Has pairs regressed?

Joesitz said:

They were all so American. I remember them at the Nationals.

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The original question didn't limit the discussion to Americans -- you did in a later post. But it's amusing that after your rolleyes at me, you promptly brought in a non-American yourself.

Joesitz said:

You left out Sonia Henie and her partners, .

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Whatever. In response to the original question, I think that if anything has happened to pairs, it's pretty much what's happened to singles, too -- whatever gets the levels/points is what is concentrated on, and that is no longer being clean or (in the case of pairs) staying synchronized, or having the big jumps, etc.

DesertRoad said:

I can't remember the last time I saw a SBS pair spin in total unison.

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Schwarz and Muller in the late 1990s. I don't think I remember a top level couple stay totally in sync all the way through a SBS spin since then.

Youtube doesn't work well on ye olde computer, but I think this is a video of Schwarz and Muller at 1998 Words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rQNnz_kuSY

I have a couple of thoughts on this:

1. Pairs has always been a field in which the quality difference between those who are top skaters and those who aren't is really large. We've had amazing teams in the past, great teams now, but the lower ranked teams have always had quite a bit of problems. I don't think that one pair having a great skate in one competition and the rest having mistakes is anything new.

2. Maybe the so called demise of pairs is not because of COP but because of the end of the Soviet system?

3. As for the US pairs, it's never been a strong discipline, but I think it's shown sign of improvements in the past few years.

oleada said:

I have a couple of thoughts on this:

1. Pairs haus always been a field in whichc the quality difference beween those who are top skaters and those who aren't is really large. We've had amazing teams in the past, great teams now, but the lower ranked teams have always had quite a bit of problems. I don't think that one pair having a great skate in one competition and the rest having mistakes is anything new.

2. Maybe the so called demise of pairs is not because of COP but because of the end of the Soviet system?

3. As for the US pairs, it's never been a strong discipline, but I think it's shown sign of improvements in the past few years.

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Thank you for saying it much better than I.

I feel that most fans want Pairs to be about a romance between 2 skaters in the lyrical style. That was all very nice under the old system but not totally necessary, and almost impossible under the CoP if the team's goal is gold. I think Denny and Barrett are more in line with the current great international pair teams and will be a good contender for 2014. Meanwhile,other young American
pair teams appear to me to be much more competitive than in the past. The discipline is not regressing in the USFS.