so what are you saying do you think the USA Judge would not sink the Russian if they where not in time with the music.and how can you base all your opinion on one view of one post that may known timing or may not
come on Shpilband is more known for FD them CD
The quote said only that the person (whom I have no idea whom they are, other than that they write French & feel they are more knowledgeable of ice dance than 2 of their friends) preferred the FD of R&G over the Shibutanis, whose OD they liked, but whose FD they found rather boring. This may be a legitimate opinion, but it has nothing to do with either the CD or OD results of either R&G or the Shibutanis. Just because one team might excel in one phase of the competition, they can drop in another phase, now that COP is in place. (and a good thing, sez I, because it reflects how performances really are.
The French poster also said R&G in the FD reminded them of the young DelSchoes, whom they obviously admired. This is rather amusing, because even as recently as 2003, the DelSchoes had very suspect timing in the CD at Worlds . If R&G are like the young DelSchoes, case closed on their timing. (I was at Worlds 2003.)
Yes, I have seen American and Canadian judges happy to lower the grades of both their own and other countries' teams, based on timing. I have also seen both elevate their own teams, although usually not in concert.
Other than the Bulgarian judge hating R&G's CD's the R&G values are not too alarmingly variable. It is the Shibutanis' grades that are more striking, because they are all over the map. Putting them in 5th (as the Russian judge number 1 did, after Tibbetts & Brubaker, is quite a difference in placing, for sure, and frankly one I find very suspect, indeed as strikingly out of place as the Bulgarian judge's grades.
It is interesting that the Canadian judge loves the Shibutanis even more than the American judge does. This is amusing, because they remind icedanceexpert of the young V&M--perhaps they remind the Canadian judge of V&M, too. American and Canadian tastes are not identical, either.
Interestingly, Judge 3, the Italian, hates the Shibutanis in the CD almost as much as the Bulgarian judge dislikes R&G in the CD. I am open to suggestions as to how that might be so, and what cultural taste differences (or negotiations

) might be involved.
However, I still think that timing should be something that can be objectively judged, and this judging stunk on the timing line for both teams, in that it was way too variable. I can see differing .25, even .50 maybe between 2 judges, but 2.0? No.