Miscellaneous Nationals Tangents

[JonnyCoop]

Just a few random thoughts that don't seem to pop up on other threads:

Was I the only one a bit annoyed by the fact that they showed a lot of the spins in the Mens and Ladies free skates (and probably in the short programs, too) from above using that "skycam" thing or whatever they were touting it as last year? IMO it just ruined the whole effect of the spin and you just couldn't see it as well. And what is the point of watching the Nationals on TV if the camera angle is going to make you feel like you're sitting up in the rafters in the cheap seats? ("cheap" a relative term to be sure, given ticket prices). Tho at least they didn't use that camera as much as they did last year, when it almost made me seasick a few times.

I found Witt's comment regarding Michelle going to Torino rather interesting. "If she goes, she should go to go for gold, not just to GO and take a spot from a young lady who may never get another shot at going" [approximate, tho unlikely completely verbatim, quote]. Hmmm. Interesting. Did Ms. Witt honestly think that she had a legitimate shot at a 3rd gold when she decided to go to Lillehammer in '94? As it turned out, the skater she beat out for the spot on the German team was Marina Kielmann, who had already gone, but given the selection process by the German federation, she could have just as easily beaten out Tanja Swesczenko, who'd never gone, and ended up pulling out of Nagano before the competition, 4 years later.

I'm probably going to catch a bit of hell for this one, but -- re. Rohene Ward. I'm not saying it wasn't a nice thing for State Farm to do. I'm also not saying it wasn't a touching moment. But, to me, the whole "reunion with mother backstage" thing rather reminded me of those talk show moments when the host trundles out someone's long lost brother they haven't seen in 10 years or something. Rather a bit of exploitation to manufacture some drama. And quite honestly, if I'd skated the way he did and THEN found out my mother had seen the whole thing in person into the bargain, I'd probably end up feeling even worse, especially if my mother had never seen me skate at Nats before. As for Mr. Ward himself -- I've heard lots of great things about him, mostly on this board, but in other places as well, but it was the first time I'd seen him and I wish he'd had a better night so I could have gotten more of a feeling of what he's capable of. But these nights happen to almost everyone; it's just too bad it had to happen for him when it did.

And lastly, a FUN FACT: As far as the Men's team is concerned, this is going to be the first Olympics since 1976 that we're gonna send 3 guys who have never been to an Olys before.

 

[alicelouise]

random thoughts

I also was impressed by Rohene Ward. He reminds me of Rudy Galindo. This should give Mr. Ward hope. Galindo had been a talented but inconsistent skater.
In 1996 he pulled himself together to have an incredible National Championships and World Championships.

So, I'm not the only person that thinks Emily Hughes looks more like IS than her older sister. Here's hoping she can have a similar career

Re: Michelle Kwan. I really, really, really want her to do well. However, if past history is an indication, it doesn't look promising. Kurt Browning and Todd Eldredge went in 1992. They had medical byes and had disappointing results. They didn't even have the joy of participation. The only thing that gives me hope is what happened in 1998. Lu Chen had all but been written off because of injuries, poor results and conflicts with her federation. Since no one expected anything of her in Nagano, she had a personal best skate and won a bronze.:thumbsup:

 

[attyfan]

Michelle Kwan

Well, Todd E had a medical bye, but (I heard) no monitoring or test skates -- did poorly. Nancy K also had a medical bye, was heavily monitored -- did well.

What is really interesting, though, is that Emily, also like Michelle, came in 6th at her Nats debut, medaled at Jr Worlds, got her first Nat medal in an Oly year, which normally would have qualified her for Olys, but didn't get to go because the reigning Oly bronze medalist, then-reigning Nat champ and then- reigning World medalist, who went to Worlds the year before the Olys and had the worst skate of her life, needed a medical bye.

 

[Rgirl]

Thoughts on Jump Consistency

While under the circumstances, ie, getting over the flu and no Michelle, I think the strategy Sasha used was the right one. That is, skate conservatively and try to avoid any major mistakes, which she did. I'll be curious to see the detailed judges' score sheets to see if they counted certain two-foot landings that I couldn't see even after watching my tape a number of times on s-l-o-w motion. Whatever the case, Sasha obviously stepped out of her 3toe and the 3sal (I think) that were supposed to be a sequence about midway in her LP.

My point is that it looked to me as if Sasha was not skating to win, but rather skating to not lose. Like I said, under the circumstances I think it was the right strategy because her goal was to not lose to any of the up-and-comers, which would have been quite embarrassing for Sasha. We'll never know, but I think if a healthy Michelle had been there, Sasha would have been more aggressive. It would have been more of a fight to win rather than an "avoid mistakes and not lose" kind of competition.

I think this same kind of pressure and mentality are what caused Michelle and Irina's '02 Olympic programs to be tight and in Michelle's case, contain a costly mistake. Sarah, OTOH, having nothing to lose, went out and by her own description skated like she'd never skated before. Even Sasha was took more chances and was more aggressive in her LP in SLC. But as Sasha has said in her interviews, her goal was to prove that she belonged at that level, which she did.

The other thing I wondered about in considering the fluff piece in which the whole focus and visuals were on Sasha falling, falling, falling, which hasn't been the way she's been skating over the last two years. It made me wonder if the media, in search of a story, haven't played a part in creating or at least exacerbating Sasha's focus problems. If you tell someone over and over, "Don't fall, don't fall" you can be sure she will fall.

In retrospect, I wish Sasha had consulted a sports psychologist in improving her concentration, especially for her jumps. They're not panaceas and don't have any magic formulas to fix specific problems, but I think it would have been worth a try. I also think Sasha was more unhappy with Tarasova and Robin Wagner than she let on in her interviews and that affected her consistency from the '02/03 season through '03/04 season.

Actually it wasn't until the '98 Olympics when Michelle and Tara skated that mistake-free programs became expected of the top skaters, even though in '02 that didn't happen except for Sarah, unless you get picky and look for under-rotated 3/3s. Prior to that, in '92 all the medalists made significan't mistakes or had falls. In '94 the only mistake Nancy Kerrigan made was doubling a 3flip; however, she also skated slow and cautiously in her LP. While Oksana had at least one two-foot landing, she skated with the exuberance Nancy lacked. As we know, that outcome was as close as they could get under the 6.0 system and IMO an argument could be made for either Nancy or Oksana to have won.

Anyway, it's been interesting to see the effect Michelle's almost perfect jump record at USNs and Worlds has had on the expectations on top ladies skaters; also, the high presentation marks she's received. Michelle's consistency was/is something that had never been seen before, especially in the era of six and seven triple jump LPs. So far it looks as if Mao Asada will also be able to achieve that kind of jump consistency, especially if her body doesn't change too much.

One thing I think skaters, coaches, and the media overlook is that skills are specific. That is, just because a skater has great spins, great spirals, and other great skills doesn't have anything to do with her jump skills. One skill has nothing to do with another, as we've seen with Alissa Czisny. I hope Alissa can concentrate on fixing her jump technique without it getting to her mentally.

Still, I congratulate Sasha on having a good strategy under the circumstances.

And those are the longwinded thoughts that have been on my mind after a good nights sleep.

Rgirl

 

[rain]

The other thing I wondered about in considering the fluff piece in which the whole focus and visuals were on Sasha falling, falling, falling, which hasn't been the way she's been skating over the last two years. It made me wonder if the media, in search of a story, haven't played a part in creating or at least exacerbating Sasha's focus problems. If you tell someone over and over, "Don't fall, don't fall" you can be sure she will fall.

In retrospect, I wish Sasha had consulted a sports psychologist in improving her concentration, especially for her jumps. They're not panaceas and don't have any magic formulas to fix specific problems, but I think it would have been worth a try. I also think Sasha was more unhappy with Tarasova and Robin Wagner than she let on in her interviews and that affected her consistency from the '02/03 season through '03/04 season.

Actually it wasn't until the '98 Olympics when Michelle and Tara skated that mistake-free programs became expected of the top skaters, even though in '02 that didn't happen except for Sarah, unless you get picky and look for under-rotated 3/3s. Prior to that, in '92 all the medalists made significan't mistakes or had falls. In '94 the only mistake Nancy Kerrigan made was doubling a 3flip; however, she also skated slow and cautiously in her LP. While Oksana had at least one two-foot landing, she skated with the exuberance Nancy lacked. As we know, that outcome was as close as they could get under the 6.0 system and IMO an argument could be made for either Nancy or Oksana to have won.

Anyway, it's been interesting to see the effect Michelle's almost perfect jump record at USNs and Worlds has had on the expectations on top ladies skaters; also, the high presentation marks she's received. Michelle's consistency was/is something that had never been seen before, especially in the era of six and seven triple jump LPs. So far it looks as if Mao Asada will also be able to achieve that kind of jump consistency, especially if her body doesn't change too much.
Rgirl

So many interesting observations with which I agree, so little time, lol. I tend to think (and yes, I am a fan of Sasha's skating) that her inconsistency (fall, fall, fall) is overexaggerated somewhat. She is actually very consistently in the top tier of skaters, if not on the podium, of events she enters. No, she hasn't had that many totally clean competitions, but I think the era of Michelle Kwan has kinda lulled people. Before her, it was rare to see such completely clean skates - and to see them over and over and over again is the oddity, not Cohen's lack of same. To judge all skaters by the Kwan constistency standard is very unfair, IMO, and not terribly realistic. Other skaters who helped to set a new standard of clean programs were Elvis Stojko - and you can still see the kind of effect in Canadian mens skating as you do in American ladies - and Plushenko. Even Yagudin was more prone to - while having brilliant skates - making small errors in them.

I just think of somebody like Kurt Browning - one of my all-time favorite skaters. He was the pre-Elvis Canadian skating champ and four-time world champion, and it wasn't at all rare to see him make a mistake or two in any given competition. It was a joy to watch him, but you certainly didn't watch with the near-certainty that he wouldn't fall or bobble a jump here or there.

As for Cohen when she skated with Tarasova - yeah, I never thought she looked that happy there. That's one thing I really noticed about her at the boards during the American championships - she looked really, genuinely at ease and happy with Nicks. That can make a huge difference with any skater.

 

[Dee4707]

The other thing I wondered about in considering the fluff piece in which the whole focus and visuals were on Sasha falling, falling, falling, which hasn't been the way she's been skating over the last two years. It made me wonder if the media, in search of a story, haven't played a part in creating or at least exacerbating Sasha's focus problems. If you tell someone over and over, "Don't fall, don't fall" you can be sure she will fall.
Rgirl

Rgirl, I think that is so true. Even on this board all we hear is that Sasha hasn't done a clean program. Well she has, but how many times has she been praised for that on this board?? Sometimes I have to believe that there is such a love hate relationship for Sasha and that when she has missed a jump or two then it's the jump or two that is commented on not the whole program. I think people like her much more than they even know othewise why would it be such a big deal. I have always wondered why Sasha is the only skater that is so nit picked on and my answer is that she disappoints those who don't want to think she's in a league of her own.

Dee

 

[dancindiva03]

Rgirl, I think that is so true. Even on this board all we hear is that Sasha hasn't done a clean program. Well she has, but how many times has she been praised for that on this board?? Sometimes I have to believe that there is such a love hate relationship for Sasha and that when she has missed a jump or two then it's the jump or two that is commented on not the whole program. I think people like her much more than they even know othewise why would it be such a big deal. I have always wondered why Sasha is the only skater that is so nit picked on and my answer is that she disappoints those who don't want to think she's in a league of her own.

Dee

But, just how many truly clean programs has Cohen done? Even when she doesn't crash and burn, she still has two-foot landings, turnouts, etc. The reason she is nit-picked on, at least by me, is that the hype that she and her camp spew is ridiculous, and she never lives up to what she and her coach say she is going to do. Also, the insistence of the uber-fans that she is just unbeatable, that she is exquisite, that she has picture-perfect technique is so irritating that sometimes, they need to be shown that she is not as amazing as they think she is.

 

[Dee4707]

Also, the insistence of the uber-fans that she is just unbeatable,

I don't think I've heard on this board that Sasha is unbeatable, nor is any other lady/male skater in my opinion.

that she is exquisite, that she has picture-perfect technique is so irritating that sometimes, they need to be shown that she is not as amazing as they think she is.

Why do they need to be shown anything. I think is just causes friction and then everything is blown out of proportion. It's like telling a mother that her child is not all that cute.

Dee

 

[Alsace]

Was I the only one a bit annoyed by the fact that they showed a lot of the spins in the Mens and Ladies free skates (and probably in the short programs, too) from above using that "skycam" thing or whatever they were touting it as last year? IMO it just ruined the whole effect of the spin and you just couldn't see it as well.

I felt the worst part about the Skycam was when they moved it during the spin, because then you couldn't tell whether the spin travelled or was centered. If they held it still over the spinning skater, I didn't mind.

 

[JonnyCoop]

The other thing I wondered about in considering the fluff piece in which the whole focus and visuals were on Sasha falling, falling, falling, which hasn't been the way she's been skating over the last two years. It made me wonder if the media, in search of a story, haven't played a part in creating or at least exacerbating Sasha's focus problems. If you tell someone over and over, "Don't fall, don't fall" you can be sure she will fall.

Rgirl

ITA. While to my recollection Sasha has never skated a clean LONG program (tho a lot of clean shorts), a large percentage of her errors have not been all-out sprawls on her butt from missing a jump, but just airheaded glitches like catching a toepick improperly and taking a small trip, or losing an edge during footwork for a second or two; yet to listen to the way she is often portrayed one would wonder how she ever lands enough jumps to even make the top 10 at Nationals, much less get on the Worlds podium.

It is interesting to contrast the perception of Sasha vs. the perception of Bereznaja and Sikharulidze. The first few years they were together (97-'00 mainly), even beyond their 97 Worlds disaster, they did not skate ONE long program at a Euros, Worlds, or Olys that did not have at least ONE big error in it (usually it was her falling on a throw jump, but there were others), and YET, during the years when this was pretty much a given, and it happened at one competition, I remember Dick Button saying something along the line of "It is just so ASTOUNDING when they make an error because they are usually so perfect." [??????????????] How come they never got any kind of reputation for that kind of thing, and Sasha has?

 

[Piel]

ITA. While to my recollection Sasha has never skated a clean LONG program (tho a lot of clean shorts), a large percentage of her errors have not been all-out sprawls on her butt from missing a jump, but just airheaded glitches like catching a toepick improperly and taking a small trip, or losing an edge during footwork for a second or two; yet to listen to the way she is often portrayed one would wonder how she ever lands enough jumps to even make the top 10 at Nationals, much less get on the Worlds podium.

It is interesting to contrast the perception of Sasha vs. the perception of Bereznaja and Sikharulidze. The first few years they were together (97-'00 mainly), even beyond their 97 Worlds disaster, they did not skate ONE long program at a Euros, Worlds, or Olys that did not have at least ONE big error in it (usually it was her falling on a throw jump, but there were others), and YET, during the years when this was pretty much a given, and it happened at one competition, I remember Dick Button saying something along the line of "It is just so ASTOUNDING when they make an error because they are usually so perfect." [??????????????] How come they never got any kind of reputation for that kind of thing, and Sasha has?

I think everyone felt really bad for Elena beause of her accident and the history with her previous partner. It was such a miracle that she was able to skate again.

 

[Lanie]

I think because Sasha has such potential they nit-pick so much--but the thing is, we've all been spoiled by Michelle Kwan's skating where she hardly makes an error! Sasha making mistakes is no big deal to me. Everyone does it. We've got to realize that, IMO, no one will be as consistent as Michelle. Her clean programs back-to-back-to-back have spoiled us all. It's very very rare that skaters ever do that. So making glitches is no big deal. Sasha falls. So what? Kristi Yamaguchi fell in her Olympic LP and still won. Now we'd NEVER consider giving the Oly gold to someone who fell! It's not just two-footing a jump...it's the whole package and I think fans and commentators alike forget this and harp and harp and harp on Sasha. They act like she can NEVER make it in the world scene by the way they rant and rave; and she's got two silver medals from Worlds, a bunch of silvers fromNats and finally a gold! So it's not like she's this awful skater they act like she is.

I don't see any hype from Sasha or her coach. What I see is peple just don't like Sasha and make that their excuse--that she's hyped (I'll admit USFSA has hyped the poor thing before...look at what that did to Alissa!). Who cares, you don't like Sasha, whatever; coming into threads that are trying to talk positively/discuss positively about a skater and putting said skater down just isn't cool. I think if Sasha does skate cleanly with no airheaded glitches she is unbeatable; IMO that's not hype. As it is she isn't but if she does pull it together like Michelle does -- she is unbeatable. Especially in this system with her Level 4 spins and spirals. Jumps aren't everything. No one's perfect all the time...not even Irina, or Michelle! Sasha herself is starting to realize that and I think it's putting her in a good place mentally.

 

[Lanie]

I think everyone felt really bad for Elena beause of her accident and the history with her previous partner. It was such a miracle that she was able to skate again.

Elena was...is! one remarkable lady. But I don't think that's fair to the fans...or to Elena and Anton saying stuff like that, like they never make errors when they have. It's sad, they quit when they were really coming into their prime IMO... but that's for another thread.

 

[Piel]

I'm probably going to catch a bit of hell for this one, but -- re. Rohene Ward. I'm not saying it wasn't a nice thing for State Farm to do. I'm also not saying it wasn't a touching moment. But, to me, the whole "reunion with mother backstage" thing rather reminded me of those talk show moments when the host trundles out someone's long lost brother they haven't seen in 10 years or something. Rather a bit of exploitation to manufacture some drama. And quite honestly, if I'd skated the way he did and THEN found out my mother had seen the whole thing in person into the bargain, I'd probably end up feeling even worse, especially if my mother had never seen me skate at Nats before. As for Mr. Ward himself -- I've heard lots of great things about him, mostly on this board, but in other places as well, but it was the first time I'd seen him and I wish he'd had a better night so I could have gotten more of a feeling of what he's capable of. But these nights happen to almost everyone; it's just too bad it had to happen for him when it did.

I thought it was very nice of them and it was a touching moment. BUT, personally I think charity is more sincere when it is anonymous or at least not turned into a spectacle. We have a family that relocated here from New Orleans after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. The group that was sponsoring them had a notice in the paper that they were looking for events and social occasions to be made available to the family for entertainment. We invited them and brought them to a Girl Scout family event last Fall. Some of my girl's parents got really upset because they wanted us to put it on the news and in the newspaper to show how their daughter was such a good citizen for helping the "poor unfortunate flood victims". I thought it was more important just to show them a good time and let them just be people for the evening instead of victims. Some of the parents are still p*****.

Peter could have least given them some privacy. Someone's dignity should always be more important than someone else's entertainment....or T.V. ratings.

 

[show 42]

I know that we all get irrated at the endless "fluff" pieces that interrupt our skating enjoyment.......but I sometimes think it might be to "hook" the non or casual fans. My husband is a tried and true "channel surfer" and can watch three hour long programs at the same time and know the plot or storyline of each. He was "surfing" during Nationals and caught a fluff piece that interested him. (I of course was taping Nationals in the other room.) I think it was the one about the young skater who was battling cancer. He watched the segment, thought it was interesting and then watched a bit of the competition with me..............which is amazing in itself.....:yes: 42

 

[JonnyCoop]

I thought it was very nice of them and it was a touching moment. BUT, personally I think charity is more sincere when it is anonymous or at least not turned into a spectacle. We have a family that relocated here from New Orleans after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. The group that was sponsoring them had a notice in the paper that they were looking for events and social occasions to be made available to the family for entertainment. We invited them and brought them to a Girl Scout family event last Fall. Some of my girl's parents got really upset because they wanted us to put it on the news and in the newspaper to show how their daughter was such a good citizen for helping the "poor unfortunate flood victims". I thought it was more important just to show them a good time and let them just be people for the evening instead of victims. Some of the parents are still p*****.

Peter could have least given them some privacy. Someone's dignity should always be more important than someone else's entertainment....or T.V. ratings.

Piel, thank you so much for verbalizing exactly why this kind of bugged me. You summed it up better than I ever could. {obviously, or I would have done so earlier...]

 

[Quesera]

Peter could have least given them some privacy. Someone's dignity should always be more important than someone else's entertainment....or T.V. ratings.

Yeah, it was a nice little segment until they brought Rohene's mom in and they're hugging, and the camera zooms in on them and you can't see Peter but you can see the microphone that he's sticking in their faces, just in case they say something. It was so utterly intrusive.

On a different note, I can't stand the Sky Cam and thought the camera work in general was annoying. They kept zooming in so that there was no perspective (and, especially on ESPN, no feet!) and one time even changed angles in the middle of a jump. If it keeps going this way, in about ten years they'll show nothing but the skater's heads....

 

[JaeJ]

While under the circumstances, ie, getting over the flu and no Michelle, I think the strategy Sasha used was the right one. That is, skate conservatively and try to avoid any major mistakes, which she did. I'll be curious to see the detailed judges' score sheets to see if they counted certain two-foot landings that I couldn't see even after watching my tape a number of times on s-l-o-w motion. Whatever the case, Sasha obviously stepped out of her 3toe and the 3sal (I think) that were supposed to be a sequence about midway in her LP.

My point is that it looked to me as if Sasha was not skating to win, but rather skating to not lose. Like I said, under the circumstances I think it was the right strategy because her goal was to not lose to any of the up-and-comers, which would have been quite embarrassing for Sasha. We'll never know, but I think if a healthy Michelle had been there, Sasha would have been more aggressive. It would have been more of a fight to win rather than an "avoid mistakes and not lose" kind of competition.

I think this same kind of pressure and mentality are what caused Michelle and Irina's '02 Olympic programs to be tight and in Michelle's case, contain a costly mistake. Sarah, OTOH, having nothing to lose, went out and by her own description skated like she'd never skated before. Even Sasha was took more chances and was more aggressive in her LP in SLC. But as Sasha has said in her interviews, her goal was to prove that she belonged at that level, which she did.

The other thing I wondered about in considering the fluff piece in which the whole focus and visuals were on Sasha falling, falling, falling, which hasn't been the way she's been skating over the last two years. It made me wonder if the media, in search of a story, haven't played a part in creating or at least exacerbating Sasha's focus problems. If you tell someone over and over, "Don't fall, don't fall" you can be sure she will fall.

In retrospect, I wish Sasha had consulted a sports psychologist in improving her concentration, especially for her jumps. They're not panaceas and don't have any magic formulas to fix specific problems, but I think it would have been worth a try. I also think Sasha was more unhappy with Tarasova and Robin Wagner than she let on in her interviews and that affected her consistency from the '02/03 season through '03/04 season.

Actually it wasn't until the '98 Olympics when Michelle and Tara skated that mistake-free programs became expected of the top skaters, even though in '02 that didn't happen except for Sarah, unless you get picky and look for under-rotated 3/3s. Prior to that, in '92 all the medalists made significan't mistakes or had falls. In '94 the only mistake Nancy Kerrigan made was doubling a 3flip; however, she also skated slow and cautiously in her LP. While Oksana had at least one two-foot landing, she skated with the exuberance Nancy lacked. As we know, that outcome was as close as they could get under the 6.0 system and IMO an argument could be made for either Nancy or Oksana to have won.

Anyway, it's been interesting to see the effect Michelle's almost perfect jump record at USNs and Worlds has had on the expectations on top ladies skaters; also, the high presentation marks she's received. Michelle's consistency was/is something that had never been seen before, especially in the era of six and seven triple jump LPs. So far it looks as if Mao Asada will also be able to achieve that kind of jump consistency, especially if her body doesn't change too much.

One thing I think skaters, coaches, and the media overlook is that skills are specific. That is, just because a skater has great spins, great spirals, and other great skills doesn't have anything to do with her jump skills. One skill has nothing to do with another, as we've seen with Alissa Czisny. I hope Alissa can concentrate on fixing her jump technique without it getting to her mentally.

Still, I congratulate Sasha on having a good strategy under the circumstances.

And those are the longwinded thoughts that have been on my mind after a good nights sleep.

Rgirl

Nice analysis! Thank you for this interesting and informative post.

 

[dorispulaski]

I hate the skycam in the arena even more than I hate it on TV at home. I have variable trifocals and when it gets into my peripheral vision, it messes my head up. And it is zipping around everywhere on its little wires, looking like your choice of 1. Darth Vader without his cloak (Doggygirl's description) 2. Number Five Alive

These embarassing fluff segments-I wonder whether it is the publicists of the skaters that tip the ESPN folks off to these stories?. They don't seem to do much in the way of actual data searches because so many stories that we all know about don't come up.

A good example is I&B, who don't even have an official website, so I bet they don't have a publicist. Because they have been around a long time, there are a lot of stories and potential stories. But the only story they ever has is that John Baldwin has been to nationals 20 times and is old, which is in the media guide.
1. John's grandmother (whom I didn't see at Nat's this time, so I'm not sure she is still alive) used to skate in a Canadian ice show, and is a real trip. We sat with her at several events in the disabled seating.
2. Rena's dad died from lung cancer, and she had it herself (there was a story on fsu, translated from Japanese. I have wondered why we have never seen the fluffers fluff this story.I can't picture doing any sport at an elite level with your lungs impaired.
3. Rena skated for Japan in both singles and pairs. She was at the 1992 and 1994 Olympics, so this is her 3rd Olympics, skating for 2 different countries in 2 different disciplines. I doubt anyone else has ever done that. Once in a while it's mentioned, but they have never explored this much.
4. Again, fsu and Japanese press, Rena had to give up her Japanese citizenship to try for this Olympics. Some of her family are not happy about that. A potential fluff would cover how hard this is.
5. I assume that the reason they skate for the US and not Japan, is that it is easier to get US citizenship than Japanese citizenship, but I do wonder about this.
6. His occupation is listed in his ISU biography as used car salesman and hers as clerk (however, she has a Japanese teaching degree).

Publicists, recognize that the media does not do their job, and supply them with some new fluffs so we don't have to hear the same ones over and over.

 

[Dee4707]

2. Rena's dad died from lung cancer, and she had it herself (there was a story on fsu, translated from Japanese. I have wondered why we have never seen the fluffers fluff this story.I can't picture doing any sport at an elite level with your lungs impaired.

Doris, I think they did do a fluff piece on this in the last comp they were in. I can't remember which one it was.

Dee