Post by FamousDave on Jan 29, 2008 23:12:24 GMT -5
Meissner's woes could affect others
Younger skaters need her to perform better
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-29-insideolyjan29,1,6221375.column
Some facts, mostly opinions, about figure skating after the U.S. Championships:
1. After a stunning drop from champion to seventh place, Kimmie Meissner needs a major overhaul if she hopes to make the 2010 Olympic team. The obvious move? A new coach. That is no knock on Pam Gregory, who coached Meissner to world and U.S. titles. But it is obvious something in their relationship no longer works, given Meissner's three-splat performances in the free skate at her last two competitions and inconsistency the last two years.
2. Odd to say this about an athlete weighing barely 100 pounds, but one respected coach -- who chose to remain anonymous -- thought Meissner might solve her jump issues by cutting down on the strength work in her training program. "She looks like she is muscling up all her takeoffs," the coach said.
3. Quick fix for Meissner before the March World Championships? Why not jump guru Richard Callaghan, longtime coach of Todd Eldredge and the man who turned Tara Lipinski into an Olympic champion?
4. The international age limit rule that prevents three of the top four finishers in the senior U.S. women's event from going to senior worlds likely will create a ferocious competition for berths on the U.S. team at the 2009 worlds in Los Angeles.
It would be a surprise if the three women heading to Sweden for the 2008 worlds -- Meissner and world meet rookies Bebe Liang and Ashley Wagner -- do well enough to earn three places for 2009. To get three, the finishes of the top two U.S. skaters must add up to no more than 13 -- exactly the total veterans Meissner (fourth) and Emily Hughes (ninth) produced at the 2007 worlds (third skater Alissa Czisny was 15th).
Should the 2008 skaters earn only two places, there will be no margin of error at the 2009 worlds if the United States wants three places at the 2010 Olympics. The results of the two qualified skaters also must be 13 or less.
5. If the current age limit rule had been in place in the early 1990s, Oksana Baiul (1993), Michelle Kwan (1996) and Lipinski (1997) would not have skated in world meets they won.
6. Attempts to lower the age limit will fail because nearly every other country is opposed to giving the United States a further advantage in an era when younger is proving better among the women (girls?).
7. In its first year as national meet broadcaster, NBC's major market ratings for the prime time shows were a respectable 3.8 Saturday and 3.5 Sunday -- especially since Saturday is a bad TV night -- but the network may be somewhat disappointed given the amount of promotion it did. NBC should ask U.S. Figure Skating to move the women's final to Sunday night if it wants to capitalize on what should be a compelling battle next year among Mirai Nagasu, 14, Rachael Flatt, 15, Wagner, 16, Caroline Zhang, 14, and, hopefully, a resurgent Meissner, 18.
"There are so many young competitors coming up," Wagner said at the medalists' news conference. "Two of them are right here: 15, 14, it's insane. The next two years are going to be exciting. I know it's going to be tough, but I feel that for the U.S. ladies, that really helps us all, because it really pushes us. Going into the (2010) Olympics, that's really what we need."
8. Truth or inconsequential? NBC's "truth booth" gambit was a flop. (The truth booth, based on a feature in some reality shows, was a place where the skaters would talk about performances.) With no one to ask questions, the skaters just rambled on, which allowed Johnny Weir to make these tasteless comments: "I really feel like I need to talk about my roommates and the one that drinks too much and the one that sleeps with people too much."
10. Best thing about the NBC broadcasts were the post-mortems. thingy Button was on his game, and Bob Costas knew how to tweak Button for more information.
11. So what if Weir loves all things Russian? It is admirable he has taken the time to appreciate another culture, going so far as to learn the language.
12. Euro trash. That is what the men's and women's events looked like at last week's European Figure Skating Championships.
Younger skaters need her to perform better
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-29-insideolyjan29,1,6221375.column
Some facts, mostly opinions, about figure skating after the U.S. Championships:
1. After a stunning drop from champion to seventh place, Kimmie Meissner needs a major overhaul if she hopes to make the 2010 Olympic team. The obvious move? A new coach. That is no knock on Pam Gregory, who coached Meissner to world and U.S. titles. But it is obvious something in their relationship no longer works, given Meissner's three-splat performances in the free skate at her last two competitions and inconsistency the last two years.
2. Odd to say this about an athlete weighing barely 100 pounds, but one respected coach -- who chose to remain anonymous -- thought Meissner might solve her jump issues by cutting down on the strength work in her training program. "She looks like she is muscling up all her takeoffs," the coach said.
3. Quick fix for Meissner before the March World Championships? Why not jump guru Richard Callaghan, longtime coach of Todd Eldredge and the man who turned Tara Lipinski into an Olympic champion?
4. The international age limit rule that prevents three of the top four finishers in the senior U.S. women's event from going to senior worlds likely will create a ferocious competition for berths on the U.S. team at the 2009 worlds in Los Angeles.
It would be a surprise if the three women heading to Sweden for the 2008 worlds -- Meissner and world meet rookies Bebe Liang and Ashley Wagner -- do well enough to earn three places for 2009. To get three, the finishes of the top two U.S. skaters must add up to no more than 13 -- exactly the total veterans Meissner (fourth) and Emily Hughes (ninth) produced at the 2007 worlds (third skater Alissa Czisny was 15th).
Should the 2008 skaters earn only two places, there will be no margin of error at the 2009 worlds if the United States wants three places at the 2010 Olympics. The results of the two qualified skaters also must be 13 or less.
5. If the current age limit rule had been in place in the early 1990s, Oksana Baiul (1993), Michelle Kwan (1996) and Lipinski (1997) would not have skated in world meets they won.
6. Attempts to lower the age limit will fail because nearly every other country is opposed to giving the United States a further advantage in an era when younger is proving better among the women (girls?).
7. In its first year as national meet broadcaster, NBC's major market ratings for the prime time shows were a respectable 3.8 Saturday and 3.5 Sunday -- especially since Saturday is a bad TV night -- but the network may be somewhat disappointed given the amount of promotion it did. NBC should ask U.S. Figure Skating to move the women's final to Sunday night if it wants to capitalize on what should be a compelling battle next year among Mirai Nagasu, 14, Rachael Flatt, 15, Wagner, 16, Caroline Zhang, 14, and, hopefully, a resurgent Meissner, 18.
"There are so many young competitors coming up," Wagner said at the medalists' news conference. "Two of them are right here: 15, 14, it's insane. The next two years are going to be exciting. I know it's going to be tough, but I feel that for the U.S. ladies, that really helps us all, because it really pushes us. Going into the (2010) Olympics, that's really what we need."
8. Truth or inconsequential? NBC's "truth booth" gambit was a flop. (The truth booth, based on a feature in some reality shows, was a place where the skaters would talk about performances.) With no one to ask questions, the skaters just rambled on, which allowed Johnny Weir to make these tasteless comments: "I really feel like I need to talk about my roommates and the one that drinks too much and the one that sleeps with people too much."
10. Best thing about the NBC broadcasts were the post-mortems. thingy Button was on his game, and Bob Costas knew how to tweak Button for more information.
11. So what if Weir loves all things Russian? It is admirable he has taken the time to appreciate another culture, going so far as to learn the language.
12. Euro trash. That is what the men's and women's events looked like at last week's European Figure Skating Championships.