Thoughts About Skating's Popularity | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Thoughts About Skating's Popularity

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Julia garnered alot of media attention from the Russian media
same with Gracie who was featured in NBC as the American Golden Girl

Dude, I am sorry, but no one in the USA knows who Gracie Gold is. If I flashed her picture in a skating outfit there might be some cursory recognition in SOME (far far from all) people but that's it.

I get that you really are jizzing for her, but you have a ridiculous and inflated sense of what she has done for skating's popularity in the USA. You spouted off a few days ago about all her endorsements. When some people in the USA said the only one they'd seen was the United commercial (it's the only one I've seen in the USA too) you of course had no answer.

Gracie MAY be the next big thing, but she hasn't arrived popularity wise just because she won nationals. To the average American she is still no one and she has a long road ahead before she reaches a Kwan or even Cohen level in terms of recognition. .
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Dude, I am sorry, but no one in the USA knows who Gracie Gold is. If I flashed her picture in a skating outfit there might be some cursory recognition in SOME (far far from all) people but that's it.

I get that you really are jizzing for her, but you have a ridiculous and inflated sense of what she has done for skating's popularity in the USA. You spouted off a few days ago about all her endorsements. When some people in the USA said the only one they'd seen was the United commercial (it's the only one I've seen in the USA too) you of course had no answer.

Gracie MAY be the next big thing, but she hasn't arrived popularity wise just because she won nationals. To the average American she is still no one and she has a long road ahead before she reaches a Kwan or even Cohen level in terms of recognition. .

This. So much. Gracie could be great and could be popular, but sky_fly needs to stop talking about her like she ALREADY is some household name.

Gold came 5th at Worlds, when a medal was certainly attainable for her (especially given how much Kostner bombed). She has one US National title. Compared to Michelle, she is unbelievably basic.
 

moviechick

On the Ice
Joined
May 7, 2008
no need to throw in some sort of racist connotations :disapp:
I completely understand your a Gracie hater like Selene, same pseudos ?

You're the one who keeps bringing up her blonde hair and white girl all American looks. I think you need help.
 

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
This. So much. Gracie could be great and could be popular, but sky_fly needs to stop talking about her like she ALREADY is some household name.

Gold came 5th at Worlds, when a medal was certainly attainable for her (especially given how much Kostner bombed). She has one US National title. Compared to Michelle, she is unbelievably basic.

5th place is still ok. Oh wait, she's lost to Pogorilaya... I wonder what place she can take in Russian nationals... Top 5 is very possible.
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Country
United-States
This. So much. Gracie could be great and could be popular, but sky_fly needs to stop talking about her like she ALREADY is some household name.

Gold came 5th at Worlds, when a medal was certainly attainable for her (especially given how much Kostner bombed). She has one US National title. Compared to Michelle, she is unbelievably basic.

Another scary thing for Gracie is that may have been the most beatable Yulia will ever be at WC's for her. That door was wide open!! I'm not saying anything crazy like Yulia has guaranteed medals coming because I know that just isn't the case. I know she'll need to improve going forward but I fully suspect her to be more comfortable after getting this first one out of the way.

Can someone please point out some choreography in Gracie's FS. I watched it last night from US nationals and I can't find anything. It's upsetting to me because I watched Yulia improve her expressiveness through some pretty heavy choreo all season long yet never hear Gracie criticized for it. I'm just not seeing many expressive movements coming from her. If anyone can point some out that would be helpful. Sky_fly20 you need to chill because I'm beginning go think you alone are beginning to turn me against Gracie. I'm not going to let that happen because she is such a sweet girl and a vast talent but she to me should be ranked lower than Anna P who won an GP gold and Bronze ...at least in terms of hype.

Back to thread topic I suspect Figure Skating to grow in popularity nearly everywhere except America. I'm hoping for Polina to skate well but she has no personality that I can post about unlike every baby Russian who carries a story and attitude. It might help if the US could develop a talent that doesn't get repackaged by a coach but instead talent that a coach can emphasis the packaging! The fact that I am a young American who pulls for Russians may speak volumes. Then again maybe not because I find Nationalism to be the distant cousin of Racism and not for me. The reason figure skating is so great in Japan is because they tend to welcome foreign skaters and some even become their dedicated fans. :bow: Japanese Fans :points:
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
The same discussions exist on boards of almost every sport: how to make sport XYZ popular in the US. Everything is just about popularity in the US. This is alpha and omega of sports.
The same discussion exists on tennis forum, the same on soccer, probably also volleyball, alpine skiing, etc. US, US and US!

And this is actually a very positive sign. Figure skating is not isolated in its struggle for popularity in the US, but is in the same group with many other sports. So it's not about the very nature of figure skating, but it's about the nature of US TV networks in general. So it's not about the lack of US champions, but it's about the TV itself. There are no US champions in tennis either (except Serena, who is controversial even in the US) and the tennis fans complain about exactly the same thing as people here.

There are many US champions and role models in alpine skiing (Mikaela, Julia, Bode, Ted, Lindsay, etc) and the alpine skiing struggles to make the US TV as much as tennis and figure skating.
The US is a world power in the very spectacular sport of indoor volleyball, while the indoor volleyball is virtually non-existent in the US, except college girls. Volleyball world championships are not covered in the US AT ALL! Is not even mentioned in the press headlines.
So no matter how many world champions US will produce, how many gold medals Gracie or Jason win, nothing will change. It all doesn't matter. It's all about the very philosophy of US networks.

For the US networks the unit of measure is millions. If something cannot be measured in millions then it simply has no right to exist. It is pushed to niches and elitist obscurity. Champions don't matter. The philosophy of gigantism is at the very core of US networks. I am not US born, it took me years to learn this system, but now I can see how it really is because I can compare both.

And figure skating will never be measured in millions. Therefore talk about bringing figure skating to TV prime time is baseless. Assuming what figure skating is we can say it's already as popular as it can be. It gets as much prime time as tennis, and much more than tracks, volleyball, alpine skiing and many many other sports all put together.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Please do not use explicit sexual references on GS. GS is a g-rated board.

Also, please do not insult other posters.

If you find a post to be inappropriate, please report it to the mods rather than becoming angry and firing back at the person who has upset you.
 

Sk8Boi

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Skating is no longer popular because the scoring and competitions are fake, like Reality TV, and real sport fans don't watch phoney, staged, BS competitions like the SOchi Olympic Figure Skating "Competition." FS will never recover its former audience.
 

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
Skating is no longer popular because the scoring and competitions are fake, like Reality TV, and real sport fans don't watch phoney, staged, BS competitions like the SOchi Olympic Figure Skating "Competition." FS will never recover its former audience.

They only watch fair competitions, like Skate Canada and Skate America..:biggrin:

But I agree tbh
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
The same discussions exist on boards of almost every sport: how to make sport XYZ popular in the US. Everything is just about popularity in the US. This is alpha and omega of sports.
The same discussion exists on tennis forum, the same on soccer, probably also volleyball, alpine skiing, etc. US, US and US!

And this is actually a very positive sign. Figure skating is not isolated in its struggle for popularity in the US, but is in the same group with many other sports. So it's not about the very nature of figure skating, but it's about the nature of US TV networks in general. So it's not about the lack of US champions, but it's about the TV itself. There are no US champions in tennis either (except Serena, who is controversial even in the US) and the tennis fans complain about exactly the same thing as people here.

There are many US champions and role models in alpine skiing (Mikaela, Julia, Bode, Ted, Lindsay, etc) and the alpine skiing struggles to make the US TV as much as tennis and figure skating.
The US is a world power in the very spectacular sport of indoor volleyball, while the indoor volleyball is virtually non-existent in the US, except college girls. Volleyball world championships are not covered in the US AT ALL! Is not even mentioned in the press headlines.
So no matter how many world champions US will produce, how many gold medals Gracie or Jason win, nothing will change. It all doesn't matter. It's all about the very philosophy of US networks.

For the US networks the unit of measure is millions. If something cannot be measured in millions then it simply has no right to exist. It is pushed to niches and elitist obscurity. Champions don't matter. The philosophy of gigantism is at the very core of US networks. I am not US born, it took me years to learn this system, but now I can see how it really is because I can compare both.

And figure skating will never be measured in millions. Therefore talk about bringing figure skating to TV prime time is baseless. Assuming what figure skating is we can say it's already as popular as it can be. It gets as much prime time as tennis, and much more than tracks, volleyball, alpine skiing and many many other sports all put together.

:thumbsup:


By the way, US girls in volleyball are fantastic. What a team!
 

Silvia451

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Country
Romania
I think skating is already popular in Russia or USA, with or without Julia, Gracie etc. What I would like to know is whether skating's popularity increased in countries which have only one amazing skater (Spain-Javi, Kazahstan-Denis).:)
 

moviechick

On the Ice
Joined
May 7, 2008
I think skating is already popular in Russia or USA, with or without Julia, Gracie etc. What I would like to know is whether skating's popularity increased in countries which have only one amazing skater (Spain-Javi, Kazahstan-Denis).:)

Spain definitely. I was there over the winter. On their sports network, they were replaying two things quite a bit - FC Barcelona and 2013 Worlds Men's Event. lol.
 
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