Thank you! They have good chemistry together but their lifts and twist looks pretty labored. Maybe they just need more time?
I wouldn't read too much into the scores or the tech content. They probably just wanted to get a feel for competition.
Tran's tweet supports your point, Mrs. P.
Mervin Tran @skate_moivo
First step; make our debut (check). Next step; pass my senior pairs and senior moves in the field tests (pending). Wish me luck
7:44 AM - 10 Aug 2014
https://twitter.com/skate_moivo/status/498479979098017792
And yet I find it hard to believe that his former partner's higher score (by a hair) did not make even the unflappable Tran blink for just a second.
Wishing Mervin luck with his tests, of course.
Pretty good skating for a first outing, and I agree with Alba, I think the lifts were definitely the best part of their technical arsenal. But goodness, I really can't get used to the lyrics-in-competitive-programs part... When it first started playing, my initial thought was, "Wait, did they switch to ice dance?!" The vocals were all kinds of distracting.
The vocalists were part of the problem. Drew too much attention away from the skate. I suspect a different piece, or a different vocal interpretation, would've been less distracting.Vocals don't necessarily bother me, but I'm not fond of the vocalists in the version of "Summertime" they chose (I'm partial to Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin). Still, I'm excited to see what they can do once they get some more experience under their belt.
Yeah, the man's vocals (who's singing in this one? I thought it was Tom Jones at first but I have no idea) were so... loud. There's such gorgeous instrumentation there, but the belting, and the fact that the vocals are mixed so prominently in the recording rather than turned down a notch, don't help
I agree. When the man started singing, it even startled me a bit. It was just too much. The female voice wasn't much better. Nice program though. It's nice to see Marissa show some sort of a connection with her partner rather than just project outward to the audience, which is what she mostly did with Simon since their chemistry was lacking. They look better-matched than Marissa did with a huge 6'4" partner, although the elements have a ways to go. The lift looked strong and secure, but the double twist looked like work. Their throw salchow looks about one-third of the size of Marissa & Simon's, but maybe some of that is because they're new. It'll be interesting to see if they can eventually build towards a more difficult throw in the SP, since salchows are what Marissa & Simon always did, and I used to wonder if it was mainly because of his height or something else.
Summer events are low-key and just to get your feet wet, but Purich must have had a chuckle over beating her former partner Tran by a couple hairs. It's nice that both of them were able to find someone to skate with for this season.
interesting point that goes beyond what you write here. I don't know what marissa's ultimate goal is, and, for many people, and the federations, the olympics is the ultimate goal. This is a four year sport, and popularity and momentum seems to hinge on the olympic results or showing. But for pairs, sometimes maybe we should question that. And mervin and marissa's situation really is the perfect example.
Just how important should it be that a team go to the olympics. Yes, very important, but at the expense of not skating with a decent partner, or being competitive? Perhaps those considerations should deal-break the olympic ambition. Being a great team and being able to go to worlds, and being fantastic on the ice has to be a close second, and (but where you are not going to be on a good team: ) maybe even better than skating in a crappy partnership going nowhere even if you get to go the olympics.
Consider what jsf and narumi did to get a narumi team to the olympics. (i have nothing against either.) one doesn't need a crystal ball to see that the japanese team that narumi is now on is never going to be as good on the ice as the narumi-mervin team. And inbetween, now and the next olympics, there are going to be four years of okay skating, but narumi-ryuichi are never going to be podium except at the japanese national level. Jsf and narumi made the choice that the olympics were more important than continuing the tran partnership. I respect that position, but i also disagree with it because it destroyed what could have been a team that potentially could have been super-great, and much more inspirational nationally and internationally for the discipline (imho).
As well, for marissa in particular, is it worth skating four years in a partnership that causes you to be unhappy just to get to the olympics? (again, a personal choice, but, for me, especially after sochi 2014, i am not so sure that the 2018 olympics are such a fantastic event to gamble everything you have on at the added cost of spending four years in an unfulfilling partnership.)
i know the national federation system is important for funding, and that olympics is the be-all end-all (ie the ultimate) for most teams, but, in cases such as tran and marissa, because of their individual personal experiences, it might be that their particular priorities are shifted to being on the very best skating team (that can still compete internationally, just not at the olympics). To me, it is a breath of fresh air to see two skaters i adore take the road less travelled (but to me more rational) and they can be present enough, even without the olympics, to make it worthwhile.
Let all of us skating fans rejoice.
You took Tanith, and now Mervin too?!
Hey, we gave you Kaitlyn Weaver!
For me, Tran's goal is a matter of greater interest, given that Castelli already is an Olympian with a team medal. As you say, heckuva lot easier for her not to dwell on dreams of 2018.
For both Tran's sake and Castelli's, I hope that their partnership is successful by whatever measures that they together choose for themselves. I agree that for any athlete, the Olympics should not be the only measure of success.
But I (an American who likes Team Canada too) do not rejoice that Tran will not be skating for Canada. And I do not rejoice that once again his path to the Olympics is (at best) extremely uncertain. The Olympics are much more than a competition. They are a life experience that virtually every Olympian (whether a medalist or not) holds dear.
In any case, we're at the beginning of the Olympic cycle. A lot can happen in four years. The IOC could change its policy regarding citizenship. Immigration reform could happen.
There's no point of losing out on the opportunity to skate with a good partner the next several years over the prospect of doing one event. Especially, that even if you do get citizenship your ability to get into that event is not guaranteed.