Lots of talk about ice skating today I see....

[Shell Beau]

Just so y'all know, I was rooting my ass off for Sasha Cohen.


:silly: :P

[LSK]

1. American Idol was on last night too?

:hi:

[Shell Beau]

2. I know and I watched it too! I was flipping through the channels

like a mad woman!! :P



:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

3. I was rooting for Kimmie and Irina

[Shell Beau]

5. I was happy for the winner b/c it was the first

gold medal for the Japanese for female figure skating ever and I think their first medal in these Olympics!!

[KitchenWitch]

7. I enjoyed her performance as well.

She may not have been the technical skater that Irina Sluteskaya (sp) was, but her personality sure came through.

[Shell Beau]

8. And she had the clean performance.

When the scores are that close, that is what ends up counting!

[SoCalDem]

17. The irony is that had Kwan not been hurt, she could have beaten

her on that night.. Michelle's style of skating is very similar to the winner, and the 'jumpers' flopped out on that given night..

If Kwan had skated her normal program and been healthy, she would have gotten gold, the japanese woman silver, and i think Sasha would have been so nervous skating against Kwan, she would not have even medaled

[Shell Beau]

19. Cohen is her own worst enemy. She has to skate against

her mentality. She has in the past seem to have gotten psyched out by Kwan.

[SoCalDem]

21. She's got the "cute little selfish girl" syndrome

It's as if congratulating the ones who won would have killed her..Tara Lipinski was the same way..

At our house we called her "ISkatedGreat", because every time she opened her mouth , that's what she seemed to say..

[Shell Beau]

22. Well, to be fair, we all take competition differently. She

was probably extremely disappointed in herself. She could have been more gracious, but she is 18 and maturity comes with growth. Maybe as she matures, her skating and attitude will change.

[SoCalDem]

24. maybe it's a team-sport thing, but our boys were always taught

to be gracious in defeat or victory..

[Shell Beau]

25. No, that is correct. Definitely. Gracious is the only way

to accept defeat. But with the Olympics, I am sure it is hard to push the defeat out of your mind. I agree though, she should've been more gracious. Hopefully, she will mature.

[KitchenWitch]

32. I agree. I was sad when I heard Kwan had to drop out!

She has so much class and grace.

[underpants]

4. Is the "To the death skating gala" tonight?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4790368

Play this on a loop and see how is in rhythm with it.

[Shell Beau]

6. No speakers on this laptop!!

x(

[underpants]

9. Trust me

you need to hear this song. I have been playing in on a loop since yesterday.

What's with all the screaming?

[Strong Atheist]

10. What should we talk about?

Olives?

[Shell Beau]

13. You said the forbidden word!

:o






















:) :P

[Strong Atheist]

36. .

:P

[billyskank]

11. Hi Shell!

:hi:


:loveya:

Now, who was rooting who in the what now? :P

[Shell Beau]

12. Hey billy!!!

:bounce:



:P :spray: :silly:

[billyskank]

16. Would you believe

I actually missed the word "for" out of that sentence by accident? :o

:blush:

[Shell Beau]

18. Hahahahaha!! That explains it!!

:P

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

14. POSE - JUMP - SPIN- GLIDE - SPIN - JUMP - JUMP - LEG-IN-AIR - SPIN

Hate the new scoring system. All the performances were so canned and predictable.

The artistry, passion and beauty weren't there. Why don't they just take away the music and have the skaters perform the required tricks and hand out the medals...dispense with the illusion of artistry and just jump then.

Sorry but I hated it. Glad I got to see the days when someone so special and passionate as Oksana Baiul graced the ice. Ya, I know she self destructed after the Olympics, but god she gave me chills.

[Shell Beau]

15. She was good.

I also loved Kristi Yamaguchi (sp??) Gymnastics is the same way. They have made the scoring so difficult and ridiculous that it really takes away from the performance.

[SoCalDem]

20. From what I have heard/read, NO ONE likes the new scoring

and there's 4 years before the next olympics, so maybe they'll come up with a better plan..

The sucky part is that the interpretive part is still subjective, and the way they give credit for falls, only encourages skaters to attempt things they have not mastered, in order to get partial credit..

[underpants]

23. I'm about to really scare myself with what I know about skating

If you remember they used to have to do compulsories. Actually figure skating-set patterns they had to know by heart and be able to replicate to precision. Well they got away from that because one little darling screwed it up and lost any chance of a medal and the TV didn't have as much drama with these little athletes that the TV usually has. As great as that made everyone they basically moved the compulsories INTO the programs.

They either have to re-establish the compulsories (actually showing technical ability and acting as a natural filter) or live with it. The only reason that I can see why it is so predictable is that the coaches don't have any actual talent in creating performances. They basically just bleed money out of the parents/sponsors.

This is only meant as a third party view.

[Shell Beau]

26. "I'm about to really scare myself with what I know about skating"

:rofl: :spray:

[SoCalDem]

27. I liked school figures too

Apparently skaters hate them, but it was a way to judge each skater exactly the same way, and in front of all the judges.. they either traced the line or they didn;t..

Those scores gave the technicians a little more of an equal footing with the jumpers,leapers, & drama queens

[LostinVA]

30. They actually hurt the good skaters, and rewarded bad skaters

That's why they stopped them. It' like someone who's good at standardized tests, but couldn't write an analytical essay for the life of them... or even use any critical thinking. BUt, they would be the ones graduating Summa, while the real scholars finished behind them.

It didn't start out that way, but that's how mediocre skaters used the system.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

31. But how is the new system better: Fall on your ass trying a quad=pts??

This new scoring system made all the performances predictable and took away the real beauty of skating.

If they want to make it totally objective, take away the music and let them jump around and spin on the ice for a score.

I always liked the artistry and performance of the long program...now it's gone.

[LostinVA]

33. It;'s not, I'm completely against the new system

As are most skaters -- past and present. They need to revamp the technical scoring system, and set FINES against judges who are obviously partisan. And, having something like the figures would be okay, as long as it was more a true technical test... not just stroking figures. Keep in the short program, too.

As I said, we're on the same side, here. Under this system, Kwan, Fleming, the rest of the greats would have tanked. I don't want gymnastics on ice, I want figure skating.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

34. Agreed! Just say NO to gymnastics on ice.

:toast:

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

28. Interesting point you make. I forgot about the compulsories...

Ya, bring back the compulsories but DON'T bother televising it :boring: , keep the short program with more emphasis on technical vs artistry, and then the long program where trying a quad and falling on your ass is a BAD thing because it ruins the artistry.

Ice skating will always be subjective unless they just turn it into a total jumping/spinning contest...which is pretty much what I thought I watched last night.

[LostinVA]

29. Actually, that's not true

What was happening is you had very mediocre, or even bad skaters, purposely become great at figures. They would go into their program so far ahead, no one could ever win. So, those B-level skaters were medaling, and great skaters like Janet Lynn weren't. That's why they introduced the short program, because that helped evened out having someone that could skate figures, but really couldn't skate.

It just wasn't one little darling, it was loads of great skaters over many years that were screwed.

[underpants]

35. Well that is the way I remember it

I think it was the '76 games. I remember how Dick Button was going on and on about how the compulsories had hurt so many skaters blah blah blah.

I read your other posts too-so I ask, if middle of the pack skaters could put in the time and benefit so much from the school figures why didn't the great skaters work on them? At that time many of the athletes did work other jobs (even in these upper echelon sports) and generally had one shot at the Olympics before going pro or starting their actual life. Why didn't thes "great" skaters take the time to neutralize these other skaters by basically taking any advantage away.

Didn't Michael Jordan practice free throws? Not glamorous no but they can win or keep you in position to make the great play and win the game.

Right?