- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
I've now seen you make two comments about abandoning ice dance if D/W either become dominant over V/M or if their current scoring trend continues to become justified. How else should I take comments like that? Honestly, it distresses me. Are we just supposed to watch skating to see our favorites win? If they are beaten or surpassed, do we just take our toys and go home? I just don't get that line of thinking. In every sport I watch athletes whom I adore have at some point been passed or found a thoroughly equal opponent. Sometimes I like both and have trouble separating my feelings (i.e. Nadal/Djokovic). At other times, my loyalties remain unchanged. Still when my side loses, even consistently, I don't throw up my hands and walk away (except with the Redskins; 20 years of futility is all I can take; it's like the 80's took place in another dimension). I know you are frustrated by their current success apparently outpacing V/M, but if Tessa and Scott have not thrown in the towel, why should you? Also, who's to say other teams wont come along and capture your attention and imagination. I loved D/W from the off after years of enjoying other teams. While their impact was immediate, their rise within the top ten was slower than V/M's. That was frustrating for me, but I chose to take the long view rather than looking for instant gratification. I knew that with hard work and perseverance, they would rise. W/P seem to be taking that sort of mindset to heart. Except perhaps the French, no top ten team has had more recent disappointments. Yet that seems to make them work that much harder. I admire that. They still have room for growth. Who knows? They could garner 10s of their own in the future especially since their self-confidence is obviously growing rapidly.
I think it's best to compare this to the SLC situation.
When S/P lost, I was annoyed. Not because of the French judge - when it became clear that there was chicanery with her marks anyway, but with the four judges that prefered B/S to S/P. Why did they? That question is rhetorical, btw. I understand now and actually agree with it. But then, my lack of understanding did me in. So I stopped watching. If what I think is the best isn't celebrated and/or I can't understand it, I enjoy it less. Mathman has mentioned this several times as to why the audience has left figure skating in general, and I agree (where we disagree is the feeling that the ISU should cater to those fans. I don't think the ISU should cater to me at all.). So if what D/W do is indeed what the sport is now celebrating as the pinacle - and when they literally are getting the highest PCS for any skater in any discipline ever, that's a fair assumption, if I don't respond to it at that level, why should I stick with it?
Now, if you toss on the feeling that Virtue/Moir are stuck between a rock and a hard place politically, that people are wondering about their motivation, that her health situation makes a dramatic change in locale (something I think would be interesting) unlikely, that the feeling that the virulent politicking for Chan means that Skate Canada's head is elsewhere, and that the long view for a V/M fan is seeing them consistently get beaten by someone I believe to be lesser (as opposed to your longview which sees your favourites rise to the top), and a shift towards a style of dance I find underwhelming at best (unless, of course, the ISU changes their minds again, not so much evolution of the sport as an elongated game of snakes-and-ladders), am I really being petulant or out of line?
For you, I'm taking my toys and going elsewhere. For me, I'm wondering why you'd use the word "suffer" to describe watching something you love. Watching figure skating isn't a noble act. There are a lot of things one could do with one's time. It's not inherently honorable to stick with something if you're not enjoying it. I don't like brussel sprouts, I don't eat brussel sprouts. That they may have properties that are good for me, true, but it's also true that I can get those properties from other foods. Figure Skating is not the only thing that takes up my time. Who's to say that when I'm watching a figure skating competition I'm not enjoying, that there isn't a new author, or playwright, or actor or musician or poet or composer just waiting to capture my attention.
In fairness, I am gonna keep watching now. I'm too much of a V/M fan not to.