Did Cohen Have the Desire to Win?
- Thread starter R.D.
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2005
Don't take what others say so seriously. What others believe regarding Sasha is only their opinion which they are entitled to as you are yours. No need to smack anyone in the face. Peace.
Michelle is more than 4 years older than Sasha, and AFAIK has made no serious statement about returning, just tongue-in-cheek responses to questions. Michelle also has nothing left to prove to ANYONE, other than lacking an OGM which would be basically impossible to achieve at this point. Meanwhile, Sasha continues to state, definitively, that she IS returning and that "her goals are to be at the 09 Worlds and 10 Olympics." There are simply no comparisons to be made between the intentions of these 2 ladies.
Yes, they tweak the rules in this maddening system called CoP. And while that may reduce "a certain skater" (spoiler edit) to tears, she still ends up on top of the podium. I don't see any "rule tweaks" changing skaters' destinities to the degree you are proposing.
Yes, they tweak the rules in this maddening system called CoP. And while that may reduce "a certain skater" (spoiler edit) to tears, she still ends up on top of the podium. I don't see any "rule tweaks" changing skaters' destinities to the degree you are proposing.
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just because she SAYS she wants to do it, doesn't mean she's actually going to DO it. I'll believe it when I SEE it in other words.
If she's smart, she would evaluate the competition she would face and determine whether she can measure up to the new generation or not, and THEN announce comeback (or retirement). If she took only one year off, I might say it's possible if she really works at it, but this is a TWO year break. With competition being what it is now, I say forget it. Not happening. Save your body and do what you love doing- acting.
If she's smart, she would evaluate the competition she would face and determine whether she can measure up to the new generation or not, and THEN announce comeback (or retirement). If she took only one year off, I might say it's possible if she really works at it, but this is a TWO year break. With competition being what it is now, I say forget it. Not happening. Save your body and do what you love doing- acting.
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just because she SAYS she wants to do it, doesn't mean she's actually going to DO it. I'll believe it when I SEE it in other words.
If she's smart, she would evaluate the competition she would face and determine whether she can measure up to the new generation or not, and THEN announce comeback (or retirement). If she took only one year off, I might say it's possible if she really works at it, but this is a TWO year break. With competition being what it is now, I say forget it. Not happening. Save your body and do what you love doing- acting.
I mean she doesn't have to win. Maybe her desire now is just to partecipate at Worlds held in her home (LA) and Olympics held near her home (Vancouver). Maybe without that desire to win she will do 2 clean performances.
I disagree. This isn't a matter of opinion. Sasha has made it very clear what her intentions are. Those clear statements of fact are what need to "smack some people in the face" and I'm giving some people the benefit of the doubt assuming they simply don't know about these statements. If someone calls Sasha, or Michelle, or any other skater a liar, I take it seriously. People aren't "living in a dream world" when they believe what an athlete repeatedly states with crystal clarity. Now, if someone says that they already know Sasha's intentions, and simply believes she will fail, that is then their opinion (though likely a trolling one.)
Only she knows what her true agenda is. But I think it would be a bit odd for someone like her who didn't seem like she enjoyed competing at all, to want to come back "just for the heck of it". BS. she must want that OGM or World championship. That's only what I think, though- who knows.
A rule tweak may easily impose required positions (or make it difficult to get high levels without certain positions) that could make it difficult for someone with a prior injury even if those positions might not be harmful to a skater who never had any prior injuries. This is why it cannot be determined what tweaks could have an impact on (for example) Sasha's planned return as opposed to Evgeni's planned return. He, too, BTW, has stated that he wants to return for Vancouver, but so far has been spending a great deal of time on the surgeon's table.
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If it is like that, she has to consider the fact that the competition is very tough now with all those youngsters doing 3/3 and 3A.
As you have said, we don't know what are her projects. :think: We will see!!!
that's what it boils down to. But I would rather focus on the current skaters (i.e. the ones competing right now). As far as I'm concerned, unless she does decide to return (for whatever reason), we are talking about the past when it comes to Cohen, and this entire thread.
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That a skater simply wants to win doesn't mean that winning is the only reasonf for coming back, or is the only thing that will satisfy her. For example, I am sure that Kat Witt wanted to win gold when she returned to competition in '94, but winning wasn't the prime reason for her return -- and she apparently felt "satisfied" with her performance, even without winning.
Elaine Zayak also stated that she felt satisfied with her "comeback performance" at US Nats in '94, even though she didn't win.
True! She dedicated her LP to Sarajevo, the city in which ten years before she won her first OG, and in 1994 was being destroyed by war.
Except she's already announced it, and continues to, so it is a moot point for debate.
If she took only one year off, I might say it's possible if she really works at it, but this is a TWO year break. With competition being what it is now, I say forget it. Not happening. Save your body and do what you love doing- acting.
Sasha isn't an old horse yet. She'll be 25 in Vancouver, but Arakawa was 24 in Torino. She has also been skating in the interim, doing a full tour with SOI among other things. It's not like she hasn't skated in 2 years.
Now we venture into the realm of opinion. None of us can predict the future, but I do know 2 things very clearly. Those being Sasha's stated intentions, and her personality. I know because it is a lot like mine. She said it herself in the above quote - she is "all or nothing." That's exactly how she's going to go at this. Whatever is required, that is what she will do. It's possible and actually likely that she will train more diligently than she ever did in the past, because this is her last shot and she knows it. And then like I said, the only question is if she can avoid serious injuries, like the ones Michelle dealt with in 2006.
As for the competition - if you look at Sasha's successes and failures, you will see that most of the time it wasn't about the competition, but rather Sasha's ability to not self-destruct. I've analyzed her in detail in other posts, and her issues are pretty clearly psychological, evidenced by many things including the curious timing of many of her mistakes, and the disparity between practice/performance. Which of course means she's likely to have the same demons dragging her down off the top spot in 08/09/10. But I don't see competition being a large barrier to her attendance at Worlds/Olys, certainly not the US competition which is still really not on the same level. IF Caro/Ashley/Mirai manage to mature enough in that time, then they could be, but right now, even after the GP events they are all still just "potential."
Lastly, she has an entire season (08/09) to screw up at her leisure before 09/10, and her real "last shot" at OGM.
As for acting, I'd say that Sasha has been "smacked in the face" a bit, so to speak, into realizing that she can't just waltz over to Hollywood and be some big movie star. She took a break and had a little fun, but got ultimately what really amounted to bit parts in a couple movies / shows, to mixed reviews. I'm hoping that experience instilled in her a newfound appreciation for the unique gifts she has in skating. If she wants fame (and she does), she had best buckle down and get it on the ice, where her true talents lie.
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I just had this terrible vision in my mind: what if the American girls fail to secure 3 spots for the 2009 Worlds, and Sasha does return?! Will the U.S. judges hold her up in PCS to give her one of the two spots? Then it comes down to only one spot to split amongst Kimmie, Caroline, Mirai, Ashley, Rachael, and Emily (if she's still fighting for it). Not to mention Bebe and Alissa, if those two haven't retired.
That'll be a massacre! Two spots are bad enough, but one...
That'll be a massacre! Two spots are bad enough, but one...
Yes, yes. Picky, picky. But there's always another Worlds. She may intend to be at '09 Worlds, and that intention is a good thing, both for her training and in helping with Olympic berths. But whether she could succeed straight out of the gate, I don't know. I'm just saying that it's good she has that year of cushion before the Olympic year, in case things don't work out as she hoped right away. If she had said "I'm going to be at the Olympics!" and ignored 08/09, that would be positively suicidal.
I personally don't think the judges are going to favor Sasha IN ANY WAY. She has basically turned her back on the sport (at least the competition side) for over a year. Have you seen the attendance lately? Think of how many more butts would be in the seats if Sasha were there. I'm actually wondering if the opposite will happen, if the judges will penalize her unfairly at first, for taking money out of the pockets of the ISU to go play actress. But I try not to fret over such things.
As for spots for Worlds / Olympics, can anyone give a complete explanation of how and when each of those are earned? IIRC Olympic berths are earned at the previous year's Worlds, but I don't understand how precisely the points for that setup work, and I've yet to see a formula for it. I tried analyzing Worlds 05 results / Torino 06 entries, but it didn't look like an exact correlation.
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- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
But then, too, Sasha might change her mind, whatever her plans are at present. She might enjoy skating with SOI so much that she will feel like she has no reason to back to competing after all. No one would blame her for changing her mind.
About drawing in the audience, again that goes for SOI as well as for competitions. Maybe she will turn out to be the new Kristi in terms of box office appeal. :yes:
About drawing in the audience, again that goes for SOI as well as for competitions. Maybe she will turn out to be the new Kristi in terms of box office appeal. :yes:
I think the truth of the matter is that most fans would have a hard time handling Sasha's return to the fold. Yes, people love her skating, but they'd find it painful to see her coming in 3rd or lower at many competitions. I think she would be out of the spotlight if that happened to her. Think of Fumie Suguri. She stuck around at the cost of falling far behind her own personal best and alienated many of her ex fans. I think Fumie has lost the favor of her own federation as well as media coverage and most importantly the attention from the fans of female skating. Sasha might end up in the same place if her skating falls behind and fails to carry her to the podium. With that risk in many find, how many fans really want Sasha to return to amateur skating?
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- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
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