Thoughts on WTT

[chuckm]

Gracie Gold did all the same competitions as Max, and her WTT FS was the best she's done internationally this season. And Ashley delivered her first clean FS since the GP. And Jeremy Abbott managed to get a new Seasons Best score at WTT. Chock/Bates won the ice dance competition. The US skaters rose to the occasion, which was supposed to be a lighthearted team competition, and that's why they won.

Patrick Chan did not skate well, so he complained that Skate Canada made him do WTT when he would rather be preparing for the Olympics. Right. So that's why he signed up to do SOI starting next week, and after the SOI tour, another tour in China until June. The second place WTT team gets $170,000, which nets Chan at least $20,000. Poor Paddy, being forced to perform for $$. The unfairness of it all!

 

[Icey]

Honestly? I'd rather see synchronized skating as an Olympic event than teams. Yes, the team event is fun, but it also smacks of one of those late 1990's tv specials.

But hey, that's just me. I have a low tolerance for the cutesy-poo. (Yes, you can pelt me with stuffed animals now.).

I had too I think. At the Olympics are the skaters going to have to have a different short and long other than the one they are using in going for individual medals or will the team be made up of skaters who aren't going for individual medals. I know so little about this event or how it will be structured. The teams at WTT seemed to be trying too hard to see who could be the silliest and it seemed forced. Does the team event precede the individual competition at the Olympics? If it does, what happens if someone who is a contender for an individual medal gets injured and has to withdraw. There seems to me to be lots of possible problems with this event. Hopefully the powers that be have thought through this carefully, but I fear they haven't.

I see nothing wrong with Taka saying the event was mentally and physically challenging just coming off worlds. That is a position many skaters would take imo.

Skaterboy, sadly I don't think any one has to worry about Abbott next year.

 

[Icey]

Wow! I feel sorry for the flower retrievers, oops I mean stuffed animal retrievers. Sounds like a new dog breed.

I thought it was so polite of Mao to help the flower retrievers more than skaters usually do at WTT.

 

[Dance Fanatic]

Haha, yeah, I noticed that too. Maybe he reads figure skating forums?

It's nice to see the skaters have fun in the K&C. Though I imagine the Olympic event will be a lot more competitive and intense. Olympic medals on the line!!!

We now know the team contest at the Olympics is being held before the regular skating events. In my opinion this schedule puts at risk every skater who might have the opportunity to win an individual medal. It takes so much effort both physical and emotional to peak at just the right moment, that having to compete earlier for the team could have a negative effect on their performance in the traditional events. There is the added concern that while practicing and performing for the team, they could sustain an injury that removes them from the rest of the competition.

The ISU canceled qualifying skates on the grounds they gave the audience an overdose of skating!! Now they have introduced an extra event which just like qualifying, requires skaters to repeat the same programmes within a couple of days. Are they trying to bore us to death? Unlike gymnastics few skating nations have competitors for every discipline which certainly limits and skews the contest. This makes it seem like a "fake" as well as a "fluff" competition. It would be a shame if skaters chances of a legitimate medal were compromised by being pressured to take part in what appears to be an outright farce.

This is my personal opinion but I have noticed a lot of fans on the internet really don't give a hoot about a team event. I also hate the rah rah cutesy poo efforts in the background. Sorry.

 

[aftertherain]

This is my personal opinion but I have noticed a lot of fans on the internet really don't give a hoot about a team event. I also hate the rah rah cutesy poo efforts in the background. Sorry.

I like it. Everyone is skating is always so Barbie-polished and sanitized. I like that they're not taking themselves so seriously at the event.

 

[Icey]

Dance Fanatic, after reading your information, I hope this event will be cancelled. Who wants to endanger their chances for an individual medal by being a part of this? THe only way it would be acceptable to me is that no individual contenders be a part of it or it be held as some kind of gala event after the olympics end. One of my peeves about fs as a sport is having to see the same programs skated over and over and in the same costumes.

 

[TontoK]

No one forced Chan to wear moose ears...

Are you telling me he did that of his own choosing? Because if he did... well, I just assumed... never mind.

So, did those Pooh characters or bunny rabbits or whatever they were... did that team do it because they wanted to as well?

As I said, I like the team concept, but all those cutesy pie costumes and the ring-around-the-rosy...No. No. No. I hate that.

 

[Mathman]

Dance Fanatic, after reading your information, I hope this event will be cancelled. Who wants to endanger their chances for an individual medal by being a part of this? THe only way it would be acceptable to me is that no individual contenders be a part of it or it be held as some kind of gala event after the olympics end. One of my peeves about fs as a sport is having to see the same programs skated over and over and in the same costumes.

Oh, I don't agree at all. The Olympic Games is not the World Championship. The purpose of the World Figure Skating Championship is to give skaters a chance to show that they are the best in the world in what they do.

The purpose of the Olympic Games is to wave your flag, march in the opening ceremonies (this is the most watched event of the Games), to get on television (squeezed in amid 1000 hours of Bob Costas talking), and thus to line up endorsements afterward. It is for Presidents and Kings to make a show of how noble they are by threatening to boycott the other guys' Games. It is for nations to brag that they won more medals overall than someone else, thus proving once and for all who has the superior way of life.

I think the team figure skating event, right off the bat after the Opening Ceremonies -- which nation can spend more money than its predecessors on fireworks? -- will be immensely popular. (London couldn't beat China on that one, so they had the Queen parachute out of a helicopter instead. ) Just like we have the Fabulous Five and Magnificent Seven in gymnastics, we can have the Glorious Gliders in figure skating. This will be very cool.

 

[starryxskies]

Oh, I don't agree at all. The Olympic Games is not the World Championship. The purpose of the World Figure Skating Championship is to give skaters a chance to show that they are the best in the world in what they do.

But the problem is that many deem the OGM more prestigious or more desired than a world title

 

[LRK]

I enjoy the WTT.

However, the Olympic team event is another matter. I think it's total insanity to have the team event BEFORE the individual events.

The WTT is - or is meant to be - a light-hearted affair. Those who don't like that, need not watch. If I felt about it the way that some posters apparently do - would not be caught dead watching it. I think spending time watching something you dislike so much is... to put it mildly... a bizarre choice. But to each their own.

The Olympic event however, precedes the main event. The same athletes will be required to attend both - that is, those who have teams entered; which will give those who do not, an unfair advantage in being fresher, and less likely to injure themselves before the individual competition.

For instance, if this WTT had been held just previous to the World Championships - and Menshov had been the Russian entry.... ?

The World Championships and WTT are two different events - and there is time between them. The Olympic team event will be part of the Olympic event.

These are clean two different things.

 

[plushyfan]

Alexei Yagudin https://twitter.com/yagudinofficial/status/323039121452965888

"World Team Trophy! A unique opportunity to become a world champion for those who would never have been able to do that on their own!"

 

[Moment]

It seems like Alexei doesn't like the idea of WTT.

 

[ice coverage]

I do not count myself among Chan's most ardent fans, but I do like him -- so I find the anti-Chan double-standard in this thread (and prob. elsewhere on GS) maddening and absurd. Just don't understand why he is targeted as a villain.

I see nothing wrong with Taka saying the event was mentally and physically challenging just coming off worlds. That is a position many skaters would take imo

My point exactly. I agree that Takahashi said nothing wrong. But Chan has been attacked for making similar comments. How is that fair??

As I browsed through still photos of WTT, it was easy for me to find one of Chan smiling on the podium right along with the rest of Team Canada.

http://web.icenetwork.com/photos/gallery.jsp?content_id=44667276&image_id=9 (photo #9 in this gallery)​

Plenty of others show him participating in the fun/craziness of the Kiss and Cry and other WTT festivities.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...8.268203.129815677038&type=1&relevant_count=1
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHjJW9oCEAAmWfO.jpg​

No one forced Chan to wear moose ears ...

I agree, for example, that Chan was wearing the moose ears by choice and not under duress -- so that means he willingly embraced the same goofy patriotism of other WTT competitors.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHkHLoOCUAAXmak.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHuGnl1CMAA42Nj.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHkIGc6CYAAwZ-Z.jpg
https://twitter.com/SkateCanada/status/322017593881939968​

Maybe Takahashi wasn't thrilled about doing WTT, but he did give the best performance of which he was capable. And he didn't have to travel, so it wasn't that big a deal for him.

I'm not following the logic here. Takahashi did not have to deal with international travel to attend WTT, but it is acceptable for him to mention the physical and mental challenges of WTT? Meanwhile, Chan did have the extra burden of international travel, but it is unacceptable for him to refer to these challenges? Again, how is that fair??

Max Aaron did US Nationals (1st), two weeks, 4CCs (4th), two weeks, Worlds (7th), then WTT...and put in full effort performances that were much, much cleaner than Chan's at all of them.

I like Max Aaron a lot too, but comparing the overall intensity of his season to Chan's does not seem fair either. Chan competed at three GP events before his Nationals; Aaron did not.

The comparison of Chan to Wagner is valid.
But ... as captain of Team USA, Wagner also noted the difficulty for all WTT skaters of taking on another competition after Worlds. Nothing wrong with what she said, but similar words from Chan were criticized. Why no outcry over her remarks too?

Regarding SOI and other shows:

- According to his father, Chan's training expenses reach six figures per year. What on earth is wrong with Chan earning income (away from the pressure of competition) to cover some of those expenses? (BTW, Wagner and Duhamel/Radford also are in the Canadian SOI cast.)
The recent Sports Illustrated article about Zawadzki reported that her skating expenses rose to $60,000/year once she became serious about the sport. The article implied that her costs could be even higher now that she a top U.S. senior.

- And with all the lamentation over the decline of figure skating's popularity, what on earth is wrong with a world champion giving fans the excitement of live performances, esp. in his home country? Presumably traveling to competitions is not realistic for many in the SOI audiences.
Keeping existing fans of figure skating interested and maybe even drawing new fans to the sport are worthy endeavors, IMHO.​

 

[bramweld]

Oh yes now that the season is over I can get to dreaming about Olympic programs. Dear Lord, please grant all the skaters good health and if at all possible give I/K programs worthy of their talent. And for Nikita especially I pray for strength and nerves of steel. Looking forward to the new season!!

 

[bramweld]

Alexei Yagudin https://twitter.com/yagudinofficial/status/323039121452965888

"World Team Trophy! A unique opportunity to become a world champion for those who would never have been able to do that on their own!"

Yagudin, Averbuck and Zhulin all seem to drink from the same sour cesspool of bitterness and small mindedness. Maybe one day they'll grow up.hwell: Or not.

 

[chuckm]

It had to have been much harder for 27-year-old Takahashi to do an extra competition than 22-year-old Chan. Yet it appears that Takahashi trained for WTT, since he gave good performances in both SP and FS, while Chan stumbled and fell through both SP and FS, falling four times in all.

Even though Takahashi won the men's event, Chan earned more $ than Takahashi because the 2nd place team gets more than the third-placed team.

If Chan is so hard-pressed for money, you'd think he would have welcomed the chance to earn more than $20,000 for 4 days work instead of complaining about it.

For some people, the glass is half-full. But Chan seems to be in the group that complains the glass is half-empty.

 

[Skater Boy]

Gracie Gold did all the same competitions as Max, and her WTT FS was the best she's done internationally this season. And Ashley delivered her first clean FS since the GP. And Jeremy Abbott managed to get a new Seasons Best score at WTT. Chock/Bates won the ice dance competition. The US skaters rose to the occasion, which was supposed to be a lighthearted team competition, and that's why they won.

Patrick Chan did not skate well, so he complained that Skate Canada made him do WTT when he would rather be preparing for the Olympics. Right. So that's why he signed up to do SOI starting next week, and after the SOI tour, another tour in China until June. The second place WTT team gets $170,000, which nets Chan at least $20,000. Poor Paddy, being forced to perform for $$. The unfairness of it all!

I personally think Patrick would be smart to shut up; but he tends to be taken out of context and what he was saying was reiterated by other skaters including Dai. And some of the posters for whatever reason you can tell their "inclinations" for certain teams/skaters or nations - it becomes pretty clear. It is hard to read WTT first the time and second the fun atmosphere. I mean the skaters were goofing around and the award ceremony was a bit more carnival than the coronation - in fac the music and such was really over the top lol. But any skating is good skating. And really people the dislike okay no hatred of some skaters is really showing. I apologize if I seem to "hate" certain skaters. I should be more careful and make it clear ie. i think Mao and Carolina have benefitted from some generous scoring (inflation to haters) but they have good skating skills. But Chan h as outstanding skills. And in fact Dai has benefitted from it too, Abbott, Fernadez - all of them with good skating skills have benefitted even if they fall. The Germans in pairs a rea good example I am not sure why we bash Chan so much. Especially since as sound rational beings we are people are really hating the scoring or judging system. That being said, and I am sorry to repeat myself, if we keep bashing skating and the people here like skating I assume unless they are some crazed hockey fan looking to destroy a sport lol we are killing it - we are saying ourselves it shouldn't be taken seriously. If we can't sell skating that who can or should?

 

[TontoK]

CoP aside, figure skating is a subjective sport. We're going to have occasional disagreements over the result.

Passionate fans debating the results of a competition will not kill the sport. Having the sport continually ridiculed by the general public after highly controversial scoring outcomes... that's what will kill the sport.

We can't ponder the declining popularity of the sport without factoring in results that seem absurd to the general viewer. There aren't enough of us die-hard purists to support the sport indefinitely... in the US anyway. We need the armchair fan to become engaged and actually watch and attend competitions in their local area.

At this point, I don't care who wins the OGM.

I hope we get a result wherein we can dissect the protocols and agree, and at the same time, first time viewer Bubba can say to his wife Maude, "Wow! That was great! When is this on the TV again?"

I want some kid to become hooked on figure skating like I did when I saw my first Olympics. It's nearly 40 years later, and I'm still chasing the thrill I felt when Dorothy Hamill and John Curry became Olympic champions.

Edit: To correct bad math... it's nearly 40 years since 1976, not 50

 

[Mathman]

I do not count myself among Chan's most ardent fans, but I do like him -- so I find the anti-Chan double-standard in this thread (and prob. elsewhere on GS) maddening and absurd. Just don't understand why he is targeted as a villain.

I do think that there is a reason why Patrick, however unfairly, has become a lighting rod for people who don't like the IJS and the programs and results that it produces.

Patrick is the quintessential CoP skater. I don't know why others haven't copied his style -- perhaps they lack the blade to ice skills to do so. Under 6.0 it was straightforward: "stand up on your jumps and look pretty." Now -- well, it's still straightforward: "get in the revolutions on your jumps and keep your feet busy in between." Patrick is the all-time "get in your revolutions and keep your feet busy" champion. If you like "land your jumps and look pretty" better, then naturally Patrick is the number one target for what is wrong with figure skating these days.

A good contrast is Yuna Kim. At worlds, she skated two great 6.0 programs. She landed her jumps and looked pretty. Luckily for her she also collected a bunch of CoP points. No one is complaining that Kim is overscored, Kimflation, results like this are killing the sport, etc.

 

[Moment]

Yuna also gets in the revolutions and keeps her feet busy.