Phil Hersh's Tweet

[ice coverage]

... we lost a spot in men's ...

Off topic, but the U.S. did *not* lose a spot in men's, thanks to the combined efforts of Nathan and Max.

 

[moonvine]

Off topic, but the U.S. did *not* lose a spot in men's, thanks to the combined efforts of Nathan and Max.

Oops. I went by what Ryan said. He said that when Vincent ended up in 13th that we "had definitely lost a spot in men's." Then my DVR cut off before Nathan's skate and I had to go look at it elsewhere. Thanks Max! And to think he was worried he wouldn't make the free!

 

[ice coverage]

Oops. I went by what Ryan said. He said that when Vincent ended up in 13th that we "had definitely lost a spot in men's." Then my DVR cut off before Nathan's skate and I had to go look at it elsewhere. Thanks Max! And to think he was worried he wouldn't make the free!

Yes, Ryan originally made a mistake.

Ryan did give a correction at the end of NBCSN's taped version of the Men's FS. (Maybe also at the end of the Olympic Channel live broadcast? I did not see it, so I do not know for sure.)
He sorta marveled that it was the placements of Max, who had skated so early, and Nathan that did earn three spots for the U.S.

Thank you, Max. And Nathan.

 

[moonvine]

Yes, Ryan originally made a mistake.

Ryan did give a correction at the end of NBCSN's taped version of the Men's FS. (Maybe also at the end of the Olympic Channel live broadcast? I did not see it, so I do not know for sure.)
He sorta marveled that it was the placements of Max, who had skated so early, and Nathan that did earn three spots for the U.S.

Thank you, Max. And Nathan.

I'm going to have to start setting my DVR for additional time. It cut off all THREE of the winning pairs skates, and cut off about 1/3 of the way into Nathan's skate. I went and watched Nathan's skate on icenetwork with no commentary so had no idea of the final placements. I hope Max feels GREAT about his accomplishment.

 

[Mango]

It could take as little as one season to earn back that spot that was lost. Just one team to do well enough to place top 10 at 2019 Worlds. With the retirements that will be happening it's quite doable. Longer term the US would have to look at developing junior pairs.

 

[RobinA]

I think the comment was mean and unnecessary, but if what he meant was that the US has no pairs who are contenders I agree with him. Certainly no one pair is at fault for "losing" positions. It is a skater's job to prepare and go out there and skate the best program he/she/they can. It is the governing body's job to ensure the health of its sport. US Pairs have been floundering for quite some time now. If the USFSG is interested in fielding good Pairs they are going to have to figure out what the problem is and then help people overcome the barriers. Putting two people together and commanding them to skate clearly won't work in this country, but something else will. Personally, I think we have a coaching problem in the US in all disciplines in that our top coaching is getting ever older with no one really to replace them. Face it, our mark in dance began to be made when Shpilband defected. Without that, we'd still be down the roster in dance. In Men's and Ladies we don't need anyone to defect, we just need some of our former skaters trained by our former star-producing coaches to continue the tradition. We need a couple Brian Orser peers. Let Frank Carroll retire!!!!

 

[Brianne627]

I think the comment was mean and unnecessary, but if what he meant was that the US has no pairs who are contenders I agree with him. Certainly no one pair is at fault for "losing" positions. It is a skater's job to prepare and go out there and skate the best program he/she/they can. It is the governing body's job to ensure the health of its sport. US Pairs have been floundering for quite some time now. If the USFSG is interested in fielding good Pairs they are going to have to figure out what the problem is and then help people overcome the barriers. Putting two people together and commanding them to skate clearly won't work in this country, but something else will. Personally, I think we have a coaching problem in the US in all disciplines in that our top coaching is getting ever older with no one really to replace them. Face it, our mark in dance began to be made when Shpilband defected. Without that, we'd still be down the roster in dance. In Men's and Ladies we don't need anyone to defect, we just need some of our former skaters trained by our former star-producing coaches to continue the tradition. We need a couple Brian Orser peers. Let Frank Carroll retire!!!!

Brian Boitano! Battle of the Brian’s redux.
“What would Brian Boitano do
If he were here right now!
I think he’d kick an a$$ or two,
That’s what Brian Boitano would do!”