Your advice to commentators at NBC

[museksk8r]

Ugh, I really hope we don't have the dreadful technical calling this year like we did last year. Lisa Ervin and Scott Davis validating Kimmie's 3+3 and not Rachael's and then the judges allowing Alissa Czisny's 1Lutz SP to overtake Rachael's SP, which included what should have been a ratified 3+3 combo. Rachael's team had every right to be upset over that calling.

 

[cassieandcheetah]

Do NOT annouce the winner until the scores come up. Scott announced that Sale and Peltier had won at the Olys - that helped generate the contraversy. With the new scoring system, it is quite possible that the Technical Caller saw something that the commentators did not. So, get excited, but don't jump the gun.

Linny

Ugh!!! The memory of that day! Scott and whoever else was talking next to him that day were sooooooooo unprofessional. There have been so many close calls in the history of figure skating, they had no right to put on a show like that because their personal favorites--fellow north americans may I point out--didn't win. And the way they prematurely declared them winners like that and then decry fowl play afterwards!!! It was really like going back to cold war, and I think no matter what happened behind the curtains at the judging table there's no doubt the american media, spearheaded by Scott hamilton, cruelly bullied the Russian team even though they themselves had performed wonderfully that night. I actually think Oksana Baiul winning gold over Nancy kerrigan was way more controversial than SLC pairs event, but people went with Baiul because she was the poor orphan protege everone felt sorry for.

 

[museksk8r]

^^ I agree! Also, the commentary during Alexei Yagudin's LP in 2002 was so dreadful with the talk of Alexei skating conservatively and possibly allowing Tim Goebel to finish ahead of him in the long. SO RIDICULOUS!, as if Yagudin wasn't light years ahead of Goebel in terms of his overall skating. Scott totally looked like an idiot when calling that mens' event. Yagudin blew Goebel away; it wasn't close at all!

 

[cassieandcheetah]

^^ I agree! Also, the commentary during Alexei Yagudin's LP in 2002 was so dreadful with the talk of Alexei skating conservatively and possibly allowing Tim Goebel to finish ahead of him in the long. SO RIDICULOUS!, as if Yagudin wasn't light years ahead of Goebel in terms of his overall skating. Scott totally looked like an idiot when calling that mens' event. Yagudin blew Goebel away; it wasn't close at all!

I know! I have to agree with you. I remember feeling so puzzled after Yagudin's scores came up, because he ended up being ranked first anyway. I mean, after doing two perfect quads and one flawless axel, how can it be called conservative???There's no male skater right now who does it half as well as he does.

 

[fenway]

Explain some of the levels.
EX: She changed edge on that spin, that will give her more points than the previous skater who did not do that.
OR
That jump is under-rotated. He will get a deduction on that jump. It will only be counted as double.

The latter is my biggest pet peeve. I know so many people (casual skating fans) who don't know or understand the concept of an underrotated jump. They figure if someone landed a jump, it must've been completed. NOT TRUE. It doesn't help that for so many years, commentators ignored that vital bit of info. They've gotten better about pointing it out (I think COP has actually helped in that area...it's FORCED commentators to point it out) but it still wouldn't hurt to send that message out to the folks at home.