Heyyyyyyy!!! Adultskater!!!!!
Hey guy! I got bronchitis right after I posted waaaaaaay back on p1 of this thread--got my flu shot in October so didn't get that, so I guess my body decided bronchitis was the next logical choice, lol--so I never got to respond to our "Sasha Dissected Continued" posts. I'm still feeling pretty punky and besides, most everyone else has made the points I would have made.
I love your style of writing as if from inside Sasha's head, eg, "Sasha knows she is not as loved as Michelle and so...etc."
I love it! It reads like Harlequin Romance.
Seriously though, I think Sasha went with Tarasova mostly out of the situation. Nicks arranged for her to study with Tarasova for three weeks to help "refine" her style and Sasha ended up liking Tarasova AND the ice situation (no more trying to train with 50 kids on the rink) that she made the decision to change. I do agree that Sasha has more decision-making power than behooves her maturity. But given the fact that Sasha's mom is Ukranian, I think the whole idea of a Russian coach was just too good to resist--even though ideally it would have been better for Sasha and her parents to look at several different coaches, hopefully discuss with them how they would work with Sasha, and ideally have some coaching time together before Sasha and her parents made the decision. But that's water under the bridge. I will say that I think Sasha was right to leave Nicks. Nice man, but wrong sense of humor for Sasha's PR and as you have oft reminded us, never taught her how to do a proper Lutz. But then, Michelle is about the only US skater who is now doing a true Lutz and Jenny just this year sometimes. Somehow flutzing is the Mad Cow Disease of US Ladies figure skating.
I don't doubt for a minute that Tarasova's health problems are the major and legitimate reason for the change. True, Tarasova has been talking about health problems and wanting to move back to Russia for years, but these last 18 months with Sasha had to be intense both physically in terms of travel and emotionally. At a certain point and a certain age, especially after a situation like Tarasova had coaching Sasha and all the changes in her camp--Morosov leaving, teams leaving, Usova replacing, Yagudin's hip problems--I think the cumulative effect of all of the above finally got to be too much for her. Anyone who has ever watched Tarasova watch Sasha skate at a competition knows she expends at least as much energy as Sasha does.
I don't agree that Sasha is the same color horse as Nicole Bobek. A number of superficial similiarities, sure, but their core psyches, motivations, and willingness to work seem on opposite ends of the spectrum. I think Sasha would have stayed with Tarasova had TT's health problems not become an issue. Bobek changed coaches because there was always something wrong with all of them. Even when she was doing well with Callaghan, she decided he was boring. And I do think Carlo Fassi dying at Worlds (I forget the year) knocked her last chance at making an eligible comeback. After that--kind of like with Angela's situation, although we've yet to see if Angela might come back--I think Nicole just said, "Screw it. I'm not cut out for this." Sasha, at least to me, seems determined to make her mark on the eligible scene.
You also say that Nicole couldn't produce at the big events and neither can Sasha. She did produce for a while. She won Nationals in '95 and then the World bronze that year--albeit with a less than stellar performance. After that she left Callaghan, who is a taskmaster to be sure, and she only got close to being consistent in her short time with Carlo Fassi before he died. As for Sasha, three silver and one bronze medals since the age of 16 to Kwan's golds at Nationals seems pretty good going against the five-time World champion. I thought Cohen's programs at the Olympics were excellent considering it was her first non-GP international competition. She'd never even been to Worlds before the Olympics and to skate clean except for the fumble on the 3/3 attempt (and don't start screaming "FLUTZ! FLUTZ!" because even Sarah and Michelle flutzed; only Irina didn't). Fourth place given Sarah's skate of a lifetime and the competition of Michelle and Irina seemed good to me even then, although not to her, I'm sure, nor her detractors. And fourth at Worlds was definitely a big disappointment, especially when she repeated it again in '03, losing to Fumie Suguri. Nevertheless, in '03 she decisively won the GPF where I believe Suguri did not medal.
I wonder how people would respond to Sasha if she had Suguri's record, which over the last two years has tended to be poor performances and no gold medals on the GP circuit, except for gold medal at the '03 NHK; doing very poorly in the GPF last season, and now having come in second in Japan's Nationals to Miki Ando--but, winning bronze at Worlds two years in a row. That kind of record vs. two golds and a silver in the GP series last season, winning the GPF, winning the IFSC last season; this season winning gold at every event she entered since Campbell's except for the silver at GPF and the bronze at IFSC. No diss intended toward Fumie, whose skating I've actually come to like with her programs with season, but the point is, would people feel differently about Sasha if she never won a medal the entire season except for say a silver at Nationals and a bronze at Worlds? I don't know the answer, but I don't know that last season Elena Sokolova didn't even make the GP final and yet after she won the silver at Worlds she was the next great skater, watch out Michelle! Obviously a skater wants to peak for Nats and Worlds, and Olympics if it's their year, but are those ultimately the true measure of a skater? Rgirl asks thinking of Janet Lynn.
Speaking of flutzing, if Robin Wagner couldn't get Sarah to fix her flutz, I don't have much hope that anything is going to change with Sasha's. At least in the US, Richard Callaghan seems to be the only coach today pushing true Lutzes with his ladies' skaters. OTOH, if that's the only problem with Sasha's skating, I can live with that. But if she starts bending her knee on the free leg of her spiral after being coached by Wagner--YIKES! I sure don't want to be around SWWNBN if that happens!
In any case, whoever ends up as Sasha's coach, I would like to see that person focus on two things: Her edging and her training periodization so she can peak at Nats and Worlds--and Olympics.
I do agree that over the last 18 months, albeit with some poor skates at inopportune times, Sasha has proved herself to be a magnificent skater. Now I think the question is, can she show that magnificence at the big events in the second half of the season, when previously she has tended to falter.
All else aside, the proof will be on the ice. Of course, even if Sasha wins Worlds someday, people will still argue what that proves
Rgirl
Nice to have you back in the fray, Adultskater.
PS to GOD: Would you please turn on your PM thingy so I can say "Howdy." You know, the guy who invented the Gallup polls, Mr. Gallup, says he can prove your exisitence with statistics
