US Nationals
NBC had quite comprehensive Nationals coverage on the weekend. I was impressed! So thrilled for Alissa Czisny winning her second title, and this one is so much more meaningful than her first, I'm sure. When she won in 2009 she was just the best of the worst and couldn't really enjoy the win, but this time, she was near flawless. I'm so rooting for her to medal at Worlds. What an amazing job Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen have done with Alissa's confidence. It's wonderful to see her flourish at this relatively late stage in her career. (Can't find a good YT upload yet. Internet fail. But her short program and fluff piece is up.)
Rachael Flatt is just so meh. It cracks me up how the media goes on and on about her haircut since her skating is so boring. She's only 18, and she looks like a soccer mom. It's very unfortunate for her. Sorry to see Mirai Nagasu make enough mistakes to get bumped down to third and off the world team. Sigh. Well, that'll give her something to work towards in training, that's for sure. Frank Carroll has his work cut out with controlling her.
In ice dance, Meryl and Charlie's tango was much improved from earlier in the season, although it's still just not my fave program of theirs. But they skated it very, very well. The Shibutani siblings impressed in second place. They're rising quickly, and Marina and Igor smartly chose a charming free dance that overcomes the ick factor of most sibling teams. (There's just something about a brother getting so handsy with his sister!)
NBC milked the Yankowskas/Coughlin sob story (they were second going into the LP last year and fell apart and missed the Olympics; then his mother died after a long illness a few months later) for everything it was worth, but their "Ave Maria" LP was gorgeous and they're deserving champions. Good for them.
I was impressed with Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubacher after only five months together. (Some annoying subtitle commentary in the clip, but it's the only one uploaded so far.) To end up fourth is a great result for them. An unfortunate spill in this program, but it was impressive how Rockne pitched onto his hip to avoid crashing down on Mary Beth, and very impressive how he got that lift up right after the fall with very little speed going into it. He's a great partner, and I'm glad he didn't retire when Keana M. quit. My only problem with this new team is that 15-year-old Mary Beth is very much a little girl to Rockne's grown man. It makes sense for him to get a young partner, but I hope she does grow a bit in the next year! With John Nicks as their coach, they have a ton of potential.
Overall it was quite a well skated pairs event, which is always nice to see.
Onto the men, which was a bit of a disaster. Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. He missed the podium and the World team by fractions of a point. Yuka and Jason have their work cut out with him. His short was good, but too many mistakes in the long, especially since he wasn't trying the quad. I just adore his LP so much, and I hope he keeps it next year since he won't be able to go to Worlds. I thought the USFSA might name him to the team since he was so close, but they went with the top three, which is fair. The fact that Jeremy is a head case certainly didn't work in his favour, despite Richard Dornbush and Ross Miner being such junior skaters. (I just had to Google Richard's name to make sure I had it right!) They had great skates, and good for them for making their first National podium and world team. Let's hope they don't succumb to the pressure in Tokyo. They might still be green enough to be able to go and have fun and not worry about results. (Although the US's three world spots will be in jeopardy if all three skaters don't do decently.)
So sad that Adam Rippon had such a poor short program and was in 9th place, because it was just too far to climb back despite a good LP. Sigh.
At 27, it was great to see Ryan Bradley win his first (and I'll hazard, only) national title. Ryan's a lovely, albeit extremely hammy, person, and I'm happy for him. Too bad he missed both his quads in the LP, since as he says himself in the interview, he needs his quads. He doesn't have the skating skills (edges, flow, speed) of a Jeremy Abbott, but he did pull himself together after the two misses, and his lead after the short was enough. His reaction to winning is extremely adorable. I love that he literally screams "Ahhh!" Hee.
Now onto Four Continents and Worlds. Can't wait. :D
Rachael Flatt is just so meh. It cracks me up how the media goes on and on about her haircut since her skating is so boring. She's only 18, and she looks like a soccer mom. It's very unfortunate for her. Sorry to see Mirai Nagasu make enough mistakes to get bumped down to third and off the world team. Sigh. Well, that'll give her something to work towards in training, that's for sure. Frank Carroll has his work cut out with controlling her.
In ice dance, Meryl and Charlie's tango was much improved from earlier in the season, although it's still just not my fave program of theirs. But they skated it very, very well. The Shibutani siblings impressed in second place. They're rising quickly, and Marina and Igor smartly chose a charming free dance that overcomes the ick factor of most sibling teams. (There's just something about a brother getting so handsy with his sister!)
NBC milked the Yankowskas/Coughlin sob story (they were second going into the LP last year and fell apart and missed the Olympics; then his mother died after a long illness a few months later) for everything it was worth, but their "Ave Maria" LP was gorgeous and they're deserving champions. Good for them.
I was impressed with Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubacher after only five months together. (Some annoying subtitle commentary in the clip, but it's the only one uploaded so far.) To end up fourth is a great result for them. An unfortunate spill in this program, but it was impressive how Rockne pitched onto his hip to avoid crashing down on Mary Beth, and very impressive how he got that lift up right after the fall with very little speed going into it. He's a great partner, and I'm glad he didn't retire when Keana M. quit. My only problem with this new team is that 15-year-old Mary Beth is very much a little girl to Rockne's grown man. It makes sense for him to get a young partner, but I hope she does grow a bit in the next year! With John Nicks as their coach, they have a ton of potential.
Overall it was quite a well skated pairs event, which is always nice to see.
Onto the men, which was a bit of a disaster. Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. He missed the podium and the World team by fractions of a point. Yuka and Jason have their work cut out with him. His short was good, but too many mistakes in the long, especially since he wasn't trying the quad. I just adore his LP so much, and I hope he keeps it next year since he won't be able to go to Worlds. I thought the USFSA might name him to the team since he was so close, but they went with the top three, which is fair. The fact that Jeremy is a head case certainly didn't work in his favour, despite Richard Dornbush and Ross Miner being such junior skaters. (I just had to Google Richard's name to make sure I had it right!) They had great skates, and good for them for making their first National podium and world team. Let's hope they don't succumb to the pressure in Tokyo. They might still be green enough to be able to go and have fun and not worry about results. (Although the US's three world spots will be in jeopardy if all three skaters don't do decently.)
So sad that Adam Rippon had such a poor short program and was in 9th place, because it was just too far to climb back despite a good LP. Sigh.
At 27, it was great to see Ryan Bradley win his first (and I'll hazard, only) national title. Ryan's a lovely, albeit extremely hammy, person, and I'm happy for him. Too bad he missed both his quads in the LP, since as he says himself in the interview, he needs his quads. He doesn't have the skating skills (edges, flow, speed) of a Jeremy Abbott, but he did pull himself together after the two misses, and his lead after the short was enough. His reaction to winning is extremely adorable. I love that he literally screams "Ahhh!" Hee.
Now onto Four Continents and Worlds. Can't wait. :D