Phil Hersh's article on the US ladies team (worlds results spoiler)

[Ximena]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-spw-hersh21mar21,1,2330792.story

He does not have that much hope for Johnny, does he? Hopefully he will prove it wrong.

I diidn't fully realize the ladies FS placement since I was watching just the overall results, then again some marks were really close one another. I know Kimmie takes a optimist approach to everything, I hope she doesn't get too much pressure after this, or worse be cast out since (I believe) the US champion will be on age for next worlds.

 

[Lissy]

He needs to check his facts on almost all of his articles.

 

[nubka]

Ah yes, Phil Hersh - figure skating's little ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark world, lol!!

 

[jennylovskt]

He is telling the truth.

 

[Rose Red]

Ouch. This writer seems to enjoy taking the bad and magnifying it times ten.

 

[gold12345]

The only thing embarrassing to me is Phil Hersh. Has he ever written an article that wasn't negative and dramatic? Why even follow figure skating if all it does is feed your head with negative thought after negative thought? He seems to thrive on the "failure" of others. Now that's embarrassing.

I didn't expect Bebe to finish top 10, but I was pleasantly surprised that she did. As for Kimmie, I wasn't expecting miracles-- she has been through a lot, and with a coaching change and her first major move away from home mere weeks before Worlds, getting through Worlds with a 7th place finish is something she can build on for next season. She shouldn't hang her head over this. She has plenty of room to improve and grow as a skater under Richard Callaghan. There just wasn't enough time before Worlds for Callaghan to really do much except help her confidence. Now, they'll have an entire offseason to work on the actual jumps. And Ashley was brand new to Worlds, she did the best she could on that day. I didn't think she would finish as low as 16th, but bad skates happen, and this was one of hers.

There's too much pressure on these kids to always be living up to expectations. It is OK to skate badly sometimes, have off performances and even off years, and.... gasp.... it is okay when the Americans don't always do well in everything. Who cares what Phil Hersh thinks. This is figure skating. It is a sport, and it is not easy. It is not possible to do well ALL THE TIME. If Hersh had ever skated competitively before (yeah right), he would understand.

But come on. Miki's been having her problems. Kostner has had her share of miserable performances. Mao and Yu-Na have consistently done well at competitions, but they have had their share of falls and multiple mistake performances. This is senior level figure skating. It is IMPOSSIBLE to be perfect, or even good, all the time. But Hersh is a guy who would probably tell you that Michelle Kwan had a failure of a career, and that it was a disaster every time she didn't win. He obviously feels better about himself when he can put down people more successful than he is. Either that, or he's just clueless.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

This is my first post. I've been lurking the last couple of days following the Ladies programs and have enjoyed reading the play by play commentary. I agree with gold12345. Some people just enjoy bashing other people. Phil Hersh is the disgrace, in my opinion.

 

[Mathman]

Thanks for posting, Hannah's Dad. Welcome. :yes:

 

[merrybari]

. Phil Hersh is the disgrace, in my opinion.

I agree! In his position he could do a lot of good for the sport. He chooses to say it's "not his job to promote it, but to report it" or something close to that.

But, there's his kind of "doom and gloom" reporting, if you call it reporting when he so often gets his facts wrong. and then there's the kind that points to the positives. He's obviously chosen the former. Shame on him.

He must have the "right side of the bed" up against the wall so has to start each day getting up on the wrong side.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Thanks for posting, Hannah's Dad. Welcome. :yes:

Thank you. I'm new to the sport of skating. So far it has been very interesting.

 

[amr927]

After this, I'm done reading Hersh's articles. What a pig. He clearly enjoys the attention we all give him for writing this sensationalist crap. Perhaps the way to get it to stop is to just stop reading it.

 

[dizzydi7]

Phil Hersh

Who could possibly be surprised by his article. He is a very negative person who most likely has his own agenda. He likely has been waiting in the wings for years to write such an article.

Unfortunately, although nasty, he was accurate to report that the U.S. ladies didn't skate well. Unfortunately, we saw it coming. We knew Liang, although personally I love her skating, would be a long shot to do well. I was very happy that she came in 10th. Meissner has had a very bad year so her 7th place was not bad. I was surprised that Wagner didn't hold it together and placed much lower than I expected.

I guess the bottom line is that only we have the power to read or not read Hersh's negative articles. If the guy doesn't have an audience, then he won't be employed. It's like the supermarket rags, people are buying and reading them thus making the market for them...

Dizzy

 

[Wrlmy]

Why does he think he's entitled to anything? Skaters are not obligated to turn in great results. Although I would prefer having three spots, Kimmie, Bebe, Ashley do not owe anyone anything.

 

[rtureck]

I hope Johnny gets a medal, since Phil Hersh has almost written him off. US ladies are in transition, hopefully Mirari, Caroline, Kimmie, Ashley and Rachel will do well next year.

 

[nadster]

Yuk about the article.

How he forgets that Ashley had to skate her FS early due to Miki's withdrawal.

It is not easy being in your first Worlds and even harder when you have to skate your FS under such unusual circumstances.

 

[gold12345]

I hope Johnny gets a medal, since Phil Hersh has almost written him off.

If he gets a medal, Hersh will say it's not a good enough color. Or he will say that Johnny should have been more perfect. Or he will say that it took too long for Johnny to get his first World medal. Nothing's ever good enough for Hersh. But I guess it's true that if we keep giving him attention, he will keep getting satisfaction from writing everything with a negative spin.

 

[delray1977]

Hi, I'm fairly new to this board, Actualy thankyou rtureck for pointing that out, I do believe this part of the process of being in a transition phase when your country's best skaters are not even age elgible for worlds. I don't it's such a big deal that we will be just one spot less at next years worlds. There is something positive that we can get out of this and it will be the the fact our best skaters will be elgible for worlds next year and they will most likley fill those two spots.