Scott Moir says its a piss off

[skateflower]

Interesting interview, to say the least.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/spo...135407983.html

Virtue, from London, Ont., and Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., scored 112.33 points for what they felt was a gold-medal free dance to music from the old Hollywood movie "Funny Face" and 183.34 points overall. But American world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White claimed gold, edging the Canadians by 0.05 points in the free dance for a total score of 188.55.

"It's a piss-off," Moir said. "Sorry, that's as blunt as I can be. We're not happy, we felt like we laid down a good skate and in our opinions a good enough skate to win and obviously we're missing something.

"It's tough to swallow, especially when Tessa and I have had probably our best fall to date and this is the best start of a season that we've had. It was a little easier to swallow when we weren't doing the training or Tessa was in pain, but now that everything's a go, it's a bitter pill to swallow."

Virtue and Moir were gunning for their first Grand Prix Final title. They skipped the Grand Prix two of the previous three seasons after Virtue twice underwent surgery on her lower legs.

"There won't be any problem with motivation for the rest of the year," Moir said. "It's bulletin board material now.

"We wanted to win our first Grand Prix Final in Canada and in Quebec City and to not accomplish that is rubbing a little bitter. As you can tell."

But the 24-year-old was more frustrated with the fact they received lower component scores — artistic impression marks under the old scoring system — than the Americans, whom they train with in Canton, Mich.

Earlier this week Moir called the Canadians' free dance their flagship program. Set to the whimsical music from "Funny Face," Moir is Fred Astaire complete with hair neatly parted on the side, while Virtue is Audrey Hepburn in a shimmering red dress.

"It's tough to get beat artistically when we feel we're the best artistic ice dance team in the last five years," Moir said

Looks to me V/M are finally taking off their gloves and reveal their true feelings. I'm so tired of those 'we-are-the-best-friends' official line. Time for some popcorn.

[CassAgain]

I think it's always better to have others declare you robbed rather than to state it yourself.

Good drama, sure. Questionable sportsmanship.

I always thought Meryl and Charlie did a good job of letting disappointing results motivate them while remaining really classy toward their rivals. Scott might benefit from watching some old tapes.

[MoonlightSkater]

I think it's always better to have others declare you robbed rather than to state it yourself.

Yes, exactly.

And let's not forget that he spent some time on his backside during the short dance.

[ImaginaryPogue]

I'm pretty sure that losing the GPF at home is a bitter pill, as he said, but it's the FD loss on PCS that rankles.

[jaylee]

And let's not forget that he spent some time on his backside during the short dance.

And because of that, I find it very strange that he says, they laid down "a good enough skate to win". He really thinks their FD should've been 5 points better than D/W, enough to win, when D/W didn't make any mistakes?

Not cool, not classy, Mr. Moir. And I actually thought Weaver/Poje had the best artistic performance of the night...

[NorthernDancers]

And because of that, I find it very strange that he says, they laid down "a good enough skate to win". He really thinks their FD should've been 5 points better than D/W, enough to win, when D/W didn't make any mistakes?

Not cool, not classy, Mr. Moir. And I actually thought Weaver/Poje had the best artistic performance of the night...

I don't think he meant the whole competition. I think he meant the FD, and the PCS scores very specifically. And he's right on that front.

And to add to this..... This will obviously make them hungry for more, and I'm sure they will go back to the drawing board and examine this program piece by piece to mine every single point possible. I think the PCS marks were wrong, but they will look at how to make what they do even more obvious for the judges who clearly weren't paying attention or "getting" the program. A program does not have to be epic or grand in order to be amazing. It's the incredible subtleties, all the little details, that make this program so incredibly unique and just plain amazing. The looks between them and the audience, the lines, the edges, the little connections, the facial expressions, the speed, the articulation of the body with the music. It is unmatched and unparalleled with any other team in the world.

[pangtongfan]

I enjoyed D/Ws FD more than V/Ms. I had no problem with their marginally higher PCS. Quite frankly both V/M and D/W are regularly well overmarked in PCS relative to the field and should be thankful for the scores they get. They are the two best, but not by as much as the scores indicate. If anything I was baffled that V/M had the higher technical scores when they were shaky in a couple points.

[Rachmaninoff]

I don't think he meant the whole competition. I think he meant the FD, and the PCS scores very specifically. And he's right on that front.

Agreed. I did get the impression that he'd gone into the free hoping they could skate brilliantly enough to take over first place...but it was the free specifically that he thought he should have won.

I'm not holding this against them. It must be tough for any skater to really go out and skate your heart out and still not get the results you were expecting. It sounded like he was frustrated and ran off at the mouth a bit in that state. And I do think they could have been first in the free, although both dances were terrific. If someone complains about the judging and is completely delusional about their abilities relative to the other skaters, that's when I usually go , but if it looks like they might have an arguable point, then fine by me.

[Dragonlady]

I think it's always better to have others declare you robbed rather than to state it yourself.

Good drama, sure. Questionable sportsmanship.

I always thought Meryl and Charlie did a good job of letting disappointing results motivate them while remaining really classy toward their rivals. Scott might benefit from watching some old tapes.

Where exactly did they trash Charlie and Meryl? They expressed their disappointment without in any way diminishing or disrespecting their competition. That's being classy.

[jcoates]

Where exactly did they trash Charlie and Meryl? They expressed their disappointment without in any way diminishing or disrespecting their competition. That's being classy.

It's the indirect implications and not so sublte digs buried in Scott's comments now and in the past that rub some fans the wrong way.

Clearly you missed the quotes where he asserts that he felt the skated well enough to win. Since he did not qualify that declaration by referring specifically to the FD, one has to assume he meant the overall competition. That would require him and Tessa to win the FD by more than five point over D/W. Something they have not done in years even when Tessa was fully healthy. That implies by default that he feels they are so superior that to D/W that they should be beating them by the same sort of margins with which they defeat lesser rivals.

Also, Scott asserted that he felt he and Tessa are the best team artistically over the last five years. Fine to feel that way, but he's implying that he is entitled to some sort of static mark or status above his rivals regardless of how much they improve or what they do on the day.

Pogue also brought up a similar quote me made in the lead up to the Olympics about D/W being second best. (He's also called recently called D/W great element skaters w/ no reference to their other merits.) Again it's fine for him to feel that way, but to verbalize it certainly opens him up to questions of poor sportsmanship even if that was not his intent. Then again, Scott is no fool and knows that his most ardent fans wholeheartedly agree with him. This will likely inflame those passions with those same fans. Regardless, it's that sort of supreme confidence that has allowed him to become a champion and is what separates him from us mere mortal who can only dream of being that good.

[blackswanphoto]

It's the indirect implications and not so sublte digs buried in Scott's comments now and in the past that rub some fans the wrong way.

Clearly you missed the quotes where he asserts that he felt the skated well enough to win. Since he did not qualify that declaration by referring specifically to the FD, one has to assume he meant the overall competition. That would require him and Tessa to win the FD by more than five point over D/W. Something they have not done in years even when Tessa was fully healthy. That implies by default that he feels they are so superior that to D/W that they should be beating them by the same sort of margins with which they defeat lesser rivals.

Also, Scott asserted that he felt he and Tessa are the best team artistically over the last five years. Fine to feel that way, but he's implying that he is entitled to some sort of static mark or status above his rivals regardless of how much they improve or what they do on the day.

Pogue also brought up a similar quote me made in the lead up to the Olympics about D/W being second best. (He's also called recently called D/W great element skaters w/ no reference to their other merits.) Again it's fine for him to feel that way, but to verbalize it certainly opens him up to questions of poor sportsmanship even if that was not his intent. Then again, Scott is no fool and knows that his most ardent fans wholeheartedly agree with him. This will likely inflame those passions with those same fans. Regardless, it's that sort of supreme confidence that has allowed him to become a champion and is what separates him from us mere mortal who can only dream of being that good.

You state this so well.. This just the reason I could never be a fan of V/M. He is delusional if he thinks they are a better TEAM than D/W. Yes Scott probably is the best male ice dancer in the world but as a team... NO! They are not the best.

[MrScroogeMcDuck]

Not very classy, Moir.

[gmyers]

Will this cause civil war in Canton?!? Previously it was all about becoming the best and taking NA to the top and now they are at the top and they will turn on each other like with GP and KO!?! Is that a possibility?!?

[Mathman]

Where exactly did they trash Charlie and Meryl? They expressed their disappointment without in any way diminishing or disrespecting their competition. That's being classy.

Well, Scott pouted that he and Tessa are the best artistic team in the last five years, so it is tough to get beat (by Davis and White who are not as artistic as we).

Davis and White had a good fall season, too, and no doubt thought that their skate was good enough to win. The times when Davis and White lost to Virtue and Moir D&W did not say, what a bitter pill to swallow (losing to an inferior team).

[Spun Silver]

Exactly. And I hope D/W continue to be classy enough to keep their opinion about this, or V/M's inferiority (as they may perceive it) to themselves.