Should JSF push Marin Honda as No.1?

lol...

I personally believe that recognition should be given when recognition is due and to those who deserves it . Marin and all skaters should earn that recognition and support. There's no denying that Marin has achieved impressive achievements, primarily in junior circuits, and for that she deserves the recognition. But to suggest JSF should make her number 1? Hold it right there.

You can give a skater all the pushes available in the whole wide world, but if the skater cannot deliver in the senior circuit, all the pushes and favouritism will mean nothing. Marin still needs to amp up her games in the senior arena to earn her spot. Up until now: among others, Mao Asada has shown that she deserved the supports with her accolades in senior circuit (silver Olympic medal for one), Satoko Miyahara has shown that she deserves the supports with her consistency, improvements, and achievements in international circuits (one example is being the only Japanese skater to qualify for GPF 2016 and actually won silver and others accolades). Marin, in my opinion, still needs to prove that she deserves the hypes by consistently showing good results in senior competitions.

Figure skating is an art but it is also a sport. Being beautiful is not enough (if being beautiful is the only thing one has to offer, sport might not be his/her right profession then). While it's not a crime to be beautiful, in fact it can be a plus and beautiful is in the eyes of the beholder, at the end of the day, it is the capacity to showcase their talents as athlete and compete well (for competitive athlethes) should be the things that matter most. (I am NOT saying that Marin is only pretty face with no substance though. Please don't misunderstood this point).

Now not all athlete is born with natural talents, but that doesn't mean they automatically lost. Similar to those who was born with the innate raw talent doesn't automatically win. It is those who keeps working hard and training hard and smart that usually emerged victorious. Satoko is an example, and I admire her for that (yes in my eyes, she deserves all the praises they gave her. It takes strong backbones To compete and deliver, or to bounce back after not so satisfying short program under the burden of high expectations, negative comments, or sometimes underserved hates).

So the answer to the question is, and I echo some other opinions: let Marin herself decide and shows whether she can justifieably deserve the support. Too much pressure will only create negative impact on her.

For Olympics spot. I would think all competing countries will want to send their best of the bests there. Considering the limited slot (now with higher stake for JSF since securing three spots becomes more challenging with Satoko withdrawing from Worlds) and only three medals are up for grab against other highly talented competitors like Medvedeva or Pogorilaya (i would think they will compete there), i would think they will carefully select those skaters who has higher chance to deliver under pressures, not just based on how marketable the athletes are, wouldn't it? I personally hope so.

Anyway. Sending all positive vibes to all fans of all skaters. All the best to Marin, Satoko and all of the skaters. All athlete deserve equal and fair chance to fight for the attention and spotlights.

P.S. Sorry if you deemed this offensive but sometimes I wonder why some fans of some skaters find it necessary to bash other skaters or other skaters' fans. You like your biases, while other have their own biases too. You support your biases, others support theirs. It's uncalled for to bash these young athletes or ridiculing their look (yes, they are athletes, so respect them as they should and would like to be respected: based on their achievements not just by their looks).

This might not sit well with some and that will be unfortunate. This is my personal opinion folks, no ill intention to intentionally paint any specific parties in bad light. If you disagree, i respect your opinion as i hope you do mine as well.

Good day all

venx said:

Ask Frank Caroll lol.
Skating skills, performance skills, musicality, lines, arms, correct edges - Marin simply outclasses Gracie in every department besides jumps' height.

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Gracie's jumps aren't better than Marin's. They are not bigger. She can barely rotate her jumps with very little height.

FlattFan said:

Gracie's jumps aren't better than Marin's. They are not bigger. She can barely rotate her jumps with very little height.

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What?! Look at the opening combination here... Gracie's jumps are huge. One bad season != her jumps are tiny and she can't rotate them. Marin's jumps are good but not great; they're not the biggest and she has a bit of a mule kick; she has many things she can improve on, just like any skater...

narcissa said:

What?! Look at the opening combination here... Gracie's jumps are huge. One bad season != her jumps are tiny and she can't rotate them. Marin's jumps are good but not great; they're not the biggest and she has a bit of a mule kick; she has many things she can improve on, just like any skater...

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You are going back 4 years. She hasn't had jumps like that in years. Her jumps are tiny now.

FlattFan said:

You are going back 4 years. She hasn't had jumps like that in years. Her jumps are tiny now.

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Smaller but not tiny...

AnCho said:

Good day all

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Good day, AnCho, and thank you for the thoughtful post.

I think there's different definitions of consistency. Both Marin and Satoko have about the same average placement in internationals in the last 2 seasons. They were both the 6th place qualifier for their respective GPFs this year.

Here's the difference. Satoko shows consistent performance throughout the season to help her contend for World senior podiums. Marin consistently performs lights out when she has to to contend for World junior titles. They're dealing with different pressure situations and probably have different strategies. Satoko basically has to be perfect to maintain her reputation, whereas Marin only has to qualify and skate like she's capable of to be a factor. In terms of international placements, they aren't that different, so using one to prop or bash the other is silly.

Of course, they're playing in different leagues. I think Marin will make a big splash in seniors and the "push" will follow, but if she skates like she did in the SP of the JGPs, she can't be helped but a 100% international podium rate is nothing to scoff at. Who else had that coming out of the JGPs, along with perfect WJC performances? It's not just empty hype.

FlattFan said:

Gracie's jumps aren't better than Marin's. They are not bigger. She can barely rotate her jumps with very little height.

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I am not sure you will ever out-do the "Wakaba Higuchi is ugly" comments in blindness presentation, but it is entertaining to see you're trying. After the Patrick comparison and this, I'm waiting for you to say Marins axel is way better than Yuzurus

Li'Kitsu said:

I am not sure you will ever out-do the "Wakaba Higuchi is ugly" comments in blindness presentation, but it is entertaining to see you're trying. After the Patrick comparison and this, I'm waiting for you to say Marins axel is way better than Yuzurus

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I'm sure her 2A is better than his...

Exactly my point. So many kept on saying Marin is inconsistent. She's a lot more consistent than 99% of them. She skated light out back to back. No one is doing that except 2 or 3 girls. Give the US girls Marin's consistency, please. Or anyone not named Alina, Satoko, evgenia.

Li'Kitsu said:

I am not sure you will ever out-do the "Wakaba Higuchi is ugly" comments in blindness presentation, but it is entertaining to see you're trying. After the Patrick comparison and this, I'm waiting for you to say Marins axel is way better than Yuzurus

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You are really thick, aren't you. She's showing the kind of ease in step sequence that Patrick has. What is so hard to understand?
Wakaba is messier and uglier on the presentation side. It's not an opinion. All judges agreed.

FlattFan said:

You are really thick, aren't you. She's showing the kind of ease in step sequence that Patrick has. What is so hard to understand?
Wakaba is messier and uglier on the presentation side. It's not an opinion. All judges agreed.

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Hon, that's not what you said. You clearly said Wakaba was 'unlucky in the looks department' and other things making it really obvious you didn't refer to her skating, but were throwing down-putting comments to her as a person. So no weaseling out of that BS with that presentation side comment.

Li'Kitsu said:

Hon, that's not what you said. You clearly said Wakaba was 'unlucky in the looks department' and other things making it really obvious you didn't refer to her skating, but were throwing down-putting comments to her as a person. So no weaseling out of that BS with that presentation side comment.

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I said compare to Marin. Do you understand adjective + er? Older is not old, just older. Prettier is not pretty, just prettier. If I say you are smarter than a rock, I'm not complementing you.

FlattFan said:

I said compare to Marin. Do you understand adjective + er? Older is not old, just older. Prettier is not pretty, just prettier. If I say you are smarter than a rock, I'm not complementing you.

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Lol, no. I remember those comments too and they weren't "Wakaba is pretty but Marin's prettier".

FlattFan said:

When you are picked to do something, whether at work or at school, is it disrespectful to other people? Maybe, but life isn't fair. Opportunities aren't readily available for everyone.

I didn't say she's consistent. Some of you said she's inconsistent. Well, if she is inconsistent, most of the girls are like that too. She managed to earn her spot on the team, earned her spot at the gpf for both year, earned her medals at the biggest event back to back. And someone kept on saying she's inconsistent. Well who is? If you steadily make the gpf and steadily earn your world spot, and steadily earn your world medal, how are you inconsistent? How many girls are more consistent? How is their result?

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No ... it's disrespectful to favour or give special treatment to her. You clearly didn't read my previous post with comprehension so your reply was not associated to my point. We don't know yet how the things are going to pan out and what kind of improvements other skaters can make. I don't question her success and I actually agree with you that people exaggerate inconsistency problem of Honda.

Ares said:

No ... it's disrespectful to favour or give special treatment to her. You clearly didn't read my previous post with comprehension so your reply was not associated to my point. We don't know yet how the things are going to pan out and what kind of improvements other skaters can make. I don't question her success and I actually agree with you that people exaggerate inconsistency problem of Honda.

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No. It is disrespectful to give her PCS the same as the other girls when she's head and shoulder above them. I'm talking about how her PCS at Nationals are so low.
Is it disrespectful to other skaters when Jason Brown got much higher PCS than them?

What we do know now is she has very good skating skills, why isn't that reflected in her score. Do you honestly believe that her score are deserved compare to her peers?

FlattFan said:

I said compare to Marin. Do you understand adjective + er? Older is not old, just older. Prettier is not pretty, just prettier. If I say you are smarter than a rock, I'm not complementing you.

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Cute how the defense strategy changed to something completely else from your last post - and it's still not what you said either.

And really, you can stop trying to tell me I'm dumb - I honestly don't care what you think. And even if I was dumb, it would not change how rude and ridiculous your comments towards Wakaba were, so no help done.

Li'Kitsu said:

Cute how the defense strategy changed to something completely else from your last post - and it's still not what you said either.

And really, you can stop trying to tell me I'm dumb - I honestly don't care what you think. And even if I was dumb, it would not change how rude and ridiculous your comments towards Wakaba were, so no help done.

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I didn't say you were dumb. You were obviously troubled about Yuzuru getting beat by Nathan, and freaked out for no reason. I don't really care about you. I can tell you this, if Wakaba so much place out of the top 10 this year, she's done for good. No Olympics, no World spot for her, no brownie points from JSF from now on.

Isn't this Wakababy's first Senior WC? It would seem rather rash and shortsided to finish her off if she struggles. I honestly think with her jump technique and what appears to be a gradual growth in presentation she may posses the most potential for an increase in overall scoring ability of anyone competing this year.