Hersh: ISU boss has driven skating toward a ditch

Violet Bliss · Jun 3, 2014

uhh said:
Great post Kwanatic. The sport will regain popularity in the US when the US can produce a skater who is capable of consistantly winning World medals.

However, I would never expect it to climb back to the levels of popularity it had in the 90s. All sports and other forms of entertainment have suffered from fragmentation and declining audiences as consumers are given more and more choice. In addition to that, prior to the 1990s skating was always a niche sport. A lot combined with Tonya & Nancy and then Michelle dominating to bring more attention to it in the US media, but even then it never had the profile of a sport like baseball or basketball, and it's futile to hope that it ever will. It's so dependent on individual stars, like Michelle or Yuna that unless a country can keep producing champions consistently, there will always be peaks & troughs in the popularity of the sport in different countries as they enjoy different levels of success.

That said, I do think there are a few things that could be done in the US to help.

1. The networks need to have commentators who can explain the scoring system. Personally, I don't find IJS complicated, but if you are new to the sport you need to have someone who will point out underrotations or edge calls, explain the concept of levels and also point out things like good skating skills to help understand why certain skaters get the PCS that they do. From the youtube videos I've seen with US commentators this rarely happens. (Johnny & Tara in Sochi were a rare exception) Instead I hear commentators still, 10 years on, talking about the "new" system, saying it's hard to understand, complaining about corruption when they don't like the result instead of helping to break it down for the viewer why the scores came out the way they did. They need to understand that this kind of attitude will only damage their sport and turn off casual viewers instead of encouraging them to find out more.

2. The USFSA needs to change their idea of a marketable skater. Going into Sochi D/W were pretty much guaranteed a medal, but USFSA seemed much more interested in promoting Gracie to fit their old fashioned idea of the all american princess. Maybe that's what worked in previous decades, but I don't think it's what people want now. Part of the problem skating has in the US is that its audience is aging & the younger generations aren't coming in to fill the gap. I'm in my mid twenties, & I have a lot of friends, some based in the US, of a similar age who like skating. We're all willing to spend money on skating, to travel to competitions and shows, but only to see the skaters we like, and no one my age gives a rusty hoot about Gracie, to borrow an expression from Dick Button. She's seen as too sterile and packaged. People prefer real characters, skaters who are willing to experiment, even if they are in the end more flawed & don't get the same competitive results. People love Ashley for her modern programs and the way she carries herself as a strong young woman, Jeremy & Daisuke for their wonderful artistry, skaters like Elladj, Misha & Florent for daring to do something different. They all love ice dance, but USFSA treats dances like the ugly step sister of singles. Look at the sucess of So You Think You Can Dance to see how willing people are to embrace more contemporary choreography & different forms of dance. I'm not saying there is no room for a skater like Gracie who takes the more traditional refined "nice girl" image, she's popular with a lot of younger kids, or the super family friendly Disson shows (which I find very sterile compared to something like Art on Ice) but the powers that be need to recognise the importance of variety to reach out to a broader audience.

:thumbsup:

I've brought up your first point before and it's particularly great to hear your second point as a young American who is interested in the sport.

I think there are a couple of American cultural proclivities that stand in the way of developing great talents in a not so prosperous field of endeavor. For one, American star system and winner-takes-all attitude often means a young talent has to achieve great success before public recognition and support and such success often has to be accompanied by good looks. Sometimes even moderate success with great looks will do. In sports, success is often validated by an Olympic Gold Medal. Yet the OGM and the resulting publicity and opportunistic activities simply could not make a star out of Evan Lysacek without charisma and actual long term success outside of the Olympic. Recognition and nurturing of young talents are necessary to develop great success and genuine stars a la Michelle Kwan.

Another factor is the lack of patience on the part of the public and the young skaters in a deep competitive field. In the US, internal competition at a young age is intense to make it to the next level or out of the nation. There is especially a rush mentality for the girls with perceived short career span which can die anytime. They rush to get the jumps before puberty without a great skating foundation, because if puberty were to take away their athletic adeptness they would at least have had some achievements before. A bad season or two a talented skater is written off, seldom getting the chance to persevere and mature like Costner and Rochette who through good and bad seasons were nonetheless a top skater of their nations and got to stay on in international competitions. Nurturing a talent takes time, and continued support, financially and motivationally.

ice coverage · Jun 3, 2014

Regarding the U.S.:

As someone said above, fragmentation of the audience is one of the reasons that figure skating has suffered. In this day and age, viewers have so many other sources of content other than the traditional Big Three broadcast networks.

ETA, uhh made the point about fragmentation in post #59.

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...toward-a-ditch&p=944264&viewfull=1#post944264

And ... I would argue that the popularity of reality shows such as DWTS has contributed to the fragmentation that has resulted in the increasing obscurity of figure skating (and of other fringe sports).
Popular culture for some reason is obsessed with reality competitions season after season after season ad nauseam, whereas skating and other Olympic sports are hyped (if at all) only every four years.
And an infinite number of different types of reality competitions seem to be available on an infinite number of channels ... generating an infinite number of archived videos; interviews; blogs; etc. ....

[Yes, it is great that skaters have been among the DWTS cast members/finalists/winners.
But I wonder whether new D/W fans who know them mostly from DWTS will pay any attention to their future skating (competitive or otherwise).
Seems to me that some among the general public hope much more to see more dancing (off ice) (as opposed to skating) from Davis and/or White. And that certain fans care much more about the possibility of future collaboration between Davis and her DWTS partner (as opposed to between Davis and White as ice dancers).

Please don't get me wrong. I am happy for D/W that DWTS was such an enjoyable and successful experience for them. But in the big picture, the reality genre -- such as DWTS -- is hurting figure skating.]

HanDomi · Jun 3, 2014

Really, I am not Einstein and I am not finding this system hard to understand at all. It is even very bright because you have visible protocols how much points skater received for what. If someone wants then someone will learn what is for example this jump worth in terms of points etc.

For me system is clear when I am watching skaters, than wondering how judges really come to that to give someone 5.9 for technical content and to someone other 5.5 for example for similiar difficulty of technical content :scratch:

The bad thing is when the "evil" judges are using this system :scowl:

pointyourtoe · Jun 3, 2014

HanDomi said:
Really, I am not Einstein and I am not finding this system hard to understand at all. It is even very bright because you have visible protocols how much points skater received for what. If someone wants then someone will learn what is for example this jump worth in terms of points etc.

For me system is clear when I am watching skaters, than wondering how judges really come to that to give someone 5.9 for technical content and to someone other 5.5 for example for similiar difficulty of technical content :scratch:

The bad thing is when the "evil" judges are using this system :scowl:

It's not about it being that difficult to understand from a real fan's perspective. But casual fans will NOT look up the protocols. They want to be able to understand it as they're watching. The vast majority of us on here cannot confidently level footwork sequences by ourselves. Only a handful can.

There was an article that talked about how after the ABC contract expired, the USFSA's earnings from broadcast rights became paltry, however they have been gradually improving year by year and getting closer and closer to where they were BEFORE the whack. I don't need another skating boom in the US, but it'd be nice if we could at least get the most important major events televised live. I heard worlds wasn't shown live in the US?

Also, with the plethora of entertainment options available nowadays, social media and an online presence is more important than ever. Icenetwork could do so much more to maximize its subscriber base

drivingmissdaisy · Jun 3, 2014

pointyourtoe said:
I don't need another skating boom in the US, but it'd be nice if we could at least get the most important major events televised live. I heard worlds wasn't shown live in the US?

It's frustrating that they will televise the fluff events on network TV in the US but not Worlds, which showcases the best skaters in the world.

gmyers · Jun 3, 2014

Vanshilar said:
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.

What country won ladies? It's repeated at least twice that's one of the biggest problems in figure skating. There has Been a rejection of that win by many and the system that produced it. The issue is problems started way before sotnikova ever was in a jrgp event! Sotnikova win did not cause all the problems. The collapse started more than 10 years before or more. So many of the people have a Christine Brennan view that If somehow all russian judges could be banned and all ex soviet countries and eastern bloc countries could be banned everything would be great! Because people rejected 6.0 judgments by Russian ex soviet eastern bloc!!! But it was public? People and viewers just don't want to put subjective decisions in hands of "bad Russia".

kwanatic · Jun 3, 2014

pointyourtoe said:
Also, with the plethora of entertainment options available nowadays, social media and an online presence is more important than ever. Icenetwork could do so much more to maximize its subscriber base

Because figure skating is such a niche, I understand why networks are so reluctant to carry it. It's a shame really b/c I remember when worlds used to be broadcast on ESPN, the holy mother of the sports channels. I don't think they could pay to get a skating event on prime time ESPN nowadays. :disapp:

I will say I appreciate what Ice Network has done over the years. Even though it sucks that we can't watch the event on traditional TV, Ice Network is providing live coverage for all of the major events now, including Euros and worlds which they didn't used to broadcast. I appreciate that as well as the JGP YouTube channel that the ISU created a few years back. As a person who follows the junior ladies, it's really great to be able to watch those junior competitions and see who is coming up. Before the most you could hope for was some grainy fancam version of the events...if that.

Little things are being done to keep fans in the loop and I'm grateful for it. I agree that a return to the Golden Era of skating in the US is pretty far-fetched but, thanks to YouTube, at least we can watch it as it booms in other countries. I love that there are great quality videos of Japanese nationals, Russian nationals as well as other events and shows that take place in other countries. It's not that popular here but at least I get to enjoy its popularity in other places. :biggrin:

WeakAnkles · Jun 4, 2014

uhh said:
Great post Kwanatic. The sport will regain popularity in the US when the US can produce a skater who is capable of consistantly winning World medals.

However, I would never expect it to climb back to the levels of popularity it had in the 90s. All sports and other forms of entertainment have suffered from fragmentation and declining audiences as consumers are given more and more choice. In addition to that, prior to the 1990s skating was always a niche sport. A lot combined with Tonya & Nancy and then Michelle dominating to bring more attention to it in the US media, but even then it never had the profile of a sport like baseball or basketball, and it's futile to hope that it ever will. It's so dependent on individual stars, like Michelle or Yuna that unless a country can keep producing champions consistently, there will always be peaks & troughs in the popularity of the sport in different countries as they enjoy different levels of success.

That said, I do think there are a few things that could be done in the US to help.

1. The networks need to have commentators who can explain the scoring system. Personally, I don't find IJS complicated, but if you are new to the sport you need to have someone who will point out underrotations or edge calls, explain the concept of levels and also point out things like good skating skills to help understand why certain skaters get the PCS that they do. From the youtube videos I've seen with US commentators this rarely happens. (Johnny & Tara in Sochi were a rare exception) Instead I hear commentators still, 10 years on, talking about the "new" system, saying it's hard to understand, complaining about corruption when they don't like the result instead of helping to break it down for the viewer why the scores came out the way they did. They need to understand that this kind of attitude will only damage their sport and turn off casual viewers instead of encouraging them to find out more.

2. The USFSA needs to change their idea of a marketable skater. Going into Sochi D/W were pretty much guaranteed a medal, but USFSA seemed much more interested in promoting Gracie to fit their old fashioned idea of the all american princess. Maybe that's what worked in previous decades, but I don't think it's what people want now. Part of the problem skating has in the US is that its audience is aging & the younger generations aren't coming in to fill the gap. I'm in my mid twenties, & I have a lot of friends, some based in the US, of a similar age who like skating. We're all willing to spend money on skating, to travel to competitions and shows, but only to see the skaters we like, and no one my age gives a rusty hoot about Gracie, to borrow an expression from Dick Button. She's seen as too sterile and packaged. People prefer real characters, skaters who are willing to experiment, even if they are in the end more flawed & don't get the same competitive results. People love Ashley for her modern programs and the way she carries herself as a strong young woman, Jeremy & Daisuke for their wonderful artistry, skaters like Elladj, Misha & Florent for daring to do something different. They all love ice dance, but USFSA treats dances like the ugly step sister of singles. Look at the sucess of So You Think You Can Dance to see how willing people are to embrace more contemporary choreography & different forms of dance. I'm not saying there is no room for a skater like Gracie who takes the more traditional refined "nice girl" image, she's popular with a lot of younger kids, or the super family friendly Disson shows (which I find very sterile compared to something like Art on Ice) but the powers that be need to recognise the importance of variety to reach out to a broader audience.

sk8in · Jun 4, 2014

To me, figure skating needs a good reality show that explains the sport while tapping into personal drama. Reality shows are more popular these days than fictional dramas, and figure skating is full of attractive people/flamboyant personalities. Basically take the fluff pieces from the 90s era and expand them so that people actually know who's on the American skating team in the first place, and then build knowledge of what different jumps are, and different aspects of the scoring system.

kwanatic · Jun 4, 2014

^^I know in Canada Tessa and Scott had a reality show. I wonder how the ratings were for that? A while ago there was some documentary-type show called "Ice Diaries" that profiled skaters and followed them. Alissa Czisny was on that one during her break out season on the GP (2005 IIRC).

A few years ago there were rumors about a show on Lifetime called "Ice Moms" (modeled after the popular show "Dance Moms", which I confess I am obsessed with) being green lit by the network. I think they may have had a skating club and coaches lined up but for some reason it never happened. I think there were issues with the USFSA saying that if they (the rink) participated in the show then they would be disqualified from entering their skaters into USFSA events or something like that.

I do think a reality show would generate more interest but the question is who would they chose to follow? The obvious choice is Meryl and Charlie...sort of piggybacking off of their DWTS success. But maybe someone else?

How about Gracie? They can call it "Going for Gold" and follow her during this critical post-Olympic season. Hmmm...I might need to go pitch this to a few networks...

drivingmissdaisy · Jun 4, 2014

kwanatic said:
^^I know in Canada Tessa and Scott had a reality show. I wonder how the ratings were for that? A while ago there was some documentary-type show called "Ice Diaries" that profiled skaters and followed them. Alissa Czisny was on that one during her break out season on the GP (2005 IIRC).

I remember that, and shocked to see Alissa land a 3A in a harness :eek:

ice coverage · Jun 4, 2014

kwanatic said:
Countries with skaters who are making waves and winning titles are doing just fine in terms of the popularity of the sport. The sport is "dead" in the US b/c in the last 4 years the only Americans to stand on the world podium have been Davis/White and the Shibutanis in ice dance. It's been years since anyone else has stood on the world podium. Evan Lysacek won gold in 2009; Kimmie Meissner (gold) and Sasha Cohen (bronze) in 2006; and Ina/Zimmerman (bronze) all the way back in 2002. ...

uhh said:
Great post Kwanatic. The sport will regain popularity in the US when the US can produce a skater who is capable of consistantly winning World medals.

However, I would never expect it to climb back to the levels of popularity it had in the 90s. All sports and other forms of entertainment have suffered from fragmentation and declining audiences as consumers are given more and more choice. ....

kwanatic's list of relatively recent American medalists at Worlds should have included also Belbin/Agosto, who reached the podium four times (2005-2009).

http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00004499.htm

Based on the examples of Davis/White and B/A, skaters with multiple world medals clearly (and regrettably) have not been sufficient to significantly increase the popularity of the sport in the U.S.

Going into the Vancouver Games, NBC justifiably hyped D/W as contenders for gold. But wider interest in them did not endure -- although they earned Olympic silver and proceeded to win four consecutive World medals (and although they are wholesome, articulate, attractive, etc.).

Only D/W's gold in Sochi brought them longer-lasting popularity beyond skating fans. And DWTS (as much as I hate to admit it) is responsible for another quantum boost to their popularity.
Remains to be seen whether D/W's increased popularity as individuals has any effect on the popularity of the sport as a whole.

skatedreamer · Jun 4, 2014

kwanatic said:
A few years ago there were rumors about a show on Lifetime called "Ice Moms" (modeled after the popular show "Dance Moms", which I confess I am obsessed with) being green lit by the network. I think they may have had a skating club and coaches lined up but for some reason it never happened. I think there were issues with the USFSA saying that if they (the rink) participated in the show then they would be disqualified from entering their skaters into USFSA events or something like that.

kwanatic, I almost always agree w/ your posts but need to respectfully disagree re: a "Dance Moms"-type format. The thought makes my blood run cold, mostly because of the moms' constant sniping at each other. Much of the drama is manipulated/manufactured by the producers (presumably) and seems so darn tacky. My biggest fear is that "Ice Moms" could quickly deteriorate into something akin to a weekly Tonya-Nancy show, which I have to believe is the last thing any of us want.

Documentary, yes; I'm also open to the idea of a different kind of reality show. But "Ice Moms?" For me, that's going to take a lot of convincing. JMO.

Ven · Jun 4, 2014

Americans are not interested in pairs or dance. It's all about ladies and to a much lesser extent maybe men's. The other problem is the skaters have no staying power. If they win OGM they just disappear or get kicked out the door. If they don't win they get kicked out the door. About the most popular US skater ever was Michelle Kwan and she had a very long career through many quads. If she had won OGM in 98 she would have retired too.

Now in Asia you have Kim and Asada who have been around for a decade...they are stars with lasting staying power, not just some random pretty girl that gets replaced with some other random pretty girl every couple of years. People are interested in familiar stars no matter the sport or country. Think golf or tennis or track and swim meets...If it's just some random people then nobody cares except hard core fans. But if it's Usain Bolt or Tiger Woods or Phelps or Nadal or Federer then all of a sudden people are interested.

If figure skating wants to grow in popularity and not die it needs the following:

1) stars with staying power
2) scoring system people can easily understand
3) scoring system that produces the best programs possible
4) fair competitions

None of these things are present in US now. In the last 20 years other than Kwan you have 15 year olds have one great year and retire or some other girls have a really brief window and retire or get shown the door. You have a scoring system that people don't understand and produces boring and sloppy skates with results that are often seen as arbitrary.

No wonder figure skating is dying.

louisa05 · Jun 4, 2014

I have to disagree with the idea that the U.S. needs commentators who explain the scoring in detail (even though it has practically become conventional wisdom among fans). A lot of sports fans I know (and I'm not talking about skating fans) prefer to mute the commentary when watching most sports. People watch sports for entertainment and relaxation and don't want to be educated while they watch. I'm kind of fascinated that skating seems to have a core group of fans that are just geeky enough to crave a math lesson while watching. (And I by all means don't mean geeky as an insult at all--I read history and political science for fun...so who am I to talk?). But the casual fan is highly unlikely to fit that profile or desire that. What they actually want is judging and scoring that is simple enough to make sense. During the Olympics I had many conversations with people who do not normally watch skating. Believe it or not, they thought Scott and team provided fantastic commentary. A few of them that caught live coverage with Johnny and Tara found them "too technical" and thus "too critical". They also tended to define good skating as "I know it when I see it" and not including multiple falls and bobbles. The scoring system needs to reflect that more. IJS has led to skaters pushing their technical content farther than they can deliver and that hurts the sport. Since mistakes are not harshly deducted, the sport has become sloppy. And that is what people don't like or understand and that is why they dismiss the sport.

And believe me, if quality of commentary was truly a make it or break it in a sport, college football would have died a long, long time ago.

Sandpiper · Jun 4, 2014

I'm not sure if Scott's team or Johnny's did better commentary during Sochi, since I only saw brief parts of both. I do think commentators should explain the basics of the scoring system: each element has a score, and receives bonuses when it's done well and deductions when it's done poorly. Of course they shouldn't lecture about the base value of every element, how GOE gets factored, how to get spin/step levels (except to note, "That spin might get downgraded because it didn't have the required number of revolutions," which is fairly easy to understand). And they shouldn't have an endless chat during the performance, but that's a whole other matter.

They also tended to define good skating as "I know it when I see it" and not including multiple falls and bobbles. The scoring system needs to reflect that more. IJS has led to skaters pushing their technical content farther than they can deliver and that hurts the sport. Since mistakes are not harshly deducted, the sport has become sloppy. And that is what people don't like or understand and that is why they dismiss the sport.

I would agree with this. I think ambitious skates should be rewarded, but not if they have serious errors. A bobble here while the other guy looks cleaner, but your skate is harder? Of course you should win. But if you fall twice? Probably not. This is a fine line to walk, because it is a sport, and it should move forward. But it is also a performance, and you need to execute your planned content instead of just attempting it.

Punish falls more. Reward difficult combinations. Curb GOE--don't hand +3s to every jump someone stands up on.

kwanatic · Jun 4, 2014

skatedreamer said:
kwanatic, I almost always agree w/ your posts but need to respectfully disagree re: a "Dance Moms"-type format. The thought makes my blood run cold, mostly because of the moms' constant sniping at each other. Much of the drama is manipulated/manufactured by the producers (presumably) and seems so darn tacky. My biggest fear is that "Ice Moms" could quickly deteriorate into something akin to a weekly Tonya-Nancy show, which I have to believe is the last thing any of us want.

Documentary, yes; I'm also open to the idea of a different kind of reality show. But "Ice Moms?" For me, that's going to take a lot of convincing. JMO.

I totally get it. "Dance Moms" is one of my guilty pleasures but my love of it doesn't stem from the sniping moms or Abby Lee Miller's big mouth...those girls are really gorgeous dancers and their routines are beautiful. I can't lie and say I wouldn't watch an "Ice Moms"-like show...I know I would and I hate myself for it :slink:

.

People love drama. US audiences in particular love drama: the fighting, the arguing, etc....we eat that stuff up here. It sucks that our interests are so freakin' tacky but they are. If you think about it, the initial boom in interest for figure skating stemmed from what? The whole Tonya/Nancy whacking. It was that drama and scandal that turned the world's eye toward the sport. That got the ball rolling and Michelle Kwan's emergence/dominance is what kept it rolling for so long.

As a fan of the sport, something like "Ice Diaries" would completely hold my interest week after week. Unfortunately, I don't think the same would hold true for non-fans. 9 times out of 10 they would need the allure of trashy drama to pull them in.

"Dance Moms" definitely has its downsides but the upside is major exposure for those dancers. Maddie was cast in Sia new "Chandelier" music video and that made front page news on Yahoo for a few days. The video has had over 21 million hits so far. Of course Sia is an established artist but that's still major exposure for Maddie. The Abby Lee girls tour the US and even go overseas to do dance clinics. They do interviews, photo shoots, guest appearances, etc., and they are widely recognized in the dance community. They've brought exposure to the competitive dance circuit as well. Yes the moms are petty and Abby often comes off like a bully, but girls' talent is why people continue to tune in. They're building successful careers off of this show.

I'm sure there would be downsides to an "Ice Moms" show but if it helped to generate interest for the sport and brought it out of the 4-year spotlight and into the mainstream, as well as brought exposure to up-and-coming skaters, I do think it might be worth it.

drivingmissdaisy · Jun 4, 2014

Sandpiper said:
Curb GOE--don't hand +3s to every jump someone stands up on.

I don't know if it should be curbed or just simplified. If I were to make the scoring system for that, it would be:

Range of -1 to +2 for a clean jump, -1 for a jump like Caroline Zhang's 2A and +2 for something like Yuna's 3-3.
An additional point for some feature involving a difficult entrance/exit, like a jump being PERFECTLY timed to music or footwork directly before the jump.
Mandatory -2 or -3 for a two-foot landing and -3 for a fall.

sk8in · Jun 4, 2014

kwanatic said:
^^I know in Canada Tessa and Scott had a reality show. I wonder how the ratings were for that? A while ago there was some documentary-type show called "Ice Diaries" that profiled skaters and followed them. Alissa Czisny was on that one during her break out season on the GP (2005 IIRC).

A few years ago there were rumors about a show on Lifetime called "Ice Moms" (modeled after the popular show "Dance Moms", which I confess I am obsessed with) being green lit by the network. I think they may have had a skating club and coaches lined up but for some reason it never happened. I think there were issues with the USFSA saying that if they (the rink) participated in the show then they would be disqualified from entering their skaters into USFSA events or something like that.

I do think a reality show would generate more interest but the question is who would they chose to follow? The obvious choice is Meryl and Charlie...sort of piggybacking off of their DWTS success. But maybe someone else?

How about Gracie? They can call it "Going for Gold" and follow her during this critical post-Olympic season. Hmmm...I might need to go pitch this to a few networks...

The Real Ice Princesses of the USFA? haha

Violet Bliss · Jun 4, 2014

louisa05 said:
I have to disagree with the idea that the U.S. needs commentators who explain the scoring in detail (even though it has practically become conventional wisdom among fans). A lot of sports fans I know (and I'm not talking about skating fans) prefer to mute the commentary when watching most sports. People watch sports for entertainment and relaxation and don't want to be educated while they watch. I'm kind of fascinated that skating seems to have a core group of fans that are just geeky enough to crave a math lesson while watching. (And I by all means don't mean geeky as an insult at all--I read history and political science for fun...so who am I to talk?). But the casual fan is highly unlikely to fit that profile or desire that. What they actually want is judging and scoring that is simple enough to make sense. During the Olympics I had many conversations with people who do not normally watch skating. Believe it or not, they thought Scott and team provided fantastic commentary. A few of them that caught live coverage with Johnny and Tara found them "too technical" and thus "too critical". They also tended to define good skating as "I know it when I see it" and not including multiple falls and bobbles. The scoring system needs to reflect that more. IJS has led to skaters pushing their technical content farther than they can deliver and that hurts the sport. Since mistakes are not harshly deducted, the sport has become sloppy. And that is what people don't like or understand and that is why they dismiss the sport.

And believe me, if quality of commentary was truly a make it or break it in a sport, college football would have died a long, long time ago.

Commentators may not need to give a lecture in the scoring system or detail breakdown of a performance, but at the very least they should explain the basics and promote the sport that is their livelihood rather than constantly tearing it down publicly. I find the American commentators the most negative among those I've heard. I like Canadian commentators' explanation during a competition, with Browning's insightful remarks being my favorite. The British and French commentators are enthusiastic while the Chinese are the most neutral with clear explanation of scoring after each performance. The Americans, OTOH, are often scornful in a authoritative yet personal way. Unlike Asians who are late comers well versed in COP, the Americans are nostalgic and they are also the most obstinate about holding on to a familiar system against an universally accepted one (e.g. the Metric system). Many US commentators show their disdain for and lack of understanding of the current system, (e.g the PCS is referred to as the Artistic mark), and this of course has great influence on the casual fans whose exposure to the sport is via TV broadcasts and whose understanding of the sport is via the commentaries.

It would help greatly if the commentators would educate themselves and the public with a little more positive attitude and constructive criticisms instead of dismissal and contempt.

Lately, the US broadcasts try to engage new young commentators, who, unfortunately, sometimes act like it's about them and their personalities. Maybe they just need a little more experience and seasoning to develop into great commentators.

The US needs commentators who would support and promote their sport. Well, if they care about it.

Hersh: ISU boss has driven skating toward a ditch

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