What things would you change/add/remove to make figure skating popular again?

What things would you change/add/remove to make figure skating popular again?

Granted, a lot of folks still follow figure skating, but I know for a fact that the 'numbers' are down. Right off the bat I can think of a few things that have contributed to this decline. Costs of figure skating lessons and blades / boots. Fewer rinks (I think). So many great figure skaters now focusing on doing as many jumps as they can. (though one of my coaches said that competitions are starting to implement more compulsory stuff now).

Your thoughts?

Televised Network contracts or ESPN coverage again. Educational commentaries with real explanations for the rules. replays of top three where in depth info is given on the skater, the strenghts, the rules and why they are on the podium. But FS is dead as a popular sport. It will remain a niche Olympic sport with the world facing poverty. It is an elite sport and only a whack or something similar will bring back mass attention as in Tonya Gate.

I'd like to see rich skaters who made tons of money in the 90's and are living very well to give back the way Michael Weiss does. A group of ex SOI skaters could start a fund for our top skaters. We cannot expect a poor populace to support this kind of sport but the wealthy 1 percent of skaters could do more -I could suggest names, but hey, the generous are few.

We have had so many threads and the question has been hashed to death, so...but no one else replied so her is my 1 cent. Smile.

How much money am I allowed to spend?

Two suggestions that won't cost the ISU much:

Allow vocal music with non-Latin lyrics in the non-ice dancing disciplines. As we found out from the recent ISU publications, TV networks are actually begging for this change, as they see, quite rightly, that this would increase ratings and interest. Vocal music captures people's imagination perhaps more than it ever did in human history. It's an inevitable change that will come to figure skating anyway. Speed it up and take advantage of it sooner rather than later instead of holding onto pointless traditions.

Re-draft PCS guidelines to make crowd connection, enjoyment and the theatricality of a performance more important parts of the scores. This will make the final results more in line with what the audience feels, which they will enjoy more and be more vested in. Having the audience almost mutiny on the results is a bad way to go for a sport that can barely hold an audience any more. While in plenty of cases, including the recent men's competition at Worlds, I don't agree with the crowds and their overheated opinions, figure skating really doesn't have the luxury of holding its nose and haughtily expect the masses to follow. It's got to make an effort to please the crowds. Most of a skater/team's score is still derived from other things. But in a case where two skaters/teams are almost even, the scoring system should tilt the favor towards the skater/team with the more crowd-pleasing performance. Yes, this is naked demagoguery. But beggars, choosers, and all that.

I wish there were indeed a face-saving way for skating to do something like that. The judging system can't exactly have a "crowd-pleasing" component, and it certainly can't be left to the judges' discretion. I imagine that an "applause meter" is out of the question....So what can the judging system do to incorporate such a change? I mean, is there a place for artistry in all those marks? There used to be, so I imagine it's possible again.

Olympia said:

I wish there were indeed a face-saving way for skating to do something like that. The judging system can't exactly have a "crowd-pleasing" component, and it certainly can't be left to the judges' discretion. I imagine that an "applause meter" is out of the question....So what can the judging system do to incorporate such a change? I mean, is there a place for artistry in all those marks? There used to be, so I imagine it's possible again.

Click to expand...

It already is part of the existing PCS guidelines. Under the explanation for Performance/Execution score, under the heading "Projection", "The skater radiates energy resulting in an invisible connection with the audience." It just needs to be emphasized more in a reworded PCS guideline. I don't think we need an applause meter. The judges should be directed to use their subjective judgment to see how effective a skater is in projecting to a crowd. Make it more of a consideration in the PCS, rather than what it is now, where many skaters who do a great job of reaching an audience don't get rewarded for it in their PCS in competition after competition.

There are too many slow and boring performances to slow, boring and tuneless music. Adding lyrics won't change that--the ladies will just go from skating to heavy classical music to heavy, big ballads. At least you don't have to hear some artist you can't stand the way it is now! I think there should be a mandatory music style (or a couple to pick from), rotating every year like in ice dance, for the short program. And the majority of the styles should include faster music--jazz, hiphop, swing, something. They can do what they like in the free program. I think if they skated to music that was less highbrow it would be a step in the right direction.

As for why it isn't popular for kids to go into the sport: the economy has been up and down for years. It was horrible in much of the 90's, too (before the tech boom), yet this was the golden age of figure skating in America. Unless the cost of the skates and blades etc. has jumped up exponentially like the price of gas, I don't think that would explain the lack of interest completely (though it would contribute).

I think it may be harder to find the handful of kids who are willing to sacrifice everything to skate than it was several years ago. With Facebook and texting, socializing seems to have become much more important and time-consuming to teenagers than it was even 10 years ago, when I began my teaching career. While most kids would rather be a "normal teen" than a skating prodigy during any era, I suspect that the few who would do it are becoming even fewer.

Poodlepal said:

As for why it isn't popular for kids to go into the sport: the economy has been up and down for years. It was horrible in much of the 90's, too (before the tech boom), yet this was the golden age of figure skating in America. Unless the cost of the skates and blades etc. has jumped up exponentially like the price of gas, I don't think that would explain the lack of interest completely (though it would contribute).

Click to expand...

Skating is pretty popular around here. My club just keeps growing. Depends where you are and how the economy is doing there, probably.

The number of competitors at regionals might be down a bit from an all-time high 10 or 15 years ago (would have to research). Surely participation is higher now than 20+ years ago when figures were required and discouraging to many. Not to mention the other opportunities available for participants who are not on track to become elite competitors.

I was talking to a judge a couple years ago who speculated that a lot of kids were now focusing on synchronized skating, or showcase and Theatre on Ice instead of freestyle competition.


The number of rinks probably has more to do with the popularity of recreational skating and hockey in the area than with figure skating, which in most cases can't financially support a rink on its own.

Serious Business said:

Re-draft PCS guidelines to make crowd connection, enjoyment and the theatricality of a performance more important parts of the scores. This will make the final results more in line with what the audience feels, which they will enjoy more and be more vested in.

Click to expand...

It's tricky. Audiences come into the arena eager to cheer their favorites before the skating even begins. PLus, we wouldn't want the home-town advantage to become insurmountable.

thevaliantx said:

Granted, a lot of folks still follow figure skating, but I know for a fact that the 'numbers' are down. Right off the bat I can think of a few things that have contributed to this decline. Costs of figure skating lessons and blades / boots. Fewer rinks (I think). So many great figure skaters now focusing on doing as many jumps as they can. (though one of my coaches said that competitions are starting to implement more compulsory stuff now).

Your thoughts?

Click to expand...

It's not about doing as many jumps as you can. You can't do that with the IJS rules as they are (that was the 90s, especially the men). With IJS you can only do the prescribed # of jumps, spins, and steps.

The boots and blades I purchased last year were only $15 total more (with a few more features) than they were three years earlier, so the prices haven't escalated out of line. I think the boot companies have done a nice job curbing costs and maintaining their quality.

The main issues in my mind are:
1) Championship level (Jr and Sr) programs "look the same" to the unpracticed eye where everyone is backloading their jumps as much as possible (it's worth more!) and using the same spin positions to up their levels (some of which are flat out ugly such as the A-frame spin). Programs under 6.0 seemed to have more variety to the unpracticed eye and some spins are much more eye catching by themselves (classic layback) verus contorting like a pretzel from a layback for two revs then to side-twist for two revs, and then haircutter for 8, and (painful looking for some) slow Bielman position for two more. All the contorting and twisting just to get the levels in the spins (and that includes sit, camel, and upright variations) have taken some of the beauty out of skating. Give all spins a fixed base value that would make three spins of a different nature roughly equivalent to 10-20% of a Junior or Senior long program to encourage more beautiful and longer held spins. That was supposed to happen with GOEs but it hasn't. I'd rather see Angela Nikodinov hold her classic layback than watch Christina Gao twist, grab her foot, and inch by inch it up to her head and then over her head all the while slowing down the speed of rotation just to get a level 4. Note, I am not picking on Gao here, just using her as an example of a spin that she "can" do that maybe

2) IJS has not been explained well during broadcasting in the US. People see it as some sort of black box math game that engenders the results the "establishment" wants. I've only heard good commentary on IN (I don't need that level of detail as a skater, but others do). Hamilton and his cronies don't do a good job explaining the results and people think someone got robbed. A LOT.

3) Transitions for the sake of transitions. Some skaters (you know who they are) seem to be very busy with their feet and upper bodies at every point of their program but it has no connection to the music and doesn't "touch" the casual fan. Part of the appeal of FS is the art/sport debate and by taking the "art" out of the sport, it turns people off.

4) Anonymous judging sucks and the random picking of scores to be included is ridiculous. People think you are hiding something!!

mskater93 said:

4) Anonymous judging sucks and the random picking of scores to be included is ridiculous. People think you are hiding something!!

Click to expand...

This is true, but the random picking of scores to be included was done away with several years ago so it's no longer a relevant.

The judges are still anonymous internationally, and there it does look like covering up.

If we're talking about in the US, then the columns of numbers on the protocols do line up with the judges numbered as #1, #2, etc., on the list of officials. It's very easy to find out who gave what score after the fact. BUT there are now so many numbers that it's impossible to show them all, let alone show which numbers came from which judge,

So there are two different issues.

One is the perception of hiding dishonesty in those events where there is anonymity.

The other is that there are too many numbers to show in real time, so at most we only see TES and PCS and TSS. (For free programs they often don't even show the TSS for that program, but only the final combined score for both programs.)

I'm not sure what the solution is. But one small help would be for broadcasts to show a URL for the protocols that viewers can check out afterward. In this Internet age, maybe the networks should have a webpage for each event that they broadcast with links to the protocols, and general overviews of the scoring process, so they could help educate interested viewers who want to know more than there's time to show on TV.

NBC did for the Olympics, and Universal Sports has a website with a section for Figure Skating.


As for what the ISU should do, my suggestions would be

1) Start a new discipline, outside the Olympic format but perhaps with its own world championships, for artistic/entertainment-oriented skating at the elite level. I'm sure they would want former Olympic-track medalists and other stars who already have recognizable names fan bases. Maybe also provide a way for entertaining skaters who never to earn their way in by excelling in feeder competitions in the artistic track. Figure out what audiences want to see and design the rules to encourage those qualities.

2) For the sport-oriented Olympic-track disciplines, figure out ways to encourage originality and variety and to reward aesthetic performance qualities in free programs while still keeping the emphasis on technique and on as-objective-as-possible ways to compare skills
(Short programs might need to get more technically specific to compensate for more leeway in free programs)

I think a big problem is that we don't really get to know the athletes. I used to be annoyed by fluff pieces but actually I think it helps to know more about the sacrifices these athletes make to compete at a championship level. I know very little personally about this year's women's medalists, which is in stark contrast to, say, the 1993 women's podium. If you are measuring popularity by TV viewership, then the ISU needs to do more to create personalities that people care to tune in for.

The ISU can't create personalities.
It could change the rules so that displaying charisma on the ice is worth more than good technique, but that would be anti-sport.

A solo, highly technical sport tends to self-select for people who work hard on their own to develop the skills needed to reach the top. Then if they also demonstrate some personality while performing those skills, they get rewarded for it, but the type of personality that is social and outgoing and charismatic tends not to be the type of person who puts in the practice to develop the skills -- unless they also have such natural athletic talent that they can learn the skills more easily than most. And then they tend to have inconsistent technique. There's probably a much higher proportion of natural introverts among skaters than among performing artists. (Even more true back when school figures won medals)

The ISU also can't produce fluff pieces of appropriate lengths to fit every country's TV broadcasts in every language.
Fluff pieces to make the athletes familiar to the viewers are the networks' job.

gkelly said:

1) Start a new discipline, outside the Olympic format but perhaps with its own world championships, for artistic/entertainment-oriented skating at the elite level. I'm sure they would want former Olympic-track medalists and other stars who already have recognizable names fan bases. Maybe also provide a way for entertaining skaters who never to earn their way in by excelling in feeder competitions in the artistic track. Figure out what audiences want to see and design the rules to encourage those qualities.

Click to expand...

Wonderful idea, but... This is basically what shows like the World pro used to do. They were popular for a time but as the public's taste in entertainment changed, they died out for lack of interest.

Another question is this. Why should it be the ISU that undertakes such a venture? If there were money to be made, couldn't a private entrepreneur, or a bunch or skaters, just do it on their own? And if they couldn't break even, then the ISU couldn't afford it either.

Serius Business said:

Allow vocal music with non-Latin lyrics in the non-ice dancing disciplines. As we found out from the recent ISU publications, TV networks are actually begging for this change, as they see, quite rightly, that this would increase ratings and interest. Vocal music captures people's imagination perhaps more than it ever did in human history. It's an inevitable change that will come to figure skating anyway. Speed it up and take advantage of it sooner rather than later instead of holding onto pointless traditions.

Click to expand...

I am not rushing in here. If the attraction is, oh boy, they're playing my favorite popular song, then you don't want or need skaters flitting about confusing the issue and distracting your attention.

This is the reason that ballet music is better for skating than is opera music or a symphony or concerto. Ballet music is composed as a background accompaniment to dancing. A symphony demands center stage for itself.

Movie soundtracks are good for skating for the same reason. The music was composed specifically to support the action on the screen.

Edited to summarize:
If the question is what can the ISU do to increase audience interest in figure skating, then the answer has to be the ISU doing something active, not just standing by while someone else does something.

If the question is what can be done by anyone anywhere to increase interest in figure skating, I don't think the answer is that someone not connected to the ISU could start producing professional competitions, using retired skaters if the ISU won't let them use eligible ones. That producer's goal would be to earn a profit for him- or herself, maybe to help out some friends who are professional skaters. The goal wouldn't be to increase interest in ISU-style skating and would probably be marketed by trying to decrease interest in competitive skating to draw viewers to its own product instead.

Mathman said:

Wonderful idea, but... This is basically what shows like the World pro used to do. They were popular for a time but as the public's taste in entertainment changed, they died out for lack of interest.

Another question is this. Why should it be the ISU that undertakes such a venture? If there wewre money to be made, couldn't a private entrepreneur, or a bunch or skaters, just do it on their own? And if they couldn't break even, then the ISU couldn't afford it either.

Click to expand...

Yes, someone else could.

But since the ISU controls eligibility for its own championships and for the Olympics, if such a venture is to include skaters who still want to compete in standard events as well, then the ISU has to be on board with allowing them to enter a competition run by outside entities without compromising eligibility. And that has been the one holdout that they have not agreed to do.

Partly to protect their control of figure skating as a sport, as required by the IOC and laws or principles about protecting their rights. And partly to have access to any income generated by "their" (eligible) skaters.

I think it's a lot more likely that they would at least have some kind of profit-sharing partnership with whoever starts such a venture than that they would just

Otherwise the outside entrepreneur would only be able to use skaters who have decided to turn their back permanently on Olympic-style competition. And given the fact that it is possible for eligible skaters to earn money as a skater (from shows, endorsements, or coaching as well as money that comes directly from the ISU as prize money or from federation support), there's less incentive to close the door to eligible competition than there was in the days of strict amateurism.

From the ISU's point of view, there's no upside to letting star competitors spend most of their time skating in someone else's events without them getting a cut for themselves. It wouldn't necessarily increase interest in ISU events (the sport of figure skating) and it would take skaters, audiences, and TV dollars away from ISU events.

So if the question is what can the ISU do to appeal to audiences in a way that increases the viewership for ISU events, my answers is that they could themselves create events designed to appeal to audiences who are not interested in the technical details of the sport.

Or they can do nothing and let outsiders create fan-friendly events in competition format if they want. Or not. In the past 10 years, more or less, the answer has been not. And 20+ years ago, there were only 2 or 3 such events worldwide. It was only for a few years from the mid-90s to early 2000s that there was enough public interest to sustain an active professional circuit in addition to ISU-style competition.

What exactly is the ISU rule about outside competitions? Suppose a local club decided to put on an age-level competition among its members, or in conjunction with the club across town. Suppose they were able to attract a local sponsor, maybe get part of it shown on local TV, what if they charged admission to the public and got a strong enough response that they could give cash prizes .What if they used their own format, for insatnce allowed solo dance, and some new judging system that emphasized crowd-pleasing performance values? I assume that the ISU would not have any poker in the fire.

What if the clubs had some top competitive skaters, like a competition between the Canton Ice Dancers and the Detroit Skating Club ice dancers?

Would it be permissible for the USFSA to try to organize events like this, U.S. skaters only, without bothering the iSU about it? (Of course if international Olympic eligible skaters happened to be training at the same club, there would be no reason to exclude them.)

My feeling is that the ISU is already maxed out as far as coming up with new wrinkles to beef up audiences. They are scaling back the Grand Prix and giving less money in prizes at Worlds, compared to a few years ago. (the exception may turn out to be the team events. That would be ironic because back in the day the "team" competitions s -- USA against the world, men against ladies, etc. -- were the absolute cheesiest of the cheesefest competitions. I still liked them, though. )

This is a question pertaining the American market, right? Outside of another whack to the knee of an ice princess or a beautiful dominant American Ladies World and Olympic champion, the obvious answer to the question is cheesefests. (Duh.) Let the mice choose their favorite cheeses and they will be happy. Who need judges?

Mathman said:

What exactly is the ISU rule about outside competitions? Suppose a local club decided to put on an age-level competition among its members, or in conjunction with the club across town. Suppose they were able to attract a local sponsor, maybe get part of it shown on local TV, what if they charged admission to the public and got a strong enough response that they could give cash prizes .What if they used their own format, for insatnce allowed solo dance, and some new judging system that emphasized crowd-pleasing performance values? I assume that the ISU would not have any poker in the fire.

What if the clubs had some top competitive skaters, like a competition between the Canton Ice Dancers and the Detroit Skating Club ice dancers?

Would it be permissible for the USFSA to try to organize events like this, U.S. skaters only, without bothering the iSU about it? (Of course if international Olympic eligible skaters happened to be training at the same club, there would be no reason to exclude them.)

Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on all the sanctioning and eligibility rules, but here's how I understand it:

If a local US club is large enough to hold a competition for its members only, they can do so with no need for a sanction from the federation.

Any competition open to skaters outside the host club needs to be sanctioned by USFS.

Any shows open to the public need to be sanctioned.

If money is coming in from ticket sales, sponsorship, and/or television broadcast, then USFS gets a percentage.

(Check out the sections on Sanctions and Nonqualifying competitions in the USFS rulebook)

3050 Nonqualifying Competitions – Eligibility to Compete
3060 Eligibility to Compete – Singles, Pairs and Dance
A. In order to enter nonqualifying competitions, a person must be an eligible person, a restricted
person, a reinstated eligible person or a readmitted person as defined in the Eligibility Rules,
and a member of a member club, or a collegiate club or an individual member, be currently
registered, and be otherwise eligible under these rules except as stated below.
1. Non-U.S. citizens from Canada may be permitted to enter nonqualifying competitions if the event
is also sanctioned by Skate Canada.
2. Non-U.S. citizens from countries other than Canada who are in good standing with their own
national associations may be permitted to enter nonqualifying competitions. Permission must be
granted by the chair of the International Committee per rules ICR 2.02 (F) and SR
3.32 (B).
B. Competitors shall represent only their designated home club in any
competition.

Click to expand...

There are many types of events that are typically offered at nonqualifying competitions and not qualifying events. Many of them do have rules within the USFS rulebook. They're just not part of the qualifying structure.

A club wouldn't go ahead and host such an event to bring in outside money (ticket sales, sponsorship, broadcast fees) without arranging a USFS sanction, because that would jeopardize the eligibility of all their members who participated. But as long as USFS gets their cut, they should grant the sanction.

The only example I know of offhand of a nonqualifying competition being televised was CN8 showing portions of Liberty Open several years ago.



See rules 100 and 102 in the ISU rulebook for long complex discussions of sanctions of international events and eligibility.

I think ISU eligibility would be preserved as long as the event is a domestic event sanctioned by the national federation, regardless of whether the rules match ISU rules. E.g., remember the made-for-TV US "cheesefests" a decade or so ago.

Once foreign skaters are involved, though, the event would have to be sanctioned by the ISU in order for the skaters to maintain their eligibility. And they're only going to sanction events that use ISU rules and ISU officials. And I'm sure they need to get a cut of the proceeds.

So if Pat Promoter decides to make up a competition format, sell the rights to TV, and invite a bunch of top eligible and ineligible skaters, there are two possibilities.

1) Pat plays by the ISU rules, works out with them what the rules of the competition will be (either standard short and long programs, or whatever rules for "interpretive" programs are currently on the ISU books, or with enough lead time they come up with new rules that would then need to be approved by whatever ISU body would need to approve such rules), gets the sanction, invites ISU judges to officiate, and gives the ISU their percentage. In that case, eligible skaters would be able to participate and remain eligible.

2) Pat ignores the ISU, makes up brand new rules, hires former skating celebrities to judge the event, and keeps all the profits. No ISU sanction, and any eligible skater who participates immediately becomes ineligible. This would be a for-profit event for professional skaters -- there would be no room for competitive skaters who want to keep their eligibility, let alone lower-level skaters who don't attract audiences and pay entry fees to participate.

SkateFiguring said:

This is a question pertaining the American market, right? Outside of another whack to the knee of an ice princess or a beautiful dominant American Ladies World and Olympic champion, the obvious answer to the question is cheesefests. (Duh.) Let the mice choose their favorite cheeses and they will be happy. Who need judges?

Click to expand...

In all seriousness, the three annual U.S. cheesefests were fine competitions. Not heart-attack serious perhaps, but the skaters wanted to do their best and they wanted to win.

The last year of the cheesefests was 2004. In the spring Marshall's Sasha Cohen got first with Swan lake, edging Shizuka Arakawa's Turandot featuring seven triples. Michelle Kwan (Tosca) was third, followed by Miki Ando, Irina Slutskaya, Jenny Kirk, and Fumie Suguri.

For the men it was Plushenko (who did a 4T-3T in his Nijinski program), Joubert (two quads, one in combination), Weir, Weiss, Lysacek, and Goebel.

The five-judge panel of ISU jusdges represented France, Japan, Russia, USA, and Canada. Intenational stars that competed in the December Marshall's or the October Campbell's cheesefests also included Sandhu, Honda, Griazev, and Julia Sebestian.

Judging was reasonable. Slutskaya beat Kwan in the December event despite a rowdy home-crowd cheering section for Michelle and a pretty good performance by MK. Plushenko won both of the events that he skated (joubert was very popular with U.S. audiences).

The next year the new judging system came in, Michelle Kwan retired, and that was the end of the cheesefests. Not that these two factors were what killed them, but rather, for whatever reason, that's when the bottom fell out of public interest in skating in the U.S.

I would put it this way. A high level of interest in skating made the cheesefests possible, not so much the other way around.

SkateFiguring said:

This is a question pertaining the American market, right? Outside of another whack to the knee of an ice princess or a beautiful dominant American Ladies World and Olympic champion, the obvious answer to the question is cheesefests. (Duh.) Let the mice choose their favorite cheeses and they will be happy. Who need judges?

Click to expand...

SF, it would take a whack, or Kim Kardashasian suddenly taking skating lessons on her reality show instead of hunting NBA stars and celebs. EVen if we have a dominant skater like MK, which will never happen again under CoP, it will never be more than what is was for most of the last 100 years. It is an elite, niche olympic sport that most Americans will watch every 4 years if they read we have a gold medalist type girl, or two. It is all over and done. Something to rehash in the off season what we'd like to see change. The masses will never understand CoP. It is unfathomable at this point. In America. It will likely survive in better shape in Japan, Korea and China to some extent. When Yuna stops skating and promoting, I suspect even Korea so fervent now will shift to whatever sport they have a star in. China is subsidized so they will be players now and in the future. The same with Russia where it is respected as an art form and sport. The land of ballet will always cherish skating. And Canada, it will survive, but I expect there will be a lull in all 4 areas when Chan is done and Voir finish. How many Asian parents will encourage sacrifice when Chan has made it clear there is no money for him at the top? Canada needs a lady who can win gold. They had one but she was up against Queen Yuna of the high speed triple triples and movie star face and the Japanese wunderkind with 3 triple axels, Ms Mao. And she was not at her best emotionally/physically. What she did was superhuman. Joannie is the best they have had in so many years. There is no big money and I don't see Canada finding money to excel or be dominant. The communist countries always have something to prove. Eventually the Chinese will dominate every sport. Interesting that Kwan and Chan are first generation American and Canadian.

The next American star needs to be different and attract attention-an openly gay female, a black female, a girl like Alissa but someone who can compete. A Kira Korpi who skates for America and wins most of the time will help, but SOI is all but gone. The writing has been on the wall for years in the USA. The diehards will still run the sport as it gets smaller. USFSA is no longer a "superpower" in FS and I don't think it will ever be again. A male gold medalist did not do much and Marlie were not on the cover of Time going into 2010. From 2002 to 2010, everything changed a lot.

A general statement, but this CoP as it is is not helping-it is hurting-in the US. AS MM has said, no one knows what to think when 150.84 comes up on the jumbotron. Better to return to 6.0 as the cheating never will stop.

So that's my world view. I wonder what 2014 Olympics will be like? The people can starve but let's put on our big show every four years. I guess in the worst of times, the Olympics survive in some form. I disagree that even a dominant sexy, pretty girl who jumps, spins and tap dances on the ice will revive what we had in America after 1994. There are a bunch of skaters that should prolly send Tonya roses every year. (Just kidding-sort of.) She changed skating. In fact, who influenced FS more than Ms Harding in the last 20 years?