U.S. Men in 2018 - articles & latest news

[Kultakissu]

Bold mine.

But the selection committee is focusing not just on Nationals. It's a BOW and in every other respect, Ross has been MIA. I honestly don't mean to take anything away from Ross but he has underperformed this season and for years now. I realize that he has had injuries too. He was great at 2015 RC where he ironically skated even w/ Adam, but I don't recall Ross giving a top 10 worlds performance since the aforementioned in 2015 and possibly 2012 NHK (I don't recall his 2013 Nationals performance).

If I was on the Committee, I would put those I mentioned in my earlier post on both Olympic and Worlds team. BOW. Jason finished way too low here (and he is performing uncharacteristically badly which also makes me think he is injured) to be in the conversation.

I can also see Adam saying 'no' to Worlds.

I know I know, I'm just imagining having to tell Ross to his face that he's out of the team after that wonderful skate and the image is breaking my heart
If Ross had been third I'd be fully on board but silver seems somehow untouchable. But yes, I understand that them's the rules and I was even okay with sending Ashley 4 years ago. So yeah, my feelings regarding what's fair or not are pretty much based on sentimental reasons. If he'd been 3rd I don't think I'd feel as bad about leaving him home.

 

[olympic]

I watched the Men's LP last night until 2am after a night out w/ friends. I found the whole event aside from a couple of performances to be a letdown from the SP -

1. Chen - My biggest relief: Amidst the drama, Chen skated last with a million stuffed toys on the ice. He held it together and executed 5 clean quads. I was ecstatic over the 4S in the 2nd half. I have a sense that he is BACK from those less than stellar SA and GPF performances and a serious threat for a medal in Pyeongchang.

2. Miner - Unbelievable. Also the 2nd time last night I was ecstatic over a 4S. When he just kept nailing his jumps, I found myself in an utter state of disbelief. Good for him! The 2nd highlight of the evening for me.

3. Zhou - He gets the award for the combo of the evening: 4Z-3T. I know his protocol sheet was littered w/ URs but I was glad to see he hit the 3As and his 3Z-1L-3F, and I think Vincent is a work in progress and the difficulty of those jumps requires time and effort like Mirai's 3A. I also admire his don't back down attitude. The URs keep me from jumping up and down over the performance but he is where he needs to be as teen phenom still adjusting to seniors.

4. Rippon - I was relaxed watching him until the last 2 jumping passes, then I was like WTF? He was so consistent all season and at the worst possible moment, he pops 2 relatively simple jumps. There would be NO selection committee discussion if he had simply hit 2 simpler triples last night. He must really be beating himself up over it.

5. Hochstein - Lightning was not going to strike twice for Grant. That big ole pop at the beginning and the stumble on the 3A meant no magic was going to happen. I was proud that he carried on and sold the rest of the performance. I think we might see him at 4CCs

6. Brown - I don't know what to say. After finding myself in a thousand depressions over Adam, Jason steps on the ice and does even worse. So much technically was off about that performance. It was so uncharacteristic of him that I wonder if something is going on that we don't know about: Injury, etc. He wears a smile but was blinking back tears in the K&C.

7. Dolensky - He is such a pleasure to watch: So much that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but the money maker jumps are MIA and consistently bedevil him. I hope the move to TX means that he wants to work hard at it and continue. I think he as a lot to offer to the skating world.

8. Johnson - My 3rd highlight, although somewhat more muted than Chen and Miner. He hit a relatively great program although he 2-footed a 3A and popped another triple into a double, and his unique artistry and choreography made the penultimate group more noteworthy for me.

 

[olympic]

https://twitter.com/cbrennansports/status/950023455231025152

See twitter link. Apparently, Christine Brennan confirmed w/ 3 sources that the US team will be .....

Nathan, Vincent, and Adam!

IF true, this would be my choice. I am sorry Ross. You moved me last night. Unfortunately, you did not move anyone enough over the past year or the past few seasons to justify selection. That sounds cold, but the selection committee has a job to do. They have to worry about the Team Event at the Olympics and 3 spots at Worlds. The BOW for Rippon and even Zhou trump Miner

 

[Fiero425]

https://twitter.com/cbrennansports/status/950023455231025152

See twitter link. Apparently, Christine Brennan confirmed w/ 3 sources that the US team will be .....

Nathan, Vincent, and Adam!

It makes sense, but if it was unfair to Mirai who won Bronze in 2014, it's doubly unfair for Miner who won Silver! The USFSA is a mess and this doesn't help their reputation! This is almost as bad as 2008 when they had to drop all the way down to #7 Kimmie Meissner due to the podium full of kids not qualified to compete internationally!

 

[RoseRed]

My choices as well, except for maybe Torgashev. After finally watching Torgashev at Nationals, I can see why there is such a buzz about him, but with his Samohin-like inconsistency, I'm not sure he's the best bet for Juniors. I am a fan of his skating though. The two main issues for the committee to consider are:

(1) Maximizing the chances of getting 3 spots to Worlds next year
(2) Getting a team that will perform well at Olys

Under these criteria, I think Adam should go to Worlds, as he is more reliable than any of the American skaters except Nathan. Vincent should also go to Worlds because he is the next generation and needs experience. I vote Nathan, Adam, and Ross or Vincent to Olys. I prefer Ross out of personal preference but it's possible the committee will still choose Vincent, as he has higher scoring potential and scored over 250 twice this season. Still, it's hard to pass the No. 2 at Nationals. Unfortunately, Jason's season has been iffy since Skate Canada, so it's hard to make a good case for him.

Results aside, I was a bit disappointed that Alex Krasnozhon was not as consistent as usual in the LP. Hope he will still get GP events and skate well at Junior Worlds.

I believe he said after the FS that he has the flu, which has been going around Nats. That probably explains it. He should be fine for JW once he gets some rest, so probably good for him that he didn't end up high enough for 4CC.

 

[Vagabond]

http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2018/26192/results.html

U.S. National Championships Men's Competition Finishing Order:
1. Chen
2. Miner
3. Zhou
4. Rippon
5. Hochstein
6. Brown
7. Dolensky
8. Johnson
9. Aaron

http://www.usfsa.org/story?id=91145&type=media

U.S. Men's Olympic Team:
1. Chen
2. Zhou
3. Rippon

U.S. Men's Olympic Alternates:
1. Brown
2. Miner
3. Aaron



The only sensible conclusion from this is that Max Aaron is the USFSA's little favorite.
Cue rant from his crazy uber.

We'll always have San Jose.

 

[jiejie]

Announced by USFSA:
Worlds Team: Chen, Rippon, Vincent. Alt 1,2,3--Brown, Miner, Aaron respectively (same as Olympics)
4CC: Brown, Miner, Aaron. Alt 1,2,3--Hochstein, Dolensky, Johnson respectively.
Jr. Worlds: Krasnozhon, Pulkinen, Hiwatashi. Alts (no order)--Naumov, Torgashev, Tran.

 

[wickedwitch]

This screams "Tom Z has too much influence" to me.

ETA: by this, I mean Max's 4CC selection.

 

[vesperholly]

Max at 4CC is a head-scratching consolation prize.

 

[asdf334]

I believe he said after the FS that he has the flu, which has been going around Nats. That probably explains it. He should be fine for JW once he gets some rest, so probably good for him that he didn't end up high enough for 4CC.

I wish somebody would tell his team to sloooow down. Sure, guys have been doing quads that young, but I would rather seem him get the overall consistency of his programs higher before pushing the difficulty. Just sooooo much potential there though!

 

[becca]

This screams "Tom Z has too much influence" to me.

Why should Zhou lose out. If they are going body of work his is stronger than Ross's. I would have gone with podium.

 

[wickedwitch]

Why should Zhou lose out. If they are going body of work his is stronger than Ross's. I would have gone with podium.

I meant Max beign selected over Grant. I will edit that in.

 

[RoseRed]

I wish somebody would tell his team to sloooow down. Sure, guys have been doing quads that young, but I would rather seem him get the overall consistency of his programs higher before pushing the difficulty. Just sooooo much potential there though!

He said that he thought the reason he was sick was that he was exhausted from doing Tallinn, then JGPF, then Nationals and that he needed to take a bit of a break (or something along those lines). So sounds like they have a good understanding of that.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Well well well...

I called it last night.... Nathan, Vincent and Adam. And I had asked had they (usfsa) ever passed a skater twice in the process? Meaning in this case Ross? Passing a skater over twice, going for the 3rd placed skater and passing him again for the 4th place skater?

And Mr AngieNikodinovLove pats himself on the back once again as I predicted back in August that the team would be Nathan, Jr World Champ Vincent and the best of Adam and Jason.

Looks like I need to be on USFSA council!!!!!! With a possible induction into the Hall Of Fame next year please!

PS.. I will say that the Worlds team is with Ross?

 

[Willin]

It makes sense, but if it was unfair to Mirai who won Bronze in 2014, it's doubly unfair for Miner who won Silver! The USFSA is a mess and this doesn't help their reputation! This is almost as bad as 2008 when they had to drop all the way down to #7 Kimmie Meissner due to the podium full of kids not qualified to compete internationally!

USFSA is not a mess for doing this. Even you admitted it makes sense. USFSA is trying to build a winning team, and Adam is more likely to finish well than Ross.
Adam's beat Ross head to head at two international competitions this year - by 16 (Finlandia) and 47 points (Skate America). Here Ross beat Adam by only 6 points, and on the back Adam's worst FS of late and Ross's best. If they explain it that way, I'm sure the public would understand.

USA Gymnastics does this all the time (and Russia has a similar selection process for their World's team), and all it's done is help them. I haven't seen their reputations hurting for choosing those who are consistently best. USA Gymnastics's reputation is in the hole, but that's for something entirely different - before all that came out the US loved them for the strong US Ladies Gymnastics teams.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

USFSA is not a mess for doing this. Even you admitted it makes sense. USFSA is trying to build a winning team, and Adam is more likely to finish well than Ross.
Adam's beat Ross head to head at two international competitions this year - by 16 (Finlandia) and 47 points (Skate America). Here Ross beat Adam by only 6 points, and on the back Adam's worst FS of late and Ross's best. If they explain it that way, I'm sure the public would understand.

USA Gymnastics does this all the time (and Russia has a similar selection process for their World's team), and all it's done is help them. I haven't seen their reputations hurting for choosing those who are consistently best. USA Gymnastics's reputation is in the hole, but that's for something entirely different - before all that came out the US loved them for the strong US Ladies Gymnastics teams.

Agree.

Ross has zero international cred. Way risky to send him.

And no major ISU medals for years.

But would be fair to put him on worlds team... (although he is retiring right?)

 

[ilovepaydays]

I understand the decision and why Ross wasn't named. I just can't stop feeling gutted for Mark Mitchell. I can't imagine what he is thinking right now.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

^^^^ I do too. But I wouldnt have expected to make that trip no matter where my pupil placed.

 

[caseyedwards]

Agree.

Ross has zero international cred. Way risky to send him.

And no major ISU medals for years.

But would be fair to put him on worlds team... (although he is retiring right?)

Yes and rippon has oodles! He has world medals and gpf medals and gpf wins! Oh wait that’s a totally lie! Rippon is quadless journeyman and miner may be victim of larceny by false promise.

 

[Willin]

I feel awful for Ross and Mark. Being left off the team after that skate must feel awful. I was really inspired by his skate and I've loved following him all these years. He was one of my favorite performers in the short and the long and his transitions were insanely memorable.

That being said, they're not stupid - they know he doesn't have the body of work or international results that Adam, Vincent, Jason, Max, or Nathan has. I bet they knew it was a distinct possibility and in fact a probability.

 

[Skittl1321]

But would be fair to put him on worlds team...

While the Olympics is the "prize" for skaters, for the federation, arguably worlds is the much more important decision. There is no lasting effect if skaters completely blow it at nationals; it has long term implications to the program if they do so at worlds. Worlds as a consultation prize to missing the Olympics is very risky.

 

[Tavi]

Agree.

Ross has zero international cred. Way risky to send him.

And no major ISU medals for years.

But would be fair to put him on worlds team... (although he is retiring right?)

Why? He was the US silver medalist in 2013, was sent to Worlds, and finished 14th. That’s why we only had two spots in Sochi.

 

[Fiero425]

Why? He was the US silver medalist in 2013, was sent to Worlds, and finished 14th. That’s why we only had two spots in Sochi.

We understand the justification, but it still doesn't look good! It almost makes Nat'ls irrelevant! All Rippon had to do was stay on his feet and he couldn't even do that! Those last 2 jumping passes should haunt him for all time; forcing the USFSA to save his padded butt! He put too much pressure on himself by mouthing off about the other skaters and their mothers judging Nat'ls! It's all on him causing this drama!

 

[caseyedwards]

Why? He was the US silver medalist in 2013, was sent to Worlds, and finished 14th. That’s why we only had two spots in Sochi.

So why didn’t USFS send Abbott?!? Because miner earned it! He earned the trip and Abbott didnt

 

[toddlj]

In my opinion, Abbott 100% should have gone to worlds in both 2011 and 2013 over Miner.

 

[Karina1974]

If they're going to show some of the men's FS on NBC right now WTF didn't they just broadcast it on regular network TV last night???? They're supposed to be showing ice dance now.

 

[misskarne]

In my opinion, Abbott 100% should have gone to worlds in both 2011 and 2013 over Miner.

I dunno about 2013. Miner had more of a body of work than he does now, and Abbott wasn't even a convincing third place at Nationals; you could argue that Joshua should have beaten him.

 

[toddlj]

I dunno about 2013. Miner had more of a body of work than he does now, and Abbott wasn't even a convincing third place at Nationals; you could argue that Joshua should have beaten him.

Fair point; but 2011 where Abbott was only .5 behind Miner is a hard one to argue.

 

[Wyliefan]

If they're going to show some of the men's FS on NBC right now WTF didn't they just broadcast it on regular network TV last night???? They're supposed to be showing ice dance now.

Why do they do anything the way they do? They show it in little pieces and then they wonder why they can't get ratings for it.

 

[GreatLakesGal]

If they're going to show some of the men's FS on NBC right now WTF didn't they just broadcast it on regular network TV last night???? They're supposed to be showing ice dance now.

No, NBC had football on last night.