"Canadian gold exposes dance divide" - Article

[Sk8n Mama]

Tanith must have had a conversation with Johnny on how best to behave when being cheated out of a bronze medal! What great sportsmanship!

I have never been a Tanith fan but what I saw of her after the skate (CTV & NBC), changed my opinion. She behaved with so much class.

 

[amateur]

No disrespect to any of them, but B & A are the reason the popularity of Ice Dancing has risen and North America. The others may have started it, but Belbin and Agosto took it to another leverl

Maybe in the US, to be more accurate.... In Canada Bourne and Kraatz had a much much larger influence, I would think.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I have sooooo much respect for Tanith, it's incredible how she can be so positive after being robbed off the podium in favor of a team with far inferior performances.
As long as Shabalin meant their own performance, fine, but they were not rightfully on that podium, so he should stop complaining!

What about Ben? But yeah, they were so sweet and positive throughout the whole event. Nice to see.

 

[sk8rdad]

No disrespect to any of them, but B & A are the reason the popularity of Ice Dancing has risen and North America. The others may have started it, but Belbin and Agosto took it to another leverl

Perhaps if you limit your comment to the USA but in Canada Bourne and Kraatz would likely get the nod over B/A. I personally believe that all these teams and probably a couple of others have all equally contributed to the rise of ice dance in North America. They now get to pass the torch on to the next generation of superb ice dancers.

 

[Spun Silver]

Let's not jump on the Russians again. I don't like that they used the belts but with his bad knees they probably had no other choice.

Janetfan, are you really suggesting that an injury entitles a skater to wear an external skating aid?

Boo, Scali (even though I really liked their skating).
Yay, Tanith and Ben!

 

[heyang]

"There was somewhat less graciousness from other athletes, including Italy’s Massimo Scali and Russia’s Maxim Shabalin."

“When you compete in your home country the crowd goes crazy and it can help the skaters,” said Scali, who placed fifth with his partner Federica Faiella. “I hope that it does not affect the judges."
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE ITALIAN SKATERS GOT AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE IN TORINO??? There's no way the Italian team deserved a spot on the podium this year.

“I don’t agree with the system. They [Virtue and Moir] are not real dancers. They are very technical and don’t really ‘dance’ on the ice.”

IT"s Not clear who said this - Italians or Russian. I find this amusing because the "Russian revolution" bumped the American style of ice dance (i.e. ballroom dancing) out of the free dance portion and most dance teams now perform a modern dance/ballet type free dance.

 

[Arianne]

I was really disappointed to see D/S using "ropes" to help aide the lifts. This should have been enough to take them out of medal contention. Isn't that against some kind of rule? Lifts are about strength, not props. B/A didn't have to use any props, lift aides or quirky costuming to have a great skate.

 

[beep_beep]

Since Max and Oksana were unfairly on the podium, I don't think he has any room to be complaining. Max and Oksana should've been in 4th at the highest. Not to mention they cheated their way onto the podium. If he thinks they deserved gold or silver, then he must be out of his mind! Tanith and Ben are handling this whole situation with grace.

First of all, I think it it's pretty clear at this poit that he wasn't complaining. As much as I like DomShabs (call me nuts but I actually, well, normally, prefer them over most teams and that includes the little darlings), this season was painful to watch them. People are complaining how much B/A got thrown under the bus by Linichuk, it is clear that she thought a lot more outside the box for D/S than for B/A, but it's not like it went much better... Linichuk has lost her ways big time (choreo wise...)

But let's face it, it's DomShabs, there would be complains no matter where they finished:
3rd: robbed the North America sweep and the darlings B/A of bronze
5th: robbed DelSchoes of a place on the exhibition
10th: robbed the Zaretskis of a top ten finish


ETA: what's worng with the quote boxes ??? They are so far form the top of the post...

 

[yunasashafan]

Well what's a gold medal without some hoopla? This is figure skating!

I'm prepared to run after the ladies event.

Me too, no matter who wins, there's bound to be a lot of dissatisfied people questionning the results :boohoo:

 

[beep_beep]

Me too, no matter who wins, there's bound to be a lot of dissatisfied people questionning the results :boohoo:

It's the only right prediction that can be made: no matter who wins, there will be whining.

 

[yunasashafan]

“When you compete in your home country the crowd goes crazy and it can help the skaters,” said Scali, who placed fifth with his partner Federica Faiella. “I hope that it does not affect the judges."
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE ITALIAN SKATERS GOT AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE IN TORINO??? There's no way the Italian team deserved a spot on the podium this year.

:agree:

“I don’t agree with the system.”

It baffles me how many skaters complain about the system after the results did not go their way! In my mind, once you agree to compete, it's like you signed a contract with the system. You have the right to voice your opinions, obviously, but all this talk about the system after the fact cannot sound anything but sour grapes. I always wonder whether we would be hearing those complaints had the skater/team achieved the result they were aiming for.

 

[janetfan]

Janetfan, are you really suggesting that an injury entitles a skater to wear an external skating aid?

Boo, Scali (even though I really liked their skating).
Yay, Tanith and Ben!

I am just trying to be nice. I knew something was wrong after I saw the OD. It was pitiful that B/A did not move up and pass D/S after that mediocre OD.
Hey, we know what the deal was but since B/A are being so gracious I think fans can follow their lead.

They were happy enough with their skating and sometimes that is enough.
Johnny showed good sportsmanship and so have Ben and Tannith.

 

[Kissx3]

I had heard about this elsewhere and I was just thinking about the Russains: "Are you kidding? Are you beep beep beep serious?" I'm glad to find it was just a translation error. Shame on that sensationalizing reporter.

 

[colleen o'neill]

Uh huh.. that's Yahoo! continuing to live up to it's name ( Elvis )and it makes me wonder if Scali actually said anything so ridiculous.

 

[BigJohn]

No disrespect to any of them, but B & A are the reason the popularity of Ice Dancing has risen and North America. The others may have started it, but Belbin and Agosto took it to another leverl

What???

Maybe in the US, to be more accurate.... In Canada Bourne and Kraatz had a much much larger influence, I would think.

Wilson and McCall first then B&K in Canada. And last time I checked Canada is still in North America.

Janetfan, are you really suggesting that an injury entitles a skater to wear an external skating aid?

I hope not. Skating with bladed crutches seems a bad idea.

Scali, if he actually said that, is a major douche and jealous he'll never get to the same level as either of the top 2 teams.

EDIT: since it has since been cleared up, I can say he's not a douche. They are the best Italian team ever IMO.

 

[blue_idealist]

The Italians shouldn't complain about the new system. Under the old system, their rise probably wouldn't have been as fast. It's the NEW SYSTEM, level 4 footwork sequences helping them out.

 

[Tigger]

If Massimo really said that about "Home Team Advantage", he should have kept his mouth shut. I mean....Just where are Worlds next month? Me thinks he and Fedrica will be getting that same reception in Torino, so if that quote really is his, shouldn't have said it.

 

[Ryan O]

It's one thing to believe you skated really well and did your best, but there have been too many skaters at this Olympics (Plushenko, F&S, D&S) taking things too far and outright trashing their competitors. There's personal opinion and then there is bad sportsmanship and unprofessional behaviour. It's wrong to go that far in criticizing someone who won the gold instead of you.

As a Canadian of Italian background, I can't say I'm too pleased with the Italian team of F&S right now. hwell:

 

[Poodlepal]

But let's face it, it's DomShabs, there would be complains no matter where they finished:
3rd: robbed the North America sweep and the darlings B/A of bronze
5th: robbed DelSchoes of a place on the exhibition
10th: robbed the Zaretskis of a top ten finish


You mean that the 5th place finishers are in the exhibition but not the 6th place??

Now I know why a certain person who fell several times in both his short and long program was put in front of another individual who skated clean (in the men's.) Not that I'm mentioning any names here.

Onto the ladies.

 

[Ryan O]

You mean that the 5th place finishers are in the exhibition but not the 6th place??

Now I know why a certain person who fell several times in both his short and long program was put in front of another individual who skated clean (in the men's.) Not that I'm mentioning any names here.

So it's not just the top 4 but the top 5 in each discipline who get to skate in the Gala?