Is She, or Isn't She, or... Whatever, Sasha

Remember when the phrase “keeping your options open” didn’t really apply to skating?

It used to be so easy… watch them compete, watch them win an Olympic medal, watch them turn professional. Then watch them until they retired completely, and you couldn’t watch them anymore. Of course, back in “those days” gas was less than two bucks a gallon, and it was still considered safe for Chicago suburban kids like me to walk half a mile home from school every day. (In the snow. Barefoot. And uphill, both ways… oh, wait, that’s my dad’s story.)

Times have changed indeed. Yes, some still officially call it a day via a press conference (thanks again, Jeffrey Buttle). And some never really say what they’re doing one way or the other, but choose instead to fade quietly and keep a relatively low profile until people stop asking… usually because they already know the answer.

Then there are those that like to keep us guessing, or so it would seem. Consider this excerpt from an LA Times article that ran 10/2:

(Sasha) Cohen, who lives in Newport Beach, said she's "definitely" thinking about Vancouver but hasn't made a decision yet.

"I'm training really hard right now, and I will keep reassessing," she said.

Sounds like someone’s still on the fence regarding a return to competition. But then you have to consider THIS article , which ran in the OC Register just one day later:

"I really want to compete next (season)," Sasha Cohen said after a rehearsal for Friday night's McDonald's Family Tribute on Ice at the Galen Center.

"I've been skating a lot and I'm looking forward to being competitive again."

So she’s hopped off the fence and started training triple-triples again. Right?

Actually, these two near-contradictory articles are a sort of microcosm of Cohen’s alleged indecisiveness for the past 2 years. She’s in, maybe; she’s out, definitely maybe. She’s acting, she’s traveling, she’s touring, she’s… thinking about it. “Reassessing.” Keeping those options open.

I’d like to join the chorus of thousands who must surely be saying by now we’ll believe it when we see it. She’s done a wonderful job of playing coy with the media for over two years running. Isn’t it time for Cohen to either quietly buckle down and plan her bona fide return, or accept her place in figure skating history and move on?

Speaking of which, here’s her 2006 Olympic short program as the Clip of the Day… a perfectly marvelous skate that obviously helped her find that so-called “silver lining” by the time Torino was over.