2017 U.S. Nationals Championship Men SP

[Mrs. P]

First of all, Nathan!

Emotional moments for me: Ross did skate very well, which we haven't seen from him for a long time. Job well done! :thumbsup:
Sean for his clean skate! Moeller and Phan, must have been so hard coming back from injuries.

Sad for Jason and Max. I am more worried about their fans like karne... Is she alright? to their fans. Hopefully they will regain themselves and strong showings in FS. Fingers crossed. btw, I really loved Max's new look on ice, including the costume. :agree:

Personally I loved Kevin Shum, first time for me to see his skate but he has pretty good staking skills I thougt. Our commentary said he studies in MIT. :shocked: AMAGING!
Savary, Zhou, Torgashev all have a bright future ahead of them. Please keep improving, and most importantly please stay healthy. :yes:

Onto FS. Good luck again to all! :clapper:

Oh yeah, how could I forget Kevin Shum! He did some sort of M.I.T. gesture with his hands in the K&C. I agree deedee, I enjoyed his performance. Jimmy Ma's skate was entertaining too!

 

[KatGrace1925]

I can't go to sleep now, it's only 4:30pm.

My family was gathered around watching and jumping up and shouting when Max fell! I need him on the world team, I just can't...

 

[gravy]

Forgot to say this: thank y'all for distracting me today from paying attention to the death of America. hwell:

 

[da96103]

My family was gathered around watching and jumping up and shouting when Max fell! I need him on the world team, I just can't...

And...? They went silent?

 

[KatGrace1925]

And...? They went silent?

And they actually all walked away. And then they came back when I announced Nathan was on.

 

[da96103]

And they actually all walked away. And then they came back when I announced Nathan was on.

Lol, your family is savage!

 

[KatGrace1925]

Lol, your family is savage!

I can't wait to see their reactions to the long programs!

 

[waxel]

Forgot to say this: thank y'all for distracting me today from paying attention to the death of America. hwell:

gravy- I tried to thank you for the sentiment. Then gave a few thoughts on US Nats so far ... but got deleted for writing the word 'as*' ... as in Ross skated his 'as*' off tonight. Seriously GS... ? Aren't we adults on this forum? Sheesh.v

 

[da96103]

When Nathan finished his SP, his shirt button gave up trying to hold everything together. Those torque forces from the quadruples destroyed the buttons.

 

[Crossover]

I haven't seen anything, so just checked the result and :eekn:

Nothing surprising about Nathan being first and his score because it's Nationals and his potential is always great given his quads and artistry.

However, what makes me surprised the most is Jason and Max......I naturally expected them to be in top 3 but Ross and Vincent are 2nd and 3rd respectively instead. Anything can happen in the Free, but....

 

[FlattFan]

Nathan & Vincent are the future. Stop investing on people who will never be able to do consistent 3As and have no quads. They will never go anywhere. 0 chance. Seriously, if you think the slow but steady approach is ideal, you are out of your mind. This is not a marathon. If you can't do a good 3A at this point, it's over.

Nathan, if skated like this again and again, will break 110 easily. His PCS at GPF was 84+ in the LP, so that's like 42+ in the SP. I think repeating this skate at world will net him at least 105. Only Hanyu can beat this score. Going into the LP as 2nd place, his PCS will be closer to 90. I think he will be on the podium. He can beat a clean Shoma with low reputation. Going to World as US #1 will give him a huge boost.

I think Nathan can place 1st or 2nd at world if clean, and Vincent will only need to place in the top 10, which should be doable.

 

[chairmanmao]

You have to hand it to Nathan. He went from landing iffy 3A's in the GP's to landing one from a spread eagle. That must be discouraging for those who are still stuck with no quads and woeful 3A's.

 

[zschultz1986]

Nathan & Vincent are the future. Stop investing on people who will never be able to do consistent 3As and have no quads. They will never go anywhere. 0 chance. Seriously, if you think the slow but steady approach is ideal, you are out of your mind. This is not a marathon. If you can't do a good 3A at this point, it's over.

Nathan, if skated like this again and again, will break 110 easily. His PCS at GPF was 84+ in the LP, so that's like 42+ in the SP. I think repeating this skate at world will net him at least 105. Only Hanyu can beat this score. Going into the LP as 2nd place, his PCS will be closer to 90. I think he will be on the podium. He can beat a clean Shoma with low reputation. Going to World as US #1 will give him a huge boost.

I think Nathan can place 1st or 2nd at world if clean, and Vincent will only need to place in the top 10, which should be doable.

And a fan of Rachel Flatt would know all about the USFSA investing poorly and in the wrong people. I'm unsure of what your problem is. Vincent is third and Chen is the runaway winner and scored 106. Vincent had a scratchy 3A which he lost points on and still was only one point lower than Ross. I agree Vincent has a bright future. I'm sure his PCS will skyrocket if he skates a clean free. I wouldn't say Chen is the future when he is most certainly equipped now to compete internationally and has done so successfully. Also, saying Nathan can be first or second if clean is dismissing three or all of a clean Javi, Shoma, Hanyu, and maybe Chan.

Chen will be the winner of this Nationals. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion unless he injures himself in the free (something no one wants to see.) So what, exactly, is your gripe?

 

[kptnciam]

I can't believe some of the things I'm reading. So, figure skating is, simply, a means to get a medal or success in the sport world? It doesn't matter the journey, the art, what you feel in every program...? I can't :hpull:

OMG So many thoughts and so many things to say, but for now, I'll only focus on one thing.

Even some of Jason Brown's positions aren't too good anymore. The footwork makes no sense. No big ideas or deep emotions or interesting movements are being conveyed overall by the competitors.
Nathan Chen has brought the Quads but I just don't care. It's in service of nothing. He deserves lots of credit for delivering but this just isn't what skating should be.

Wow - a guy has a stress fracture in his leg, skates a beautiful program with a few screw-ups and all of a sudden he's out of the picture. But excuses are being made for other skaters right and left - a new program, skate Gods against them, yada! yada! The ice is slippery people! On any given day a skater can excel or splat. The splatting is unfortunate when it happens at US Nationals. But that's the sport. It all comes down to "what have you done for me lately!" I think Nathan did a great job but I still fear for his physical well-being with (1) practicing a zillion quads; and (2) landing those zillion quads. At least he has relatively good performance skills and it's not just a jump fest.

It's just discouraging to come in here and read all the negativity about everyone except the top 3 after the SP. It can all change in the free skate.

Jason is obviously injured so I wouldn't make tonight a referendum on his career. Adam managed to make the GPF before he got injured. It's not that bleak.

I like these comments and agree with them !!!

I mean, besides Jason (and Adam who's not competing ), in general, US men skating doesn't give me anything, at all. Of course I know that jumps need to be there and, at the end, they sum a lot of points, but (using both extremes, in this case) I felt total indiference with Nathan's SP :yawn:, and on the other hand, Jason let me in his artpiece :luv17: .

And now I'm getting emotional: I know Jason can't give us the jumps that are needed to be on a world podium, right now, but... how can we allow his skating to go to waste? It's just magical, unique, needs to be shared with the rest of the world!!!! I really hope he can do enough in the FS so he can get up there (behind Nathan...) and make it to Helsinki.

 

[Jaana]

Chen – what an amazing performance, WOW!!! He sure has become a total package.... This is the skater among US men I really enjoy watching

Aaron – feeling so sad for his perfrmance... I wonder if his training contunually has been concentrating too much on his PCS and way too little on the technical side where his real strength is? Most of his jumps have soooo many minuses now and he had only one level 4 spin (one was level 2 and the second level 1...).

Zhou – what a great performance!

Miner – a Jason Brown type of techncal content, but this skater performed his stuff well.

Brown – held up by the judges in PCS and not so great in jumps, except the combination. He though gave an excellent puppy like performance in K & C.

 

[karne]

I am more worried about their fans like karne... Is she alright? to their fans. Hopefully they will regain themselves and strong showings in FS. Fingers crossed. btw, I really loved Max's new look on ice, including the costume. :agree:

I think shellshocked would be the right word to describe me right now. But there was enough to love about Max's program to not completely despair.

My family was gathered around watching and jumping up and shouting when Max fell! I need him on the world team, I just can't...

Me too.

Seriously GS... ? Aren't we adults on this forum? Sheesh.v

Not to be pedantic but there are minors here.

I can't believe some of the things I'm reading. So, figure skating is, simply, a means to get a medal or success in the sport world? It doesn't matter the journey, the art, what you feel in every program...? I can't :hpull:

It is particularly this year as this is the year they fight for Olympic spots. The US needs to send a good strong team to Helsinki so that they can earn back that third spot.

Aaron – feeling so sad for his perfrmance... I wonder if his training contunually has been concentrating too much on his PCS and way too little on the technical side where his real strength is?

Ah, but if he concentrates on his jumps too much, people complain.

 

[kptnciam]

It is particularly this year as this is the year they fight for Olympic spots. The US needs to send a good strong team to Helsinki so that they can earn back that third spot.

True that

 

[liv]

Good job from Nathan. The boy has no fear and it is paying off. Typical Nats inflation, but it is a sign of things to come.

 

[sunnystars]

Can I hope for Max to keep his Toreador SP for the ENTIRE Olympic season now?

 

[tulosai]

Can I hope for Max to keep his Toreador SP for the ENTIRE Olympic season now?

This is my hope too. Mistakes aside I do think it's his best SP ever, it would be a shame if this is the only time we ever see it.