- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Ha, no wonder you are MATHman.
:yes: Figure skating is exciting for the same reason that it is exciting to play a gambling game where every time you win you put the money back into the pot, double or nothing.
Let's say you have a 90% chance of landing any particular jump. So you start out with only a 43% probability of running the table. It looks like a sucker's bet, right? But then...BAM! you hit that opening quad. Suddenly your odds jump to 48%. BAM! triple Axel. he odds tilt in your favor at 53%. You're on a roll. Triple Lutz-triple toe, 59%. Triple flip, 66! Triple loop, 73! Will he do it? It's still touch and go. Triple Salchow/2T/2Lo (81), second triple Lutz!!!! It's a mere double Axel to go, at 9 to 1 odds in your favor, but the skategods are cruel and there's many a slip twixt cup and lip.
That was what was so cool about Michelle Kwan. She fall didn't fall down, and she saved that second triple Lutz for the very last jump, just for a tease. "Oh, Mathman, you know I wouldn't let you down. Now watch me draw to an inside straight." :yes:
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