Agree with everything you say. I'm a Yankees fan, and several times in the 2000's, they've had the best record, but have lost in the wildcard round to an "inferior" team. That's sports for you.My comments below are based on the psyche of American sports fans. It may or may not apply to other countries.
We like our sports to be sudden death, win or lose, lay it all out on the line.
I understand that USFS had publicized the rules ahead of time, and their deviation from strict placements to select the Olympic team should not have been a surprise.
But this mindset plays against how Americans perceive sport.
The Superbowl doesn't feature the teams the league officials believe have played best over the season. It's a death match between the two teams who have dodged all the bullets and come through during the playoffs. The Olympic swimming/track teams are decided on the field of play. Diving, another subjectively judged sport, has Olympic trials. In all the events, it's "Go Big or Go Home."
When the casual figure skating fan sees the type of outcome we saw in Boston (and the outcome of Japanese nationals, for that matter), it feeds into the notion that figure skating is rigged. Non-skating fans, who we'd hope to lure in, see it as a non-sport.
Again, USFS did nothing against the rules technically, but they have tarnished the image of the sport among the general public.
In Olympic years, US Nats should be billed as The Olympic Trials. One man's opinion.
Is there another sport whose teams are chosen like this? I don't believe so, and I agree with Tonto that it does hurt its reputation.