venting

[Dianne 99]

Okay, as a figure skater myself (though nowhere near as good as any being discussed here...) I feel somewhat qualified to chime in.  I do not know how the Canadians could have skated any better last night.  I could not find one mistake, even knowing what little things to look for.  The Russians did have one rather big mistake (though not a fall) when the guy (sorry, I won't begin to try to spell his name!) didn't land his double axel right.  They should've been deducted points in both technical and artistic for that.  Although perhaps the Canadians tempted fate too much by skating to "Love Story"....:-P

As for the ladies competition, while in years past, Kwan may have been screwed by judges, I feel that she is now in the position of earning scores based on her reputation rather than how she actually skates.  At the Nationals last month, she skated, IMO, a very lackluster long program, yet still received 6.0s for presentation.  She didn't look alive until the very end of the program.   At that particular competition, I would've given Sasha Cohen the gold, Sarah the silver, and Michelle the bronze.  It will be interesting to see what the judges do next week, especially with Irina Slutskyia thrown into the mix.

One more note:  Here on the west coast, as ridiculous as it is, everything is tape delayed.  Some network bigwig wants everything shown in primetime, so our coverage doesn't begin until 10:30 EST.

[Dianne 99]

Okay, I tired to edit my message and it didn't work.  So here's an addendum....out here on the West Coast, some network bigwig decided that everything has to be shown in primetime, so our coverage doens't begin until 10:30EST.

[Melissa \'01]

I figure skated for 10+ years (and I've watched for 15+) so I know what Dianne is saying. Unfortunately figure skating is a sport with a subjective ranking sysytem and though i can't do anything about it I too KNOW that the Canadians were royally screwed. Almost everyone watching thought that they had won until those horrible ordinals were displayed. It is embarassing when judges pull crap like that. It embarasses the whole organization. I felt so bad for Jamie and David (tho, I know, a silver Olympic medal is still a damn helluva lot to be proud of).

As for broadcast times, this difference is only in regards to the main NBC channel, right? I mean, come Friday we'll all be watching (or in my case taping, as I've got some Cornell games to attend!) the games at the same time on CNBC, right? I sure hope so.

[CUlater \'89]

Did you believe that the two pairs programs were equally technically difficult?  In other words, even though the Russians made a mistake, is it possible they got the fifth judge's vote because their program was noticeably more difficult?

[Melissa \'01]

I personally didn't think so. With the slip on the double axel it seemed like if the Canadians skated clean they had it. Had the Russians not had the slip up they might have had a better technical program.

What I further don't understand were the artistic marks. Clearly the Candians came out and enterained the crowd a lot more, they drew the crowd in with thier program and its movement while the Russians seemed kinda awkward in comparison. This should have been reflected in the artistic marks yet the russians seemed to have fared better in this category. maybe i'm just finding problems cause, like most other people watching, the canadian pair won my adoration with their spunk (and I AM canadian). i don't know. all i know is that it is a done deal. i can do nothing about it so i'd better stop complaining and just secretly hope that the russians get spanked big time come the hockey rounds. Go Canada ( and in default, Go USA!)

[Dianne 99]

If both programs had been skated equally clean, the Russians probably should've won based on more difficulty.  But since they messed up the double axel, they lose the technical marks for it.  As Melissa said, the Canadians did a much better job drawing the crowd into it, and so should've had higher artistic marks.  That is my main complaint with the scoring; I think their technical marks were reflective of the level of difficulty in the routine.  The Russians had visible relief on their face after finishing each lift/jump etc., while the Canadians looked much more sure of themselves.

[CowbellGuy]

Dianne Miller wrote:

Okay, I tired to edit my message and it didn't work.

Care to elaborate on that? If you're logged in you should still be able to edit any post.

As for the skating, I think a step in the right direction would be to get judges that aren't from any of the participating countries. They show time and time again that they're not unbiased, so that would at least be a start. And never have French judges in general. ::rolleyes::

[Dianne 99]

I typed in my addendum, clicked on submit changes, and got a message "Close Window _blank?" with a yes or no option.  I'm using Netscape 4.79 with Windows 2000 Professional.  Haven't tried it in IE yet.

[rhovorka]

I was confused the first time, because the pop-up edit window closed and it didn't appear that my post changed.  It wasn't until I hit reload that I saw that it had.  It's just a matter of understanding that the post is updated, but your view isn't automatically.

And considering that Dianne's follow-up post contained information in her previous post, it looked like the edit worked fine.  She just hadn't refreshed the thread.

[CowbellGuy]

Oh. Oops. Didn't it make the change by that point though?

[Kristen \'00]

The figure skating results were extremely aggravating and disappointing.  On another note, the finals of the men's freestyle moguls should be broadcast tonight.  This is another sport where judges can screw things up, but at least time is factored in as well.  Cornell's Travis Mayer will be competing, so hopefully there will be some better judging here.

[CUlater \'89]

There's already a thread that reveals the results, so don't look if you don't want to know.

[Brunke]

why limit yourself to only two options?

C) Win Ivy Title, Cleary Cup, Placid and make it to the Frozen Four? Being a little GREEDY is a GOOD THING. What does this get us? Its simple, we know other schools will say "easy AC", so dominate the regular season (ivy and cleary) play well against better competition (yes same teams, but the DRIVE of the playoffs kicks in) and win placid, solidifying the team's claim as a dominant force. Then march into NCAA's, pull off a first round win, then take it as far as you can go, and no matter what play with respect. Nobody outside of Lynah and the Faithful EXPECT the team to do anything better than win Placid.

D) same as C), then call out the spartans and BC and see if they want to play a little non conference action next year. Go into their barns, and show them that the previous season was no fluke. A chip on your shoulder is ALSO a good thing (all in moderation)

[marty\'74]

The only legit amateur sport that I have watched so far is speed skating.  And if someone convinces me that they aren't amareurs my heart won't skip a beat.

I enjoy watching the hockey but I wish the teams were still like 1980.  Slovakia was loaded with NHL talent and lose to Latvia.  Fun to watch but surely not Olympic in nature.  There can be no more miracles.  Sad.

And don't get me going on snow boarding.  When will we have Olympic three card monte?  I'm sure the Americans will dominate.

[Dianne 99]

Okay, I see now that my edit worked without me realizing it.  I didn't hit reload, I just looked at what came up right after I hit submit changes.  Good to know that now.