Thoughts on the format of the GP Series | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Thoughts on the format of the GP Series

Reginald

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Team Competition

Thanks for the compliment!



Wow! I knew that lack of money would come into it somewhere, but I didn't realise it was as bad as that! And, great skater and crowd-puller though Michelle was/is, I don't think I would be paying anybody that much to participate! Come to think of it, I don't think I would be paying anybody to participate!



I have been reading with interest the comments about the Champions Series, as by the time I started watching Figure Skating it had already been replaced.

It sounds like a really interesting format, and I think it would be fun if it was revived. Not as a whole series, though. I think the GP Series is doing fine in that regard.

But, perhaps you bring back the Champions Series Final for the winners of the different National Championships. You know, as a sort of stand-alone “Champion of Champions” competition. So, off the top of my head, if you had 12 slots, they could be filled by the winners of the following Nationals:

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Russia
4. Japan
5. China
6. Korea
7. France
8. Germany
9. Italy
10. Finland
11. Czech Republic
12. ?

Not sure what country I would give the final slot to. Spain is a possibility, as I always love watching Javier skating. Or, what about Georgia, to get Elene Gedevanishvili in? There again, I would love to see Jenna McCorkell compete, so perhaps give the slot to Britain (OK, I’m being biased because her hometown is 40 miles from mine!)

Oh, you could debate for hours!



And I love the idea of holding an international skating event in Australia. Especially if it meant we got to see some local skaters compete, as we don’t get to see many Aussie skaters on the international stage.

The only worry I would have is whether there would be enough demand for tickets to make it financially viable. I know it’s a cliché, but because of the climate, Aussies tend to prefer outdoor sports. So, I don’t know how many would turn up for an indoor winter sport! But, I suppose we can take encouragement from the fact that since snooker started holding a ranking event in Bendigo, VIC a couple of years ago, there has always been a good turn-out of spectators. So, the cliché is not totally watertight! ;) :biggrin:



Getting back to the GP Series, and I think gkelly makes some very valid points about the problems that could arise by requiring skaters to compete in 2 events. Like, there are unforeseen circumstances like illnesses or things going missing in transit (I liked that suggestion, gkelly!) that could prevent them doing one of their appearances. This is where the rule-makers would have to do a lot of thinking about how exactly they word the rules, and about what to do with the skater involved if that situation arises.

When I suggested having local wildcards on standby in case of last-minute withdrawals, it did cross my mind that we could have another Kaetlyn Osmond scenario if a wildcard came into a competition and did particularly well. If they were given another appearance because of doing so well, it could cause problems as it might mean taking a slot away from a skater that was scheduled to appear at a later event. Or, it might mean stopping another wildcard from competing in their local GP, which would anger the host federation. So, here is another area which would need careful consideration.

Getting the rules worded just right so as not to cause controversy if something unexpected happens is always the hardest part.



Oi Oi Oi!!! :biggrin:

(Sorry karne, I couldn't resist!!!)

CaroLiza_fan

Maybe you could make it a team CS event. Take the top 7 skaters from each of those 11 countries (have Britain as the 12th country). Make it like a NFL Playoff format.

Seed all the teams by total score (add the 7 skaters scores SP and LP scores from nationals together)

Have the top four seeds get a bye.

Then have a wild card round #3 vs #12, #4 vs #11, #5 vs #10, #6 vs #9, #7 vs #8.

Then have a "divisional round" etc.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
My suggestion would be to go back the the original idea of the "Championship series" (before it was called the Grand Prix). Each country that wants to can put on its own show. Then the ISU stages a big whoop at the end featuring the winners.

I have been reading with interest the comments about the Champions Series, as by the time I started watching Figure Skating it had already been replaced.

It sounds like a really interesting format, and I think it would be fun if it was revived. Not as a whole series, though. I think the GP Series is doing fine in that regard.

The Champions Series and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating are the exact same thing. They just changed the name in 1998 because it took them that long to get the rights to use the words "Grand Prix" so for the first three years they used "Champions Series" as a placeholder name.

Before the series started in 1995-96, various federations hosted small invitational international events, such as Skate Canada, Skate America, NHK, etc. I.e., the federation invited a few of their own skaters and a few challengers for them from around the world, generally for a total of 8-12 entries per event, no more than would fit in two warmup groups.

The idea of the series was to bind these independent events into something with a bit more prestige and TV appeal by making the initial events count toward something. Skaters would participate in 1, 2, or (for the few best from the previous year's Worlds) 3 of the 5 or 6 events in the series (there were only 5 the first year, Russia was added later), and one warmup group worth of those who earned the best combined results over two events -- which did not necessitate actually winning any of the events -- would qualify for a final, which could bill itself as the best-of-the-best and that was a lot more convenient format for getting those top skaters together for TV than, say, Worlds with all the not-top skaters also participating.

Some of the details have changed over the years, but the basic premise has not.

If "Each country that wants to can put on its own show. Then the ISU stages a big whoop at the end featuring the winners." was an accurate representation of how the series worked in 1995, then it's an equally accurate representation of how it works in 2012, no more and no less.
 
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