US Events Judging Systems and Other CoP Info | Golden Skate

US Events Judging Systems and Other CoP Info

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
On the Campbell's predictions thread, there was a mini-discussion on the judging system to be used at Campbell's and other US events. According to an article in the October issue of International Figure Skating, for selected events, including US Nationals, both OBO/6.0 and CoP will be used, and skaters offered reviews of their programs by the CoP judges after the competition, but the OBO/6.0 scores will count. US Nationals 2006 is the US event in which CoP will be the official scoring system. Events using the dual system so far have been Lake Place Ice Dance Competition and Liberty Summer Competition.

Although not discussed in the article, I doubt Cambpell's and other cheezefests will use the dual system; they're spending big bucks on the prize money (50K, 25K, 15K, 5K, 3K, 2K). A connection between diminished prize money for GP events and the costs of the new judging system was raised by Jeff Buttle in another article, in which he said,
As far as I know it is due to how much money went into the new [judging] system...I mean if that is the case, I honestly do not care at all. I think the sport needed a change and we sort of need to regain the trust of the public back and build up a solid fan base. I really think it will be worth it in the long-run."
ISU VP David Dore attributed the drop in prize money to diminishing TV revenue.

Actually, it's no longer called "Code of Points," but the "ISU judging system." IJS?

The article (p. 64) also clarifies some of the behavior of callers,

If the assistant technical specialist disagrees with the specialists' call - for example, thinks a certain dance lift is a level two, not a level three - he or she will call out, "Review." That signals for a slow-motion replay at the end of the skaters' program. There is also an inputter who types in the callers' elements into the system, so the judges can mark the grade of execution. These inputters may also call out for reviews. When the three officials review replays, the majority opinion prevails.

The article makes it sound like USFS is channeling Skate Canada from last year: the official party line seems to be "IJS, good." Which is quite a change from last year.
 
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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thanks for the information,Hockeyfan. (OT -- With the NFL lockout threatening the hockey season, will more ice fans check out the figure skating on TV this year?.)
hockeyfan228 said:
ISU VP David Dore attributed the drop in prize money to diminishing TV revenue.
I think this is certainly true. IIRC the ABC contract alone dropped from $20 million to $5 million.
The article makes it sound like USFS is channeling Skate Canada from last year: the official party line seems to be "IJS, good." Which is quite a change from last year.
:laugh: I think the big beef of the USFSA was not with the CoP per se but with secret judging. As I recall, after the ISU Congress passed the resolution on the CoP (almost unanimously, with only a few dissenters such as Russia and Australia), the US forces pushed for an ammendment to do away with the random draw and the secrecy provision. They had a majority, but not the two-thirds required for passage of the ammendment.

After the recent judging fiasco in gymnastics, not to mention tennis, I think that there is great potential for disaster in Torino. I hope I'm wrong.

Mathman
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Mathman said:
Thanks for the information,Hockeyfan. (OT -- With the NFL lockout threatening the hockey season, will more ice fans check out the figure skating on TV this year?.)I think this is certainly true. IIRC the ABC contract alone dropped from $20 million to $5 million. :laugh: I think the big beef of the USFSA was not with the CoP per se but with secret judging. As I recall, after the ISU Congress passed the resolution on the CoP (almost unanimously, with only a few dissenters such as Russia and Australia), the US forces pushed for an ammendment to do away with the random draw and the secrecy provision. They had a majority, but not the two-thirds required for passage of the ammendment
Mathman
When you think about it, if the original 15 judges have 6-8 (and these numbers are very possible) judges from the former Soviet U., and if a Russian wins the event, there will be constant complaining about secrecy in judging. No one will believe that there wasn't at least 4 former Soviet judges on the panel. This will again cause the drop in interest in figure skating, and it may not even be justified. It is good for Russia and certainly Australia to have open judging panels so that sport has more belief and interest than world pro wrestling.

I fail to see that secret judging panels do anything but block the spectators in the arena (and on TV) from complaining voiciferously and cause heart palpitations for Speedy. The judges will be known eventually somehow and if the above hypothetical statements are true whether the juding was honest or not, the media will again come down on figure skating. the media loves scandals and the ensuing loss of spectators and therefore revenue will continue
Let's stamp out Secrecy!!!

Joe
 
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