Sunday, March 2, 2014

I'm encountering a few glitches downloading/playing waltzflower's videos, so in the meanwhile, I wanted to highlight the blog with this link to its current article:

Davis White hijacked to gold

it features this quote from fsu:
"D&W OTOH can do some fast tricks and have quite a lot of stamina. They never hold an edge long enough and she has never straightened her free leg in her career, so they cannot show any lines. Therefore they need programs in which they run around the ice like headless chickens, too fast for us to notice all that toe-pushing, free-foot dragging and the rest of the mess. At the end of the program we are completely breathless, don't know what has hit us and decide that it must have been quite something. JMHO of course."
 and the figure skating analysis itself notices this:
it seems the judges are marking them with a different set of starting base with their GOEs. As long as they did them they start with +2s. As an example, for their straight line lift this year I still fail to see how it is better than P/B and V/M (from Carmen). Yet they have received better marks and GOEs even with Meryl's leg oscillating and Charlie's skates wobbling to maintain balance just because it's Davis and White doing it.
 and this
Meryl and Charlie have a solid PCS cushion regardless of what they do on the ice even when they were not the best in any of the PCS criteria listed above. Not to mention, they always receive credits even with poorly executed technical elements like those un-synced twizzles.
 and a great quote from a friend of that blog's, requoted in part here:
Incorrect skating technique is not a style choice. Ignoring clear technical errors is not a style choice; it's ignoring the damned rules! Coming down on a flat instead of an edge when you're supposed to be on an edge isn't a style choice. It's a mistake. Doing 5 revolutions when the rulebook says 6 are required for a feature to count for levels is not a style choice. Side-stepping, toe-picking and hopping is not a style choice when it comes to properly getting yourself down the ice. Rocking on your blades in a lift is not a style choice! Bad skating is not a style choice, it's bad skating."
If the wrong edge is a style choice, why do the judges mark down other skaters for a wrong edge? It's just their style of the day!

Of course this ignores the times judges have marked down skaters when they were on the correct edge.

Again, the media is as invested in the corruption of figure skating as the ISU. The only corruption the media will pretend exists is if a perceived "friend of N.A." loses to a Russian. If you're Russian, you are always suspect. Suddenly there are leaks everywhere. If you're N.A. and dirty deals are happening, everybody, including the figure skating media, conspires to shut down discussion.

BTW, I don't know the big deal about Shawn Rettstatt, and why he's he who must not be named, or people speculate the problem is he'd sue. The guy grossly lowballed Tessa and Scott at every competition where he was on the panel or he did not. That would have to come out in any lawsuit, no? Seems he'd be the one in the hot seat in a libel suit.

I don't think lawsuits are the problem. I think he's connected and powerful inside the ISU/USFSA and any mere member of the media or commentariat who runs afoul of him would find themselves in Siberia, so would any coach training elite level skaters in the USA. THAT's the problem. It's not legal. It's political.

The figure skating analysis blog is very funny and VERY specific. With that blog, and with discussions that have sprung up elsewhere on major skating boards, there is absolutely NO excuse for anyone in the media to carry on with the pretense that they don't really understand technique. Right, Steve Milton, Christine Brennan, E.M. Swift, Rosie DiManno, Phil Hersch, Lynn Rutherford, Dave Leese (I think DL pretends he does understand skating, but based on everything he's ever said, he doesn't.)?

Of course, it's uncomfortable to know technique because then you have to report how people are skating instead of reporting spin. You end up in that squirm-making position Tracy Wilson has occupied all season. It becomes reporter/subject and not cozy buddies elbowing up to the bar and gossiping their faces off until it's time to file whatever you've pulled out your hind end. You're all friends! Groupies don't rock the boat with the famous.

Technique is observable. You can read the figure skating analysis blog, go to the video and see immediately that what the blog says is true. You can go to the rulebook and see that based on what DW do on the ice, they don't deserve the scores they received, let alone Olympic gold.

The information is there. The media refuses to acknowledge it. It's too good a gig - money for nothing.

15 comments:

  1. It looks like Dailymotion will allow my videos, so here are the ones that aren't on youtube - hopefully this will be simpler for you!

    Galas
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k2g0DbNQnEmoQp5IP1g

    V/M Skating Skills (Olympic FD)
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ecqvi_virtue-moir-olympic-fd-skating-skills_sport

    D/W Skating Skills (Olympic FD)
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k7BDxjxVxxwDgD5ISUe

    And the most recent canadablue one, Olympic Team SD
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3fRoqAItn5osg5IX1U

    (Yes, I'm the same person. I initially thought non-V/M supporters might give the canadablue comparisons more consideration if they weren't on the same channel as the snarky twizzle videos, but they established several months ago that only crazy ubers analyze the actual skating, and I feel increasingly weird implying I'm two different people. Either pseud is still fine).

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    1. Blogger is a google product, so there still might be a TOS issue (being that youtube is also a google product now). Let me actually google TOS to see if it would be an issue. I don't think gifs and screen caps will be, so if there's any question I'll put those up instead. Thanks very much.

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    2. Just FYI dailymotion is giving me an access forbidden message when I plug in the URLs, even after oycanada logged in with a dailymotion account.

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  2. Ice dance team entrants for Worlds...no V/M, no D/W...not surprised that V/M are not going, relieved as all hell that D/W are not going either:

    http://dev.figureskating.sportresult.com/Schedule/EntryList/2014/0/51515/MEN/TO

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  3. The VM skating skills video is private? I watched the DW skating skills video & for the first time I noticed so many mistakes. It was shocking. I can't believe the CBC commentators said "they haven't put a step wrong for two seasons" WHAT A JOKE! VM were robbed. World records my butt!

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  4. Woops, sorry! Here's the right link for V/M:
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6pwtGaxlKULKn5IRX0

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  5. Good God, D/W will headline Dancing with the Stars...how will they manage without Marina's smoke-and-mirrors choreo?

    http://gma.yahoo.com/dancing-with-the-stars-2014-season-18-celebrity-cast-announced-225318586.html

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    1. But DWTS *is* all about smoke-and-mirrors, isn't it? Look at the 'stars' who compete there. I'm honestly surprised they got DW, because while ice dancers don't necessarily dance as well on the floor, they still have an advantage. Stacked competition.

      Then again, if we were judging at a real ballroom comp, DW would be forced to face their numerous shortcomings re:dance training. I wonder what real ballroom dancers think of DWTS.

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    2. " I'm honestly surprised they got DW, because while ice dancers don't necessarily dance as well on the floor, they still have an advantage. Stacked competition."

      Well, DW don't dance on the ice, so that eliminates any advantage that any other ice dance team would have had.

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    3. @12:32 PM, I should have clarified ice dancers as 'ice dancers in general', as DW are outliers (and not in a good way).

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    4. I imagine that DW will manage without Marina very well on this show, because it's all about tricks and not about dancing. There's glitter and sequins, fake relationship drama, awkward chemistry, rigged judging (ask Hope Solo), fancy footwork and gimmicky choreo by the pros to camouflage weaknesses, manufactured narratives, etc etc. Sound familiar? DW will be right at home there.

      Between DWTS and So You Think You Can Dance, I prefer SYTYCD. While it's true that the latter also has execrable choreo and is not representative of serious dance, at least all its contestants are trained dancers.

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    5. It makes me sick, that DW are going to get so much attention with DWTS and visiting Oscar parties while much more deserving teams are still struggling financially and never get the recognition they deserve.

      Not even VM got this many perks out of their gold medal because they were dumb enough to try to advance the sport.

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    6. Well, I think that VM could not get as many perks out of their gold medal compared to DW because 1) their PR/management/federation is shit at marketing and 2) I feel like there are more endorsement/publicity opportunities for gold medal Americans in the US compared to gold medal Canadians in Canada. American media dwarfs their northern neighbor's.

      DW have their fed and sports management completely behind them, while Skate Canada and Moirville cripple VM.

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    7. This is just a half-baked sort of thought at the moment, but I think VM and DW have different objectives when it comes to what they want and get out of skating. For DW, I feel like skating was more of a means to an end. It was a way to be well-known and get the kinds of perks they're getting now. They like this stuff, they like the wins, but there is no deep respect for or love of ice dance. They do what they have to do to win. There's no interest in stretching themselves or the discipline.

      VM are very competitive people, and they do love to win, but they LOVE ice dance. They love to experiment with what's possible, to push themselves and to push the sport. They are artists and the skate blade and ice are their mediums. They do obviously like their money, but for them, I'd hazard a guess that, to them, the OGM is more about being rewarded for the job well done on the ice and far less about the perks and celebrity.

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    8. That's why I'd love for them to stay in, and part of me imagines THEY'D love to stay in, but what is the point when they're not allowed to win.

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