Jason Brown

[StitchMonkey]

And to answer your question in the Ondrej thread, I think the SP costume is more susceptible to Liberace-izing. Looks to me like they may even have toned down the FS costume a bit. But I can't see Rohene keeping the glitter gun away from the tux

Yeah, i kinda have been thinking the same thing. That SP costume is just tempting a target for sparkles and glitter. The FS they may want to keep a bit more simple, but would not be surprised if it evolves some.

If it's something like this, then I wouldn't mind:

http://img-cdn.jg.jugem.jp/fe7/1412490/20120129_2144597.jpg

I'm actually really fond of that one...

I like it!

 

[karne]

I miss the color of the sash but I do think the new costume is more flattering. Very Max-like, except for the sequins, eh @karne?

I LOVED both of his costumes here! This is has got to be a first for me for a very long time! The black (or was it dark blue? The tricks your eyes play at stupid o'clock!), the asymmetrical neck, even the sequins, for once, were just right. It flattered, it extended, it made him look older and more mature.

I fear for the suit costume of the SP. Like the Juke one, I fear that the bedazzler will ruin a perfectly good costume. Petition to protect the suit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY_1g-vV5LY

Jason's FS.

If you have not heard, he did win Go Jason!

And it's gorgeous, so do watch!

 

[LRK]

I LOVED both of his costumes here! This is has got to be a first for me for a very long time! The black (or was it dark blue? The tricks your eyes play at stupid o'clock!), the asymmetrical neck, even the sequins, for once, were just right. It flattered, it extended, it made him look older and more mature.

I fear for the suit costume of the SP. Like the Juke one, I fear that the bedazzler will ruin a perfectly good costume. Petition to protect the suit!

Beware the Bedazzler - Beware!

 

[karne]

Beware the Bedazzler - Beware!

PUT DOWN THE BEDAZZLER, ROHENE/JASON/COSTUMER/KORI/WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE.

pleasepleasepleaseplease

 

[andromache]

The first half of Jason's LP kind of bores me, but I find myself mesmerized by the second half.

It took me until 4CCs last year for Jason's LP to wow me. With such difficult choreo, I think it just takes longer for Jason to be able to perform the program to its full potential (not even talking technical content here). I'm confident that I'll be wowed by this program later in the season.

 

[karne]

He is definitely a second-half skater, taking the whole first half of the season to properly develop into the program. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just a thing. It does leave him open to a large amount of criticism, like the Nationals result this year; if he had delivered the Worlds or WTT FS, or even the 4CCs one, at Nationals, I think fewer people would have gone on the ridiculous "Adam was robbed" theme.

 

[Seren]

I love Jason's LP. It's elegant and subtle. That doesn't mean boring.

I was also glad to see him go for the 4T. Even though it was << it looked like a much better attempt than what he tried last year.

 

[karne]

Oh yes. As I said during the PBP, I can definitely see myself standing for this one in Boston next year. The very thought gives me goosebumps!

 

[Tavi...]

My favorite part is the spiral sequence into the hydroblade into the the 3L. It's beautiful in itself, but even more it's really a beautiful expression of the music - bravo, Rohene. For me the orchestral music is more poignant and yearning than the piano, and more interesting texturally, and I wish they had used more of it. But I do love this program anyway and am so looking forward to seeing how it grows. Skate America!

Re bedazzling - I do hope they leave both costumes as they are now. The tux is really elegant as it is and it flatters him. That program should be about letting his dancing / footwork / jumping skills shine, not his costume.

 

[TMC]

He did a great job! I'm glad he went for the 4T, although with -GOE and << he lost about 8 points on that element alone. Still, I see a big improvement in the program as a whole, and am looking forward to seeing it at Skate America.

I miss the color of the sash but I do think the new costume is more flattering. Very Max-like, except for the sequins, eh @karne?

ETA gosh I just looked at the protocols. If he could just improve the quad to < and get to 0 GOE on the axels and combo, his tech score would go up like 8 points and he would be around 170 total. That's leaving negative GOE on the 4T. Not bad, especially considering his PCS was not super inflated. He'll have to do better than that (and better in SP) to compete with Hanyu et al, but it's encouraging.

I love that he seems to win people over wherever he goes.

That is such a huge score :shocked:

I mean his PCS was not even that high! I can see him breaking 180 with this program.

 

[Tavi...]

TSL just posted a recap of this week's competitions. They were relatively positive about Jason and I thought their criticisms were fair. In fact, they were a lot more positive than I expected them to be (and actually markedly less catty over all) which made me very happy.

One thing they mentioned was that Jason was really struggling while they were at 7K, and that he had apparently also struggled at Champs camp. They were really glad to see how much he'd improved in such a short time. They also agreed that this was his best quad attempt yet in competition.

One thing I found interesting was their comments about his skating skills, especially edges and power. They pointed out that according to Kori, the whole point of this program is to celebrate those and they felt so far that it wasn't. That kind of ties in with a point made by Newbie and mentioned by Mrs P above: that maybe there are just too many transitions in the program.

What do you guys think? My first reaction is that it's too soon to judge. Once he masters the technical stuff, I think he will perform it more freely - kind of like what we saw in year 2 of Prince versus the first year.

On the other hand, his speed, edges and power have been criticized somewhat in recent years, but were commented on favorably in the past (eg in the Turandot program). So what do you guys think - do the current programs just have too many transitions?

 

[Mrs. P]

My thought is that the busy charleston/quickstep is a way to improve edges and skating skills. A level 4 singles step sequence is like child's play to an ice dancer. What better way to work on skating skills then to incorporate pattern dances.

I do think the FS is far less busy (though still plenty of transitions) and I think actually he's improved as far as speed there. Maybe doing the harder SP makes the FS seem easier in comparison?

 

[deetrakt]

My thought is that the busy charleston/quickstep is a way to improve edges and skating skills. A level 4 singles step sequence is like child's play to an ice dancer. What better way to work on skating skills then to incorporate pattern dances.

I do think the FS is far less busy (though still plenty of transitions) and I think actually he's improved as far as speed there. Maybe doing the harder SP makes the FS seem easier in comparison?

It seems to me that the "busier" a program looks, the less in control of it the skater is. One difference between the skaters at 7K and many others is that mastering the choreography comes first. This is undoubtedly at least partly because Rohene is onsite, week in and week out.

Having regular access to a choreographer is a key differences in Max A's skating this year. Similarly, I remember during the 2014 US Nationals, critics of Mirai's skating observed that she skipped much of the choreography between elements. This would never have happened in their current setup. Most skaters can't master choreography and technical elements equally well at the same time. Unless someone is monitoring their progress, choreography tends to come second.

Jason's short this year is particularly fast-paced and looks frenetic because he's not yet fully in control of it. It's very hard to make something like this look easy until you know it cold (cf. Fred Astaire). I was actually quite pleasantly surprised how far both programs have come since the summer. comps--I'd expect to see further progress by SA (especially in the 3A and other triple jumps) and maybe by Japan in November with the 4T.

 

[el henry]

Didn't Kori also say in the latest interview with TSL that the skaters are expected to work and master Rohene's choreo, but that if in the long run she feels the choreo is interfering with jumps and/or points, the buck stops with her and she will change it? Even I think the SP is a tad overstuffed, and I *like* overstuffed, but I trust Kori to trim or alter if needs be.

 

[musicfan80]

Baring a injury or complete implosion at U.S. Nationals, Jason is a lock for one of the three men's spots for Worlds. I'm clueless about who the other two men on the U.S. World team will be at this point - and will still feel that way in January.

Maybe the strategy is for this to be a "work season" for Jason and they are just getting the jump content out there with his presentation. I would be surprised if he has all the jumps down in the programs by even Worlds - and that is probably okay - as long as he can still finish in the top 10 at Boston.

 

[Mrs. P]

Baring a injury or complete implosion at U.S. Nationals, Jason is a lock for one of the three men's spots for Worlds. I'm clueless about who the other two men on the U.S. World team will be at this point - and will still feel that way in January.

Maybe the strategy is for this to be a "work season" for Jason and they are just getting the jump content out there with his presentation. I would be surprised if he has all the jumps down in the programs by even Worlds - and that is probably okay - as long as he can still finish in the top 10 at Boston.

This season, as I've mentioned previously, is very remincient of the 2012-2013 season, when he was working on putting the 3A in programs. And it's almost playing out the same way.

As for world spots: The U.S. men's field for its flaws still has depth and anything can happen. I mean did anyone expect Adam to end up on the world team after his sub-par Senior B/GP season? And everyone thought Max was a lock for the Olympics (sorry karne) based on his GP season/previous season's results.

 

[musicfan80]

This season, as I've mentioned previously, is very remincient of the 2012-2013 season, when he was working on putting the 3A in programs. And it's almost playing out the same way.

As for world spots: The U.S. men's field for its flaws still has depth and anything can happen. I mean did anyone expect Adam to end up on the world team after his sub-par Senior B/GP season? And everyone thought Max was a lock for the Olympics (sorry karne) based on his GP season/previous season's results.

That is one example of why as much as I love to follow figure skating, I don't really obsess (good or bad) about what happens in Intl Bs or even the Grand Prix. I'm becoming convinced that for the U.S., it's December's training that really matters.

 

[ice coverage]

... As for world spots: The U.S. men's field for its flaws still has depth and anything can happen. I mean did anyone expect Adam to end up on the world team after his sub-par Senior B/GP season? And everyone thought Max was a lock for the Olympics (sorry karne) based on his GP season/previous season's results.

Congrats to Jason for his Nepela gold .

I do strongly agree :agree: that anything can happen re World spots.

[Am compelled to add that I would not go so far as to say that everyone thought Max was a lock for Sochi.
No question that Max was viewed as a strong contender. But others also were very much in the mix. Some people considered Adam much more of a sure thing than Max. Josh, Richard, and Ross could not be counted out. And of course, Jeremy and Jason.
I remember very clearly a Max interview in late 2013 when the reporter framed a question as if Max definitely would be in Sochi. But Max was more cautious and started his answer by saying, "I really hope that I am going to be in Sochi ..."
I was heartbroken for Max that he missed the cut for Sochi. But I never presumed that he had a spot all locked up even before stepping on the ice in Boston.]

 

[karne]

Well, if we really must bring up the totally horrible thing that happened in Boston , you could add that likewise, going in Adam was very much a favourite for the Olympic team. No-one expected him to crash and burn the way he did at Nationals.

But, I do think Jason is very much an early favourite for the World team. He's the reigning US National Champion, his new programs are already a hit with international judges, and the quad will only get better as the season progresses. As well, there are three places on this team, not two that there were for the Olympics. He could come third and they would be able to send him.

As for everyone else, the international judges have also showed Max some early-season love, and he has shown massive improvement over the off-season. Joshua is a dark horse because he won't be on the GP, but you can bet that when he does show up at Nationals he will take us on one heck of a ride. I have to wonder with Adam how much more patience from the judges he is going to get given his planned << jump at the start of every program. Jeremy is obviously out this season. Ross does not seem to have the internal standing any more. Ricky is so inconsistent, he could give it a shakeup if he skates clean but unfortunately that's a big if. And I am not sold on this kid that everyone else is so desperate to crown.

The really interesting match-up will be at Skate America. On American soil, with Max and Jason head-to-head. If Max lands everything, he should finish ahead of Jason. But you can bet that the USFS would much, much rather see Jason above Max, even if Max lands the big jumps. They have made that abundantly clear in the past couple of seasons. It will be a real clash of the titans regardless, and I'm surprised they went for it, to be honest.

Fingers crossed we get an adorable podium moment from these two friends there :yes:

 

[Tavi...]

I think it's far too early to say how good Jason's chances are to make the world team. Yes there are 3 places but realistically at least 5 guys could contend. Max is landing his jumps better, has improved his presentation, and is starting to get better PCS. As we've all noted, Nathan is doing really well and his jumps look great. We know that if Josh is healthy he will have a strong shot. But most of all, we haven't seen Adam yet, and I think Adam is going to make a really strong push to be champion this year, whether or not he pulls off the 4Z. He said as much to Dave Lease during the EWC interview. We'll get our first view of Adam next week, which should be quite interesting.

As to Jason, I went back and looked at the Glacier Falls SP and the Nepela one right after it - I knew there was a huge difference but it was even greater than I remembered. It wasn't just all the falls - it was that at GF he barely had the rest of the program in his body and was basically just getting through it. The choreography is starting to become much clearer now, to the point that I'm wondering if Rohene added stuff or Jason just couldn't manage it before. Anyway, I guess I'm not sure that what he's doing in the SP will improve his edges / flow in the FS but I do think those things will improve with time regardless, just like I think we 'll get more emotion /character as time goes on. Those are his challenges this season.

By the way, I found these two clips which kind of gave me an idea of where they're going with the SP:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x6KDtr_RP5Q

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G-8kK4J3s2I

ETA off topic, but here are Fred Astsire and a Gene Kelly together !

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lMKbGRCbsaw