Figure Skating

[Bewitched]

Starr Andrews was a huge hit in my house.  Can't wait to see how she develops over the next 4 years.  

Not a fan of Ashley's long program.  I didn't feel any personality.

[Dots And Stripes]

2 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

wait...Charlie and Tanith had a baby?  Did I miss something, or has this been kept quiet? I follow Meryl and Charlie on Twitter and Instagram, and either I missed something, or they kept this under wraps. Anyone know, boy or girl? 

I read Charlie and Tanith's baby is a boy. Apparently Charlie said something on the Today show about becoming a father a little while back and Tanith was visibly pregnant when doing some on camera work for NBC Sports. They have kept it very quiet, although not as quiet as Tessa and Scott's secret (and not real) baby.

[alexa]

Mirai made me cry.... ?

[Dots And Stripes]

Very happy or Mirai. NBC is already milking her comeback story.

[Moxie Cat]

Chen may get an Olympic medal, but it's clearly a Mirai/Adam year. It's awesome to see slightly older skaters do so well and get a second shot.

Haha....watch how fast the NBC promo monkeys shift from Ashley to Mirai and Bradie.

[alexa]

4 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Very happy or Mirai. NBC is already milking her comeback story.

After all of the time they ignored her it is just so nice to see. As for Ashley I have mixed feelings. I always root for her but it is like she is always fighting to stay alive rather than to rise her level. 

[Dots And Stripes]

9 minutes ago, alexa said:

After all of the time they ignored her it is just so nice to see. As for Ashley I have mixed feelings. I always root for her but it is like she is always fighting to stay alive rather than to rise her level. 

I don't mean to imply that the accolades for Mirai aren't earned. I do think NBC is now going to have to pivot a bit. They seemed to be counting on Ashley being a big face for them. 

I'm happy with the top 3. I always feel a bad for the ones who came close but come up short. I'm sure Ashley is heartbroken. She seemed to be keeping her head up though. I think she knew that she can't count on being saved again.

Just now, PoshSprinkles said:

Aren’t they on secret baby number three now? ;-)

Are they?!?!?! I haven't checked up on their secret family in 4 years.

[Mittengirl]

I guess the team announcement will be made after the men’s free tomorrow?

[Moxie Cat]

3 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

think she knew that she can't count on being saved again.

I wouldn't count on that until the team is actually named. Ashley has a lot of history and GP medals, plus as mentioned, is in all the promos. And once again, is 4th. As the NBC team constantly reminds us, the top Nationals winners don't have to be selected. I think it would be horrible to pull again - that doesn't mean it won't happen. But it won't happen to Mirai!

[Jeddah]

4 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

I guess the team announcement will be made after the men’s free tomorrow?

I just read that it will be announced at 8am on the Today Show. 

[shoregirl]

4 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

I wouldn't count on that until the team is actually named. Ashley has a lot of history and GP medals, plus as mentioned, is in all the promos. And once again, is 4th. As the NBC team constantly reminds us, the top Nationals winners don't have to be selected. I think it would be horrible to pull again - that doesn't mean it won't happen. But it won't happen to Mirai!

It would be such BS if it happened again. I'm aware that nationals aren't everything but they should have a heavy weight especially in an Olympic season and she shouldn't get a pass again. 

[Bewitched]

She has said she may switch short programs if she makes the team.  How well could she really prepare a new short and a newish long?  That just seems like a bad idea.

Bradie is Miss Consistency, Mirai has experience and maturity, Karen is the ingenue.  Isn't that our usual makeup?

[ChicksDigScars]

Clearly, they’re not leaving their shiny new “It Girl” off the team, so Bradie is a gimme, and I don’t think they screw Mirai over again. The third spot is the stickler. Karen has been really inconsistent this year. Ashley didn’t have a great Grand Prix, either.  

 

Regarding Bradie. Solid jumping, but I was bored during her skate. I honestly thought she was 16, not 19, due to a lack of emotion. Her technical scores should be high, but she’s definitely being WAY over scored on PCS.  She’s not even close to Mirai, Ashley or Karen in that regard. I just feel manipulated. “Here is our new blond Ice Princess. You WILL like her. We’re desperate to have someone who can beat the Russians.”

Edited January 6, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[gatopretoNYC]

AAAAHHHH!!!

I'm so happy for Mirai!!

[Dots And Stripes]

1 minute ago, Moxie Cat said:

I wouldn't count on that until the team is actually named. Ashley has a lot of history and GP medals, plus as mentioned, is in all the promos. And once again, is 4th. As the NBC team constantly reminds us, the top Nationals winners don't have to be selected. I think it would be horrible to pull again - that doesn't mean it won't happen. But it won't happen to Mirai!

Can't count on it doesn't mean it's impossible, but I think it's highly unlikely. Four years ago, Ashley went into Nationals in a much stronger position. She had been the top placing U.S. Women at World's the year before. Now, Karen holds that distinction. Neither had a great Grand Prix season. I also didn't get the sense that Johnny, Tara, or anyone else at NBC actually expect U.S. Figure Skating to pick Ashley. I think NBC had an extra incentive to drive home that the committee can pick someone not in the top 3 because  it made for a great story line with Mirai's redemption.

[specialj67]

So happy for the women’s medalists this year. As much as I wish Marai had won, Bradie delivered the cleanest program of any of them. I wish Ashley had been doing that LP this whole season. I enjoyed watching her tonight, even with the errors, more than I have in a couple of years. That said, I hope she isn’t selected fo the Olympic team. Her results this season don’t speak as well for her as they did in 2014.

[BindsTheTuna]

 

Bitter, party of one?

[Rear Window]

I hope they leave Ashley at home. I’m over her skating and she doesn’t deserve it. 

I like Bradie but I hope she gets some help with her costume/look. Her dress in the long is ill fitting and has too much of that skin tone material. And I realize she’s skating to Cinderella, but lose the plastic crown!

2 minutes ago, BindsTheTuna said:

 

Bitter, party of one?

Now I know why I’m not a fan. She’s way too entitled. 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Rear Window

[Moxie Cat]

Ashley clearly felt that her free deserved a higher mark, even before the tweet. It was all over her face in the kiss and cry.

That they're announcing the team so quickly says to me that someone with brains already said, we have to take the top 3 this time.

Now, if Jason Brown lands in 4th, all bets are off. I can see it happening more on the men's side this time. I like Grant Hochstein, but I can't see them selecting him over Jason if their scores are close.

[BlackberryJam]

I can't see that Jason really has a shot at doing anything at the Olympics. His start values are just so much lower than everyone else's. Because of that, he has no realistic shot of a podium spot at the Olympics. I'm not saying any of the other US men have a shot, but Jason is starting the race two blocks behind.

[blackwing]

I'm a person who watches figure skating once every four years.  I don't remember this score thing with the colored boxes.  Someone punches in a score and a color for each move, and then after the skater is done, someone else makes adjustments and turns yellows into reds?   Can the skaters see these technical scores right away?  Does their coach tell them when they skate off?

I've never liked Ashley Wagner, I thought she didn't deserve to make the team last time and I remember feeling sorry for Mirai Nagasu.  Wagner has this beeyotchy horseface look that reminds me too much of Nancy Kerrigan, who I loathe.  I've hated how Wagner has been anointed for months as the face of US Figure Skating.  She's in all the media articles, she got naked, etc.  If she makes the team this year, it's a crock.  If they take fourth place Wagner again, I cry foul.  

I liked Mirai the best.  This Bradie Tennell looks like the stereotypical ice princess.  Her skating is boring.

[annzeepark914]

I'm sorry Ashley's skating hasn't been stellar this season but that new LP was, IMO, incredibly boring.  The La La Land music isn't memorable (again, IMO)...I doubt anyone would walk out humming any of those tunes. But I'm happy for the ladies who made the podium and hope the three of them go to the O's.  Fingers crossed that Mirai holds it together and nails her triple axle in South Korea!!!!!

[Crs97]

I thought Bell was better than Ashley so I don’t know what Ashley is griping about.  The right people were on that podium tonight.

[ChicksDigScars]

18 minutes ago, Rear Window said:

 

I like Bradie but I hope she gets some help with her costume/look. Her dress in the long is ill fitting and has too much of that skin tone material. And I realize she’s skating to Cinderella, but lose the plastic crown!

 

Maybe that’s another reason that I pegged her for 16, not 19.  Cinderella? A crown? Her music and costume choices don’t exactly scream maturity (let alone her lack of emotion). 

[Dots And Stripes]

18 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

That they're announcing the team so quickly says to me that someone with brains already said, we have to take the top 3 this time.

Gymnastics makes the decision during NBC's live broad cast of the last qualification event and they do not usually simply take the top scorers. I think U.S. Figure Skating usually does take the top finishers from Nationals, but I don't read anything into the speed of this decision.

For anyone interested, NBC has a pretty good explaining article: How the U.S. Olympic figure skating team is chosen. 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Dots And Stripes

[Jeddah]

What a competition! I could barely handle it.

Mirai! She earned that! I was so happy for her. I loved seeing Tom Z jumping in the background. She looks so solid right now. This is the third Nationals during an Olympic season where she has gotten it done at Nationals, and I hope she just wows everyone at the Olympics.

I actually liked Ashley’s La La Land program. Then about three seconds later any goodwill I felt towards her was undone by her bad reaction to her score. I hope she doesn’t go to the Olympics. This is now the third Nationals during an Olympic year where she’s underperformed. Hasn’t she been given enough chances?

I gained a lot of respect for Mariah Bell tonight. She fought hard, and she seemed like she was a good sport about her fall and then about Ashley moving ahead of her. She really sells those Broadway programs too.

Karen and Bradie both did what they needed to do, and I’m happy for both of them!

[Misslindsey]

I am pretty indifferent to Jason Brown. I do love that he skates to Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen. I guess that is how to win me over, just skate to my favorite musicals. I am easy that way.

I have been a casual skating fan for the past couple olympics, before that I used to follow it more. I have always liked Mirai though. I really hope that the top three are selected, because I never warmed up to Ashley Wagner.

I do not mind Bradie and usually I am not a fan of the new jumping bean/it skater. I tend to prefer the more artistic skaters, which rarely bodes well for me since jumpers tend to do better. I do not know why Bradie does not bother me even though she needs a lot of help with the artistic side of skating. Like I said I do not follow skating as closely anymore, so if she is being shoved down the audience's throats I have not seen it as much.

I may have to keep up with skating more, because I loved Star Andrews.

I actually like the skaters skating to music with words. 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Misslindsey

[SophiaD]

Given that both Ashley and Karen are outside shots at the podium, and Ashley has been placed on the team ahead of someone who finished higher before, I'd say, send Karen.  Ashley has had her shot.  Let Karen go and have the experience.

(But I'm not on the selection committee, obviously)

[Tippi]

Compelling stories for all the top ladies.  Gutsy performances by Mirai and Karen.  I wish Karen could fix her issues with URs, she really has it all otherwise.  I can't praise Mirai enough for actually getting the triple axel at 24!  She has melted down so many times I was afraid it would happen again, but she held it together beautifully.

Has there ever been a come out of nowhere to win like Bradie's?  I'm loving her competitive nerve.  Would like to see her do really well at the Olympics!

[shoregirl]

33 minutes ago, BindsTheTuna said:

 

Bitter, party of one?

What an entitled brat she comes off like. Not just the quote but the looks in the kiss and cry.  First of all I didn't think the La la land program was that great but at least it wasn't Moulin Rouge again. Second of all skate cleaner than its not an issue. Third of all stop acting like a petulant teenager you are in your midtwenties grow up. I don't even think she should be am alternate why let her bad attitude ruin the others Olympic experience. 

[Snow Apple]

Bradie is a great jumper but I wasn't impressed with the rest. However, I'm glad she was there or else Ashley would have won bronze. I just don't like her. 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Snow Apple

[kalystia1983]

1 hour ago, Dots And Stripes said:

 

1 hour ago, PoshSprinkles said:

Aren’t they on secret baby number three now? ;-)

Are they?!?!?! I haven't checked up on their secret family in 4 years.

Even better, they are on secret baby number three while Hubbell and Donahue are on secret baby number one.  https://lovepopcorn17.tumblr.com/post/150060455045/secret-baby-update

[SophiaD]

Oh, wow, that wasn't the best political move AT ALL.  Now, I really don't think Ashley is going.  

It must have been really hard, but if I were one of her friends/coaches, I would have urged her to hold off on saying anything to media until the team was announced.

[CeeBeeGee]

Is that supposed Ashley tweet confirmed? Because her Twitter page doesn't show it. https://twitter.com/AshWagner2010?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

[kalystia1983]

Here's the video of Ashley: 

[HartofDixie]

35 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I thought Bell was better than Ashley so I don’t know what Ashley is griping about.  The right people were on that podium tonight.

If Mariah didn’t have that fall on her last jump I think she would have stayed ahead of Ashley and got the pewter medal. 

I think that conspiracy theory of Ashley falling out favor after Skate America might be true!

[ChicksDigScars]

I don’t think Ashley actually tweeted that. Phil Hersh was quoting her comments made afterwards with reporters, and he used her Twitter handle in HIS Tweet. This way, she knows that he made her comments public on Twitter, since it shows up in her mentions. 

 

Bradie got the highest PCS scores? I’m sorry, she seems like a very nice kid, but how do you justify those? Give her her due in the technical scores, but stop insulting everyone’s intelligence with the PCS scores.

 

 

Edited January 6, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[andromeda331]

I loved Mirai's skate best. She was awesome. So was Karen. I don't mind Bradie she did really well. But add me to the group who keeps thinking she's 16 and not 19. She just seems younger. I've never been a fan of Ashley Wagner. I've just never found her program interesting. I also really liked Mariah's better and wished she hadn't fell.  

[Spiderella2]

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

I'm a person who watches figure skating once every four years.  I don't remember this score thing with the colored boxes.  Someone punches in a score and a color for each move, and then after the skater is done, someone else makes adjustments and turns yellows into reds?   Can the skaters see these technical scores right away?  Does their coach tell them when they skate off?

I've never liked Ashley Wagner, I thought she didn't deserve to make the team last time and I remember feeling sorry for Mirai Nagasu.  Wagner has this beeyotchy horseface look that reminds me too much of Nancy Kerrigan, who I loathe.  I've hated how Wagner has been anointed for months as the face of US Figure Skating.  She's in all the media articles, she got naked, etc.  If she makes the team this year, it's a crock.  If they take fourth place Wagner again, I cry foul.  

I liked Mirai the best.  This Bradie Tennell looks like the stereotypical ice princess.  Her skating is boring.

The colored boxes are a more recent development, I started noticing it in tv programming about 2-3 years ago. The commentators usually describe the colored boxes at the beginning of the almost every broadcast. It’s only with NBC that I’ve seen it. The judges can flag elements for further more detailed review. This is why some skaters afterwards it takes a while to get their scores, because the judges are reviewing flagged elements on the skate. The judges have multiple screens, and they are able to freeze frame, slow-mo, and zoom in to make sure all the elements are done correctly.

As a skater, you don’t want to get a review on an element, because it gives the judges more time to critique, zoom in, look at your edges, look at every aspect of the element, how you landed etc., and then take off points as they see fit. If the technical judge flags an element, it gets yellow which means it’s marked for further review. Yellow is usually for smaller infractions. If it’s a red, that’s bad, the worse. For reds, on top of not getting the full point value, they are going to get docked and lose major deductions upon review especially in the GOE (grade of execution). Elements have a base value, and then the skaters can get an additional  bump or deduction in GOE based on how well they performed the element. So an under-rotation on a Triple in which the 3rd rotation is questionable. landing two-footed, rushing through, instability, or the jump not looking right, anything like that could trigger the yellow flag. It’s very dynamic and fluid, and changes quickly. Yellow reviewed elements can be marked green once the technical panel has reviewed once they determine it was good. Red reviewed can go yellow, and greens can also go yellow. 

 This allows more accuracy in determining the correct score for each element. Also allows various skaters from different backgrounds, coaches, styles etc., to all be judged equally. Of course, on occasion the judges get it wrong and show blatant bias. However, for the most part, on the technical side, it’s supposed to level the playing field. 

[Moxie Cat]

It's Bradie, Mirai, and Karen for the Olympics. If they can hold it together, I think this is actually a potentially stronger team than 2014. I thought Mirai and Karen's free skates last night were great, and while Bradie's isn't that interesting or dynamic, she sure does land those jumps. If you did a shot every time Tara said the word "consistent," you'd be on the floor. 

[shoregirl]

Yay I'm happy with those three especially Mirai. Does anyone know when they announce the alternate?

[Snow Apple]

Good. While I didn't really think they can get away with bumping one of the top three for fourth place Ashley again, I have learned never to assume when it comes to the Powers That Be regarding sports, especially figure skating. This sport has disappointed me too many times for me not to develop a layer of cynicism when it comes to unfair decisions.

[Crs97]

37 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

Does anyone know when they announce the alternate?

ESPN reports that Ashley is first alternate. I would have picked Mariah Bell as the alternate; she reminds me of Sasha Cohen.  Ashley kept saying her long program is only a month old.  Is that going to be some new tactic to try to convince the committee to pick you?  Glad it didn’t work for her.

[BlackberryJam]

I actually think the new scoring system, which lets them check a landing for being two-footed, to see if a lutz is a flutz, is better and less ripe for rigging than the old ordinals.

On the Ashley Wagner situation, she had landed some endorsement deals, that Bridgestone Tire commercial and I think a few others. That likely goes by the wayside since she didn't make the Olympic team. I'm sure they thought she was a lock to be in when the signed her, but would have made the back end of the deal contingent upon her making the team. That is a ton of money she just lost. And I think she knew they wouldn't name her to the team after being in 4th again. She was getting on top of the story, questioning the judging rather than admitting she just wasn't up to the task.

I have always found Ashley's skating a little on the dull side. She talks about being a performer, but she's always just putting on an act on the ice for me. And it's not a very good act. "What me sway my hips and jiggle my shoulders so I set myself apart from these little girls on the ice" and I never feel it in her face. Some skaters you can just feel the joy. I don't feel joy from Ashley. It's all an act and it shoes. Now, I'm not saying the other girls aren't just acting their emotions, they are. They just do it better.

Mariah Bell was so much classier than Ashley. 

That all being said, I think Marai is the only US lady with a chance for the podium at the Olympics, and she's going to need to nail it.

[displayname]

6 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

That all being said, I think Marai is the only US lady with a chance for the podium at the Olympics, and she's going to need to nail it.

I think no one has the chance, honestly.

[BlackberryJam]

1 minute ago, fan94 said:

I think no one has the chance, honestly.

I wouldn't be surprised if politics come into play. The Russian situation is ripe for either some or all of the women to miss the Olympics and then on top of that if Putin is out there Putining and the Russian women are supportive or somehow try to get around the refusal to display the Russian flag, the judges might retaliate with low scores and elevate other skaters.

I am not a fan of Medvedeva. She always looks to be straining in the least comfortable way. They might ding her for the tiniest wobble just because.

I'd love to say the Olympics is politics free, but it's not and never has been.

[Jillibean]

Quote

I read Charlie and Tanith's baby is a boy. Apparently Charlie said something on the Today show about becoming a father a little while back and Tanith was visibly pregnant when doing some on camera work for NBC Sports. They have kept it very quiet, although not as quiet as Tessa and Scott's secret (and not real) baby.

Charlie and Tanith had a boy,  also named Charlie. Charlie's mom posted a picture of Ben Agosto holding him this weekend, so he probably is attending nationals--along with Grandma Jackie to watch him, of course. As we all know, Tessa and Scott's secret baby is being raised by Scott's brother. Or the first one was, anyway. I don't know how many secret babies there are now.

I'm so happy for Mirai. Bradie's jumps are very impressive, though her arms in particular really need a lot of work--all of her moves look like choreographed flailing. It doesn't even look particularly controlled, like you can't tell until she finishes the move whether she really meant to do that or just lost control of her arms. But I have to believe something like that is easier to work on than consistently landing jumps. 

I like Ashley, but I was stunned when she finished her less-than-perfect program and acted like she had nailed it and she was just so overcome and thrilled. It was clear to me at that point that unless someone (most likely Karen) made a big mistake, she wasn't going to the Olympics again. Unless I misinterpreted what I saw, she singled a triple and two-footed another landing. But she seems to think that if her butt doesn't actually touch the ice, it was a perfect program. Maybe that's her problem. And given those errors, I think her scoring was quite fair--which of the other three girls above her did she think she had deserved to beat?

I completely agreed with Johnny and Tara yesterday about Jason Brown's scoring, and I love Jason Brown. I wonder why they seem to determined to put him on the team when he is simply not competitive at an international level. 

[displayname]

34 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I wouldn't be surprised if politics come into play. The Russian situation is ripe for either some or all of the women to miss the Olympics and then on top of that if Putin is out there Putining and the Russian women are supportive or somehow try to get around the refusal to display the Russian flag, the judges might retaliate with low scores and elevate other skaters.

I am not a fan of Medvedeva. She always looks to be straining in the least comfortable way. They might ding her for the tiniest wobble just because.

I'd love to say the Olympics is politics free, but it's not and never has been.

I still doubt any of these three has a chance.

[Growsonwalls]

56 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

Charlie and Tanith had a boy,  also named Charlie. Charlie's mom posted a picture of Ben Agosto holding him this weekend, so he probably is attending nationals--along with Grandma Jackie to watch him, of course. As we all know, Tessa and Scott's secret baby is being raised by Scott's brother. Or the first one was, anyway. I don't know how many secret babies there are now.

Between Sochi and Pyeonchang Scott and Tessa have managed to give birth to two more secret babies. I don't know their names. Charlotte Quinn is still apparently being locked in the basement even though by the timeline of the blogger she would be six or seven now.

[andromeda331]

I'm glad the three are going. They did a really good job last night. I think they'll do well. I'm hoping more for Mirai and Karen I just really loved their skating last night. But Bradie was good too. I do think Mariah would have made a better alternate. I know she had that fall but she really did well.