How Big Can Sasha Be- And What Does She Have To Do To Get There?

[rack]

Sasha Cohen has spent this year (and a fair amount of last season) positioned as The Next Big Thing. I think the networks and the corporate sponsers would love her to be extremely successful so that she'd have the name recognition they require. Sasha looks the way casual skating fans want lady skaters to look- she's very pretty with those huge round eyes, and she skates like a beauty. In addition, she's an American and has an easy to pronounce (and remember) name.

Winning Olympic gold is a terrific short-cut to fame and fortune, but it's going to take another three and a half years before Sasha has a chance to do that.

So my question is how big can Sasha get between now and 2006? Would winning a Nationals or two, or a Worlds or two be enough to get her a prime time skating special or the opportunity to make commercials? Or is the market saturated with Michelle, Sarah, and (these days to a lesser extent) Tara? Can Sasha take her star quality and become a star without Olympic gold?

[jss]

Sasha absolutely can become very popular before 2006. I think the main thing that she has to do is win the major titles, and in doing she needs to beat the likes of Michelle and Sarah. Of course, this is MUCH easier said than done. But out of anyone in the world she can do it.

I'm not sure that skating specials built around her will happen even if she does win Nationals and Worlds. Those are mostly reserved to people made famous during the Olympics. The same applies to any HUGE endorsement deals although smaller ones are a definate. However if in the next four years she establishes herself as the one to beat, then she could get a bunch of deals right before the Olympics.

[Mayra]

IMO, Sasha has the potential to be a star on the ice and off of it. Not just in the U.S but outside of it as well. She has the look, and the talent to become something of a Katerina Witt like figure for the sport. Just look at how quicky she gained such a rabid fan base. She has "it".

But looking beautiful on the ice can only get you so far, just ask Nicole Bobek. She needs to IMO win Nationals and Worlds at least once, especially considering she is skating with the likes of decorated skaters such as Michelle Kwan and Olympic Champion Sarah Hughes. Unless she becomes the Kournikova of figure skating, I don't Sasha getting the big commercial deals without the wins.

[danibellerika]

I think Sasha could be really big. I know that for Thanksgiving, me and family got together at my grandmother's house and I decided to watch skating. When Sasha came on, people took notice to her and stopped what they were doing to watch her. They of course were impressed. So Sasha does stand out. She even has the right name. You could imagine the glitz and glamour. Picture the name of "Sasha!!" on billboards or something. Yeah, her real name is Alexandra but many stars use other names and she's done it already. I could see her doing a movie or something. She's athletic so they could put her in an action movie and have her do some milder stunts. She also has the personality that makes her stand out. She will ALWAYS keep you talking like her or hate her. You need that in Hollywood. I do believe though that Sasha is a very hard worker and will give every once of energy it takes to be successful and overcome any demons that will get in her way. I wish her luck and can't wait to see her career grow over the years. Since I want to go to Worlds THIS year, it would be just wonderful if she could start there(or continue from a win at nationals and the GPF).

[Cmoneynoair]

I believe she can be really big she has skill and good looks and you don't need much else to be "big". Though I do I agree that she does have to win some major events which I don't think will be a probelm for her in the years to come and in my opinion really has a great chance to win gold in 2006. :) :)

[AxelAnnie22]

I suspect Sasha can be one of the biggest skaters ever! People are already speaking of her in those terms. She is unique in many of her moves, and always exquisite. She is as much in front of the pack as Kwan was with Solome. She doesn't land the 7 triple programs.......but no one else is (consistently) either.

What is key to that is the Olympic Gold Medal. It IS the benchmark.

(I know that Kwan has made a name for herself without that title, but that was in an era when the US Ladies field was quite thin, and she was the only consistant name out there. She will be around a long, long time.)

However, IMO, the total number of World, NAT, GPF titles a skater wins is not nearly as impressive (to the average public) as that one win. Does anyone (not us, but regular viewers) even know how many World or Nat titles Scott, Kurt, Kristy, Katerina, or anybody else won? Nope! Just that they won that big one.

Will Sasha win it? I would say she is the odds on favorite. She has positioned herself perfectly, by teaming her incredible talent with the best training facilites, and THE coach who has, arguably, the best PROVEN track record for producing Olympic Gold Medalists.

The only other thing Sasha needs to do is begin to defeat Michelle.....and she will. Whoever moves out in front of America's Michelle Kwan, will be a very famous skater, indeed.

[jcspkbfan]

Gee, AxelAnnie22, I did know Kurt won four Canadian and world championships, but I had no idea about his Olympic gold medal! :lol: And all this time I thought the only Olympic medal in Kurt's collection was the one his fans gave him after returning from Lillehammer and he was actually one of those skaters who did manage to make a name for himself without Olympic gold (or an Olympic medal of any color, for that matter!) I guess I was wrong...

[spiralsrfun]

To answer the question of the thread:
Sasha's already getting a name and has incredible potential, but she needs to win Nationals and Worlds to get really big IMO. She will at some point between now and 2006.

AxelAnnie-
Sasha could also be outskated at the next Olympics by some rising 16 year old American/Russian/Japanese when she's at the "old" age of 21. Her coach and team certainly don't guarentee her the title either.

Nothing is certain at the Olympics...and it's WAY too soon to say Sasha, or anyone else, is the "odds on favorite" to win in 2006. Chances are we haven't even seen the next ladies Olympic champion skate in the seniors yet.

[Hannahclear]

Michelle won her title in an era of weak US skaters? I guess, if you consider Tara L, Nicole B., Sarah H, Sasha C "weak".

The Olympic Gold medal is the crowning achievement, but tell me, who's more popular, Michelle or Tara?

[Oracle]

The Olympic gold is certainly an important goal for the eligible skaters but I don't believe it is any longer the criteria for popularity in ice shows that it once was. Urmanov was the '94 Oly. champ. Is he more popular in N.A. than Stojko or Eldredge? I don't think so! Browning & Eldredge never won an Olympic medal & it hasn't prevented them from earning millions. Paul Wylie only won the '92 Oly. silver in the major international comps & it "made my career in the pros" (according to him). Personality is a big factor & being an American/Canadian skater who has won their National title a few times, a World Championship/s & been among the elite competitiors in the world is as important today as the Olympics were prior to 1992.
As has been pointed out, Michelle hasn't won the Olympic gold medal but she is the most popular woman skater in North America. Sasha doesn't need to win the Olympics to be successful, IMO. She brings to the ice along with her jumps & great positions, great personality, emotion & charisma. She'll do just fine even if her career isn't as illustrious as Michelle's or Tara's.

[loveskating]

Remember at the Improv in 2001 how the Net audience voted for Sasha as the best skater...she was hardly known at all at the time, and she beat out Nicole Bobek, who is certainly extraordinarly good looking.

I think she has to win...and I think she can and should because she is the one pushing the envelope on QUALITY all down the line.

Given wins, she could be a skater that transcends skating and brings people TO skating in a way we've never seen before (I think way past Witte in America, anyway, because Sasha is an American so people will be both proud of her and amazed by her. Sasha's personality is nothing like Witte's, however, its unique, fresh.

She has enormous charisma...but more than that, what Tarasova said about her being a miracle, about her talent, is the essential thing. She shows us things we've never seen before, never contemplated even! The fact she can do this also reveals a very great passion for what she does...just like with any other innovator in any field, and people respect and admire that quality a lot.

Also, she is this tiny butterfly like figure, but with an athleticism that is astounding...I almost fell off my chair when I first saw her do the side catch spin, so I fully understood Dick Button when he said she "floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee". That quality of athleticism makes a strong statement about women...that we can be both beautiful and very, very strong, in fact, the best (her Russian Split jump and some other elements are absolutely the best I've ever seen in my life).

But Sasha's magic does not reside mainly in her good looks, again, it is her unique talent and ability that makes her very special.

Also, when Dick Button said that Sasha does more, he was to my mind indicating this very fact...she DOES do more, more than she has to...and that is always soul food and its always admirable. Its like the first time I saw Bruce Springsteen...he gave SOOOO much more than anyone else, in fact, at intermission, I thought the show was over!

She has to win, but the people in the USFSA and the skating biz have to realize what a treasure for the sport they have, and they need to support her, a lot...and she needs to fully own the fact that she is remarkable and that this is of interest to others beyond herself.

She needs to win, and to be out there, let people get to know her. They do and will love her.

[AxelAnnie22]

Originally posted by jcspkbfan
Gee, AxelAnnie22, I did know Kurt won four Canadian and world championships, but I had no idea about his Olympic gold medal! :lol: And all this time I thought the only Olympic medal in OOPS! Well, he is one of my favorite guys - I would have given him the medal! (Are you sure he didn't win ;)

[lBrokenAnkle]

What does she need to do?

1. Stay healthy. I knock on wood as I write this, but with the spector of Yaguden and Tara's hip problems in the news the last few months, I think that is key, she (and all the hopefuls) needs to pace herself if she wants to get to 2006

2. Keep improving, I am far less impressed with her flexibility moves as I am with the obvious work she is putting into her basic skating this year. But she must keep that up.

Laura

[duane]

kristi won National, Olympic, and World gold in 92, but millions of dollars in endorsements werent waiting for her afterwards. FS wasnt as popular at the time, and i also think kristi not fitting the physical mode of being "all american" played a role. if she looked more like dorothy hamill, she would have been an instant endorsement bonanza.

it took years of artistic, consistent, winning seasons for michelle to become really big.

with the increased popularity in FS since the famous wack, Olympic gold is now perhaps the quickest way to become "big". tara won Nationals, GPF, and Worlds in 97, but it was her Olympic win that put her in the "really big" category. sarah has never won Nationals or Worlds, but she is now "really big" because of her amazing Olympic win.

i actually think sasha has a greater opportunity to become "really big" than the other skaters have had. there is more written about the sport and the athletes of FS today than in the past--and whether good or bad, it's still publicity. sasha also has the beautiful, all-american looks that endorsers crave, the flexible type of skating that makes people take notice (it seems whenever i watch FS with casual fans, they seem to enjoy the spins and moves like the ina bauer more than anything else!), as well as the "it" factor.

i also think michelle's present popularity will make it easier to sasha to become "really big". imagine the press sasha will receive if she wins Nationals over the 6-time champion. michelle's popularity probably played a role in tara and sarah's popularity, in that they won Olympic gold over "the favorite"--making their wins even more newsworthy.

so, even without winning any major championships, sasha has received tremendous press and hype, and i think she will probably step into the "really big" category the moment she wins Nationals or Worlds.