Is it just me, or do unknowns and underdogs NEVER win a medal in figure skating?

I mean, it happens in all of the team and timed sports. It happens in every Olympic games, including this year. The Swedish Women's hockey team came out of nowhere for the Silver. That guy (who the hell was that guy) that popped up and won the men's downhill.
But... It never happens in figure skating. Those that are expected to finish at the top always finish at the top, EVEN IF THEY FALL. Top skaters can, and often do, fall during their performances, and still finish in front of the lesser knowns that didn't fall and performed well.

I have a feeling if Alpine skiing was judged instead of timed our boy Bode would have at least 3 medals right now instead of his current total of somewhere around zero.

Whats my point?
Its that drifting thing again. Its why I don't like figure skating and why I don't like drifting. I have never been to a big time drift competition, and likely never will, but I'm guessing that the results are the same as what we see in the olympics. Those that were expected to be the top 5 before the event started are almost always the top 5 when the event ends.
Why?
Because thats what you get when people are left to judge subjectively.

Drfiting has some nice cars.
Some of those female figure skaters have spectacular butts.
Both are hard to do and take great skill.
So there is some value in watching it. But I just cant fully respect either.

JMVHO

 

You know...I just came in to the office and checked in with H-T because there is more F'ing figure skating on. I thought for sure that all that crap was over. I am with you Catch...it is all political and mostly fixed if you ask me. Yeah there are some hot chicks out there, but even that can't keep me tuned in for more than 30 seconds.

Figure skating is the NASCAR of the olympics. It is what "the masses" want to see. And hell, we can't even get through the olympics without countless NASCAR comparissons and analogies either. What is the world coming to?

 

Funny, I was just reading an article at work today:
Why figure skating is not a sport

I agree drifting is not a sport, and I get tired of watching it easily, but I think the skill level to do it well has to be high. Because as my friend pointed out, in drifting you are trying to control a car that is already beyond it's limits. For that reason I respect the driving skill level.

Edit: "An ugly person would stand at a considerable, if not insurmountable, disadvantage in skating. Sasha Cohen would whip them every time."

 

The way I see it, a competition should be one where you know the results as soon as the performance is over. There's just something a little strange about having to wait for judges to decide the outcome.

Having said that, maybe it's all those spectacular sights Catch mentioned, or the drama of the falls, or the Italian soap opera in the ice dancing event, but I've been watching a lot of the Olympics coverage and couldn't stop myself from also watching the figure skating.

 

I've felt the same way when watching most of the X Games events.

I think doing "final runs" by order of current score only compounds the issue. The saving the best for last feeling clouds the judging.

 

neither could I..maybe its because we were going nuts because our friends won Silver in Ice Dancing!?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Matt_Of_MI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">neither could I..maybe its because we were going nuts because our friends won Silver in Ice Dancing!? </TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, they did great!

 

I agree, I HATE judged competitions...

 

I've definately been avoiding the Olympics a little bit more for the last couple of days because I don't want to watch "Ice Dancing". Honestly, if you had told me before the Olympics that "Ice Dancing" and "Pairs Figure Skating" were two different Olympics events, I would've laughed at you. But with that and this being said,
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Catch 22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Some of those female figure skaters have spectacular butts.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I still know that the ladies figure skating starts tonight and Sasha Cohen is the last skater of the night. I'll probably be watching that.

 

While still judged, the judging system is very much improved from previous years and the 2002 judging debacle. I'm fairly impressed with the significant changes that were made to such an accepted and long standing system as the previous judging system.

Judges now use things like instant replay, and judge as they are competing. Each element is judged as it happens, the computer ranks the difficulty of what they're doing and when elements happen in the set. I believe the computer also drops high and low scores, and scores are anonymous.

It's still judged, but probably about as objective as they can make it now.

Yeah, I've watched a little too much this year to know all this. I watch for the butts.

Moving to the objective competitions, I've got to say that I think short track skating is quite interesting. Maybe its an inner desire to know how to do that with out tripping everyone around me.

 

That Bulgarian woman had a world class fanny. I somehow managed to watch their entire routine and never took my eyes off her ***.
Is that "wrong?"
It doesn't really *feel* wrong.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympi...=lgns

 

You know how I know you're gay? Because you started a topic on figure skating.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HapaHaole &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You know how I know you're gay? Because you started a topic on figure skating.</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.tankslapperautospor...id=18

Nothing gay about having the hots for her.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94accordsedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.tankslapperautospor...id=18

Nothing gay about having the hots for her. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The one on the left ain't bad either.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andrie Hartanto &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://sports.yahoo.com/olympi...=lgns</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andrie Hartanto &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://sports.yahoo.com/olympi...=lgns</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So she conspired with her boyfriend to have Kerrigan whacked in one of her skinny little knees.

In a real sport, this wouldn't have been necessary. Ugly people can win in track, in skiing, in the NFL, in soccer.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Appearance has nothing to do what this. A soccer player or track and field athlete would have just as much, if not more to loose from a knee injury. lol What's the guy's point exactly?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is one exception to this no-judges rule: boxing (or kickboxing, or other fighting sports). This is fine because a clear victor can be achieved with a knockout (no judge needed). </TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't see the exception. As different as figure skating and boxing are, they are both as equally entitled to be considered "sports" according to the author's premise. Both are scored and judged on similar grounds – the number of rotations, and/or difficulty level of a specific technique in figure skating; the number of punches landed and/or overall technique in a boxing match. Further more, a knock out is about as damaging and hard to overcome in a boxing match, as a fall can be in figure staking. Where’s the exception?

Other than a couple of weird assumptions and conclusions, it’s not a bad article.

 

My kind of olympics:
http://video.google.com/videop...mpics

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jlucas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My kind of olympics:
http://video.google.com/videop...mpics</TD></TR></TABLE>

greatest top gear video ever

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Shmeek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
It's still judged, but probably about as objective as they can make it now.

Yeah, I've watched a little too much this year to know all this. I watch for the butts.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I take back what I said. To see Sasha Cohen fall twice and still win Silver. That's a rigged competition. I'd say one of the fundamentals of ice skating has got to be "stay on your feet." Someone who can't do that, twice no less, shouldn't be ahead of someone who didn't fall at all.

Nice butt, tho.

 

Women's hockey? Huh. I assume that's over? If not, I'd be interested in seeing it. Something about putting all the splendidly sickening girl-fights I saw in high school to shame...

The only Olympic coverage I've had a chance to see this year has been about twenty minutes of figure skating I was semi-forced to sit through, and I'll withhold comment on that other than throwing up a hand to add a vote to the camp that it's not *quite* a sport.

But yeah...the chick fights... Did I miss that?


EDIT: dear god I'm far away from reality. Uhhhh....woohoo! *resolves to scour interweb for hockey vids*


Modified by chjkingme at 9:56 AM 2/28/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Further more, a knock out is about as damaging and hard to overcome in a boxing match, as a fall can be in figure staking. Where’s the exception?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Really? Have you not watched the Olympics? Cohen fell twice and won Silver, ahead of several excellent skaters who didn't fall at all. In boxing, a KO is a KO - game over.

 

I don't get the Cohen thing either. I didn't watch the long programs, but on the short program night, there was nothing else on, so we put it on and I kept on reading my Hitchiker's Guide trilogy while glancing at the tube every once in a while.

whether you want to consider figure skating a sport or not is not a debate I want to get into (think Gymastics is not a sport? ever try?) There is one thing that I do admire a great deal and that is talent.
I look at Cohen (she did a near flawless short program) and I see a girl who has been working her shapely butt off to get where she is. She has great technique (when she stays up anyway) but I wasn't like, wowed.
Then I watched that old (well, for skating anyway) russian chick: Irina Slutskaya. Now here is a woman who looks like she was born on skates and just happened to hop onto olympic ice and start kicking lovely ***. It gave me goosebumps to watch her skate.
I also get goosebumps when I hear Jimmy Hendrix play, Freddie Mercury sing, or watch Senna drive. There's something about innate talent that makes it incredibly enjoyable to watch/listen.
I respect Cohen's hard work and determination, but I can't help but be awed by Slutskaya's talent. Much like I was impressed by Oksana Bayoul's artistry when she kicked that bitch Kerrigan's *** some years ago.

and that's all I gotta about that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Appearance has nothing to do what this. A soccer player or track and field athlete would have just as much, if not more to loose from a knee injury. lol What's the guy's point exactly?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I think his point is that the short dumpy girl never had a chance, regardless of whether or not she was the better skater. soccer and track stars are judged on their ability to perform, without the need to live up to superficial standards.

on the topic of aesthetics and style, I find that in all sport style is generally a product of hours of perfecting skill. although I appreciate the writer pointing out the difference between sports based on quantifyable date, and those judged.

I'd also like to throw something out that hits close to home for a bunch of us-&gt;
successful professional drivers are pretty. no coincedence here. part of their job is to sell a product, and without the ability to sell themselves first they won't have the opportunity to drive. so although our sport is quantifyable, there is still an element of superficiality that must be entertained in order to be successful.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rollingCULTURE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think his point is that the short dumpy girl never had a chance</TD></TR></TABLE>
Agreed, but I'd venture to say that this same person does not have any better of a chance at the Olympic high jumping competition. There is a reason why speed skaters have those huge legs and a thin upper bodies, why those summer Olympics rings competitions (sorry don't know the official name) all have men with super strong arms and huge upper body strength, why marathon runners look like they haven’t eaten in a week, and probably even why most figure skaters (both men and women) all develop their similarly fit body, giving them enough strength and having a light enough weight (good power to weight ration) to pull off their moves and all those jumps and twists. It seems, at least to me, that if you take a bunch of competitors and take their average figure, it will give you a very good idea of that sport/activity's ideal physique.

And this is the strangest thing to become a figure skating advocate LOL but a KO in boxing is not a TKO by any means. If one fighter puts his opponent down for 3 seconds in round 1, but then proceeds to get his *** kicked and out punched in the next 11 rounds, he'll most likely loose the fight. From the little I've seen at this Olympics, it seems that half of your whole score in figure skating is the technical side, while the other half is the program/artistic score - which has (I think) nothing to do with how many times you fall. To take it to the extreme to illustrate why I believe both the bronze and silver medallists finished ahead of some skaters who did not fall, competitor A with a non artistic program that consists of 10 single twists done perfectly clean, will loose big time to competitor B who has a more technically difficult and a much better artistic program, but just happens to fall once on one of his/her 5 triple triples combinations, or whatever they call those things. Just my uneducated opinion on this matter.