2013-2014 Skate America - Ladies Championshps

silverpond · Oct 20, 2013

Hello Everyone -- I'm sure many of you watched this afternoon's Skate America television broadcast. After quite a while of not watching these competitions, it was great to tune in again and enjoy the knowledgeable commentary of Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, and Tom Hammond. While I still miss the old scoring system and the rush of seeing those 6.0s.....it is what it is.

IMHO, Ashley Wagner won the long program, hands down, and she should have won the title. OK, I did not see the short program, which Osada won handily, but doesn't the long program carry much more weight in the final score? Wagner had a few minor errors (two-footed landing), but otherwise, she skated aggresively and "nailed" her jumps. It was a championship-caliber performance. Osada, on the other hand, fell on her triple axel, doubled a planned triple in one of her combinations, and made other mistakes. The final score was relatively close; however, the best long program did not win.

One reason I stopped watching figure skating was the bias of the judges. Thank Heavens the Cold War is over, but it definitely appeared, to me at least, that the judges were scoring on reputation (with Osada being the 2010 Olympic silver medalist and a great skater) and Wagner (with a less impressive resume).

Thanks for reading my two cents! It should be a very exciting Olympic season. All the best to the wonderful skaters!!

Selene · Oct 20, 2013

I think Asada was overscored by about 10 points, but should have won the competition. Wagner did not give a championship-caliber performance. She had many underrotated/two-footed jumps, a cheated 3-3 that somehow received full credit, and poor quality/low level spins.

drivingmissdaisy · Oct 20, 2013

Ashley's jumps were not on today aside from the 3-3. Had she rotated all of them she might have won the LP but still wouldn't have caught Mao after the SP. Ashley also gives up a lot of points on the spins, whereas Mao does not. Figure skating is a numbers game and how a program looks isn't necessarily indicative of how well the technical elements were performed.

Mathman · Oct 20, 2013

IMHO Ashley did not skate well at all. I found myself shouting at the TV, "Stop with the stupid jumps already and skate!"

I can't stand the COP.

brightphoton · Oct 20, 2013

I watched Skate America with non-skating fans, and they were wondering why the Japanese girl came in first and why Ashley didn't win the whole thing.

Mathman · Oct 20, 2013

^ I'm curious. Did your friends like Ashley's program enough that they wanted to watch more skating in the future?

drivingmissdaisy · Oct 20, 2013

Mathman said:
IMHO Ashley did not skate well at all. I found myself shouting at the TV, "Stop with the stupid jumps already and skate!"

She was stiff today. Both her and Mao's PCS were generous for what they put out there, but a mediocre Mao is at least 3 points better on PCS than a mediocre Ashley so the placements were right, and that's all that matters.

Mathman · Oct 20, 2013

^ I do not agree that that's all that matters.

bekalc · Oct 20, 2013

brightphoton said:
I watched Skate America with non-skating fans, and they were wondering why the Japanese girl came in first and why Ashley didn't win the whole thing.

That's because Scott and Sandra didn't explain to the audience Wagner's weaknesses. And that Asada's actually the better skater.

Tonichelle · Oct 20, 2013

I didn't watch it - I tuned into the San Francisco 49er Football Game, but I jumped over to see the tail end of the broadcast. All I can say is Scott looks much healthier than he has the last few years (I think due to medication as he was quite puffy in the face). That made me happy to see.

brightphoton · Oct 20, 2013

bekalc said:
That's because Scott and Sandra didn't explain to the audience Wagner's weaknesses. And that Asada's actually the better skater.

I really can't recall the last time Scott and Sandra explained anything.

They did come close once during the men's replay. Scott said something like, "the new system is so complicated now. When you fall, there's a deduction for falling, then you lose a grade of execution for the jump, which is ... haha." And then he trailed off and never picked it up again.

szidon · Oct 20, 2013

Selene said:
I think Asada was overscored by about 10 points, but should have won the competition. Wagner did not give a championship-caliber performance. She had many underrotated/two-footed jumps, a cheated 3-3 that somehow received full credit, and poor quality/low level spins.

I agree Asada was overscored by about 10 points. But Wagner has something to develop to be on the podium in the Olympics: transition and spins.
During the program, she usually skates on two feet. It's not a skating quality to be expected for an Olympic medal contender.

chloepoco · Oct 20, 2013

silverpond said:
Hello Everyone -- I'm sure many of you watched this afternoon's Skate America television broadcast. After quite a while of not watching these competitions, it was great to tune in again and enjoy the knowledgeable commentary of Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, and Tom Hammond. While I still miss the old scoring system and the rush of seeing those 6.0s.....it is what it is.

IMHO, Ashley Wagner won the long program, hands down, and she should have won the title. OK, I did not see the short program, which Osada won handily, but doesn't the long program carry much more weight in the final score? Wagner had a few minor errors (two-footed landing), but otherwise, she skated aggresively and "nailed" her jumps. It was a championship-caliber performance. Osada, on the other hand, fell on her triple axel, doubled a planned triple in one of her combinations, and made other mistakes. The final score was relatively close; however, the best long program did not win.

One reason I stopped watching figure skating was the bias of the judges. Thank Heavens the Cold War is over, but it definitely appeared, to me at least, that the judges were scoring on reputation (with Osada being the 2010 Olympic silver medalist and a great skater) and Wagner (with a less impressive resume).

Thanks for reading my two cents! It should be a very exciting Olympic season. All the best to the wonderful skaters!!

It's Asada, not Osada.

brightphoton · Oct 20, 2013

Mathman said:
^ I'm curious. Did your friends like Ashley's program enough that they wanted to watch more skating in the future?

Yes, they liked Ashley best because she didn't fall and her jumps looked steady and secure. They never mentioned artistry, except saying that they noticed the skaters somethings intersperse the program with pretty movements, probably to catch their breath after a jump.

They HATED the men (except for the Japanese man who won) because people were falling left and right. They didn't really care that the falls were on a quad attempt. It was very, very disruptive for them. They really had no desire to look at a program after 2 falls, saying that it looked too painful and dangerous.

cinnamon · Oct 20, 2013

brightphoton said:
They HATED the men (except for the Japanese man who won) because people were falling left and right. They didn't really care that the falls were on a quad attempt. It was very, very disruptive for them. They really had no desire to look at a program after 2 falls, saying that it looked too painful and dangerous.

Reasonable. I say, it is painful, but you feel less in competitions, for you are focused on something else. Machida didn't fall, right?

brightphoton · Oct 20, 2013

cinnamon said:
Reasonable. I say, it is painful, but you feel less in competitions, for you are focused on something else. Machida didn't fall, right?

Yes, he stayed on his feet the whole time.

chloepoco · Oct 20, 2013

brightphoton said:
Yes, they liked Ashley best because she didn't fall and her jumps looked steady and secure. They never mentioned artistry, except saying that they noticed the skaters somethings intersperse the program with pretty movements, probably to catch their breath after a jump.

They HATED the men (except for the Japanese man who won) because people were falling left and right. They didn't really care that the falls were on a quad attempt. It was very, very disruptive for them. They really had no desire to look at a program after 2 falls, saying that it looked too painful and dangerous.

But actually, you haven't answered Mathman's original question--he asked if your friends liked Ashley's program enough that they wanted to watch more skating in the future? I'm interested in the answer as well, since I too, watched some of the programs with non-skating fans. Unfortunately, none of the programs was enticing enough for them to continue watching figure skating, unless they are forced to do so, by me.

skateluvr · Oct 20, 2013

Ok Im mad. really mad. Iw as home all day and I read NBC was showing ladies at 8 pm!!!!.. Can someone post a link to the FS TV in USA? I can see online of course but it sux next to larger TV I tuned in to find Football. I hate football!!!!! Please-will it be replayed? It is a pain to search through Youtube. I will look for a final comp thread list of videos. Please...I always put a TV alert in the edge and everyone do the same ...I missed it, rats!!!!!. I love Mao and Ash is getting better. I am starting to like the LP (sans the facial expressions). I really think Ashley will def be in top 5 at Sochi. She can medal if someone blows it, and Caro always does at Olympics.

Tonichelle · Oct 20, 2013

Where'd you read 8pm?! :eek:

That's smack dab into NBC's Sunday Night Football (every week all skating season long... well... until Feb anyway).

brightphoton · Oct 20, 2013

chloepoco said:
But actually, you haven't answered Mathman's original question--he asked if your friends liked Ashley's program enough that they wanted to watch more skating in the future? I'm interested in the answer as well, since I too, watched some of the programs with non-skating fans. Unfortunately, none of the programs was enticing enough for them to continue watching figure skating, unless they are forced to do so, by me.

I didn't want to answer it directly because :slink:

They didn't seem keen on watching anymore figure skating. They might watch some to please me, but not of their own volition.

2013-2014 Skate America - Ladies Championshps

silverpond

Selene

drivingmissdaisy

Mathman

brightphoton

Mathman

drivingmissdaisy

Mathman

bekalc

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

brightphoton

szidon

chloepoco

brightphoton

cinnamon

brightphoton

chloepoco

skateluvr

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

brightphoton

Similar threads

Connect with us