I need to be honest here. I don't see the artistic improvement in Max Aaron that so many people seem to see. I've never really seen the appeal of his skating. Does he have good jumps? Sometimes, but not always, and when the jumps fail him, he's got nothing left. I will note that at the beginning of the season I said that I was happy he was making an attempt, and that I was starting to see the improvement. I had applauded him for working on his second mark, the reason I'm no longer saying that? It hasn't gotten better since the beginning of the season, it might have gotten worse. The thing about his choreography and transitions is that it's the skating equivalent of hairography. I've not so lovingly nicknamed this armography and poseography. There's obviously some of this in most programs, but Max has nothing else. If you're going to be the technical guy, fine, but to do that you have to do more difficult elements than your competitors, and do them better than everyone else. This isn't something Max does.
I fundamentally disagree with him beating Nathan Chen overall. Nathan Chen may have won the freeskate, but not by nearly as much as he should have. He had more technical difficulty than Max, and on top of that he also has better PCS and spins than Max. This came down to politics and skating order. Had Nathan skated last, he almost certainly would have won.
I also don't think Adam Rippon should have beaten Nathan Chen. Not only did he not have the jumps Nathan did, but the other elements of the program were not nearly that much better than Nathan's to more than make up the technical difference (even if Nathan did have an invalidated spin, and I'm still not sure why it was invalidated).
I'm really happy with some of the results of some of my favourite US men, but Sean Rabbitt, Grant Hochstein, Alexander Johnson, and Ross Miner were far overshadowed by not only all the other skating that weekend (and the following week) but also my anger with the final result of the top three.
Honestly, I'm mostly just glad they're actually going to send Nathan to worlds, because he more than deserves it. Had they named Jason Brown (who I love, don't get me wrong) instead, I would have been even more angry than I already was.
The Shibutanis surprised I think just about everyone by winning the national title. I am absolutely thrilled that they won, because I think realistically, they definitely deserved to win here. I'm still not a huge fan of the short dance, I think the theme of the dance is far too young for them. For seniors do be doing a doll dance is less than stellar. They skate so well, and they finally have a vehicle that can support that in the free dance but unfortunately, they don't have that in the short dance.
The build of their freedance in the twizzles in fantastic, and I love the changes they've made to the program over the season. They are excellent skaters, and their issue with projection of emotion is not a problem with that free dance. If they can have two vehicles like their free next year, they're going to be a force at worlds. For this season, they may do very well, but I don't see them on the podium.
Chock and Bates had a surprising loss at nationals. Despite the fact that I personally don't think they are the best team the US has, they have been doing exceptionally well, and I expected that to continue here. They did win the short dance, even though I honestly think that Hubbell and Donohue should have had the short dance in the bag. Chock and Bates have two programs that don't have a whole lot of impact for me. I find their programs this year kind of forgettable, and they don't have the same technical prowess to back up a program that may be lacking a little. A lot of the details in their program are sloppy, they don't bring their feet back together, like ever, which is a simple detail that can make a program look cleaner and more appealing. To be honest, they're really not my favourite, and for me, I would've put them in third, behind Hubbell and Donohue.
Hubbell and Donohue have such an amazing short dance. I think their short dance is my favourite program this season, in any event. The choreography has the perfect balance between the difficult technical elements and a beautiful simplicity. They have wonderful lines, and this is the one short dance that I feel actually has emotional impact. They have the technical ability, and this short dance should be enough to put them at or near the top at most competitions, but we're not seeing that. It is really not being well represented in their PCSs and unfortunately, I think that has a lot to do with them not having the base reputation points to prop them up.
Their freedance is good, but I don't think it is anywhere near as good as their short. It lacks some of the emotional impact, and the music and the costuming don't help them. I think that with a better freedance, they could've been a top team this season, but unfortunately the freedance just missed the mark. Overall though, I'm thrilled they made the choice to move to Montreal, because even if the freedance isn't the perfect vehicle, it is miles ahead of last year's freedance.
Cannuscio and McManus made a step up into fourth place, ahead of Hawayek and Baker, who I think many assumed would be the fourth place US team. Overall, I think they're fine. They don't have some of the refinement some of the other teams have, their Ravensburger was a little heavy and so didn't have the same flow as the other teams, but they do have the technical ability, and they sold the material they had.
I'm not the biggest fan of their freedance. To me it feels a little too much like they're trying to be Papadakis and Cizeron, and it comes off a little tacky. The grabbing of the ear is much too much, and other than that, they don't really have something in either program to make them memorable.
Hawayek and Baker didn't have a great weekend at nationals, they managed to hold on to fifth, but that doesn't bode well for them for the rest of this season or next season. It's beginning to feel like they've settled for what comes easy. They're not making an attempt to push the envelope with the themes of the programs or the content. We've seen this pretty people skating to pretty music far too many times from them, and the novelty of their nice lines and good skating skills has worn off. It was one thing when they were brand new seniors, but it's time to find something else. They're going to need to push themselves really hard if they want a shot at getting back on that world team next year.
(Side note: I really don't get the new FD costumes from Hawayek and Baker, like they look fine, but they don't make sense with the music they're using)
As I'm sure you all know, both Canadian and American nationals are happening this weekend, and as this is happening, people are questioning why figure skating isn't more popular in countries like the US and Canada, when our skaters do so well. I can tell you with great certainty I know why. It's because it is so inaccessible. I've been looking all day trying to access the senior events from both competitions, and so far, I've had absolutely no luck. For the US, NBC is showing some skaters, but not many, IceNetwork shows everyone else, but from everything I've seen in skating forums and twitter, the stream isn't working. Considering IceNetwork is a paid subscription service, this absolutely should NOT be the case. In Canada, TSN and CTV are showing, like NBC, some of the top skaters, but the earlier flights in the senior events appear to not be available. Period. Skate Canada is showing practices and the lower level events on their Dailymotion channel, but in the past, these streams have been unwatchable because of lag and low video quality. CTV/TSN waste an extraordinary amount of time re-showing programs over the course of the weekend. I hate to break it to you CTV/TSN, you're not gaining viewership this way, and it's not going to make you any extra money. No one is going to pay you to be able to watch the 2 events a season you cover, and this coming from a die-hard fan with no cable subscription. On top of the lack of coverage, the coverage that is available on CTV/TSN is only available to people who have a cable subscrption, but less and less people have a cable subscription, meaning that less people than in past years have access to the (limited) coverage. This means that skating cannot be as popular as it is in countries like Japan because networks are not nearly as devoted to showing it as they could be. Speaking of Japan, they are doing better coverage of the Ladies and Men's events at US Nationals than NBC by far. Apparently Japanese network called J-Sports 4 will be showing all of the ladies and men's events this weekend, which is better than we can say of NBC. As far as YouTube videos go, they are usually hard to find in the first place because the networks are more protective of their exclusive rights to show these programs. This means if they go up, they usually disappear pretty quickly.
So far, I've only been able to find one YouTube video from US nationals, Scimeca and Knierim's short program.
UPDATE:
Bless YouTube channel Sam Canada for also uploading two videos, of Kayne and O Shea and Castelli and Tran, so we're at three videos but that does little to ease my frustration.
Overall, the pairs event at US nationals was probably the least exciting for me. As much as I enjoyed the skating, the rivalries within the other disciplines were more interesting, and I found less discrepancies in judging. After some of the other events, the Pairs was of the least interest to me.
Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim are a fantastic pair, and one of the few with a quad element. Their quad twist has not always been executed well, but at nationals their quad twist was executed better than some of the triple twists from other teams.
Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier were a bit of a surprise to me at the beginning of the season. When I saw they were skating to The Lion King, I have to say, I was skeptical, but the program has grown on me, and though not my favourite, it is certainly not one of the worst music choices this season. The US has some strong pairs teams, but it is doubtful that any of their pairs will end up on the world podium, though certainly not impossible, should other teams have less than perfect skates it is entirely possible for either Scimeca and Knierim or Denney and Frazier to take a spot on the podium.
Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage, one of my personal favourites, finished in 4th place overall, after a less than stellar 7th place finish in the short program. Considering their place and the distance behind even third place, a fourth place finish was a solid way for these two to end the competition. They will not get to attend worlds or four continents, though is the US had a third spot to the Four Continents Championships, there is a good chance they would have been selected to attend. However, scoring well is too important to ensure that next year the US can send at least two teams, that sending the fourth place team would have not been the safest choice for the USFSA. It is, however, unfortunate that we will not get to see them compete again this season. Their programs are charming, and watching Madeline in particular is always a delight, even when the technical elements are not executed perfectly.
Ashley Wagner reclaimed her national title in Greensboro North Carolina, taking a victory over Gracie Gold by a wide margin. Though I am personally not a fan of her freeskate this season, with much of the same choreography this season as the program she used in the last two seasons with the past freeskate, it is clear that she has the best programs in terms of PCSs, and her technical flaws have lessened significantly over the course of the season. However, the judges still seemed generous in her technical judging.
Gracie Gold finished in a solid second place well behind Ashley Wagner and with a solid 6 point lead over Karen Chen. It seems that Gold's performance, especially in the short program was judged more harshly than Wagner's. Though Gold's programs this season were less enticing and with the freeskate she fell into the trap of skating to The Phantom of the Opera, like far too many skaters this season. The programs tend to fall a little flat, they don't have anything to entice the judges into being more forgiving, like they are with Wagner's programs, despite the fact that the choreography in Wagner's freeskate in recycled from the past 2 years.
Karen Chen was a bit of a surprise to those of us who did not watch the US sectionals before nationals. She is still competing at the Junior level, and will stand a great chance at taking the Junior World title this year, and in the future, should she continue to skate like she did at nationals, she may be one of the US ladies looking for a world title in the next few seasons.
Polina Edmunds has not been as good this season as she has in the past, a growth spurt has been a major setback this season, and the greatest testament to her future in the sport will be how she recovers next season. She is beginning to recover now, and has managed to peak at just the right time, but her consistency this season has not been good, and her programs feel very young and do not fit the profile of a senior ladies competitor. The freeskate in particular feels very much like a program that would be given to young girls as they start competing, which is a style most girls grow out of quickly. Edmunds is younger than most of the other ladies competing internationally for the US, and rather than creating mature programs that suit the style of senior ladies and pushing Polina to mature as a performer, her freeskate this year is far too young and stands out in a negative way in many international competitions. As she gets older, the programs will need to mature, and the sooner that happens, the better.
Mirai Nagasu had a tragic free skate, after a collision with the boards continuing to skate, but losing the performance and the jumps. Though she appeared to be in significant pain, even pausing to grab her leg mid-performance, she did not stop her program and take the three point deduction, which likely would have made a huge difference in her overall score. She has not been the most consistent skater, and her jumps are not as good as they could be, so the loss of performance quality as well as the loss of technical points from all of the mistakes she made left her with a dismal score and a
10th place finish overall, placing 12th in the freeskate. Her finish is well below her potential and she could have been far closer to the top had she made the decision to take the three point deduction to recover from her fall.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates took their first national title in Greensboro North Carolina. They have the ability to sell any program, masking technical errors, and make up for any lack of technical skills in the difficult lifts and showmanship. Sometimes the step sequences are less than stellar with small technical mistakes that can be missed by judging panels because they don't appear to stumble. It is clear that Chock and Bates are a force to be reckoned with at the World Championships this year. The question is, will they be able to beat Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada? They couldn't do so at the Grand Prix Final, but it is a real possibility for them.
Maia and Alex Shibutani finished in second place behind Chock and Bates with a significant lead on Hubbell and Donohue and only a few points behind Chock and Bates. However, their programs this season lack true spark. The programs aren't anything special, they don't stand out from the crowd, even though these two are capable of more than they are given this season. It seems that Marina Zoueva is spread too thin, with too many teams and not enough focus on teams like she had in the past with Virtue and Moir and Davis and White. Though the Shibutanis are one of her top teams, they don't seem to have the attention from Marina that they deserve. It seems that it is time for them to leave Marina to move onto better things with a different coaching staff to reach their full potential because they are capable of much more than their programs this season.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue managed to squeeze into third place ahead of Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker though their skate in the free dance was not as clean. They were sloppy and had more than one significant stumble. They received generous program component scores that did not reflect the performance they had. Personally, I have never been a fan of their free dance, though different from others, the hip-hop elements do not translate well to the ice, and their performances always seem rough with the attempt to give the program the illusion of the dance style. It seems as though the program, though an interesting concept, never translated perfectly to the ice.
Kaitlin Hawayek Jean-Luc Baker the shock of the night was when these two fell below Hubbell and Donohue after the spectacular free dance. Their free dance was performed seamlessly. They fell behind only marginally in both the short and free dances. The short dance was one thing, but the difference in quality of the programs was clear. Hawayek and Baker were near flawless, they have smooth, deep edges like only the top teams can manage. Though they beat Hubbell and Donohue in the technical elements score, but it is clear the judging panel did not appreciate their clean skating style as much as they did the unique, though sloppy, style of Hubbell and Donohue.
The US Nationals was far more dramatic than the Canadian Nationals. The US men's event was indicative of the questions following the event about scoring.
Jason Brown won his first US title, though some question the validity of the scoring. Jason Brown is a strong skater, but the consistency that everyone loved last season is not the same, and the charismatic programs of last year are gone. While still consistent and entertaining to watch, Brown's skating is not as technically difficult as many of the men he competed against, and will not stand up on the world stage as well as it did at nationals with the inflation of his score.
Adam Rippon, however is attempting the most difficult jump in figure skating, and though not fully rotating it, he is still significantly farther along in terms of technical difficulty than Brown. Like Brown, Adam Rippon has phenomenal skating skills and skillful interpretation. He doesn't have the same energetic performances that Brown does that draw the crowd in with their excitement, but rather has a quiet power and graceful expression, which, coupled with his skating skills and technical elements, should give him the advantage. In the freeskate, these things paid off with a monumental score well over Brown's.The problem arises in the scoring of the short program. With
the randomized draw for skate order in the short program, Rippon, who skated 6th
was scored low when compared to the other men at nationals.His
short program score of 84.71 is a very competitive score for international
competitions, but the nationals inflation was not applied to him in the way it
was for Brown, whose short program earned him 93.36. When analyzing the GOEs of the two programs, the judges were far more generous with Brown, who skated 13th out of 20, than with Rippon, who skated 6th. When we consider the traditional way skaters are drawn for international competitions, particularly on the Grand Prix circuit, skaters perform in a seated draw, with the top skaters skating last. This mentality plays into judging when skaters do not perform in a seated draw. Judges expect the skating to improve over time, so they leave room for the later skaters to improve on the scores of those who skated earlier. In the end, Rippon lost the title because of bad luck in the draw. Had he skated later, he probably would have won the title, if the 6 point difference in the freeskate is any indication. Rippon lost by only 2.5 points, which would have been made up by receiving the same nationals inflation that Jason Brown did.
Joshua Farris had a strong finish, finishing in third overall and second in the short program. He is slotted to attend both the Four Continents Championships and the World Championships. He is a consistent skater, with a style similar to that of Adam Rippon.
Max Aaron needed a new short program. It is clear his coaching staff knew that something was not quite right with the program, deciding to change the version of Footloose he skated to, but this really did not solve Max Aaron's short program problem. The freeskate he performed is much more in the realm of what Max Aaron does well. Unlike the top three men, he is not really a performer. This is a big factor in why he is not being sent to Four Continents or Worlds. He is not consistent enough, and unlike the others, he does not have the other skills necessary to make up for any technical mistakes. Next season, he needs to stick to what he does best, while also improving his skating skills and interpretation so that going forward he has the skills to make up for any technical mistakes he makes, This was probably the intention behind the Footloose short program, but it seems to be a failed experiment.
Jeremy Abbott, a former national champion did not live up to the expectations many had of him, and that he likely had of himself. He finished just outside of fourth place, but was a long way off the top of the podium. His total of 258.29 fell quite far short of Jason Brown's 274.98. He will not be attending the Four Continents or World Championships, and people are questioning if he is returning and if it is worthwhile for him to return, It seems sometimes that Jeremy's best is not enough to compete against the top men, though he is a pleasure to watch. There is an ease to his skating between the elements that is quite beautiful, but when the jumps don't work, his programs tend to fall flat.
