McLaughlin and Brubaker are done!!! :(

[Valentina]

i did nots ee this caming. I really thing they could have a nice future.

[Twilight1]

I find this incredibly sad. I actually liked this team and wished them much success.

[Frau Muller]

The Puberty Monster has just taken another victim. Nonetheless, Keauna is wise to recognize how she has changed and to move on. This is preferable to continuing to shed the big bucks and see worsening results year after year. She is young enough to find and embrace a new passion.

[Lanie]

What a shame.

[MountainTime]

Keauna missed dinner at Skate For Hope due to a schedule change on her airline ticket. As for chemistry, I often thought I needed a cold shower after watching them skate. Gorgeous people inside and out.

[Theatregirl1122]

Keauna and Rockne have had their issues but I loved watching them. I am very sad to see them split. I was hoping we were out of the woods concerning a possible split when they said at the beginning of the summer that they were staying together. I'm so disappointed to hear this. But I hope that they both do well in their futures in and out of skating.

[skatak]

may not be easy to have 'less success' on purpose... maybe more on the coach side to make them understand nothing is granted in advance. shame that at the end their early success may have been detrimental !

[blue_idealist]

This isn't really a surprise to me, since they had problems at US Nationals and I'd read before somewhere that they didn't get along off-ice (although I know this could be untrue). I wasn't really a fan of R&K because I didn't get to see them that many times, and when I did, it seemed to be their bad performances I saw. lol.

More importantly to me.. are my eyes playing tricks on me.. or did someone on the last page say that Inoue and Baldwin are competing next season?! I'm one of those (seemingly few) who still likes them.

[personwhoishere]

Oh no
I enjoyed their skating very much.
Sad to see them calling it quits.

[Pretty Vegas]

Yeah, I thought when they didn't break up immediately after Nationals or after the season was over, that they were going to stick it out. This depresses me greatly. I hope Rockne is able to find another partner because I just love himmmm.

[Jenna]

Another factor: Who will they be replaced by on the GP?

[stjeaskategym]

They were together for years -- first junior, then senior. I don't see this as any desire for instant results or instant fame.

They were most successful on the junior circuit and when they first began competing internationally as seniors -- when she was quite a bit smaller. (She's still tiny, but definitely taller and more filled out.) That was also before he had back problems.

I'm sure that this was a horribly discouraging season, particularly not making the Olympic team. But there have been several years of questioning about whether this was likely going to be a long-term pair given his height and her growth. I do think that the problems she had on throw jumps were significantly related to her growth -- she was like a rock on them in earlier years.

I know I've had a similar discussion before with you, but that's alright.

His back injury was with his previous partner. There hasn't been mention of one since. This was probably the first year where we hadn't heard publicly of an injury with him. He seemed to have made a good recovery from his surgery before last season.

I just wanted to see them do throws not at the dead end of their programs which they have done the past two seasons now. I don't think she was ever a rock on throws when she was "smaller", at least not in competition. '07-'08 was the first year they were doing two throw triples in competition and she was not a rock. The following year, they had throws buried at the end of both the SP and LP, and the SP ones produced the most mistakes. So I'm not seeing this "she was a rock" that you speak of.

Sure, I agree with you that it's harder to throw someone when they grow, but you can try to make adjustments. Watching them land throw after throw out of competition this season, I really don't believe there weren't adjustments that could have been made to help their in-competition performance. A throw 3loop at the dead end of your program is crazy hard, and that's probably why nobody does it.

I don't understand why you would immediately expect them to have the same success on the Sr level as they did in Jrs. That Jr success wasn't because she was smaller, Sr Pairs is just different than Jrs. This is not like singles skating where you can come out of Jrs and win Sr Worlds like Yu-Na Kim. Pairs is a completely different game. Considering that they were doing better in Srs than just about everyone coming out of Jrs, I didn't find anything alarming. Heck, Bezic and Hersh said something negative about the early part of their '08-'09 season when there was really not a darn thing disappointing about it. I think people may have just expected too much too fast, or had been spoiled early by the results they were getting. So I suppose we can agree to disagree about missing out on one Olympic team being that devastating for them and too much to overcome.

First of all, I really don't think I blew things out of proportion, you did. All I said was that Keauna struggled with the SBS triples most likely due to nerves (which is COMPLETELY understandable), and that undoubtedly costs them points. They had several fluke mistakes in Spokane like falling on the death spiral, which cost them more points, miring them in 7th after the short. After this it was tough to come back, even though their free skate was decent.

I apologize if I misinterpreted what you wrote. You stated that they were "in trouble when a strong element like a death spiral evaded them in Spokane." To me, that came across as you thinking the death spiral was a problem. All I was trying to say is that I believed it was a total fluke that unfortunately happened at the worst time. I agree with you about the jumping.

The fact that you think that this decision was made based on posts at FSU is . If they take the things we delirious skating fans say that seriously, they have bigger problems then Keauna's figure skating.

I am sure I am not thinking right, but that's just because I've been following this pair for a long while and saw great things for them. This is an oddly-timed split to me so I'm just thinking in my head what could have went wrong. I know this decision wasn't based on FSU posts, but who the hell knows what exactly triggered this decision. You never know when that type of negativity can seep into an athlete's brain. I guess my point is that fans/media sometimes blow things out of proportion.

P.S. I sort of had a vision - Amanda Dobbs and Rockne Brubaker. That would be a great match up, I think!

I'd say Dobbs is entirely too tall for him. But I feel really bad for him and want this to work out for him... He's so great, but finding a partner who is short, good, matches him well, and doesn't have anything to do right now will require some good luck.

[MOIJTO]

Not surprised, last season was a disaster and they should have never won in 09! But it is the way with American pairs...so it goes!

[skatak]

Thinking about it, I remember screening all the pics made before the Olys by members of the US team... before it was official. Another thing to get on with, you pose for pics, get presented as Olympian, and watch everything at home. damn.

[Aussie Willy]

Such a shame. I really liked them.

[DORISPULASKI]

for me unexpected.

denny & barret does have competition from evora & ladwig, and other pairs.

but as far as denny & barrett goes. i personnally think he needs to lift weight and get more speed, because there are times i though he would drop her /and or she looked heavy in the lifts ( i mean he looked like he was struggling holding her up.)

Jeremy can stay as he is, but I wish Caydee would stop trying to look like Nancy Grace and get a more flattering, younger hairstyle and makeup.

[figsrus]

Rockne's thoughts: http://www.universalsports.com/blogs...id=479237.html

[Verbalgirl77]

Man, this is sad. I hope Rockne can find a new partner and get back out there ASAP.

[Pairsis]

I wonder if Rockne will return to Colorado Springs? Doesn't his brother live and train there, and if I remember he was very close with his coach Dalilah Sappenfield.

[barbk]

I know I've had a similar discussion before with you, but that's alright.

His back injury was with his previous partner. There hasn't been mention of one since. This was probably the first year where we hadn't heard publicly of an injury with him. He seemed to have made a good recovery from his surgery before last season.

I just wanted to see them do throws not at the dead end of their programs which they have done the past two seasons now. I don't think she was ever a rock on throws when she was "smaller", at least not in competition. '07-'08 was the first year they were doing two throw triples in competition and she was not a rock. The following year, they had throws buried at the end of both the SP and LP, and the SP ones produced the most mistakes. So I'm not seeing this "she was a rock" that you speak of.

Sure, I agree with you that it's harder to throw someone when they grow, but you can try to make adjustments. Watching them land throw after throw out of competition this season, I really don't believe there weren't adjustments that could have been made to help their in-competition performance. A throw 3loop at the dead end of your program is crazy hard, and that's probably why nobody does it.

I'm in Colorado, and I've had opportunities to see them since they first started performing together -- my memory is that the throw jumps that seemed effortless when she was younger and smaller now seem like a lot of work. Perhaps it is the placement in the program -- but it still seemed to be true even watching them in exhibitions or practices. It just looked like a lot more work, and she didn't look as tight on the rotations.

He had to withdraw from the GP Final in 2007 -- my memory was that it was a back injury, but I don't see any indication of the specifics in the first set of search results. His abdominal muscle tears more recently can't have helped with the throws.