But now I have to join those who think they should consider going back to the 6.0.
I am not as obsessed by or knowledgeable about skating as some on this board, so forgive me if I get some dates wrong, etc. But I am a dedicated fan, and I'm getting disgusted.
When they switched over to the COP, a lot of people complained and still are complaining about the loss of creativity that occurred when points needed to be added up. A lot of people complained that without a top number to aspire to, like the iconic 6.0, casual tv fans would be turned off. Both of these are valid points, and both probably did happen to some extent. But the fairness of the COP seemed to trump those concerns. I remember how exciting it was the first time someone ( Tatiana,the skater from UZB, iirc) came from 7th to win a competition, something that was impossible the old way. I remember how exciting it was that an unknown like Brandon Mroz could beat Johnny and Evan at the US Nationals. And remember when then-unknown Jeremy Abbott won the Grand Prix, or when Emmanuel Sandhu beat Evgeni Plushenko (which I missed because the DOHS was giving some kind of briefing and interrrupted the broadcast :scowl I liked the fact that the unknown skaters would have a chance they wouldn't before, because the anointed ones wouldn't be held up.
Well, that was then and this is now. So far, I have seen someone land (what even a non-skater like me knows) is the easiest combination and win the short program. That was annoying enough--obviously Carolina was being held up because she's a former world medalist, and Rachael and the young girl from Japan are not. But it wasn't too egregious. But then I saw Patrick Chan at Skate Canada.:disapp:
I've had it. Obviously 7 years into the COP, the judges have found a way to hold people up/keep people down through grade of execution and program components scores. It's as unfair now as it ever was. No, it's probably worse. I remember people complaining about Sarah Hughes, saying her short program was overmarked based on some minor mistake that a layman like myself couldn't see (flutzing? underrotation?) and saying that under the code of points, she would have been behind someone who was more worthy ("woman among girls", I think.)
No. If they decided they liked her, she could have fallen three times, once not even on a jump, and she'd still be within striking distance of a medal.
The scoring system is completely messed up. It seems like the stuff the judges are saying is important is invisible to us regular folks. We can't tell if someone flutzes or underrotates, and if they do, it doesn't affect the quality of the overall performance. We can tell if someone is more graceful than another, but deep edges? Can't really see them. But we can tell if someone splats on the ice, and if they win based on doing well on the less-visible stuff, well, the sport's in trouble.
So bring back 6.0. At least you got those cute flag icons.
I am not as obsessed by or knowledgeable about skating as some on this board, so forgive me if I get some dates wrong, etc. But I am a dedicated fan, and I'm getting disgusted.
When they switched over to the COP, a lot of people complained and still are complaining about the loss of creativity that occurred when points needed to be added up. A lot of people complained that without a top number to aspire to, like the iconic 6.0, casual tv fans would be turned off. Both of these are valid points, and both probably did happen to some extent. But the fairness of the COP seemed to trump those concerns. I remember how exciting it was the first time someone ( Tatiana,the skater from UZB, iirc) came from 7th to win a competition, something that was impossible the old way. I remember how exciting it was that an unknown like Brandon Mroz could beat Johnny and Evan at the US Nationals. And remember when then-unknown Jeremy Abbott won the Grand Prix, or when Emmanuel Sandhu beat Evgeni Plushenko (which I missed because the DOHS was giving some kind of briefing and interrrupted the broadcast :scowl I liked the fact that the unknown skaters would have a chance they wouldn't before, because the anointed ones wouldn't be held up.
Well, that was then and this is now. So far, I have seen someone land (what even a non-skater like me knows) is the easiest combination and win the short program. That was annoying enough--obviously Carolina was being held up because she's a former world medalist, and Rachael and the young girl from Japan are not. But it wasn't too egregious. But then I saw Patrick Chan at Skate Canada.:disapp:
I've had it. Obviously 7 years into the COP, the judges have found a way to hold people up/keep people down through grade of execution and program components scores. It's as unfair now as it ever was. No, it's probably worse. I remember people complaining about Sarah Hughes, saying her short program was overmarked based on some minor mistake that a layman like myself couldn't see (flutzing? underrotation?) and saying that under the code of points, she would have been behind someone who was more worthy ("woman among girls", I think.)
No. If they decided they liked her, she could have fallen three times, once not even on a jump, and she'd still be within striking distance of a medal.
The scoring system is completely messed up. It seems like the stuff the judges are saying is important is invisible to us regular folks. We can't tell if someone flutzes or underrotates, and if they do, it doesn't affect the quality of the overall performance. We can tell if someone is more graceful than another, but deep edges? Can't really see them. But we can tell if someone splats on the ice, and if they win based on doing well on the less-visible stuff, well, the sport's in trouble.
So bring back 6.0. At least you got those cute flag icons.