Unpopular Opinions

[hanca]

Again, I am trying to compare with gymnastics. The gold medal in individual apparatus is still a gold medal. A team gold is still a gold medal. So there is no differentiation.

May be we just have to get used to it. The team event is still quite new in FS.

Yes, but in gymnastics they counts points from the actual performances, not just points based on placement. A gymnastic team where one gymnast’s skills are on the level of an average junior rather than elite gymnast would never be able to medal .

 

[aka_gerbil]

Unpopular opinion:

I freaking love the team event.

 

[Vash01]

Yes, but in gymnastics they counts points from the actual performances, not just points based on placement. A gymnastic team where one gymnast’s skills are on the level of an average junior rather than elite gymnast would never be able to medal .

The Olympic TE definitely needs tweaking.

 

[VGThuy]

I don't like how the long program is factored at all.

 

[Karen-W]

I don't like how the long program is factored at all.

Me either, but I ran the numbers based on a couple of different ideas in the TE Qualification thread earlier this fall and none of the other ideas would have changed the results. Even using raw scores wouldn't have really impacted the standings/placements all that much.

 

[VGThuy]

Me either, but I ran the numbers based on a couple of different ideas in the TE Qualification thread earlier this fall and none of the other ideas would have changed the results. Even using raw scores wouldn't have really impacted the standings/placements all that much.

I think that may be true for the ones we have now given that the past few TE haven’t been close, but one day it could make a difference in a really tough and close comp.

 

[tony]

Me either, but I ran the numbers based on a couple of different ideas in the TE Qualification thread earlier this fall and none of the other ideas would have changed the results. Even using raw scores wouldn't have really impacted the standings/placements all that much.

But that could have also been because of teams not strategizing in a different way because they wouldn't have caught up anyways. Ie. Uno in the SP in 2018, Tanaka in the LP, China not using Sui/Han, etc. If there was more chance for movement there would likely be different team strategies if possible.

 

[hanca]

I am curious if Katsalapov really survives 2 programs in the team event and then two programs in the individual event.

 

[Habs]

Unpopular opinion:

I freaking love the team event.

ME TOO

 

[Cachoo]

Every Winter Olympic Event, Ranked by How Terrified I’d Be to Participate in It​

This is in "The Ringer" which is free and he has some things to say about his fears concerning our disciplines. Something different...

 

[screech]

If the Olympic committees want the top skaters to participate in the TE, they need to hold it as the last event, so they're more 'relaxed' with the main, prestigious event out of the way. Rather than potentially injuring themselves or wearing themselves out by doing a 'less important' event first.

 

[Lemonade20]

If the Olympic committees want the top skaters to participate in the TE, they need to hold it as the last event, so they're more 'relaxed' with the main, prestigious event out of the way. Rather than potentially injuring themselves or wearing themselves out by doing a 'less important' event first.

Completely agree

 

[Wyliefan]

I am curious if Katsalapov really survives 2 programs in the team event and then two programs in the individual event.

I feel like I'm more concerned about his health than the Russians are, and I don't even like him.

 

[Vash01]

I feel like I'm more concerned about his health than the Russians are, and I don't even like him.

Do we really Know the current status of his health? He and his doctors have a better idea of it, I think.

 

[Vash01]

If the Olympic committees want the top skaters to participate in the TE, they need to hold it as the last event, so they're more 'relaxed' with the main, prestigious event out of the way. Rather than potentially injuring themselves or wearing themselves out by doing a 'less important' event first.

In general, I agree with this, but I dont feel that the team event is less important than the individual. Any Olympic event where medals are awarded, is important. The advantage to keeping it last is that in the individual event every skater starts with zero momentum. When TE is first, some skaters are 'warmed up' to the Olympic competition, while some are tired by that participation. For this reason I would like it to be held after the individual events.

 

[soogar]

Unpopular opinion:

I freaking love the team event.

I love the team event as well. I think that it is interesting from a strategic standpoint, and the athletes like the team event as well.

 

[cheremary]

Every Winter Olympic Event, Ranked by How Terrified I’d Be to Participate in It​

This is in "The Ringer" which is free and he has some things to say about his fears concerning our disciplines. Something different...

Every Winter Olympic Event, Ranked by How Terrified I’d Be to Participate in It

The Winter Games are not for the faint of heart—as evidenced by luges that travel 90 mph, skating events in which adult humans are flung around like dolls, and ski courses that would certainly spell doom for novices. But which event is truly the most terrifying?

www.theringer.com

The author ranked singles skating last (30th), ice dance 25th, and pairs 7th. I’m not sure ice dance is more dangerous than, say, faceplanting on a quad, but the description of pairs was pretty funny. After a photo of Massot staring up at Savchenko mid-air in a twist:

At this point, Bruno’s looking up at the sky, tracking his catch like he’s playing right field for the Milwaukee Brewers—only he’s not catching a baseball, but an adult woman! That’s just ludicrous. Look how high up she is—it’s like he got a frisbee stuck in a tree and thought, “Oh yeah, I’ll just casually chuck my coworker up there to knock it loose.”

That’s not a position any human being ought to find themselves in. And you know what’s really scary? Having the emotional vulnerability to trust Bruno here to catch you, so you don’t flop down and explode like an overripe honeydew. But that’s what pairs skaters do. Not 15 seconds after completing this death-defying move, Bruno picked Aljona up again, spun her around, and chucked her a good 10 feet horizontally. And rather than falling to the ground in tears of existential terror, like any reasonable person would, she executed a no-look landing on one skate blade.

I’m starting to fear not only pairs skating, but pairs skaters themselves. I don’t want to know anyone whose idea of a good time is nearly getting Pamchenko to death on international TV.

 

[Karen-W]

The Olympic TE definitely needs tweaking.

Here's an idea...

What if, instead of the Top 5 countries points-wise advancing to the Final, the Top 5 in each discipline advanced to the Final? Points are still awarded for the Free Skate placements but if you have one really poor skater/team who finishes, say, 8th, then your country doesn't have a chance to accumulate points in the Final in that discipline.

Theoretically, that would have bumped Russia out of the TE Men's FS in 2018 due to Kolyada's poor SP. It would have also meant that Israel got to earn additional points from the TE Men's FS because of Bychenko's extra good result.

I'd have to run the numbers to see how this would affect the results, but it could certainly provide a bit more excitement and drama overall and potentially shake up the standings.

 

[Vagabond]

I am curious if Katsalapov really survives 2 programs in the team event and then two programs in the individual event.

Maybe Plushenko still has some leftover duct tape.

 

[bardtoob]

Shoma's "4T" in the 2022 Olympic Team Event SP is actually a Salchow.

He appears to pick with his left foot but over rotates on the toepick while picking and ends up on his LBI, then swings through with his now free right leg.

I call it a "Saltoe"

 

[skatingguy]

Shoma's "4T" in the 2022 Olympic Team Event SP is actually a Salchow.

He appears to pick with his left foot but over rotates while picking and ends up on his LBI, then swings through with his his now free right leg.

I call it a "Saltoe"

If that's what were calling Uno's 4T, what are we calling Kvitelashvili's where he doesn't even use the toe picks?

 

[bardtoob]

If that's what were calling Uno's 4T, what are we calling Kvitelashvili's where he doesn't even use the toe picks?

Same thing, Floops, Saltoes and the like.

 

[tylersf]

Loving the Olympic commercials with the Jurassic Park music in the background. It's reminiscent of Tonya Harding's Long Program in the 1994 Olympics.

 

[sap5]

Loving the Olympic commercials with the Jurassic Park music in the background. It's reminiscent of Tonya Harding's Long Program in the 1994 Olympics.

Are these different from the commercials with the dinosaurs in them?

 

[Xela M]

Absolutely hate Jason Brown's quadless but "clean" programs. Just don't see anything special about him at all and am always puzzled by all the hype he gets

 

[Xela M]

Also...

Grishuk & Platov rightly won OGM in 1994.

Mishkutenov & Dmitriev should have won OGM over G&G.

 

[NAOTMAA]

Absolutely hate Jason Brown's quadless but "clean" programs. Just don't see anything special about him at all and am always puzzled by all the hype he gets

He placed 6th, not even close to winning a medal. This is exactly around where people knew he would finish, it was very predictable. I don't know why the USFSA chose to take someone who had zero chance of medaling. If he medaled at nationals fine, but he didn't. If they had a strategy and were going to use him in the team competition I can understand, but they didn't. If there were spots for US men at future competitions at stake fine cause you could use a dependable top 10 finisher, but there wasn't. They should have sent Malin and let him get the learning experience, he's the future and Jason isn't. It was just a waste of a spot.

 

[bcash]

Absolutely hate Jason Brown's quadless but "clean" programs. Just don't see anything special about him at all and am always puzzled by all the hype he gets

I have to say his landings on these triple jumps are less smooth than a lot of people's landings on quads. It was pretty noticeable in the SP in Beijing.

 

[RockTheTassel]

Alexei Yagudin's "Winter" short program manages to be both boring and cringe. I don't know how it became regarded as one of the greatest men's programs of all time in terms of artistry. I still laugh when I picture him throwing the ice shavings into the air.

 

[Holy Headband]

In light of this:

https://twitter.com/avtrusova__/status/1495049757169192961

Gentle reminder that Anna Shcherbakova's TES (100.49 - 2 Quads) is higher than:

Yuzuru Hanyu (99.62 - 4 quads, 2 3A, 1 4A attempt)
Shoma Uno (96.24 - 4 quads, 2 3A)
Boyang Jin (97.23 - 3 quads, 2 3A)
#Beijing2022 #FigureSkating

My unpopular opinion is that the ISU might as well reduce the BV of quads for women specifically since it's obvious the judges are on crack when it comes to GOE.

I'd say going back to the -/+3 GOE scale would be a step in the right direction, but you know Scherbakova's glorified triples would still get maxed out scores.

It really infuriates me that the same elements are evaluated so differently across the two singles disciplines and we all have to pretend there's some sort of tech revolution going on in women's skating when in reality Russian skaters are simply being given full credit for elements they can't perform.