Hmmmmnn…
Yup. And- I know, I never expected to continue this series, either.
But yet, here we are.
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It was an interesting experience seeing Jason Brown on the ice again. For myself, I strongly identify Brown with the other members of the 2014 USA skating team, including Gracie and Ashley Wagner. But, mostly Gracie. The two of them seem to be close friends, and I remember seeing Brown often in Gracie’s social media, back when she was more active online.
Of course I remember his distinctive style on the ice as well, and the various things people said about his skating during the 2014 games.
Well, I think it’s time to finally add my two cents.
My opinion – Brown scores too low.
Not a LOT too low, but yeah. He does.
Basically, I’m thinking the same thing most everyone else is.
There is no way he should have been outscored by Hanyu. Seriously. Hanyu bricked two jumps completely. Sorry, I know that’s oversimplifying things, but that’s how it looked on my TV. And Brown, although he delivered a performance that may have had a lower starting value than Hanyu’s, was absolutely perfect.
I’m not sure I like how skating is becoming the quad show.
That is not to take away from the skaters, like Chen, how can complete quads, successfully and well. The problem is when skaters toss things like quad axels into their programs they everyone knows full well they have a less than half chance of landing, simply because they score huge with the jumps even if they fall in some ugly manner.
I think skaters should be penalized more for falls than they are. One point seems too little.
I think the key here is that I want to see skaters perform their best, and not to attempt the absurd. I want to see the best looking skating. And I’m not alone in this.
I thought this back in 2014, and recent events have only solidified this opinion.
Brown should have taken the 4th spot in the final tally, and the gap between his score and the Korean skater should have been significant.
As an added bonus, this change would ensure more longevity for skaters on the ice. It would go some distance to ending the “one and done” culture that applies to everyone except gold medal winners at the Olympics. It’s cool to see people return for another run, to see how they’ve grown. It creates continuity, etc.
Seriously, think about it.
So yeah, Brown is cool. And while I’m thinking of him…
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Ummmmmn hmmmn.
So… anyone else wonder what Gracie is doing right now? I mean besides the obvious. Or is that just me?
Probably just me.
Sometimes I wonder if I did things right with her. Sometimes… it’s reeeeally hard to tell.
It’s an easy thing to see if Victoria Justice is happy. Real simple. Same with Haley Pullos, Kat McNamara, Kathryn, Peyton… and a bunch of others. Just look at their social media. They post nearly every day, and give me frequent text updates (in the form of post descriptions) with how they’re doing, what they’re feeling, etc. Easy peasy.
Not so much with Gracie. Gracie isn’t the type to do this, and in fact, she rarely posts much, if at all, for great big stretches of time. Which is fine; that works for her. But it has left me scratching my head, and that was even before it was apparent that she was struggling with mental health issues.
So it’s not hard for me to wonder, considering Brown’s success, if that could have been Gracie instead, had I played my cards with her differently. I mean… you know what I mean.
This is compounded by Gracie’s excellent short program at the recent nationals. I kept thinking… mayyyyybe if I would have done this differently, or that differently, than mayyyyyybe Gracie would have done equally well in the free skate, and theeeeeeeen…
It’s real easy to think along these lines. I left Gracie alone for long stretches of time, not really knowing what to do, and how she could be supported, or if she needed it, or even wanted it.
Sooooooo… yeah. Head scratcher.
Did I do right? Wrong? Average? Who knows, lol. Life is a complicated thing, and everyone, no matter their power or ability, has only 24 hours a day in which to live it. It’s tough to know sometimes how these more complex situations should be approached.
For what it’s worth, what I think now is that Gracie and I hit it off so well in Sochi because we have similar personalities. We’re both performers, and we enjoy being on a national/global stage, but we have strongly introverted sides to us, too.
I never was able to make much of a connection with Ashley Wagner, despite both of our initial attempts. We liked each other well enough, but… there wasn’t enough there to really go on for anything long term except for, IDK, a casual acquaintanceship. Our personalities didn’t “gel”.
So, there you have it.
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To tie this all together- what if these events were scored ever so slightly differently? A little more penalty for falls, a little more bonus for effective expressive elements and spins and such.
Who knows, maybe then I wouldn’t need to worry about some things so much. Would Gracie have made it into the 2022 games? She would have trained differently, had a different program, and… who knows. It’s an interesting thought. Her experience might have carried her through.
Well… it’s late, again.
Off to bed.