All the olympics stuff

[moongirlk]

Yay!  More posts about the olympics in general and skating in 
particular.  Hoorah!

Cindy said, re: ice dancing:

>I also think early ice dancing was great, and I remember Torvil and 
>Dean quite fondly. But something has changed in ice dancing. It 
>started the year that Torvil and Dean made their come-back and won 
>only the bronze medal in the Olympics for reasons that were never 
>clear to me. Ever since, the fix has been in, IMHO.

In that instance the judges had the lift rule to blame for it.  In 
ice dancing they're not allowed to do lifts over the height of their 
shoulders (or heads, can't remember).  Torvil and Dean did a move 
where in the course of a lift, she flipped up over his head.  I think 
it could easily have been interpreted as a sort of 'dismount' to the 
lift and applauded for it's originality and way-coolness, but it did, 
at least, give the judges an excuse to be stupid.  Now that's not me 
defending the judging system, because I hated it too, and have ever 
since suspected that they've been cheating all along and I just 
didn't know it before, but I do prefer that they at least have a 
pretext for infuriating me. 

Cindy again:
>And nothing is more of a snooze than the compulsory dance, where 
>couple after couple after couple after couple dance the same darn 
>routine to the same music. Grrr!

100% agreed here, but it *is* the part where they differentiate one 
pair from another skill-wise, as you'd asked.  If everyone's doing 
the same moves, you can tell if one pair is doing it better than 
another.  Maybe they can keep that part, but not bore the home 
audience with it!  
The middle part (can never remember what it's called - ice dance's 
equivalent of the short program, it was on last night?) is 
interesting because they all have to skate to the same basic theme 
and type of music, but they have freedom in the specifics.  I imagine 
this is good for judging interpretation, and there are required 
elements for judging skills.  If there were real judges instead of 
politicians at the judging table I think ice dance (and figure 
skating in general) would be much more widely accepted as a sport).

Cindy again again:
>Now that judging corruption is out in the open, it does give me 
>pause about other results over the years. I wonder how Nancy 
>Kerrigan is feeling these days?

As long as she stays off my TV screen, I won't worry about her.  She 
was such a bratty girl. 

Cindy yet again:

>I'd like to see them further change the scoring so that any jump 
>coming out of steps or a spread-eagle or something attractive gets 
>extra points for difficulty.

Here's hoping.  They should require all amature skaters to watch 
films of Scott Hamilton's and Kurt Browning's footwork sequences 
until they internalize the idea that skating has elements that are 
not jumping.
And speaking of Scotty, you mentioned his commentating.  I couldn't 
be more relieved that he's in the booth this year.  Dick Button is so 
negative - he tends to ruin my fun. 

On the discussion of kicking judged sports out of the Olympics:

I don't see it happening, if only because they'd loose so much of the 
audience that they'd find the ratings all going to reruns of the 
Price is Right on the gameshow network or something.  Don't get me 
wrong - the other sports are great and all, they just can't hold my 
interest for three weeks straight.  I second our Goat friend:

Mike Gray:

>I'm not sure I could imagine caring about the Olympics if all it had 
>left were a bunch of people running around in circles really fast.

That said, I'd be ok with nixing synchornized swimming and rythmic 
gymnastics, but don't take away my skating, snowboarding and (real)
gymnastics, please!

jenP_97 said:
>PS. Does anyone else get heart palpitations watching short-track 
>speed skating? I SWEAR, someone's gonna get KILLED doing that!!

Me! I do!  I hold my breath through every turn, but it's so 
fascinating that I can't look away.

And one last one from Cindy, in honor of the fact that she's as big 
of a figure skating fan as I am:

>So maybe they will make one small reform for me. I'd like to see a 
>round called "Costume Approval." Men would be directed to steer away 
>from the flashy, sequin-covered outfits that have become way too 
>popular. Rolled up sleeves are good and will receive higher marks 
>from the judges; plunging necklines will generate substantial 
>deductions. Under this system, Alexi Urmanov, who wore the Puffy 
>Shirt from Seinfeld, would have been sent home before he ever set 
>foot on the ice. 

Cindy!  I nearly sprayed juice all over my monitor and shouted "get 
outa my head!".  I've always referred to Urmonov as the air-filter 
poodle guy (and people tend to know who I mean) because of the 
rediculous thing he had around his neck in the Olympics the year he 
medaled.  I think he should have lost at least a few tenths for 
that.  Very distracting.  So while we're at it, could we penalize 
excess makeup, sparkly things on people's faces, women's costumes 
that ride up, unitards (or anything that's more like tights than 
pants) for men, and any costume that either has random whispy bits 
hanging off of it or cannot be easily explained by the theme of the 
music?  Yes - a taste requirement!  

kimberly
proposing to try and slip these rules in while they're revamping the 
judging.