US Envelope Awards Unfair, per Hersh

[Isk8NYC]

Phil Hersh has a new opinion column regarding the training envelopes and how unfair his favorite skater was treated. It sounds like the rules are the same for each tiered envelope, but he wants Rachael Flatt to step down so his horse can get more funding.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2010/05/nagasu-not-on-par-with-flatt-huh.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm _campaign=Feed%3A+chicagotribune%2Fglobetrotting+% 28Chicago+Tribune+-+Sports+blog+-Globetrotting%29

Man, do I respect Dr. Debi Thomas even more than before - she has an engineering degree and a medical degree. Bravo.

[Skittl1321]

It sounds like the rules are the same for each tiered envelope, but he wants Rachael Flatt to step down so his horse can get more funding.

Mirai wouldn't get bumped up if Rachel stopped skating, there would just be no skater in that envelope.

I read the article more that he didn't think Rachel didn't deserve the funding she was getting, just that it was absurd Mirai wasn't getting the same thing.

Overall, it's a good point- so much emphasis is put on nationals, but the skaters know exactly what it takes to get funding- USFS publishes these criteria way ahead of time. So Mirai didn't make the top tier. She's still getting funding.

[AgnesNitt]

Johnny Wier is Team Two over Jeremy Abbot's Team One for much the same reason; Abbot did good at Nats which is heavily weighted, but crashes elsewhere.

[Schmeck]

Scary, I agree with a few of Hersh's points! I never agree with his rabid favoritism, what's wrong with me????

Yes, USFSA has a contorted system of weighing competitions for value, and the criteria has always been twisted to serve the needs of USFSA more than the skaters. They also like to 'tweak' the criteria every year so that certain skaters end up getting more benefits than they would have been allotted the year before. USFSA promotes, that's their way of making their $$$.

There's still a lot of backroom deals going on at USFSA - having spents years (and $$$) having a daughter skate for a synchro team has really opened my eyes at the still-present corruption at USFSA.