2016 Team Challenge Cup - Gen Info/Pre-chat

[ice coverage]

That's so funny. Gracie just wins Nationals and Ashley can barely squeak out a bronze and all of a sudden she's representing the US in the team challenge. My what fickle fans.

LOL, no one is being fickle.

Gracie already secured a spot on Team North America -- because she was the top-ranked North American lady in the ISU World Standings.

Gracie will not be part of the fan voting, so she is not being mentioned in discussion of the fan voting.

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... Did i read wrong, or did they change the wording so that now it says that the organizing federation (rather than the team captain) now makes the selection. Anyway, I don't see any reason why they would not nominate all five, if all five expressed an interest in being on the ballot. ...

AFAIK, the team captains make the nominations for fan voting.
Am not aware of any change in the rules.

By "the organizing federation," do you mean you have read that USFS will make the nominations for all teams??
At least two federations are involved per team, so otherwise I do not know what you mean??

I would understand if a team captain chose to nominate only two men or two ladies. Esp. in the case of Team North America -- one Canadian vs. one American. YMMV.

 

[Mathman]

AFAIK, the team captains make the nominations for fan voting.
Am not aware of any change in the rules.

By "the organizing federation," do you mean you have read that USFS will make the nominations for all teams??
At least two federations are involved per team, so otherwise I do not know what you mean??

Copying from the latest announcement:

The final Singles Skaters [Ladies and Men] will be selected by a World-wide fan vote. A pool of up to five (5) Ladies and up to five (5) Men will be nominated/announced by the organizer by March 15, 2016 from those Skaters [capitalization sic throughout ] who are entered in the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships

I think the “organizer” is the USFSA in co-operation with the local team in Spokane.

Invitations will be sent by U.S. Figure Skating to the relevant ISU Member [for the regular spots]

In other words, the federation that is organizing and hosting the event contacts the national federation of the skaters that they are going to invite, and the guest federation takes it from there.

 

[Mathman]

I would understand if a team captain [or organizing federation] chose to nominate only two men or two ladies. Esp. in the case of Team North America -- one Canadian vs. one American. YMMV.

I think they will nominate everyone who is eligible for North America and Asia. Why not? It is supposed to stir up fan interest and it would be a bummer if you couldn't vote for your favorite. For Europe, I think they will take the five that finish highest at Worlds.

 

[noskates]

Oops - sorry. Should have read the whole thread before I responded. Thanks Golden,:thumbsup:

 

[Mathman]

Prediction: Mao will get the most votes overall, if she wants to come. :yes:

 

[ice coverage]

Copying from the latest announcement:



I think the “organizer” is the USFSA in co-operation with the local team in Spokane.



In other words, the federation that is organizing and hosting the event contacts the national federation of the skaters that they are going to invite, and the guest federation takes it from there.

Hmmm ... thx, I see what you are saying.

But I will cling to the hope that USFS is not usurping the authority to decide who the nominees for all teams will be.

I had been interested in this new comp, was curious to see who the captain of Team Asia would be, etc., etc.
If the team captains no longer are choosing the nominees, the bait and switch from what originally was publicized will be quite a turn-off for me.

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...I would understand if a team captain chose to nominate only two men or two ladies. Esp. in the case of Team North America -- one Canadian vs. one American. YMMV.

Quote Originally Posted by golden411

I would understand if a team captain [or organizing federation] chose to nominate only two men or two ladies. Esp. in the case of Team North America -- one Canadian vs. one American. YMMV.

I think they will nominate everyone who is eligible for North America and Asia. Why not? It is supposed to stir up fan interest and it would be a bummer if you couldn't vote for your favorite. For Europe, I think they will take the five that finish highest at Worlds.

I know you meant no harm, but I wish that you had not inserted the reference to "organizing federation" into my post.

An example of what I was thinking:
Hypothetically, maybe the Team Asia captain (as yet unnamed) would love to give Misha Ge the best possible chance of winning the fan vote -- because it would be great to have Uzbekistan represented on the team, and because Misha is a crowd-pleaser.
If the originally publicized structure still stands, the rules allow the Team Asia captain to not nominate Shoma. (Shoma also is a crowd-pleaser :luv17:, but Yuzuru already would be representing Japan on the team.)

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Oops - sorry. Should have read the whole thread before I responded. Thanks Golden,:thumbsup:

Forgot to add earlier that if anything, Gracie prob. will have more visibility than other TCC skaters.

Long before her recent win at Nats, Gracie already was the official "athlete ambassador" for the comp.

Her image is all over the promotional materials for TCC.

And Gracie (and Kristi) already did a lot of publicity for TCC when Spokane was chosen as the host city ... surely with more to come as the event gets closer.

 

[Mathman]

Hmmm ... thx, I see what you are saying.

But I will cling to the hope that USFS is not usurping the authority to decide who the nominees for all teams will be.

I don't think they are usurping anyone's authority. They are putting on an invitational, like the Japan Open, with the blessings of the ISU. The organizer of the event (the USFSA) invites people to participate. This is what an invitational means. The purpose of such an event is to make money for the sponsoring organization.

In this case, the USFSA agreed (or the iSU insisted on) a fairly restricted procedure for selecting the invitees.

About Gracie, yeah, that investment paid off big time when she won Nationals in such a dramatic fashion. :yes:

 

[Mathman]

PS. The "team captain" idea is not mentioned in the latest official document. I think they dropped that concept. Kristi is probably signed up as a spokesperson (or a "face person" as I like to say). Hard to tell what Christopher Dean will do -- he is not particularly recognizable to the target audience. (Or maybe he is?).

http://static.isu.org/media/268627/2016-team-challenge-cup-announcement-final.pdf

 

[ice coverage]

I don't think they are usurping anyone's authority. They are putting on an invitational, like the Japan Open, with the blessings of the ISU. The organizer of the event (the USFSA) invites people to participate. This is what an invitational means. The purpose of such an event is to make money for the sponsoring organization.

In this case, the USFSA agreed (or the iSU insisted on) a fairly restricted procedure for selecting the invitees. ...

But it would be a bait and switch.
USFS previously said that the team captains will nominate the skaters for fan voting.

From the official TCC site http://www.teamchallengecup.com/athletes:

The final singles athletes (ladies and men) for each team will be determined by a fan vote. Up to five skaters (both ladies and men) will be nominated by the Team Captains from those skaters who are entered in the 2016 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Online fan voting will begin immediately following the announcement of the Captain’s Picks and will conclude one week after the 2016 World Championships. The top male and female vote getters from each continent will be invited to compete.​

So yes, USFS has the authority to change its mind as to who makes the nominations.
But it is a really dumb move to announce something -- and then to not follow through and do it.

I have been willing to give USFS the benefit of the doubt in many situations, but as I said, this change (if real) will be a big turn-off.

If USFS wants people to take an interest in a brand-new comp, why confuse them (and annoy them) by making such a change?

 

[ice coverage]

PS. The "team captain" idea is not mentioned in the latest official document. I think they dropped that concept. Kristi is probably signed up as a spokesperson (or a "face person" as I like to say). Hard to tell what Christopher Dean will do -- he is not particularly recognizable to the target audience. (Or maybe he is?).

http://static.isu.org/media/268627/2016-team-challenge-cup-announcement-final.pdf

Yes, I went back and re-read the Announcement when you quoted it in an earlier post.

FWIW, Kristi and the Team Captain concept remain on the home page for the TCC site.
It is confusing for them still to be there -- if what USFS originally announced is no longer in effect.

ETA:

I am blaming the confusion on USFS of course -- not on you, MM.

The text on the home page says:

Captain's Picks
Team Captains will nominate five ladies and five men from their continent's respective entries at the 2016 World Figure ...​

Kristi's photo appears right above this text.​

 

[tulosai]

I know this is a lot to ask but can someone summarize how people are being selected for this, or are we still not sure? I've been trying to catch up on the thread and do understand the basics of the composition of the event (NA, Asia, Europe and number of participants) but it is honestly just too long for me at this point and neither the first few nor the last few pages make clear how people are being selected (at least not to someone who hasn't been following this at all).

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to help.

 

[Mathman]

I know this is a lot to ask but can someone summarize how people are being selected for this, or are we still not sure?

Sections 2.2 and 2.4 of this document are quite succinct.

http://static.isu.org/media/268627/2016-team-challenge-cup-announcement-final.pdf

 

[tulosai]

Sections 2.2 and 2.4 of this document are quite succinct.

http://static.isu.org/media/268627/2016-team-challenge-cup-announcement-final.pdf

:thumbsup: Many thanks!

 

[Mathman]

FWIW, Kristi and the Team Captain concept remain on the home page for the TCC site.

It is confusing for them still to be there -- if what USFS originally announced is no longer in effect.

I don't really feel betrayed. I never felt like Kristi was expected to exercise her individual whim without consulting with the USFSA. The most recent document probably satisfies various legal and ISU procedural requirements. Kristi will no doubt stand up and read the list in front of the TV cameras and on the Internet voting sites.

Plus, there are only five or fewer eligible skaters in both men's and women's for North America and for Asia. I don't see that there would be any reason for Kristi as an individual or for the USFSA to try to manipulate the vote by not presenting all of them to the public. European ladies? Put up the top five and let the voters decide.

 

[ice coverage]

USFS announced today that a Japanese company will be TCC's title sponsor.

(1/27/16) KOSÉ Signs as Title Sponsor of 2016 Team Challenge Cup

(1/27/2016) - U.S. Figure Skating and Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment (VWSE) announced today that Japan-based cosmetics company KOSÉ will serve as the title sponsor of 2016 KOSÉ Team Challenge Cup set for April 22-24, 2016, in Spokane, Washington...

"We are thrilled to have KOSÉ come on board as title sponsor of this event," said VWSE Executive Vice President Chris Pearlman. "Team Challenge Cup is a truly global event and the signing of KOSÉ as our title sponsor illustrates the importance of this event around the world." ...

http://usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=51784&type=media​

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And ... the boilerplate about the team captains appears yet again in today's press release, including that that they "will be involved in nominating skaters for the fan vote."

... A Legend of the Sport will captain each team. The Team Captain will not compete in the event, but will be involved in nominating skaters for the fan vote and determining team strategy. American Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic champion, and Great Britain’s Christopher Dean, the 1984 Olympic ice dance champion with partner Jayne Torvill, will captain Team North America and Team Europe, respectively. Team Asia’s captain will be announced at a later date. ...​

 

[Upnights]

Mishin is reported as saying that Tukt will go to the Challenge Cup, but not Worlds. If she, Jason & Nam go, it will be an interesting alternate competition. (I hope skaters who also go to Worlds will also take part.)

 

[Ekm]

I think the whole world should be included, though this year the only actually skaters who might have qualified are from Australia.

I thought there was an "Americas team" that included all of the Americas, but it's actually listed as "North America" and restricted to Canada and the US. Is that just in case Mexico tried to get uppity and think they are part of our continent? Why not include the rest of the Americas (North, Central, South)? They may not have skaters now, but it would be nice to at least theoretically include them.

Similarly, based on geography, they should include Africa with Europe and Australia/Oceania/Antarctica with Asia. Why not?

Umm, Mexico is part of North America, and is not even considered to be part of Central America (all of the countries that make up Central America, are also a part of North America). Odd that they would be excluded. I'm assuming not much thought was given to Africa and South America, as there are very few skaters from these regions competing internationally (not that this is the right way of thinking, but I wouldn't be surprised if very little thought was given to it).

 

[Pamigena]

You do realise that it wasn't just the female baristas they were talking about just wearing their undies. It was the male ones as well...

Wait, what? You mean like, non-female human beings just in their..... :shocked: oh my, I don't even, how can they...... my goodness!




so how far is Spokane from Europe? :roll9:

 

[Winnie_20]

so how far is Spokane from Europe? :roll9:

Pretty far... but worth the travel. They have a beautiful Japanese garden.

 

[ice coverage]

Today USFS tweeted a link to a new story about TCC:

https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/696792290979770368 (Feb 8)​

The article is from the Feb 2016 issue of Spokane Coeur D'Alene Living magazine:

http://bozzimedia.com/spokane-does-it-best/
http://issuu.com/ksomday/docs/scl123digimag​

Bits that I learned from the article:

The international format is designed for the event to be rotated among three continents in even-numbered years, gaining momentum as a post-Olympic tour stop when it falls in Olympic years and creating an additional competition to the schedule in non-Olympic years.

... there will be sponsors for each of the continental teams. Itron will be hosting Team Europe, Avista will host Team North America, and Northern Quest Casino and Resort will host Team Asia.

Auxier confessed that Spokane beat out two larger cities for this bid .... One of the delegates that traveled to Spokane for the announcement admitted that he was not completely sold on Spokane, but the response and energy in the room after the announcement left him so in awe ... that he knew without a doubt that Spokane was the right choice.​

The new article refers to an old article that I had missed:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...vents-and-Attractions/Team-Challenge-Cup.aspx (Sep 21, 2015)​

It explains why CBS will cover the comp, instead of NBC:

Van Wagner and USFS bought time on CBS for a two-hour recap telecast at 2 p.m. on April 24, after learning usual broadcast partner NBC’s spring schedule would be difficult to maneuver around.​