Subject: Olympic Judging Revisited

Date: Wed Feb 15 11:39:47 2006
User: raederle
Message:
Thought I would move this thread to match the subject Line. These are the comments as of today. Raederle Date: Feb 14 14:41 User: EZ-ED1 Message: raederle wrote: "...By the way, the ice skating scoring is STILL the pits! (or is that another thread?..." Between us, you and I have lived a long time, raederle. (These combined years mostly belong to me as everyone knows you are yet to reach your 31st birthday.) Ever notice how some things never change? Every four years during the Winter Olympics it's the ice skating. And every four years during the Summer Olympics it's the boxing. Can these judges really be that incompetent over that many years? Or are other factors at play? Kind of puts a damper on what otherwise is a great time. Date: Feb 14 15:11 User: ix Message: Perhaps the judges are distracted, wondering constantly how those damn ice skates work? Date: Feb 14 16:43 User: Snowguy Message: I watched the terrible fall the chinese girl took last night while trying the throw with 4 revolutions. She apparently really ratcheted up her courage and fought through the pain (and possible weakness resulting from damage to the knee- I noticed later that she seemed to have a brace on along with the ice and bandage wrappings.) What I wonder about is how, using their scoring system, they could award her enough points after the fall to warrant the silver medal. Is it possible she got some simpathy and respect points? Supposedly the new system wouldn't allow that, and the fall occurred on a move never before attempted in international competition, but still...? She and her partner both earned my respect and admiration! And if I could, I probably would have given them a sympathy point or two. (She sure was a tiny thing, though.) Date: Feb 14 17:08 User: uniped Message: Snowguy, I heard an interesting comment today by one of the Sports commentators. He said that although the fall deducted points, the fact that they came back, picked up the routine at the point where she fell and from that point on did superb, that's what gave them enough accumulated points to win. Fair or not, I'm sure they will re-think the new scoring system and rules. The same commentator said that, in his opinion, that what they did in their comeback was what the true meaning of Olympic spirit is all about. Date: Feb 14 17:37 User: raederle Message: .hug EZ-ED1 Havn't reached my 35th year? Golly Gee, I sure do like you! .grin Anyway, the night I was watching the couple (I believe they were American, but that is not the point) did a move that was a first time ever, and did it beautifully. The comentators had said if they pulled it off, they would get a huge amount of points. The next couple performed a lovely routine, but she triped and her hand touched the ground. So a flawed routine beat a unflawed routine. Didn't make sense to me. The Chinese girl DID do what was IS the true meaning of sports, finished the course and did her best, even though she was now out of the running. Then to have her take a silver, when there were other couples that skated beautifully, without errors, who came in behind them. I think they should have computers do the judging. No humans at all to screw it up. raederle Date: Feb 14 17:50 User: BushStoleMyMojo Message: Dear Uncle Hanibal_Lecter: I have some questions. You talk a lot about Bushmills. Does that have anything to do with that Bush guy who stole my mojo? Oh, oh, I had some other questions, but they will have to wait. I have to run and hide now. The guys in the white coats with the Kool-Aid are coming. Date: Feb 14 20:20 User: Snowguy Message: Two points: 1) I *Love* BushStoleMyMojo! 2) However, another way to think about that performance last night is this. Yes, what she and her partner did was in the true spirit of Olympic competition. (Pure will to perform!) But on the other hand, couples that suffer a spill usually have to try to regroup without a stop and fresh start at the next point in their program. If you will recall, the chinese couple came out onto the ice and skated across the length of it to where they were supposed to be for their next move, as they synchronized with their music. That definitely gave them an advantage over most couples who spill. (And in fact some couples who spill in the future might just decide they "suffered an injury" and stop, and then decide to persevere with a fresh start and clear heads, with their music re-started.) Something tells me a new rule will be drafted: You stop your performance for any reason and you have ended your performance. (Does anybody else think so?) Date: Feb 14 21:16 User: birdhaus Message: I heart Tonya Harding. She skated with a poorly laced skate. She set the standard for anyone who doesn't lace properly. HOOBOO. Date: Feb 14 23:26 User: uniped Message: Snowguy, good point. I'm sure the rules will be discussed, maybe the scoring system will stand the test, but not the "free-fall" maneuver. If the fall-down exemption stands, then what about the girl who crashed on the luge and walked away from it? She should be able to jump back to the point where she crashed. We could go on and on. Should be an interesting year in Olympic history. Date: Feb 14 23:55 User: DorothyHamil Message: I have to agree with you 100% DH Date: Feb 15 00:02 User: DorothyHamil Message: You know when I signed on to this, I realized I spelled my name with only one L when there is two. You guys sound like you have some real Ice Skating experience. I find your observations very fascinating. DH Date: Feb 15 00:18 User: uniped Message: Right Dot, think about it! Uniped Date: Feb 15 06:11 User: Snowguy Message: Dot, don't forget that our dear Uncle Hanibal Lecter spells his name differently, too. And many of us believe that he's not really Hannibal. (Has anybody else wondered about the occasional NetCeller that we never hear from ag...) Never mind. .shiver Date: Feb 15 09:22 User: Snowguy Message: That was an excellent point, uni, about the re-start in the luge. But because luge is a speed event, the re-start from that point might not help. I began to think about the slalom when somebody crashes of the course, but it might be the same. (Especially since people have been crashing for ages. But on the other hand, pairs skaters ahve been falling for ages, too.) Some other pure performance-type sport might be similar, though. How about a fall from the parallel bars? A hockey player twists and ankle and falls during a breakaway goal-scoring opportunity? Certainly ice dancing and singles skating could be similar. Did the judges open a huge can of worms here? (I suspect that two silver medals might be awarded this year to make it up to the other chinese couple they bumped back to bronze.) Just wundrin'...

Date: Thu Feb 16 01:32:58 2006
User: Crunch
Message:
A lot of people made mistakes and cost them some medals. Just look at Bode in the slalom. He made a split second decision and missed the gate and was disqualified. I have mixed feelings about the Chinese couple being allowed to finish their skating routine. On the plus side, we would not have witnessed that incredible comeback. Same for the skaters racing, one slip, and they are out. Maybe because they can come back to the same point in the ice skating, they allow it. They certainly cannot come back to the downhill point with the gates and synchronize there. Okay, I'm happier now having resolved that. It does seem that there are a great many things that can go wrong in the competition. It looks so easy when it works. I guess that's why we are not all there, or are we just plain not all there. :-) Cheers to the dealing with adversity and coming back! Crunch

Date: Thu Feb 16 03:18:00 2006
User: damgud
Message:
i don't think anyone minds the fact that they were allowed to continue. none of us would have sacrificed seeing the incredible spirit, determination, and (true) sportsmanship it took to do so. i think the argument lies in the medal awarded. i have long been a believer that if you fall...you lose. a large part of getting to that medal podium is being able to perform under pressure. but if this argument is true for skaters..then what of gymnasts in the summer olympics? i think it was proved...time and time and time again, that the american male (see how forgettable he was?) who won the all around in the last summer olympics was NOT the best gymnast there...and he certainly did NOT deserve that gold medal he won for falling off the high bar. (and having BEEN a gymnast for many years, i have room to speak!) all judging relying on scoring rather than times has MUCH room for improvement..but as the saying goes, you can't make everyone happy. however, i DO like the new system in which the computer chooses 9 of the 12 judges, never knowing which country they're from. let's face it, impartiality has never been part of the judging in the olympics.

Date: Thu Feb 16 05:51:42 2006
User: Snowguy
Message:
Back to the chinese couple finishing their performance. Sport- especially the Olympics- has been replete with those who have fallen getting up and continuing the race or performance, even though they have actually forfeited any chance of winning. It was even dramatized in several movies, one being "Cool Runnings" where the Jamaican bobsled team, after crashing horribly, carried their sled on their shoulders to and over the finish line. (In the movie the sled had suffered a detachment of a bolt and nut that secured a runner control cable.) I certainly have no problem with the chinese couple finihing their program. I only have pause in seeing them allowed to complete their program with a re-start at the point where they fell. It just seems unfair to those who get up, shaken and often bewildered, and try to re-synchronize and complete their program with no break at all. My prediction stands, methinks. Absent a rules change, others will try to do the same, intentionally massaging the leeway given that couple.

Date: Fri Feb 17 02:29:46 2006
User: damgud
Message:
.nod absolutely agreed.

Date: Fri Aug 8 09:07:38 2014
User: COTC
Message:
After I enter my user name and password and click Login all I get is a green page with Loading Game in the top left corner but that's it. No game loads. Is anyone else having a problem like this or is it just me?

Date: Wed Feb 21 23:45:29 2018
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:
They’ve really made a quantum jump with ice skating scoring over the last eight years and since no one is really going out on a limb the very young Russian woman’s skater Zigatova has the potential to be the best female ice skater ever. She’s only 15 as in damn she’s only 15 and she’s already thrown in some performances for the ages. So far she’s showing nary a hint of being being nervous. Watch out.

Date: Thu Feb 22 00:08:43 2018
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:
They’ve really made a quantum jump with ice skating scoring over the last eight years and since no one is really going out on a limb the very young Russian woman’s skater Zigatova has the potential to be the best female ice skater ever. She’s only 15 as in damn she’s only 15 and she’s already thrown in some performances for the ages. So far she’s showing nary a hint of being being nervous. Watch out.

Date: Thu Feb 22 08:39:13 2018
User: BuzzClik
Message:
I watched the movie, "I, Tonya." That was the first Olympic figure skating I'd watched in many years. My appetite for figure skating remains near zero.