Ashley Wagner sucks

[Anonymous]

That explains a lot.

[Anonymous]

Did she really cut off parents? I thought she just moved to train with a new coach? Please explain. FWIW she really doesn't come across well..comes across mean. I have trouble focusing on the skating when I am thinking she is just such a meanie. I like the Russian girl with no expression so much better.

[Anonymous]

No, Ashley did not cut off her parents. That's a rumor with no basis in reality. She thanks her mother profusely in interviews. Go watch her interview with Jenny Kirk and Dave Lease on "The Skating Lesson." She drops her mother's name and credits her as being "tough as nails" inside of two minutes.

Ashley changed coaches after the 2011 season. She was still a little despondent about missing the Olympic team the season prior and thought she needed a change from her coach, Priscilla Hill. (Ashley had a nasty problem of blowing the short.) So, she packed her bags and headed west to California (with her younger brother in tow) to train with John Nicks. That's not unusual. Skaters either stay with the only coaches they've ever known (Brian Boitano, Michael Weiss) or they move across the country to train with coaches who've worked with Olympians. (Gracie Gold moved from Illinois to California to work with Frank Carroll just a few months ago.) It happens. It's no big deal.

Ashley is very well liked among her follow skaters (especially the boys) and fans who really follow the sport. She's pretty open about her feelings on Russia's treatment of gays, so that should earn her points around here. She's a girl who can't hide what she's feeling at any given moment. She openly admits she's "a mess." She's honest. She's refreshing. No, she has no chance of being on the podium, but who cares? I like Ashley. She's fun.

As for Mirai, stop with the "headcase" and "lazy" nonsense. First, no Olympic-class skater is lazy. None. I've skated sessions with people who are in Sochi at this very moment: Jason Brown, pairs Felicia Zhang and Nate Bartholomay. (But not the Estonian pairs team. Something about paperwork. And Caydee Denney and John Coughlin just missed making the U.S. team.) None of them is lazy, so stop it. You sound silly.

As for Mirai being a headcase, well, she is complicated. So what? Figure skating is full of headcases: Jeremy Abbott, Alissa Czisny, Sasha Cohen to a certain degree. (My coach says I'm a headcase. She's right. I am.) Mirai's problem was that she refused to give 120%. She thought 98% was enough. (Girl has perspective, I'll give her that.) That's why Frank Carroll walked away. USFS has made it clear that they don't like Mirai, but she just won't go away. Good for her!

USFS should have named both Ashley and Mirai to the team with Gracie. All three have international senior records. Polina Edmunds, who finished second at Nationals, does not. If Ashley was named to the team because her record was better than Mirai's, then Mirai should have been chosen over Polina for that same reason. But again, USFS hates Mirai, so the poor girl got dinged. (And please, 10th at Four Continents? No one cares about Four Continents one week before the Olympics, least of all, the skaters who aren't going to the Olympics.)

[Anonymous]

Since Ashley Wagner is from this area, I can't help but think that the mean spirited OP and the repeated nasty posts are from some old rival who is still living the jealousy of her youth.

[Anonymous]

The Post article said she had herself emancipated from her parents. Was it wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, Ashley did not cut off her parents. That's a rumor with no basis in reality. She thanks her mother profusely in interviews. Go watch her interview with Jenny Kirk and Dave Lease on "The Skating Lesson." She drops her mother's name and credits her as being "tough as nails" inside of two minutes.

Ashley changed coaches after the 2011 season. She was still a little despondent about missing the Olympic team the season prior and thought she needed a change from her coach, Priscilla Hill. (Ashley had a nasty problem of blowing the short.) So, she packed her bags and headed west to California (with her younger brother in tow) to train with John Nicks. That's not unusual. Skaters either stay with the only coaches they've ever known (Brian Boitano, Michael Weiss) or they move across the country to train with coaches who've worked with Olympians. (Gracie Gold moved from Illinois to California to work with Frank Carroll just a few months ago.) It happens. It's no big deal.

Ashley is very well liked among her follow skaters (especially the boys) and fans who really follow the sport. She's pretty open about her feelings on Russia's treatment of gays, so that should earn her points around here. She's a girl who can't hide what she's feeling at any given moment. She openly admits she's "a mess." She's honest. She's refreshing. No, she has no chance of being on the podium, but who cares? I like Ashley. She's fun.

As for Mirai, stop with the "headcase" and "lazy" nonsense. First, no Olympic-class skater is lazy. None. I've skated sessions with people who are in Sochi at this very moment: Jason Brown, pairs Felicia Zhang and Nate Bartholomay. (But not the Estonian pairs team. Something about paperwork. And Caydee Denney and John Coughlin just missed making the U.S. team.) None of them is lazy, so stop it. You sound silly.

As for Mirai being a headcase, well, she is complicated. So what? Figure skating is full of headcases: Jeremy Abbott, Alissa Czisny, Sasha Cohen to a certain degree. (My coach says I'm a headcase. She's right. I am.) Mirai's problem was that she refused to give 120%. She thought 98% was enough. (Girl has perspective, I'll give her that.) That's why Frank Carroll walked away. USFS has made it clear that they don't like Mirai, but she just won't go away. Good for her!

USFS should have named both Ashley and Mirai to the team with Gracie. All three have international senior records. Polina Edmunds, who finished second at Nationals, does not. If Ashley was named to the team because her record was better than Mirai's, then Mirai should have been chosen over Polina for that same reason. But again, USFS hates Mirai, so the poor girl got dinged. (And please, 10th at Four Continents? No one cares about Four Continents one week before the Olympics, least of all, the skaters who aren't going to the Olympics.)

Obsessed much?

[Anonymous]

I thought that was a very interesting post, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, Ashley did not cut off her parents. That's a rumor with no basis in reality. She thanks her mother profusely in interviews. Go watch her interview with Jenny Kirk and Dave Lease on "The Skating Lesson." She drops her mother's name and credits her as being "tough as nails" inside of two minutes.

Ashley changed coaches after the 2011 season. She was still a little despondent about missing the Olympic team the season prior and thought she needed a change from her coach, Priscilla Hill. (Ashley had a nasty problem of blowing the short.) So, she packed her bags and headed west to California (with her younger brother in tow) to train with John Nicks. That's not unusual. Skaters either stay with the only coaches they've ever known (Brian Boitano, Michael Weiss) or they move across the country to train with coaches who've worked with Olympians. (Gracie Gold moved from Illinois to California to work with Frank Carroll just a few months ago.) It happens. It's no big deal.

Ashley is very well liked among her follow skaters (especially the boys) and fans who really follow the sport. She's pretty open about her feelings on Russia's treatment of gays, so that should earn her points around here. She's a girl who can't hide what she's feeling at any given moment. She openly admits she's "a mess." She's honest. She's refreshing. No, she has no chance of being on the podium, but who cares? I like Ashley. She's fun.

As for Mirai, stop with the "headcase" and "lazy" nonsense. First, no Olympic-class skater is lazy. None. I've skated sessions with people who are in Sochi at this very moment: Jason Brown, pairs Felicia Zhang and Nate Bartholomay. (But not the Estonian pairs team. Something about paperwork. And Caydee Denney and John Coughlin just missed making the U.S. team.) None of them is lazy, so stop it. You sound silly.

As for Mirai being a headcase, well, she is complicated. So what? Figure skating is full of headcases: Jeremy Abbott, Alissa Czisny, Sasha Cohen to a certain degree. (My coach says I'm a headcase. She's right. I am.) Mirai's problem was that she refused to give 120%. She thought 98% was enough. (Girl has perspective, I'll give her that.) That's why Frank Carroll walked away. USFS has made it clear that they don't like Mirai, but she just won't go away. Good for her!

USFS should have named both Ashley and Mirai to the team with Gracie. All three have international senior records. Polina Edmunds, who finished second at Nationals, does not. If Ashley was named to the team because her record was better than Mirai's, then Mirai should have been chosen over Polina for that same reason. But again, USFS hates Mirai, so the poor girl got dinged. (And please, 10th at Four Continents? No one cares about Four Continents one week before the Olympics, least of all, the skaters who aren't going to the Olympics.)

Obsessed much?

Not the poster you are responding to, but this poster sounds like she knows her shit and has met and trained with many of these athletes. I don't think that is obsession. Probably her passion, though, and she feels she actually has some inside knowledge/perspective to add to this post.

Rock on, other poster. I love to watch skating, although I never got involved myself.

I feel bad for mirai-she did a fabulous job in Vancouver. Too bad she got shortchanged this year.

[Anonymous]

She gives off Tonya Harding-ish vibes to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As for Mirai being a headcase, well, she is complicated. So what? Figure skating is full of headcases: Jeremy Abbott, Alissa Czisny, Sasha Cohen to a certain degree. (My coach says I'm a headcase. She's right. I am.) Mirai's problem was that she refused to give 120%. She thought 98% was enough. (Girl has perspective, I'll give her that.) That's why Frank Carroll walked away. USFS has made it clear that they don't like Mirai, but she just won't go away. Good for her!

USFS should have named both Ashley and Mirai to the team with Gracie. All three have international senior records. Polina Edmunds, who finished second at Nationals, does not. If Ashley was named to the team because her record was better than Mirai's, then Mirai should have been chosen over Polina for that same reason. But again, USFS hates Mirai, so the poor girl got dinged. (And please, 10th at Four Continents? No one cares about Four Continents one week before the Olympics, least of all, the skaters who aren't going to the Olympics.)

Giving 98% for an Olympic athlete is lazy, especially in a field as competitive as US ladies singles. That's why Carroll had no time for this nonsense.

As to who should have been selected to the team, USFSA isn't a charity or a lifetime award outfit. They select people who have a good chance of placing high enough to earn spots for the next year's athletes. They said to Mirai, I don't think you will place. That's what it means when you aren't selected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And please, 10th at Four Continents? No one cares about Four Continents one week before the Olympics, least of all, the skaters who aren't going to the Olympics.)

If you don't care, why go and skate miserably? Become ill or something. Going and skating like you don't care? That's not what champions do.

[Anonymous]

That horrific face she of which she now claims to be so proud, followed by complaining via cursing when she got a score she didn't like, was disgusting.

She is exactly the self-absorbed, narcissistic, egomaniacal athlete, of whom the U.S. can be ashamed to have to call our own.

A little humility and a touch of class would be a great start for additions to her resume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since Ashley Wagner is from this area, I can't help but think that the mean spirited OP and the repeated nasty posts are from some old rival who is still living the jealousy of her youth.

+1 Nothing else explains why someone would be so mean as to make fun of an Olympian on an anonymous board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That horrific face she of which she now claims to be so proud, followed by complaining via cursing when she got a score she didn't like, was disgusting.

She is exactly the self-absorbed, narcissistic, egomaniacal athlete, of whom the U.S. can be ashamed to have to call our own.

A little humility and a touch of class would be a great start for additions to her resume.

Indeed. The good news is that the Olympics won't last but another week, at which time we can start forgetting she ever represented us so poorly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A little humility and a touch of class would be a great start for additions to her resume.

A worthy observation that unfortunately will never come true. The fact her latest remarks were effectively a self-affirmation of her absurd behavior, speaks volumes about the content of her character.

What a shame that Gracie Gold has to get anywhere near her. Hopefully Wagner's character--or lack thereof--isn't contagious.

Out of the mouth of Ashley Wagner: "The fact it went viral, it’s one of the most awesome things that happened to me in my entire life." Need we say more? Unbelievable.

Her parents must be SO proud.