"The scoring system demands skating smart more than clean and values little details more than holistic impacts. And he has been trained to do just that. ''I skated smart this week,'' Chan said at the Worlds, ''I made sure the little details added up and I still ended up on top.'' “I knew I just had to put out a good strong opening". Despite the botched Axel, and finishing behind his music, Chan wasn’t worried as he skated off the ice.''I knew when I got off the ice, I had won," Chan said. ''I felt like I had won anyway.''
That is exactly what people are complaining about. If couch potato fans want to watch skating, we want the winner to be one who skates perfectly and is holistically pleasing! A lot of complaints against Patrick winning "unfairly" are complaints against that system, more than Patrick himself, who is actually very intelligent.
Still, There's something wrong when a skater makes three major mistakes and knows he has won, especially when the guy in 2nd didn't fall or go off his music. I imagine that in a couple of years the sport will be flooded with Patrick style skaters who are rarely clean, don't particularly play to the audience, but have little details that only skaters and uber fans will notice. A vast difference between him and the other top skaters in terms of edges and speed is not seen on television. You can tell he's somewhat smoother, definitely. But it's not so dramatic that he should be unbeatable.
Patrick needs to do two things:
1. Somehow, find a coach that will help him skate clean. Nobody would boo him or complain about him if he was very consistent.
2. Be careful what he says to the press. I'm sorry he didn't get as famous as he thought he would when he won the world championship. I feel bad for all the non-Japanese skaters who aren't as well-known as they would've been in the 70s-90s. He's in the same boat as all of them, really. However, I don't think he should say that he's particularly unlucky because he's Chinese. The Linsanity of a couple of months ago showed that the general public is ready to embrace a male Asian superstar (some politically incorrect headlines and ice cream flavors notwithstanding.) Just in a different sport!
That is exactly what people are complaining about. If couch potato fans want to watch skating, we want the winner to be one who skates perfectly and is holistically pleasing! A lot of complaints against Patrick winning "unfairly" are complaints against that system, more than Patrick himself, who is actually very intelligent.
Still, There's something wrong when a skater makes three major mistakes and knows he has won, especially when the guy in 2nd didn't fall or go off his music. I imagine that in a couple of years the sport will be flooded with Patrick style skaters who are rarely clean, don't particularly play to the audience, but have little details that only skaters and uber fans will notice. A vast difference between him and the other top skaters in terms of edges and speed is not seen on television. You can tell he's somewhat smoother, definitely. But it's not so dramatic that he should be unbeatable.
Patrick needs to do two things:
1. Somehow, find a coach that will help him skate clean. Nobody would boo him or complain about him if he was very consistent.
2. Be careful what he says to the press. I'm sorry he didn't get as famous as he thought he would when he won the world championship. I feel bad for all the non-Japanese skaters who aren't as well-known as they would've been in the 70s-90s. He's in the same boat as all of them, really. However, I don't think he should say that he's particularly unlucky because he's Chinese. The Linsanity of a couple of months ago showed that the general public is ready to embrace a male Asian superstar (some politically incorrect headlines and ice cream flavors notwithstanding.) Just in a different sport!