Dear Members, Fans, Skaters, and Officials,
a long time ago, I concluded to myself that the key to success is information and in logical conclusion the conveyance of it. I have since tried to excogitate ideas on how this can find application in our broadcasts.
It is with much pleasure that I now announce the termination of this thought process regarding new technology and its benevolent use with concern to the TV coverage of our sports events.
All good things come in threes (...so did Ice Dance)
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The blue pill, if you please!
Last Night, I dreamt of the most wonderful figure skating performance you could imagine! It was quite the program and one of my first thoughts was: What a shame that I can't convey the beauty of it to other people and let them share the experience.
But then it dawned upon me that I was worried quite without reason because, fortunately, in this age we have a means of transcribing a program and, in due course, make it available for others sharing all of the beauty and enjoyment!
But then it dawned upon me that I was worried quite without reason because, fortunately, in this age we have a means of transcribing a program and, in due course, make it available for others sharing all of the beauty and enjoyment!
Thank you IJS! You and my dream world are a perfect match!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Life, IJS and the protocols: A plea in favour of the beauty of numbers
There is an ongoing debate about the sport of figure skating as we perceive it and the sport of figure skating in perhaps its purest incarnation: Namely, as it is presented to us in the condensed and revisioned form of the protocols.
While some people may think it doesn't make sense to use the protocols to re-evaluate what they have just seen in real life or that it is detrimental and counter intuitive to justify a result they have previously disagreed with, I, for one, am totally at peace with them and it continues to puzzle me that a lot of people just think of the protocols as a bunch of arbitrary and ultimately meaningless numbers.
While some people may think it doesn't make sense to use the protocols to re-evaluate what they have just seen in real life or that it is detrimental and counter intuitive to justify a result they have previously disagreed with, I, for one, am totally at peace with them and it continues to puzzle me that a lot of people just think of the protocols as a bunch of arbitrary and ultimately meaningless numbers.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Top 10 Performances of all time
With the only skating event left this season being the World Team Trophy, it's the time again to direct our attentions inwards and/or backwards. So, find here, assembled for you enjoyment, the ten best performances of all time.
New Programs News: Florent Amodio
According to a recent interview, Florent Amodio has already decided on his programs for next season.
While he did not divulge his new SP music yet, he enthusiastically revealed that his new free skate will be an extended version of this year's short program. As he had felt that his SP showed a lot of promise and he hadn't been able to skate it to its full potential, he and his coach decided to do the material justice and use it as a long program in the Olympic year.
"Of course, there will be some changes and a lot of additional choreography," elaborated Amodio, "so that it will essentially almost feel like a whole new program!" Being very excited about the upcoming season, he is fully aware of the fierce competition he will face in Sochi and considers himself very fortunate to have a coach who "always has a creative ace up his sleeve!"
Find the full interview here.
While he did not divulge his new SP music yet, he enthusiastically revealed that his new free skate will be an extended version of this year's short program. As he had felt that his SP showed a lot of promise and he hadn't been able to skate it to its full potential, he and his coach decided to do the material justice and use it as a long program in the Olympic year.
Potential long program material.
"Of course, there will be some changes and a lot of additional choreography," elaborated Amodio, "so that it will essentially almost feel like a whole new program!" Being very excited about the upcoming season, he is fully aware of the fierce competition he will face in Sochi and considers himself very fortunate to have a coach who "always has a creative ace up his sleeve!"
Find the full interview here.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Scoring of Tomáš Verner: The Epitome of The Failings of IJS
First, let me clarify something. I love
Tomáš Verner. I have especially always loved him for his dedication to good performance and interesting programmes. I think he is one of the best show skaters out there. And I think he is a great person off the ice. So while it may look like this post is a rant about Verner, it is actually fully on IJS and judging.
There are still fans out there, who claim IJS is supportable and that it did provide the kind of concreteness that 6.0 could not. A skater can lie in as low as 8th place after SP and still medal. Yes, I agree, there are benefits to assigning values to each element and basing a score on that. I never dispute that. But instead of dissecting each element under IJS, just look at the big picture. I, as judge A, decide skater B is my favourite. I want to make sure he/she wins. Can I do that under IJS? Of course. I give him ridiculously high components and abundant GOE, while keeping other down. Because the subjective judging criteria has so much value, I can do that easily and still remain in the infamous "corridors". In fact, if you look at the average scores, 60% of the score comes from purely subjective judging, while only 40% is the objective base value. So, when you give skater B at least 10-15 points more PCS on the long programme alone, you pretty much give them the cushion the wipe the ice clean a couple of times and still win. And who's to dispute you? Who can argue effectively that those absolute numbers are wrong? It is after all purely subjective.
My boyfriend has this practice of announcing scores right after the skater finishes the programme. He announces both the TES and PCS purely based on the scores from previous skaters. And he is almost right every time, to the decimal. Because, the parts don't really matter at the end of the day. It's the placement that matters, that is how it is still scored. But now, for a change, judges have much more freedom to ensure those placements, because they have 150 points of PCS to throw in as they like and the GOEs on top of that.
There are still fans out there, who claim IJS is supportable and that it did provide the kind of concreteness that 6.0 could not. A skater can lie in as low as 8th place after SP and still medal. Yes, I agree, there are benefits to assigning values to each element and basing a score on that. I never dispute that. But instead of dissecting each element under IJS, just look at the big picture. I, as judge A, decide skater B is my favourite. I want to make sure he/she wins. Can I do that under IJS? Of course. I give him ridiculously high components and abundant GOE, while keeping other down. Because the subjective judging criteria has so much value, I can do that easily and still remain in the infamous "corridors". In fact, if you look at the average scores, 60% of the score comes from purely subjective judging, while only 40% is the objective base value. So, when you give skater B at least 10-15 points more PCS on the long programme alone, you pretty much give them the cushion the wipe the ice clean a couple of times and still win. And who's to dispute you? Who can argue effectively that those absolute numbers are wrong? It is after all purely subjective.
My boyfriend has this practice of announcing scores right after the skater finishes the programme. He announces both the TES and PCS purely based on the scores from previous skaters. And he is almost right every time, to the decimal. Because, the parts don't really matter at the end of the day. It's the placement that matters, that is how it is still scored. But now, for a change, judges have much more freedom to ensure those placements, because they have 150 points of PCS to throw in as they like and the GOEs on top of that.
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