The irrepressible, exasperating Mirai Nagasu, part II

[berthesghost]

Wait.... The Reeds live in Japan? I thought they just showed up once a year for nationals.

And what about the sister who skates for ukrain? I thought they all lived in nj with mom.

[Sparks]

Mirai can stay in the "Debi Thomas" tee-pee in Lake Arrowhead.
The End.

[Sasha'sSpins]

My pet peeve is the assumption that Asian-American figure skaters, particularly those who have earned U.S. national championships at the senior level, have some deep and compelling need to forfeit all the support they have earned from United States Figure Skating, sit out two years, and then represent their ancestral homeland.

ITA on this. My parents are from somewhere else and I'm proud of it but I'm not about to give up my citizenship for the country of their birth and I wouldn't compete for another country if I could.

At her best she can win the US championship quite convincingly.

We all know that a revitalized Nagasu can give basically the entire US field a run for their money. The only exception was perhaps a top-of-her-game Czisny, but that basically never happens. If/when she pulls herself together and gets back to 2010 National/Olympic form, no doubt in my mind she'll go right back to the top. Although she might need a 3-3 in the future...

I think if Mirai makes it back to Worlds and then the Olympics she will absolutely need a 3/3 in her arsenal if she wants to contend for the podium, nevermind the top spot-especially with the junior Russians, and U.S. skaters like Gracie Gold coming up.

[kwanette]

Mirai can stay in the "Debi Thomas" tee-pee in Lake Arrowhead.
The End.

That's what I've always said..

[berthesghost]

Who's left in la?

[pinky166]

Who's left in la?

Raphael Artunian. Mirai says she misses training with Evan and that he always motivated her to work hard. Maybe training with Nathan Chen could have the same effect? . He is moving to train with Raphael full time I believe. I think Artunian is also Denis Ten's main coach now and he is skating much better recently after the nightmarish season he had last year.

[Sylvia]

@SarahandDrew tweeted that Mirai has been added to the Skating Club of Boston's "Ice Chips" show roster (March 31-April 1). Evan Lysacek is the headliner this year.

ETA that Frank Carroll was with Denis Ten at 4 Continents so I think he is still Ten's primary coach. Rafael Arutunian was in the 4CC Kiss and Cry with other skaters, IIRC.

[berthesghost]

Raphael Artunian. Mirai says she misses training with Evan and that he always motivated her to work hard. Maybe training with Nathan Chen could have the same effect? . He is moving to train with Raphael full time I believe. I think Artunian is also Denis Ten's main coach now and he is skating much better recently after the nightmarish season he had last year.

Thanks! I like both Nathan and Denis.

[Susan M]

Every country who is apart of the ISU has the right to send skaters.

Actually, that is true only in theory. In reality, they only have that right if they have a skater with the minimum qualifying score. The thinking that 90- point skaters don't belong at an "ISU championship" isn't really contrary to the ISU's thinking. The difference is over what the qualifying minimum score ought to be. At 4C, I think part of the problem was that some of those skaters did not perform up to their own better efforts. This happen a lot when events are held at Colo Springs because of the altitude.

I'd say it's "elitist" not "controversial". 4cc is suppose to be comparable to euros, and half of the ladies there failed to score 90+ in the lp, so....

The ISU likes to pretend they are comparable but their own rules show they are not. At Europeans, slots are awarded based on prior year results, like at Worlds. At 4C, every country gets three, which can mean some pretty weak competitors get to come sometimes.

Also I remember on a thread some months back talk about Mirai doing pairs.

Mirai is too big for pairs, but the idea that skating with a partner would help build mental discipline is sound. If she is looking for an alternative skating activity to support her singles efforts, she should try ice dance. (Actually, IMO most singles skaters would benefit from some ice dance training, for lots of reasons.)

How many times did people suggest Emily Hughes should go skate for Canada? I think...like...everyone on this board.

Heck, I remember folks suggesting Sarah Hughes skate for Canada. Back around 2000-2001, if you looked at the top 5 or 6 US ladies, all but I think one had a parent or grandparent born in another country, making the athlete eligible to skate for them in the Olympics.

[smarts1]

^ Why does everyone think pairs is the solution to a ladies skater who is a headcase? She's the one who's going to be thrown in the air, not the other way around...

[RD]

I agree, I don't get it at all.

[Wyliefan]

I think it's the "any port in a storm" idea. If you want a skater to do well and singles skating just isn't going so great, it's tempting to start wondering how he or she might do in another discipline.

[Sasha'sSpins]

^ Why does everyone think pairs is the solution to a ladies skater who is a headcase? She's the one who's going to be thrown in the air, not the other way around...

Not everyone-I certainly don't think so. Pairs is an entirely different discipline than singles. The most dangerous imo and someone who apparently has trouble with focusing like Mirai-well I don't know. I disagree with whomever said she was too tall or big for pairs. There have been female pairs skaters as tall as or bigger than Nagasu. Mirai is only about 5'3 or 5'4. With the right partner she certainly could have given pairs a go but she obviously chose singles for a reason.

[LilJen]

Are you done yet? You've been spitting venom at Mirai for a while now.

@Sasha...thank you. I couldn't remember which one it was and I'm glad you, at least, got my point. As I'm typing this, I'm thinking about Eddie Edwards. Do you remember him?

Eddie the Eagle? The ski jumper from Britain? He was AWESOME!! He was having SO MUCH FUN and that was really entertaining to watch.

[berthesghost]

^ Why does everyone think pairs is the solution to a ladies skater who is a headcase? She's the one who's going to be thrown in the air, not the other way around...

Everyone? Head case?

To answer the question "why do some people think pairs is the solution to a ladies skater who can no longer land her triple jumps?", it's an outdated idea to the days of 6.0 when a lady was expected to lay down a 7 triple lp with 2 3zs and a 3/3 while pairs did nothing more difficult than a throw 3r.

Of course, now a lady can do a 5 triple lp with nothing more difficult than a 3r and be the hands down faborite for world champ while the pairs are doing throw quads, throw 3z, throw 3f etc...

[sadya]

I remember reading somewhere (perhaps in a biography of Sjoukje Dijkstra) that in the 60s era people thought ice dancing was very easy and if people didn't do well (enough) in singles skating but wanted to keep skating, they could switch to ice dancing. It wasn't considered a real sport by many athletes and coaches back then. I think even Dijkstra considered ice dancing at a certain point, but I could be wrong about that.

[FiveRinger]

I remember reading somewhere (perhaps in a biography of Sjoukje Dijkstra) that in the 60s era people thought ice dancing was very easy and if people didn't do well (enough) in singles skating but wanted to keep skating, they could switch to ice dancing. It wasn't considered a real sport by many athletes and coaches back then. I think even Dijkstra considered ice dancing at a certain point, but I could be wrong about that.

That assumption makes sense, at least to the public. And there is the safety factor. Not that there aren't injuries in ice dancing, but there don't seem as many or as severe as the other disciplines. Pairs is beautiful to watch but if I had t would o do it I be scared to death.

[berthesghost]

It was only just inthe past 10 years that yags was saying dance so easy it shouldn't be considered a sport.

The sd comment seems odd to me, as pairs in the 60s wasn't dangerous( no overhead lifts, no throws, etc...), plus it didn't require those pesky figures, and dance wasn't even an Olympic sport and certainly didn't have all the lifts and spins it does now, so you really were almost taking yourself out of the sport completely by switching to dance.

[Susan M]

If you want a skater to do well and singles skating just isn't going so great, it's tempting to start wondering how he or she might do in another discipline.

I think the suggestion about pairs was not so much about being able to land jumps but the idea that training with a partner would create a different kind of commitment to practice and motivate her to better mental discipline, an area where she seems to have difficulty if Frank's exasperation is any measure. The problem with that suggestion (apart from having to get down to 100 or so pounds) is that the US men skating pairs kinda suck, so where does this get her?

I was the one who suggested she could add ice dance to her training. I wasn't thinking that she compete dance, but that she practice it. Dance also helps with posture, stroking and edge quality. (Charlie White, for example, originally took up dance to improve his singles skating.)

I remember reading somewhere (perhaps in a biography of Sjoukje Dijkstra) that in the 60s era people thought ice dancing was very easy ... It wasn't considered a real sport by many athletes and coaches back then.

Have you ever seen ice dance from the 60s? It really does look pretty lame. Today most figure skaters would say the ice dancers are actually the best pure skaters among the 4 disciplines. Still, Mirai is actually a pretty strong basic skater (good speed, good edges) so there are others who would benefit from cross-training in dance more than her.

[Dilng]

Everyone? Head case?

To answer the question "why do some people think pairs is the solution to a ladies skater who can no longer land her triple jumps?", it's an outdated idea to the days of 6.0 when a lady was expected to lay down a 7 triple lp with 2 3zs and a 3/3 while pairs did nothing more difficult than a throw 3r.

Of course, now a lady can do a 5 triple lp with nothing more difficult than a 3r and be the hands down faborite for world champ while the pairs are doing throw quads, throw 3z, throw 3f etc...

SO TRUE!!