http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2008/10/stupid-scoring.html
3. It is painful to watch Kimmie Meissner's continued struggles — one fall in the short program, two in the long. And while one of her new coaches, Todd Eldredge, told me two weeks ago Meissner would be a "work in progress" at Skate America, there seemed little progress for this 19-year-old who won Skate America last year but was 8th over the weekend. Meissner is one of the nicest people in the sport, and everyone hopes she can regain the level that made her 2006 world champion. But no one wants to watch Meissner torture herself for the 15 months between now and the 2010 Olympic trials.
4. A sore ankle and a growth spurt made reigning U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu a non-contender at Skate America, but the older, more mature looking Nagasu still may be the best U.S. bet to challenge the world's top skaters over the next two seasons. Nagasu has that undefineable quality that keeps your eyes riveted to her.
5. U.S. skating's other "it" girl over the past two seasons, Caroline Zhang, makes her senior Grand Prix debut next week at Skate Canada, where the field is not as strong as it was at Skate America. Zhang struggled once the spotlight was on her last year, finishing fourth at nationals and losing her world junior title to Nagasu.
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11. NBC commentators Sandra Bezic and Scott Hamilton sniped at the scoring system in Sunday's telecast. One can only hope they will turn that criticism into a full frontal assault at the next two U.S. Championships, the 2009 worlds and the 2010 Olympics. After all, it was their hysterical reaction to the pairs result at the 2002 Olympics that brought the wrath of the IOC down on International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta and inadvertently led to the mess we have today. Maybe that can happen again. (Not a mess, a clean-up).