Take Ice Skating Out Of The Olympics

After taking a “blogcation” (a word I just made up for “vacation from blogging”), I am BACK with both guns blazing.

Yes, as the title suggests, I think figure skating should be thrown out of the Olympics.

In fact, I believe that Ice Dancing, Synchonized Swimming, Gymnastics and ANYTHING else that requires a judge to determine a winner should be jettisoned immediately.

No, I am not one of those people who don’t believe skating is a sport or that it is not athletic. Clearly it is, as are all of the others mentioned above. My issue is that SUBJECTIVE judgment by biased people should not enter into the formula. How many competitors have had their Olympic dreams dashed-not by their performance, but by their looks, their hairstyle or their nationality? The numbers would likely make us sick.

Don’t get me wrong. I truly enjoy watching all of these sports, but I cannot abide the snide remarks by the announcers (even if they are past champions) regarding so and so’s “interpretation of the music” or this couple’s “ability to connect” while doing their thing.

PLEASE.

As my brother-in-law Bob has said for years: “If it cannot be measured with a stopwatch, measuring tape or points scored against an opponent, it should not be an Olympic sport”. I completely agree. Speed skating works because there is a definitive winner-the only time judging comes into play is if intentional interference causes one skater to wipe another one out in order to win/advance.

I will sit and watch two performances (which I consider to be flawless because no one’s head smacked into the ice) and then be astounded when some self-important skating has-been doofus like DICK BUTTON will rip one of the pairs apart. Of course, he knows the ludicrous judging system because he is part of the problem—and he’ll usually be right. Sometimes, I’d like to hit him in the knee with a baseball bat—maybe Tonya Harding will lend me hers.

In case you’re not fully aware of the scoring system (which had to be changed after the 2002 Olympics when it was discovered that a Russian judge and a French judge colluded to rig the outcome), here is a short tutorial:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYUXWqzSl80


Now, THAT’S simple and straightforward, no? When we are talking about .25 points here or there, there is a big problem.

The Ice Skating World, clique-ish enough as it is, blindly believes that the 2002 Olympics were somehow an aberration- that the rigging of results, the fixing of champions was not going on for years. The very phrase “He/she is a favorite of the judges!” is a blatant admission of bias in a sport where virtually EVERYTHING is subjective. Even though the present system is a vast improvement, each element carries the stigma of EVALUATION.

So, how to make it better?

Well, keep the present performances intact if skaters want to aspire to a career in the Ice Capades following their Olympic moment.

Do it for the TV audience.

But, for the scoring that the medals are based on, make everyone skate to the same music, perform the exact same routine—and score it based on time intervals between moves and whether or not one’s bottom lands on the ice.
Not perfect, I know, because judging is still involved, but eliminating these sports will just plain NOT happen. We know the odds of removing figure skating from the Olympics is about the same as Scott Hamilton playing inside linebacker for the Patriots.

Reducing everyone to the same program will also not happen-as boring to watch as the compulsories—which, while technically a better way to judge basic ability, makes dreadful TV.

No, it forever will be evaluation and judgment that control the outcome. What if that occurred in the other sports?Luge competitors aren’t scored on their “interpretation” of the course. At least with an identical routine, even viewers without judging credentials would likely pick the best competitors.

Do the same for gymnastics.
Let’s just drop synchronized swimming, OK?

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Tim.moore@citcomm.com