Okay, her hear are my thoughts since I KNOW you are all dying to hear them LOL
FreeKatie - you're right about skating looking like gymnastics. Why don't the skaters just all skate to the same music and program and then we'll compare!....
Someone in an above thread said if they saw another beillman, they'd hurl. I so agree. I'm not entirely certain it’s even a pretty spin when done correctly, so it’s certainly not pretty when week. I wish these girls would stop doing them. I can’t imagine what it’s doing to their back/hips. I just LOOKS painful. My thought is that if you can’t do the element correctly and it doesn’t look good, you shouldn’t do it. JMO
Oh, did anyone else notice a number of skaters trying the broken-leg sit spin - and NOT getting much of a "broken-leg"? It was really distracting...more distracting than a bad layback. Lots of skaters were trying for more difficult sit spin positions and they looked so labored and unflattering. Like I said, if you can’t do it right……:yes:
A lot of the spiral sequences were *really* week. I mean, really week. All this beilman like positions and Y positions that don't work. Hmmm...COP is really crapping up the spins and spirals....I think a beautiful Ina Bauer or Spread Eagle segment is MUCH more pretty and difficult than these Nancy Kerrigan-hold-up-the-leg-by-the-knee-cause-I-can't-hold-it-myself spirals.
I’ve decided that COP is really messing up things. I know, I’m a bit late in acknowledging this. It does have its good points, but it seems that all we see with the men and ladies are the same spin positions, same footwork, same spirals ect – and it’s not because they may or may not be a required element. It’s just that the powers that be have decided that a certain position, step etc. is valued so greatly, that everyone rushes out to copy it to get the points. There is absolutely NO creativity in that. So many of the skaters look like they’re skating the same programs….How sad.
As far as placements....I agree that Sasha should be in first. She was week, tentative and lacked spark and speed, but I would believe that it’s more from being tired/week from the flu than nerves. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve watched her for so long and have seen her skate when she is a head-case and you can see it in her skating. I didn’t see the nerves in her skating so much as I saw a sick lady trying to hold it together. I’m not much of a Cohen fan, but I’m glad she stuck it out.
I liked Hughes a lot...yeah, she was scratchy and her style is very different than Bebe. But she has this look about her that just captivates me and somehow makes me forget about some of her lesser developed skills. I also think she is really a very pretty girl - love the eyes and smile.
Oddly enough, her sister did that for me too. Neither of the Hughes girls were ever my favorite skaters, but both have the ability to really capture you when they skate well. But then again, when they were off, they were really off.
Bebe - I'm SO HAPPY she skated well. Ken C was so happy too - he was crying. (How cute!). I like Bebe a lot, perhaps because I can identify with being a really great skater practice, but having trouble putting it out there during the competition.
I think that the scoring/placement of Emily/Bebe two came down to personal preference...for me, if its going to be a dual between those two for the last Olympic spot, I'd have to say lets see what the LP has for us....both girls have the goods to make the team, but both have had some really bad skates and have been known to unravel under pressure. If I HAD to pick a person now (between Emily and Bebe) I’d say send Bebe, but my heart is still set in Alissa making it.
Alissa - Oh, my heart broke for her!
Her coach seemed very happy with her placement given her skating. I think it was nerves. However, didn't DoggyGirl say that Alissa was NOT at the last official practice before the SP? I wonder if she came to ST.L late and perhaps that contributed to it.
Kimmie - I was so under impressed. I don’t get the hype on her. She seems to have a nice personality, but I don’t see much there. Am I the only one?
For me, I think the 3rd spot on the team is up for grabs between Emily, Bebe and Alissa (she needs to skate great and get some help from others).
The rest of the skaters seems like they all looked and skated the same. Very few skaters had anything unique about them. There's this crop of new Sr.'s (new in terms of say, 1-2 years at the Sr. level) that have these tiny bodies with no signs of maturation. It's as if they are still girls - not women or ladies. They all seem to have similar skating styles, jumping styles, wear their hair the same, have the same basic costume etc. I'm just so under impressed with them. Kimmie, Katy, Danielle, Christine and Jane look the same to me. The only ones that seemed unique were Amy Evidentee, Amber Corwin, Anna Madorsky and Stephanie Roth. Perhaps it was because these are ladies, not girls. The other girls I either didn't see or they were unmemorable (some of these ladies I mentioned were not shown, but I've seen them before.
As a general rule of thumb, I really don’t think the US team is as deep as many think. Aside from Cohen and Kwan, the only ones I see having any international success on the Sr. level are Alissa, Emily, Kimmie (only because of that 3A) and Bebe. Everyone else reminds me of any of the countless strong Jr. skaters that never could make the transition to Sr.’s well.
Darby
42
She looked so forlorn. Why wasn't somebody there to hug her?
