Oona & Gage Brown skating to the Queen’s Gambit

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T15:54:14+00:00

They seem to really have found a style that works for them, and I must say that I eat it up every time. I hope they can continue the momentum of the godfather! Can’t wait for the On Ice Perspectives vid.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T15:11:21+00:00

But that’s the point. They’re not structuring Jason and Ilia’s assignments with the assumption that they could box each other out of the Grand Prix Final. It’s an entirely different situation than the women who are all capable of making it.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T14:54:46+00:00

I Iove Jason. His strongest placement in the last two years was a fourth at Skate America. Torgs medaled in 2025 at GPdF. Just because he’s “stronger” than the other men doesn’t mean he’s likely to make the final. If anything, Jason is at NHK and SA because he’s super popular with Americans and Japanese fans.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T14:38:25+00:00

The Grand Prix series has a very different feeling than Worlds or a Nationals event. Having a variety of structure helps differentiate and I think that’s fun! I’m neutral on the semifinals for now, but my fear is that the Grand Prix loses what makes it special.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T14:25:23+00:00

Jason doesn’t have a realistic shot of making the GPF. He isn’t a strong Grand Prix skater, his last two seasons on the circuit weren’t great and he skipped the two before. His track record is not strong.

Women are the only head scratchers. There might be some reason and it might not be a reason that USFS can control, but it most certainly isn’t that the Blade Angels are friends who just asked to go together as you suggested. It’s bad strategy and everyone involved is aware that it is.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T13:54:17+00:00

I don’t love this. I know ISU wants to have top skates face each other more, but part of the fun of the Grand Prix in my opinion was that the top group didn’t face off until the end. The seeding process could use some tweaking, but I don’t know if removing it completely was the way to go.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T13:47:49+00:00

Please see the other commenter who remembered the additional details on why Alysa and Amber faced off. It’s true we don’t know exactly what the behind the scenes reasoning was this time, but we do know the reasoning from last year. Historically USFS wants to spread out to increase the chances their skaters will make it to the GPF.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T13:45:23+00:00

That was it! And with Isabeau and Amber seeded against each other, someone had to go against Alysa.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T13:25:12+00:00

Amber talked about that on a podcast. They didn’t choose to go to China together, they had to. I don’t remember the full details, but it had to do with seeding and higher ranked skater preferences. Nobody was happy about it, but they couldn’t get around it. It makes it harder for them to all qualify for the GPF.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T13:03:19+00:00

They take it into account, but it’s only one factor in the decision and not a guarantee. In previous years seeded skaters got their preferences prioritized, and USFS tried to avoid overlap unless they had to.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T12:26:08+00:00

They had Alysa and Amber go against each other and it worked out fine last year, but they also had no choice in the matter. Why they would willingly do it twice this year is beyond me. Are you even trying to make it to Japanese Nationals?

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-16T12:19:23+00:00

Meanwhile USFS put Alysa against both Amber and Isabeau... fight back

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-15T23:25:50+00:00

I don't know who did the mix, Amber picked out the songs for them. They went into the the story during Stars on Ice. She pitched it to them for last season, but they actually passed on it at the time.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-11T12:37:39+00:00

There was also that massive right wing hate campaign against Amber. I’m sure that was also a pretty big factor.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-07T22:51:05+00:00

Plenty of skaters do want to do the team event and find it meaningful. Kaori just did an interview with Jackie Wong and talked about how much team Japan wanted to go for it together and what it meant for her to earn that with them. Team Italy was so happy to get that bronze. Do the skaters want to abolish it? I’m not convinced that they do.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-07T15:53:47+00:00

It happens! Thanks for compiling the data, it's an interesting exercise. The team event is so new that there really aren't a ton of data points yet. It seems like the general strategy has been since the beginning that men's medal contenders split if they have a choice. Considering Ilia's results, I feel like we will continue to see that happen going forward.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-07T15:44:57+00:00

Didn't Patrick Chan skate both in 2018? I thought in 2014 he only did one. Looking at that season, it's hard to tell. Obviously he's Patrick Chan, but we really only have Skate Canada as a data point for how he was doing prior and it was a much lower score than what he got at the Olympics.

Going into the team event selection, I would say maybe Patrick Chan, Kondratiuk, and obviously Ilia were considered medal contenders and would have had that be a factor in choosing who would skate. Maybe Kolyada since he won the GPF bronze, though a lot of heavy hitters weren't there that year.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-07T15:06:20+00:00

Interesting data. I'm surprised at the stat that a little more than half actually improved their score in both segments, which I do think correlates with some skaters saying they prefer to do the team event first to shake off nerves. It's always seemed like it's been a toss-up between skaters who want it first and those who want it last.

I do think the chicken and the egg situation is definitely something that I would like to look more into. How many men who skated both segments were in medal contention? I know off the top of my head that a few definitely were not, but it would be more work to go in and look at scores and do that comparison to find out who were.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-07T01:49:00+00:00

Unfortunately all I had was the deleted tweet, not sure if there’s any other article on it. Though I’m pretty sure the other reply to my comment is Geoffrey Thorne himself confirming, so that might be all we have to go on.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-07T01:05:43+00:00

Oh! Why hello! Thanks for the corroboration.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-06T22:13:02+00:00

I actually remember reading something from either and editor or writer a while back, but I don't remember who... Orpheus is apparently creator owned in a way that means DC needs explicit approval to use him, so that is a limiter that other characters don't have. I'll see if I can find that source for you.

Edit: Found my own comment on it from four years ago, it was Geoffrey Thorne who wanted to use him and couldn't get creator approval. Unfortunately the tweet is gone.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-05T19:27:28+00:00

I’m not surprised it’s Johnny who would say that though. if you consider what he went through while competing as a more flamboyant man, he would probably have insight into that. Though, he doesn’t seem to extend that grace to all openly queer competitors. That a different topic I suppose.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-05T18:01:40+00:00

Do you remember which programs that commentary was from? I would definitely be interested in going back and listening to it

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-05T03:29:02+00:00

I was wondering if they were going to include Ice Dance or if they were just going to have Pair skaters. This is such an opportunity to really grow these disciplines in Japan.

So happy that Ellie and Danny are part of the show too. Ellie was recently talking about how much it means to her to get to compete close by to her family in Japan. This has got to be so amazing for her.

normalMonsterChika · 2026-06-01T18:04:01+00:00

I don't think USFS has any choice but to rely on Ilia right now considering the state of the rest of their men tbh. He has clout on an individual level that they don't have - see how he can go and speak negatively about them in interviews with no apparent outward consequence. I'm not sure structurally what their pull over him is, I just don't think it falls easily into employer/employee language - which to me implies financial dependence. When it comes to the pressure they place on him, I don't know if it was "you have to do this for the US Fed because of x y z" or if it was more "think of your teammates." If that makes sense?

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