NBC to show 2 hour commemorative of American skating Sunday afternoon at 2 PM EST

[NAOTMAA]

We'll probably get a little Scott Hamilton commentary.

I mean, no broadcast is complete without hearing, "She has EVERY quality you look for in a ladies figure skating champion."

And don't forget he always reminded everyone that the skaters were doing the last jumps of their program "on tired legs!"

 

[floridaice]

We'll probably get a little Scott Hamilton commentary.

I mean, no broadcast is complete without hearing, "She has EVERY quality you look for in a ladies figure skating champion."

And don't forget he always reminded everyone that the skaters were doing the last jumps of their program "on tired legs!"

I've been watching the Olympic Classics today on Olympic Channel -- 2002 & 2006 coverage. OMG, if I've heard him say those two phases once, I've heard them 1,000 times! I'm usually yelling at Tara to shut up, but I had forgotten how annoying Scott's commentary was. I hate to say it, but Tara and Johnnie are so much better than Scott. (Dick Button is out of touch/old fashioned, but sincere.)

 

[Frau Muller]

And don't forget he always reminded everyone that the skaters were doing the last jumps of their program "on tired legs!"

Or “his greatest weakness is that he has no weakness...” or some similar foolishness.

 

[Carolla5501]

How long has NBC aired Nationals? If it's just the past decade, then I can't be too upset. Can't expect them to have the rights to ABC's footage. But the first sentence made me really excited.

I’d be excited except the “look at us sideshow”
was going to commentate. Anyone want to start taking bets on how often we learn that Tara was the youngest Olympic medalist ever?

And honestly, I don’t think ABC would’ve charge match to use previous events, but that would’ve been before the Sideshow
act’s time.

I’ll take Scott Hamilton and his tired legs over look at me and my bling any day. At least that commentator team didn’t believe we only tuned in to see them.

Well it looks like we know Mariah Bell will win Nationals... Why the hell would they show HER?! She's cute as a button, but her skating is weak. No consistent 3/3, no great international results. But she is SO ADORABLE!!!! gag. USFS strikes again....

Boy your jealousy is almost overwhelming.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I've been watching the Olympic Classics today on Olympic Channel -- 2002 & 2006 coverage. OMG, if I've heard him say those two phases once, I've heard them 1,000 times! I'm usually yelling at Tara to shut up, but I had forgotten how annoying Scott's commentary was. I hate to say it, but Tara and Johnnie are so much better than Scott. (Dick Button is out of touch/old fashioned, but sincere.)

He always grunted (I can't explain it any better) when the skaters were mid jump too. It was like he was trying to will them to rotate and land successfully

I didn't mind Scott that much. I thought his nerdy enthusiasm was endearing. He really was likeable even if half the stuff he said was eye roll worthy. I"ll never forgive Sandra Bezic for her "I'm so ashamed of our sport" shit she pulled in 2002 though. I don't miss her at all!

 

[Aerobicidal]

We'll probably get a little Scott Hamilton commentary.

I mean, no broadcast is complete without hearing, "She has EVERY quality you look for in a ladies figure skating champion."

This is especially true when he's talking about Courtney Hicks. If she isn't included in this broadcast, I will boycott NBC for the next decade.

 

[Japanfan]

I didn't mind Scott that much. I thought his nerdy enthusiasm was endearing. He really was likeable even if half the stuff he said was eye roll worthy. I"ll never forgive Sandra Bezic for her "I'm so ashamed of our sport" shit she pulled in 2002 though. I don't miss her at all!

I am the opposite. I can't stand Scott - I don't like his voice and find his manner of speaking hyper and unpleasant.

Sandra is okay, though not my favorite. My favorite commentator is Rod Black, so he has a fan club of at least 1.

And 2002 was an embarrassment to the sport. Its dirty laundry was shown on the world stage and made the cover of magazines. Although politics had always been evident in ice dance judging particularly, most people in the world knew nothing of it and cared less. Whereas the 2002 scandal was huge.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I am the opposite. I can't stand Scott - I don't like his voice and find his manner of speaking hyper and unpleasant.

Sandra is okay, though not my favorite. My favorite commentator is Rod Black, so he has a fan club of at least 1.

And 2002 was an embarrassment to the sport. Its dirty laundry was shown on the world stage and made the cover of magazines. Although politics had always been evident in ice dance judging particularly, most people in the world knew nothing of it and cared less. Whereas the 2002 scandal was huge.

Sandra was making her comments the night of the LP before anyone knew of any funny business. She was all bias and pissed off because the North American team, her fellow Canadians, didn't win against the big bad Russians. NBC coverage, even before the competition began, would have had everyone thinking we were still in the middle of the cold war. That's how biased it was even before any scandal came out

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

Boy your jealousy is almost overwhelming.

Hmm, I am quite underwhelmed actually, Caro. Sorry you were overwhelmed. Merry Christmas to you. Eat some fruitcake, it will calm you down.

 

[Japanfan]

Sandra was making her comments the night of the LP before anyone knew of any funny business. She was all bias and pissed off because the North American team, her fellow Canadians, didn't win against the big bad Russians. NBC coverage, even before the competition began, would have had everyone thinking we were still in the middle of the cold war. That's how biased it was even before any scandal came out

Yes. But don't you think the Russians were doing the same? After 40 years of winning the OGM in pairs and believing (as stated by Tarasova IIRC) that Russia is the 'rightful home' of Pairs Olympic Gold?

It's okay for the Russians to be political, no other country can be political?

Let's face it, FS is political. IMO the PTB in Russia should have just left this Olympics alone. For the first time a North American pair had a shot at OG, in a North American Olympics.

And I didn't hear anyone saying that B/S were the 'big bad Russians'. The issue was a squeaky clean skate versus one with a error and a few wobbly landings. Not everyone perceived B/S to be the superior pair. I saw the two as equal and expected the one to go clean to win. And yes, there was that issue over Jamie not being properly deducted for a missed rotation on a planned triple in 2001 at Worlds. But it wouldn't surprise me that Russian judges or others have missed the same thing or a similar thing quite often in the past - or 'chosen not to see it'.

In any case other challenges faced the Russians in the years to come, from S/Z, P/T, and S/S.

SFAIK China will be winding down its pairs program after 2022. S/H should win that home Olympics, barring injury or unforeseen circumstances.

After that, Russians are likely to dominate again - until some upstart pair from the wedt decides to be bold and challenge them, with talent and circumstances on their side.

 

[tony]

It should also be noted that Bezic did claim that the Russians had the stronger (maybe her words were ‘more difficult’) program. Yes, there were claims that came to light after the fact. But I think the country of Canada and Hamilton were just about the only ones who thought that the initial result was a complete scandal.

Now, let’s talk about the 2002 GPF dance...

 

[Japanfan]

It should also be noted that Bezic did claim that the Russians had the stronger (maybe her words were ‘more difficult’) program. Yes, there were claims that came to light after the fact. But I think the country of Canada and Hamilton were just about the only ones who thought that the initial result was a complete scandal.

Also the US, where those Olympics were held.

 

[tony]

Also the US, where those Olympics were held.

I’m aware of where they were held. But many Americans didn’t think S/P deserved to win. So there’s that.

 

[Japanfan]

I’m aware of where they were held. But many Americans didn’t think S/P deserved to win. So there’s that.

Also many Canadians. Mr. Japanfan would have given the win to B/S - we watched the comp together - whereas I went with S/P. Not a particular fan of B/S. I thought they got bonus points for being gorgeous, TBH.

Sandra Loosemore gave an excellent technical analysis of the competition in which she argued that it could have gone to either pair. Which is true, IMO. Though I still believe S&P deserved the (shared) gold medal.

At any rate that old horse has been thoroughly flogged to death. And the judging system has changed, for better or worse according to one's perspective.

However, I think we can all agree that politics will always influence FS judging.

ETA: I also remember quotes from a few Russians who would have given the win to S/P.

 

[Sylvia]

How long has NBC aired Nationals? If it's just the past decade, then I can't be too upset. Can't expect them to have the rights to ABC's footage.

Found a press release that mentioned "U.S. Figure Skating’s current relationship with NBC Sports Group ... began with the 2007-08 figure skating season."

30-second clip tweeted by USFS 2 hours ago: https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/1342983533229387777

.@MariahSk8rBell relives her 2020 @Toyota U.S. Championship moment and more this Sunday from 2-4 PM ET on NBC! @NBCOlympics ? Presented by @Prevagen!

 

[VGThuy]

I must have had a totally different recollection of the audience reaction in 2002. Even without the scandal that came forth there were a lot of people who were pissed at the result because of the media portrayal and the fact that Sale/Pelletier had western friendly personalities with a western-friendly program. The scandal seemed to be used by people who thought something was fishy as a way to validate their feelings and to continue to express their anger at what they already perceived was an iffy sport that had iffy and political and pre-determined results. I’m not talking about skating fans who knew B/S had an argument to win but casual watchers. The Olympics are a different animal and the only skating competition where casual watchers outnumber true fans by the millions (probably the only skating comp that has live viewers in the millions). In North America, the reaction was very different than any other reaction I’ve ever seen for any result no matter how many close calls and cries of robbery there have been before and after. 2002 Pairs truly was different. The fact that the judges’ results fell on classic east-west lines with France being the swing vote didn’t help matters at all.

 

[Lemonade20]

You would think with a rich history in figure skating, they could do better than just rehash the last decade? I would love to see skates from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

 

[mtnskater]

I was in the audience at the 2002 Olympic pairs free skate. I have never heard such loud spontaneous booing at any figure skating event before or after. 20,000 people booing at the top of their lungs after S&P’s scores were up. Including me. We did not need Sandra and Scott to tell us it was a judging fix. Of course the audience had no idea what commentators were saying. In fact I turned to my friend and spontaneously said “that was a judging fix!” I’m not Canadian either. And guess what, it was a judging fix. Its nuts to believe Sandra and Scott concocted this whole scandal with their commentary. All they did was point out the obvious. And speak truth.

 

[tony]

I was in the audience at the 2002 Olympic pairs free skate. I have never heard such loud spontaneous booing at any figure skating event before or after. 20,000 people booing at the top of their lungs after S&P’s scores were up. Including me. We did not need Sandra and Scott to tell us it was a judging fix. Of course the audience had no idea what commentators were saying. In fact I turned to my friend and spontaneously said “that was a judging fix!” I’m not Canadian either. And guess what, it was a judging fix. Its nuts to believe Sandra and Scott concocted this whole scandal with their commentary. All they did was point out the obvious. And speak truth.

That’s nice that you think every single person in the audience thought S&P won, but you’re wildly incorrect. I am quite sure there were plenty of every four years fans who didn’t know anything probably loudly booing, and some hardcore skating fans as well. I already pointed out that Bezic has even stated before the mess that B/S had the more difficult program.

The fact of the matter is that it could’ve gone either way, and while the French judge melted down and changed her story many times, there were still 4 other judges whose marks still counted and it can be very easily analyzed how B/S could’ve still won. If those other 4 judges had also been part of some cheating, why did their ordinals hold?

Many people thought S/P shouldn’t have won in 2001 and IMO that’s a much bigger scandal. But don’t worry, because the event was held in Canada and the crowd was much more invested in all the ice dance drama to ever see the ridiculousness of the pairs results for their favorite team. So no booing for that, must’ve been fair.

 

[mjb52]

I feel like there had been so much stoking of resentment over Stojko and Bourne & Kraatz over the years that it may be part of why this whole thing exploded so dramatically.

 

[VGThuy]

Nobody said every person. But you have to be willfully suppressing somethings since that arena reaction made it clear that the vast majority did not agree with the initial result and nor did the majority of the audience watching on television in the US at least. We have an actual eye witness in the arena, so their testimony has more weight. That plus the fact that we can just see and hear the reaction to S/P’s scores. I think one has to turn off some of their senses not to see that S/P won the audience. Winning the audience doesn’t mean winning every one. And most of the audience were casual watchers as is normal with the Olympics.

After the LP, There were so many angry pundits and daytime talk show segments talking about figure skating being a corrupt sport and then late night talk show hosts doing segments making fun of the sport. It was nonstop for days and days. B/S had a bad cafeteria altercation from a volunteer, they were known as cheaters (even though they didn’t do anything), and many inside skating kept going on television to talk about times they were robbed (Manley) or why the sport needed to change. Boy did some of them use this situation to angrily talk about their resentment at losing gold.

It got so bad that they had to award two gold medals and Speedy quickly rushed out a “new” scoring system. It may have already been in the works but there was now insurmountable pressure to change the sport.

AND despite what we all think about corrupt results elsewhere, what we think about 2001 Worlds, and S/P’s quality compared to B/S, even with all that...there was blatant cheating going on in 2002. There’s documented evidence and witnesses of funny business with Didier. The problem was that he was so blatant and bad at it.

I think this time the reason it exploded was because of timing in that after so many years of perceived injustice, people have enough. Remember I said perceived so I don’t need any posts misreading what I’m saying. The person who said Canada itself had growing resentment stoked by Stojko and years of Bourne/Kraatz finally had enough when it happened to S/P was right. That was a big part of it. I think for the US, it wouldn’t have mattered except for the fact that S/P captured the audience and made the casual fans (the vast majority who watch figure skating at the Olympics) root for them big time. I think many FSUers can’t fathom anyone liking S/P but the truth was most North American viewers did. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have fallen for any scandal or robbery speak. You can’t convince someone of that if the programs and performances themselves didn’t already made them feel that way.

 

[meggonzo]

How did a thread for commemorating US figure skating turn into S/P vs. B/S?

 

[Sylvia]

Here's Nathan's clip (he "talks U.S. Championships and more today on NBC to help start our 100th Anniversary!"): https://www.instagram.com/p/CJTxe-zA2ah/

6 mins. to go!

 

[Sylvia]

Starting off with Adam's SP at 2018 Nationals... (eta) that got him to the Olympics.

 

[Braulio]

It's Johnny & Tara's CHOICES of what they think is the best of the PAST DECADE... meh

 

[NinjaTurtles]

This is real C0V1D driven content

 

[Wyliefan]

I'm a bit surprised they didn't show Adam's LP instead. The short did get a big reaction, but Arrival of the Birds was such a beloved program.

 

[NinjaTurtles]

Also for shame that this is sponsored by Prevagen...they’re under FTC investigation for their false scientific claims.

 

[Sylvia]

I'm a bit surprised they didn't show Adam's LP instead. The short did get a big reaction, but Arrival of the Birds was such a beloved program.

Not at this Nationals, though. My fave performance of that program (pre-Olympics) was at 2016 GP France.

 

[Wyliefan]

Not at this Nationals, though. My fave performance of that program (pre-Olympics) was at 2016 GP France.

Oh, right. Got my years mixed up.