John Nicks Hints At Retiring Before Sochi

[Maofan7]

Sasha losing out on the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics was my greatest ever disappointment as a figure skating fan. I was absolutely gutted. She had so much talent, grace, and elegance on the ice - she deserved to end her career with an Olympic gold, and its a tragedy that she didn't. If only she could have held it together in the LP

[whoa]

Sasha losing out on the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics was my greatest ever disappointment as a figure skating fan. I was absolutely gutted. She had so much talent, grace, and elegance on the ice - she deserved to end her career with an Olympic gold, and its a tragedy that she didn't. If only could have held it together in the LP

For me as well. I wanted to see her win that gold medal so badly. I still remember racing home to catch the NBC broadcast, and as soon as I turned on the TV just in time for her program, I knew it wasn't going to happen. The look on her face was totally different from two days prior. I hope Ashley can win a worlds medal this season and send off Mr. Nicks (officially, at least) on a high note!

[Frau Muller]

Hopefully Nicks will stay through Sochi. Please....

[dinakt]

Loved the interview.
I think Mr. Nicks will do what's right for him. Track to Sochi from California is brutal. I only hope he flies first class. And even then it is brutal.
Best wishes to Mr. Nicks, and to Ashley. Hope everything works out great for both of them. Coaching, fishing, health, success and the big picture; all of it.

[Katarzyna]

Sasha losing out on the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics was my greatest ever disappointment as a figure skating fan. I was absolutely gutted. She had so much talent, grace, and elegance on the ice - she deserved to end her career with an Olympic gold, and its a tragedy that she didn't. If only she could have held it together in the LP

As OG take place only every 4 years, you also need a good portion of luck to win. So it might be disappointing that Sasha didn't win Olympic Gold, but it happened to some really outstandingly talented skaters (e.g. Kurt Browning, Usowa / Zhulin). However, I find it pretty much disappointing that she never won Worlds.

[loulou]

Speaking of John Nicks' sense of humor.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...GAnyavk#t=135s

The video is private, what's in it?

The one thing that stood out to me was Mr. Nicks close relationship with Sasha, and how when asked about disappointment he mentioned Sasha missing the gold medal in Torino. You can tell she was very very special to him.

It was nice to read.

Sasha losing out on the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics was my greatest ever disappointment as a figure skating fan. I was absolutely gutted. She had so much talent, grace, and elegance on the ice - she deserved to end her career with an Olympic gold, and its a tragedy that she didn't. If only she could have held it together in the LP

For me as well. I wanted to see her win that gold medal so badly.

As strange as it may sound, I was bummed when she lost in Turin as much as I was every other time she lost a title, and though proved wrong every time, I was always hoped she could rise for the occasion.
She could have won 2002 as easily as Hughes did, she did her triple-triple in warm up, and then sat it down in the free skate.
And 2006 world title was her to lose, which she promptly proceeded to do.

I still remember racing home to catch the NBC broadcast, and as soon as I turned on the TV just in time for her program, I knew it wasn't going to happen. The look on her face was totally different from two days prior.

True. I think she was able to catch silver only because after the second mistake she was pretty much sure a medal was out of question, which relaxed her. Flashbacks from 2002 probably made her think that way, and thank lord she did.

[Iceman]

Maybe Ashley will return to Hlll. You could read that into the statement she made when she left Hill.


It was hard to tell Priscilla I was going to make a change because she's someone who has done so much for me," Wagner said. "It's not that she wasn't good enough, because that wasn't the case. Not at all. And as time goes by, hopefully, we can pick up where we left off."


http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[2sk8]

Well, maybe, but Phillip Mills is an amazing coach who really has been A LOT of training time with Ashley, so I wouldn't count him out! In any case, only time will tell.

[michiruwater]

I find it sad that he thinks Ashley can do better than him, when switching over to him was clearly exactly what he needed. Mr. Nicks is an absolutely amazing coach, and my heart really constricts at the idea of him retiring before seeing her through to the Olympics.

That said, he's definitely earned it, and if he chooses to retire I won't blame him at all. I just want Ashley on the podium in Sochi super, super bad.

[RD]

As OG take place only every 4 years, you also need a good portion of luck to win. So it might be disappointing that Sasha didn't win Olympic Gold, but it happened to some really outstandingly talented skaters (e.g. Kurt Browning, Usowa / Zhulin).

Kwan doesn't have one, either.

You know, I always SMH when posters say Cohen should have won this or Cohen should have won that. She didn't, and in all except one case (2006 Worlds) it was someone else's night that night and even if she hit, she probably STILL wouldn't have won. Do people seriously think she could have beaten Kwan at Nationals without the fall(s)? Mk OWNED that event. As for Worlds, no one was beating Arakawa in 2004 or Slutskaya in 2005...

She was just a bit unlucky to have come up in an era that had some amazingly consistent skaters. She'd fit right in the current crop of skaters - no one (save Yuna Kim) has been convincing at all. Again, her only REAL chance (IMHO) was at 2006 Worlds. If she hit, even if she lost the FS to Meissner she still would have won overall.

[Jammers]

Kwan doesn't have one, either.

You know, I always SMH when posters say Cohen should have won this or Cohen should have won that. She didn't, and in all except one case (2006 Worlds) it was someone else's night that night and even if she hit, she probably STILL wouldn't have won. Do people seriously think she could have beaten Kwan at Nationals without the fall(s)? Mk OWNED that event. As for Worlds, no one was beating Arakawa in 2004 or Slutskaya in 2005...

She was just a bit unlucky to have come up in an era that had some amazingly consistent skaters. She'd fit right in the current crop of skaters - no one (save Yuna Kim) has been convincing at all. Again, her only REAL chance (IMHO) was at 2006 Worlds. If she hit, even if she lost the FS to Meissner she still would have won overall.

I disagree. A clean Sasha would have beat Arakawa at the Olympics in 2006 especially since Arakawa didn't do her 3-3 combo's.

[Maofan7]

I disagree. A clean Sasha would have beat Arakawa at the Olympics in 2006 especially since Arakawa didn't do her 3-3 combo's.

Completely agree. If Sasha had skated clean in her FS, she would have won comfortably.

[RD]

You HAVE to consider that Arakawa might have stepped up her game if Cohen had raised the bar higher. That said, it is not 100% guaranteed she would have succeeded.

As it was, Arakawa only needed to be clean to assure herself silver. I don't think even she thought Slute would mess up and she'd end up backing into the OGM.

No point in playing "woulda coulda shoulda" though, what's done is (long!) done.

[kwanfan1818]

Cohen got three ordinals over Arakawa in 2004, and then Kwan took those and another one. It was a 5-4 split in the end.

[Marco]

Sasha losing out on the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics was my greatest ever disappointment as a figure skating fan. I was absolutely gutted. She had so much talent, grace, and elegance on the ice - she deserved to end her career with an Olympic gold, and its a tragedy that she didn't. If only she could have held it together in the LP

Well the biggest international title she won was GPF and that was 2002-3, and the last international competition she won was a GP during the 2003-4 season, so while she was a co-favorite for the Turin title, losing it wasn't really all that unexpected.

[Marco]

You HAVE to consider that Arakawa might have stepped up her game if Cohen had raised the bar higher. That said, it is not 100% guaranteed she would have succeeded.

As it was, Arakawa only needed to be clean to assure herself silver. I don't think even she thought Slute would mess up and she'd end up backing into the OGM.

No point in playing "woulda coulda shoulda" though, what's done is (long!) done.

The odds of Arakawa stepping up was much higher than Cohen doing the same anyway. The likelihood of Cohen going clean under that kind of pressure was so low that if it were to happen, at least one of Slutskaya, Arakawa or even Kwan / Kostner was bound to have also gone clean.

[Marco]

Maybe Ashley will return to Hlll.

Hill was the reason Wagner's jumps were so troublesome - she absolutely overlooked or at least failed to fix Wagner's flutz, 2 footing, UR and toe-axel issues.

[Wiery]

Here's my podcast interview with him a few years back. He talks a lot about his history. There's a transcription of interview highlights for those who can't listen to the full interview. But his sense of humor is evident int eh interview, so I hope you can listen.

Thank you; I was just about to mention this podcast, which showcases his intelligence and humour very nicely. One of my favourites, btw.

[cbd1235]

I really really hope she doesn't go back to Hill. Personally if John Nicks retires I hope HE chooses who he thinks is the best fit for Ashley. He surely has lots of connections and I trust his judgement and expertise 100%.

I would not want to see someone who may very well be going in to Sochi as a promising favourite for a medal, with just any coach. It would be good for her to have someone with a lot of experience such as Mr. Nicks. Unfortunately I don't lump Hill in there, and it's evident that Ashley and Hill weren't the perfect match based on her results (lack-of) and slow improvement.

[Coco]

I think of Mills as her primary day to day coach, with Nicks as chairman of the board, so to speak. So it's rather gracious of Nicks to create an opportunity for Mills to formally take over the reins in such a prestigious year. That's my take on this, anyway.