Matt not only has academic intelligence, but kinesthetic intelligence as well. In the Kurt Browning arena of knowing how to make his muscles work in perfect syncronicity.
Matt not only has academic intelligence, but kinesthetic intelligence as well. In the Kurt Browning arena of knowing how to make his muscles work in perfect syncronicity.
For me, Matt Savoie is like the Janet Lynn of this era. He's not bubbly, of course, but he's the one every skater and serious skating fan admires (okay, most of them), but he never quite gets the big marks or the big medals. I'll miss him, but more importantly, I'll remember him.
Rgirl
Sorry Joe, but this is SO wrong. If 2002 wasnn't underscoring, I don't know what is. And he should have been first in the freeskate in 2006, and hence the silver medalist. These are just TWO examples.Originally Posted by Joesitz
"Kinesthetic intelligence..." Wow! You're from the same planet I am! Okay, I won't saddle you with that. It's just good to read a language I understand well.BTW, ITA.
Rgirl
P.S. Welcome to Golden Skate! Hope you stick around.
Very Cool Matt article from Peoria paper! Matt, don't leave us! We love you!
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/021706...FPVB.060.shtml
Well how do you encourage risk if you penalize a skater for trying. Part of the risk is that the jump may not happen. You already have a skater like Weir who nails the quad in practice all the time yet doesn't have the courage to try the jump in competition. Johnny has mental issues with the jump, but how is he ever going to get over it if all of a sudden they decide to penalize skaters for trying. If the skater doesn't try the element at all, the skater is never going to land it.
Woooo wooo!! I am glad Matt is thinking about continuing to skate competitively. I was watching him at the Games and wishing that he would stay in a little longer b/c everything is falling in place for him.
Soogar, which part of the article said Matt might stay??
And why should points be given out for falling on your butt? If the skater does a flawed element (step-out, two-footed, etc), I would give credit but with negative GOE. That is the reward for a "good try." But a fall is a huge, ugly mistake and should not be encouraged by the system. In lieu of giving -4 pts. on the element, it should simply be given a goose egg. Maybe then we won't see skaters simply throwing in hugely difficult elements which they cannot complete, just so they can get points for them. Right now, a fully rotated quad that results in a fall gives the same amount of points as a clean 3loop (5.0) which is stupid.
When Jeff fell on his fully rotated quad attempt, Sandra Bezic noted that it was a "good strategy," presumably because it gave 5 pts. I would rather have seen Jeff do a clean triple. When falling has become a good strategy, something is seriously wrong with the way the sport is being judged. I am not interested in watching fall, fall, gain points for falling.
Veering back on topic,I thought Matt's performance was great as well. THAT's the kind of skating the system should encourage.
Last edited by Ogre Mage; 02-18-2006 at 02:55 PM.
It said that he was thinking about returning to competitive skating after taking a year off for Cornell Law.
Yeah Matt why don't you marry me OK?
Oh, he's going to do some cities in COI! PLEASE GO TO LOS ANGELES, MATT!
Matt is
Aw, Linda (his coach), loves him. I think she's like a mother figure to him. I've met her once or twice and she's the nicest. She got my blades sharpened for me.lol
Right now, a fully rotated quad that results in a fall gives the same amount of points as a clean 3loop (5.0) which is stupid.
When Jeff fell on his fully rotated quad attempt, Sandra Bezic noted that it was a "good strategy," presumably because it gave 5 pts. I would rather have seen Jeff do a clean triple. When falling has become a good strategy, something is seriously wrong with the way the sport is being judged. I am not interested in watching fall, fall, gain points for falling.
Veering back on topic,
BINGO!!!
Savoie and Curry are different body types, and the quality of their movement is different because of this. Buttle is the closest to Curry in terms of posture, although he makes Buttle look zaftig by comparison, and Weir is the closest in terms of flow and textbook jumps. But Curry's and Savoie's approach to skating is very similar, and, sadly, shared by few.
Curry's Olympic LP in 1976 is one of the greatest of all times, but under another era: few triples -- and the easier triples that were require shorter set-ups -- and more freedom in terms of the number of elements codified. Under the 6.0/OBO "maximum" rules over a decade later, these were almost as strict as under CoP, and actually, in some senses more strict than under CoP: the judges had expectations of which jumps had to be completed. For example, had Kerrigan's jumps and simply the quality of spins alone been graded under CoP, it is very possible that the cumulative GOE's would have put her a score enough higher than Baiul's, and the flip she doubled wouldn't have had the "Oh, she left the door open" effect that it did under OBO. Under CoP, Plushenko didn't make any mistake whatsoever by doubling the flip. He just got fewer points than if he had done a triple flip.
It wasn't until Curry became a professional that he did he great minimal jump masterpieces. What is so great and impressive about Savoie, is that he skated transition-filled, quiet, musically sensitive, reflective -- i.e., Curry-like -- competitive programs that included all of the hardest triples. For that he earns my utmost
Hockeyfan, that was an excellent and detailed analysis/comparison of Savoie, Curry and several others. I enjoyed reading it. Your points are well taken. When I see Curry and Savoie on the ice, I sense that they are throwing enormous amounts of intellectual AND emotional energy into the skate. I can see the kinship in that sense--though Matt seems to be a much happier person who is more at peace with himself. It is an approach that -as you said- is not common in figure skating.
Yet, this expression on the ice does seem to reach a lot of fans, in both cases. It reached more judges in Curry's case. But-I saw an interview where Curry basically stated that he made a conscious decision to do what he had to do to please the judges to make his professional dreams possible. He even seemed a bit cynical about it (though, admittedly, the interview was some years later and I think he may have already been ill.)
What puzzles me about the judging with Savoie is that he was COP friendly before COP. The programs are rich in choreography with loads of smooth transitions and difficult entrances into every jump. The judges don't appear to be giving the proper value to these elements. Hmm....
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