ISU Where Will Worlds BE (formerly) JAPAN QUAKE FOR WORLDS

[antmanb]

I just see fans of skating from wherever only interested in what they want without compassion. The venue can be changed, but the pride of Japan can not. The fans of skating have not lost the sport, but how many people have been lost forever because of the tragedy?

As per usual it must be your selective illiteracy because I see nothing but well wishes for Japan with some debate about the world championships. Actually maybe it's not selective illiteracy, it must just be very hard to read all the posts from up there on your high horse, balanced on a pedestal balanced on a soap box.

Ant

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

^^^
I do have a life (what's left of it) beyond figure skating, and I just can't manage reading everything. I do get up-to-date news clips from various sources on the net However, the stories and clips do not cover figure skating. Thank you for the suggestion blue dog, I'll check out the Le Cafe folder.

 

[Tonichelle]

^^^
I do have a life (what's left of it) beyond figure skating, and I just can't manage reading everything. I do get up-to-date news clips from various sources on the net However, the stories and clips do not cover figure skating. Thank you for the suggestion blue dog, I'll check out the Le Cafe folder.

it's good you have a life out of figure skating, but if by your own admission you cannot manage to read th eentire thread, then you should not judge those that have contributed to it.

 

[chloepoco]

I am also of the view that there is no reason to CANCEL the world championships. I really don't see any justification for that. It should be moved or postponed. Problem solved. Also, I am certain that barring any further disaster (god forbid), Tokyo will be in a good shape to host any international event, including the Worlds, in a matter of few weeks or a few months.

I think you are oversimplifying things.

 

[oksanafan]

This just in from AFP:

Compassion Crucial For Champions Asada, Takahashi

 

[Violet Bliss]

Joe, empathy in itself is not a solution to anything. You don't help the sick by being sick. You don't help the poor by being poor. You don't help other people's meseries by being miserable. You don't improve anybody's life by stopping falling in love, enjoying and appreciating life, or celebrating births, success, athletic excellence and all that is worth celebrating. There is no guilt in love, success, good health, or enjoying skating competitions. Do what actually contributes to improve the situation, sometime by taking immediate relevent actions, but more often by living a life congruent with your beliefs and against the contrition to poverty, poor health, poor environment, potential catastrophe, etc.

To fight darkness, you introduce light. To fight diseases, you stay healthy. To fight many problems facing humanity, stop over consumption. An example is not to be obese, which increases demands on natural and human resources. By living a healthy lifestyle, we help environmentally, politically, and economically. If we intend to live a long life, let it be productive rather than draining. Commiseration may feel good to some people, but it does not lift them out of the meseries.

There is not enough empathy to cover all the wrong and bad things going on. While you focus on and feel bad for the Japanese, Kadafi is celebrating the disasters by re-employing brute force against the people while the world's attention swifts. Do you then feel guilty and responsible personally and accuse the Japan sympathizers of being selfish?

I believe in focusing on the positive, in thoughts and in actions. Support peace, environment, as well as good health and quality of life for all.

 

[Taffy]

Many of the Japanese Athletes (not the fans of particular skaters) are seeing their country in devestation; and are torn between winning a medal and their pride in Japan - not easy.

I just see fans of skating from wherever only interested in what they want without compassion. The venue can be changed, but the pride of Japan can not. The fans of skating have not lost the sport, but how many people have been lost forever because of the tragedy?

This is not true.

Everything I have read (here and elsewhere) expresses deep compassion for the events unfolding in Japan.

 

[Spun Silver]

This is not true.

Everything I have read (here and elsewhere) expresses deep compassion for the events unfolding in Japan.

ITA, Taffy. And welcome to Goldenskate (the compassionate skating board).

 

[Serious Business]

We need to stop this either/or mindset with regards to the Championships and helping Japan: the two are not mutually exclusive, quite the opposite! I already explained why I think sports and art are good for humanity in my previous post, I'll now make the case that relocating Worlds can help Japan, too:

1) Running an event takes resources, infrastructure and electricity, all of which Japan is currently trying to conserve on. Another country hosting the Championships is a way to donate all those resources to Japan.

2) Many people in Japan love figure skating. Ever since Shizuka's miraculous win in Turin and the continued success of her heirs, figure skating has been an important source of pride and enjoyment for Japan. Yes, many Japanese people are mourning and working hard to overcome the hardships imposed by the disaster, but a lot of them still enjoy figure skating. Why make them choose? Again, it's not an either/or proposition. If it's truly impossible to host the championships in Japan, lots of Japanese people still want to see their countrymen and favorites from other countries do well.

As in any tragedy, survivors aren't just victims, they're still people with lives to live and the capacity to enjoy things and be fulfilled. They deserve the opportunity to choose to enjoy and partake in things not directly related to immediate survival, too.

 

[Violet Bliss]

I mean, did they really have to build so many nuclear plants in an island country where there are frequent earth quakes?!?!

Japan is a nation built on rocky islands with few natural resources. It is amazing how they can rise from the defeat and destructions of WWII to prosper with mainly human resourses. It is densely populated, thus the difficulty for obtaining its citizenship and reinstating it. It has to import most of its material needs. To reduce dependence on oil, they have no choice but to built nuclear plants to satisfy the lifestyle as well as manufacturing needs.

Almost all energy extractions are extremely dirty and environmentally demaging which is why the US wants to secure its energy needs from elsewhere. It's the not-in-my-backyard syndrome. Japan does not have the military might of the US, in fact choosing not to pursue nuclear weaponry as a lesson learned, for securing energy needs from foreign countries though it benefits from US's effort to keep the price of oil low. Nuclear energy is a necessity considering all its benefit. However, the nuclear plants involved currently are old models built in the 50's and the difference between these and Chenobyl is enforced and stronger containments, which now prove no match for Nature.

New technologies are catching up, late but hopefully not too late. What should have been started in the 70's were shelfed while energy consumption escalated in industralized nations which pursue different means of obtaining cheap oil. Even now, the status quo favors the established/dying industries with political and economic clout rather than the fledging needed new energy technologies.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

it's good you have a life out of figure skating, but if by your own admission you cannot manage to read th eentire thread, then you should not judge those that have contributed to it.

This thread has become more about ME than figure skating. Which thread have I not read, other than the one in Le Cafe which I would not have expected to find anything about the world championships. Is becoming a member of GS contingent on reading it cover to cover? Are infractions issued for not reading everything? Do all GS members, except me, read everything, and how do you know that?

 

[chloepoco]

I mean, did they really have to build so many nuclear plants in an island country where there are frequent earth quakes?!?!

The function of these nuclear plants is to produce electricity as Japan has no natural resources! So I would say yes, they did need to build these nuclear plants.

 

[Taffy]

ITA, Taffy. And welcome to Goldenskate (the compassionate skating board).

Thank you.

I've been lurking for a very long time and decided I should finally join the conversation.

 

[seniorita]

it must just be very hard to read all the posts from up there on your high horse, balanced on a pedestal balanced on a soap box.

Ant

british english this phrase is completely unknown to me, I dont get a word of the meaning and google doesnt either But I m havin a horse also, I cant manage readin the whole forum either, especially post eartquack, the threads are runnin fast

 

[chloepoco]

british english this phrase is completely unknown to me, I dont get a word of the meaning and google doesnt either But I m havin a horse also, I cant manage readin the whole forum either, especially post eartquack, the threads are runnin fast

Seniorita, you aren't having a horse

"A request to someone to stop behaving in a haughty and self-righteous manner."

And I don't it's fair to accuse Joesitz either.

 

[Olympia]

british english this phrase is completely unknown to me, I dont get a word of the meaning and google doesnt either But I m havin a horse also, I cant manage readin the whole forum either, especially post eartquack, the threads are runnin fast

Seniorita, thanks for a moment of laughter in these grim days!

"having a horse"--actually, we in the U.S. have a phrase very close to that: "having a cow." It means to be upset about someone, though it's usually used for a moment of less distressful agitation, because it's a bit light-hearted. So you could say that people were having a cow because the bus was delayed, for example, but in dire circumstances one wouldn't use such a flippant, humorous term. (Forgive me if I'm telling you something you already know. But just in case....)

I found one more occasion for laughter when I went over to the other skating forum (where I'm not a member, but I lurk sometimes), and they were discussing why the U.S. wouldn't be a good locale for Worlds if the authorities decided to transplant it. It was pointed out that this is the season for basketball and hockey season finals, so a lot of venues (and hotel space) would be used for those events.

Then posters started suggesting cities with "lousy teams or no teams." A few cheerfully recommended their home cities--including New York! Finally, someone said, "Let them hold the Worlds in Reno (Nevada). We have squat (meaning zero, or no teams; I just love that expression)." Then that poster corrected himself/herself and said, "Whoops--we also don't have an ice rink."

By that time I was trying not to laugh out loud at my desk, but I felt so much better. Of course, when I go back and read the latest news, it hurts again, but I think of Reno (which I think is in the desert) sitting there all ready, except for ice, to hold the Worlds on some happier day, and it does help a bit.

 

[Mathman]

"Let them hold the Worlds in Reno (Nevada). We have squat (meaning zero, or no teams; I just love that expression)." Then that poster corrected himself/herself and said, "Whoops--we also don't have an ice rink."

I beg your pardon! Since 2005 Reno boasts an outstanding facility, the outdoor "Rink on the River." (Free parking!!!!)

http://renotahoe.about.com/od/publicparks/ig/Rink-on-the-River/rink10.htm

Edited to add: Nice inside edge.

 

[Olympia]

I beg your pardon! Since 2005 Reno boasts an outstanding facility, the outdoor "Rink on the River." (Free parking!!!!)

http://renotahoe.about.com/od/publicparks/ig/Rink-on-the-River/rink10.htm

Edited to add: Nice inside edge.

I stand corrected. Sounds like a lovely rink. Put Reno back on the list. (Wish they could help out.)

 

[wallylutz]

Back to the topic in question after way too many OT posts, I think the new venue cannot be in any country close to Japan. Otherwise, South Korea would have been a very good candidate for the reasons already discussed by several of the articles already linked here. Clearly, the ISU has been frantically looking for a new host and Cinquanta never meant to say the World Championship can only happen in Japan or not happening at all even though a few posters insisted on adding words in his mouth, but that's another story...

South Korea would have been a very good option so long as they could ensure that fans will not only come to watch the ladies event and nothing else. They would have to tie ladies event tickets to some form of all-event package and limit the number of stand-alone tickets, hard to do on short notice but still possible. But with the threat of nuclear clouds expanding through winds into atmosphere, the proximity of South Korea is an unsafe choice because in a few weeks time, it may well be enveloped and affected by the same nuclear clouds in Japan now, causing other countries to advise against travel there, then we would have no choice but canceling the Championship.

The entire East Asia, including China, should be off the table. Some skating federations seem to think they can pull off hosting an emergency event given about 4 weeks of time. For safety reasons, I think the entire West Coast of North America should also be off limit because there are talks of nuclear clouds hitting the west coast. I am sure even if there is any, it would be close to harmless level. However, you can't underestimate the psychological impact it will have on people. The playoff seasons really is no consideration because there are so many possible venues in North America but I don't think U.S. will be able to fulfill the requirement of getting the fans out to buy tickets on short notice. A big portion of World Championship attendance is booked via dedicated tour providers who organize and bring a ton of people into these Championships and those are not things you can plan or change on short notice. These tours charge a lot of money (like several thousand of dollars) to bring some die hard fans, mostly consist of middle age female clients and their entourage who have the money and time to attend a week long event. I don't see how this event could be run successfully in the U.S. on short notice, at least not from a revenue standpoint, not to mention the backing of a national broadcaster is problematic in the U.S.

Canada is in a slightly better position in that the national broadcaster's backing is a little easier to get and that a World Championship in Canada will be slightly less depending on tour operators so the fan support should be just acceptable. But with Canada sets to host 2013 Worlds, my sense is ISU is better off looking for an European candidate and only used Canada as a last resort option. And it should not be held in Vancouver, they cannot take any chances. Someone suggested that Calgary would have a readily available venue in April as their hockey team didn't make it into the playoffs. There would be venues like this a little bit everywhere in North America come April so if Europe can't find venues on short notice, there should be plenty of them in North America, even excluding the West Coast.

Europe is probably the safest option at this point but fan support is the biggest question and financial commitment. An event hosted in Asia would likely have very strong government support, like 4CC, which was heavily sponsored by public funding and in China, they would make the event work in no time if the government wants it. But an event in Europe will be very expensive and without tour operators feeding customers to the event, can they really fill the seats at the desired ticket prices? Eurosport will no doubt broadcast the event so that's a relief, however, it may be a money losing event so where can they make this financially work is a big question.

Whether the Championship will be canceled or not hinge on whether this emergency project can at least break even. This will undoubtedly hurt ISU's bottom line a great deal.

 

[prettykeys]

Joe, empathy in itself is not a solution to anything. You don't help the sick by being sick. You don't help the poor by being poor. You don't help other people's meseries by being miserable. You don't improve anybody's life by stopping falling in love, enjoying and appreciating life, or celebrating births, success, athletic excellence and all that is worth celebrating. There is no guilt in love, success, good health, or enjoying skating competitions. Do what actually contributes to improve the situation, sometime by taking immediate relevent actions, but more often by living a life congruent with your beliefs and against the contrition to poverty, poor health, poor environment, potential catastrophe, etc.

To fight darkness, you introduce light. To fight diseases, you stay healthy. To fight many problems facing humanity, stop over consumption. An example is not to be obese, which increases demands on natural and human resources. By living a healthy lifestyle, we help environmentally, politically, and economically. If we intend to live a long life, let it be productive rather than draining. Commiseration may feel good to some people, but it does not lift them out of the meseries.

There is not enough empathy to cover all the wrong and bad things going on. While you focus on and feel bad for the Japanese, Kadafi is celebrating the disasters by re-employing brute force against the people while the world's attention swifts. Do you then feel guilty and responsible personally and accuse the Japan sympathizers of being selfish?

I believe in focusing on the positive, in thoughts and in actions. Support peace, environment, as well as good health and quality of life for all.

You are consistently one of the most thoughtful posters on any message board I have seen. Thank you for writing this.