2016 Skate America Ladies FS

[Meoima]

I have rewatched some jumps in slow-mo: Ashley's 3T was almost <<, the second 3Lo should be <. Luckily the judges didn't call them, it might have made a difference on the podium places.

Well tech panel fight with the judges actually. Tech panel can give out as many calls as they want and judges will inflate GOE and PCS as much as they want.

 

[Barb]

Gracie just looked pale to me. Pale and if she didn't want to be there. Who knows what's going on there. I feel sorry for her. I was never in her camp but what she's going through at the moment can only be described as heartbreaking and that's what it must feel like for her supporters to. While I like Mao I don't feel as heartbroken for her as for Gracie and Kanako. Mai Mihara still bores me. Gabrielle Daleman improves steadily I think. I liked her more feminine looks this time. Serafima I remember being praised as the next best thing out of Russias junior flock, but I honestly don't see the appeal. Even without the faulty skating she's not one who leaves an impression. As always, imho.

well, that dress did not help. Too much gold.

 

[hugo]

As for today, it seems to be sure that Wagner (and other girls as well) is not capable to compete with Evgenia and Satoko. Even with "home cooking" she can't reach 200 pts... (low bv, no level4 elements, many technical mistakes). I hope that judgies will stop feeding her with these huge not deserved PCS.

 

[katymay]

Gracie says she blames her poor skating on weight issues? As an elite athlete shouldn't she have that all worked out?

You would think, although I have noticed in years her weight tends to see saw., at one point she seemed to have lost an alarming amount of weight. But I feel Gold's problem is work ethic. She would rather do other things. (commercials, appearances and so on) If she had Ashley's work ethic, I hate to think of how great she could have been. But she doesn't, and natural talent can only take you so far. The long program takes terrific stamina, and doing it over and over and over again....as Ashley does. Gold's program looks as if she is trying to remember what the next segment is.

 

[katymay]

And she's really cute too! And very pleasant to talk to.....and she's really patient with the kids in the stands when she sits there....and with us bigger kids!
http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/C...l 2015/a m 1_zpsbe9rjxal.jpg.html?sort=3&o=16

She is a doll. Cute as a button.

 

[Shayuki]

Couldn't watch this live so just watched it on Youtube. First of all, not at all surprised about Gold's failure here. Good thing that her PCS seems to be falling more in line with these failed programs, too. This failure was even highlighted by how weak the winner's performance was - This GP offered a win to Gold on a silver platter. She's out of the Grand Prix finals, deservedly.

What was not deserved in my opinion, however, was Ashley Wagner winning the competition. In my opinion, Mariah Bell deserved to, but Ashley "70 PCS" Wagner was gifted the massive homefield judging advantage, as if they forgot that Bell is also American. This was not in my opinion even close to Wagner's best programs PCS-wise and considering the technical content(Or rather, the lack of it), this should not have been over 120 points as far as I'm concerned.

Apart from Bell(Who I was very happy for even if she got robbed off a gold medal), I found this competition to be very disappointing overall. Doubled jumps, fallen jumps, a Gold meltdown of epic proportions and Wagner winning with a combination of programs that might not even medal in some other GPs. Hopefully the next event is of higher quality.


As for Asada, hopefully it's just injury issues and she will be better when she heals, as otherwise it's looking like she's getting ready for retirement.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

You would think, although I have noticed in years her weight tends to see saw., at one point she seemed to have lost an alarming amount of weight. But I feel Gold's problem is work ethic. She would rather do other things. (commercials, appearances and so on) If she had Ashley's work ethic, I hate to think of how great she could have been. But she doesn't, and natural talent can only take you so far. The long program takes terrific stamina, and doing it over and over and over again....as Ashley does. Gold's program looks as if she is trying to remember what the next segment is.

That's not a fair thing to say IMO. Just because things are not working for her, we can't make assumptions about how much effort she's putting in. And Ashley is a very different person. The main difference isn't the work ethic, but that Ashley goes out there and attacks, while Gracie doesn't seem to handle all the pressure and expectation all that well.

The comparison is also off. Where was Ashley when she was Gracie's age? Arguably further away from any big medals as Gracie is now. They also had very different situations, and still do. Ashley was the 'almost girl', written off by a lot of people. Gracie is the 'chosen golden girl' with a lot of pressure and expectations heaped on her basically over night. Ashley did a great job of working her way up from her underdog status, while Gracie is struggling. But we don't know how either would have done in the other ladies shoes, no matter their respective 'work ethics'.

 

[Rissa]

Here are some of the opinions of a casual FS watcher (meaning my mom who sometimes looked up from her tablet while I was watching)

Favorites: Mariah Bell and Mai Mihara.

My mom thought everything in Mariah's performance flowed perfectly with the music.

Mai gave her energetic and youthful vibe. Also, she apparently looked twelve.

Ashley needs more powerful music according to my mom.

Gracie didn't engage her.

Mao's choreography was boring and didn't flow with the music.

 

[ordinary person]

It almost looks as though Gracie has worn her attached bottom briefs under her tights like Mao. :reye:

http://c7.alamy.com/comp/E95RPK/mao...-figure-skating-gala-exhibition-at-E95RPK.jpg

http://sportsspecial.mainichi.jp/graph/2014sochi/sochiexhibition/021.html

It's never a good look when your costume is all tan. :disapp:

 

[FSGMT]

As for today, it seems to be sure that Wagner (and other girls as well) is not capable to compete with Evgenia and Satoko. Even with "home cooking" she can't reach 200 pts... (low bv, no level4 elements, many technical mistakes). I hope that judgies will stop feeding her with these huge not deserved PCS.

TBH, yesterday didn't look as her best jumping day: everyone has better and worse days, and (even without considering the mistakes) her elements yesterday simply didn't look as effortless and confident as in the SP, but she was still able to keep everything together and land most of her planned content. The only big thing is that she missed the 1Lo+3S combo and had to try to replace it later with that awkward 1T thing, I'm perfectly confident that on a good day she has more than excellent chances to score 200+. Beating Medvedeva is still another thing of course

 

[miki88]

Not that impressed with Mariah. Maybe it was high expectations after reading so much praise for her performance from others. Or because she was skating to East of Eden. She skates somewhat juinorish. The choreography is nice with quite a few spirals but she didn't hold any of them to make an impact. It feels rushed and like she's doing transitions just for the sake of points. But good for her for skating an almost clean program. It just wasn't as exciting as watching Mirai's breakthrough years ago.

 

[Barb]

Not that impressed with Mariah. Maybe it was high expectations after reading so much praise for her performance from others. Or because she was skating to East of Eden. She skates somewhat juinorish. The choreography is nice with quite a few spirals but she didn't hold any of them to make an impact. It feels rushed and like she's doing transitions just for the sake of points. But good for her for skating an almost clean program. It just wasn't as exciting as watching Mirai's breakthrough years ago.

This is a BIG problem in her SP, in the LP is less.

 

[blue_ice]

You would think, although I have noticed in years her weight tends to see saw., at one point she seemed to have lost an alarming amount of weight. But I feel Gold's problem is work ethic. She would rather do other things. (commercials, appearances and so on) If she had Ashley's work ethic, I hate to think of how great she could have been. But she doesn't, and natural talent can only take you so far. The long program takes terrific stamina, and doing it over and over and over again....as Ashley does. Gold's program looks as if she is trying to remember what the next segment is.

I agree, I think the issue is luck of proper training.

 

[lao1234]

I noticed Mariah's long limbs right away...her body proportions remind me of Berezhnaya/Gordeeva. Long limbed people always look taller than their same height peers with not quite as long limbs.
Perfect example from the past is Berezhnaya vs. Jamie Sale

 

[noidont]

I'm just catching up with this, but it's not as bad an event as being described here. Really enjoyed Gracie and Mariah.

 

[gotoschool]

Here are some of the opinions of a casual FS watcher (meaning my mom who sometimes looked up from her tablet while I was watching)

Favorites: Mariah Bell and Mai Mihara.

My mom thought everything in Mariah's performance flowed perfectly with the music.

Mai gave her energetic and youthful vibe. Also, she apparently looked twelve.

Ashley needs more powerful music according to my mom.

Gracie didn't engage her.

Mao's choreography was boring and didn't flow with the music.

I don't know what your opinions of Mao's performance are, personally I love Mao's choreography, step sequence, flow and expression a whole lot, but here is an icenetwork article that shows how strongly others disagree with your mom's negative assessment.

http://www.insideskating.net/2016/1...addictive-mao-asadas-programs-for-this-season

 

[Ross74]

Here are some of the opinions of a casual FS watcher (meaning my mom who sometimes looked up from her tablet while I was watching)

Favorites: Mariah Bell and Mai Mihara.

My mom thought everything in Mariah's performance flowed perfectly with the music.

Mai gave her energetic and youthful vibe. Also, she apparently looked twelve.

Ashley needs more powerful music according to my mom.

Gracie didn't engage her.

Mao's choreography was boring and didn't flow with the music.

I think I'm your mom!

 

[georgia]

I think we should leave Gracie along..we all have/had a bad day, month or year at work. I think a new coach might bring the joy into her skating again. Some times change help people. I think Mariah was great yesterday! That's how joy looks!
What a beautiful Skate for Ashley. The soft hands...ah those hands! The program with time will become one for the ages. May God keep her healthy! A lot of fans there yesterday. Keep in mind the upper Great Lakes competition is going on at the same time and coaches and skaters are there. What a great foot work by Mao. The Canadian girl rocks those jumps! A thing of beauty to see. On my way to Sears center to see the boys! Too much fun!

 

[gotoschool]

Maria Polonius was just sharing their mom's "casual fan" impressions. I think that's why the emoji appeared next to mom's opinion of Mao. It's funny because it's surprising I think. Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

Thanks for the heads up Sam Skwantch. I didn't see that Maria Polonius wasn't the poster so I changed my comment a bit.

 

[mary01]

Could someone please post the protocols for the fs again, i have been looking for it