U.S. figure skating at a low point

Discussion in 'Great Skate Debate' started by Sugar, Jan 24, 2013.

  1. Sugar

    Sugar Well-Known Member

  2. michiruwater

    michiruwater Well-Known Member

    Hasn't Hersh already written this article several times?
  3. AndyWarhol

    AndyWarhol Well-Known Member

    what happened to his love for Gold.. surely she alone can get the 3rd spot back..
  4. caseyedwards

    caseyedwards Well-Known Member

    Lol at the use of the word stumblebums.

    The pairs stuff is the Same in every article.

    There could have been more enthusiasm for Wagner!
  5. misskarne

    misskarne #408

  6. RobinA

    RobinA Active Member

    Unfortunately, it's true. The US needs specifically to figure out the Pairs problem, which has been going on for some time now. The rest of it could just be a natural lull.
  7. Garden Kitty

    Garden Kitty Tranquillo

    Apparently the Olympics aren't an international event in his book.
  8. aliceanne

    aliceanne Well-Known Member

    Maybe Phil needs to lace up and show everyone how it's done. :rolleyes:
  9. leafygreens

    leafygreens Well-Known Member

    Figure out the pairs problem - Scout them out in preschool, put them in a state-sponsored sports school, don't let them leave, let them fall in love during puberty and guaranteed they will stay together.

    Poor Mirai...
  10. Cyn

    Cyn Well-Known Member

    Awww...poor Phil is even more full of doom and gloom (as well as being full of shit) now that his perennial darling, Alissa Czisny, is out of Nationals after dislocating her hip.
  11. rainbowkisses

    rainbowkisses Banned Member

  12. reese

    reese Well-Known Member

    I feel like Phil has a template for these posts that he has been using for the last 7 years. At this point these articles must take him 5 minutes of work.
    ioana and (deleted member) like this.
  13. ioana

    ioana Well-Known Member

    It's nice to see skating still gets some major coverage, but does it have it to be all 'woe is us?'

    And, this was good
    So, why are we titling the article 'US figure skating at a low point,' because that just shows how even-keeled and balanced the good and bad points are?
  14. DarrellH

    DarrellH New Member

    Having a World Champion is a low point?
  15. aftershocks

    aftershocks Well-Known Member

    :respec: :respec:

    I don't know how to spell it, but my gut reaction to Phil's "doom and gloom" assessment would be the sound that Dan Hollander recently made in reaction to Dave & Jenny naming a certain skater he seemed blase about: "Annnh!"

    Or better yet: :blah:

    I guess Phil is suffering from withdrawal symptoms or a huge hangover after attending Kween's wedding, and therefore cannot summon up any enthusiasm nor even fake having enough creative imagination to plumb the depths of the very real, substantial and exciting storylines that actually exist in Omaha at the U.S. National Championships this week. For Phil it seems that only medals, preferably gold or silver at Worlds and Olympics are the only things that matter in figure skating.

    Even among the pairs, despite the astonishing break-ups and the unfortunate injury to Coughlin, if Phil wasn't so lazy and apparently inept, he could write an entire article about the talented teams who will be vying for medals and a top position to debut on the Worlds stage.

    I mean really, where does Phil think Champions come from? Does he think they just magically appear out of nowhere and grab gold medals like "automatons"? :rolleyes: There is so much to write about even re the novice and junior events that have been taking place over the past few days. It seems as if Phil would like the skaters to make his job easy for him by winning all the time and every time. Got news for you Phil, winning is NOT everything that figure skating is about. Just ask Michelle Kwan. ;)

    A Big Thumbs Down to you @olyphil :p
  16. falling_dance

    falling_dance Happy for Kozuka, Sad for D. Murakami

    11th doesn't sound like a bad debut for a (then) quadless 20-year-old man at an ISU championship that had to be postponed for a month due to an unforeseen disaster, and it's not as if he scored way outside the top ten in overall points, either. Of course, if it's nonsense to be "taken more seriously" if one isn't a World title contender this season, then I suppose those points are irrelevant.
  17. aftershocks

    aftershocks Well-Known Member

    ^^ Yeah, thanks falling_dance! Phil should spend time brushing-up on the past few seasons in figure skating, get an eye examination, and then take his "undue enthusiasm" to the wilds of Canada and learn how to write about winter sports like curling. Might be an excellent sabbatical for him and good motivation for learning how to appreciate subtleties, and how to expend the necessary effort to write more effectively, informatively and less insultingly about everyone and everything.
  18. centerpt1

    centerpt1 Active Member

    Here's hoping Mirai goes to Worlds and medals-just so he'd have to write about that.
  19. demetriosj

    demetriosj Well-Known Member

    Still waiting for Hersh's perennial article about the new junior ladies champ in which he declares the new junior ladies champ the next great thing to happen to US ladies figure skating, just as he has in the past few years with Courtney Hicks and Gracie G. Think he has a template for that one for sure! (I do like Polina Edmunds and think she has a great future.)

    Maybe we won't see the new junior ladies champ article this year?, or have I missed something? since he seems to have his current fave in Seniors this year?
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2013
  20. overedge

    overedge Well-Known Member

    Interesting to see Phil drooling over White/Davis' international results, when a few years ago he said words to the effect that he didn't consider ice dance a sport.
  21. Mayra

    Mayra Well-Known Member

    He probably still doesn't which is why D&W didn't merit anything beyond a few sentences at the end of a very doom and gloom article. :shuffle:
  22. Sasha'sSpins

    Sasha'sSpins Well-Known Member


    Hersh is getting on my last nerves. And I thought he liked Gracie too. I wonder if they both refused him interviews or something?
  23. query5

    query5 New Member

    he means the overall team of u.s.a all the discplines
    mens, pairs, dance and ladies.

    medal wise only the dance is doing what u.s.a would qualify as good.
    everyone else is mediocre or okay at best.
    only dance got 13 since 2010
    laides hasn't since 2008 , men since 2010 only, pairs hasn't in a while.
    the placements are okay.
    the ladies who could have done it when sent to worlds didn't. why didn't try.
    pair-we are a b it behind
    the men just skated-doesnt seem to skate their best.
  24. Philly2034

    Philly2034 Banned Member

    With all due respect to US skating, until someone named other than Davis or White can actually win a medal at worlds, Hersh is right.
    Rex and (deleted member) like this.
  25. PinkFeathers

    PinkFeathers Active Member

    Oh please, Evan could have won 2 gold medals, and Phil would be like WELL HE DIDN'T WIN THREE, THAT DISAPPOINTMENT!

    Phil, for the love of God, you need to get the sand out of your nether regions. This herp derp USA bad herp herp isn't helpful, or even worth reading.

    Maybe there is a lull right now; there probably is. Constantly pissing on the morale of the skaters he seems to love watching so much isn't the way to build any team up, however. Ugh.
  26. maatTheViking

    maatTheViking Now ubering Machida's hair

    oh really? You know, I would be happy if Denmark even had one skater who met the worlds TES. Or, you know, a pair or ice dance couple at all. Just saying.
    If we handed out citizenships, I will take Wagner. Or anyone, really, who qualified for the US nationals.

    The travesty, only 2 spots for worlds...

    ok, I get the US used to be a stronger skating nation, but given that they are a contender for the Sochi team medal, I find this quite a bit whiny.
  27. aftershocks

    aftershocks Well-Known Member

    ^^ Thanks, maatTheViking, PinkFeathers, and others who get it!

    To all the naysayers, and armchair critics (some obviously from countries other than the U.S.) you obviously don't get the point do you? It doesn't matter how many medals U.S. skaters are or are not bagging on the international stage, it's about a sports journalist learning how to write more creatively, informatively and with a huge dollop of exhaustive research, hard work and effort.

    Hard core figure skating fans are already knowledgeable about the current scene in U.S. figure skating and in figure skating in general. Just because U.S. singles and pairs disciplines have not been winning the requisite number of international medals that Mr. Hersh deems appropriate for celebration and headlines touting "high times," doesn't mean that U.S. figure skating is at "a low point." Champions come from somewhere, as I said. In times like this, it's important to look harder and go deeper beyond the surface, as well as to offer encouragement and support to athletes instead of dismissive insults. Figure skating is not all about the statistics of how many medals are being won.

    As I said, fans who follow the sport already know what's happening on the surface. It takes someone with exemplary writing skill, creativity and genuine passion for the sport to delve beneath the surface and extract the interesting storylines, quotable nuggets, anecdotes and informative details that can be instructive, entertaining and uplifting for long time fans as well as for the general public who know very little about figure skating.

    Poor coverage and "doom and gloom" assessments do absolutely nothing but contribute to the sport continuing to lose fans, confuse those who might otherwise become fans, and put a damper on the spirits of perennial, die-hard fans. And I don't want to even imagine what Hersh's hangover bile might do to the fighting spirits of U.S. figure skating athletes. I hope and pray they have either not read it, or if they have, that they completely ignore his downer diatribe or just allow themselves that extra bit of fuel for battle. In any case, I suppose they all know Phil very well by now and try not to allow s**t from the media to bother them. To all U.S. skaters, get fired up and let your spirits and hard work guide you to do your very best. :cheer:

    Big pop to your lazy pomposity, Phil.

    ETA: Yeah, yep, Mirai (even before her sp scores are posted): "Take that, Phil Hersh!"
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2013
  28. victoriaheidi

    victoriaheidi New Member

    I am so sick of Phil Hersh. I'm a hard-working reporter specializing in figure skating...and he's an idiot with a paycheck. :rolleyes:

    Really, truly, Mr. Hersh: ever stop to think that maybe your constant prognostications of doom and gloom are keeping people from watching FS? Ever?
  29. Jammers

    Jammers Well-Known Member

    I guarantee if Agnes pulls off a shocker and wins Nationals Hersh will proclaim her as the next big thing. :lol:
  30. Mayra

    Mayra Well-Known Member

    Wouldn't he be right? At least in the US?