Michelle - Good News/Bad News

[hrmsk8ngnutt]

New article on USFSA

http://www.usfsa.org/event_story.asp?id=31571

Good news - Michelle has been cleared to start training again

Bad news - Michelle has withdrawn from Cup of China

Therefore, no preview of her programs before Nationals and no test with the new scoring system

Herm (sk8ngnutt)

 

[nymkfan51]

She's making a wise decision IMO. Not much good COP experience would do her if she injures herself worse than she is now and can't go to Nationals or the Olympics.

Get well Michelle and come out smokin in January!!!

 

[Frau Muller]

I wouldn't be surprised if we end up seeing neither Michelle nor Sasha between now & Nationals. Not only do the two ladies have to heal their respective injuries but it's also smart competitive sense to keep revised programs & costumes hush-hush.

 

[CDMM1991]

Does anyone think that Michelle would do Four Continents just for the CoP experience?

 

[mzheng]

but it's also smart competitive sense to keep revised programs & costumes hush-hush.

But, but I believe each kept a close tab on other. There are quite a few ppl skated at both rinks. Pluss their parents....which created endless rinkside gossips.

 

[attyfan]

Does anyone think that Michelle would do Four Continents just for the CoP experience?

She certainly might -- and IMO, should -- do it. The event is in Colorado, and will end about a month before the ladies SP in Torino. Since there have been ratings problems with the 4CCs, maybe doing it will also help politically. However, I believe that the 4CCs team isn't picked until after Nats -- and that might be a factor. (For example, if Kimmie, Alissa and Bebe are extremely close, the USFSA might use the 4CCs as a skate off for the third spot). Certainly, it means we won't know in advance.

 

[mzheng]

Does anyone think that Michelle would do Four Continents just for the CoP experience?

Given the 4CC is so close to Olympics, and her training/competetion schema/pacing recent years, I doubt it. There are certainly pros and cons do it or not.

 

[Mathman]

I'm not exactly sure why keeping your costume secret would give you a competitive advantage -- or your program either, for that matter. If I were Michelle or Sasha I would be parading around in my costume as much as possible, looking so pretty that the other skaters would just give up in despair, as witness the picture accompanying the USFS article.

http://www.usfsa.org/content/events/200405/worlds/action/kwan-sp1.jpg

Anyway, I think there is a better chance that Michelle will show up at the Marshalls Invitational in December than at Four Continents. The timing is right, and she could ease into the program with at least one practice run before Nationals.

Mathman

 

[Frau Muller]

Whic of the two contests -- Marshall's Cheesefest or Four CCs -- has a bigger pay-off purse? Cheesefest? Then we may yet see our gals there.

Now Irina will have to dream-up a way to keep her 'play' under wraps until Russian Natls or maybe until Euros..

 

[yelyoh]

Is the Dec cheesefest going to be using CoP? If not, for MK, the only value doing it would be to get the LP in front of an audience. Having to debut two programs at Nationals six weeks prior to the Olys is not good. She should do 4 Continents to get some feedback on her programs from international judges. Michelle has very limited experience with these judges under Cop. I think she needs all she can get. I wonder if Sasha will get to do any GP? If not, at least she has some experience skating under it and has fared fairly well with the judges.

 

[attyfan]

The December cheesefest will be CoP. Furthermore, I don't think that Michelle is any worse off than Sasha was last season. After all, Sasha skipped the GP, also, but was able to skate well at Worlds. IMO, the difference between Sasha and Michelle was not so much prior experience under the CoP, but Sasha did pretty much her same CoP friendly program thoughout the cheesefests and Nats -- so when she skated at Worlds, she was ready, whereas Kwan kept re-choreographing hers.

 

[Jhar55]

Does anyone know what Michelle's music is this year? I haen't heard.

 

[R.D.]

Bad news - Michelle has withdrawn from Cup of China

I fully expected to hear this. I think if she really wanted to go she would have said so, instead of being so wishy-washy about it.

 

[gezando]

Not sure why people describe anything as wishy washy from reading the article. :disagree:

It is announced that she is dropping out of COC, so what is wishy washy about that?? Even though most athletes know their bodies well, they are not orthopedic / sports medicine specialists. Even with expert sport medicine specialists, they can't exactly pin down the time when an athlete can fully recover to go all the way w/o risking injury again.

 

[R.D.]

Not sure why people describe anything as wishy washy from reading the article. :disagree:

It is announced that she is dropping out of COC, so what is wishy washy about that??

I'm talking about wanting to do the competition. There was word from camp Kwan that there was an "outside chance" and then later on it got "reduced" some more. Now if camp Kwan had a good feeling she wasn't going to go, they could have said "it's not likely" or "it's not possible". But I feel that the fans get taken for a ride. Unless the team either didn't know or didn't decide until the last minute. But it's their call.

 

[Tonichelle]

Therefore, no preview of her programs before Nationals and no test with the new scoring system

Herm (sk8ngnutt)

I thought nationals was going to use the CoP this coming nationals:scratch: ? if so it'll just be no test to see how it stands up internationally

 

[Lucy25]

I fully expected to hear this. I think if she really wanted to go she would have said so, instead of being so wishy-washy about it.

If you go back and read the articles when she dropped out of SA, you will read that she did hope to go to CoC. Nothing wishy washy about it. I think you read into things what you want to hear.

 

[Lucy25]

I'm not exactly sure why keeping your costume secret would give you a competitive advantage -- or your program either, for that matter. If I were Michelle or Sasha I would be parading around in my costume as much as possible, looking so pretty that the other skaters would just give up in despair, as witness the picture accompanying the USFS article.

http://www.usfsa.org/content/events/200405/worlds/action/kwan-sp1.jpg

Anyway, I think there is a better chance that Michelle will show up at the Marshalls Invitational in December than at Four Continents. The timing is right, and she could ease into the program with at least one practice run before Nationals.

Mathman

Thanks so much for posting that picture! She looks so happy in that shot.

 

[R.D.]

I think you read into things what you want to hear.

No, it's just a trend I've noticed with the Kwan team- you never know until the last minute. If it was different this time, so be it. But I just get the impression that I'm led on to think one thing until I am "let down" by the "bad news". In other words, if it seemed obvious that Kwan couldn't go to CoC the team could have said that earlier, or made it seem unlikely that she was going to be there. If it wasn't, though, this is a moot point and we don't need to discuss it further.

If something has 10-20% chance of happening, do you say it's very unlikely that it'll happen, or do you lead people on with that glimmering (but very slim) chance? This is not really related to the topic but just a point.

 

[gezando]

I'm talking about wanting to do the competition.

How do you know what she wants

There was word from camp Kwan that there was an "outside chance" and then later on it got "reduced" some more.

Camp Kwan means Dr. Leisure Yu. He is the only expert who can predict chances. Off topic, many medical students are turned off by sports medicine b/c that is a specialty where they are constantly under the pressure to predict when oh when, and they are constantly under the pressure to prematurely give the OK for athletes to resume training and competition

Now if camp Kwan had a good feeling she wasn't going to go, they could have said "it's not likely" or "it's not possible". But I feel that the fans get taken for a ride. Unless the team either didn't know or didn't decide until the last minute. But it's their call.

I totally disagree that fans are taken for a ride. But if you have any question about whether the message should be "its not likely", or "its not possible" you know where to find L. Yu MD