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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

On 1/13/2014 qvcaddition said:

I watched the men,s yesterday and Brown kicked it out of the park, and was first, yet, the skater after him made it, got 10 more points and Imo find,t do as well.

Don't you just love Jason Brown? I think (finally) he is the future for men's skating.

Unless you truly understand the new judging system, it is difficult to understand why a skater is rewarded for falling on a difficult skill. There was a time remaining upright was essential to win a competition. What the audience usually doesn't see are things like under rotated jumps, double footed and incorrect edges. Under this system, Michelle Kwan's score would have been down graded for both these infractions. Without a great deal of speed, it is difficult for many of these tiny skaters to full rotate jumps.

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

I believe if you have a "bad day" then you go home. Period. I totally agree with Jules...it's just not skating.....it's Olympics across the boards, Winter & Summer. Though, I didn't realize social media was factored in to their performance scores. If that's "advancing the sport", then let the Steroids Begin!

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

On 1/13/2014 Sushismom said:

With some of the rules changing a while back, the judging isn't quite as subjective as it used to be. And, again, it's more than just one performance they're looking at when selecting Olympic Team members. Of course, it's heartbreaking for those who perform well yet are not selected. But, again, the idea is to send the best we have to the Olympics, not necessarily the best in one performance.

Yeah, I doubt any of the U.S. Women's skaters has a chance against Yu-na. But, at the same time, she's not a shoe-in. Look at what happened to Kwan - twice!

Michelle Kwan almost never made any mistakes in her performances with the exception of falling out of a jump. And jumping is where is was then and still is now. She was criticized for not including a higher degree of difficulty in her routines. But the simple joy and elegance she exhibited on the ice made up for that, IMO. Subjective? I guess so.


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We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986
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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

On 1/13/2014 lulu2 said:
On 1/13/2014 qvcaddition said:

I watched the men,s yesterday and Brown kicked it out of the park, and was first, yet, the skater after him made it, got 10 more points and Imo find,t do as well.

Don't you just love Jason Brown? I think (finally) he is the future for men's skating.

Unless you truly understand the new judging system, it is difficult to understand why a skater is rewarded for falling on a difficult skill. There was a time remaining upright was essential to win a competition. What the audience usually doesn't see are things like under rotated jumps, double footed and incorrect edges. Under this system, Michelle Kwan's score would have been down graded for both these infractions. Without a great deal of speed, it is difficult for many of these tiny skaters to full rotate jumps.

Abbott had a pretty big lead going into the long program. So, even though Brown won the long program, he didn't have enough points from the short to take the lead.

A skater is never rewarded for falling. It's an automatic deduction. However, depending upon the difficulty, their starting score for the skill may be quite a bit higher than someone who does an easier skill without a deduction, which would result in the skater with the fall receiving a higher score than the one without. As I'm sure you're aware, it's not about the perfect performance but how difficult the performance is. Smiley Happy

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

Someone had what I thought was a good suggestion - why not assign point values to all the competitions, and then pick the highest overall scorers? That would be a pretty fair solution.

Personally, I don't much care for Ashley's skating - she seems heavy on her feet and doesn't get much height on her jumps. Mirai, when she's doing well, is super - her spins and laybacks look almost as good as Yuna Kim's some of the time, or at least I remember thinking so four years ago. I do agree, it will be next to impossible to beat Yuna Kim.

I think our only real hope is the ice dancing - love Meryl and Charlie!

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

The problem with assigning point values to all the competitions is that skaters don't often compete in all of them.

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

On 1/13/2014 sharlee said:

Someone had what I thought was a good suggestion - why not assign point values to all the competitions, and then pick the highest overall scorers? That would be a pretty fair solution.

Personally, I don't much care for Ashley's skating - she seems heavy on her feet and doesn't get much height on her jumps. Mirai, when she's doing well, is super - her spins and laybacks look almost as good as Yuna Kim's some of the time, or at least I remember thinking so four years ago. I do agree, it will be next to impossible to beat Yuna Kim.

I think our only real hope is the ice dancing - love Meryl and Charlie!

I agree with you about Ashley Wagner. I really want to like her, but at times she makes it difficult.

I've been following Davis & White since they were Juniors. I hope it is finally their time.

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

Saying that Wagner deserves it because it wasn't about this performance where she fell on her butt twice is like saying the times where she did not fall and actually won is because she did not fall.

She clearly did not deserve to be put on the team. The younger girl who made the team at 15 made it without prior history but for her performance this weekend. The girl who came in third clearly was the better skater in this performance. Closer to the Olympics and hungry for a win. Wagner has had her chance and she did not perform well. It is not rules it is politics and who you know. I wish the two girls well and I assume Wagner will not do well from how she performed and just seems like a fake.

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

I don't think anyone here is saying Wagner deserves the Olympic spot. Some of us were just pointing out why someone would be selected over someone else. Of course, the Selection Committee disagrees with most of us about Wagner.

I do agree about Wagner; I doubt she'll do well. But I also think that about Nagasu. She's been inconsistent in her performances for several years.

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Re: For ice skating enthusiasts . . . they did it again!

On 1/13/2014 Sushismom said:

I don't have a problem with how the Olympic team is determined. The problem with basing a decision solely on one performance is that a great skater can have an off one and an average skater can have a good one. Do we then select the average skater over the good?

Mirai Nagasu is an inconsistent skater, more so than Wagner. In my opinion, neither of them are really Olympic material.

I totally agree! In fact really believe none of the three skaters they send will actually medal. You have not seen the competition. Especially Russia. Two amazing teen age sensations. Adelina Sotnikova and 15 year old Julia Lipnetskaia. I saw the Russian nationals and it's bad news for Grace Gold/Ashley,Paulina....any American ladies skater. Not just Russia either. Lots of Japanese skaters that are threats in the ladies and the men competition.