Davis and White #14 - Better Late Than Sinatra

[iNap]

Jeez, all this bitching around about how Meryl and Charlie are overscored and all those conspiracy theories about the American Federation politicking in favor of D&W are just I've just read an opinion that someone has never seen this kind of politicking in the skating history. Really?

I just wonder where all those haters were when Meryl and Charlie riddiculously lost bronze at the 2009 Worlds. Or when they lost the 2010 and 2012 Worlds for that matter.

I just don't get it. It's like, just realize Meryl and Charlie are top class skaters already and enjoy the show.

they say all event D-W win do not matter. then why they waste time to politik for events that not matter

[shan]

they say all event D-W win do not matter. then why they waste time to politik for events that not matter

Exactly!

[Jessiebanana]

Fantastic! I can't wait for it to pop up on YT so I can see the victory.

Also, while I'm happy they won both the FD and the SD, I don't think they had to in order to validate their win. It's such a double standard. M/C have beaten V/M in the FD many times before, when they were always coming in second, because their CDs and/or ODs were weaker, but no one ever said anything...and they shouldn't. It's an overall win. Losing one dance, falls, getting caught in lifts, etc is all a part of competing. It's about who puts out a better performance.

[Jessiebanana]

Jeez, all this bitching around about how Meryl and Charlie are overscored and all those conspiracy theories about the American Federation politicking in favor of D&W are just I've just read an opinion that someone has never seen this kind of politicking in the skating history. Really?

I just wonder where all those haters were when Meryl and Charlie riddiculously lost bronze at the 2009 Worlds. Or when they lost the 2010 and 2012 Worlds for that matter.

I just don't get it. It's like, just realize Meryl and Charlie are top class skaters already and enjoy the show.

I don't think there is enough politicking in the World to overtake the Chanada thing going on. Are these people serious? V/M are the darlings of ice dancing (a lot of the attention and praise deserved). The idea that there is a conspiracy against them is ridiculous and frankly insulting after what happened last Worlds.

[iNap]

Charlie go to school for politiks science. Meryl do all translation for this team to do this politiks. I have strong feeling there will be egyptian judege at W-Ch

[semogal]

So thrilled for Meryl and Charlie. Four time GPF champs, 1st US Ice Dance World Champs. They will go down in history as THE US dance team. I am so glad that I get to witness it all!!!

(or I will witness it all when a video finally shows up of today's FD)

[DORISPULASKI]

If there is any politics, it might be that all the pro D&W judges are at this event (which indeed) doesn't matter, and all the pro V&M judges are assigned to Worlds. While we're doing crazy conspiracy theories :sarcasm:


It sure wasn't politicking in the tech panel; there was a Canadian on it, and no American or French member. (Canadian, British & Polish, AFAIR).

Kudos to Igor for getting C&L up to the level where they got the only Level 4 step from a senior I've seen this season

[Jessiebanana]

Kudos to Igor for getting C&L up to the level where they got the only Level 4 step from a senior I've seen this season

This divorce is ruining Canton. I want Igor back.

[Whitneyskates]

I can't believe people are saying that they have never seen such politicking before. Were they not around when F-P/M and L/A were world champions?

Let them hate. D/W are 4 time GPF champions and will no doubt be remembered as the greatest American ice dance team of all time!

[lmarie086]

I'm still looking forward to seeing more good things happen to the FD (with Alex W) and improvement in levels for the FD and especially the SD. All in all, it was a good competition

This! I'm so happy for them, and I can't wait to see the FD once it's online. But I hope they continue to grow throughout the rest of the season. Giselle and ND are both fine dances, but I still expect more from them. And that's just because that's how good they are.

I hope they work with Alex Wong again in the second half of the season, I really think that he can help bring them to a new level.

[Susan M]

I can believe the USA is pushing D/W, just like the Canadians push V/M, Russians were trying to push I/K , etc, etc. I don't believe, though that means they didn't deserve to win.

One of the games I like to play is to study the PCS marks in the protocols to see if I can pick out the homer judges for each of the top skaters. Looking at the PCS marks on the GPF free dance protocol, judges #5 and #6 both stand out as clearly preferring D/W, but it looks like D/W won the PCS battle 7 judges to 2 for V-M. Here are the number of components D-W won over V/M from each judge, omitting components were both teams got the same mark:
#1 3-2, #2 1-2. #3 2-1. #4 2-1, #5 5-0, #6 5-0, #7 2-1, #8 4-0 #9 1-3

If you average the 9 marks for each component, D/W won every component. So, I think this was, in the eyes of the panel, a clear win for Davis/White.

[shan]

Well apparently when M/C win it's politics, but if V/M win, everything is as it should be.

No matter, I thought M/C did a beautiful job today!

[Whitneyskates]

Well apparently when M/C win it's politics, but if V/M win, everything is as it should be.

Well of course. Copping feels at center ice and sticking your crotch in your partner's face is innovative and artistic, don'tcha know?

I've seen videos of all the FD's, just waiting for D/W.

[semogal]

Well apparently when M/C win it's politics, but if V/M win, everything is as it should be. )

Charlie and Meryl are the Rodney Dangerfields of Ice Dance.

[Jessiebanana]

Yay the video is up: http://youtu.be/688Lpm8tp3c

[lmarie086]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=688Lpm8tp3c

Great performance today! Unfortunately, I am going to nitpick (but only because the judges will do the same more and more as the season goes)

-I wish they faced each other more in the step sequences- they always start them in the same hold. Which is why I loved when they had the entrance from the Tango to the diagonal initially. Also, I want them to create more pictures in their movements in the step sequences- really hold out each move, make it all match well. One thing I've noticed is it sometimes seems like Meryl jumps out away from Charlie at times, so maybe just stay closer together?

-Also on the diagonal SS, I want more gypsy flavor! It was improved here (Meryl was working it) but I'd like to see it incorporated more into the choreo. Could they work with a gypsy dancer?

-Some spots of the choreo are a little open, but it's still improved. I just expect a lot of them lol. Keep working with Alex Wong!!

-I see a lot of arm movement that isn't purposeful. I'd like them to concentrate on that too.

I loved the new starting positions, I think it did so much more for the story! And I love that we've seen changes to this program each time they've competed this season. I'm happy to see this because last year while I really enjoyed DF, it peaked too soon. I don't think ND is anywhere near perfection. And I like that.

[mia joy]

I just wonder how it is possible that every season Meryl and Charlie win the GPF, but then Tessa and Scott's scores magically go up in the second part of the season to ensure their win at Worlds (even if they lose WTT a month later). I would be ok with it if I saw Tessa and Scott clearly beating Meryl and Charlie with their Worlds performances, but I usually don't. I truly believe D/W should've won last year and in 2010. How's that for politicking?

I can't believe people are saying that they have never seen such politicking before. Were they not around when F-P/M and L/A were world champions?

This. I really think saying such things does great dishonour to the teams who really suffered from negative politicking in the past, e.g. the only team I've ever loved as much as I do Meryl and Charlie, Drobiazko/Vanagas.

Nevertheless, I'm thrilled for Meryl and Charlie to create ice dance history like that. Also, having won 3 GPF titles and knowing how much Tessa and Scott must want to win it for once, it might have been difficult for them to have the motivation needed to do their best. They did. They always do and that's why I love them.

[literaryfreak]

One of the games I like to play is to study the PCS marks in the protocols to see if I can pick out the homer judges for each of the top skaters. Looking at the PCS marks on the GPF free dance protocol, judges #5 and #6 both stand out as clearly preferring D/W, but it looks like D/W won the PCS battle 7 judges to 2 for V-M. Here are the number of components D-W won over V/M from each judge, omitting components were both teams got the same mark:
#1 3-2, #2 1-2. #3 2-1. #4 2-1, #5 5-0, #6 5-0, #7 2-1, #8 4-0 #9 1-3

Did you get this by reading down the column? The judges are in a random order for each skater, so you can't do this breakdown using that method.

[DORISPULASKI]

GS coverage of the SD press conference. An excerpt:

http://www.goldenskate.com/2012/12/sr-sd/

Having their dance set to ballet music presented another challenge for the Olympic silver medalists.

“This dance is completely Marina’s (Zueva) idea,” explained Davis. “She is very well-educated in classical dance, music, and ballet, much more so than Charlie and I are. So when she came to us with the idea, she already knew how she wanted to do it and it was very exciting for us. We watched many different versions of Giselle and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would be the most effective to transfer to the ice. It was certainly a challenge. We are quite happy with the result.”

They are also very pleased with the way the dance is progressing.

“We both feel like this program was a big improvement for us over our first two competitions of the season, which is something we’re aiming for,” Davis told the press. “We try not to let ourselves get too far ahead of where we are at the moment. Before the competition, we talked about using the opportunity to just really feel and express the music to the best of our ability.”

[Sylvia]

FD article: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

From the Team USA Saturday recap: http://skatingmagazineblog.com/2012/...dals-in-sochi/

Davis and White skated their best performances of the season in Sochi to total a season-high 183.39 points. Their “Notre-Dame” free dance, that White called “fantastic,” was highlighted by an array of level 4 elements including one spin, four lifts and the twizzle sequence. They earned 110.19 points for the segment.

White continued, “Emotionally, technically, we really put it all out there. I’m proud of the way we fought through it. It’s a great step to help us build toward winning Worlds.”

Russian President Vladmir Putin was on hand to watch the free dance, a fact that Davis and White were aware of but tried to push to the back of their minds before the skate.

“The ice, the atmosphere and the crowd were fantastic,” Davis said. “We heard (Russian President) Putin was in the audience which is really exciting. When you hear about important people in the audience, it’s not something you try to focus on before you skate. But afterward we were like, ‘Oh! Putin was in the audience. That’s cool.’”