Didn't 4CC last year have massively inflated scores especially in the men's event? I'm beginning to wonder if 4CC's has more inflated scoring than the international B competitions.
Ant - my own feeling is that 4CC is a generally overscored event. But scoring seems to have gone up this season in general, with PBs for just about everyone. It seems like in Plushenko's time the judges were overscoring through the PCS, whereas now any cleanly done element will score +GOE. I thought positive GOE meant good/excellent, not just competent. So now we regularly see 80+ SPs and LPs in the 150s or even higher - but I don't see how the skating has improved, or even how the skaters/coaches have figured out how to work CoP better. Guys were regularly getting high levels as early as the 2005-6 season, but not these sort of scores (with a few exceptions).
I have no problem with Patrick Chan getting high levels; from what I have seen of his skating, the levels are indeed reflective of what he is doing. I do not think, however, that he should be getting the GOEs he likely received last night (and in earlier events). Yes, I've heard all about how he does steps leading into everything and takes no time to set up jumps. I've looked at his programs. He doesn't. That is - he does on some jumps, but certainly not universally and in some cases no more than other skaters.
As
Okami noted, Patrick Chan was better scored than Dai last year; in fact, it looks like he just got the highest SP score by any skater not named Plushenko. He did this without a quad - ok, so did Dai last year, or Kozuka at GPF (which, you guys will remember, neither Kozuka nor Chan won). But Chan is not the first skater to skate a very well excuted SP, and the others were not scored like this - not even close, except for Dai. Stephane Lambiel and Jeffrey Buttle never got higher than 84, and regularly got less - yet I seem to remember some super programs from both. Johnny's Swan got him exactly 80 at Torino. I cannot believe it was 9 points worse than whatever Chan did. So why are we seeing such crazy scores that we haven't before, except during Plush's overscored final season? I have no answer to that one.
Medusa's post went up while I was typing, and I agree with just about everything in it. This sort of scoring can also lead to even more cookie-cutter skating, instead of each guy doing his own thing (Chan included) and doing it well. And Kozuka - even if not in top form - is not a skater who should get that sort of PCS.