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

[IceAlisa]

I only watched the first few minutes, but when they were talking about how Ashley would be a perennial bronze/pewter medalist if she had to compete against Kwan/Cohen/etc., I couldn't help but think "wasn't Jenny a perennial bronze/pewter medalist herself?"

Yup, a bunch of lower tier retired skaters with massive chips on their shoulders. Jenny, you can do better.

[Triple Butz]

Seriously, Gold's is not any better....maybe worse.....

They BOTH need a lot of work in that area, but IMO Courtney's skating is heinous when she isn't jumping or spinning. She is always forward on her blades, searching for balance, and trudges through her music.

[demetriosj]

They BOTH need a lot of work in that area, but IMO Courtney's skating is heinous when she isn't jumping or spinning. She is always forward on her blades, searching for balance, and trudges through her music.

Gold has terrible, shallow edges, with absolutely no quickness to her skating. Skating fast does not mean you have quickness. Her skating looks frantic, jerky, and erratic.

[Vagabond]

A very interesting video regarding the final results of the ladies' event.

Do any of these people know anything about figure skating?

I would especially like to know with regard to this Jenny Kirk gal and this Tim Goebel guy.

[Sylvia]

USFS' press release is out - ladies' assignments:

LADIES
2013 World Championships
Gracie Gold
Ashley Wagner

Alternate 1 - Agnes Zawadzki
Alternate 2 - Christina Gao
Alternate 3 - Mirai Nagasu

2013 Four Continents Championships
Christina Gao
Gracie Gold
Agnes Zawadzki

Alternate 1 - Mirai Nagasu
Alternate 2 - Caroline Zhang
Alternate 3 - Ashley Cain

2013 World Junior Championships
Samantha Cesario
Courtney Hicks
Yasmin Siraj

Alternate 1 - Angela Wang
Alternate 2 - Hannah Miller
Alternate 3 - Leah Keiser

[icellist]

2013 Four Continents Championships
Christina Gao
Gracie Gold
Agnes Zawadzki

Alternate 1 - Mirai Nagasu
Alternate 2 - Caroline Zhang
Alternate 3 - Ashley Cain

2013 World Junior Championships
Samantha Cesario
Courtney Hicks
Yasmin Siraj

Alternate 1 - Angela Wang
Alternate 2 - Hannah Miller
Alternate 3 - Leah Keiser

Gracie, please withdraw from 4CC. Let Mirai go. You'll get ranking points at worlds...

Very surprised that Keiser (and Cain) was named as an alternate. I'm guessing that Cesario is guaranteed a Senior B next season.

[Jammers]

Bad move. Wang had a good year on the JGP and i think has more potential in the long run. I see Ashley isn't going to 4CC i think she realizes she needs rest it's been a long year already and she's had injuries and illness.

[IceAlisa]

Good, Ashley isn't going to 4CC.

[mag]

Gracie would be crazy to give up 4CC's! If she places well it will help her start position at Worlds which will in turn help her PCS. It also gives her another opportunity to skate under pressure. If the goal is three spots for the Olympics, I'm sure the USFSA would be quite choked if she didn't do 4CC's.

[victoriaheidi]

Yes, it's 3rd alternate, but Ashley Cain, really?

[UGG]

Gracie, please withdraw from 4CC. Let Mirai go. You'll get ranking points at worlds...

Very surprised that Keiser (and Cain) was named as an alternate. I'm guessing that Cesario is guaranteed a Senior B next season.

Why should Gracie give up her spot to let Mirai go? that is silly. This is an individual sport-skaters are in it for themselves and that is the way it should be.

[IceAlisa]

Gracie should go and will go to 4CC.

[mag]

Yes, it's 3rd alternate, but Ashley Cain, really?

I wondered about that as well.

[Ageless]

I'm confused. Leah Keiser didn't finish the competition yet she is still named as an alternate to JW? Shouldn't we name the Junior ladies winner at least as an alternate?

[toddlj]

In terms of Cain; she finished 12th and all the ladies above her have some assignment or is an alternate.
In Keiser's case, there are a limited number of junior ladies who have the required minimum score to compete; Junior champion Edmunds does not have such a score.

[Coco]

Gracie would be crazy to give up 4CC's! If she places well it will help her start position at Worlds which will in turn help her PCS. It also gives her another opportunity to skate under pressure. If the goal is three spots for the Olympics, I'm sure the USFSA would be quite choked if she didn't do 4CC's.

I agree with the chance to skate under pressure, but there's nothing she can do at 4cc to get into the last 2 groups for the SP at worlds. She's too far back.

If she does well, it helps her. If she gets shown up so close to worlds, it hurts her. If she's the kind of skater who travels well, and she wants to go and is having no problem training well after nationals, then she should go.

But I really hope Mirai gets a chance.

[RD]

Re. the video posted earlier - The only good point they talked about was when they discussed the scoring system confusing fans (putting the snark aside). This to me is a legit concern and I think the entire NJS needs to be re-thought in regards as to what gets rewarded and what gets punished. When you have even expert commentators struggling to explain results, or constantly miscalculating scores, something is very wrong...

Other than that...missing the point big time. The media landscape is far different now than it was even 10 years ago and Internet coverage (even paid) is a GOOD thing. I swear, there are many, many skating fans that don't realize how good they have it coverage-wise compared to fans of most other Olympic sports.

There are many areas where the USFS deserves criticism, but I give them this: they're one of the FEW sporting organizations that actually "get it" in regards to social & "new-age" media. They are fully embracing it, are active on it, and realize that it actually HELPS with promotion of the sport. Did you guys hear about the PGA Tour (golf) supposedly banning journalists from live-tweeting or blogging during tournaments?

Can USFS improve even in this area? Yes. For one, I'd like to see Ice Network release a mobile app so their coverage can be viewed away from a PC. But at least they're trying. Can't be said for many other SOs.

[demetriosj]

In the end, we are just fans who witnessed a travesty in judging this weekend. No skin off our teeth....

But, I do feel really bad for the skaters who trained all year, spent a ton of time and money on training, gave up so much, greatly improved their skills, and were slapped in the face by biased, unjust judging. Not to mention the ridiculously biased, obnoxious commentators.

What a joke they are making of this sport.................

[mag]

I didn't watch any of the European championship, but did their commentators have a difficult time with the COP and scores? There were no issues that I know of at Canadians. Is it possible that the commentators in the US just need to do a bit more homework? I swear Scott never watches the feet. He will say "yessssss he/she landed it!!!!!!!" when if you watch the feet the jump is clearly under rotated. There was also one skater, can't remember which one, where he was complimenting the spin but didn't say anything about the fact that it travelled about 5 feet. With that kind of information I can see why people are confused. I also didn't see the NBC broadcast, but did they show the slow motion replays as the elements are being checked? Do the commentators talk about what the tech specialists are looking for and how under rotations or travelling spins hurt the score? That's the kind of stuff that needs to be pointed out time and time again so people learn and understand. Just like football where they show the guy catching the ball and they zoom in on the feet and replay it forward and backwards explaining why the pass was allowed or not.

[Cheylana]

Can't NBC please give Tara Lipinski a call? She seems to have done some research on COP.