolving" or we are much more "diversified".....

I think skating is in a downward cycle here and it may rebound in the future. Or maybe not. I don't think Americans will ever put much faith in a sport with anonymous judging and a system accountable only to someone like Speedy and other seedy ISU officials.

Or Americans are fickle and don't like skating unless they have an American lady who is considered to be the best...

 

[janetfan]

Kim is not an American skater and never will be. Nor do I have the desire to make her one.

Let the Koreans have their "star", and let us find one for ourselves.

That works for me. I happen to be a Yuna fan and think it is interesting to see how wildly popular she is in Korea. I also like Mao but feel no need for either of them to switch nationalities

And I don't feel any need for an American lady to win every OGM either. That would sort of ruin it and take away any happiness when one of our girls did win.

There is always Michelle to consider - or going back, Janet. Very popular skaters who made a big impact on the sport and left us with memories that in some cases exceed the color of any medal.

But it is just a cultural fact that at the moment no USA skater will ever achieve anything close to the popularity Asian skaters have in their homelands.

 

[janetfan]

I thought she was training with him now? Or am I completely out of the loop?


Well dance has been the discipline that has consistently been judged the best. 2006 Olympics was a fairly well judged event so I don't really have any doubts that it will be in Vancouver, either.



You might want to go back and reword your post then Janetfan. It does come across that way when you use phrases such as "starved for celebrities", "our culture is constantly evolving" or we are much more "diversified".....



Or Americans are fickle and don't like skating unless they have an American lady who is considered to be the best...

Sasha will always return to Nicks

I am not so sure if you are right about Dance judging. I never recall ever, anywhere at anytime reading about the fairness of Dance judging.

I do recall the IOC wanting to remove it from the Olympics because it was considered to be fixed.

My remarks about Asian culture came from alot of reading about Yuna and her popularity in Korea. Many of the articles I read were written by Korean reporters and it was a Korean reporter who said "Korea was starved for celebrities."

The article also pointed out that unlike Japan, Koreans were not interested in American or Western celebrities but wanted their own.

If my earlier remarks were perceived as racist or anti-Asian in any way I truly apologize. It was not my intention and certainly not what is in my heart..

For better or worse it is American culture that has been exported to other parts of the world since the end of WW2.

When the 20th century is frequently referred to as "the American century" it is nothing more than a cultural and historical conclusion reached by various writers and historians.

American culture came primarily from Europe but also Africa and Asia. Is it not permissable anymore to mention things like this??

 

[i love to skate]

I am not so sure if you are right about Dance judging. I never recall ever, anywhere at anytime reading about the fairness of Dance judging.

I do recall the IOC wanting to remove it from the Olympics because it was considered to be fixed.

Yes, back in 6.0 it was almost removed because of the dodgy judging that was going on, holding down B/K, the tape recorded conversation where the judge stated he already was going to place them 4th in '98.....

However, you must start watching dance more. The judging is pretty much spot on! Look at the last three world championships, great skating, all the medalists had great performances that deserved medals. Even the majority of the top 10 performances I have really enjoyed. It has moved away from the theatrics and now is more about dance again. I like to credit this to D/L and V/M!

It's also interesting to see the shift toward NA teams and their style of dance. It's a big difference compared to when dance used to primarily be all European with programs that emphasized the theatrics, heavy music, and costumes. My how times change!

 

[janetfan]

However, you must start watching dance more. The judging is pretty much spot on! Look at the last three world championships, great skating, all the medalists had great performances that deserved medals. Even the majority of the top 10 performances I have really enjoyed. It has moved away from the theatrics and now is more about dance again. I like to credit this to D/L and V/M!

It's also interesting to see the shift toward NA teams and their style of dance. It's a big difference compared to when dance used to primarily be all European with programs that emphasized the theatrics, heavy music, and costumes. My how times change!

I think it was much more than '98.....and honestly I think the Dance judging is still not so great.

I was surprised by the podium at '09 Worlds as were many others.
Hopefully it will be fair in Vancouver.

 

[i love to skate]

I think it was much more than '98.....and honestly I think the Dance judging is still not so great.

I was surprised by the podium at '09 Worlds as were many others.
Hopefully it will be fair in Vancouver.

Yes, it was more than 1998, but that's the year where a lot of attention was made about the dance judging. Can you explain why you think it's not great? What didn't you agree with in '09?

 

[janetfan]

Yes, it was more than 1998, but that's the year where a lot of attention was made about the dance judging. Can you explain why you think it's not great? What didn't you agree with in '09?

D/W 4th? B/A 2nd? I thought the whole thing still looked fixed and another example of CoP reputation scoring - which feels out of control to me.

 

[chuckm]

Do you have any first hand knowledge about the "low morale" of US Ladies?

I would suspect if their morale is low it is from getting their butts kicked for the last couple of years.

BTW, that has absolutely nothing to do with Sasha and everything to do with their aparent lack of competitiveness against Intl Ladies.

Really? Rachael Flatt was the 2007-2008 JGPF silver medalist and the 2008 World Junior Champion. In her first Senior season, Rachael Flatt finished 5th at 2009 Worlds and became a seeded skater in the GP.

I don't see any lack of competitiveness there, and Rachael is also a skater who has maintained a steady 4.0 record in high school with a curriculum consisting entirely of honors courses.

I don't want any whining crybabies selected for the Natl team and the ones who can't take a little competition should try cheerleading or some other activity.

You are talking about skaters who have spent every minute of every day for the last four years, practicing their butts off, traveling all over the world to compete, and having to deal not only with injuries but also with growth spurts that disrupt their skating. Meanwhile, Sasha's been coasting on her laurels for the last 3 1/2 years, skating exhibitions, and waited until June of this year to begin to train seriously.

To me, SASHA is the whiner, demanding attention and publicity for NOT appearing at the events the USFS was gracious enough to set up for her.

Sasha NEVER beat Michelle at Nationals, and she revealed herself to be a "whining crybaby" when she was quoted as saying she wished Kwan would retire and leave the spotlight to Sasha. Sasha also was against Kwan getting a bye to the 2006 Olympics, but don't think for one minute that Sasha herself won't ask for a bye if it turns out she can't compete at Nationals due to injury.

 

[i love to skate]

D/W 4th? B/A 2nd? I thought the whole thing still looked fixed and another example of CoP reputation scoring - which feels out of control to me.

D/W need to get better at their CD. They were fourth after the CD - 2 points back I think. The top three teams were within a point of each other, with B/A and V/M almost tied.

 

[janetfan]

I don't see any lack of competitiveness there, and Rachael is also a skater who has maintained a steady 4.0 record in high school with a curriculum consisting entirely of honors courses.

.

What in the world does Rachael's scholastic record have to do with skating at Natls? :scratch:

Your other points are good and I really don't care if you think Sasha is a whiner or as some claim a little roughneck who impedes warmups

I enjoy watching her skate and never said she deserves any preferential treatment. Just a chance to compete against the others.

Anyway, you should not even be thinking about this since you claim she either won't show or can't land any jumps.

Part of my surprise is why people who say Sasha is washed up seem so obsessed by her return. What are you so worried about? That Speedy or NBC may exert a little pressure

And why would they do that?

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

D/W need to get better at their CD. They were fourth after the CD - 2 points back I think. The top three teams were within a point of each other, with B/A and V/M almost tied.

Eh. I thought it was pretty clear that D/S were overmarked in the OD by a significant margin.

The judging has become better, though. 2007 was a perfect example of this, I think. Two debuts in the top ten (V/M and D/W) with their technical element scores that were 3rd and 5th best respectively. A really close race after the compulsories (for placements 2-5 only a .25 difference). B/A making the podium thanks to their great OD. D/S and D/L were clearly the class of the field and were marked accordingly.

 

[gkelly]

Yes, back in 6.0 it was almost removed because of the dodgy judging that was going on, holding down B/K, the tape recorded conversation where the judge stated he already was going to place them 4th in '98.....

Didn't the taped conversation involve putting B/K 2nd in the free dance?

If anything, it was an offer of a deal to counter a different alleged deal by other judges to produce the results that actually occurred.

 

[i love to skate]

Didn't the taped conversation involve putting B/K 2nd in the free dance?

If anything, it was an offer of a deal to counter a different alleged deal by other judges to produce the results that actually occurred.

I don't remember the exact placements but it was arranged so that B/K would not be able to medal, no matter where they were placed in the free dance.

Here is a segment on the events that happened at the Olympics in 1998 and the IOC action that was threatened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wj9xwcFSGU

 

[janetfan]

I wonder if all this snow falling here today is Sasha's fault?

Anybody else getting hit with snowballs and blizzard like conditions?

Makes me think of this favorite old song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOfQKh7un6U

Gosh did I have a crush on Michelle...........no, not that one,

I meant to say "Michie"

 

[R.D.]

Yeah, coming down hard here in MD too.

 

[janetfan]

Here is Sasha's recent interview from "Good Morning America"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9MuMjPzv-A

Here is a pretty nice interview with Sasha and Costas from Torino:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0_dv3bEVQw

 

[chuckm]

Hmmm. The interviewer made it seem as if Sasha is definitely going to Vancouver. As if.