US Pairs 2012-13 news & updates

[Jem X]

He's pictured in 3 photos in the gallery (includes photos of Christy Krall and Todd Eldredge): http://parkridge.suntimes.com/photos...story=17234990

My nephew is in one of those photos with Rockne, standing behind a small girl in pink, watching Rockne

He's the taller boy behind the girl in pink.

[Jem X]

I have just been informed that the boy in midjump identified as Paul is really my nephew Cullen. His mom was happy to see those pictures. Thanks, Sylvia!

[Sylvia]

You're welcome, Jem X!

Positive-sounding tweet by @Sarahand Drew last night:
"SCOB send off, @CastelliShnapir clean short, @DonlanSperoff almost clean long, landed all sbs jumps and 2nd throw."

Ditto from @fsonline last night:
"@lexxapaige and @ChrisKnierim did a solid [long] program at Fire and Ice tonight!"
(their new FS to "Life is Beautiful")

[NadineWhite]

All right, thanks for (+) tweets, Sylvia!

How exciting Pairs is going to be, it's really anybody's game, each has an equal shot, they just have to bring their A game. Easier said than done I know.

Which makes me think of Timothy Goebel's excellent advice as to why he was so consistent ~ he just did his job the same way he did every day in practice, just another venue, no big deal, whereas others might have the mindset they were going to do the best ever at Nationals, skate a perfect program, mayhap even put in jumps they've never landed before. Instead of just seeing it as another day of practice at their home rink. Bigger audience is all. *huge understatement*

YET, if one is going to dream B-I-G, then that means taking risks. Like the old saying goes "great risk often leads to great rewards", "if you want to achieve a high goal you're going to have to take some chances", "if the creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, He surely meant for us to stick it out", "to win without risk is to triumph without glory".

[johndockley92]

My predictions -

Yankowskas/ Reagan - WD

Well I go this part right

... Also to everyone, just thought I'd let you know that Rockne is closer to 5'7 than he is to 5'9... Very short guy, no way he could team up with Caitlin

[DarrellH]

Rockne rocks the beard!

[ioana]

Also to everyone, just thought I'd let you know that Rockne is closer to 5'7 than he is to 5'9... Very short guy, no way he could team up with Caitlin

I was under the same impression, but Rockne's father set me straight a few years ago .

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...=1#post2596413

[DORISPULASKI]

Boys & men lie about their height. So, sometimes, do their fathers.
....just saying...
Of course he might be 5'9" with lifts in his skates or shoes.

[Sylvia]

Excerpt from the SC of Boston send-off show article posted in its own GSD thread here: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...cle-amp-photos

Donlan and Speroff, who finished fourth at the 2012 U.S. Championships, say that their main focus in recent months has been to become more consistent. Their Sleeping Beauty free skate went very well, as they landed all their side-by-side jumps and the throw triple Salchow; Donlan fell on the throw triple loop.

Donlan started college at Boston University last fall, and she found combining training and school to be stressful at first.

"That was probably the most stressful month of my life, but I feel so much stronger," she said. "I feel I can handle so much after going through that, and I'm in a much better place now."

Added to the stress was a bout of pneumonia; Donlan came down with it while the team was competing at the Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria. She thought it was just a cold at first, but said that eventually she felt "horrible." She trained through it, but she was sick for more than three weeks.

"There were a few times after I got the medication that I came into skating and my lungs still weren't that great," she said. "But the medication worked really well; we caught it early."

Now that the team is healthy, they have been training hard.

"It's pretty simple," Speroff said. "We want to go out there and land all of our jumps, because we can. We want to land all of our throws; we want to get levels on our death spirals and spins. It's just about building that consistency through training every day, running those programs and sections over and over again."

[olympic]

Excerpt from the SC of Boston send-off show article posted in its own GSD thread here: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...cle-amp-photos

OK. Well, I'm glad that there is a reasonable explanation for their craptacular performances (adjusting to school; pneumonia)

[NadineWhite]

Thanks once again, Sylvia, for providing some excellent info.!

Wow, I didn't know Gretchen just started college, no wonder she's been off throughout the season. Brings to mind Rachael combining skating with college, not to mention Michelle Kwan, Debi Thomas, et al. It's always a big challenge, and 99% of the time the skater has to put off doing both until they can find a reasonable balance, meaning only taking a course or two, or waiting until the summer, or even waiting until their amateur skating career is over (e.g. Sasha Cohen).

Lastly, I like Andrew's words, practice practice practice...

[Jayar]

Boys & men lie about their height. So, sometimes, do their fathers.
....just saying...
Of course he might be 5'9" with lifts in his skates or shoes.

Well, as someone who has stood next to him repeatedly, I do not think that he is much less than 5'9". I am 5'10", and I never thought of him as particularly short. We are pretty close to eye level.

[madm]

Well, as someone who has stood next to him repeatedly, I do not think that he is much less than 5'9". I am 5'10", and I never thought of him as particularly short. We are pretty close to eye level.

My daughter and her partner (5'8") trained next to Rockne for many years. Rockne was 1" taller than my daughter's partner. I hope people will stop arguing about this as it is pretty petty. The point is that he needs a petite partner no taller than 5'1".

[shan]

OK. Well, I'm glad that there is a reasonable explanation for their craptacular performances (adjusting to school; pneumonia)

Thank goodness they're healthy again. I hope they skate 2 great programs in Omaha!

I love this quote by Gretchen about ballet:

"I love ballet so much," she said. "I can just watch it all day. My roommates complain that I dance around my dorm all the time."

[stjeaskategym]

My daughter and her partner (5'8") trained next to Rockne for many years. Rockne was 1" taller than my daughter's partner. I hope people will stop arguing about this as it is pretty petty. The point is that he needs a petite partner no taller than 5'1".

Yup. He has lifts in his skates, which give him about an inch. Part of the discrepancy (5'8 or 5'9) stems from the fact that his listed height in his bio has been both at various points in time. Way back when, maybe when he was a Jr, his height was listed even taller! It seems you get to write whatever you want in these bios.


And that's neat that Gretchen loves ballet, it definitely shows in her skating!

[Sylvia]

This new article includes quotes from Coach Bobby Martin on Castelli/Shnapir and Donlan/Speroff, plus a bit about Baga/Toth at the end: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news
Excerpt:

"Our commitment to each other has really been the No. 1 thing, as well as our communication," Shnapir said. "We've found success with that."
...
"After NHK, we headed back up to Montreal and worked with Julie [Marcotte] again," Castelli said. "We haven't changed anything; we just worked on the overall programs. We felt this year we had a really good setup with our elements, and we just had to work on our confidence and drive for nationals."
...
They, too, competed in the mock event, and Martin said they are hitting their stride just in time for the U.S. championships.

"Right now, they are ramping up," he said. "It helps that Gretchen (a Boston University freshman) has a break in school. We've tweaked some small stuff to stress their line and elegance, which is their biggest strength. I think we sort of got away from that, and by upping the ante with transitions, maybe out-tricked ourselves a bit."

[icelover]

My daughter and her partner (5'8") trained next to Rockne for many years. Rockne was 1" taller than my daughter's partner. I hope people will stop arguing about this as it is pretty petty. The point is that he needs a petite partner no taller than 5'1".

I totally agree. Rockne is tall enough. And he's great. He just needs a petite, strong partner.

[Lacey]

He just needs a partner, period, too strong to be sidelined.

[Sylvia]

This new article about Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim also includes confirmation at the end that John Coughlin's rehab./recovery is going well enough that a petition has been submitted to USFS for D/C to be considered for the World team: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[reese]

This new article about Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim also includes confirmation at the end that John Coughlin's rehab./recovery is going well enough that a petition has been submitted to USFS for D/C to be considered for the World team: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

USFS will give them the go-ahead for Worlds, naturally, but I just question the wisdom of rushing this recovery. Were this the Olympics it might be understandable, but just for the Worlds in the year before the Olympics, why risk it? Why put their future at risk?