FS Performances Before CoP that would score high under CoP

[DORISPULASKI]

In later year's performances, I think she did more revs. She could spin fast-she just didn't unless the music called for it. Yes, her positions were good, and centering good.

Plus she had a change of edge camel in there, and that double flying sit spin that I've always gotten a kick out of.

[gkelly]

I think looking at each of the program components, and also at the degree of negative GOEs on spins as well as jumps, would explain a lot about why this LP earned more second-place ordinals than this one than just counting number of triples landed.

We can't really say who "would have won" under IJS rules because the well-balanced program rules have changed enough just within the IJS era, let alone between 1991 and 2010, to even make it clear which elements should count or not count or which jumps should count as sequences.

[leafygreens]

Surya would've placed higher many times under COP

[Vash01]

In fact, there was not much that truly separated S&P and B&S, IMHO, in terms of skill level, technique and beauty on the ice. S&P were a classic demonstration of North American style, while B&S were a classic demonstration of Russian style.Many fans look at B&S's perfect Olympic 2002 SP and say they should have won -- they did win the sp (S&P opted for a cute, humorous sp, that didn't have the same depth and impact, but it did have technical difficulty). preference, and politics. Both teams, (and indeed, the third team S&Z) were all very close in ability, technique and artistry. Hands down S&P have had the better pro career. In any case, speaking of gorgeous pair skating, this is classic too:In the free program, although the choreography may have been simpler, S&P did also have technical difficulty, and they performed everything with perfection. Therefore, it is a matter of taste,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELys8PkIjEM

I have to disagree with you that B&S and S&P were same skill level, or that S&P had more difficulty in their LP. B&S were head and shoulders above any other pair at that time, when it came to skating skills, and I am not just talking about stroking. Their transitions, changing hand holds, lines, unison, posture, and speed were far superior to S&P's. It's easy to be consistent on jumps and throws when you don't worry about the entry, position, lines and posture,and skate slower. (and S&P were not even consistent on jumps, they landed their jumps but without great unison)

When you talk about difficult choreography, S&P's Love Story was nowhere close to B&S's extremely difficult choreography, with each difficult move connecting another difficult move, with just a few cross overs between the moves, and achieving the speed needed to do the next move. S&P were just doing several cross overs before their moves - big difference. That's what made B&S so special. It was not just the beauty of their skating, and it was not just a cultural thing/different taste/style when you compare the two pairs. The North American media hyped up S&P before the Olympics to make people believe that they were as good as (or better than) B&S, who were the third rate Russians who were only winning by bribing the judges. Nothing was further from the truth.

I saw the 2002 Olympics live in Salt Lake City (both SP & LP). I am not saying B&S should have won because they had a great SP but because they skated two great programs. One of them had a small mistake (a step out on a 2A). These days we are seeing skaters win with multiple falls and it's accepted. Even in 2006 Pang & Tong won the worlds with a fall in their LP, so you really can't make a big deal of Anton's small mistake, considering the level of difficulty of their program. No other pair at that time could skate a program that was so complex choreographically. Now the COP is kind of forcing skaters to increase the complexity.

[DinDonShamu]

B/S would have won in Salt Lake with CoP hands down.

However, though S/P were juniorish in terms of transition and program construction compare to the rest of the top 10, I feel they are very under appreciated on this board. Many posters here suggested that S/P didn't have the skills and only got anywhere close to B/S because of politiks and media hype (not directing this at you Vash, but many many others here), but they did have at least better lifts, twists, death spirals, and SBS spins than B/S.

And I actually think S/P defined the term "unison" in pair skating this decade. S/P just moved as one and took my breath away the first time I saw them in 2002. They were made for each other as in their bodies were on the exact same wavelength. The only break of unison I could remember from S/P when they skated relatively well were their SBS jumps. Even my parents, who were not skating fans, remembered the unison and the "beauty" (though I don't agree ) of a Canadian pair years back but couldn't recall whoever else was competing with them, so I guess it really boiled down to the style thing.

[Vash01]

B/S would have won in Salt Lake with CoP hands down.

However, though S/P were juniorish in terms of transition and program construction compare to the rest of the top 10, I feel they are very under appreciated on this board. Many posters here suggested that S/P didn't have the skills and only got anywhere close to B/S because of politiks and media hype (not directing this at you Vash, but many many others here), but they did have at least better lifts, twists, death spirals, and SBS spins than B/S.

And I actually think S/P defined the term "unison" in pair skating this decade. S/P just moved as one and took my breath away the first time I saw them in 2002. They were made for each other as in their bodies were on the exact same wavelength. The only break of unison I could remember from S/P when they skated relatively well were their SBS jumps. Even my parents, who were not skating fans, remembered the unison and the "beauty" (though I don't agree ) of a Canadian pair years back but couldn't recall whoever else was competing with them, so I guess it really boiled down to the style thing.

I totally disagree about the unison part. S&P defined unison? How? Their sbs jumps were never in unison, while B&S had great unison on their jumps and spins. S&P did sbs bunny hops in great unison, or they skated sbs in unison- that's hardly an achievement. I am not sure why you think S&P had better spins. I don't see the positions or speed in their spins, and B&S definitely had better unison on the spins. As far as lifts are concerned, Canadian pairs have always had more complex lifts, but without the positions or lines the Russian pairs did, so I will give them the complexity part. S&P did have a better split 3 twist; no argument there. Some of the death spirals were done better by S&P (BIDS in particular), but when you talk about COP, the transitions- how the moves are connected- S&P were nowhere close to B&S, and yes, politics played a huge part in their meteoric rise to the top. Unlike other pairs/skaters they did not have to pay their dues. They were held up even with falls and mistakes. They did not have the speed and difficult choreography to overcome a fall; B&S did. It wasn't just a style difference; there was a difference in the skill levels, and with COP B&S would have won hands down.

[bardtoob]

Surya would have had high TES base values under the IJS, but her GOEs and PCS would have been low. Early in her career:

- She did not really use edges to enter jumps.
- Her step sequences were not usually a sequence of skating steps or turns.
- Until 1998, her skating skills were really behind most novice skaters.

She had one program that would have done better under the IJS than 6.0.

1998 Olympics Ladies SP Surya Bonaly

Under the IJS, her 3T/3T would have scored better than the standard 3Lz/2T and her 3S would have scored better than the standard 3T. The overall program construction was the best of her career and, after skating at the Senior World level for 10 years, she finally had skating that looked like it.

She certainly no longer looked like this skater

Surya Bonaly (FRA) - 1989 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

. . . which would have had a very high TES base values but lots of -3 GOEs and 3 in the PCS categories, I might add.

[DinDonShamu]

I totally disagree about the unison part. S&P defined unison? How? Their sbs jumps were never in unison, while B&S had great unison on their jumps and spins. S&P did sbs bunny hops in great unison, or they skated sbs in unison- that's hardly an achievement. I am not sure why you think S&P had better spins. I don't see the positions or speed in their spins, and B&S definitely had better unison on the spins. As far as lifts are concerned, Canadian pairs have always had more complex lifts, but without the positions or lines the Russian pairs did, so I will give them the complexity part. S&P did have a better split 3 twist; no argument there. Some of the death spirals were done better by S&P (BIDS in particular), but when you talk about COP, the transitions- how the moves are connected- S&P were nowhere close to B&S, and yes, politics played a huge part in their meteoric rise to the top. Unlike other pairs/skaters they did not have to pay their dues. They were held up even with falls and mistakes. They did not have the speed and difficult choreography to overcome a fall; B&S did. It wasn't just a style difference; there was a difference in the skill levels, and with COP B&S would have won hands down.

Looking back at SLC, S/P did have wonderful sit and camel positions (though not as "stretched" as B/S), along with wonderful death drops in the free. In fact, their SBS spins were faster than B/S. I'm totally as to whether we have been watching the same performances.

She also had very good positions on all their lifts. I'll look up what makes up good positions again but I think their star and lasso lifts were textbook, once again not as balletic and 'graceful' if you will as B/S's, but that's totally up to individual preference. As you can probably tell by now I don't find balletic lines essential in pairs.

But I do agree S/P would have been (or should have been) completely hosed in CoP. Their transition scores worthed nor more than 2. And the so-called "footworks"

[ks1227]

A lot of the french ladies were doing CoP-ish style spins back under 6.0.

Gusmeroli and Bonaly would do all sorts of catch foot combo spins, and Gusmeroli and Hubert would do reverse entry combination spins and camel spins with changes of edge.

I think this is a really interesting point.

On the other hand, all three of them would have lost points elsewhere under CoP (especially Bonaly). I say that as a huge fan of both Hubert and Gusmeroli. And some of their spins were not that good, e.g., Hubert's layback. However Hubert and Gusmeroli would have (or at least, should have) gotten much higher SS scores than Bonaly.

[topaz]

Thanks also Libertango for those postings of Elena and Anton. Gorgeous skating. I always enjoyed watching them, but at times I felt they were held up when they didn't perform well. At that time, although I really liked Elena and Anton, Sale & Pelletier were my favorites, and Shen and Zhao were also amazing, but never talked about in the same breath (though their time would come). Whenever fans speak of how exquisite Anton and Elena were at 2002 Olympics, I do agree, especially in the sp, but there was the small mistake by Anton in lp, and Jamie Sale's jump landings were smooth, steady and textbook perfect vs. Elena's that while landed well, were not as steady. IMO, those were the only differences -- everything else was preference and politics, and dealmaking amongst the judges (business as usual in fs) -- only this time the the dealmaking was uncovered and became a scandal. In fact, there was not much that truly separated S&P and B&S, IMHO, in terms of skill level, technique and beauty on the ice. S&P were a classic demonstration of North American style, while B&S were a classic demonstration of Russian style.

Many fans look at B&S's perfect Olympic 2002 SP and say they should have won -- they did win the sp (S&P opted for a cute, humorous sp, that didn't have the same depth and impact, but it did have technical difficulty). In the free program, although the choreography may have been simpler, S&P did also have technical difficulty, and they performed everything with perfection. Therefore, it is a matter of taste, preference, and politics. Both teams, (and indeed, the third team S&Z) were all very close in ability, technique and artistry. Hands down S&P have had the better pro career. In any case, speaking of gorgeous pair skating, this is classic too:

This is the debate of the debates.

I personally think it was no contest. B/S were faster, both programs were more difficult, better skating skills than S/P. B/S is maybe the fastest pairs team ever, EVER.

I understand that B/S made a mistake on the LP, but overall the program has held up. The program has incredible transitions and CH. I do think the judges took into the account the S/P skated a very comfortable program for them(nothing new or different). B/S took the chance, I've always said B/S should have countered and skated their City Lights. If they did, we wouldn't have this conversation.

Also, Anton Sikharulidze is better skater than David P.

[PUNKPRINCESS]

There are lots of skaters who would have excelled under CoP with the programs they used under 6.0, but had they skated under CoP I somehow doubt they would have skated to the same brilliance. IMO, CoP stifles creativity and freedom and favors mechanical, cut-and-pasted control over inspiration. Not EVERY program under CoP, but that's just how it seems to me. Michelle Kwan, Johnny Weir, and Kurt Browning would never have been done justice. I believe Alexei Yagudin is one of the true exceptions who may have done equally well under CoP as he did under 6.0.

I had this discussion here a few weeks ago (sorry for the thorniness, Ziggy!)
http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...t=75754&page=2

I agree. Johnny used to be the poster boy for CoP in 2004, and he was favorable to it himself before he got disillusioned with it (and the judges with him).

Thanks for posting those links. Sometimes, I'm so disappointed in how Johnny never managed to adapt to the points-gathering strategy that I forgot how lovely and refreshing his style actually was in skating when he first burst onto the scene.

I think the best example of Johnny's pre-COP skating was his 2003-04 Valse Triste SP.

Yes!!! And boo-urns to that one judge who gave Johnny the 4.9 and 5.0. He/she would never be able to justify that under CoP.

This CoP program of Johnny's, I always thought, was constructed beautifully.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW9XqGT4rJI

1983 Canadians Kay Thomson SP . . . OMG I FINALLY FOUND IT!!!

1987 NHK Tonya Harding SP

Midori Ito 1990 Worlds OP (JPTV)

Wow...Kay Thomson. Never heard of her or seen her before, but that's one heck of a program.

Great picks of Harding and Ito for strong CoP candidates, too.

[all_empty]

Irina Slutskaya's short programs in the late 90s and early 00s would have scored well under COP.

Her 1998 short program was a delight, with a huge death drop, 2A with arm over the head, and a great footwork sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJKs2kaJlyc

Her rarely seen 1999 short program was even better, with one-footed turns into a 3F+2T, running threes into 3Lo, a butterfly flying camel with layover position, 2A with arm over the head, COP-worthy spirals, and her trademark combination spin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpOKM8P_Msc

Her 2000 short featured a better-positioned flying camel and a sideways-to-back layback.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qP6J...eature=related

Many know her excellent, athletic Spheeris program. Great catch-foot layback (sometimes with acceleration), and a one-foot footwork sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAeqq...eature=related

[Marco]

Many of Surya's 3/3s and all of her attempted quads would have been downgraded.

[vodkashot]

Definitely most of Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze's programs.

Also, I've always thought that Sasha Abt's Rachmaninoff LP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86g-lZbNauU) would have scored quite well under CoP.

[shine]

How about this?
It placed 11th at the 2002 Worlds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w872zjNfzY

[briancoogaert]

Surya would've placed higher many times under COP

And Philippe Candeloro would have placed lower many times under CoP

[Seerek]

How about this?
It placed 11th at the 2002 Worlds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w872zjNfzY

I get the feeling though that he wouldn't have received the component scores he deserved considering he was skating only in the 2nd out of 4 groups.

[Allen]

How about this?
It placed 11th at the 2002 Worlds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w872zjNfzY

I think Matt Savoie is so underrated. I don't think he ever got the points he deserved in PCS, so I don't know if he would have necessarily done better in COP with this program. I think he and Buttle were in a class by themselves in terms of transitions, which I don't think either really ever got high enough components scores for.

[ks1227]

I think Matt Savoie is so underrated. I don't think he ever got the points he deserved in PCS, so I don't know if he would have necessarily done better in COP with this program. I think he and Buttle were in a class by themselves in terms of transitions, which I don't think either really ever got high enough components scores for.

I agree with all of this about Savoie. But I do wonder what would have happened if he had emerged a few years later under CoP rather than going through the change from 6.0 to CoP. By the time CoP came along, Matt had sort of been pegged already as being in the "second tier" of U.S. men's skaters. So, no, he never got the PCS marks he deserved under CoP (though things did improve in his last season). And it didn't help that he was not always consistent. But I'll bet he would have gotten better PCS marks under CoP if he hadn't been pegged already. His skating was made for CoP in so many ways, particularly the transitions but not only that.

ETA: And that 2002 Worlds performance was wonderful!

[Squibble]

I love how the British Eurosport announcers call him Matthew Sav-WHAH. I used to call him that before I learned better.

The Men's LP at 2002 Worlds would be a good one for another FSU Judging Game, if we ever have one.

The Top Eleven were:

Yagudin
Goebel
Honda
Abt
Li
Weiss
Liu
Zhang
Vlascenko
Dambier
Savoie

Quad or no quad, I think Savoie would beat at least half (maybe even seven or eight) of the men above him under current (or 2009-10) COP judging.