Sunday, February 16, 2014

Robbery in Progress






This excerpt from Rosie DiManno's new article (thanks 5:02, below):

Said Moir: “We sat in the kiss ’n’ cry and looked at each other and said, it doesn’t matter, because that was the moment we wanted to have.”
He was asked: Do you feel like you can win gold?
“Who knows?”
I think everybody knows.

86 comments:

  1. But what will be done by the impotent Canadian officials? Are we going to sit back and allow this bloody outrage?

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    1. "We" don't exist. Figure skating doesn't answer to the fans. The entire media is enabling this, including the Canadian media and Skate Canada.

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    2. Do? They're not going to 'do' anything for VM. This is all 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'. Canada will call in some favors in the future, and the cycle goes on and on and on. Which is why skating (especially ice dance) should be kicked out of the Olympics.

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    3. Word, 12:19.

      This is a never ending cycle of corruption. The after effects of what went into making what's happening now possible will haunt the judging for years. Next up, I'm pretty sure some of the deserving NA teams are going to get fucked over so the Russians can be held up.

      At a minimum, ice dance needs to be gone from the Olympics.

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    4. Well we are seeing it already for IK...and I like IK but there is no way that they should be that close to VM or better than PB

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    5. I like IK too, but no way.

      Assuming DW go the fuck away, we will not see a NA team win worlds again until at least 2019. The NA teams remaining are also going to have to pay the price for DW's undeserved OGM.

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    6. Word - anon at 12:53 pm...word...

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  2. Who is the 2nd to last judge? Redstatt? Clearly some bias going on there.

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  3. I'm not new to skating but new to all of the scoring. Can someone help me interpret these two scoresheets?

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    1. http://icedanceanalysts.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-read-and-understand-protocol.html
      This site is helpful.

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    2. Once you have read the protocol, please dispose of it in the nearest trash can. It's rubbish.

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  4. It's like a car wreck that you know is going to happen. You can brace yourself before the car crashes but upon impact the damage still hurts.

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    1. It is. I feel the same way. It would almost have been easier if VM had made it easier and stumbled. Instead they were flawless and got lowballed everywhere compared to DW, including GOE, which is absurd.

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  5. Oh hello Shawn Retstatt. Your 9s are showing.

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    1. FSU will get you for libel, lol.

      I feel so tempted to just go batshit and start posting about their child on places other than here and twitter. Meh.

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    2. I have no money if they sue me, lol.

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    3. I wouldn't encourage spamming but on point of fact you'd be telling the truth. That's what is so crazy, fans are NOT supposed to mention the truth.

      As to fsu, that's why I prefer anonymous forums. Any place that has both screen names and reputation scoring is mob ruled.

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    4. I find it absolutely hilarious the administrator trolls at FSU threatened people in the V/M that if they didn't stop with the remarks on D/W, they would give out their information to the authorities...Oh no, the police will show up at our doors to arrest us because we don't love D/W!

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    5. Any time there is registration and screen names there's politics and control freakery. Previously it was Virtue and Moir's relationship and any possible acknowledgment of their inconsistencies and their manipulation of the fans that could not be spoken. Even on this blog, there was early tension. Now after three years at least the central premise of the blog no longer creates any tension in the comments. Now it's DW's skating that is the thing that cannot be named.

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  6. Krylova probably wants to pull a Harding right now...folks Meryl Davis - OGM...jesus...and that SD dress...oiee..

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    1. LOL! Zhulin, Krylova, Ovsiannikov, Usova, Grushina, Fusar-Poli, Domnina, Moiseeva, Minenkov, Wilson, Schoenfelder, Staviyski, Averbukh, and Tcherynshev are all collectively going SERIOUSLY?!? right about now. None of them have Olympic gold.

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    2. But that SD dress makes her look like a Disney princess! (sarcasm)

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    3. I know it's a travesty...even Shae-Lynn Bourne and Marie-France Dubreil must be thinking - WTF....but I digress...

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    4. That dress looks like it came from an ancient box in my grandmother's closet.

      So many former ice dancers have to be "OMG, SERIOUSLY" right now in whatever language they speak.

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    5. Those ice dancers will give their opinions--AFTER the competition is over and gold has been safely delivered to American hands.

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    6. Okay, I'm just going to come out and say this.....as a former anorexic, I have a very hard time looking at Meryl Davis. I don't like D/W's skating, but in any event I find her physical state extremely disturbing. It's my opinion that she changed her short dance dress to one where her neck and sternum are now covered, because otherwise (literally) all one would see is skin and bones in her upper torso. And looking at that, and the wasted sinews in her arms, is not a pretty sight. The premature aging and wrinkling in her face, and the disproportion of the size of her head (which seems enormous) compared to the rest of her body is, to me, a giant tell tale sign that there is a major problem. My opinion, but I've been there... So, take that, and sue me, FSU.

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    7. 4:32 - Meryl Davis is obviously underweight. When one compares her to right before seniors, she was a fit, proportionate skater without the lollipop head or protruding joints.

      Since then she's been re-made into an "exotic" (the blonde hair is now black or dark red). If she and Charlie White were authentic ice dancers I'd suspect there was an eating disorder. Here, though, I think her weight is strategic. The more contour she has, the more apparent her poor lines and their poor mechanics and and lack of unison and sychronicity become. IOW, low weight minimizes her very flawed skating. I think that's why her weight is low - it's intentional.

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    9. I agree, there is what you mentioned, OC, but I respectfully think there might also be something else going on. It's hard to look at her, frankly. IMO. And I'm sure her (lack of) weight makes it easier for Charlie to toss her around. In their FD this year, for some reason I keep getting the image of Donald O'Connor throwing around the headless mannequin dummy in the "Make 'em Laugh" dance from "Singing in the Rain." Except that both Donald O'Connor AND the dummy have better posture and leg lines that D/W.

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    10. 5:54, I agree that it's difficult to look at her. It might be easier to toss her around more easily, but she still can't hold herself in a lift. If there *is* something going on, then that can partly explain why her lift technique is in shambles.

      BTW, I watched a truncated (and delayed) broadcast of the SD on local TV with my mom. It was jarring to try and explain ice dance to her (she knows zilch about it), when I've previously spent a lot of time on skating message boards and fansites with knowledgeable people. It made me wince when she said she thought Meryl looked like she was suited for ballet because she was so thin. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Meryl and ballet do not go together, that M doesn't have the lines, carriage, core strength, posture, and movement associated with it. And if Meryl, whose neck, shoulders, back and collarbone were covered up by her costume looked really thin on TV (which 'adds pounds', especially under the bright lights reflecting on the *white* ice rink surface), how would she look like in person?

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    11. They showed her and Charlie warming up in regular athletic gear and she does look scrawny, not at all like an Olympic athlete. She has no butt which is counter intuitive for a figure skater who as my friends put it - have rocking bods

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  7. Is it far fetched of me to think that it is in connection to the article posted on lift change is to further push V/M out of the running for silver or bronze? I mean, look at the draw for goodness sake. If that is not an indicator, I don't know what it...of course, For V/M sake, it will not turn out as I wrote earlier...

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  8. Kokko asked what was the difference between DW's Team SD and individual SD (not that the judges are paying attention to whether DW are fulfilling these criteria):

    Petri Kokko ‏@coccco 1h

    @kwanette Timing, crispness and character. Davis and White were brilliant in the team event, but not tonight.

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  9. http://www.canada.com/olympics/news/tessa-moir-scott-virtue-second-after-short-dance-trail-u-s-rivals

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    1. D/W will be skating last in the FD. How convenient they've randomly drawn that place twice now.

      Marina Zoueva has placed it all in the hands of the judging panel. They make the call. She's right, as annoying as that may be for some people to read. And notice that not one coach of a currently competing team, and certainly not Skate Canada, is saying a word about these results. Everyone can see what is happening on the ice, they have eyes. What are they saying?

      Nothing.

      W/P and P/B were also held down in favor of a lesser I/K in the SD. Not one word about it publicly from Krylova/Camerlengo, Shpilband, Skate Canada, or the French federation.

      There's nothing about V/M's SD that isn't perfect. The choreography is brilliant. The skating was sublime. They're over two points behind a team who can't come close to doing what V/M can do (and did) on the ice.

      The SYSTEM is rotten to the core. Politics infects everything. No one is immune.

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    2. It was all there - the judge that lowballed VM so the next lowest score would stay in. Many more 2's and 1s on GOE than with Davis White, Davis White winning +3's on visibly imperfect element execution.

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  10. Can someone explain the draw for me? I know I have seen photos in the past of skaters actually drawing numbers in a bag. Is it still done that way? Does the bag remain on stage the entire time?

    The draws happened so fast after the conclusion of the event, during a period where the top skaters would've still been doing the press conference and doping tests, that it made me wonder if the process has been streamlined.

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  11. Congrats OC...over a million contacts on your blog !!!

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  12. "Robbery in progress."

    Perfect description of the ice dance fuckery.

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  13. I like Rosie di Manno's new article. She's he only one who doesn't claim the fix doesn't exist.

    What bothers me most is that DW will be treated like royalty because most other US athletes failed at these Olympics. Americans don't have much to choose from this year, none of the big stars could deliver ad Lindsay Vonn couldn't compete in the first place. DW will be treated like heroes by default.

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    1. She has a new article? She had a "fix could be in" article weeks ago.

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    2. The only problem with that is Virtue and Moir have a TON of American fans.

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    3. http://www.thestar.com/sports/sochi2014/figureskating/2014/02/16/tessa_virtue_scott_moir_second_after_olympic_ice_dance_short_program.html

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    4. I'm in the US, and to be quite frank, I don't think DW are very marketable here. People can wax all they want that Meryl is exotic or ethereal, but she's not pretty in a way that will be appealing to the general public.

      What the general US public cares about is the ladies singles. They love the pretty girls in their pretty dresses. I think that Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold have far more mass appeal than DW, and no matter where those two girls finish, they'll be the stars of US skating. DW will be a foot note.

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  14. This paragraph is on the ISU website about the rules and how skaters are judged. Does this paragraph mean it's up to the computer to catch when judging doesn't make sense? Here is is below:
    Officials Accountability
    The skaters performances are video recorded and can be reviewed on DVD at any time.
    A computer checks and identifies possible anomalies of the Technical Panel or the Judges. If anomalies are identified action is taken. Officials who make repeated errors are subject to sanctions.

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    1. Sounds good in writing ... But in reality means s***. Can't believe these same judges took that oath to uphold the Olympics with dignity and honesty...I'm done with FS.

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  15. http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/4370868-poje-weaver-a-little-confused-by-olympic-ice-dance-score/

    "'I think everyone is a little confused at this point,' said Weaver of their score. 'We felt like we skated great and that's a feeling that no one can take away from us.'"

    Don't you worry, Kaitlyn. As soon as this Olympic Games is over, the USFSA will undoubtedly lead the campaign to end anonymous judging because the system isn't transparent enough and that fosters suspicion and hurts the credibility of the sport. Let it be known the USFSA plays fair and wants to protect the image of the sport from being tarnished!

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    1. I love how USFS has been waiting until after Soichi to press this issue again.

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  16. Feeling extremely down about all of this, even though I was expecting it. I know I'm being too sensitive about something that's completely out of my control, but I can't seem to let it go emotionally. Ugh... my ridiculous is showing. Anyone else feel similar or I am just a special brand of crazy?

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  17. Lynn's getting a wee bit desperate: https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/435282623527534592

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    1. Wow. I can't believe she just dissed Petri Kokko. He is still far more qualified to say if the Americans' timing was off, because 1) it's his dance which he later helped develop into the Finnstep CD and 2) he has ice danced for many years and would know his stuff. Rutherford is a USFSA lackey who is hitting back because some people dared to question her favorites' issues. She is feeling besieged by people who don't think "Everything is awesome!" in the world of ice dance.

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    2. Wow - I loved Lynn's initial response - indicating that the man is not involved in skating...thus a former figure skater who actually competed in ice dance - has no idea what he is talking about - yet Ms. Rutherford is the authority...folks - that's rude and so-entitled...it won't change the results for tomorrow so why the overkill? Keepin' it classy...rolls eyes

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    3. That was very rude and uncalled for by Lynn Rutherford to diss Petri Kokko like that. In her earlier tweet she also dissed the Canadian media for writing on the fixed results.

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    4. Not only did he invent the pattern, but over the past year, Kokko has worked with teams on the Finnstep. He is fully aware of how the patterns are supposed to be scored according to the Code of Points and is most certainly an expert. Rutherford really showed her ass with that tweet.

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    5. It's not really surprising. Icenetwork is biased. It's USFSA's mouthpiece. I would trust a more independent journalist than the USFSA's b*tch.

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    6. "...it won't change the results for tomorrow so why the overkill?"

      Because it's an emperor's new clothes situation and it's BLATANTLY evident. The only way anyone can find to defend D/W's scores is to say that the protocols bear them out. That's basically saying "THEY'RE LEGITIMATE BECAUSE THEY'RE MADE UP OF NUMBERS!"

      When efforts are made to consistently shut down anyone providing criticism by discrediting them - even the freaking creator of the Finnstep pattern who is most certainly an expert and understands how it is scored - that reeks of desperation. If your team is a legitimate winner, you don't need to resort to desperate measures to bully and cajole people into shutting down their criticism. Yet that's what's happening with D/W. The PR campaign has gone into overdrive in order to flood the public sphere with the message that D/W are the best and anyone claiming otherwise is just a jealous Canadian, a delusional Russian, or, apparently, a telecommunications dude who may know his way around the Google chrome browser but is woefully unqualified to explain why a skater was over-scored in the pattern dance.

      The sham operates in much the same way. HIT PEOPLE OVER THE HEAD CONSTANTLY. SHOVE THIS IN THE PUBLIC'S FACE. TELL PEOPLE YOU'RE BEING SINCERE, THIS IS WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT YOU, AND MOCK ANYONE WHO CLAIMS YOU'RE LYING.

      Problem is, the harder, faster, and more frenzied you work the puppet, the more visible the strings become.

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    7. I just went to her Twitter page after reading this (8:30 am on Monday) and she's removed the Tweet.

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    8. Pfft. Of course she removed the tweet. (rolleyes) She has to work in skating post-Sochi; that tweet really didn't do her any favors. I hope someone got a screencap at least.

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    9. Someone capped it - LMFAO!
      https://twitter.com/jen_416/status/435285478321840128/photo/1

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    10. did anyone challege her or call her out?

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  18. lol @ nbc's sad attempt to justify d/w's inflated and underserved scores. http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/davis-and-white-ice-dance-world-record

    shits geoblocked yo

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    1. Tara and Johnny are contradicting themselves at the moment. They are talking about Tobias extension and pointed toes and how that makes her the better partner, yet these same standard do not apply to dw. They are also referring to tidiness and finishing moves as important for gaining marks

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    2. Ps Meryl's expressions are so dramatic you can't help but be drawn to their beauty

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  19. Well folks, enjoy the freedance today, it's likely the last time we will see ice dance in Olympic competition.

    Tessa & Scott, skate lights out today like you did yesterday!

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  20. OT, but I thought a skater's seeding for the draw was based on last year's World's? Did Kaetlyn Osmond not finish 8th, and therefore, should be a seeded in a later group? She drew 8th spot for the SP in Sochi. Seems VERY fishy to me...


    http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/kaetlyn-osmond-skate-8th-women-short-program.html

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    1. Seeding for the draws is based on World Ranking, not the World Championships. I'm no expert but those rankings are based on competitions encompassing the last 1-2 seasons. Osmond only had one GP last year and did not complete any this year. She likely only has the points from that GP and her Worlds (you can't count both 4CC and Worlds) and maybe Junior Worlds the year before. Basically your standing gets killed if you're injured or don't compete for a while.

      Then they take groups of those skaters and they have draws within those ranks.... so you could be skater #16 in World ranking, and that means you have to draw with the people from the first 3 groups, and could end up going super early which happened to Jeremy Abbott, while the person ranked #12 could end up drawing for the last group. It's a pretty terrible system but it's nothing to do with Osmond being Canadian.

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  21. http://www.canada.com/olympics/columns/tessa-moir-scott-virtue-second-after-short-dance-trail-u-s-rivals

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  22. Phil Hersh actually giving a decent overview http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-finn-steps-up-ice-dance-controversy-20140217,0,6117808.story

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  23. This guy is f**** joke! Travesty to SC!!!!
    http://www.canada.com/olympics/columns/virtue-moir-scoring-controversy-90740

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    1. What a dope. Why couldn't they have been more aggressive about this at least years and this year's GPF?

      I felt ill watching Patrick Chan's speech thanking Slipchuk and everyone applauding. Oh yeah, such brilliant strategists SC, letting Chan get away with no technical coach and a 9 point lower BV than Hanyu, even though Chan is inconsistent and Hanyu's PCS were rising?

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    2. I really didn't understand how Patricks camp could have thought they could get away with that 9point diff? Seems absolutely idiotic and he deserves the silver for that reason despite the facts that he is more pleasing to watch.

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    3. It just shows you that Mike Slipchuk and company really thought that they had the OGM for Chan...so not only is Skate Canada PR challenged..they are math challenged..but it wasn't only Chan's camp that should have noticed the 9 point differential...Kurt Browning, Elvis Stojko and Jeff Buttle should have probably piped up...but then again - the fact that Chan did not have a technical coach speaks volumes...
      Again not hating on Chan - but what other amateur elite athlete doesn't have a technical coach....say all you want to say about Lori Nichol and her choreography - but she basically handed Lysacek his OGM...

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  24. Skating last allows Meryl and Charlie to create their moment and there will be no reason to leave room so they can have large scores -Johnny and Tara

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  25. Want another? Just caught CBC radio news and lo, Kurt Browning is backtracking on his comment from yesterday's SD commentary. Essentially, he said they VM and DW both did great. Scores were as it should. He said it's like comparing apples and oranges. (Reminds me of FF and Carmen again (rolleyes). And yet, after that, gush how VM was such a great technical skaters. That he still liked VM. Whatever! VM was/is BOTH technical and artistically better. Period! What he's implying is that DW won (as pushed by media outlets on win everywhere) because artistically better looking than VM. Hello, Kurt! What about that ding on Finnstep? Lower than season's best points? P. Kokko?? Enough said...

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    1. Well - I think Mr. Browning will be losing friendship points with one of his besties Mr. Geoffrey Tyler and probably Shae Lynn Bourne (who are part of the WP team). Okay - we all agree that he wants to keep his commentating but jesus - Kurt - you already made your money and then some...have the guts to stick up for what you believe and what skating should be...but then again - you sold out a while ago....

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    2. and another. gannon said her would prefer to see skaters skate in reverse order so you could compare competitors which was dismissed by TJ. They proceeded to say that most of the teams competing her at the olympics are on par with each other technically so really the thing that disguishes them is artistry which comes down to personal taste. They said specifically to look for pointed toes and matching lines to help distinguish the better teams.

      I am really confused (though I should know better) as to how the teams are being evaluated. one minute speed is important, but when CB and DW are slow and sloppy it suddenly doesn't matter. The shibs short dance was quick, the twizzles fast even in slow mo replay. yet they are US number 3.

      WP are skating now and johnny is saying they are testing themselves and took a risk with their music this year because it is not somehting the russian audience enjoy. They are however liking them and their small nuances that are easy to miss. They are admiring the lift that is similar to TS about how still she is in the position. They like the canadians over the italians. Have we been watching the same competition because this audience is the worst I can remember. I know everyone keeps saying it is an olympic crowd, but think back to vancouver. I was in the building and it was insane no matter who was skating. Russia is supposed to be a skating nation so there is no excuse.

      PS I am appalled at the way the event as a whole is being judged. I am not sure if the judges are really watching what is going on. Even the lower ranked skaters are not being evaluated properly...

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    3. LOl more of the DW skate so hard narrative after saying how fantastic and technically sound TS are.

      Enough with Scotts quote about making a moment for themselves and DW's momentum!

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    4. Tara just mentioned how difficult it is to skate in hold during step sequence. This just keeps getting better!

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    5. Horrible camera angle on TS first lift again. isnt this part of the reason they practice on main rink is so that they can do blocking for camera shots?

      TJ aren't saying anything, maybe they were told to shut uup and not say anything incriminating?! Oh wait, tara said it was flawless! johnny said it was impecable. same type of moment as vancouver. Sparkle was there. twizzles were perfection in everymoment. scott is gentlmanly and sweet adn she doesn't need to worry about anything while skating because he is the man who is putting his jacket in his puddle for her to step in. There was no way they could not mark them that way especially after SD undermarking. --wow, I have to take back how I started off my transcription. They had some lovely things to say at the end, but I am always worried about ulterior motives

      Dance spin is gorgeous and faaast today!

      WR to set up DW?

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  26. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-the-fix-scores-in-olympic-ice-dance/

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  27. Sad...6pts clear of french

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    1. This is satisfying because there was no political weirdness of past years - Johnny Weir

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    2. Of course! When the Americans win, everything is fair.

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  28. this is a great interview that moir and virtue gave. and the statement that they relied a lot on their federation this year followed with a lot of odd things happened to us this year says it all. skate Canada and the Canadian officials left them hanging. im convinced skate Canada was bought off not to complaint.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYc2sJRxsnw

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