2011 Nationals - Satan and His Posse

Well, well...it has been way too long! What has happened to me you wonder? Well, I don't even know myself. Being a college student has its demands, but hey, I am going to be back in action. Hopefully you will all join me!

So to kick things off again, let's look at a review of the 2011 National Championships.



First, let's look at the top 5 reasons why Satan had his way at this event:

5) Jeremy Abbott missed the world team by .19 points.
4) Rachael Flatt again inspired us to cry tears of boredom.
3) Adam Rippon is off the world team.
2) Mirai Nagasu's subpar free skate.
1) The Michelle Kwan Trophy going to...Johnny Weir?

Even though these travesties occurred, there were some bright spots in the event that made each one of us smile with delight.





If Satan tried to destroy this event, The Shibutani's were the holy archangels that came down and swept each of us off our feet and baptized us in the holy water of Asian sibling cuteness. All they need to do is just give a glancing smirk to the audience and we all melt inside and think of Christmas time with hot cocoa and the fire place running.



Alissa Czisny is the goddess of American figure skating, after being subjected to purgatory for years on end. This year's free skate is a culmination of ethereal beauty and wistful subtlety. This genius outlet that David Wilson created for her perfectly transforms Alissa's insecure performance tendencies into genuine freedom and expression.

However, on the world stage Czisny hasn't delivered. After winning the Grand Prix Final this past year, the added confidence will hopefully carry her onto a world podium finish.



Skating to "Ava Maria" certainly combated the evil demons which allowed Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin to make their first world team and win their first national title together. It was a bittersweet endeavor as John's mother passed away this past summer. It was truly a beautiful performance that emotionally impacted all who witnessed it.

But, we all know Satan is the man of deceit and god of the world, so naturally, his presence was still felt.



Why? Why? Why? I am sounding a lot like Nancy Kerrigan now.

In this extraordinarily choreographed program, Abbott failed to deliver and found himself dumbfounded and off the podium. As the commentators were saying that his goal wasn't to peak here, it seems like he certainly tried to downplay the importance of this event, which usually is never a good thing to do.

He began to unravel as the program went on and made silly mistakes that were certainly unnecessary. Abbott can only hope to redeem himself at the Four Continents Championship, but even a win there will not redeem the poor season he has had as a whole. Hopefully a trip away from the Worlds will allow him to deal with the demons inside his head and cause him to come back next year with a new vengeance and fire.



In a similar situation, Mirai Nagasu's careless mistakes gave her the cold message that she needs major work to clean up in order to become a champion. Frank Carroll was visibly pissed after her long program after she botched a spin and stepped out of a double axel. The program is another Lori Nichol trash bin favorite, as it clearly doesn't give Mirai any distinct style or innovative outlet that her personality screams for. She is another skater that is under the curse of demons that are disallowing her to become the skater we all know she can be.



If anyone was unclear about politics still reigning supreme in USFS, they need to look no further than the men's event. Certainly Ryan Bradley's win was in the bag, especially after the short program. Although his win isn't necessarily controversial, it is blatantly obvious the way the USFS inflated his scores in a way that will never become reality internationally. Unfortunately for the men, this means that attaining 3 spots at next year's worlds will seem extremely unlikely. Miner and Dornbush are too new on the international scene to know if they will be reliable or not. The consistency of Dornbush should give him a top 10 finish, but I predict Bradley will be no higher than 12th, and Miner will be in the 12-15th range.


And finally, no National championship would be complete without Johnny Weir. In this case, he wasn't competing, but receiving the Michelle Kwan Trophy award. While he certainly made headlines last season, his winning certainly makes all of us puzzled at the thought of it. The obvious choice that the tween fans would block-vote for would've been Evan Lysacek, but Davis/White certainly would be categorized as another favorite to win. Even though the award bodes little significance, it is rather hysterical seeing Weir win the award after the amount of bashing he gives US figure skating in his book. Touche!