ISU boss has driven skating toward a ditch
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ting-toward-a-ditch-20140602,0,4758221.column
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ting-toward-a-ditch-20140602,0,4758221.column
Hersh: ISU boss has driven skating toward a ditch
- Thread starter Taan
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- Joined
- Jun 11, 2012
Figure skating is not going to improve in popularity in the U.S. until the major networks start carrying competitions and not just the fluff Smuckers or whatever contrived skating shows. Skating and Gymnastics, for example - what a joke!!!! Signing a contract with Universal Sports has just about done us all in. VERY few people can get that channel and it's cost prohibitive.
Interesting article though, but I'm not ready to send flowers to the funeral yet!
Interesting article though, but I'm not ready to send flowers to the funeral yet!
I've said it and I will say it again.
Either the scoring system gets simplified and judging anonymity ends, thereby making the sport more transparent and accessible to fans, or the sport will die.
The people in charge of the sport do not want it to be more transparent and accessible, because they are corrupt and relish their ability to fix the results.
And that is why the ISU continues to drive figure skating towards the ditch.
Either the scoring system gets simplified and judging anonymity ends, thereby making the sport more transparent and accessible to fans, or the sport will die.
The people in charge of the sport do not want it to be more transparent and accessible, because they are corrupt and relish their ability to fix the results.
And that is why the ISU continues to drive figure skating towards the ditch.
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2014
Usual anti Russian overtones from Hersh.
The US fed needs to develop better skaters. And I feel the US fed and US media has made skating too American centric and doing this at a time when the American team is pretty weak is like poison.
Its as if in America other countries do not exist
And I don't see Dick Button as the savior of anything. He is very self serving imo and cares mostly about being an alarmist and selling books.
The US fed needs to develop better skaters. And I feel the US fed and US media has made skating too American centric and doing this at a time when the American team is pretty weak is like poison.
Its as if in America other countries do not exist
And I don't see Dick Button as the savior of anything. He is very self serving imo and cares mostly about being an alarmist and selling books.
Other than noting that both the United States and Russia skating federations have called for an end to anonymous judging (and a picture caption of Russian President Vladimir Putin), Russia isn't mentioned anywhere in the article.
Draw your own conclusions.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2014
But it's true that US team hasn't produced a star skater (especially a lady) for a while. :scratch:
Charlie White and Meryl Davis surely help US team a lot this season. What a pity they will retire soon.
On the other hand, Russia and Japan all have young skaters with star quality. It doesn't mean they have to win all the time, but the popularity of FS surely depends much on the stars.
Actually I think it's the controversies that attract more viewers. Remember Tonya Harding?
Charlie White and Meryl Davis surely help US team a lot this season. What a pity they will retire soon.
On the other hand, Russia and Japan all have young skaters with star quality. It doesn't mean they have to win all the time, but the popularity of FS surely depends much on the stars.
Actually I think it's the controversies that attract more viewers. Remember Tonya Harding?
That stuff is temporary. Harding and Kerrigan were gone for years when interest peaked around the millenium. People who were interested only in the sideshow quickly left, but others were exposed to a sport they found beautiful and interesting. They didn't stick around to keep watching figure skating in '99 because of The Whack that happened 5 years earlier, they stuck around to watch the figure skating itself. And then they started to feel like the competitions were rigged, and when they spoke out against it, the ISU changed the judging process in order to confuse them and hide the cheating, and now they don't know what's going on and they no longer care.
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
An image can speak a lot more than words. Although he used Putin and Cinquanta together (just a coincidence I suppose?:sarcasm
to show that he was perplexed. Perplexed about what? How does he knows what he's saying to him?I'm sorry but using a picture of Putin and Cinquanta together, in an article about judges and skating going toward a ditch?
There is one obvious conclusion only.
I do agree that the US media is too American centric about skating. Not having very good skaters as they used to have is their fault, to begin with. They better start fixing that, and I see some good work with the ladies and maybe with the men too.
I do not think that not having American strong skaters is the end of FS. It's a big loss certainly, IMO, because it's a big country, big Federation with a huge tradition (at least in singles) so I think it's good for FS to have the big countries competitive, but I didn't heard or read the same "concerns" about "the end of FS" just because Russia was going downhill from 2006 till now.
Just out of curiosity. Is there any article, from these big journalist and experts, where they do criticise their own country for not doing enough for their FS?
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
I read in this forum (Sochi Gala topic) that they (NBC?) didn't show the complete gala, because they had to show (for a million times) a docu about Harding vs Kerrigan.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2014
And there were more cheating at that time, at least that we've known of.
I am not a fan of PCS inflation, but well, at least in CoP, we know which jump value which score.
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- Feb 26, 2014
I'm not a fan too, you know. I do like the base value score thing, but the GoE's are what they are. It's judging, it's still people who decide which one was better or worse. I'm not even going into PCS discussion. It's useless because it's the same as it was before, and I honestly do not belive that you can be 100%, not even 80%, objective about it.
People pretend the judges to be machines, they request from them to be dispassionate about it.
They can't and we can't. Nobody can, because this is a sport combined with art.
You CAN NOT be dispassionate about art. This much I know for sure.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2014
Personally I think at best we can only be 60% objective. It should be great if we have no favorite. But then again, if we have no favorite, how can we continue following this sport? It's not easy.
There are lots of people had no deep thoughts at the moment it happened. Then again, several days/weeks/months latter they say "no, it should be that way". I mean, figure skating is the sport of "moment", it only means at the exactly moment alone, all the wins and placements, even the scores. They only have meaning relating to that exact moment.
There are lots of people had no deep thoughts at the moment it happened. Then again, several days/weeks/months latter they say "no, it should be that way". I mean, figure skating is the sport of "moment", it only means at the exactly moment alone, all the wins and placements, even the scores. They only have meaning relating to that exact moment.
Exactly, the corruption extends far downward, I feel. But it starts at the top...
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Phil Hersh occasionally criticizes the USFSA for its decisions. He somewhat took the side of Mirai Nagasu when the USFSA left her off the Olympic team. He pestered the USFSA into penalizing Rachael Flatt for not telling anyone about her injury prior to 2011 Worlds. A few minor things like that.
As for "doing something for figure skating," it is not clear what a journalist might urge. It's not like the USFSA is trying to produce also-rans or to get figure skating off TV for good.
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- Feb 26, 2014
You're right about the top. We say here Il pesce puzza dalla testa (the fish always rots from the head down).
However, there is not only Cinquanta on the top. The head of FS within the ISU is another person, who hardly is mentioned at all. I wonder why.
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
Yeah, very minor.
Oh well, of course the journalist can't criticise the networks can they?
Anyway, I was speaking not only about journalist but also about ex skaters, like Button and others.
As for what they might urge, I don't know the problems that USA have. What do you think are the problems with FS in USA?
I'm not talking about popularity and TV.
For example Canada always have maintained a certain high level in all 4 disciplines, not the USA.
Why is that, and above all what can be done to fix that?
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