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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 29, 2012 21:47:15 GMT -8
Speedskating: Celski, Smith clinch World Cup spots at U.S. short-track championships The Salt Lake Tribune First Published 4 hours ago • Updated 32 minutes ago Kearns • JR Celski and Jessica Smith became the first two short-track speedskaters to clinch spots on the U.S. team for the first World Cup races of the upcoming season, by winning the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Short-Track Championships on Saturday at the Utah Olympic Oval.Read the entire story: www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/54990889-77/team-celski-smith-cup.html.csp
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Post by musicalmom on Sept 30, 2012 0:04:49 GMT -8
watched Tony's streaming...he is amazing...wish I could afford to send him a big donation...but will send what I can. he volunteers all this time and has spoiled us...would rather watch and listen to him than follow the dancing numbers like we often have to...and yes, I saw both interviews...Jordan was very clearly confidant in his stance...and pretty honest about his medical challenges...has grown into a very mature sounding young man...Katherine looked great especially in light of what she's gone through medically...and as always , sounded confident, self-assured, committed and clear about her goals...very glad to see that her health is a priority...ah, the resilence of youth...but the dedication of both these young athletes is inspiring , no matter what happens with short track in their future
...it has fueled them to strive and achieve.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 10:03:15 GMT -8
The final session is about to begin!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 12:32:19 GMT -8
500M(2) Results:
Ladies
1) Alyson Dudek
2) Emily Scott
3) Sarah Chen
Men
1) JR Celski
2) Travis Jayner
3) Jeff Simon
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 12:36:54 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 13:25:40 GMT -8
BTW, Tony just mentioned on his stream that it's straight-up Top 6 per gender - no discretionary picks.
The rules still say 1 discretionary pick, but another person on the chat explained, saying that they changed the selection rules just for this meet because of the potential for bias in favor of the NRP skaters.
Edit: WRONG (See USS press release, below)
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Post by sk8er on Sept 30, 2012 13:41:49 GMT -8
Given her injury and age I think Allison Baver did a great job coming in 8th. What is the status of the skaters who do not make the top 6? Who gets "invited" to train with the National Team program and whatever $$ they offer....and medical, yes medical! That should be the least they offer! I've always believed that J.R. Celski has at least as much natural talent as Apolo Ohno. If he gets the hard training and focus he needs he's going to be on the podium  Good to see the new people coming up....some names I've heard from the SoCal folks. Time marches on, and in this sport the demands are intense and it's very rare to see a shorttracker over 30. A couple of the great Chinese skaters made it to 31 and one of the men (who I should remember) retired at 32. SusanG |
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 14:08:44 GMT -8
1000M(2) Results
Ladies
1) Jessica Smith
2) Aly Dudek
3) Sarah Chen
Men
1) JR Celski
2) Chris Creveling
3) Travis Jayner
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 14:11:30 GMT -8
Here's your Fall World Cup team:
Ladies
1) Jessica Smith
2) Sarah Chen
3) Lana Gehring
4) Emily Scott
5) Alyson Dudek
6) Tamara Frederick (oops - not yet)
Men
1) JR Celski
2) Chris Creveling (his first World Cup team)
3) Kyle Carr
4) Jeff Simon
5) Travis Jayner
6) John-Henry Krueger (oops - not yet)
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 30, 2012 17:36:55 GMT -8
One of our members sent me this press release, which says that my earlier info was wrong - there WILL be one discretionary pick per gender on October 8. So I've corrected the info I posted above. www.usspeedskating.org/node/985 |
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Oct 1, 2012 0:25:13 GMT -8
The initial confusion over whether there would be discretionary picks leads me to a brief 'editorial' comment. With all of the other drama going on at USS, why on earth would they want to throw discretionary picks into the cauldron? Here was a chance to do something that very few could argue with. What would it hurt to (just this once) take the Top 6 and avoid stirring the pot any further?  At the very least, they could take Top 6 to WC's 1 & 2, then opt for discretionary pics for WC's 3 & 4. Maybe the dust will have settled a bit by then... |
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Oct 1, 2012 0:32:25 GMT -8
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Post by mtnme on Oct 1, 2012 18:20:34 GMT -8
The initial confusion over whether there would be discretionary picks leads me to a brief 'editorial' comment. With all of the other drama going on at USS, why on earth would they want to throw discretionary picks into the cauldron? Here was a chance to do something that very few could argue with. What would it hurt to (just this once) take the Top 6 and avoid stirring the pot any further? At the very least, they could take Top 6 to WC's 1 & 2, then opt for discretionary pics for WC's 3 & 4. Maybe the dust will have settled a bit by then... Well, this inspires (inflames?) me to make a NOT so brief editorial comment.... Admit it. We've all known people like that. I'll bet you've even worked with some. I know I have. Some people have just got to stir that pot EVERY SINGLE DAY of their lives! ...or maybe they really are just that clueless... I read yesterday that the original arbitration was supposed to be done around the beginning of the week. NOW they're saying it won't be until about the 8th of OCT. BUT, and this is a biggie, USS is demanding that the skaters decide if they will accept their positions BEFORE the investigation is done. As per USS Website: 'Athletes have until October 7th to accept or decline their spot on the team. Two additional athletes—one for the men’s and women’s team—will be selected for two discretionary spots on October 8th.'www.usspeedskating.org/node/985(EDIT: Lori has just posted an article by the Chicago Tribune that USS is extending the time the skaters have to make a decision on accepting a spot on the WC team until arbitration is done. Reply #63
therockerforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=hot&action=display&thread=1081&page=5
...SO my following indignation on that count has just become superfluous. I'll leave the original comment in for context while begrudgingly giving USS props for doing the right thing. )Am I the only one who thinks this is completely fishy and totally stinks on ice? First USS pushes the date further off and then insists the skaters decide to be on the team BEFORE that date, putting them in direct conflict with what they were trying to avoid in the first place, which was further contact with the coach.
Ten bucks says this is how it plays out. The skaters agree to be on the team and then USS immediately puts Jae right back in charge 2 nanoseconds later. 'Tough luck skaters, we 'gotchya' again.'
This certainly smacks of yet another bullying tactic once again by USS.Then inflame the situation further by the discretionary picks. Now I get how this could be a good thing. If you have several skaters who are really showing great promise, then why not give them ALL some international experience and gain some real depth in the team overall leading up to the Olympics. But if it turns out that those discretionary picks are more about manipulating the skaters in an unfair manner, then I take great issue with that. I take even greater issue with an NGB that allows it. I'll give Simon Cho some benefit of the doubt here, that if he did tamper with skates, he probably did so under severe duress from a coach who was given limitless power and had discretion of leaving him off the team not because he wasn't skating well, but because he wasn't doing the coach's questionable bidding. When you have skaters who have worked this hard, given so much and want to make the teams so badly, having any person or entity with that much unquestioned power and authority is a recipe for disaster and makes the skaters highly vulnerable to abuse. In light of the current 'drama', discretionary picks puts a further spin of impropriety on the whole situation, especially given that the arbitration isn't finished and hasn't laid to rest any and all questions of abuse of power. It was Lori who told me 'Never account to viciousness that which could be attributed to incompetence'...or something to that effect... But Good Lord above,  I really DO have a hard time believing any NGB could POSSIBLY be this completely clueless. Or to quote Einstein: "The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity". Sorry, but this time, I just gotta go with vicious. And arrogant. *heavy sigh* |
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Post by been there on Oct 3, 2012 10:42:23 GMT -8
If the criteria is the same as last year, yeahttps://webpoint.usspeedskating.org/files/Event_PDFs/1917_Event_OtherDoc.pdfr. Then the main purpose of the skater is to be a relay skater and for future development. Due to her success and young racing age (time spent on the national team), it is difficult not to pick Tamara. Since Moscow finals and Katherine's surgery, she and Lana have been the consistent picks to skate the relay. Tamara has won three silvers last spring with the relay team.
The men's team did not experience the same level of success last spring due to injuries. The selection is not that simple. By following the criteria a good case can be made for John-Henry or Eddie. The tie breaker goes to John-Henry because he is a better fit for the first attribute of the selection criteria which is future development. To select the sixth place finishers at the championships is not a bad decision. On paper, it is your best option to score points at the world cup meets.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Oct 3, 2012 12:25:09 GMT -8
Thanks for your insight, been there - it makes perfect sense. Even though there are some very talented and/or experienced skaters in the 7/8 slots who would also be assets to the team, I still think that taking the Top 6 is a decision that few could argue with. I wonder now if the 8th is still the date for the discretionary picks to be announced - or if the 'soft' deadline for acceptance by the Top 5 will push that back... |
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Good to see the new people coming up....some names I've heard from the SoCal folks. Time marches on, and in this sport the demands are intense and it's very rare to see a shorttracker over 30. A couple of the great Chinese skaters made it to 31 and one of the men (who I should remember) retired at 32. 
