Phil Hersh on the season so far

[andromache]

I agree that the USFSA wants Vincent. I think if they had their druthers they would go with Chen, Zhou and Brown. The skaters still have to earn it, though.

I think this seems like the most likely team. (Which is tragic, IMO, that neither Max or Adam will get that Olympic trip). Nathan is 95% likely to repeat as National Champ - 2 and 3 are in flux. USFS likely is all about Vincent after his successes last season, and he has developed since then. I expect Jason to deliver at Nationals - he's good at peaking at that time and getting even better by Worlds (Olympics, in this case). At the same time, I think USFS tends to follow the lead of international judges rather than politicking like crazy - Adam, Max, and Vincent's fates are in the hands of the international judges. Nathan and Jason are the locks, IMO.

 

[blueberryhill]

I tend to see figure skating history in the other way... I think Patrick is one of the last skaters with the proper training to use his blades the way he does... Mr. Colson is responsible for that... Patrick wasn't a quadster in his teen years... the triple axel came late... even the triple lutz when we compare to other juniors... he didn't win world juniors... but he was skating.... and i wish i could find the video where kurt and brian talk about the colson legacy... brian says to patrick : you need to say thank you to mr colson for learning how to skate and not just how to jump... and patrick, as a cute little boy replies " thank you mr colson"...

anyways... i thought i would mention this as yes, Patrick was the first to add the quads to great skating... i think now the trend is reverse... skaters who have good jumping skills add on with some transition and blade work but it's not of the same level IMHO...

Here you go ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tPJiIUVtSs

 

[4everchan]

Here you go ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tPJiIUVtSs

awww thank you!!! i love this video... i think i need to bookmark it

 

[Icey]

Where was The Queen skating?

 

[mrrice]

Here you go ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tPJiIUVtSs

Ohhhhhhhh. That brought a tear to me eye......Bravo to Kurt and Brian for being so sweet to Patrick. I bet it meant so much to him to have 2 World Champions speaking to him. Thank you for posting that clip.....

 

[plushyfan]

Phil Hersh is not retired????

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Boyang was all over the place, and it's the start of the season. We'll see if he'll outscore him when it counts. I am not sure which "most" of the other man he can outscore, in terms of the top guys, but we'll see about that too in the end though personally if he outscored Chiddy with his uncalled URs? Now let me tell you, I'd laugh myself out of this galaxy. Wouldn't that make for a 'fun' Olympic team event.

As for being dinged for the URs, yes, it is unlikely. So he can freely underrotate all he likes. Great relief of pressure that. Especially at US Nats, talk about a bonus. Either way, I do think he's a lock for the Olympics place. The others can either try and politic on their own though I think it's pointless, USFSA wants Vincent, or simply fight it out for the 3rd spot which is how all of this will end.

I was referring to outscoring most of the other US men, in the context of whether Zhou is a lock for the US team.

And you're right, Nationals is definitely a time for bonus scores and generosity. Although, since he's a newbie on the international senior scene... and not as much of a Nationals "star" compared to Brown/Chen/Rippon, nor is he established internationally as much.

Who knows, in a few seasons he could become one of the top guys internationally, and then be able to afford to fall a couple times at Nationals and still 'earn' mid-90s PCS.

 

[yuki]

And his head was called for winning with a fall. Then Hanyu caught up with his quads and falls, and it became OK to fall and win. Now with the multi-quad youngsters on the scene, falls are expected from the top Men. And they don't even need the amazing skating stuff to receive high PCS.

No, he was called out for winning multiple times with multiple falls and mistakes, to the point in which he was expected to win any competition he entered no matter how he and others skated. If Hanyu got comparatively less backlash for winning with falls, this just shows how tired people were of this type of favoritism being applied to one single skater.

 

[champs]

I guess Hersh didn't think either Bradie @Lombardia or Angela @Finlandia is worth mentioning over Polina's lackluster comeback.

 

[SXTN]

We have to accept that Carolina is a unique case in the sport with the biggest gap ever between TES and PCS.

Sadly she is capable of doing difficult content since her jump technique is good. I just have the feeling she is not strict enough on herself. If Evgenia makes mistakes, she goes home and practices so that mistake will never happen again. Carolina on the contrary always finds excuses and nice words for her failures. That is the difference.

 

[MaiKatze]

We have to accept that Carolina is a unique case in the sport with the biggest gap ever between TES and PCS.

Sadly she is capable of doing difficult content since her jump technique is good. I just have the feeling she is not strict enough on herself. If Evgenia makes mistakes, she goes home and practices so that mistake will never happen again. Carolina on the contrary always finds excuses and nice words for her failures. That is the difference.

Let's talk about Medvedeva later. Meet me here in 2029.

I would really like to know how you know what it's like for Carolina. "I have a feeling" just doesn't cut it.

 

[Weathergal]

We have to accept that Carolina is a unique case in the sport with the biggest gap ever between TES and PCS.

Sadly she is capable of doing difficult content since her jump technique is good. I just have the feeling she is not strict enough on herself. If Evgenia makes mistakes, she goes home and practices so that mistake will never happen again. Carolina on the contrary always finds excuses and nice words for her failures. That is the difference.

Let's talk about Medvedeva later. Meet me here in 2029.

I would really like to know how you know what it's like for Carolina. "I have a feeling" just doesn't cut it.

MaiKatze, I agree.

I think Carolina is having technical issues right now, and I do think her PCS was overscored in Finlandia (even though she's a beautiful skater) - and I can understand the frustration with that. But who's to say that Carolina herself isn't frustrated with the situation? What are they basing that on? For goodness sake, she moved to Russia to train with Mishin, a highly respected coach and technician. Clearly she's trying to work on things. Let's not take out our frustration with the judging on the skaters themselves. I find it very hard to believe that most skaters aren't working very hard, sacrificing a great deal, and trying their very best. If Carolina didn't want to challenge herself technically and try to get her jumps back, I can't imagine that she would have come back to competitive skating like she did. And I'm sure things are exponentially more difficult being an older (but not old!) skater.

 

[OS]

Michelle bit is the best part about the article. Look forward to her come back.

Nathan Chen has one of the strongest pair of programs this year... kind of cool (literally) for Phil playing it down, which should make the 'apparent' surprise a bit sweeter.

Yeah yeah yeah for Mirai :agree:

 

[a_reader]

This columnist takes pride in treating figure skaters like any other athletes. He goes out of his way not to pamper them or to give praise and encouragement that he thinks is unearned.

And a lot of GS posters would do well to learn from this.

 

[OS]

And a lot of GS posters would do well to learn from this.

Except this would be a pretty depressing board if that ever happens. Variety is the spice of life.

 

[MaiKatze]

MaiKatze, I agree.

I think Carolina is having technical issues right now, and I do think her PCS was overscored in Finlandia (even though she's a beautiful skater) - and I can understand the frustration with that. But who's to say that Carolina herself isn't frustrated with the situation? What are they basing that on? For goodness sake, she moved to Russia to train with Mishin, a highly respected coach and technician. Clearly she's trying to work on things. Let's not take out our frustration with the judging on the skaters themselves. I find it very hard to believe that most skaters aren't working very hard, sacrificing a great deal, and trying their very best. If Carolina didn't want to challenge herself technically and try to get her jumps back, I can't imagine that she would have come back to competitive skating like she did. And I'm sure things are exponentially more difficult being an older (but not old!) skater.

I don't know Carolina, so I'm not sure what's in her head. I'm also not the biggest fan of her and often shook my head at her scores. I've seen interviews with her though and one thing I think that can be said isn't that she's satisfied with a faulty performance. I remember especially an interview after Worlds. Where the interviewer kind of said well, congratulations, you did so well. And she was like "No. That was not good. I'm not satisfied." I think she's training just as hard, but it isn't as easy as before for her.

And a lot of GS posters would do well to learn from this.

They're not sports journalists, or journalists at all, though. Are fans now held to the same standard as professionals when it comes to being impartial? I think you're asking for too much.

 

[Mathman]

Where was The Queen skating?

I think she was at the East-West Ice Palace. (She gets to skate there for free. )

She just recently visited Prague https://www.instagram.com/p/BaMBpEUBh6R/?hl=en&taken-by=michellewkwan
then swung by the Olympic Museum in Lucerne to help the ISU celebrate it's 125th anniversery. https://www.instagram.com/p/BaNJCu_gxJo/?hl=en&taken-at=226495635 (I think that's Miki Ando on the right and Shen and Zhao in the center.)

Phil Hersh is not retired????

He retired as official Olympic columnist for the Chicago Tribune, after 30 years, in 2015. Now he writes his own blog and contributes occasional articles.

 

[Violet Bliss]

And a lot of GS posters would do well to learn from this.

Tough love can easily lead to abuses and excuses for bad treatments.

Let people love freely but be restrained in judgements.

 

[Mathman]

Yeah yeah yeah for Mirai :agree:

Phil Hersh loves him some Mirai. She made Hersh's list of the top ten best interviewees in all sports.

 

[mrrice]

There's a lot to love about Mirai this year. IMO, the best thing about her so far is what great shape she's gotten herself into. She always been thin but this year, you can see the definition in her upper body. She looks as ready as I've ever seen her and I hope she gets her title back on the 10th anniversary of first title in 2008.