ALSO, THERE SHOULD BE A SKI-JUMPING-FOR-ACCURACY EVENT: Having seen its inaugural run, I'll say it again:can we all agree that if there is to be a "team figure skating" Olympic event, it should look like this?
As far as I'm concerned, the team figure skating event turned out to be a bit of a bust. There was pretty much no suspense after the completion of the short programs - heck, there was almost no suspense before the event started.
But I think the full story of the team event won't be told until the conclusion of the individual events. Will skaters who skated in the team event (especially those who skated twice in the team event) be at a disadvantage because they have to full-on compete twice in under two weeks? Or will familiarity with the competition ice and environment help them out?
(Having said that, if Plushenko's got nothing left in the tank for the men's competition, then the team competition won't have been in vain. I just can't STAND watching him skate/prance/smirk.)
I would watch the hell out of Ice Capades team figure skating. The team competition was dull, especially since all of the skaters will be skating the exact same programs in their individual competitions. Even the skaters were calling it a warmup.
It would be interesting to have it happen the way it does in gymnastics - everyone on the team competes, you take the top, say, 2 scores for each nation in each event, and that's what determines the team scores. Top individual performers get to compete again for individual medals. It's different, of course, because no one does more than one event, but you could even do something fun with that - the team competition is based on short program, and you only get to do the long program if you place in the top x number of skaters in the team competition. Hell, bring back the compulsories!
Having seen its inaugural run, I'll say it again: can we all agree that if there is to be a "team skating" Olympic event, it should look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WZ0uRJOatQ
As far as I'm concerned, the team figure skating event turned out to be a bit of a bust. There was pretty much no suspense after the completion of the short programs - heck, there was almost no suspense before the event started.
ReplyDeleteBut I think the full story of the team event won't be told until the conclusion of the individual events. Will skaters who skated in the team event (especially those who skated twice in the team event) be at a disadvantage because they have to full-on compete twice in under two weeks? Or will familiarity with the competition ice and environment help them out?
(Having said that, if Plushenko's got nothing left in the tank for the men's competition, then the team competition won't have been in vain. I just can't STAND watching him skate/prance/smirk.)
I would watch the hell out of Ice Capades team figure skating. The team competition was dull, especially since all of the skaters will be skating the exact same programs in their individual competitions. Even the skaters were calling it a warmup.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to have it happen the way it does in gymnastics - everyone on the team competes, you take the top, say, 2 scores for each nation in each event, and that's what determines the team scores. Top individual performers get to compete again for individual medals. It's different, of course, because no one does more than one event, but you could even do something fun with that - the team competition is based on short program, and you only get to do the long program if you place in the top x number of skaters in the team competition. Hell, bring back the compulsories!
Having seen its inaugural run, I'll say it again: can we all agree that if there is to be a "team skating" Olympic event, it should look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WZ0uRJOatQ
ReplyDelete