Who said there are no pro competitions

Here is something that I know CTV will definitely show.

Those of you on the west coast, tickets are on sale.

I hope this event is not replacing SEARS OPEN(as there are amatuers and professionals skaters)

wohoo!!! but drat! I am on the wrong side of the continent.

Oh well...

here is the link:

http://www.canucks.com/gm/events.asp?sectionID=202&id=86

and at the THE GM ARENA.. yeah...I love that arena(re: worlds 2001)

mods..you can move this. I posted it in the wrong place. Sorry

Due to the severe decrease in Pro-Am events, I think we can make an exception

Is this the Combo Team (US plus Canada) against all of Europe?

It may well be on ABC since it is around the holidays.

Joe

If this competition is a pro competition, is Alexei able to skate there and at amateur competitions?

Alina

alina said:

If this competition is a pro competition, is Alexei able to skate there and at amateur competitions?

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It's for the Russian Skating Federation to say, isn't it? Btw, I think he skated in that or a very similar pro competition a few years back. Didn't lose his eligibility then.

windspirit said:

It's for the Russian Skating Federation to say, isn't it? Btw, I think he skated in that or a very similar pro competition a few years back. Didn't lose his eligibility then.

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What ones? And I believe the ISU has a thing or two to say about eligbility, too.....

When I was a kid, picking out a team to play stickball was important and also embarrasing if you were picked last.

In figure skating I believe the teams will be picked by how much popularity they hold to get the most viewers. So the Russian Federation, imo, will more than likely use their most famous skater in the mix.

Joe

windspirit said:

It's for the Russian Skating Federation to say, isn't it? Btw, I think he skated in that or a very similar pro competition a few years back. Didn't lose his eligibility then.

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Yes it is.

A little info on sanctions. These are Skate Canada's but all federations are run basically the same.

Skate Canada, solely, issues sanctions for it's skaters, including National Team members, to participate in all events including domestic competitions, international competitions, media appearances, and commercial events held by outside (non-member) organizations for profit only. This includes events with eligible and non-eligible participating. They also issue sanctions for individual members to participate in non-sanctioned events. These are issued under guidelines from the ISU, but, these guidelines are quite vague, with federations in reality being the final authority of their own skaters.

I don't know whether or not Yagudin plans on remaining eligible. He said in his last interview a couple weeks ago that he is putting off eligible competition until he feels 100%. He said he still plans to do SOI and that he had a few single shows coming up.

A couple things to consider. His federation allows him to participate in pretty much all he wants, especially IMG / Disson events. It would appear over the years his federation is the most open of all in these type of things. They do get paid for the sanction, plus, share in his appearance fees.

It is totally conceivable that they simply view this "challenge" as another IMG ice show event. Which it is. I guess we just have to wait and see what his federation says about it. It's their call.

Windspirit,

Yes, he did participate in the "World Team Challenge" in '98.
Same name, different format.

Long-time lurker, first time poster. (I hope I'm doing this right!)


Of course, I don't know, I'm only guessing, but my guess is that the World Team thing is a professional event, given that the other skaters are already pro, or have expressed their intentions of turning pro.

If this event is sanctioned, that would mean that the skaters would be judged by ISU judges. These other skaters.... are they willing to be put under the scrutiny of ISU judging once again? I'm looking at it from the angle of 11 pro/soon-to-be pro skaters against one eligible.

Personally speaking, I'd love to see some professional competitions on TV again. I do think that no matter what rules or judging unfairness has occurred in the past, that competition has brought out the best in most if not all skaters that have taken part in pro comps in the past. (no reason it can't continue, except for sponsors and TV rights and all that, of course) I enjoy the shows, for the most part, but the comps are just more fun.

As far as this one goes, I don't know.... your guesses are as good as mine.

Patty S.

Welcome to the forum, Patty. You are the 999th registered member!

Mathman

From what I understand, Alexei is the only skater scheduled to compete at this event who hasn't either already lost his eligibility or announced plans to do so sometime this season...so I also wonder if this means Alexei's thinking of turning pro?

Somehow I don't think this competition is an ISU-sanctioned event (which it would have to be in order for Alexei to compete there and still keep his eligibility); since CTV hasn't been able to negotiate rights with the ISU to broadcast Worlds or Four Continents, how would they get permission from the ISU to broadcast this event...unless, of course, it's not an ISU-sanctioned event.

Personally, I'm hoping this won't be an ISU-sponsored event because frankly, I really dislike pro-ams and I'm especially tired of seeing pro skaters (many of whom haven't competed in front of ISU judges for years!) having to go back to skating ISU-style short programs against eligible skaters (as is the case with most pro-ams). If Alexei can't compete in this event without losing his eligibility (assuming he still wants to keep it), I hope they can just replace him with Ilia (who hasn't skated in Canada since turning pro, IIRC, so I'm sure people would love to see him there!) and keep this as an all-pro event.

BTW, this is a completely different competition than Ice Wars: while there are only two teams on Ice Wars divided by continent (or "USA Vs. the World, as was the case in all the other Ice Wars), this event sounds to me like the old World Team Championships that used to take place between 1994 and 1998.

There were actually four different teams competing against each other at the World Team Championships (Canada, USA, Russia and Europe). Each team included a man, a woman, and a pairs or ice dance team (and in some years, there were both pairs and ice dance on each team), the teams were fairly well-balanced, the competitors were a good mix of lesser-known skaters and more familiar faces, and it was always really exciting to watch (I always thought it was more exciting than Ice Wars, IMO!) Out of all the no longer-existing pro competitions between 1994 and 1998, this is probably the event I missed the most, so I'm thrilled to death to see it brought back this season! I can't wait to see this one.

astimegoesby said:

Somehow I don't think this competition is an ISU-sanctioned event (which it would have to be in order for Alexei to compete there and still keep his eligibility); since CTV hasn't been able to negotiate rights with the ISU to broadcast Worlds or Four Continents, how would they get permission from the ISU to broadcast this event...unless, of course, it's not an ISU-sanctioned event.

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This is an IMG event. Sanctioned or not sanctioned, it has nothing to do with the ISU.

Think of it this way. Stars on Ice is a sanctioned event. In no way, shape or form does CTV, or CBC or any other network have to negotiate with the ISU to broadcast SOI.

"Sanctioning" only means giving permission for a skater to skate. It has no relationship to ownership of the event of any kind.

gsk8 - you just made me happy

gsk8 said:

Due to the severe decrease in Pro-Am events, I think we can make an exception

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and to look at Jack Nicholson...:for a second or so, I thought he was talking to me

I gotta say you picked a very comical picture of Jack.

p.s. I thought I figured out this new site but it seems like everytime I am away for a long time, I come back and post in the wrong place. I think I must post more frequently.

thanks Paula

Just wanted to agree with Astimegoesby. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a pro-am. IMO, things went downhill in 1998 when the pro events were turned into pro-ams.

I'm wondering if Yags and/or his handlers misunderstood the parameters of this competition. If that turns out to be the case, I suppose IMG could try to get Ilya Kulik. (or how about Sasha Fadeyev?)

While I am looking forward to watching on TV (thoroughly enjoyed this even especially the first year), I am disappointed that there are no dance teams. Maybe the organizers thought that Canada would have the advantage with Bourne/Kraatz.

Patty S.
PS... Mathman, thanks for your welcome.

World Team Challenge

I think that this is a pro event. At least I'm hoping that it is. I've been waiting for Todd to lose his elegibility and this would definitely do it. Besides, I'm tired of the ISU events and the ISU. I would rather see the skaters skating a technical program based on professional requirements instead of the ISU's.

Kathie

ita Kathie

I say IMG take over and hire its own judges. Voila, and we have an organization takig care of its own skaters. thank you very much.

I have read that this is supposed to be a "pro" event, and that means un-sanctioned by the ISU if I understand correctly - because as another poster pointed out if it were a sanctioned event ISU judges would be used. And that probably means that whichever skaters are still technically eligible would lose eligibility. It may be up to National Federations to give "permission" but would a skater still be able to compete at *ISU* events like Worlds or the Olympics?
Anyway, all of that aside - I hope that this does signal a return of "pro" events. I've watched some older pro comps from the mid-90s recently. Some of them were uneven or lopsided, but there was some very good skating in many of them. I don't know how the new scoring system will shape the sport on the eligible side, but it doesn't seem to encourage some elements of originality like single axels, tuck axels, walleys and creative sequences and moves, etc. I'd like to see pro skating make a big comeback so skaters would once again have creative and artistic outlets.