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For Scott Hamilton, a well-lived life is compulsory
- Thread starter Tonichelle
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- Jun 27, 2003
to me - while I absolutely love him - he was part of the problem when it came to the CoP... he and Sandy nitpicked EVERY PART of B/S' LP at the 02 Olympics and they said judges should look at EVERY PART of the program before they choose the winner.
the ISU gave them what they wanted with the CoP... and their favorites still aren't winning. so they'll still complain. This is the nature of figure skating - judges are bad, we will gripe no matter WHAT they do.
the ISU gave them what they wanted with the CoP... and their favorites still aren't winning. so they'll still complain. This is the nature of figure skating - judges are bad, we will gripe no matter WHAT they do.
I agree with you when you say that no matter which judging systems, judges are always bad
laugh and people will always complain.But I give a point to him in pointing out that COP turned every program in apples, when before there were apples, oranges, kiwis, bananas, papayas ... I think he is very right!! And he is not the only skater who have pointed out this. Skaters feel their artistry is locked IMO.
Is Hamilton involved with the ISU or the USFSA directly? I'm not sure, but I don't think the media hysteria was the deciding factor. After all, the SLC scandal began on the ice as a standoff between the Canadians and the Russians, and was magnified into a quarrel between the IOC and the ISU; and if the French judge had not been a nervous wreck to begin with, things would have settled down. As you say, judging controversies have been a feature of skating competitions forever. In the end, I suspect that early 2002 was (for the obvious reason having nothing to do with sport at all) such an unsettled and strange time, that the entire Salt Lake City Olympics were just caught up in the madness, and decisions were made just because. :frown2:
My problem with Scott is that his "favorites" are always whichever skaters are contracted to perform in his Stars on Ice tour, and his commentary during competitions is so blatantly biased to promote them. It's simply unethical for him to slant his skating commentary just to promote his tour.
At Skate America this season, he made a huge fuss over Evan Lysacek's performance, shrieking "this is UN-BEE-LEE-VABLE!" all the way through Evan's free skate and completely ignoring his numerous errors. Then when Evan only won the bronze, he yelled "It's so UNFAIR!" and did an entire segment on how CoP had cheated Evan out of his deserved gold medal and given it to Kozuka. He never even mentioned Johnny Weir, who won the silver medal ahead of Evan.
Evan, of course, is a skater on SOI, and Johnny is not. And Scott does that at every competition he does the commentary for, making a huge fuss over how great the SOI skaters are and downplaying or ignoring their rivals. I can't understand why NBC allows a commentator to so obviously use the job to promote their private business enterprises by displaying clear bias.
At Skate America this season, he made a huge fuss over Evan Lysacek's performance, shrieking "this is UN-BEE-LEE-VABLE!" all the way through Evan's free skate and completely ignoring his numerous errors. Then when Evan only won the bronze, he yelled "It's so UNFAIR!" and did an entire segment on how CoP had cheated Evan out of his deserved gold medal and given it to Kozuka. He never even mentioned Johnny Weir, who won the silver medal ahead of Evan.
Evan, of course, is a skater on SOI, and Johnny is not. And Scott does that at every competition he does the commentary for, making a huge fuss over how great the SOI skaters are and downplaying or ignoring their rivals. I can't understand why NBC allows a commentator to so obviously use the job to promote their private business enterprises by displaying clear bias.
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NBC is biased towards the same skaters - Americans should always win... or at the very least N. Americans... they were the ones who pushed for a CoP segment, not because Evan lost, but because the American boys lost...
If that is so, then why did Scott only talk about how unfair it was to Evan that he didn't win, and make no mention whatsoever of Johnny (who finished ahead of Evan)?
Sorry, but I've seen Scott show such obvious bias in favor of his American SOI skaters over other American skaters who are not on his tour many times. I can't believe that is all NBC's idea.
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NBC pushed Evan over Johnny (who was the US Champ) in 2006... all they used Johnny for was sound bites, they still favored Evan over Johnny and freaked when Evan bombed. It wasn't just Scott's doing. He doesn't have that much pull with NBC Universal.
We may have to agree to disagree on this. USFS has obviously pushed Evan over Johnny (the debacle of the 2007 US Nationals brochures and web site, on which they featured prominent photos of Evan and every other top American skater except Johnny, the reigning Champion, who was conspicuosly absent, is but one example). And Scott does indeed push his SOI skaters over any of their competitors. But to blame NBC for all of that just makes no sense at all to me.
Scott doesn't need to have "pull" with NBC in order to give biased commentary - he is the one doing the speaking. And he was just as biased when doing commentary for ABC in the past, so unless all of the networks are conspiring to promote SOI skaters and forcing Scott to go along with them against his will, I have to say Scott bears the blame.
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Figure Skating is for me, much too ethnic. There is nothing wrong with the Best Skater Winning a Competition from wherever that skater came from or however that skater was brought up. Think Lambiel.
But Scott is/was a fighter and all due respect to his life.
But Scott is/was a fighter and all due respect to his life.
Huh?:scratch:
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I still have some regard for Scott for his competitive success and struggles with disease. However, I lost a lot of respect for him over his "outing" of skaters in his book who did not wish to be outed (even if posthumously, that doesn't cut it with me) and for what I also see as a strong pro-SOI bias in his commentary, where he seems to me to use what should be a neutral forum to promote his private business interests.
I personally don't see that much of a bias toward SOI skaters. I've heard Scott get excited over ANY skater whose program is exciting. Evan's was exactly that, despite the errors. I was there - the atmosphere in the arena was electric. He took command of the ice, the performance and the crowd. It was evident throughout that he was having a good time and wanted us sto have one too. We did. It was, imo, the most exciting performance of the night and that's why Scott got so excited over it. Not because it was Evan, but because it was an exciting performance.
It's rather unfair to state bias when NBC only showed a few of the men's free skate programs. We don't know what he said/would've said about the others they didn't show.
I have a different slant on his "so unfair" comment. IMO, I took it to mean that Scott felt it was unfair that the system is so complicated the crowd didn't understand what had happened, not that it was unfair to Evan.
IMO, Scott didn't think the result was unfair - only that the crowd didn't understand how it came about.
In any case, this thread is about the article re: his life, not about his commentary skills. I think it's safe to say Scott has lived a "well-lived life." Despite his own adversities, he's stayed positive and upbeat and has kept on keeping on, inspiring others in the process.
Way to go, Scott!!
It's rather unfair to state bias when NBC only showed a few of the men's free skate programs. We don't know what he said/would've said about the others they didn't show.
I have a different slant on his "so unfair" comment. IMO, I took it to mean that Scott felt it was unfair that the system is so complicated the crowd didn't understand what had happened, not that it was unfair to Evan.
IMO, Scott didn't think the result was unfair - only that the crowd didn't understand how it came about.
In any case, this thread is about the article re: his life, not about his commentary skills. I think it's safe to say Scott has lived a "well-lived life." Despite his own adversities, he's stayed positive and upbeat and has kept on keeping on, inspiring others in the process.
Way to go, Scott!!
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unfortunately Scott will forever be one of those 'controversial' topics... he's in the same category as Mike Weiss and Evan Lysacek.
I tend to disagree with some of your comments, libby, but I do agree he has a bias. I never said he didn't. I just don't believe he's the only one at fault. He did tremendously better with Verne Lundquist for CBS (he only worked for ABC in 88, IIRC, and he was an interviewer type? I could be wrong)... but I think CBS has a different policy when it comes to the skating. Though Scott did point out the 1994 ladies lp judging 'scandal' was pushed by CBS because an American lost to a "former Soviet". He said he didn't want to, but he did the voice over - which I think he should have stood up a bit more to the big wigs but I wasn't there.
Does he push SOI, it seems that way, but you can't really say he "always" has, because prior to 200...4? SOI (the US tour) didn't have the proper channels to allow competitive skaters as guest stars... now they do - but I have a feeling that has more to do with the fact that they bought out Champs. And that deal was a long time in the making IIRC. When he commentated the different pro competitions he had obvious favorites, but they were friends more than just skaters on his tour (Ice Wars comes to mind during head to heads with Kurt and Brian... Scott didn't pick Kurt over Brian that I can recall unless Kurt was the cleaner of the two...)
but we've driven the topic way off track. Whether or not I agree with him or others on his commentary (in full or in part) is really irrelevant. I'm glad his book seems to be a good read, I'm on the fence if I'll get it (I'm not a fan of self-help type books). But he is an inspiration to keep fighting. Never give up. Never surrender.
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."
I tend to disagree with some of your comments, libby, but I do agree he has a bias. I never said he didn't. I just don't believe he's the only one at fault. He did tremendously better with Verne Lundquist for CBS (he only worked for ABC in 88, IIRC, and he was an interviewer type? I could be wrong)... but I think CBS has a different policy when it comes to the skating. Though Scott did point out the 1994 ladies lp judging 'scandal' was pushed by CBS because an American lost to a "former Soviet". He said he didn't want to, but he did the voice over - which I think he should have stood up a bit more to the big wigs but I wasn't there.
Does he push SOI, it seems that way, but you can't really say he "always" has, because prior to 200...4? SOI (the US tour) didn't have the proper channels to allow competitive skaters as guest stars... now they do - but I have a feeling that has more to do with the fact that they bought out Champs. And that deal was a long time in the making IIRC. When he commentated the different pro competitions he had obvious favorites, but they were friends more than just skaters on his tour (Ice Wars comes to mind during head to heads with Kurt and Brian... Scott didn't pick Kurt over Brian that I can recall unless Kurt was the cleaner of the two...)
but we've driven the topic way off track. Whether or not I agree with him or others on his commentary (in full or in part) is really irrelevant. I'm glad his book seems to be a good read, I'm on the fence if I'll get it (I'm not a fan of self-help type books). But he is an inspiration to keep fighting. Never give up. Never surrender.
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."
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- Jul 28, 2003
Scott has toured with many of the skaters who are mentioned here and has been very much a part of the Canadian skating scene as well (tours, shows, competitions etc.) He has always been welcomed warmly here in Canada and fans love to watch him skate here. It's true he and Kurt are good friends.
I have always wondered with the Salt Lake City fiasco had the controversy been between a US pair team and the Russian pair team would the rhetoric still be the same here at Golden Skate. I rather imagine US fans would have stood up for their skaters. Scott called it as he saw it.
I remember a few years ago Toller Cranston thought a Russian pair got marked lower than they should have and he let a few of the judges know his thoughts. Of course, things were pretty much set in stone in those days, so the results stayed the course.
As long as figure skating involves a set of judges, the controversy will always be there. Toller Cranston always maintained under the old judging system things were decided long before the skater stepped on the ice. It's hard to know if this is still happening but there does seem to be some improvement.
I always remember Toller's symbolic act of throwing his figure skates off a bridge at the 1976 World Championships because of his low marks in figures. It was not long after figures were no longer a part of competitions.
Anyway this is about Scott, so I look forward to reading his book.
I have always wondered with the Salt Lake City fiasco had the controversy been between a US pair team and the Russian pair team would the rhetoric still be the same here at Golden Skate. I rather imagine US fans would have stood up for their skaters. Scott called it as he saw it.
I remember a few years ago Toller Cranston thought a Russian pair got marked lower than they should have and he let a few of the judges know his thoughts. Of course, things were pretty much set in stone in those days, so the results stayed the course.
As long as figure skating involves a set of judges, the controversy will always be there. Toller Cranston always maintained under the old judging system things were decided long before the skater stepped on the ice. It's hard to know if this is still happening but there does seem to be some improvement.
I always remember Toller's symbolic act of throwing his figure skates off a bridge at the 1976 World Championships because of his low marks in figures. It was not long after figures were no longer a part of competitions.
Anyway this is about Scott, so I look forward to reading his book.
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- Jun 27, 2003
if it'd been a US team you'd have just as strong a "war" as the ones that happened after the SLC incident...
Scott came back and apologised for calling that night based on emotions, and that it wasn't as big of a gap as his commentary made it out to be. NBC tried to have him backtrack (Bob Costas annoyed me even before then but afterwards I just can't ever stand him!) but he stood firm that it wasn't fair to the SKATERS... I thought that was possibly the best thing he did/said at those games.
Scott came back and apologised for calling that night based on emotions, and that it wasn't as big of a gap as his commentary made it out to be. NBC tried to have him backtrack (Bob Costas annoyed me even before then but afterwards I just can't ever stand him!) but he stood firm that it wasn't fair to the SKATERS... I thought that was possibly the best thing he did/said at those games.
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I guess I see Scott as a "good but often misguided" person, and so give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he is a very emotional guy, and can't help but like more the people that he works with on SOI. One example that always comes up for me is the 1994 Pairs Olympics - Scott went through a lot of trouble to explain why G&G were better than M&D despite Sergei's error. To me, it was neither him calculatingly standing up for his show's interests nor his unbiased figure-skating-expert opinion - it was him naturally sympathizing with his friends.
As to SLC - one just can't help laugh at his commentary at the men's final, seriously suggesting that Yagudin's skate was inferior to Goebel's.
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and Tim was NOT a member of SOI.... I'd forgotten about that (Tim WAS better than Plushenko's skates though, IMHO.)
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Personally, and it's just me, I think Scott still bemoans his baldness, his shortness of stature, and the continual praise Orsa got in the Free Skate. The book, imo, is to hopefully let all this go, and he can actually live a good life. Only he knows.
As with most skating bios, there is nothing much more than what we already know.
As with most skating bios, there is nothing much more than what we already know.
