https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGI4Fs82Z6I
Did you hear all bs that TSN commentators are spewing? Ugh
They are clearly intent on ruining Sasha's performance for all American viewers as much as possible and are so in a hurry of setting their narration that in middle of her step sequence they are already starting their hatespeech about how she is "slow, not artistic, just a jumping machine" etc. Such a contrast between how they are usually commenting about Liu's skating
And yet people here are preaching me that there is "fair attitude to all nations", "I am just conspiracy theories freak", "noone hates Russians", "there is no double standarts" etc. What a hypocrites :sarcasm:
Well, first of all TSN are Canadians, so I don‘t know why they would be so keen on praising Alysa Liu, an American, all too heavily. If Alysa was Canadian, then maybe. But not like this. Canadians and Americans are not the same.
And really, I‘ve just watched the whole video. And I can‘t see any “bs“. If anything, they were making fair points.
“She knows how it‘s like to win and obviously she knows how it‘s like to fly.“
Isn‘t that a nice quote?
Anyway, the female commentator knows a thing or two about skating skills considering that she was a pretty successful ice dancer in the past.... So yes, the first thing she will notice are just these skating skills. And we have to be fair, Sasha‘s skating does become slower and more laboured, especially in the step sequence, when she has these four quads. It‘s very noticeable. Now, some commentators would not have picked up on that, she did. Is that an indication that she‘s biased and stupid? No, actually for me it shows that she knows her stuff. And the two of them did say that Sasha was making history. But there is the age old question of quads vs artistry and it‘s obvious that people right now are looking for an answer to that because Sasha has brought it up in the ladies field. Is it anything new that PCS rise once you land a few great quads? No. It‘s been like that in the men‘s field for ages, which they pointed out too. All fair.
Commentators are commentators, they‘re not judges. As long as they‘re not borderline unfair and mean (eg toilet break comment about Alina), they can and should voice their opinions.
I for one understand TSN commentators very well because I‘m of the same opinion. See, for me it‘s love and hate with Sasha. When I look at her, I see this tiny, cheerful girl who yet has more determination than most people will ever have in their entire lives. She‘s brave and gutsy and I admire her a lot for that. This doesn‘t change the fact that I almost hate what she‘s doing. I knew this transformation in the sport was inevitable and it was only a matter of time before it came up in the ladies field, too. But that doesn‘t mean I have to like it. I don’t like that focus on quads as the end all be all, I don‘t like how it looks like this sport will be transformed into a children‘s sport. Figure skating was already more for teenagers than adults, with most skaters retiring so early. I fear that quads will make that even worse. The rest is just subjective. I don‘t like the look of quads. I like Anna‘s programs much more without quads and I look at Sasha‘s and only see quads. Her FS is about GoT for example and while I don‘t know a whole lot about the character she‘s portraying, I don‘t get a sense of her portraying any character at all safe for the few seconds in the beginning and the end. The rest is just very impressive jumps. The artistry part of skating made me a fan and while I know technical progress is necessary in a sport, I feel like recently artistry has become only a mark that rises and falls with your popularity and the jumps you land. For me figure skating has much more to offer than jumps and while jumps are important, I only enjoy them when they’re made to look like as part of a seamless, coherent performance. So, I very well understand where these commentators are coming from. And I feel like many skating fans feel the same. I for one know that unless the rules change or I find a sudden inspirational love for quads either in the men‘s or the ladies‘, I will be over and done with this sport in a few years. Obviously there are people who feel differently and good for them, they should be thrilled at Sasha‘s success! I‘m thrilled for Sasha as a person as well, even though I‘m not thrilled for figure skating as a sport.
Now, I don‘t understand the hate Sasha is getting as she deserves none of it. She‘s an amazing girl and should be praised for her bravery. But it doesn‘t mean that there can‘t be commentators gently pointing out her flaws and maybe even flaws in the judging system.
