senior men short program

[demarinis5]

Congrats to Jeremy, Evan and Parker. Loved their programs and Jeremy is so smoooooth I can watch him all day. Brandon Mroz and Curran Oi was a pleasant surprise.Both of these young men are very talented and skated very good programs. It was great to see their reaction to their scores in the K&S.

Johnny must be very disappointed. Missing the axel and a possible downgrade on his other jump put him in 7th. I am not counting Johnny out yet. I am not so sure that the newbies can sustain a long program without some major mistakes, that coupled with Johnny's experience and talent could bring him up to 4th or maybe even a 3rd place finish.. Overall I thought it was a very good men's SP Competition. I always like a few good surprises and the men's SP delivered and did not disappoint.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

From what I saw at the Nats, it was the BEST Men's SP ever in the US.

From Abbott on down to the least expected to skate well, it was awesome. I could go on about many as being special in the years to come but there is no time for me right now. McL/Bru will be trying to undo that roller skating champion and her partner soon.

I really think Abbott is highly competitive for GOLD. Evan can podium. If Johnny makes the team, he'll definitely need that 3A. Ryan is too much, but there is the quad and that is getting more points than yesteryear.

Can you imagine Parker Pennington becoming part of the team? Carol Heiss was in her glory and Parker was good!

Can't wait for the LP.

 

[kate]

I stand corrected. They're doing three groups of six. Here's the skate order:

Rules are maximum of 6 per group in singles and 4 per group in pairs and dance, and that the event should be done in as few warmups as possible. This actually extends to every level of USFSA -- non-qualifying, regionals, adult -- for standard events.

I think this year is a different circumstance than last year ladies. Last year ladies, three of the top 4 were underage and couldn't go. There was a HUGE concern about the US being able to get enough spots for the next years worlds. So they sent Meissner because people didn't think Hacker can compete.

Actually even more different because they offered the spot to Hacker (who was the 3rd place among the age-eligible skaters; Meissner was 4th among them) and she turned them down.

 

[Mathman]

...they offered the spot to Hacker (who was the 3rd place among the age-eligible skaters; Meissner was 4th among them) and she turned them down.

!!!!! Why didn't anyone know this? At the time there were all kinds of arguments going on about whether the USFSA should have "passed over Katrina" to favor Kimmie.

Not knowing the facts made figure skating look bad -- or at least controversial -- once more.

 

[Tonichelle]

I know he was on the team for the olys for NBC, and I want to say he was there at nationals last year... I would assume he's working with them again this year... though he was not a part of the Skate America coverage.

well, it looks like Dick Button WON'T be part of the commentary team this weekend - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6226231.html you have to scroll down a bit to where it talks about Scott Hamilton but it says -

Hamilton, who will work alongside Tom Hammond, Sandra Bezic, Tracy Wilson and Andrea Joyce (no Dick Button, alas), has hopes for the young U.S. field.

then it goes into a nice little interview with Scott about Alissa.:agree:

 

[inskate]

!!!!! Why didn't anyone know this? At the time there were all kinds of arguments going on about whether the USFSA should have "passed over Katrina" to favor Kimmie.

Not knowing the facts made figure skating look bad -- or at least controversial -- once more.

Well, I knew about this. I read about this on FSU.
The discussion on FSU was taking place in the paid section of the forum, so maybe that's why some fans didn't read about it. I admit it didn't came to my mind to post this info as I thought that everyone knew about it already. ^^'

 

[Audrey19]

OMG. Oh Adam, you are breaking my heart! No way he can make it to worlds now:no: I could cry my heart out... And Johnny being in seventh-what a shame! I'm really happy Jeremy is leading but my sadness about Adam and Johnny is bigger! Well at least Johnny has still a shot for a medal if he skates clean so I'll keep praying for him! Oh the drama that is figure skating!
Thanks for the pbp everyone!

 

[centerpt1]

wow! Great SP. Well, except I had hoped Rippon and Weir would be higher. There was just no room for error! Strong , strong field.

For anyone wondering what Abbott's "Kung Fu" comment was about..

http://jeremyabbott.cafe24.com/bbs/zboard.php?id=fanboard&page=1&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=895

I kind of wish he'd go back to swearing. I can understand that. The rest I need an interpreter for.

 

[Mathman]

Well, I knew about this. I read about this on FSU.

I've got to get out more.

 

[kate]

I've got to get out more.

I don't subscribe to FSU, but I don't know how common the knowledge really was. I heard it from two separate very good sources, but I don't know if she ever said anything about it in public or if there was ever an article to that effect.

 

[enlight78]

Men's US Nationals was unbelievable. The field is way deep and all the performances were great. I'll put US nationals above GPF and Europeans Championship. Can we send 12 skaters to 4CC.

 

[merrywidow]

I'm disappointed as well by seeing Johnny in 7th & Adam in 12th but its exciting to see the newer faces breaking away from the "pack" like Mroz & Oi. I've always liked Parker so I'd be happy if he could hang on to 3rd. Or have Ryan move up. Or Johnny. Is it a changing of the old guard? It all makes for a very exciting final. Good Luck to them all.

 

[Justafan]

Sad to hear about Johnny. I have to think his nerves got him. IMHO, he has more stylistic ability than most and my heart is broken for him. He was so pulled together in some of the GP events. Glad that we have a deep field again though and I wish them all the best.

 

[jennylovskt]

Wow! This might be Jeremy's year! Congratulations! Evan did well too! But I am not taking seriously about the actual SP scores. They are insanely high.

Heartbreaking for Johnny. I haven't seen such low SP scores from Johnny for years. I won't be surprised if Johnny gets bronze or still being named for the world team even if he gets fourth or fifth place. Any position lower than fifth in the final standing, he will not go to the world. JMO

 

[Tinymavy15]

The Good thing that will come of Johnny placing so low? Maybe NBC will tone down the Johnny/Evan rivalry overkill and stop showing them in the warm up exhanging dirty glances

 

[Hsuhs]

I, too, want to congratulate Jeremy Abbott (based on the results, since I like many others outside the US couldn't watch your nats). I bet it wasn't easy, and even more so now with Jeremy being a 1 place finisher after the SP, but he's been dealing with the pressure so well. Good luck to him and all others.

Oink! Oink!

 

[lmarie086]

I was out last night so I couldn't watch..but I'm watching now and from reading the pbp (thanks everyone btw!) it sounds like a great field. Some surprises to read about that I wasn't expecting (darn your axels, Adam and Johnny!).

Evan: a big improvement over the GP series, but his 3A still scares me (he leans a lot in the air, and I think that's obvious no matter what angle the camera is) and there is too much arm movement. I think Kerrigan's gushing got to me, I found it quite irritating.

Jeremy: Amazing performance! I seriously wasn't sure if he could hold it together with the pressure, but at least he proved me wrong for the SP! Jumps were great, footwork was great, and he's so musical. Now I'm gushing but I just thought he was way better than Lysacek.

Stephen: Disappointing performance for him, but I like him a lot better than last season. He seems to have made strides in his skating, but perhaps at the cost of his consistency. Hope he comes back strong in the LP.

Adam: Darn your axel! Other than that it was a wonderful performance, I like the subtle reworkings of the program (and wish IN would stop announcing it as "Storm" when he went back to last seasons SP). He had great height on the first jump in his combination, and the tano 3lz was good. The spins looked more centered. Hope he comes back really strong in the LP (I thought his PCS were way too low!)!

 

[shine]

I still feel like I'm in La La Land seeing Jeremy coping so well with the pressure this season. I thought I had made up my mind that he would eventually become another one of those few superbly talented headcases and a skater I'll only be able to greatly enjoy but won't be able to really root for. But wow. He has been put to the test with higher and higher expectation each time he had competed, and every time he had risen to the occasion when we could have so easily seen him crumble in the past. I know I'm saying this early but he just seems to be on a mission and is just not gonna let it go until he gets to that very top spot where he wants to be. This consistency absolutely amazing!

 

[Medusa]

entire post

It really is amazing to see. I remember writing my "the best US-skater is actually Abbott"-post at the end of the last season - and how much I regretted it that he seemed so inconsistent and I really thought that he would never realise his true potential.

And suddenly, he is here! It's like dreaming. I don't know which skategod suddenly decided that pigs can indeed fly - but I am utterly thankful for it.

He must have worked so hard over the summer, his Axel was a mess last season, now it is rocksolid and also incredibly beautiful.

Does anybody know if he plans to stick around after Vancouver? If he wins Olympics, probably not. But it would be a shame if we were to get Abbott, upgraded and perfected version, only for 2 seasons.

 

[Tonichelle]

There's still the long program... can Abbott hold it together? I know the GPF was a big deal... but nationals seems to play a whole different set of head games...