What a bunch of crybabies!

I consider myself a pretty avid viewer of figure skating, so I can't help chiming in on all this drama. I know, it's not exactly what you'd call a Texas sport, but I like it. (Don't worry, I'm still a good Texas girl and watch my football just as avidly!) Most years I catch Nationals and Worlds, and of course every Winter Olympics probably since 1988. If I see it on, I watch it, no question--competitive, professional, fundraiser specials, anything. Now, being a Texas girl, I knew there was never a chance of me participating in the sport. I used to tell myself that if I could just learn to spin, I'd be satisfied. To this day, I still haven't done so, but I still really enjoy being a spectator. I am by no means an expert. I can't tell the difference between a triple axel, triple lutz, and a triple toe loop. And honestly, a triple and a quad look pretty much the same to me. But I can tell when they double or single, or land wrong, or are shaky. I can tell when spins don't look right. I can tell when footwork is off, or isn't as difficult. I can see what looks good and what doesn't. I may not see every technical detail that the judges mark, and I'm still struggling with the crazy new system (isn't everyone?), but I know when disasters happen, I know when minor details amount to enough of a difference to affect scores, and I know when things look amazing!

All this to say......what a bunch of crybabies!! All this Russian drama is ridiculous! Guess what? You didn't skate as well! Get over it! It just rubs me the wrong way. It's like football players saying the refs are the reason they lost the game. Or a basketball player saying they missed a free throw because of someone in the stands distracting them. Blaming the system is completely unprofessional and it's not the system's fault. This system is a system based on points, and a shakily landed quad apparently isn't worth as many points as a perfectly, beautifully landed triple. And as far as the ice dancing drama goes, while it hasn't been as loud, it is just as ridiculous. You were out-skated/out-danced. Watching the two original dances side by side, it was obvious that one was much more technically difficult than the other. Plus, you basically cheated with the ropes on your costumes, and because of that now we have to add more rules before the next competition season so that no one seriously injures themselves! And to all the Russians, I don't know what kind of math you do over in Russia, but the rest of the world knows that Level 4 difficulty footwork is worth way more points than dinky simple Level 2 footwork! So quit your whining, and if you want a gold medal, then skate better and earn it!!

Now, I'd hate to end this blog on that negative ranting note, so how about some pictures? This new scoring system has changed some things about skating. Some of them are minor and it's not too big a deal. But a lot of it is not necessarily better. A lot of the skaters now try to put in so many things that earn high difficulty points and then end up not being able to do them, so they score much lower than they're capable of. I think some of the changes have also taken away some of the artistic quality of the skating. Some of the new required elements just don't look as smooth and graceful as I remember skating growing up.

Like this move in pairs. The top move to me is so much prettier, but it has been replaced by the bottom move since the change of the scoring system. It just looks weird!
Um, can you say ouch?! I mean, those blades are sharp!Ok, this is what I was talking about with the cheating ropes and the new rules. The only thing he is holding to keep her in the air is that black rope around her waist. And in the actual program, which I watched, right after this she lets go of his arm. So the only thing keeping her in the air instead of flying to the ice and crashing viciously is that rope around her waist. If that snapped, she'd be in serious trouble. Oh, yeah, and by the way, he's spinning in a circle while they do this.
He throws her so high! The pairs are crazy dangerous, which makes it exciting and scary to watch. And I have to admit I was rooting for this couple because of their story. But also partly because I was pretty sure they could beat Russia, which is always a plus. And the two American pairs really just didn't have the experience this time around to be medal contenders.

Alright, so that's figure skating by me for now. Ladies finish tomorrow night, and if I know my figure skating (which you can judge for yourself) there will be more drama. So maybe I'll post again and nitpick the ladies. But for tonight I think I'm done.

Till next time!

~B~