Las Vegas Invitational

[Mathman]

It wasn't so much nostalgic for me... it was boring.

To me what was boring about it was that the programs were too long. Is she still out there? Plus the music was uninspired and uninspiring, which also made the skating seem to drag on and on.

I didn't have so much of a problem with the lack of competitive fire, or the schmaltz of the "coaching." though. It is what it is.

 

[TontoK]

To me what was boring about it was that the programs were too long. Is she still out there? Plus the music was uninspired and uninspiring, which also made the skating seem to drag on and on.

I didn't have so much of a problem with the lack of competitive fire, or the schmaltz of the "coaching." though. It is what it is.

Yes, and these were their competitive long programs, which makes it worse.

Aside from Nathan's 4 Loop, news of which had been leaked, the only skater I was really stoked to see was Ilia Malinin... just to see if the wonderkid could reproduce his promising performance from Skate America. Alas, the answer was "no." He was just as lackluster as the rest. Alex K did pretty well, though, and I really wasn't expecting that... but even Dracula lacked personality.

Maybe I just watched while I was in a bad mood, and I'm being overly negative. I missed some of the early ladies performances, so maybe I missed something good... but I think I'm going to let that just be a mystery I'll never know.

 

[Seven Sisters]

Watching this event, I was a bit taken aback by Alysa Liu’s performance. Maybe she was just undertrained or whatever, but at least on this day, she did not look like anyone who might be able to go toe-to-toe with the Russian girls.

 

[[email protected]]

Watching this event, I was a bit taken aback by Alysa Liu’s performance. Maybe she was just undertrained or whatever, but at least on this day, she did not look like anyone who might be able to go toe-to-toe with the Russian girls.

She looks like going through puberty. Her skating looks much more mature although with fewer transitions than before. But jumps are not there. There are no hints that she will be able to jump quads. And without those I would not even bring Russian top ladies into the discussion.

 

[Amei]

Watching this event, I was a bit taken aback by Alysa Liu’s performance. Maybe she was just undertrained or whatever, but at least on this day, she did not look like anyone who might be able to go toe-to-toe with the Russian girls.

Well the skates in general were pretty under-whelming, but she's 14 and I'd be willing to guess between switching coaches and looking like she's not going to have any season except for Nationals that there is a perfect storm for struggling to get serious into training.

 

[karne]

Yes, and these were their competitive long programs, which makes it worse.

Aside from Nathan's 4 Loop, news of which had been leaked, the only skater I was really stoked to see was Ilia Malinin... just to see if the wonderkid could reproduce his promising performance from Skate America. Alas, the answer was "no." He was just as lackluster as the rest. Alex K did pretty well, though, and I really wasn't expecting that... but even Dracula lacked personality.

Maybe I just watched while I was in a bad mood, and I'm being overly negative. I missed some of the early ladies performances, so maybe I missed something good... but I think I'm going to let that just be a mystery I'll never know.

This was literally the day after SkAm. They were all tired.

The only person who wasn't was Liu, who was flown in specially for the event, which kind of makes a bit of a mockery of their careful bubble precautions - oh, we're going to be so careful, keep everything so strict but we're going to fly in a skater who's not even competing here for a useless cheesefest because we didn't shove Alysa Liu down everyone's throats enough last year.

 

[macy]

She looks like going through puberty. Her skating looks much more mature although with fewer transitions than before. But jumps are not there. There are no hints that she will be able to jump quads. And without those I would not even bring Russian top ladies into the discussion.

i think she's definitely experiencing puberty and the quarantine time off probably only made things worse. it looked to me like a lot of her doubled jumps were intentional, so i wonder if she's also dealing with injury.

i did see improvement in her overall skating though, she looks a bit more mature and i can tell she's been focusing on her speed.

 

[ice coverage]

I am happy that Audrey Shin was able to show in the team event that her Skate America results were not a fluke.

---

Water under the bridge, but I am a little sad that Amber Glenn was not selected for Las Vegas Invitational -- and did not have another chance to skate before judges in person and did not have the opportunity to earn some prize money.
No offense to Karen and Starr, but Amber also would have been a reasonable choice.

"Ten of the twelve (12) skaters will be invited to participate based on a combination [emphasis added] of their world standings and 2019-20 season's best score, with the 2020 ladies and men's U.S. champions serving as captains for Team Tara and Team Johnny, respectively. One additional lady and man will be selected based on the results of 2020 Skate America, with the highest finisher in each category not already invited to participate in the event earning a wildcard entry."​

As 2020 U.S. champion, Alysa was a team captain; and Audrey was the wildcard entry based on Skate America results.
Bradie and Mariah were top two U.S. ladies on both the world standings list and the 2019-20 season's best list.

ISU World Standings​

Starr #19 with 1553 points​

Amber #26 with 1306 points​

Karen #39 with 1081 points​

2019-20 Season's Best Scores​

Karen #21 with 201.06​

Amber #31 with 190.83​

Starr #45 with 181.18​

---

I assume that before entering the Orleans bubble, Alysa was required to comply with all the same safety rules as everyone else. Including: providing information for fourteen days in advance via the health app; and then quarantining in her hotel room until her COVID test came back negative.
I do not see why her participation would have made any mockery of the bubble precautions.

And I believe the experience would have been useful to Alysa as her first chance this season to compete before judges in person and as an opportunity to earn some prize money.
(And as a taste of team competition, perhaps helpful if/whenever she goes to WTT and/or OWG.)

 

[Sk8D8]

I am happy that Audrey Shin was able to show in the team event that her Skate America results were not a fluke.

---

Water under the bridge, but I am a little sad that Amber Glenn was not selected for Las Vegas Invitational -- and did not have another chance to skate before judges in person and did not have the opportunity to earn some prize money.
No offense to Karen and Starr, but Amber also would have been a reasonable choice.

"Ten of the twelve (12) skaters will be invited to participate based on a combination [emphasis added] of their world standings and 2019-20 season's best score, with the 2020 ladies and men's U.S. champions serving as captains for Team Tara and Team Johnny, respectively. One additional lady and man will be selected based on the results of 2020 Skate America, with the highest finisher in each category not already invited to participate in the event earning a wildcard entry."​

As 2020 U.S. champion, Alysa was a team captain; and Audrey was the wildcard entry based on Skate America results.
Bradie and Mariah were top two U.S. ladies on both the world standings list and the 2019-20 season's best list.

ISU World Standings​

Starr #19 with 1553 points​

Amber #26 with 1306 points​

Karen #39 with 1081 points​

2019-20 Season's Best Scores​

Karen #21 with 201.06​

Amber #31 with 190.83​

Starr #45 with 181.18​

---

I assume that before entering the Orleans bubble, Alysa was required to comply with all the same safety rules as everyone else. Including: providing information for fourteen days in advance via the health app; and then quarantining in her hotel room until her COVID test came back negative.
I do not see why her participation would have made any mockery of the bubble precautions.

And I believe the experience would have been useful to Alysa as her first chance this season to compete before judges in person and as an opportunity to earn some prize money.
(And as a taste of team competition, perhaps helpful if/whenever she goes to WTT and/or OWG.)

I couldn't agree more! Amber has been improving ever since 4CC and has proved this with the Points Challenge and SKAM, outscoring both Starr and Karen in the Points Challenge and Starr in Skate America as well. Giving Amber another oppertunity to compete will only help her with her confidence. Plus you would think USFSA would want to give someone that has a 3 axel an oppertunity to improve! She hasn't done it in competition yet, but thats understandable with the set back she had with her broken lower orbital bone. This prevented her from training the 3 axel for a few weeks.

 

[RoyThree]

They must have been so tired after just competing at SA. They did well all things considering. Anyone know if their any protocols?

They did a lot of skating in just a few days time - The sp and lp for Skate America, the Skate America gala, and then the invitational. That makes me tired just saying it.