Senior Ladies LP

[oleada]

The USFS should send Fumie Suguri & Miki Ando gift baskets for keeping Suzuki and Nakano off the world team.

 

[Wrlmy]

Thanks luvsasha. Seems like 5th place is anyone's game. So Rachael and Alissa actually have great chance to win two spots and some decent chance at three spots.:yes:

 

[kyla2]

Shine

Carolina Kostner is a complete snore as a skater. She's like watching paint dry. It's lovely you see beautiful arm movement when you see her skate, I see someone who looks like she has had a total spinal fusion from C1 to L4-5.

 

[turtle]

Who can beat them?
Mao
Yu Na
Carolina
Joannie
^^ those they will have trouble beating
Fumie
Miki
Laura
Kiira
Susanna
Sarah??? She's a total unknown at this poing
.

Korpi won't be at worlds. Finland has only two spots (Laura and Pokyio).

 

[R.D.]

But we do have home court advantage. The crowd could carry the girls up a few placements.

VERY TRUE. Happened at Tokyo Worlds and Swedish Worlds.

I forgot about that.

 

[Mathman]

To me, I don't really see the point in speculating about whether the international judges might have been primed to give some other U.S. skaters higher marks that Alissa and Rachael will earn. Alissa and Rachael will be skating at worlds, representing the U.S. They either will or they won't skate well.

Go Rachael! Go Alissa!

 

[R.D.]

And about the Alyssa thing- I think another poster nailed it right on the head: US fans are just nervous since the Olympics are next year and Worlds determines the amount of ladies we can send there. Most of us want three spots and think (or thought) that Alyssa was too risky to send, regardless of how she did at nationals. But others may be right- it may not matter who gets sent, our chances of three spots is still quite slim. I have confidence in Rachel Flatt, she seems like a solid competitor and I've only seen her mess up a jump ONCE in the three years I've watched her compete. She reminds me of Meissner 2006- steady jumper but not too much else. Gets the job done, though. If others mess up, she could sneak in there. Czisny, on the other hand, is probably lower top 10 material at best. She seems to have made improvements on her consistency, though, so maybe we have another contender in the making. But she doesn't need that kind of pressure.

The following summarizes how I feel about the whole thing: Personally, I think I would have given the championship to Rachel. However, I am happy for Alyssa for pulling this one off, and I'll be sending her a message of congrats and support. Also, she should try to get past her mistake in the long and enjoy the title. Then work really hard to up the ante for Worlds, because, whether we like it or not, and she likes it or not, she will be sharing the burden of getting us those Olympic spots. Interesting that Rachel actually mentioned that she was feeling that pressure a little. Especially with the Worlds at home, it could be significant.

the following is ETA

To me, I don't really see the point in speculating about whether the international judges might have been primed to give some other U.S. skaters higher marks that Alissa and Rachael will earn

Well, it may be like Kwan and Cohen. MK was the dominant one nationally, but Cohen tended to have the better international results. Two silvers vs. one gold, one bronze and a missed podium as far as Worlds went. Rachel may very well place higher than Alyssa if the two skate similarly in LA, and nothing wrong with that.

 

[Mathman]

...I'll be sending [Alissa] a message of congrats and support....

When you do, maybe you should leave out the part about the best she can hope for is bottom top ten, provided she doesn't mess up completely.

Well, it may be like Kwan and Cohen. MK was the dominant one nationally, but Cohen tended to have the better international results .

I know what you mean, but Michelle won the world championship five times to go along with her nine U.S. titles.

 

[R.D.]

When you do, maybe you should leave out the part about the best she can hope for is bottom top ten, provided she doesn't mess up completely.

Haha, I just sent it via her site. I said something along the lines of, congrats on the Championship, I enjoyed your SP (and I did, I wouldn't make things up), many other fans I've talked to liked it as well & some even cried, and good luck at the LA Worlds.

This isn't the first time I've written Czisny though. I did it back in 2007 wishing her luck in Tokyo.

eta: I think you may miss the point though. I definitely want the best for her, but I try to be realistic and detached in my assessments. Just like Kimmie.

I know what you mean, but Michelle won the world championship five times to go along with her nine U.S. titles.

True...but of course, I was using the Kwan/Cohen analogy, and MK won only one of those championships beating Cohen.

 

[kate]

Mao
Yu Na
Carolina
Joannie
^^ those they will have trouble beating
Fumie
Miki
Laura
Susanna
Sarah

I would move Carolina and Joannie into the beatable category because they both often have bad skates at major events (Carolina at Euros, Joannie at GPF) and if one of them messes up on 2 or more jumps, a clean Rachael or Alissa could feasibly beat them.

 

[R.D.]

I would move Carolina and Joannie into the beatable category because they both often have bad skates at major events (Carolina at Euros, Joannie at GPF) and if one of them messes up on 2 or more jumps, a clean Rachael or Alissa could feasibly beat them.

Agreed, although Rochette seems to have re-emerged as a stronger competitor. I think she's more dangerous this year than in the past.

 

[PolymerBob]

Rachel may very well place higher than Alyssa if the two skate similarly in LA, and nothing wrong with that.

Let me just throw out another possibility here that others seem to have missed. Now I am NOT saying that I want this to happen, but I think it CAN happen. I am sure the USFSA is capable of exerting pressure on skaters to do things, even when they don't have specific authority to get what they want.

I believe that if Alissa goes to 4CC and does much worse than her teammates, the USFSA will exert pressure on her to give up her spot at Worlds. They will wrap themselves in the American flag, baseball, motherhood, apple pie ......... and convince Alissa that she must withdraw for the good of her country.

I read in another post that Alissa had some other collegiate event planned for early February. But I think the USFSA will make it clear that her attendance at 4CC is not just a friendly request. These guys really, REALLY want to see how the international judges treat Alissa.

 

[R.D.]

I read in another post that Alissa had some other collegiate event planned for early February. But I think the USFSA will make it clear that her attendance at 4CC is not just a friendly request. These guys really, REALLY want to see how the international judges treat Alissa.

Then she needs to pull out of the collegiate event. IOW, she should choose one of the 2 and not overwhelm herself. If reading her journal is any indication, she's enough stuff going on already.

I believe that if Alissa goes to 4CC and does much worse than her teammates, the USFSA will exert pressure on her to give up her spot at Worlds.

And replace her with who? Mirai? Nah, she's got that ankle. Zhang? Hmm, but she was solid at TEB and still barely cracked 100. Wagner? Not after that SP.

I think Czisny and Zhang might be interchangeable, but Flatt needs to be one of the two on that LA team.

 

[kate]

Then she needs to pull out of the collegiate event. IOW, she should choose one of the 2 and not overwhelm herself. If reading her journal is any indication, she's enough stuff going on already.

It's the World University Games (Feb 21-25). It's in China, but IMO, she be best off to get in front of the judges and build her confidence as much as possible.

 

[ANW]

I watched the live on tv last night with some friends who basically know nothing about figure skating. They all seemed to be very fond of Caroline Zhang's style The funny things is some actually thought Zhang won the event even after Alissa was announed as the winner.

Well, Caroline still got a standing ovation in the stadium, and apparently the biggest one according to eye witnesses. Maybe it only appeared lacklustre to those of us who saw it last year with fresh eyes, and who knew how even more soulfully she can skate to it.

 

[manhn]

I would move Carolina and Joannie into the beatable category because they both often have bad skates at major events (Carolina at Euros, Joannie at GPF) and if one of them messes up on 2 or more jumps, a clean Rachael or Alissa could feasibly beat them.

If Rachael couldn't beat Alissa who messed up on at least 2 jumps, why would she beat Carolina and Joannie?

 

[iceminx]

I thought it was a bit ridiculous that Rachael's 1-pt advantage over Caroline came almost entirely from the 1-pt she earned more than Caroline in the PCS. She skated slowly, without spark or excitement, and her perennial bad posture, whereas Caroline skated with more speed and confidence and charisma, and much better line and stretch. Whether this is due to Caroline skating so early and Rachael dead last, or Rachael having more hype coming into the competition, or the judges made up their mind beforehand that they like Rachael more, we'll never know for sure. (My guess is some combination of all three.)

But since they're only one point apart, and Caroline is just after Rachael tomorrow in the FS, then at least Caroline will not have the disadvantage of going much earlier, and maybe the prior hype issue will also be less of a concern. If they both go clean (if they don't, who knows what can happen to the PCS), and if Caroline still skates with clearly more speed, spark, and polish, as she did in the SP, then I would think she'll get at least as high of PCS as Rachael if not higher -- it should be obvious since she will skate right after Rachael. Unless of course, the judges have really made up their mind that they prefer Rachael over Caroline (which wouldn't surprise me either).

ita. i prefer Mirai,Alissa,Angela,Bebe and even Hacker better.

 

[liketotally]

I think one of the reasons why Rachael's skating looks boring is that she doesn't use her music at all. I mean, at the beginning of La Mer, all the strong accents, she doesn't do anything on them. She just continues stroking blandly. And even when she does move with the highlights in the music, she doesn't emphasize her movements, so it's like, okay, now I'm going to put my arms up, for no reason at all.

 

[dorispulaski]

She isn't always like that. She was very magical in her SP at Liberty this summer. She seems to tighten up and become distant and a bit colorless at US Nationals.

 

[flying camel]

I watched the live on tv last night with some friends who basically know nothing about figure skating. They all seemed to be very fond of Caroline Zhang's style The funny things is some actually thought Zhang won the event even after Alissa was announed as the winner.

Interesting, my friends also thought Caroline did the best. They thought she skated very well.