If you're watching Olympics figure skating tonite, is this driving you crazy too?

[KPeterso]

Hooray for all the skaters in this group! I’m also a former skater/current coach and I love being able to keep an eye on the score.

Team USA really brought it last night…hopefully the ladies can keep that going.

Anyone else in love with Hubbell/Donohue? I’m so sad this is their last season.

I fell asleep before the Pairs ended, but Nathan Chen and Hubbell/Donahue both really brought it last last night. I too hope it will continue for the women and into the long program portion of the event. I am very excited for all the skating over the next few weeks.

 

[prestoncaldwell]

The tech scores didn't bother me. The political diatribe during a break in action did.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I haven't watched yet this year but I stopped watching last Olympics because Tara and Jonny annoyed me. I wish Scott Hamilton was still doing it. I like the commentary so I know what is going on but Tara and Jonny are over the top and distract from the skating.

I miss Scott Hamilton too. He survived cancer, and had such a cheery attitude. He was bald but never expressed "hair envy" of another skater.

 

[ashley0139]

…..no. Seeing the tech box is extremely important.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

I really enjoy seeing the technical scoring during the programs. It surprises me greatly, but Tara and Johnny don't bother me most of the time. I love Hubbell and Donohue too! I have followed their pairing since I saw them skate in 2012 at the nationals in San Jose. I miss the Shibutanis though and kept hoping they would come back.

The Canadian dancers, Gilles and Poirier, had a couple of the WORST costumes I have ever seen. That safety orange was horrendous. They looks like parrots and the costumes didn't match their music at all.

 

[mantysk8coach]

I really enjoy seeing the technical scoring during the programs. It surprises me greatly, but Tara and Johnny don't bother me most of the time. I love Hubbell and Donohue too! I have followed their pairing since I saw them skate in 2012 at the nationals in San Jose. I miss the Shibutanis though and kept hoping they would come back.

The Canadian dancers, Gilles and Poirier, had a couple of the WORST costumes I have ever seen. That safety orange was horrendous. They looks like parrots and the costumes didn't match their music at all.

Agreed! I’m like, did they lose their costumes and have to borrow someone else’s back-ups??? I think they were supposed to give Elton John vibes since that is what their music was, but they definitely missed the mark, especially compared to the classy black outfit most of the second group had on.

 

[lynxstch]

I haven't watched yet this year but I stopped watching last Olympics because Tara and Jonny annoyed me. I wish Scott Hamilton was still doing it. I like the commentary so I know what is going on but Tara and Jonny are over the top and distract from the skating.

I can live with Tara, but why oh why do they keep Johnny Weir..he is more than annoying. Tara is not great when they are together,,but I have seen her be a commentator by herself and she's at least tolerable. At least he didn't have one of his outlandish outfits on last nite, lol!

 

[RedAngie]

The thing is, the total score doesn't let you know what they scored on each element, while the running total does; you can see the base value and see what it was scored, so that tells you if the judges thought it was well-done or not. If you're a skater, that's the really interesting part.

Basically, for the layman, if the block stays green they are doing OK, if it's yellow they are on the edge (because there is something hinky in what happened that requires closer scrutiny), and if it goes red there was a mistake.

I’m not interested in what they scored for each element, none of which I can identify.

I liked the anticipation of them waiting anxiously for their scores to flash.

I suppose the scandal from 2002 created the need for transparency, but I liked the old 6.0 system.

 

[NotUrsula]

The anticipation of waiting for scores to flash is still there: athletes cannot see the real-time judging during the skate, and coaches do not tell them their technical scores when they come off the ice; they hear the final number when everyone else does.

FYI, Hamilton, Ashley Wagner, & Brian Boitano are doing commentary for Peacock for the main competitions.

As for Gilles & Poirier's orange costumes, all I can say is that you know you've gone beyond the bounds of reason when Johnny Weir, of all people, says your costumes are distracting! (I'm also amazed that Piper wore her hair loose again, after she got it caught in Paul's costume at the Canadian championships last time out.)

FWIW, I'd like to introduce you to the real "team" athletes of US Figure Skating. Synchronized Skating is figure skating's actual team discipline. There are over 600 active teams in the US; it has been competed nationally here since 1984, and on the world level since 2000, but it is not yet included in Olympic competition. The United States fields 5 teams in international competition at the Senior level and another 8 at the Junior level; last week US junior competitors swept the podium at the Mozart Cup in Salzburg, Austria. As a sample, this is our defending national champion Synchronized Team USA 1, the 28-time US Champions, Boston's Haydenettes:

and this is the current World Champion team, Russia's Team Paradise:

 

[JLTraveling]

I really appreciate the tech score box. I'm not a skater, but I've followed it all my life, and I love that now I know what I'm looking at. I also appreciate the commentary for the same reason, it helps me understand the sport more deeply. And it doesn't hurt that Tara and Johnny are two my favorite skaters ever.

 

[tjmw2727]

The anticipation of waiting for scores to flash is still there: athletes cannot see the real-time judging during the skate, and coaches do not tell them their technical scores when they come off the ice; they hear the final number when everyone else does.

FYI, Hamilton, Ashley Wagner, & Brian Boitano are doing commentary for Peacock for the main competitions.

As for Gilles & Poirier's orange costumes, all I can say is that you know you've gone beyond the bounds of reason when Johnny Weir, of all people, says your costumes are distracting! (I'm also amazed that Piper wore her hair loose again, after she got it caught in Paul's costume at the Canadian championships last time out.)

FWIW, I'd like to introduce you to the real "team" athletes of US Figure Skating. Synchronized Skating is figure skating's actual team discipline. There are over 600 active teams in the US; it has been competed nationally here since 1984, and on the world level since 2000, but it is not yet included in Olympic competition. The United States fields 5 teams in international competition at the Senior level and another 8 at the Junior level; last week US junior competitors swept the podium at the Mozart Cup in Salzburg, Austria. As a sample, this is our defending national champion Synchronized Team USA 1, the 28-time US Champions, Boston's Haydenettes:

and this is the current World Champion team, Russia's Team Paradise:

100% agree - my dd's are both high level synchro skaters and I hope to see this at the Olympics one day even though my dd's will be too old by that point. Looking forward to seeing what the elite 12 looks like in exhibition at Nationals!

Back OT - I also like the tech score box, for me it's like the artificial line in football that helps me see where a 1st down would be, even though I do know the elements. For those interested Tara and her husband just aired a documentary on the scandal at the Olympics that prompted the end of the 6.0 system at the National and International levels.


edited to clarify

 

[JimMIA]

For those interested Tara and her husband just aired a documentary on the scandal at the Olympics that prompted the end of the 6.0 system.

The 6.0 system didn't actually end -- it just ended for the higher levels...at least in the US. At the lower levels, the 6.0 system is still widely used.

Here's a basic explanation of the judging systems from US Figure Skating: https://www.usfigureskating.org/about/scoring-system

 

[cleverclovers]

Been watching on USA network. Much less annoying.

 

[bapcap]

We were watching some of the ice skating and annoyed that we could not hear the music as they skated…could barely hear it from the arena sound system.
Was anyone else having this problem?

 

[NotUrsula]

The 6.0 system didn't actually end -- it just ended for the higher levels...at least in the US. At the lower levels, the 6.0 system is still widely used.

Here's a basic explanation of the judging systems from US Figure Skating: https://www.usfigureskating.org/about/scoring-system

From the athletes POV, 6.0 was/is *so* intensely frustrating; there is no way to know for sure what parts of your program were graded down. DD liked skating when she competed 6.0, but she didn't come to really love it until after she moved up to an IJS-scored level. The IJS system isn't perfect by any means, but at least it allows for strategy and a solid feel for what your competition does better than you do. IMO, 6.0 is fine for really little kids, but it frustrates almost everyone else.

PS: Yes, that sound system is bad. We've noticed this season that arena sound systems seem to have more noticeable fidelity issues when the place is essentially empty.

 

[_19disnA]

I liked the older scoring system better and results were clearer, although it always appeared to have a level of subjectivity. Then it became a jumping contest with which skater could do the most triple-this or quad-that. I would imagine the majority only watch skating at the Olympics so to have a different scoring system that seems overly complicated does nothing to further the sport.

 

[tjmw2727]

The 6.0 system didn't actually end -- it just ended for the higher levels...at least in the US. At the lower levels, the 6.0 system is still widely used.

Here's a basic explanation of the judging systems from US Figure Skating: https://www.usfigureskating.org/about/scoring-system

I am very familiar with the judging system, but thanks for the link!

We are discussing the Olympics and the use of the 6.0 and IJS so as far as this conversation there is no more 6.0. I could edit my post to say the end of 6.0 at the National and World levels.

 

[elaine amj]

Hmmm..I should try watching on NBC. I am in Canada and have been watching CBC. The commentators are pretty quiet so I have been complaining that I have no clue whether what I am watching is good or not. I like the technical scores as that helps me to understand things better.

I am a casual watcher so don’t know much. I do enjoy the skating and the music - but at the Olympic level I like the feeling of competition. So it’s hard for me to know if this is a good skate or a bad skate and I feel rather clueless without the help of the commentator. Our CBC commentators are so quiet that when the Russian girl fell, she made no comment. Was it a bad thing? Was it a good thing? Not much idea - although I imagined it was a bad thing. And no comment or excitement when she landed that quad. She didn’t even mention it when the girl was done skating! The only reason I knew it was a big deal was because the same commentator mentioned it when the skaters were doing their warm ups. I only connected the two when I saw the girl’s crazy high scores even with the fall.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I liked the older scoring system better and results were clearer, although it always appeared to have a level of subjectivity. Then it became a jumping contest with which skater could do the most triple-this or quad-that. I would imagine the majority only watch skating at the Olympics so to have a different scoring system that seems overly complicated does nothing to further the sport.

It has become so much about jumping that they may as well just put a couple of ramps out there and, LET EM FLY!!

 

[RedAngie]

It has become so much about jumping that they may as well just put a couple of ramps out there and, LET EM FLY!!

Add another X Games event. Figure skating aerials with reverse 1260 degree three and a half axel lutz combination.

They need more Winter/Summer combo events like biathlon. How about luge archery, ski jump javelin, or figure skating boxing?