U.S. Men 2012-13 pre-season news & updates

[Sylvia]

I've posted Los Angeles Open (July 13-15 in Burbank) Senior/Junior men and other roster/schedule highlights in the U.S. Club Competitions thread in the 2012-13 Kiss and Cry forum: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...58#post3614458

Senior men starting their season here include Richard Dornbush, Philip Warren, and Sean Rabbitt (all coached by Tammy Gambill), plus Grant Hochstein who is now representing SC of New York (this will be his first competition since he switched coaches to Peter Oppegard and Karen Kwan).

Nathan Chen will make his season debut here, and other notable Junior men are Jay Yostanto, Vincent Zhou, Spencer Howe, Shotaro Omori (all are JGP-eligible except for Zhou).

ETA: In my early projections of the possible Sectional fields in 2012-13, the Senior men appear to be fairly evenly spread out among the 3 sections (assuming there will be some international competition byes through Sectionals), and Junior men look especially competitive/deep in the Midwestern and Pacific Coast sections at the moment.

[SkateFan66]

What can he gain from it though?

Personal satisfaction possibly yes.

But in terms of further career advancement there doesn't really seem to be anything for him to gain.

When Plushenko came back for Vancouver, that landed him a number of sponsorship deals, ad appearances, etc. But skating has a much higher profile in Russia, I doubt the same would be the case with Lysacek.

I am not going to speculate what Lysacek's motivation is or what he could gain from returning to competition. Motivation is something that is unique to each individual. Likewise, what Lysacek has to gain from returning to competition is unique to him because only he knows what his goals and expectations are. If Lysacek returns, he would have done so after weighing the pros and cons of returning to competitive skating and deciding that he had more to gain than to lose.

[l'etoile]

I've posted Los Angeles Open (July 13-15 in Burbank) Senior/Junior men and other roster/schedule highlights in the U.S. Club Competitions thread in the 2012-13 Kiss and Cry forum: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...58#post3614458

Senior men starting their season here include Richard Dornbush, Philip Warren, and Sean Rabbitt (all coached by Tammy Gambill), plus Grant Hochstein who is now representing SC of New York (this will be his first competition since he switched coaches to Peter Oppegard and Karen Kwan).

Nathan Chen will make his season debut here, and other notable Junior men are Jay Yostanto, Vincent Zhou, Spencer Howe, Shotaro Omori (all are JGP-eligible except for Zhou).

ETA: In my early projections of the possible Sectional fields in 2012-13, the Senior men appear to be fairly evenly spread out among the 3 sections (assuming there will be some international competition byes through Sectionals), and Junior men look especially competitive/deep in the Midwestern and Pacific Coast sections at the moment.

I wonder how ready skaters will be for this competition. Especially for those who finished their season accordingly with Worlds or Nationals.

[Ziggy]

I am not going to speculate what Lysacek's motivation is or what he could gain from returning to competition. Motivation is something that is unique to each individual. Likewise, what Lysacek has to gain from returning to competition is unique to him because only he knows what his goals and expectations are. If Lysacek returns, he would have done so after weighing the pros and cons of returning to competitive skating and deciding that he had more to gain than to lose.

What I meant was there was no point in him returning to skating, as far as his career advancement goes.

He has a lot to possibly lose and not really much to gain.

[Jaana]

What I meant was there was no point in him returning to skating, as far as his career advancement goes.

He has a lot to possibly lose and not really much to gain.

E.g. Boitano returned for 1994 Olympics and was not on the podium. Did he lose a lot and gained nothing because of his return? Personally I believe that skaters who have nothing to prove as they already are Olympic champions (plus WC and GPFC), return because they love to compete.

[kwanfan1818]

E.g. Boitano returned for 1994 Olympics and was not on the podium. Did he lose a lot and gained nothing because of his return?

Boitano had pro competitions, made-for-TV cheezefests, and robust pro/pro-am tours to which to return.

[Sylvia]

I wonder how ready skaters will be for this competition. Especially for those who finished their season accordingly with Worlds or Nationals.

Of the men I listed, only Dornbush competed past Nationals and 4CC was 5 months ago. "Ready" is a relative term in these summer competitions, and skaters have different goals early in the season. Most just aim to debut new programs and choreography and/or incorporate new skills into competition, so results/scores don't really matter too much at this point.

[aftershocks]

Boitano really wanted to be allowed to come back for '92 Olympics, but the campaign for non-eligible skaters to be able to return took longer than Boitano had hoped. Had BB been able to compete at '92 Olympics, I feel he would have won gold again and matched Dick Button's record, because in '92 Brian B was still the best in the world. Classy Brian was very supportive and happy for the Olympic success in '92 of his former teammate, Paul Wylie. Brian continued to press for the return, but by 1994, he was older and competing with injuries -- did not really stand a chance but gave a valiant if flawed effort.

Re Evan, whatever he wants to do, he will do. I tend to think he may not come back, but he's playing his cards close to his sleeve and may have some tricks remaining. However, I would prefer to watch the guys who have been in it since the last Olympics battle for Sochi gold. Johnny, Plush, and Evan (if he returns) for me will likely provide scintillating moments and they complicate the mix, but I view them more as comic relief. FS is such a complex comedy, drama, tragic opera anyways.

For me I enjoy watching Evan more on the dance floor.

[Jaana]

Boitano had pro competitions, made-for-TV cheezefests, and robust pro/pro-am tours to which to return.

Yes, and let´s not forget why those opportunities arose in 1994.... Not because of him competing at the Olympics, but because of a woman skater, LOL.

[kwanfan1818]

Tour of World Figure Skating Champions/Champions on Ice invited pros in starting in 1990. The Dick Button Invitational World Professional Championships started well before 1994, but they had a gap after the first and had multiple formats until the early 80's.

By 1994, Brian Boitano had won five World Professional championships in a row (1988-1992). Even if the Harding fiasco hadn't made skating more high profile, adding the made-for-TV crap and fortifying the tours, Boitano was firmly ensconced in pro skating royalty by the time of his comeback in 1994, which isn't comparable to Lysacek's; EL has few of the same opportunities.

[Sylvia]

Friendly request: Can we please focus on the topic of the U.S. men who are currently known to be competing in 2012-13? Feel free to start a Lysacek and/or Boitano thread for further debate and discussion.

[Marco]

What I meant was there was no point in him returning to skating, as far as his career advancement goes.

He has a lot to possibly lose and not really much to gain.

If he comes back and wins, he can finally shake off the notion that he was a risk averse one hit wonder who only won because the better skaters faltered. However, I think the more likely scenario is that some better skaters will deliver and his return will ironically prove that he really isn't that good a skater even if clean.

[aftershocks]

Friendly request: Can we please focus on the topic of the U.S. men who are currently known to be competing in 2012-13? Feel free to start a Lysacek and/or Boitano thread for further debate and discussion.

Good suggestion, Sylvia! Evan and Brian B discussion to the Trash Can please! Until further real news from Evan re upcoming season materializes, let's focus on the U.S. guys who have laid their cards on the table.

[Sylvia]

Re-posting from the Programs/Choreography thread:

Grant Hochstein just posted the following on Facebook:

SP - selections from "La Califfa" by Ennio Morricone
choreographed by Karen Kwan-Oppegard
LP - selections from the films "King Arthur" and "Troy"
choreographed by Peter Oppegard and Karen-Kwan Oppegard

I'm going to be debuting both of my programs at LA Open this weekend. Also, I will now be representing the SC of NY.

Here's hoping there will be reports, etc. on the Senior and Junior Men's events at L.A. Open! (refer to my post #221 above)

ETA link to Grant Hochstein's latest journal entry, dated June 23, in which he talks about his new programs and choreographers: http://www.figureskatersonline.com/g...al-062312.html

USFS' latest "Club Spotlight" online feature is on 2011 U.S. Novice Men's silver medalist Jordan Moeller's fundraising event in April 2012 (also publicized in the 2012 U.S. Club & Benefit Shows thread): http://www.usfsa.org/Clubs.asp?id=415
Excerpts:

On April 14, 2012 Moeller presented "One Skate at a Time" at the Southwest Ice Arena in Crestwood, Ill. Skating is a big part of Moeller's life, and a benefit show for an organization near and dear to Swanson's heart was just what Moeller wanted to present. One hundred percent of the money collected from the show went to "One Step at a Time", a camp for children with cancer.
...
Moeller, who trains at the Northbrook Sports Center in Northbrook, Ill. with coach Kori Ade, is proud to say the show went off without a hitch. Jason Brown, the 2012 World junior bronze medalist, Olivia Oltmanns and Josh Santillan, Junior Grand Prix competitors and the Chicago Radiance Synchronized Skating team, all took part in the show along with several other skaters.

"We raised more than $6,600 that evening with more donations coming in," Moeller said. "Special thanks to Josh and Olivia for bringing a check for more than $2,000 they had raised for the event in the Twin Cities Area."

ETA: Speaking of the Northbrook rink, here's a photo of Jason Brown from the Northbrook-On-Ice show on July 5, 2012. Related article on the rink's programs: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,734183.story

[misskarne]

ETA: Speaking of the Northbrook rink, here's a photo of Jason Brown from the Northbrook-On-Ice show on July 5, 2012. Related article on the rink's programs: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,734183.story

I think I have a new favourite picture of Jason...

[Lanna]

If he comes back and wins, he can finally shake off the notion that he was a risk averse one hit wonder who only won because the better skaters faltered. However, I think the more likely scenario is that some better skaters will deliver and his return will ironically prove that he really isn't that good a skater even if clean.

Risk averse one hit wonder? It's not like he was a nobody who nobody expected to win. He won. Get over it. How much more would he need to win? Nothing. He's already won. And there's no convincing people who keep moving the goalposts.

[jlai]

I think he competes because he itches to skate (and compete), so even if he doesn't win he at least gets to do something he loves. It's not as if there's a big pro circuit for him to pursue skating with

[Marco]

Risk averse one hit wonder? It's not like he was a nobody who nobody expected to win. He won. Get over it. How much more would he need to win? Nothing. He's already won. And there's no convincing people who keep moving the goalposts.

For all his talk about the quad and X Games etc, he won both his titles without attempting one, while others who attempted them faltered. And while that's perfectly OK, I do think it's ironic.

For the record I think he was more deserving of his respective titles than Joubert or Plushenko.

[Sylvia]

I forgot to re-post this tidbit here from the U.S. Club Competitions forum in Kiss and Cry: At the Lake Placid Summer FS Championships 2 weekends ago, Stephen Carriere scored 184.27 total (60.92 SP, 123.35 FS) in his season debut -- he reportedly fell on his 3A in both programs, landed 3Lz+3T in his SP and 5 triples in his FS (didn't hear anything about his program music).

Top (known) summer competition total scores for the U.S. men to date:

SENIOR
Jason Brown 208.76 at Southport Summer Classic in mid-June
Stephen Carriere 184.27 at the Lake Placid FS comp. in late June
Harrison Choate 175.15 at Boston Open in June

JUNIOR
Jordan Moeller 158.65 in April (Novice silver medalist at 2011 Nationals)
Ryan Hartley 150.83 in May (J9 at 2012 Nationals)
James Schetelich 142.84 in May (N2 at Nationals)
Jimmy Ma 137.02 in June (N5 at Nationals)

NOVICE
Oleksiy Melnyk 142.23 in June (N11 at 2012 Nationals)

Here's a nice local article on the current U.S. Intermediate Men's champ, Tomoki Hiwatashi, age 12, who is coached in the Chicago area by 1985 World champ Alexander Fadeev and his wife: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ews/707129961/
Hiwatashi is scheduled to compete in the Novice Men's event at Liberty next week.

[ItalianFan]

For all his talk about the quad and X Games etc, he won both his titles without attempting one, while others who attempted them faltered. And while that's perfectly OK, I do think it's ironic.

For the record I think he was more deserving of his respective titles than Joubert or Plushenko.

So Plush who has participated in 57 senior competitions, winning gold in only 45 of them was always undeserving?. (sorry off thread but I couldn't let this one go by uncommented......)