With or without those videos though, I'm excited. It's Nationals, people!
Here are some of my thoughts on how it may pan out:
Ladies:
Everyone has their money on Gracie Gold. Bleacher Report calls her "scary good." I disagree with that of course - Gracie is good, but her skating does not overly impress me. She's not winning world championships, and her skating is far less impressive than some of her competitors on the international stage. That said, she is head and shoulders the best female skater from the United States. I'm going to bet on her to win, hoping the stress fracture that took her out of the Grand Prix Final is sufficiently healed. Otherwise, Ashley Wagner could be looking at her third US title, which is no small achievement.
Men:
Jason Brown is expected to take the title this year. I'm not sure I agree. He's American figure skating's sweetheart, and he certainly could win if he skates well...but the lack of a quad is troubling. In my conversation with commentator Johnny Weir last month, I asked him if a guy could win without a quad, and his reply was "I think we're past the point of winning without a quad." However, no American men have consistent quads, so that could work in his favor. Brown faces stiff competition from past champs Max Aaron and Jeremy Abbott, as well as new up-and-comer Nathan Chen (whose quads do look promising).
Pairs
I quite literally have no idea. I hardly recognize any American pair teams, because they're all so meh.
Dance
Madison Chock and Evan Bates did quite well during the Grand Prix season, as did the Shibutanis. It will probably be Chock and Bates with the win. American ice dancing did not die with the retirement of Meryl and Charlie.
No comments:
Post a Comment