...
As much as I love the commitment of J/C, their fierceness, their connection with the public, they still have to refine a lot of their skating to be at the level of the first 4-5 teams...
This being said, I also wish them to fix on little thing at a time... so we can enjoy them improving over the year...
I think they will have their shot very soon...
You make a good case for Meagan and Eric. And I have been a champion of D/R previously when they were always being torn down by haters. However, I am not seeing huge growth from them. Yes, this is a nice program for D/R, and they went to John Zimmerman and John Kerr for a reason. J/C's breakthrough with Zimmerman and Kerr is the reason, let's be honest. D/R were looking for some fresh spark. They had some problems last season with ideas, program layout and performance execution. Then Eric's injury hampered them too.
The 'refinement' argument is so overdone, I'm tired of hearing it. The same was always always said regarding Surya Bonaly. Similar is being said about Gabby Daleman. It's really because when skaters like J/C do improve, we must find more that they need to improve at. J/C have been a good team technically for awhile, especially since they made their 3-twist more consistent. They went to Russia to train in order to work on refinements. Now, it's just a matter that TPTB need to find excuses not to reward them for how good they are, since their magical breakthrough with Zimmerman/Kerr/Barrett/Fontana. This wasn't J/C's best skate, but it was pretty d**n good. Their best always has to be better. Vanessa knows that, and that's why she's cool and gracious in the kiss 'n cry. Morgan is usually fit to be tied. He was quietly questioning the score, and he's not wrong to wonder.