USFS Will Select 3 for Skate America, but WHO?

[Sandra_persch]

Ok I would actually love something like this:

Emily, Danielle, Juliana
Evan, Parker, Jeremy
C&O, NNN&L, V&T
Dance - dont know

 

[chuckm]

I don't think the USFS will pick Emily, Danielle and Juliana. First of all the USFS offers the chance to skate in SA to the top skaters from 2007 Nationals. Second, the general public won't know who Danielle and Juliana are. They would not be much of an incentive to buy tickets.

I'm sure Kimmie is going to want to go to SA. Emily would get next pick, then Alissa. Should any of the last two turn down SA, the next in line would be BeBe, Rachael Flatt (who is likely going to the JGP), then Danielle and Juliana.

Then there's Ashley Wagner, who would also be under consideration before Danielle or Juliana.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

The next 'easy' trip is Quebec City!! Not so easy for some skaters. If we put Kimmie, Alissa and Ashley in SA, I presume we would have Emily and Rachael (if she is selected), or who else? I think Bebe and Katy will be sent off to the wiles of China and Japan if not Moscow.

we'll soon see the first draft of all this. mid june? and it is a draft with all the changes that will take place later.

Joe

 

[Mathman]

I think ChuckM and also Polymer Bob made a good point. Historically, the USFSA just goes down the list of the previous U.S. Nationals placements. Their philosophy seems to be that these are the skaters who have earned the right to perform at Skate America if they want to.

If that's what they do this year, then it will be up to the skaters to decide whether to accept the invitation or look for greener pastures in Canada, France or China.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

It's also a financial matter to draw fans to live competitions. Most TV fans like to sit in their easy chairs and watch, but the host must pay for the entire cost for the event and hope there might be a profit or at least break even.

For several years local fans have shown up for the competitions because they wanted to see Kwan. With a no Kwan show, there was a lot of disappointment. And in Atlantic City, Sasha was a no show as well after all that prior publicity. Not nice.

Question for Skate America: Will Kimmie, Evan, B&A, and I&B bring in a full house? I don't think NBC wants to photograph a sparsely attended venue. There's only a bronze World medal in that group. another question: Will Americans go to see a World gold medalist that isn't American? If they have an interest in figure skating, they can see it on TV.

Joe

 

[R.D.]

Reading, PA will have to a) heavily promote the event and b) make ticket prices reasonable (affordable for the average family) to get people to come. I mean, look at the ladies event at Nationals- nearly sellout crowd, yet no Kwan nor Cohen. Spokane was a great choice.

People will come, I'm sure, if they know about it and are interested enough. Besides, remember that the broadcast of SA (as it's scheduled now) will be airing vs. football so I doubt there's as much incentive on the TV network's part to bring in ALL the viewers, unlike Nats which will have no NFL competition.

I hope they keep the coverage live though. Have we ever gotten live coverage of SA before? As far as I remember it was always shown taped, but the delay was usually only a couple of days unlike the other GP events where as much as 10-14 days can pass between the event and the air time.

 

[evenstar]

I'd like to see Alissa, Kimmie, and a junior skater or Katy Taylor.

 

[R.D.]

Who is this Ashley Wagner? Sorry, it's the first time I heard the name.

 

[nymkfan51]

Who is this Ashley Wagner? Sorry, it's the first time I heard the name.

She won bronze at Jr Worlds ... behind Zhang and Nagasu. I like her skating ... excellent jumps and a fair amount of personality/presentation for her age. I believe she is 1 year older than Caroline and Mirai. I'm betting she is going to make some noise this year in seniors.

I like her.

Edited to add her SP and LP from Jr Worlds ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNerh87Ast8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-pCPo3nyIM

 

[Sylvia]

Ashley Wagner already has 2 new senior level programs that she debuted in the Cherry Blossom club competition in late April -- link to my brief report:
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showpost.php?p=245670&postcount=10
(guess you missed the recent "Ashley Wagner" thread here, Red Dog! )

At the time of Cherry Blossom, Wagner's coach mentioned informally that they were in a "wait and see" mode about the Senior vs. Junior Grand Prix this fall.

 

[R.D.]

Thanks for the information guys. Unfortunately I don't have time to watch the vids now but if this thread stays up maybe I will once I get home.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Reading is in the center of a number of big towns. No more than a few hours drive away. It's only a weekend of skating. The all event ticket isn't so costly as compared to Nationals which is a full week.

The townspeople will also be able to see it LIVE on TV. How much interest there is in the SPs, is a question.

If the host country can not stir up enough interest inside Reading, there may be more problems finding host venues in the future. It appears the USFS isn't able to find a skating club willing to hold SA in the West. At least, when was the last one?

Spokane was a special venue to bring attention to the city as well as to skating. That was the connection, and it was the Nationals.

I think NBC should give a little push here. It's for their benefit too. We'll see.

Joe

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Thanks for the information guys. Unfortunately I don't have time to watch the vids now but if this thread stays up maybe I will once I get home.

Ya have to get interested in Juniors, even if it just for the Ladies.

 

[Mathman]

Ya have to get interested in Juniors, even if it just for the Ladies.

(Good one, Joe!)

 

[R.D.]

The townspeople will also be able to see it LIVE on TV. How much interest there is in the SPs, is a question.

This will be the same case with the Nats host city...the local NBC affiliate will carry live coverage of the event finals. But TV coverage never really stopped people from attending sports events, has it? People still fill baseball, basketball and football stadiums even with the event being broadcast on primetime TV in High-Def. There's just nothing quite like seeing it unfold live, in person.

If the host country can not stir up enough interest inside Reading, there may be more problems finding host venues in the future. It appears the USFS isn't able to find a skating club willing to hold SA in the West. At least, when was the last one?

Spokane was a special venue to bring attention to the city as well as to skating. That was the connection, and it was the Nationals.

I think Spokane would be a great place to host a Skate America as well. Maybe next year?

I think part of the solution is to use smaller venues. Better to fill a smaller arena that holds 1/2 the capacity than to have it at a major venue that's only half-full. Looks better on TV, too. But I remember watching the Athens Games...and some of the earlier events were actually poorly attended...I remember them getting some criticism on this issue.

I think NBC should give a little push here. It's for their benefit too. We'll see.

I just don't see them giving it as big a push when people will naturally watch football. Actually, the fact that they are planning to show only two hours* of it tells me right there that there's not a whole lot of dedication on their part. For argument's sake: why not just go for all-weekend coverage, like they're planning to do for US Nats? (Or do they have another sporting event booked for that Saturday?)

Who knows, though. Next year's schedule won't be up till summer. Maybe they'll try to slip in a pro-am or two as well...good excuse to put S. Cohen or maybe even M. Kwan back on TV.

Do they give the Disson shows a big push? But I dunno...I'm so used to skating never being advertised; it just happens to "appear" on TV one day.



* don't take this as a complaint...I, like many other posters, are thankful for TV coverage at all, and LIVE coverage at that.

 

[Mathman]

I think Spokane would be a great place to host a Skate America as well. Maybe next year?

Spokane hosted the 2002 Skate America. I believe that this still holds the all-time attendance record for a Grand Prix event.

Spokane put in a bid for 2009 Worlds, but lost out to Los Angeles (in part because of aggressive lobbying for LA by Philip Anschutz. OT -- Haven't heard anything for a long time about his son supposedly being Michelle's boyfriend. I guess all that's blown over, if there was anything to it in the first place. )

 

[PolymerBob]

Haven't heard anything for a long time about his son supposedly being Michelle's boyfriend. I guess all that's blown over, if there was anything to it in the first place. )

Of course speculating about Michelle's personal life is always futile. Though I seem to recall their relationship / romance was "blossoming" or "budding" for about a year and a half. I always kind of wondered how long a normal, healthy 33 year old man would wait for a romance to "blossom".

 

[flying camel]

I watched Ashley skate on YouTube. Her jumps are great. The triple/Triple at the end shows she has endurance. She also had a nice presentation, but she has to work on her stretch in the spins and spirals. Other then that she will be right in the mix. She should defintely get invited to Skate America.

 

[euterpe]

If NBC is planning only on showing two hours, then it likely will be the FSs on Saturday and/or, and no SPs at all (about the same as ABC). However, they said they were going to show SA "live". It's impossible to do 4 disciplines live in just two hours. I have a feeling we aren't gong to get to see much.

 

[R.D.]

The free dance is scheduled (tentatively) for about 2pm Sunday, and the ladies' free skate at about 4pm. NBC could televise, for instance, from 3pm-5pm and show live coverage of parts of both events. I think they were planning live coverage of "parts of [these two events]" and possibly taped coverage of some of the other finals on Saturday. But remember, what's not shown on TV we can probably find online.

This is not much different from ABC which, with the strange exception of last season, never showed any SPs and showed three hours (or was it 2?) of freeskates, taped.