Jason Brown: ‘It paid off’
- Thread starter gsk8
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2012
Nice article! Having a joie de vivre =/= pushover. Getting bees with honey not vinegar also applies.
Indeed. Well done Jason! And thanks for another great article gsk8.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2014
Beats me how they can think that he manages to train so hard and put in such clean backloaded performances without true competitive spirit?
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2014
Honestly, I think they just don't really like him that much. Just listened to their nationals recap, and they were pretty dismissive of his performances, not so much negative as damning with faint praise. I was glad that they at least gave him credit for delivering under pressure, but given that he's the new national champion, it would have been nice for them to acknowledge some of the things he did well. I have no problem with them preferring Josh and Adam or even thinking the results were wrong, but just feel they kind of jump on and off the obvious bandwagons pretty easily (eg in comparing Ashley, to his recent favorite Tuktamysheva, he suddenly found fault with Tuk). They at least finally acknowledged Ashley's hard work, but failed to do the same for Jason.
Sorry for the digression.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2012
It all comes down to the damnable quad. Some are dismissive of him because he doesn't have one in competition. They've totally ignored the fact that he skated beautifully and with almost a perfectly clean program. That takes hard work. A 3A, and 3/3 combinations are not all that easy. I just watched the Mens Short in the European Championships and NONE of the men skated anywhere near a clean program - and the quad took out quite a few of them. In my mind I'd rather see someone skate a clean program than a sloppy one because they're attempting a jump that isn't consistent.
The results were not wrong at Nationals. Jason deserved his win and deserved his scores!
The results were not wrong at Nationals. Jason deserved his win and deserved his scores!
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2014
I followed them on Twitter and FB and occasionally listened to the podcast (there is such a draught of skating "journalism" that I guess any was good enough), but their tweets over this last competition were so awful (especially about Mirai) that I finally unfollowed. Strangely enough, shortly after I noticed a flurry of "stfu TSL" tweets among my aqcuaintance there, they deleted some of the most offensive ones. I just went to read the comments section of their US Nats recap - because basically that tells you what they said without having to listen to them - and was pleased to find a few comments that called them out on various things. Like apparently they'd advised Adam to retire not a year ago. Talk about bandwagons.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2012
Well, to be fair... there aren't all that many skaters that they haven't recommended to retire. Either because they've won everything - so what are they sticking around for? Or because they've never won anything - and never will - so what's the point? Or because they are young and about to lose whatever skills they may happen to possess at the moment. I did think that, if people listened to them, there wouldn't be all that many skaters competing at all.
But I digress.
But I digress.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2014
Mods, it looks like we are deviating quite a bit from the thread topic, and I'm going to keep deviating in this comment, so if these posts should be moved elsewhere, please do so!
Noskates, I happen to agree with you that Jason should have won, but I know quite a few others disagree for reasons they believe are valid, and I really don't have a problem with that.
TMC & LRK : I think it's the bandwagon part that really bothers me, not just from TSL, but from others as well.
Last year, the conversation about Jason was framed as, "he's got a unique ability to connect with the audience" and "he's got it all, the quad will come" (actually I think these statements were made by Gannon & Bezic during Riverdance, but they were pretty representative).
This year, the conversation has somehow been reframed as "Jason is a performer, but not an artist who draws you in" and "Jason doesn't have a quad." I wouldn't be surprised to see it change again and become more positive if he wins something big or lands a quad in competition, but gosh, right now the fickleness bothers me.
Noskates, I happen to agree with you that Jason should have won, but I know quite a few others disagree for reasons they believe are valid, and I really don't have a problem with that.
TMC & LRK : I think it's the bandwagon part that really bothers me, not just from TSL, but from others as well.
Last year, the conversation about Jason was framed as, "he's got a unique ability to connect with the audience" and "he's got it all, the quad will come" (actually I think these statements were made by Gannon & Bezic during Riverdance, but they were pretty representative).
This year, the conversation has somehow been reframed as "Jason is a performer, but not an artist who draws you in" and "Jason doesn't have a quad." I wouldn't be surprised to see it change again and become more positive if he wins something big or lands a quad in competition, but gosh, right now the fickleness bothers me.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2012
I think, for many of those people, they now take Jason's peformance ability for granted - they expect him to perform well, to entertain the crowds, to skate complex programs. So, it is now no longer "a big deal" and they start finding fault instead.
Of course this is a rather simplistic generalisation, but it is an interesting discussion to have, I think.
Of course this is a rather simplistic generalisation, but it is an interesting discussion to have, I think.
Yes! I think what made Adam's performance stand out is the fact this is the first time he really fulfilled the potential people saw him back in 2008 and 2009 when he won the World Junior title. I mean he had flashes of brilliance (see Skate Canada 2010, 2012 Nationals, 2013 Skate America), but honestly this is the first time, IMO, where i saw Adam really seize the competitive spirit as a senior.
People love a comeback. They also love a rapid rise in the standings.
Jason has been more of slow-and-steady effort. I mean everyone keeps acting like this came suddenly, but people (even Michael Weiss) forgot that this is Jason's fifth appearance in the national senior ranks.
Let's face it, consistent and steady performances are just not sexy. Neither is methodological efforts.
I found this quote that I posted on Twitter. It's from the now-deceased Ann Landers (i.e. Dear Abby) "Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."
Jason has been so consistent in his training efforts and making that work in competition, that people take it for granted.
Last edited:
Just wanted to say that I loved the interview - Jason is so hard working, so respectful of his coaches and other athletes - he may not have the quad (yet), but I cannot help but root for him. Now I root for a lot of them, just saying his attitude is something I respect, a lot!
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
Sorry to digress, but Abigail van Buren (who wrote Dear Abby) and Ann Landers were the pen names of two different columnists, who in fact were sisters.Go, Jason.
(And Josh. And Adam. )
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2006
Jason does seem like a honestly nice guy. Of course he is competitive, but he is also competitive with himself, which is the best way to be. He knows what his weaknesses are and works on them, he skates for himself, not to beat A, B or C. But of couse skating for yourself means winning too.
You nailed it there.
I feel like his buzz this season would be a lot higher if this were his first season making his mark as a senior. But because they have two brilliant programs (Prince and Riverdance) from last season to compare it to, it's easier to take what he does for granted.
I can't remember if I saw it here or somewhere else, but I saw someone say that they were tired of the "introspective, artistic" programs and thus really appreciated what Jason brings when he skates. I love both types of skating, but that's a really valid point to make, especially where the non-uber-fan general public is concerned. As stunning as Joshua's SP is, it's not nearly as likely to grab the public as, say, Riverdance was. Jason does bring a more extroverted performance style (more so in his SP than his FS this year) that's incredibly appealing to people who aren't generally fans of figure skating.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2014
I think the problem is that Jason's Riverdance was a mature take on the extroverted personality he has. It was playful, but not OTT. His SP this season is (sorry to be brash) hokey and cheesy. He went from Riverdance to that? That's why I think a lot of people are finding fault with Jason.
And BTW, a lot of my friends who don't follow FS loved Josh's SP and thought Jason's was unappealing because it just looked so ostentatious and desperate. It's not really fair to generalize what you think the public will like since it's so vast.
