Were the French Welcome in Washington?

[Verbalgirl77]

Re: Were the French Welcome in Washington?

The response was due more to the marks putting the Chinese team (who skated well and had a monster twist lift) in 2nd place, behind a team (Russian or not) that had multiple mistakes and falls and got inexplicably high marks. On the other hand, T&M's marks were well received for both programs because they gave good performances.

 

[piddlediddle]

Go figure.

I didn't realize that the only spectators at Worlds were Americans.

 

[Jules Asner]

Re: Go figure.

well if there were any boo's people would say "the Americans booed skaters" not "the international crowd booed skaters"

 

[icenut84]

Re: Go figure.

I'm not saying it was all Americans at all, I just particularly noticed the booing for P&T. It was mostly when the announcer said "Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, from Russia, are currently in first place" that the boos really started. They looked very embarrassed and like they didn't know what to do. Nobody wants to be booed for being in the lead.

 

[mpal2]

Re: Go figure.

Yet Petrova and Tikhonov were quoted in the Washington Post the very next day that that crowd was extremely supportive of them and felt that the boos were directed at the lower scores from the judges.

I don't know if they got the point or not. They are boring, boring, boring.

 

[LarasB]

Comment for Go figure

I didn't go to Worlds, I watched ABC & ESPN telecast of it and neither station showed one single French skater. I was very upset because even though I'm from the U.S., I really enjoy the skaters from France. I think politics should be set aside when it comes to sports.

 

[Verbalgirl77]

Re: Comment for Go figure

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>I didn't go to Worlds, I watched ABC & ESPN telecast of it and neither station showed one single French skater. I was very upset because even though I'm from the U.S., I really enjoy the skaters from France. I think politics should be set aside when it comes to sports. [/quote]

That isn't a French issue at all. They usually broadcast, 1) US skaters who finish in the top 10 and 2) most of the medalists in the 4 disciplines.

If you finish 4th or lower there's no guarantee you'll even make the broadcast (even D&S medaled and didn't make the broadcast).

If I'm not mistaken, Joubert had the highest finish of any French skater, but he wasn't in the final flight of the men's final. They only showed the top 6 from the SP. Lots of Canadians, Japanese skaters, and skaters from other countries weren't shown either. I think the only Canadian skaters that were broadcast on US tv were B&K.

I do think the coverage sucks and I wish they'd show more skaters, but the fact that French skaters weren't shown has nothing to do with their nationality. It had to do with their placements.

 

[DORISPULASKI]

Re: Comment for Go figure

1. Abitbol and Bernadis were fighting her injuries throughout the competition, stopped skating during the long program, and restarted. The result was not good.
2. Stannick Jeannette did not have any section of the competition that he skated well in. (And I was hoping he did! I quite like his stuff.)
3. The top French dance team, Delobel and Schoenfelder finished behind both the American teams (who were 7th and 8th)
4. Brian Joubert had a horrible qualifying round. He was one of the first to skate, had apparently been awakened in the middle of the night by a fire alarm at his hotel, and did not land any of his big jumps. Without the jumps, there was not much left. His SP was OK. His LP was a good show; he ended up in I think 6th place? I wish they had shown his LP at least on ESPN, but they didn't. It was a good job.
5. I liked Anne Sophie Calvez, myself though. But she finished way down.

As to getting on the air on ABC/ESPN, they tend to try to get a lot of competitors on on the SP and they severely limit the LP coverage. If lucky, you get the final flight of skaters. Even all the American's don't get on if they are not in the last flight (for example, not just Orscher and Lucash, but Inoue and Baldwin, who finished a respectable 10th for their first World's outing in pairs were not shown.) And if you are
not an American, heck, you might medal and not get shown. It is not at all uncommon to chack the bronze medallist especially in dance.

dpp