Richard Dornbush performances

[arakwafan2006]

Oh no! When all else fails, blame the coach??? Seriously, I don't know enough about Tammy Gambill and her coaching skills and her relationship with Richard, but I definitely would not presume to suggest that Ricky's problems this season mean he needs to switch coaches. When everything is peachy keen, the view is "What a great team they make," "What a wonderful relationship they have." As soon as the skater runs into problems with subpar performances, "Boy, that coach has got to go!" And, jeez, in the process of throwing Tammy out with the baby and the bath water, why cast negative aspersions on Priscilla Hill?!!!

Again, what do I know? -- However, as I mentioned previously, perhaps it has been the pressure of coming back this season being touted as "a top U.S. men's skater" and also the difficulties of training the quad which may have thrown off Ricky's rhythm and confidence on all of his jumps.

Looking on the bright side, I wish Richard and Tammy lots of good luck and a fresh perspective that will lead to renewed success. To Tammy's credit, she has additional young talent in junior skater, Philip Warren, who performed quite well at Nats winning the bronze medal in the Junior Men's event. :)

Why cant a skater just have a bad season? Do you guys think it's easy to step into those shoes as a national champion? An artist? To match or surpass what he did in 2011? He's gotta learn that. Everything cant be explained and sometimes, a skater is just learning how to be who they now are. Chill...

[pinky166]

Why cant a skater just have a bad season? Do you guys think it's easy to step into those shoes as a national champion? An artist? To match or surpass what he did in 2011? He's gotta learn that. Everything cant be explained and sometimes, a skater is just learning how to be who they now are. Chill...

Well, this is true. I mean, everyone falls and has rough days. But what happened to him in his nationals SP and in both programs at 4CC...all those pops, that's not just having an "off night". It speaks to a bigger problem. Most likely, this issue is psychological as Ricky never mentioned being injured and as we saw in his nationals FS, he CAN do all the elements in his programs. His GP events were not concerning, he maybe didn't fair as well as some hoped, but he skated respectably. But then again, he didn't really have much on the line/to prove at his GPs but definitely did at nats/4CC. I personally am not too concerned, the kid was a 2nd tier skater competing on the junior ranks with no real hype just last season, then he came out of nowhere to win the JGPF in landslide fashion and win silver at US Nationals and make the top 10 at Worlds. Boom, pressure, and lots of it. It's a new experience so it's not that surprising he freaked out a bit. In the period of a few months he went from being just another junior skater with potential to being one of the top senior men in the US and a prime olympic hopeful with everyone's eyes on him. I'd freak out too if I were in that situation.

Also, JWe mentioned this when Keegan skated his free at Nats, but it's tough when the audience likes you, because you feel more pressure to deliver for them, to have them keep liking you and show off your unique traits that make them smile. Ricky definitely has a lot of fans because he's silly, cute, and has fun programs. And further he's one of the top skaters in the nation but still seems to be like a normal kid, no diva attitude happening there. The audience buys right into it, and so that's added pressure on top of the pressure he already had after all his accomplishments last season, and then at 4CC there was the addition pressure of proving he was the right pick.

[LilJen]

I wonder why USFS didn't send Armin to the Challenge Cup? Idk if he has interest in going but you'd think they'd at least offer it to him as a consolation prize considering other US entrants are going.

I thought of that, too. :(

[Sylvia]

Challenge Cup wouldn't count for a Season Best score, and that's what Mahbanoozadeh needed to improve on for next season (he's currently #38 on the SB list).

Abbott and Czisny are going to Challenge Cup as preparation for Worlds; normally these spring internationals are for developmental purposes only -- for skaters who have yet to compete internationally and are JGP age-eligible next season.

Note to stevlin: I've searched youtube for Dornbush's Nationals and 4CC programs but haven't found anything, sorry.

[stevlin]

Thank you Sylvia for looking.