[BarryRX]

The only time I watch ice skating is during the winter olympics, but I think that Yuna Kim, the South Korean skater, is sheer poetry on ice! I have seldom seen such a combination of grace, athleticism, and beauty since Katerina Witt.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by BarryRX

The only time I watch ice skating is during the winter olympics, but I think that Yuna Kim, the South Korean skater, is sheer poetry on ice! I have seldom seen such a combination of grace, athleticism, and beauty since Katerina Witt.

I agree, and in any other place but Russia, she would have won the gold. But that's figure skating judging for ya! It's always been political.

[BarryRX]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I agree, and in any other place but Russia, she would have won the gold. But that's figure skating judging for ya! It's always been political.

Absolutely! The Russian girl skated a great program, but the South Korean skated a much more artistic program and it was just as athletic. Before the voting was in I think everyone knew the Russian would get the gold on her home ice.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I listened to Tara Lapinski and some male figure skater give their opinions. They both agreed that the judges were correct. They explained that the Korean girl did a lot of the difficult jumps early in her program whereas the Russian did more difficult jumps and did them later. That seemed absurd to me but they went on to explain that a jump done later in a program gets a higher mark because the skater is tired. It's much easier to come out and do a triple axel for example as your first jump than it is to do the same jumped to finish your program.

We, who don't watch figure skating all the time, don't understand how it is scored. It always seems pretty arbitrary to me, but I have to remind myself that I don't really understand much about the sport.

I've never liked the fact that point are given for artistic merit. I am one who believes that sport is sport and art is art and that they are two very different disciplines that should not be combined. I always feel that these skaters should be graded on their skating ability and not how lovely they look when they wave their arms in the air, how they interpret the music or by the beautiful smile on their faces, but those things are, unfortunately considered.

If I were running the sport, I would have them all do exactly the same routine to the same music with the same uniforms. But, that's me. As a casual observer, I enjoy watching the pretty girls in different costumes doing all the acrobatics involved in figure skating. I don't look at it as a competition. I just watch and enjoy.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I listened to Tara Lapinski and some male figure skater give their opinions. They both agreed that the judges were correct. They explained that the Korean girl did a lot of the difficult jumps early in her program whereas the Russian did more difficult jumps and did them later. That seemed absurd to me but they went on to explain that a jump done later in a program gets a higher mark because the skater is tired. It's much easier to come out and do a triple axel for example as your first jump than it is to do the same jumped to finish your program.

We, who don't watch figure skating all the time, don't understand how it is scored. It always seems pretty arbitrary to me, but I have to remind myself that I don't really understand much about the sport.

I've never liked the fact that point are given for artistic merit. I am one who believes that sport is sport and art is art and that they are two very different disciplines that should not be combined. I always feel that these skaters should be graded on their skating ability and not how lovely they look when they wave their arms in the air, how they interpret the music or by the beautiful smile on their faces, but those things are, unfortunately considered.

If I were running the sport, I would have them all do exactly the same routine to the same music with the same uniforms. But, that's me. As a casual observer, I enjoy watching the pretty girls in different costumes doing all the acrobatics involved in figure skating. I don't look at it as a competition. I just watch and enjoy.

I do not watch a lot of Figure Skating either but the judges' scoring seemed fair when taking into account the analysis like you said of the NBC commentators as well as some also interviewed on ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer. They also asked some of the ice skating community what was the consensus on the Russian teen's winning the Gold over the Korean girl and it sounded like they had a little problem with the difference in scores but agreed with the outcome.

We usually watch Diane Sawyer because we like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

[CFrance]

I do follow figure skating all the time and understand the scoring. I have to disagree with your feeling that the scoring should be just for ability. In skating, it's always been not only about what you do, but how you do it. Any time you put a sport to music, artistic merit comes into play. If it were just about ability, they wouldn't have scrapped the figure 8 competition long ago. That was extremely boring to watch. There wouldn't be nearly the interest in the sport if it were run as you suggested. The same with gymnastics and the floor programs.

The addition of bonus points for putting jumps in late in the program was done to beef up the ratings, so to speak. Before that, all the jumps were at the beginning, and the rest of the program was merely what you called arm waving, and thus boring. Another reason for the change was to try to take some of the politics out of the judging, which has been scandal-ridden for decades.

The Russian girl did skate a fantastic program. However, she was not flawless in her execution. I felt Yuna Kim's artistic merit was just as good, and so she should have won on her execution.

But like I said before, politics has always played a big part of the judging, and they were in Russia, so... there you have it.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I do follow figure skating all the time and understand the scoring. I have to disagree with your feeling that the scoring should be just for ability. In skating, it's always been not only about what you do, but how you do it. Any time you put a sport to music, artistic merit comes into play. If it were just about ability, they wouldn't have scrapped the figure 8 competition long ago. That was extremely boring to watch. There wouldn't be nearly the interest in the sport if it were run as you suggested. The same with gymnastics and the floor programs.

The addition of bonus points for putting jumps in late in the program was done to beef up the ratings, so to speak. Before that, all the jumps were at the beginning, and the rest of the program was merely what you called arm waving, and thus boring. Another reason for the change was to try to take some of the politics out of the judging, which has been scandal-ridden for decades.

The Russian girl did skate a fantastic program. However, she was not flawless in her execution. I felt Yuna Kim's artistic merit was just as good, and so she should have won on her execution.

But like I said before, politics has always played a big part of the judging, and they were in Russia, so... there you have it.

I agree that the artistic component of these types of sports makes them more interesting to watch, but to me when that aspect is emphasized, they cease to be sports. Most sports are very quantifiable. One golfer takes 70 strokes another takes 69. The one that takes 69 wins. It doesn't matter that the one who shot 70 has a prettier swing or hit all of the fairways and greens and that the one who shot 69 scrambled to make pars and chipped in for birdies. Whichever baseball team scores the most runs wins, period. It doesn't matter if one team manufactures runs by bunting, and stealing bases and the other hits big powerful fun to watch home runs. I all sports except figure skating and some gymnastics how you do it makes no difference. If one gets more goals, baskets, runs, touchdowns or points, they win. Style has nothing to do with sports. There's a saying in golf. "There's no place on the scorecard to draw pictures." In other words, a perfect drive, a second shot to two feet and a short putt is three. A drive in the rough, a second shot that misses the green and a chip in is also three.
Also in sports, there is very little judging when it comes to scoring. True, baseball umpires call balls and strikes and whether a runner is safe or out, and football referees call penalties which can have a effect on the eventual outcome of the game, but no one determines at the end of the game that the team with fewer points won because they looked prettier doing it.
That's why personally, I consider figure skating and gymnastics to be quasi sports. They are more show business than sport. Great entertainment and certainly require great physical and athletic ability but so do the performers in Cirque du Soleil.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I do follow figure skating all the time and understand the scoring. I have to disagree with your feeling that the scoring should be just for ability. In skating, it's always been not only about what you do, but how you do it. Any time you put a sport to music, artistic merit comes into play. If it were just about ability, they wouldn't have scrapped the figure 8 competition long ago. That was extremely boring to watch. There wouldn't be nearly the interest in the sport if it were run as you suggested. The same with gymnastics and the floor programs.

The addition of bonus points for putting jumps in late in the program was done to beef up the ratings, so to speak. Before that, all the jumps were at the beginning, and the rest of the program was merely what you called arm waving, and thus boring. Another reason for the change was to try to take some of the politics out of the judging, which has been scandal-ridden for decades.

The Russian girl did skate a fantastic program. However, she was not flawless in her execution. I felt Yuna Kim's artistic merit was just as good, and so she should have won on her execution.

But like I said before, politics has always played a big part of the judging, and they were in Russia, so... there you have it.

There does seem to be more of an outcry than I had thought from just watching the news. Pictured: Moment 17-year-old Russian figure skater got a HUG from a home judge after her surprise win that sparked conspiracy claims | Mail Online
http://www.dw.de/germany-win-nordic-...ory/a-17443983 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_...s'_singles http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/yuna...s-controversy/

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I agree that the artistic component of these types of sports makes them more interesting to watch, but to me when that aspect is emphasized, they cease to be sports. Most sports are very quantifiable. One golfer takes 70 strokes another takes 69. The one that takes 69 wins. It doesn't matter that the one who shot 70 has a prettier swing or hit all of the fairways and greens and that the one who shot 69 scrambled to make pars and chipped in for birdies. Whichever baseball team scores the most runs wins, period. It doesn't matter if one team manufactures runs by bunting, and stealing bases and the other hits big powerful fun to watch home runs. I all sports except figure skating and some gymnastics how you do it makes no difference. If one gets more goals, baskets, runs, touchdowns or points, they win. Style has nothing to do with sports. There's a saying in golf. "There's no place on the scorecard to draw pictures." In other words, a perfect drive, a second shot to two feet and a short putt is three. A drive in the rough, a second shot that misses the green and a chip in is also three.
Also in sports, there is very little judging when it comes to scoring. True, baseball umpires call balls and strikes and whether a runner is safe or out, and football referees call penalties which can have a effect on the eventual outcome of the game, but no one determines at the end of the game that the team with fewer points won because they looked prettier doing it.
That's why personally, I consider figure skating and gymnastics to be quasi sports. They are more show business than sport. Great entertainment and certainly require great physical and athletic ability but so do the performers in Cirque du Soleil.

I get your point about the sporting ability aspect. figure skating is more of a dance with a sport component, like ballet on ice. I'm glad it's included in the Olympics, and I don't really care who wins. I just like to watch.

In the off-topic department, I like to watch all the winter Olympic sports--even curling!

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I get your point about the sporting ability aspect. figure skating is more of a dance with a sport component, like ballet on ice. I'm glad it's included in the Olympics, and I don't really care who wins. I just like to watch.

In the off-topic department, I like to watch all the winter Olympic sports--even curling!

Curling is actually my favorite-- it is like chess on ice. I do have a certain tendency, however, to cheer for the US athletes but believe that whoever has the best performance should win. As far as figure skating, there does seem to be quite a lot of subjectivity though when it comes to artistic performances. Looking forward, it will be interesting to see what happens in 2018 when the Winter Olympics is in South Korea especially with respect to Ladies Figure Skating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympic_Games

[Mudder]

Well, artistic ability comes into play now in skiing and snowboarding when aerials are involved, also ski jumping....it' not only how high or how far they go it's how smooth they look. I think the style points are good for certain sports. When they still did the figures in ice skating it was so boring to the skaters and the audience, yes all the skaters need to learn those precise movements from edge to edge but it is not fun to watch. LOVEd the whole Olympics, I'll miss watching.