Recent content by Susan M

During this era, there was a distinct East-West split in the approach to the CDs. The US and other Western skaters tended to focus on getting the steps very accurate while the Russians put more value on the overall look, things like unison of leg line and presentation qualities. If it helped...

IMO they were, if anything, over marked and overrated. It is a sad commentary on the recent state of pair skating that a team with little but difficult technical tricks, fairly weak musical connection and interpretation skills, and general lack of "skating as one" should have been able to...

This event was scored under the 6.0 system, still using majority ordinals, so it isn't as simple as the marks the judge gave each skater. If we had access to the judge's ordinals from that event and assumed any given judge who placed U/Z ahead of G/P would continue to do so with or without...

I think the scoring of jump combinations and sequences is a real weak point in this system. IMO first jump's base value should get a 1.1 multiplier and they should get rid of the reduction for the sequence. Another problem is that the skater can do a fine first jump, but if the skater falls on...

I'd give it to Nancy K because she was such a clear and strong winner of the SP, then she seemed to just give up in the FS. At least Fadeev threw in the quad toe attempt like he still wanted to do well, while she just started doubling things. Actually, watching Fadeev's skate with all the jump...

1. More (and better) replay cameras Not so sure. IMO they need less reliance on replay not more. It has created a problem of real disconnect between what we see in real time and the scores. There has also developed a real issue of some skaters getting a pass, even for dodgy landings, while...

Isn't that a Julie Andrews song?

I often thought that takeoff was part of the reason Eldredge never really perfected a quad toes. The turn-step-pick entrance looks to give the skaters much more spring.

The blades are so different. He did really well just to avoid tripping over the toe pick.

They don't need to go that far, but they should change the GOE guidance to give credit for any one arm variation only the first time it is used. Isn't that what they did with Biellmann positions on spins?

I voted ridiculous because they skated in different disciplines and were totally different skaters. Baiul was a magical performer, a skater for the ages in spite of some technical flaws. Grishuk was as technically proficient an ice dancer as any lady to that point, and maybe ever. Here we are...

Well, actuially, they did. V/M were only 2nd in the FD. Yes, element errors cost more than slips on the in betweens. Deal with it; it actually does make some sense. It has been that way for decades, even before ijs. G&G were, are, and always will be Gordeeva and Grinkov. They weren't at...

Would anyone believe it if I said Carol Heiss? I don't have any memory of the 1960 Olympics, but I know I must have been a big fan because I do remember reading her biography targeted to kids. That used to be pretty standard for selected OGM athletes in those days. I don't know if it is still...

I agree, this was a terrible music choice. Even without the awful lyrics, the music itself was ponderous and depressing. I cannot imagine what anyone was thinking when they chose this (or what USFS was thinking not telling her to change it at Champs Camp). Once she made an error, it seemed...

I have a soft spot in my heart for this skater. I remember watching the live stream of the ladies SP in Sochi and being really charmed by her skating. She was the skater "on the bubble" for the last spot in the FS and skater after skater came out and placed behind her in the SP. I remember...