Tracy Wilson & Rob McCall - 88 Olympics

[Ladskater]

Thought I'd take one more trip down memory lane. I remember this awesome free dance done by Tracy Wilson and her partner Rob McCall, it brought down the house and earned them a bronze medal at the Calgary 88 Olympics. I thought they should have earned a Sliver, it was pure entertainment and creativity. Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWO4eG_EwG8

 

[MiraiFan]

They were incredible and so underrated. I didn't appreciate that program as much as I do now but wow... incredible speed, precision, expression--just brilliant.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Thought I'd take one more trip down memory lane. I remember this awesome free dance done by Tracy Wilson and her partner Rob McCall, it brought down the house and earned them a bronze medal at the Calgary 88 Olympics. I thought they should have earned a Sliver, it was pure entertainment and creativity. Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWO4eG_EwG8

I think they deserved silver if Klimova/Ponomarenko ended up with gold. That said, the CDs and OSPs also mattered at the time and I'm not sure if Bestemianova/Bukin should have lost gold or silver based on those portions of the competition because I have to rewatch the CDs and OSPs from all again. I do think an argument could be made for K/P winning gold even if K/P still ended up second in the CD and OSP portions of the competition. In the FD, I thought it was clear by content and the fact that they skated so close together that both K/P and W/M had superior FDs to B/B who admittedly had power and speed and in-your-face presence.

 

[Off My Rocker]

Thought I'd take one more trip down memory lane. I remember this awesome free dance done by Tracy Wilson and her partner Rob McCall, it brought down the house and earned them a bronze medal at the Calgary 88 Olympics. I thought they should have earned a Sliver, it was pure entertainment and creativity. Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWO4eG_EwG8

Tracy and Rob's Elite Syncopation is one program I go back to and watch at least once a year! To me, it's a classic.

I also thought W&M should have won silver with K&P taking the gold. I recall B&B were somewhat messy in the FD and thinking I preferred Annenko & Sretenski to B&B for the bronze, or at least for 3rd place in the FD. But I'd need to go back and look at all the programs again to say that definitively. Suffice to say, W&M's FD in Calgary was excellent!

 

[Ladskater]

Tracy and Rob's Elite Syncopation is one program I go back to and watch at least once a year! To me, it's a classic.

I also thought W&M should have won silver with K&P taking the gold. I recall B&B were somewhat messy in the FD and thinking I preferred Annenko & Sretenski to B&B for the bronze, or at least for 3rd place in the FD. But I'd need to go back and look at all the programs again to say that definitively. Suffice to say, W&M's FD in Calgary was excellent!

I agree with you. I didn't want to appear "not politically correct" here, but back in the day, once the set pattern dances and short programs were skated their was no change in the outcome. You could pretty much predict the outcome, that's why most fans thought Ice Dance unfair. It was kind of like the figures in the earlier times, which ever single skater had a huge lead in figures could usually nab the gold, even if their free skate wasn't the best. I never really cared for B/B and particularly that program they skated in the Calgary Olympics. Tracy and Rob were awesome!

 

[rain]

I remember an interview with Tracy Wilson, a number of years ago now, where she talked about how she and Rob McCall were told by people behind the scenes that given their difficulty etc., they deserved to be winning, but never would, because of the ice dance politics.

Looking at their stuff now it holds up pretty well. There was lots of innovation and fun moves, well timed to the music. I love how they both had moments to shine in the dance. And talk about matching free legs and lines.

 

[Ladskater]

I remember an interview with Tracy Wilson, a number of years ago now, where she talked about how she and Rob McCall were told by people behind the scenes that given their difficulty etc., they deserved to be winning, but never would, because of the ice dance politics.

Looking at their stuff now it holds up pretty well. There was lots of innovation and fun moves, well timed to the music. I love how they both had moments to shine in the dance. And talk about matching free legs and lines.

Yes, unfortunately there was a lot of "shady" deals made in those days with judges. I think Ice Dance has improved a lot now and it's easier for dance teams to move up the ranks. Just think if they were competing now!!

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I agree with you. I didn't want to appear "not politically correct" here, but back in the day, once the set pattern dances and short programs were skated their was no change in the outcome. You could pretty much predict the outcome, that's why most fans thought Ice Dance unfair. It was kind of like the figures in the earlier times, which ever single skater had a huge lead in figures could usually nab the gold, even if their free skate wasn't the best. I never really cared for B/B and particularly that program they skated in the Calgary Olympics. Tracy and Rob were awesome!

Me neither. I understand B/B were exciting back in 1985 and maybe 1986, but by 1988 all that over-the-top crazy frantic movement and tedious repetition of moves that were not that interesting to watch the first time around and Bukin's lack of real content were just things that I could not bear. They did have a great Killian CD though.

 

[ladyjane]

Thanks Ladskater, that's one dance I had forgotten and it's really good to watch. Lovely to see it again. It's also for me a reason to be pleased we've now at least got a bit more objectivity through IJS in Ice Dance. There still will be disagreements (that's a consequence of having Judged Sports in any case), and there are many of those, but at least today we can have judging on the merit of the performance. I know, many people will still say earlier events will influence outcome, and tht's probably true. There's still a lot of discussion, but it's about points awarded and that's what it should be. A skater (or a pair/dance team) can look back and point out where the problems are. It's as the Figure Skating Ice Dance Champion of 2003 remarked in an interview (I think on here): you now can point out where there are issues, where you might get a higher level, and so on. I know some people would love to go back to the ordinals but especially in Ice Dance, I think the Sport has been moved forward greatly by introducing a points based system. Challenging to most, boring to some.

 

[Ladskater]

Thanks Ladskater, that's one dance I had forgotten and it's really good to watch. Lovely to see it again. It's also for me a reason to be pleased we've now at least got a bit more objectivity through IJS in Ice Dance. There still will be disagreements (that's a consequence of having Judged Sports in any case), and there are many of those, but at least today we can have judging on the merit of the performance. I know, many people will still say earlier events will influence outcome, and tht's probably true. There's still a lot of discussion, but it's about points awarded and that's what it should be. A skater (or a pair/dance team) can look back and point out where the problems are. It's as the Figure Skating Ice Dance Champion of 2003 remarked in an interview (I think on here): you now can point out where there are issues, where you might get a higher level, and so on. I know some people would love to go back to the ordinals but especially in Ice Dance, I think the Sport has been moved forward greatly by introducing a points based system. Challenging to most, boring to some.

Good points. There are still some folks who don't consider ice dance a real "sport". If only they knew the physical effort and precision that goes into each move and step they would soon be convinced. Kurt Browning considers Shae-lynn Bourne one of the best skaters on the planet!