Mid-Season Report: U.S. Ladies, R.D. Style | Page 10 | Golden Skate

Mid-Season Report: U.S. Ladies, R.D. Style

i don't think so, because technically she is better than the rest accept for rachael. She and rachael both do 3f-3t combinations while the other ladies have no 3-3s. Rachael is also young and not particularly elegant though so carolina is superior in the pcs mark. I'd say a clean carolina is a bigger threat than all the rest, but she also probably has the biggest bomb potential of those ladies, and alissa too. So we'll see what happens

ita ;)
 
Ok so as for Sasha, not that I think she will show up BUT do people REALLY think she's that much better than Alissa or Mirai? Rachael too, although she's a different type of skater, her technical ability is clearly way above Sasha.

I prefer Alissa and Mirai's skating to Sasha's. Plus I like how Alissa and Mirai are nice girls and not divas :agree:
 
I prefer Alissa and Mirai's skating to Sasha's. Plus I like how Alissa and Mirai are nice girls and not divas :agree:

Well...to be honest, I've read evidence to the contrary ;)

But yes, they both have likable public personas.
 
Well...to be honest, I've read evidence to the contrary ;)

But yes, they both have likable public personas.

Somehow your claim that Alissa is a nasty girl does not seem true to me.

But I don't know her so I can't make claims like that about her or anyone else I don't know.
 
Well...to be honest, I've read evidence to the contrary ;)

But yes, they both have likable public personas.

Oh no! About which girl? I know Mirai has a bad temper and was asked to leave the rink one day, I think she lets the teenage angst get to her. I can't imagine anyone would say anything bad about Alissa...she seems like such a down to earth midwestern girl. In Ice Diaries she was so cute because she was so close to her mom and coach while the other girls were rude
 
Somehow your claim that Alissa is a nasty girl does not seem true to me.

But I don't know her so I can't make claims like that about her or anyone else I don't know.

I didn't say she was a "nasty girl". I just said that I've heard stories that indicate that maybe she's not as kind and rosy as some folks make her out to be. But honestly, I think Ice Skating is one of those sports where you'd be hard pressed to find any truly down-to-earth female competitors...
 
I didn't say she was a "nasty girl". I just said that I've heard stories that indicate that maybe she's not as kind and rosy as some folks make her out to be. But honestly, I think Ice Skating is one of those sports where you'd be hard pressed to find any truly down-to-earth female competitors...

You are probably right. If Caroline and Sasha are the norm, then someone like Alissa could look sweet and rosy by just not being a diva. Caroline and Sasha both seem nice deep down though, I think they just love attention

Yuna seems pretty down to earth considering she's way better than everyone. If she wanted to she could be so cocky and no one would blame her but from what I've heard she really just wishes she could be normal.
 
Oh no! About which girl? I know Mirai has a bad temper and was asked to leave the rink one day, I think she lets the teenage angst get to her. I can't imagine anyone would say anything bad about Alissa...she seems like such a down to earth midwestern girl. In Ice Diaries she was so cute because she was so close to her mom and coach while the other girls were rude

I believe Mirai was asked to leave practice because she was not listening to Coach Carroll. Not sure if it had to do with her temper exactly. It feels more like what Mao and Caroline Z have said when they comment about how they like to decide what to practice and how to train - rather than having a coach direct their training.

I believe Mirai used to be like that too. That attitude is not acceptable with a strong coach. I also can't see paying a coach if the skater is going to decide what and when and how to practice various elements.
 
I believe Mirai was asked to leave practice because she was not listening to Coach Carroll. Not sure if it had to do with her temper exactly. It feels more like what Mao and Caroline Z have said when they comment about how they like to decide what to practice and how to train - rather than having a coach direct their training.

I believe Mirai used to be like that too. That attitude is not acceptable with a strong coach. I also can't see paying a coach if the skater is going to decide what and when and how to practice various elements.

ITA and that's why I think it's good Mirai went to Frank. Even though she gets frustrated, she said that's what she wanted in a coach. Caroline and Mao I believe both do little to no off-ice training, which may be part of the problem. If Mao spends all her time do 3As then obviously she won't fix her flip and get her 3-3s back. If Caroline doesn't work on fixing her jumps or getting faster then nothing will change. What's the point of even having a coach if you're just going to coach yourself?
 
ITA and that's why I think it's good Mirai went to Frank. Even though she gets frustrated, she said that's what she wanted in a coach. Caroline and Mao I believe both do little to no off-ice training, which may be part of the problem. If Mao spends all her time do 3As then obviously she won't fix her flip and get her 3-3s back. If Caroline doesn't work on fixing her jumps or getting faster then nothing will change. What's the point of even having a coach if you're just going to coach yourself?

So you have a glorified jacket and water bottle holder at K&C area?
 
So you have a glorified jacket and water bottle holder at K&C area?

:laugh: guess so.

And I just noticed a trend with Alissa which may help determine what's going to happen at nationals and/or the Olympics.
You can pretty much expect her LP to be decent, 1 or 2 falls, 1 or 2 URs, 3 or 4 clean triples. That being said, when the pressure's high, she tends to mess up the short. When she's not under a lot of pressure, the short is great.
Evidence:
Good Shorts:
2009 Nats (she came in 9th the year before and had nothing to lose)
2009 COR (first season of the comp)
2009 SC (she likes SC and knew she probably wouldn't make the final)

Bad shorts:
2009 Worlds
2009 4CC
2007 Worlds

When the pressure is bad, the short has mistakes. So in order to determine if she's overcome her nerves, we just need to see if she makes mistakes in her short at nationals. If she does, she probably can't handle the Olympics, but if she doesn't, it means she probably can and should go if she does a good long :)
 
I didn't say she was a "nasty girl". I just said that I've heard stories that indicate that maybe she's not as kind and rosy as some folks make her out to be. But honestly, I think Ice Skating is one of those sports where you'd be hard pressed to find any truly down-to-earth female competitors...

I've never personally met either young lady but I have worked with professional athletes and as a rule they are high strung, a bit self absorbed and lacking interpersonal skills. Not because they are bad people but because they spend a lot of time hearing how great / awful they are, constantly think about themselves, their goals and quite frankly their parents tend to be in awe of their child. Or extremely hard on said child. They do not live in the real world - they live in a different one. Add that onto average teen girl behavior and you're gonna have drama.
 
Oh no! About which girl? I know Mirai has a bad temper and was asked to leave the rink one day, I think she lets the teenage angst get to her. I can't imagine anyone would say anything bad about Alissa...she seems like such a down to earth midwestern girl. In Ice Diaries she was so cute because she was so close to her mom and coach while the other girls were rude

OT a minute: what's Ice Diaries, and is it something I can catch on Youtube or similar place?

Anyway, the take-home message: no one is a shoo-in, but Rachel has the best chance. I'm not convinced that in this Oly year, the old Alyssa won't reappear at the all-important Nats. Same with Wagner, actually...she did well on the GP, held her own in the GPF but she has a tendency to want things too bad and gets overexcited. I think this could work against her, but if she can hold it together, she has a good shot at the team and maybe even the US title if she can sell herself.

If I had to pick a second skater other than Flatt, maybe Nagasu? She's been steady, improving those URs and who knows? She seems to have a good head as well-more consistent than most of the others. Zhang is another possibility but she has been unable to place higher than 3rd even with strong performances so I think weird stuff has to happen to put her on the team. And of course, dear old Czisny...you know, she could be 1st or 9th...
 
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OT a minute: what's Ice Diaries, and is it something I can catch on Youtube or similar place?

Anyway, the take-home message: no one is a shoo-in, but Rachel has the best chance. I'm not convinced that in this Oly year, the old Alyssa won't reappear at the all-important Nats. Same with Wagner, actually...she did well on the GP, held her own in the GPF but she has a tendency to want things too bad and gets overexcited. I think this could work against her, but if she can hold it together, she has a good shot at the team and maybe even the US title if she can sell herself.

If I had to pick a second skater other than Flatt, maybe Nagasu? She's been steady, improving those URs and who knows? She seems to have a good head as well-more consistent than most of the others. Zhang is another possiibility but she has been unable to place higher than 3rd even with strong performances so I think weird stuff has to happen to put her on the team. And of course, dear old Czisny...you know, she could be 1st or 9th...

Ice Diaries was a show that featured Alissa, Bebe, and two other skaters Sandra Rucker and Danielle Kahle the season before the Olympics. Most of it focused on Alissa because she was having a great season, and I couldn't help but noticed that she seemed like such a nice, normal girl. Her relationship with her mom and coach were great. Also, she doesn't come from a wealthy family and seemed very grateful for all the sacrifices her parents made. I suppose it could have just been a cover, or that she's changed since then, but it was nice to see be it real or not.

If you search Ice Diaries on YouTube some of the episodes should come up. All of them used to be there but now I think only the first 3 episodes? are left.

I would say Mirai too, she doesn't fall and seems to be better at dealing with nerves than the others. In terms of landing jumps she's probably more consistent than Rachael, it's just that her jumps aren't quite as hard and she has trouble with URs. I would love to see her go this year, but she still has time and I think she has the potential to be great in a few years. If you keep in mind that Yuna did not really pass Mao in her abilities until she was 17 or 18, it looks promising for Mirai. She has speed and good technique which other skaters lack, and she has an athletic build with no hips which is also good news for her jumps
 
Yuna seems pretty down to earth considering she's way better than everyone. If she wanted to she could be so cocky and no one would blame her but from what I've heard she really just wishes she could be normal.

Truly. With all the adoration that Yu-na gets I couldn't blame her if she got such a big head that the only person she would talk to is God (and Brian Orser. :) )
 
Truly. With all the adoration that Yu-na gets I couldn't blame her if she got such a big head that the only person she would talk to is God (and Brian Orser. :) )

I know seriously. I mean if being an amazing skater wasn't enough, she's also gorgeous and a good singer and probably smart too (judging by her good english). I thought it was kind of cute when she said in an article that she really just wants to be able to go shopping with her friends and have a boyfriend, like that stuff would mean more than all her skating success. Cutie
 
Gush, gush, gush...;)

the more I think about it, the more I want to replace Wagner with Nagasu...man, I dunno...so many possibilities!
 
Gush, gush, gush...;)

the more I think about it, the more I want to replace Wagner with Nagasu...man, I dunno...so many possibilities!

I agree, Ashley's good but kind of boring. Mirai's awesome. I like how she's tough. I think she has the potential to be world champion one day:biggrin:
 
I went looking for an article, and it took a while to find. Look down to the 6th paragraph and Caroline tells about her off-ice training. The article is from last year, but if she was lifting weights then, I don't see why she would stop.

http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2008/101908.shtml

Huh, that's interesting. Someone posted something on another thread a few days ago about how she doesn't do much off ice because she thinks it's boring. That's good she's trying to work on her speed though. That article is over a year old though, she's grown more since then, I think about another 2 inches (she's 5'4" now right?). Maybe the growth has started to hurt her after all
 
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