Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I'm starting to get greedy!

An amazing thing is starting to happen this season. If we look at the men's event, overall the American men have been doing very well.

On paper, five American Men have a shot at making the Grand Prix Final. While it still seems a bit of a stretch at this point, it is possible that Lysacek, Weir, Abbott, Carriere, and Bradley could all qualify. When was the last time any of us saw the American men showing this kind of force internationally? To answer that, I can't remember a time!

Okay, time to get greedy and really think about how this could happen...I think it would be amazing. We'll, we've already been helped by the fact that Van Der Perren, Takahashi, and Oda are now only competing in one event. Kozuka, Chan, and Joubert are still in the way but the good part about that is the fact that all three are competing in Paris...and all three can't win! Best case scenario is that Ryan Bradley surprisingly wins, Preaubert a surprising silver, and the aforementioned three crash and burn! I hate to root against skaters, one of which is among my favorites, but desperate times call for desperate measures when pulling for team USA!

Looking ahead to Cup of Russia, Verner again becomes a concern as does Joubert. Abbott will need to pull out all the stops in his tango, but I think he can do it! This would be a great time for Van Der Perren, Voronov, or Chipeur to have a crazy amazing performance. Really, I'm mapping this out!

If all this has played out (that is the biggest if ever!), Carriere and Weir have to take NHK. That's asking a lot but it's within their grasp.

Okay, but really! Wouldn't five U.S. guys at the Grand Prix Final be awesome! Lysacek is the most vulnerable to this plan (uh oh...two bronzes!)...he needs lots of flubs from Kozuka, Joubert, and Chan and needs his teammates to really come through in the remaining Grand Prix events

3 comments:

Montclare said...

Yeah, Weir ! He is the man.
This season is very exciting.
I also can't remember when 5 of our skaters were in GPF together.
Coming December will be very interesting for figure skate fans like you and me.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure how many American guys could make the Finale, but if there's three of them, I've got a wild hope for a podium sweep! They just all have to beat Brian somehow or other...

Anonymous said...

It'd be great if 5 American guys made the Final. That would mean we'd be guaranteed at least 2 medals (provided none of them withdraw). It also says a lot about the depth of talent we have. It's too bad we can only send 3 to worlds. Nationals will be very interesting!

To isobel: There isn't a cap on how many Americans can go to the Final like there is for worlds and 4CC. If the top 6 guys are all Americans, then they all make the Final.