2016 Team Challenge Cup - Gen Info/Pre-chat

[StitchMonkey]

I guess I'm just curious why they think this format will be successful. International competitions held in the USA (aside from the occasional Worlds) typically have poor attendance. This must hurt to lose Hanyu, Fernandez, Asada, Chan... the 4 biggest draws in figure skating right now. Those are actually considered to be the top 3 men right now, all not going.

It's funny, I just noticed that most of the skaters who've qualified for TCC (or have a good chance of winning a fan vote) were at Skate America earlier this season. Team Asia's lineup in particular looks like a perfect copy of the Skate America lineup, it's really eerie. SkAm2015 was not well-attended. Maybe a change of venue and slapping 'World Team' over it will yield vastly different results?

I think part of it might be that these cheese fest part exhibition, include the fan USA vs the World type events were popular and successful in the 90s. So I can see the desire to try it again, and really see little harm in trying. Going back to what has worked before is really not that bad of a thing to try. They are also trying to advertise this one.

I also think that this event sorta fills a hole. Having WTT every other year... and having points/opportunity/etc every other year is odd and I can see an attractiveness in creating an event that fills that hole. Having TCC and WTT on opposite sides of the globe in alternating years sounds not so bad in practice. If nothing else it makes the seasons more consistent from year to year.

The ones not going... well I think it is a sign that the fan vote aspect creates uncertainty that is not good for the skaters. I don't blame Chan and Asada for booking shows. Hanyu and Fernandez it would have been nice to have as they had warning. I like the theory of a fan vote, but am starting to think in practice it is a bad idea. Maybe have the fans vote for the captain from the skaters actually going could be a compromise. Otherwise, the fan vote should come first and should be open to skaters like Carolina Kostner, Kaitlynn Osmond, Mirai Nagasu, and Jeremy Abbott - that would give skaters time to decide and have a reason for the vote... to include fan favorites that people want to see - I think it would be smoother, but really I think the fan vote may just need to go away in practice.

Skate America... that is an interesting observation. One of those strange things about how the chips fall i guess... and another aspect of why things may chance in the future.

On the upside... kinda nice the Kose still is sponsoring without Hanyu....I like that other skaters in Japan are getting love to.

 

[sabinfire]

Skate America... that is an interesting observation. One of those strange things about how the chips fall i guess... and another aspect of why things may chance in the future.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing the same skaters. In any event, this is the main reason I'm not going anymore. I've already attended Skate America and (soon) Worlds. How much do I really want to see all these same skaters for the third time in the USA this season, in a less important event?

(Yes, there are at least a few different skaters I wouldn't mind seeing for the first time this season, like a struggling Tuktamysheva, or maybe Voronov? That's actually about it. I've already seen everyone else this season at Skate America and Worlds.)

 

[StitchMonkey]

I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing the same skaters. In any event, this is the main reason I'm not going anymore. I've already attended Skate America and (soon) Worlds. How much do I really want to see all these same skaters for the third time in the USA this season, in a less important event?

(Yes, there are at least a few different skaters I wouldn't mind seeing for the first time this season, like a struggling Tuktamysheva, or maybe Voronov? That's actually about it. I've already seen everyone else this season at Skate America and Worlds.)

Who knows if it is planned, a factor of demand, or randomness, all are possible, but i sure as heck do not blame you for not going for so few new skaters to see. It could be that these are the skaters someone thinks USA wants to see, or it could be a reflection of who USFSA prioritizes in invites... who really knows.

Really I am not sure this year... when worlds is here, was the best time to have this event the first time.

 

[Batsuchan]

(Yes, there are at least a few different skaters I wouldn't mind seeing for the first time this season, like a struggling Tuktamysheva, or maybe Voronov? That's actually about it. I've already seen everyone else this season at Skate America and Worlds.)

Ooh, I guess that means we'll see Voronov with his new coach, Inna Goncharenko?

Even more reason to vote for Radionova--since her coach will already be there anyway!

 

[sabinfire]

Ooh, I guess that means we'll see Voronov with his new coach, Inna Goncharenko?

Even more reason to vote for Radionova--since her coach will already be there anyway!

I'm fine with anyone winning the ladies vote for Team Europe, but all my votes are reserved for Kuchvalska! I refuse to participate in the Radionova/Medvedeva faceoff.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I'm fine with anyone winning the ladies vote for Team Europe, but all my votes are reserved for Kuchvalska! I refuse to participate in the Radionova/Medvedeva faceoff.

Are you using a Korean IP address by chance

 

[sabinfire]

Are you using a Korean IP address by chance

If those votes stand, these political games could potentially influence the winner in some unexpected ways. So-youn Park still has a wide lead over Rika Hongo (I voted for poor Zijun Li, who barely has enough votes to rub together).

Kuchvalska will be passing Medvedeva soon. They are almost tied now.

 

[Perdita]

I'm asking this out of curiosity, are people enjoying this fan vote format? On twitter, I'm seeing plenty of negative reviews from Japanese fans and I understand that the competitive, populist format is not very well received in the culture. I personally am not liking this much either, if I were the organiser, I would at least stop showing the number of votes and detailed numbers etc. But what about people here? Does choosing the final skater through voting make things more exciting than just going with WS, WR or some other statistics?

 

[sabinfire]

Here's an interesting observation: very few people are actually voting with an entire ballot. They are selectively voting.

So-youn Park has more votes than the entire Team North America combined (both Men & Ladies). So does Rika Hongo, for that matter.

Team Europe has more votes than Team North America.

Pretty sad that Team North America is receiving the fewest votes, and it's being held in the USA. People aren't even bothering to vote for them at all.

 

[randomfan]

Here's an interesting observation: very few people are actually voting with an entire ballot. They are selectively voting.

So-youn Park has more votes than the entire Team North America combined (both Men & Ladies). So does Rika Hongo, for that matter.

Team Europe has more votes than Team North America.

Pretty sad that Team North America is receiving the fewest votes, and it's being held in the USA. People aren't even bothering to vote for them at all.

Agreed. I think maybe showing just the percentage only would be fine? The actual numbers tend to be inconsistent and in a way kind of disappointing :noshake:. And also, I don't really like the idea of showing the regions. Showing age is okay, but showing regions may cause some problems for skating fans in certain countries. I'm personally okay with it because I have favourites who are from many different countries, but I know that some people will feel offended with this system showing.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Agreed. I think maybe showing just the percentage only would be fine? The actual numbers tend to be inconsistent and in a way kind of disappointing :sad:. And also, I don't really like the idea of showing the regions. Showing age is okay, but showing regions may cause some problems for skating fans in certain countries. I'm personally okay with it because I have favourites who are from many different countries, but I know that some people will feel offended with this system showing.

No way....I want to know. I'll hold no hard feelings because I really don't care but I have to wonder if Korea can register more votes than they had people attend 4CC in Seoul

 

[randomfan]

No way....I want to know. I'll hold no hard feelings because I really don't care but I have to wonder if Korea can register more votes than they had people attend 4CC in Seoul

That's understandable!

 

[sabinfire]

Agreed. I think maybe showing just the percentage only would be fine? The actual numbers tend to be inconsistent and in a way kind of disappointing :noshake:. And also, I don't really like the idea of showing the regions. Showing age is okay, but showing regions may cause some problems for skating fans in certain countries. I'm personally okay with it because I have favourites who are from many different countries, but I know that some people will feel offended with this system showing.

It's still a bit fun in a way. I like to find the countries that are still grayed-out (no votes) and then flip that country to a certain skater's color. I just came in under Turkey and flipped the whole country to Kuchvalska support. Next stop: Greenland!

 

[CoyoteChris]

Here's an interesting observation: very few people are actually voting with an entire ballot. They are selectively voting.

So-youn Park has more votes than the entire Team North America combined (both Men & Ladies). So does Rika Hongo, for that matter.

Team Europe has more votes than Team North America.

Pretty sad that Team North America is receiving the fewest votes, and it's being held in the USA. People aren't even bothering to vote for them at all.

Too early to say. I am a Pretty fair skating fan. I live in Spokane. This season, I will have attended SA, US Nats, Worlds, and TeamChallange. I had no idea the voting had started till I had some time to check this thread. Maybe there will be a media announcement tomarrow here....vote early, vote often! http://www.teamchallengecup.com/captainspick:laugh:

 

[sabinfire]

Too early to say. I am a Pretty fair skating fan. I live in Spokane. This season, I will have attended SA, US Nats, Worlds, and TeamChallange. I had no idea the voting had started till I had some time to check this thread. Maybe there will be a media announcement tomarrow here....vote early, vote often! http://www.teamchallengecup.com/captainspick:laugh:

Really? That's odd. I thought I saw a post from Mrs. P today saying that Spokane is promoting this event big-time in the local area. I guess people on the other side of the world are still a day ahead when it comes to these things, figuratively speaking.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Really? That's odd. I thought I saw a post from Mrs. P today saying that Spokane is promoting this event big-time in the local area. I guess people on the other side of the world are still a day ahead when it comes to these things, figuratively speaking.

I watch the local news and national news pretty closely. My guess is that tomarrow will be the launch day for hyping the vote locally. "To vote, go to our website and find the link....." That sort of thing. I have posted about full page stories in the paper, interviews galore, bill boards with Gracie on it all over town, etc. What time (Spokane time) did the announcement that voting was now open happen?

 

[sabinfire]

I watch the local news and national news pretty closely. My guess is that tomarrow will be the launch day for hyping the vote locally. "To vote, go to our website and find the link....." That sort of thing. I have posted about full page stories in the paper, interviews galore, bill boards with Gracie on it all over town, etc. What time (Spokane time) did the announcement that voting was now open happen?

It was about 8pm Eastern yesterday, so that would be 5pm your time. Let us know when Spokane tells people about the fan voting. I'm guessing it probably won't happen tonight either, if you haven't heard anything so far.

 

[CoyoteChris]

It was about 8pm Eastern yesterday, so that would be 5pm your time. Let us know when Spokane tells people about the fan voting. I'm guessing it probably won't happen tonight either, if you haven't heard anything so far.

Will do. Found something very curious. I go to my FB newsfeed and I see the USFS announcement about team Asia, but nothing about the voting. If I go to the USFS FB site, I see both the team asia announcement and the voting announcement, side by side, about an hour apart...14 hours ago and 15 hours ago. Very odd.

 

[cathlen]

Here's an interesting observation: very few people are actually voting with an entire ballot. They are selectively voting.

So-youn Park has more votes than the entire Team North America combined (both Men & Ladies). So does Rika Hongo, for that matter.

Team Europe has more votes than Team North America.

Pretty sad that Team North America is receiving the fewest votes, and it's being held in the USA. People aren't even bothering to vote for them at all.

Maybe that's just me but since Team North America is only two countries, it's a little boring or isn't much difference who will participate for me. Also, both Ladies and Men has a strong leaders unlike other continents. Having said that, I did vote for skater in Team America, but I understand why there's more votes for team Asia (Rika vs So Youn is epic) or even Europe (we have Angelina , also I expect some unexpected result in Men). I noticed that Ladies in any continent attract more voters than Men, though.

 

[yuzushenko]

why are jason brown and nam nguyen the men for team north america? they're not even going to worlds. i thought the requirement to be at TCC was that they had to have been worlds 2016 participants??

i really wanted patrick on our team, and he isn't even in the voting..

and neither is yuzuru hanyu or mao asada.