I’m a little shocked that the fact that the K’s missed the side by side jumps is now the reason they missed the spin.
I'm guessing Chris slipped on the entry to the spin because ice is slippery and sometimes you slip. Why did Michael Marinaro practically bellyflop on the ice in the LP? Why did Daria Pavliuchenko completely wipe out at the GP Final? There doesn't have to be a reason, sometimes random things happen. There are so many different types of elements crammed into a pairs program, there are bound to be random fluke errors at times, especially with 2 people on the ice.
I think moving forward it's time to look to younger teams like C/J for the future and the Olympics in 2022. K/K have had numerous chances and can't ever put it together.
The 2nd Worlds spot wasn't even between C/J and K/K, so what does this even mean? We should get rid of all of our pairs, have C/J go at it alone and be the savior of US pairs? It always works out so well when we try to anoint the latest US pair as the next big hope, just as many fans did with Cain/LeDuc last season, or with any pair who happens to skate one clean program at US Nationals as if it's the most important event of the year (see Kayne/O'Shea in 2016).
C/J only have two scores above 190 in their entire competitive history (one of which was at an empty Sr B), only two LP scores above 119, only two SP scores above 62, and have just started to land any jumps, but we should dismiss all our other pairs because they can't get it done and C/J can? That's how you end up with no pairs at all, which is the case for most countries. And good luck to C/J trying to skate well if we heap ALL the pressure on them. This season, everything was new for them and they didn't have to skate under the burden of any expectations. It's much easier to be in their position than it is to be in the Knierims' position, where everything they do is scrutinized by the peanut gallery.
Why is it not possible to be supportive of more than one US pair at a time? We can't ever get 3 spots without 2 pairs working together. So why do we need to discredit the Knierims to prop up C/J? Sorry to those who wanted C/J to win Nationals (or wanted K/K to lose because you don't like Alexa's personality, which is the case for at least one person in this thread), but Alexa and Chris's win was well deserved. They also outscored C/J by 18 points at Skate Canada, and they have a substantially better scoring history in general. So again, why do we have to tear them down to prop up C/J? We should be supporting both teams.
It's totally understandable to believe that C/J deserve Worlds over C/L. But it seems tasteless to hope K/K are suffering from something terrible because you see it as the only avenue for C/J to get to Worlds, nor does that actually give the US its best chance. If C/J are that good, they will have plenty of opportunities in the future. I'm also confused by the person who thinks that if you withdraw from 4CC, you should be removed from the World team. That's not how it works; 4CC is an optional event. Skaters like Nathan and Mariah didn't even attend, and Worlds isn't even until March 18. Back in 2013, K/K withdrew from 4CC due to injury, and they ended up skating very well at that Worlds. There's a long time in between events.
There's a small chance that K/K and C/L could earn 3 spots at Worlds. It's not something we should ask of them because the pairs field is crowded at the top with 3 Russian pairs and 2 Chinese pairs, but if it happened, I wouldn't be that shocked. But they definitely shouldn't read message boards like this.
Of course I’m also a little shocked that everyone keep saying they have world-class elements, and yet they consistently can’t land the side by side jumps . It’s like we’re only looking at part of the elements
But it's entirely true the Knierims have world class elements, and that doesn't change whether they land jumps or not. I'd put their pair elements up against anybody's. To me their twist is the best in the world. They can do throw 3F and throw 3Lo as huge as any great pair in the world. They are a highly skilled and athletic team, which doesn't grow on trees in the US. There are 11 elements in a pairs FS, only 2 of which are jumps. They could literally leave out the jumping passes and still post decent scores. When they land the jumps, it feels like a bonus. In some ways, they are our Tarasova/Morozov-- inconsistent, but if they put it together, the scores will be gigantic.
I find some of K/K's current jumping issues (mostly Chris; Alexa is a fantastic jumper when her head is on straight) exacerbated by this new Rafael technique/pattern they're doing. I'm not sure if taking Chris so far away from what feels natural is the best approach, but they're trying it. I'm concerned they will get so frustrated with Raf's radical changes that they will just quit instead of maybe just scaling back a bit and realizing Raf's way isn't the only way. For some reason, they switched their SP jump to 3T this season, when the 3S has been a much more comfortable jump for Chris in competition. Especially given that he stood up and rotated most of his 3S last season, why take it out of their SP? Their 3Ts are getting better, but I'm not sure why it's in both programs already. You can tell the Raf technique feels foreign to Chris and he's had issues with the timing of it, so he's ended up popping more than usual. Raf's technique isn't one you master overnight. And I don't think their jumps actually needed radical changes. If you get K/K in a good headspace and they don't rush, they will land a decent number of jumps.
Now we're going to nitpick over how Alexa landed the jump. 
The jump and the landing was more successful than the way many pairs ladies end up pulling out jump landings. It is the discretion of judges to decide how they are going to score elements that aren't exactly perfect. Some top skaters often get breaks and solid GOE on landings that are fought for and not perfect.
