Lol, so everyone should quit but your favorite?
Well, it certainly makes it easier for your favorite to win.
i think gracie is the top contender for sochi. she has already had a growth spurt and if she doesn't have another one could have her already consistent 3+3's, a 3A which she is currently working on, and maybe a quad. that's huge for a lady.
mirai needs to find her love for the sport again and make a change, and in my opinion it is changing coaches. to who, i don't know. but i don't think her and frank aren't working well anymore. their personalities kind of clash. and to try a different choreographer.
i would like to see alissa stay till 2014. she's only been with yuka and jason for not even 2 years yet, and i think it would be too soon to cut her success short. i'm in support of her all the way and would be very heartbroken if she retired this year. she has a quality that no other skater in the world has right now IMO.
rachael has to choose between school and skating and she needs to make it now. it would be much easier for her to continue skating now and go back to school later than finish school and come back to skating (i took a year off and came back, it doesn't work too well, it's extremely hard). i would like to see her stay until 2014 also or at least one more season. although she has a lot to improve on, she has a lot more potential if she puts in the work. rooting for her!
ashley doesn't impress. it's great she worked hard to win nationals, but there's something i don't like about her skating. its like she tries too hard in her movements...not the jumps, but like arm movements and interpreting the choreography...like trying too hard with the facial expressions and being pretty. but i hope she has a couple good skates at worlds.
agnes doesn't impress me much either, besides her jumps. i love the height she gets on them and her spins are decent. the rest needs work. but i know it's only her second year as a senior.
Agnes is powerful across the ice.. She reminds of Irina Slutskaya when she jumps.. The height and the power. She is not MK, she is not Sarah Cohen, heck she is not even Alissa but she can jump!!
Ah sigh.. Mirai.. Brian Orser and David Wilson but she can not afford it. Kwan/Oppegard? Michelle is a fan I think... I would almost beg MK to work the magic and get her to the family rink.
You know, I just hope Gold has a good head on her shoulders because this is a LOT of hype for someone who hasn't even shown serious signs of being a top World contender. Then again, maybe all the attention on her could be a blessing in disguise for someone else to sneak in and steal the show. Two years is still a while for stuff to happen.
and she has another skater at the same level in the rink pushing her (Lexi Verhulst - 5th Midwestern Sectional Juniors) in training.
Sasha Cohen or Sarah Hughes?
If she can afford the gas to and from Frank every week, plus workign with Frank and Lori, I think she can afford Brian and team.
didn't gracie skate at springfield fsc before? i know shes at wagon wheel now but i thought she used to skate with barbie long.
sigh.. Ashley Wagner is my least favorite US Ladies Champion in the last 10 years... just bla.. sorry I know she worked hard and made sacrifices but just forgettable in every way.
Alyssa: I hope she does extremely well at worlds and retires. She has brought us light, charm, beauty and hope in these past uninspiring years but her time has passed.
Rachael: I hope she concentrates on her university studies and retires from competition. I simply have never seen any potential in her or a need for her to be in the fs world.
Mirai: Leave everything behind and commit to your skating. MOVE and devote all of your energy to skating. YOU are wrong. You are not just the future. You are the now and the present. You are above all a figure skater and honestly, if you do not allow figure skating to define you and be your life in the immediate few years you will regret it. Rarely, do stars like yourself emerge in this drab, commercialized, and politicized world. You have the power, the technique, the beauty, the pure joy, the spirals, the footwork the jumps, the spark, the star-quality, finesse and that it to be it all + world and Olympic gold champion. Why are you leaving the fans to believe and dream alone? join us! Dare, work, focus, you were meant to be part of the figure skating select book of legends. You do not owe it to the fans, you owe it to yourself.
If she can afford the gas to and from Frank every week, plus workign with Frank and Lori, I think she can afford Brian and team.
But doesn't Brian Orser work out of Canada? I think moving to another country would be a a huge expense for the Nagasus, far more than just two-a week four hour trips to and from Frank's.
Initial expense, maybe, but there are always ways to cut costs... honestly I think she could stay with Frank - if she moved closer - and it work out fine.
Carroll is a top name - probably more so than Orser - in figure skating. He ain't cheap and he has a high end team he brings to the table, just as Orser would. And don't folks always say it's easier to live in Canada than here?
In all honesty all I remember is Sarah Hughes jumping and spinning very quickly and not falling during 2002 Olympics. I am not really quite sure how to describe her skating.