Melissa Bulanhagui's latest blog post

[krispy]

http://www.figureskatersonline.com/melissabulanhagui/journal7.htm

- She apologized, hopes to continue skating but most surprisingly she is now single?

 

[Flaya]

Why would she have been chosen to go to Nebelhorn if there was a skater with better scores: Alisson Perticheto.

There seems to be a lot of sour grapes by both of the US born Filipino skaters, her and Christopher Caluza. Why neither of them competed at US Championships? That is the question.

At least, she apologized which is not the case of Caluza. And apparently Caluza moved to "better and bigger things". I look forward to see Martinez and Perticheto at Worlds.

EDIT: I noticed Caluza did... once and he finished 19th.

 

[gravy]

Why would she have been chosen to go to Nebelhorn if there was a skater with better scores: Alisson Perticheto.

There seems to be a lot of sour grapes by both of the US born Filipino skaters, her and Christopher Caluza. Why neither of them competed at US Championships? That is the question.

At least, she apologized which is not the case of Caluza. And apparently Caluza moved to "better and bigger things". I look forward to see Martinez and Perticheto at Worlds.

EDIT: I noticed Caluza did... once and he finished 19th.

Perticheto's PB was no where near Bulanhagui's PB (higher by about 20 points) which she actually set at the Asian Trophy before Nebelhorn. She consistently outscored her before as well. Point is, Bulanhagui would have gotten the spot for the Philippines but the federation really did make a silly mistake sending Perticheto instead.

That being said, Bulanhagui's behavior afterward was simply atrocious. Entertaining to read about definitely, but very nasty.

 

[krispy]

Why would she have been chosen to go to Nebelhorn if there was a skater with better scores: Alisson Perticheto.

There seems to be a lot of sour grapes by both of the US born Filipino skaters, her and Christopher Caluza. Why neither of them competed at US Championships? That is the question.

At least, she apologized which is not the case of Caluza. And apparently Caluza moved to "better and bigger things". I look forward to see Martinez and Perticheto at Worlds.

EDIT: I noticed Caluza did... once and he finished 19th.

Melissa was a US figure skater before she switched. Had a top 6 finish at the US nationals I believe.

At least she has made an effort in building back bridges she burned.

 

[karne]

Point is, Bulanhagui would have gotten the spot for the Philippines but the federation really did make a silly mistake sending Perticheto instead..

You can't say that with certainty.

 

[Flaya]

You are right krispy. I just checked the wikipedia article about her.

And gravy, thank you for correcting me. I believe Perticheto was likely sent because she ended up first in the National Championships. Also, she is much younger and maybe the federation thought she is the future of skating in their country.

I noticed Bulanhagui does not have the TES to compete at Worlds, so it's not surprising Perticheto is sent again.

 

[iluvtodd]

I had known that Melissa had been engaged, but I didn't know for sure if she had actually gotten married or not.

Re: her best finish @ US Nationals, I'm not exactly sure, but she did finish in the top ten (Greensboro 2011?).

I miss her exuberance on the ice (we saw her a number of times @ the University of Delaware), and I hope she will always love skating (despite her disappointments of the last few seasons). I was stunned by her comments over last season, but it sounds like she is trying to mend fences.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

http://www.figureskatersonline.com/melissabulanhagui/journal7.htm

- She apologized, hopes to continue skating but most surprisingly she is now single?

Never mind the rest of the blog post - THIS is THE most important part of what she says!!!

Gorgeous figure skater is now available!!!

I had known that Melissa had been engaged, but I didn't know for sure if she had actually gotten married or not.

I was always under the impression that Melissa and her now ex were married. But that is purely because her ISU Bio says so:

She got married to Nicholas Baroco in August 2012.

Put it like this, I would hope that the ISU would check that these snippits of extra info they provide are accurate before they publish them.

Hope this clarifies things

All the best to Melissa for the future (both on and off ice!)

CaroLiza_fan

 

[noskates]

Guess I've been living under a rock - I've never even heard of this person.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Guess I've been living under a rock - I've never even heard of this person.

Oh, you missed one of the major talking points from last season then! Have a look at this thread:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?42260

I had some hard work trying to stand up for her!

By the way, while searching for the link for that thread, I found the following thread about Melissa:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?34959

Although the Fan Fest forum didn't exist back then, this latter thread has "Fan Fest" written all over it! For goodness sake, even her manager was posting in it!

So, is there any chance that it could be retrived from the archives and moved to the Fan Fest forum...?

CaroLiza_fan

 

[dorispulaski]

I copied it over to Fan fests and bumped it up.

 

[R.D.]

Never mind the rest of the blog post - THIS is THE most important part of what she says!!!

Gorgeous figure skater is now available!!!

 

[el henry]

Oh, you missed one of the major talking points from last season then! Have a look at this thread:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?42260

I had some hard work trying to stand up for her!

By the way, while searching for the link for that thread, I found the following thread about Melissa:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?34959

Although the Fan Fest forum didn't exist back then, this latter thread has "Fan Fest" written all over it! For goodness sake, even her manager was posting in it!

So, is there any chance that it could be retrived from the archives and moved to the Fan Fest forum...?

CaroLiza_fan

I had no idea who she was either; quite an entertaining thread. Thx for pulling them up.

 

[Buttercup]

Oh, you missed one of the major talking points from last season then! Have a look at this thread:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?42260

I had some hard work trying to stand up for her!

By the way, while searching for the link for that thread, I found the following thread about Melissa:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?34959

I don't think that her behavior around the time of the 2013 Nebelhorn was defensible. But I appreciate that she has come to recognize that she was wrong, and has taken steps to address that and get her career back on track. Good for her, and I hope this new approach will serve her well.

 

[Flaya]

Oh, you missed one of the major talking points from last season then! Have a look at this thread:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?42260

What a mess!

It is unclear from that thread who had higher scores that season, but it is not as if the choice of Petricheto was strange or unusual.

This year at Four Continents, Bulanhagui was 15th and Petricheto 16th.

Now, Petricheto is going to Worlds because Bulanhagui is below the TES requirements for Worlds... 26.36 and 46.35 (27 and 47 are needed). But what I noticed is that Petricheto's best TES results are from 2013 (27.06 and 48.07), therefore will not count next season. Maybe Bulanhagui is apologizing because she feels like she could meet the TES requirements next season to qualify for Worlds (and thinks Petricheto will not meet them).

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

What a mess!

It is unclear from that thread who had higher scores that season, but it is not as if the choice of Petricheto was strange or unusual.

This year at Four Continents, Bulanhagui was 15th and Petricheto 16th.

Now, Petricheto is going to Worlds because Bulanhagui is below the TES requirements for Worlds... 26.36 and 46.35 (27 and 47 are needed). But what I noticed is that Petricheto's best TES results are from 2013 (27.06 and 48.07), therefore will not count next season. Maybe Bulanhagui is apologizing because she feels like she could meet the TES requirements next season to qualify for Worlds (and thinks Petricheto will not meet them).

Bulanhagui always had higher scores than Perticheto.

Here is the ISU World Standings as they were when they were archived the Saturday before the 2013 Nebelhorn:

http://web.archive.org/web/20130921235438/http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsladies.htm

Melissa was in 104th place with 359 points, while Alisson was in 122nd place with 247 points.

When you look at their ISU Bios (archived on the Tuesday before the Nebelhorn), Melissa was well ahead of Alisson in all PB's.

Which is why we all found it so hard to understand why Alisson was sent to the final Olympic Qualifying event (the Nebelhorn) and Melissa wasn't. And why Melissa was so annoyed.

When something like this happens, it is obvious that there are internal politics at the Federation at play.

Although Melissa could have handled the situation a lot better, I don't blame her one bit for being seriously aggrieved. And I still think the reaction of her Federation (to give her a year ban) was way over the top.

But that is all in the past now. Melissa served her ban, and made her international comeback at this year's Four Continents, in a field that also included Alisson.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/fc2015/

And I took great pleasure in the fact that, even though you could clearly see that she was rusty, Melissa still managed to beat Alisson in every segment!

Melissa had a point to prove, and boys did she do it!

So, I think you are spot on with your theory, Flaya.

Hopefully this new start for Melissa will prove fruitful, and help to mend fences with her Federation.

All the best Melissa!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Buttercup]

Which is why we all found it so hard to understand why Alisson was sent to the final Olympic Qualifying event (the Nebelhorn) and Melissa wasn't. And why Melissa was so annoyed.

"We all?" Many people did not find it difficult to understand at all.

Only some scores count as PBs for official purposes, and if you consider senior Bs, Perticheto's top scores were comparable with Bulanhagui's. In addition, she had been better in the pre-Olympic season - you can compare their scores from respective ISU championships (Bulanhagui bombed at 4CC, Perticheto had a so-so but better JW) and senior Bs (I believe that Bulanhagui's best was the Volvo Open, Perticheto's the Gardena Spring Trophy). I can understand the federation looking at two skaters with similar results and seeing Perticheto as a better bet and more of an investment in the future, similar to Martinez vs. Caluza. The only real issue is that they were not clear and transparent about their criteria.

No matter what the decision was, Bulanhagui was out of line, and her federation cannot be faulted for treating her accordingly. I am glad for her sake that she has been able to acknowledge her mistakes, make amends and move forward, and suggest that this thread focus on that positive rather than on rehashing old negativity or putting down Perticheto. If Melissa can act with respect and dignity, surely you can too.

 

[R.D.]

Seemed pretty close between the two of them to me...

If I had to give an edge to one of them it might be Bulanhagui but it really was a toss up. Who was more consistent?

Still, you gotta have at least SOME transparency in your selection process. USFS learned the hard way last year too.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

"We all?" Many people did not find it difficult to understand at all.

Only some scores count as PBs for official purposes, and if you consider senior Bs, Perticheto's top scores were comparable with Bulanhagui's. In addition, she had been better in the pre-Olympic season - you can compare their scores from respective ISU championships (Bulanhagui bombed at 4CC, Perticheto had a so-so but better JW) and senior Bs (I believe that Bulanhagui's best was the Volvo Open, Perticheto's the Gardena Spring Trophy). I can understand the federation looking at two skaters with similar results and seeing Perticheto as a better bet and more of an investment in the future, similar to Martinez vs. Caluza. The only real issue is that they were not clear and transparent about their criteria.

No matter what the decision was, Bulanhagui was out of line, and her federation cannot be faulted for treating her accordingly. I am glad for her sake that she has been able to acknowledge her mistakes, make amends and move forward, and suggest that this thread focus on that positive rather than on rehashing old negativity or putting down Perticheto. If Melissa can act with respect and dignity, surely you can too.

I take your points. But, I was just telling the story as I saw it, for the benefit of those that did not know the story.

I do not dispute that Melissa could have handled the situation a lot better. Hey, I even said so in my earlier post today. What I dispute is the reaction of the Filipino Federation.

Admittedly, I didn't say it today, but at the time, I thought that a more appropriate punishment would have been a fine. At the end of the day, this was an off-ice offense, so it shouldn't have had an on-ice punishment.

And I should add, I do like Alisson. She is a very promising young skater who is definitely the future of Filipino skating. But, going by what is happening on the ice, Melissa is still the top ladies skater in the Philippines. So, it is not fair that Melissa keeps getting put down by the Filipino Federation.

Even though Alisson plays no part in the decision making, the way the Filipino Federation continue to be favouring her nevertheless reflects badly on her. And that is not fair either.

The national Federation should be doing what is best for the skaters they represent. That is sending the best skaters to the big events, and nurturing the future talent. But the actions of the Filipino Federation is harming both the present (Melissa) and the future (Alisson).

My gripe is not with Alisson. It is with the Filipino Federation.

But, as I said in my post today, it is all in the past now. And hopefully both Melissa and Alisson can move forward and have a proper fight over the slots in the years to come, rather than having it decided by bureaucrats.

Sorry if the way I put things offended you. Although I try not to be, I can sometimes come over very defensive of the skaters I like.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[SkateToronto]

"We all?" Many people did not find it difficult to understand at all.

Only some scores count as PBs for official purposes, and if you consider senior Bs, Perticheto's top scores were comparable with Bulanhagui's. In addition, she had been better in the pre-Olympic season - you can compare their scores from respective ISU championships (Bulanhagui bombed at 4CC, Perticheto had a so-so but better JW) and senior Bs (I believe that Bulanhagui's best was the Volvo Open, Perticheto's the Gardena Spring Trophy). I can understand the federation looking at two skaters with similar results and seeing Perticheto as a better bet and more of an investment in the future, similar to Martinez vs. Caluza. The only real issue is that they were not clear and transparent about their criteria.

No matter what the decision was, Bulanhagui was out of line, and her federation cannot be faulted for treating her accordingly. I am glad for her sake that she has been able to acknowledge her mistakes, make amends and move forward, and suggest that this thread focus on that positive rather than on rehashing old negativity or putting down Perticheto. If Melissa can act with respect and dignity, surely you can too.

I agree with you completely.