Alexa and Chris weren't that bad.... How were they judged so poorly. Personally I think they only Tarah and Danny were better, though I get 2nd and 3rd, so they should be in 4th. Once again, Nationals judges and their complete disregard for skating skills. Make a mistake and you're done.
Yes I have concerns with how pairs is scored at US Nationals. It's so different from an international event that I feel frustrated while watching it. No other pair event throughout the season is like this, and I can follow along very well with the scoring even if it's a bit inflated. But here, it makes far less sense.
Alexa & Chris were scored reasonably, about the same as they would have been at an international event. They missed a lot of levels, which is really uncharacteristic for them-- their levels haven't been bad at any point in the season. Surely that bizarre triple twist error rattled them. Maybe the twist was bigger than usual but it was shocking to see it that off. They also changed a few things in the program and have to take a look at why they missed levels on those things. But all in all, they were scored like they would have been scored anywhere.
Most of the pairs above them, however, received huge inflation over what they typically score internationally. It's no secret that these US pairs don't get amazing international scores, and part of this is because of element quality. This event seems to fixate on not making big mistakes and less so on skating/element quality, the latter of which is what truly separates the good from the great in pairs. One of the reasons why it's easier for Tarah/Danny to skate cleanly is because they have lesser elements. Their throws are small and therefore less risky. Their twist wasn't even clean and still got some +3s as if its a strong element for them. Just because they were more or less clean didn't mean there was nothing wrong. They deserved 1st today, but there's no way they would have a 10 point lead over K/K in an international event. Cain/LeDuc wouldn't be that far ahead with an UR jump either. URs have really hurt their scores throughout this season.
It's odd how every US pair can get up to +3 or even +4 on their twist domestically, meaning that even if K/K did an amazing twist here, they still wouldn't have gotten the point advantage that they would have gotten in an international event where the big GOE are reserved for only the very best twists. Our other pairs' twists don't look like Boikova/Kozlovskii's, who scored in the +3 vicinity at Europeans.
Stellato/Bartholomay scored dramatically better here than they do internationally for the same type of skate (messy throw, eked out jump). An American audience likes Barbra Streisand, but that's not supposed to impact a score. There are certain things that hold them back (for example, their twist barely clears his head), which is why their international scores haven't been strong even during times when they don't make big mistakes. Why is it seemingly more difficult for K/K to beat Stellato/Bartholomay in a US competition than it is at an international competition? It's been clear all year (and every year) that K/K could make several big mistakes and still outscore S/B's personal best. S/B haven't scored well yet anywhere except US Nationals, even with pleasant skates. There just seems to be a disconnect between what the National panel rewards in pair skating as opposed to an International panel, and it's difficult to understand how this is beneficial.
I think so far what I have seen the results are right but the scores are very generous compared to Russian and Canadian Nationals.
