U.S. Ladies [#6]: "Swaggering with the S'Wagner" et al. into 2013

[kwanatic]

If Mirai, Agnes and Christina all skate decently, Gracie is SOL. But the judges kept her close enough to sneak into the top 5 if she is clean. But I can't see them holding a flawed Gracie up over one of the others if they're clean. Gracie still skates like a junior and, to top it off, she's inconsistent. She folded out there. That was waaaay too much pressure for a person debuting at nationals...I feel sorry for Caroline too. It looked like she'd done a good job but those scores were brutal. The crowd booed the hell outta the judges...I was proud of her anyway...

Good competition for the most part. I'm so happy Ashley was clean. She was under a ton of pressure too and she did it. One hurdle down, one to go. But the performance of the night was Mirai. I've never seen her land a 3-3 that big...not since nationals in 2008! Her layback was a little travel-y but overall she was amazing. Huge jumps from Courtney but I still hate her skating. So happy for Yasmin! Her program was great and she fought for those jumps.

The LP will be good!

[Jammers]

Sadly some of the girls with the most potential didn't skate well. Gold folded from the pressure and Wang had another bad SP. The fact that Courtney Hicks is 4th says how it went tonight. Even Gao screwed up on something she shouldn't have. On the other hand Cesario should be higher in the standings. I don't see whoever goes to Worlds getting that 3rd spot back.

[aftershocks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhj4RKMSSH4&sns=em Zhang sp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SA4zR8meDA&sns=em Mirai sp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLFb2QlgXQ&sns=em Agnes sp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1mUfXShd0s Ashley W sp

[5Ali3]

thought COP was supposed to eliminate the judges holding places for later skaters? this is no different than 6.0....

you can't tell me skating first doesn't hurt your scores, or that the judges are not leaving room for Gao, Gold, Wagner, Zawadzki..........

Nagasu earned the fourth highest short program score ever given to a Senior Lady at U.S. Nationals since the ladies' short program was reduced from eight to seven elements in 2010-2011. (Higher scores: Wagner and Zawadzki tonight; Zawadzki in 2012; none in 2011). I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the judges weren't thinking about "leaving room."

Unless you're saying that since all nine judges did not give Nagasu +3GOE x7elements and 10.0 x5 PCS, they were leaving room for other skaters?

doesn't Junior champ always go to JW?

The first year that Junior Worlds was held after U.S. Nationals was 2000. Since 2000, six Junior Ladies' Champions have been sent to Junior Worlds; seven Junior Ladies' Champions have not been sent to Junior Worlds. The Junior Ladies' Champion does not always go to Junior Worlds.

judges trying to make sure they screw her?!

Although Zhang is past the age of consent in Nebraska, I believe that the action you suggest would be a violation of both U.S. Figure Skating's Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct (GR 1.01-1.04).

don't worry, if she lands a few triples in the FS, the judges will try to put her on the podium.....

As long as we made it this far...Do. Or do not. There is no "try."

[smarts1]

Agnes should not be in second. Could you believe that Agnes would have been 1st after the SP had she skated clean? What the h*** is wrong with the USFS judges?!? Sending Agnes to worlds would be a nightmare...

[demetriosj]

I'm sorry Gracie had the 2011-2012 hype she had.

most of that hype came from her own PR machine....

[kwanatic]

Agnes should not be in second. Could you believe that Agnes would have been 1st after the SP had she skated clean? What the h*** is wrong with the USFS judges?!? Sending Agnes to worlds would be a nightmare...

Agnes had a good skate minus the fall on the 2A. Her elements were all level 3s and 4s whereas Ashley's levels are actually lower. Her base value was higher than Mirai's as well...

To be honest, I was wondering (b/c they were taking so long with her score) if the judges were contemplating giving Agnes the lead to take the pressure off of Ashley. I'm okay with Agnes being 2nd b/c it's highly unlikely she will stay there. Ashley is a strong FS skater and Mirai has been surprisingly solid in the FS in her last two competitions. Agnes is known for botching the FS.

I think Ashley will do enough to hang on to her lead, Mirai will float up to 2nd with a solid performance and Agnes will slip from 2nd to 3rd, or maybe even 4th.

[kwanatic]

most of that hype came from her own PR machine....

You could tell from the second she took her opening position she was petrified. It was all over her face a la Sasha Cohen during the FS in Torino.

The hype has been out of control with Gracie. It all looks great from the outside and builds an unjustifiable false sense of security for people when it comes to her abilities. It's unjustifiable b/c she hasn't been that impressive all season. She had a strong SP at COR, a terrible SP at SC, and two mediocre FSs. Yet the media hypes her as though she's boasting Ashley's resume (winning both GPs and silver at the GPF). All the talk builds confidence in her ability to skate well when in fact she hasn't proved anything yet.

I wonder how badly Hersh is going to crucify her if she can't perform well in the LP...

[olympic]

Just my $.02 -

My biggest takeaways from the Ladies SP was - 1. Agnes should not be in front of Mirai, and 2. Caroline wuz robbed. Yes, her skating has intrinsic flaws but that was not a 49 pt. performance.

[Vagabond]

Caroline wuz robbed. Yes, her skating has intrinsic flaws but that was not a 49 pt. performance.

It was actually closer to 50 than 49. (It was 49.99.)

She has no one to blame but herself for under-rotating three of her four jumps. If she had done her elements as planned, she would have received a score of about 59 or 60, which seems reasonable, even generous, given the fact that she still hasn't gotten her basic skating up to the level of Wagner or Nagasu.

[Skittl1321]

Man I really hope Mirai ends up with a Silver here (I'd be happy with her getting a Gold too, but I really like Ashley.)

[Sylvia]

I don't agree with the 3Lo<+3Lo<< call and neither did Zhang's coaches.

[PDilemma]

most of that hype came from her own PR machine....

Exactly. And parents and coaches should think twice or more about doing that.

[algonquin]

most of that hype came from her own PR machine....

I wasn't following, briefly what happended?

[Sylvia]

I don't believe there's been that much "hype" about Gold from the national or local media this year compared to last year when she first broke onto the scene last fall (after winning the JGP gold in her international debut) -- I keep close track of figure skating articles online. Also, media hype and fan/Internet hype are different categories to me.

[pinky166]

I wasn't following, briefly what happended?

Gracie posts videos of herself doing 3-3-3s on youtube. I think her parents promote this behavior, as I assume they are the ones filming practices and such. Idk. I feel like Gracie and her family/coaches created a lot of hype around her, and okay I get she's a huge talent and deserves to be hyped, but she does not have to be broadcasting her talents to the world if she does not want to. It would have been fairly easy for her to keep a low profile, but that's clearly not what she/her parents/her coaches wanted. It could be for the best, because if she can learn to deal with the hype, then that will serve her well down the road. But idk, I like Gracie and think she's very talented, but at this point, I'm not joining the pity party for her because she really did create a lot of this hype and I think she could have avoided most of it if she made an effort to keep a low profile.

[Mayra]

I don't believe there's been that much "hype" about Gold from the national or local media this year compared to last year when she first broke onto the scene -- I keep close track of figure skating articles online. Also, media hype and fan/Internet hype are different categories to me.

Obviously I'm in the minority but I love reading positive articles on up and coming skaters. Some have unrealistic expectations and some are more down to earth, but they help spotlight deserving athletes and the sport. They also help generate excitement, which the sport needs. Give me these type of articles over Hersh's doom and gloom any day of the week.

Ditto for Gracie and youtube. I thought her 3/3/3 attempts were and fun to see. We get so little skating on US television that I enjoy seeing the many tricks people are attempting in practice. I don't think she is worthy of pity for any reason so I'm not sure why people are throwing a pity party for her. She just made her senior Nationals debut and hit some bumps on the road. She skates exactly as what she is. A senior skater just up from juniors. She's got room to grow and the time to do it. JMO

[Sylvia]

Gracie posts videos of herself doing 3-3-3s on youtube. I think her parents promote this behavior, as I assume they are the ones filming practices and such.

Gracie hasn't posted any jump practice clips of herself since November 2011. ETA: Her twin, Carly, last posted Gracie's Skate Detroit SP video in July 2012.

[algonquin]

Whole post

Good summary thanks. Unless someone is experienced with the media, staying under the radar is not a bad thing.

[Mayra]

Gracie hasn't posted any jump practice clips of herself since November 2011.

The internet is forever Sylvia.