Mariah Bell

[matscol]

[Full disclosure: In response to Tavi's post in the U.S. Ladies thread, I expressed my opinion over there that I think you (meaning polenka) are oversharing and/or possibly including hearsay in your posts. I said so b/c my initial interpretation of your sentence was that you intended to state outright that Raf approached Mariah. But as I look at it again, I am not even sure that was your intended meaning.]

THIS, yes, absolutely.

There is a common strain of in-the-know-ness re:7K goings-on to polenka's posts. And that is why I jumped on that one line. The ambiguity is properly noted above (I acknowledged it as well), but it was not a line that should have been left unchallenged here. Again, in my opinion.

 

[Tavi...]

The statement as made was - deliberately or not - an accusation of tampering, coming from someone who's post history shows a connection with 7K. My reply was a suggestion that one ought not to make such accusations without direct first-hand knowledge of the facts, as it is a serious accusation indeed, and perhaps a libelous one.

The First Amendment does not give one the right to libel. The statement "Raf saw her skate and approached them at Glacier" was, unless it was intended to rest under the umbrella of the preceding sentence's "My suspicion is", presented as fact. If it's true, there should be consequences for him.

I did not suggest as fact, as I do not know, whether the poster really was standing there to witness and overhear any conversation which may have taken place. I stated my strong suspicion - marked clearly as opinion, which as you so helpfully point out I have in the U.S. a 1st-Amendment right to express - based on my belief that it is more likely that Rafael would not jeopardize his career trying to poach a skater than it is that the poster was in fact witness to such poaching.

More than anything, I was trying to nudge out a clarification, and I do find your post with it's accusatory "I'm not sure where you're located..." bit a gross over-reaction.

Have you read the link I posted in the US Ladies thread? There is no longer a PSA rule against making contact with a skater being coached by someone else. Therefore, approaching that skater is not poaching, and Rafael would not be jeapordizing his career or livelihood by doing so. Kind of hard to hang a libel action on that.

Incidentally, tone is admittedly hard to read on the Internet, but I was not accusing you of anything. My reasons for stating that I wasn't sure where you're located were simply (1) the information isn't in your profile; (2) people from all over the world post here; and (3) I didn't want to assume you were an American familiar with First Amendment protections.

 

[Skatefan15]

Wonder if Raf is gonna scrap her programs? I thought I heard (not sure) Raf is not a fan of Rohene. Also kinda disappointed she left Kori/Rohene.
edit: Raf did not scrape programs yay!!

 

[matscol]

There is no longer a PSA rule against making contact with a skater being coached by someone else.

Clearly this is news to me, and certainly changes the stakes of the statement - true or false - made upthread. But I bet coaches will continue to avoid doing it, and wouldn't want to be accused of it. The fs world is just too small.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Wonder if Raf is gonna scrap her programs? I thought I heard (not sure) Raf is not a fan of Rohene. Also kinda disappointed she left Kori/Rohene. Seems like she is doing it for the boy...

Her profile on IceNetwork has been updated to show Raf as the new coach, but Rohene is still listed as choreographer. Hopefully that is a good sign.

 

[el henry]

I strongly suspect that is NOT what happened, and you really ought to be careful saying so unless you personally witnessed and heard the interaction.

I don't want to derail this any further, either, but I would hate to see anyone stifled from giving us any information on these Boards that they want to give, as it helps us all. And if you have a legal background and would like to discuss this further, please PM me and we can continue this discussion. Otherwise, you ought to be careful about saying "you ought to be careful" to someone; I have to admit (and I'm sure you didn't mean it this way), I found the statement condescending. I also admit based on his interviews and statements, I am not fond of Raf and could believe this of him, but that is not an influence.

It is a good sign if she keeps Rohene's programs.:agree:

 

[ice coverage]

I don't want to derail this any further, either, but I would hate to see anyone stifled from giving us any information on these Boards that they want to give, as it helps us all. And if you have a legal background and would like to discuss this further, please PM me and we can continue this discussion. Otherwise, you ought to be careful about saying "you ought to be careful" to someone; I have to admit (and I'm sure you didn't mean it this way), I found the statement condescending. I also admit based on his interviews and statements, I am not fond of Raf and could believe this of him, but that is not an influence. ...

What has been under discussion in this thread is an unsubstantiated claim from a poster who chooses (as I do) not to give her/his real-life name.

Whether the unsubstantiated claim "helps us all" is a matter of opinion.
I do not consider it helpful that this thread contains something unsubstantiated that -- if true -- would put a successful coach in an unflattering light.
My opinion (only an opinion) is that the claim is not credible. YMMV.

(If anyone cares: No, I do not have a legal bkgd. Yes, I do like Raf. But when assessing the situation in this thread, I -- like you -- am not influenced by my feelings about Raf.)

... Otherwise, you ought to be careful about saying "you ought to be careful" to someone ...

I guess you were trying to be cute ... but the same applies to you, no?

 

[tulosai]

Seems like she is doing it for the boy...

I personally wouldn't assume this. While I'm sure it is nice for her to be closer to her boyfriend the truth is she didn't seem to be able to make the progress she wanted to last year under Kori/Rohene. It is also factually indisputable that her main problem is that her jumps are inconsistent. It would take very little imagination to come to the conclusion that a primary motivator of the switch wass that Raf is a very reputable jumping coach who has demonstrated his ability to fix skaters jumps late in their careers and to teach proper technique at all levels.

 

[tulosai]

I wanted to add I also don't care one way or another if Raf 'poached' her. To me, assuming this is a bad thing is both antiquated and infantilizing. In my own opinion, it's actually a good thing if a coach is free to approach a skater who they genuinely think they can offer something that the skater currently doesn't seem to be getting. So long as Raf was truthful in any representations he made to Mariah, I don't see anything wrong with what he did, on any level. As long as he was truthful, she is an adult and able to evaluate what he said, what she knows of him, her situation at 7K, and the pros and cons of switching and come to a decision herself. If he came up to her and said something like 'I've seen you a few times now and I really think you're a beautiful skater, but I notice X, Y, Z issues and these are the reasons I truly believe I'd be a very good choice to fix the issues and here's how I'd go about it if you're interested in a switch' I think that's just great and gives more power to BOTH him and Mariah. As long as there's no pressure or lies skaters having more choices (or at least being aware of what their choices are) is generally a good thing.

 

[Princessroja]

Yay, congratulations to Mariah for a silver medal at the US Classic tonight!!

 

[Tavi...]

For someone who just won her first senior international medal she looks remarkably subdued.

 

[Sydney Rose]

She didn't look "subdued" at all to me. She looked wonderfully happy. She didn't get upset at all with the wardrobe/hair malfunction; instead she took it in stride and laughed it off.

After watching her suffer so much last season, it's wonderful to see her finally doing well. She's definitely my favorite US skater right now.

 

[Tavi...]

She didn't look "subdued" at all to me. She looked wonderfully happy. She didn't get upset at all with the wardrobe/hair malfunction; instead she took it in stride and laughed it off.

After watching her suffer so much last season, it's wonderful to see her finally doing well. She's definitely my favorite US skater right now.

I guess we all see things differently. To me she looked "wonderfully happy" - even wondrously so - after her 2015 US Nats freeskate - a program that still gives me goosebumps. Not here.

 

[shiroKJ]

Unless there's a medal given out for level of "displayed happiness" I don't think that's what matters. She had a good skate and got silver .

Plus different levels of competition will evoke different kinds of feelings.

 

[jrice314]

So happy for Mariah!! Based on this competition and Glacier Falls, it looks like her triple-triples are now solid. Her jump layout is on par with Gracie, Ashley, and Polina so she could really kill it this year at Nationals if she continues to skate like this! I haven't seen the free from Salt Lake yet, but she really performs to the music in the short, with facial expressions included. Hopefully Raf can really help her and training with Ashley can be motivating. Lovely costumes, choreography and music too. She could have the total package this year. I just hope the judges at Nationals are not too biased in favor of Gracie, Ashley and Polina if Mariah does do well. Of course I love the others for various reasons--just hope whoever skates best in January wins!

 

[Layback11]

I'm thrilled for Mariah-this was a dang solid competition and an excellent result. I'm so happy to see her hitting her stride after a wildly inconsistent last season!

 

[tulosai]

I don't care if Mariah looked happy or not I'm happy enough for everyone! So great to see her skating like this!

 

[Tallorder]

Excellent points that she made in the IN interview/report from the event. When she can nail her technical elements, the confidence is there. If she can build on her consistency, that will enable her to perform more. Her basic nature seems very perky and joyful, and I sense that is what people really enjoy seeing. I expect we'll see more of that as the season progresses. Congrats to her on a strong start with this Free program.

 

[BeenJammin]

Excellent points that she made in the IN interview/report from the event.

Where did you see this interview? I was unable to find it.

 

[Arriba627]

Wishing Mariah lots of luck in the SP tomorrow at Skate America. She looked good today in practice. Interesting to see Rohene over at the boards today when she was skating. Really like the "Chicago" program.