Athletes View on 10 AM competition | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Athletes View on 10 AM competition

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
okay, I can tolerate that I missing half of the competition because I am at my job still at that time, I can tolerate that Europeans watch it at 2 am, I can tolerate that Japanese are at work at 10 am, but for some reason, I can´t tolerate to watch the skaters competing in the damn f..kin..g Olympics in a half-empty arena :angry2: :disapp: :furious: , I am sooooo angry about it !!!! :gaah:
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
okay, I can tolerate that I missing half of the competition because I am at my job still at that time, I can tolerate that Europeans watch it at 2 am, I can tolerate that Japanese are at work at 10 am, but for some reason, I can´t tolerate to watch the skaters competing in the damn f..kin..g Olympics in a half-empty arena :angry2: :disapp: :furious: , I am sooooo angry about it !!!! :gaah:

How did you feel about the men’s SP in Sochi playing to a half empty arena? That sat on their hands?

Sadly, it seems to be a phenomenon not limited to the circumstances of this Olympics.
 

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
How did you feel about the men’s SP in Sochi playing to a half empty arena? That sat on their hands?

Sadly, it seems to be a phenomenon not limited to the circumstances of this Olympics.

Really? I was so focused on Mao, I did not pay enough attention to men. But I remember the crowd being rude in Sochi.
 

Lester

Piper and Paul are made of magic dust and unicorns
Final Flight
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
I personally wonder if it is that important that the event is broadcast live in prime time.

In my country sometimes events are broadcast live at whatever insane time that might be, and then shown again in prime time. Now of course, some people don't want result spoilers (I personally don't mind them) but does the general audience even know where to look for the results? Does skating make such big headlines that the excitement will be over by evening?

Besides, alright, the US is a big audience for the sport, but so are Japan and Russia and Russia have the worst deal with this schedule, right in the middle of the night.
 

creaturelover

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
I think it's ridiculous that some of the athletes are using the time of the competitions as an excuse. When I was in high school, I had a couple of gymnastics meets that started before 10 am, even though I never had to practice that early. They knew well in advance and should have prepared accordingly.

Thank you. I used to do show jumping on horseback and a 10am start time meant 5 am to get to the barn and prepare my horse.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
I wonder if the thread title could be changed to “Nathan Chen’s view”,

Bradie and the Knierims have said they have no problem with the schedule. They have my respect:rock:

I wish that starting this thread hadn't given some (not just you, El) an opportunity to elevate some skaters and subtly put down others. But I know, I know ... that's just me. I'm not sorry that I started the thread. It's been on my mind for awhile, and I think it's relevant. On a personal note, if called upon, my spouse would have no trouble at all adjusting to an earlier hour. I'm not a morning person and I do better creatively and physically at certain times of the day as opposed to others. Everyone's different.

"I'll use this to learn from it for the rest of the Olympics," [Nathan Chen] said.http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/early-starts-olympics-cause-figure-skaters-concern

This is from the article that ice coverage kindly posted the link to, in post #11 on p. 1 of this thread. Which gives a much fuller view, including European athletes as well as North American. Nathan and Patrick were asked about it by Phil Hersh for IN, and they answered honestly in the moment. That article was posted on 2/9/18, while the nbcolympics article was posted at 10:42 a.m. 2/10/18, ET. Nathan and Patrick both gave more complete answers then, as did all the athletes. They'd had some time to process the experience and answer better.

Most expressed both sides of the matter. Like Adam answered for the nbcolympics article: "I did a few simulations in the morning and I was like, 'That was rough,'". Then, like most, he said he'd made some adjustments. Later, at another time I think (?) he added with his usual humorous charm: "They can call me at 3 a.m. or any time; I'll get over there for it."

Tatsuki is wrong, the IOC's priority is making money not the athletes and not US audience. If the British audience was biggest revenue generating market for the IOC the IOC would be bending to put the premiere event during that market's primetime. This isn't an American created problem, but an IOC created problem.

Good point.

Machida: "The schedule is made to fit American prime time but if you allow me to express my opinion as a former competitor, such schedule is unacceptable" https://twitter.com/iguana012/status/963033458313490432

I love Tatsuki! Just the whole tone of the tweet and honesty.

It's not about me, it's about the whole world being condemned to whatever suits America best. I'm sorry but discussing this with so many Americans here is pointless. Of course you're going to defend it.

And I'm sorry, but I'm the one who started this thread, and I'm an American. My concern was and is for the athletes and not for the convenience of anyone or profit for NBC or IOC. So your assumption is wrong. Actually, I think post #2 in the thread by evasorange expressed my thoughts much better than I did. So thanks, Eva'sO. :)

But I do care about the athletes too. They're not used to competing this early and quite frankly I am surprised that so many people here are basically saying "well, if they want a medal, they have to get over it". Why should they have to get over it in the first place? The schedule should first and foremost be comfortable for the skaters.

I agree. Also, I'd like to sincerely recommend that anyone having trouble with the schedule might want to check out the "Videos No Spoilers" thread in subforum "2018 Olympics: Figure Skating (General Info)." It's wonderful. In fact, I used it last night when I had a meeting I couldn't skip out on. Later, I was able to watch the whole pairs competition because of the postings there.

Not everyone cares whether or not they know the result before they're able to watch; but for me and others who've said so, it makes the experience of watching much more enjoyable. You can also choose which individuals to watch, if you don't have time or inclination for all.
 

TrishaG

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
How did you feel about the men’s SP in Sochi playing to a half empty arena? That sat on their hands?

Sadly, it seems to be a phenomenon not limited to the circumstances of this Olympics.

This has been a problem for several OGs, at least. Summer and winter. The issue is that the IOC reserves blocks of tickets for their corporate sponsors. The tickets are given to the sponsors to distribute as they wish when they wish. As a result, those tickets often go unused. Then it looks like the events are poorly attended to tv audiences and thousands of would-be ticket holders are denied the opportunity to purchase those tickets that ultimately go unused anyways.

I understand that the corporate sponsorships play a large role in funding the Olympic movement, etc, and it makes sense that as a perk they receive tickets. But I think there should be a standby ticket system for the sponsor tickets not used. The sponsors should have to provide the name of the person using each ticket no later than 4 hours before the event starts or else the ticket will be put in the standby group for last minute purchasing. Anyone that wants to try for last minute tickets waits in line for the opportunity to purchase a ticket for however many tickets become available for that event. That way, sponsors still get priority, interested people get another chance to attend, and events will be much better attended. Everybody wins!!!!
 

Putina

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2017
Oh no I'm sorry you must have misunderstood me. I wasn't trying to argue that that was the reason for bad skates or anything.

I'm just surprised by the extreme focus on how the american athletes are dealing with it/could have prepared for it and how it was done for the american audience. Especially when there are skaters and an audience outside of that on which that has much more of repercussions.

I guess I was just trying to say that I find it sad that it was possible for NBC to buy it so that it fit ONE particular market - one that isn't even THAT keen on it it seems.

I know that none of the europeans have really complained but I just mean that during the decision making somebody should have considered them as well. Hell I've been trying to swap my sleeping schedule around a little the last few weeks and I still feel absolutely exhausted having to get up at 1am to watch (nevermind skate then).
Also means that hardly any of the european countries will actually get to see FS which I find an absolute shame.

I hope that makes more sense now?

I am sorry to say that it does not make a whole lot of sense. First of all, it is clear that the assumption here is that top-level figure skating events take place in the afternoon in local time. Since that is generally true everywhere, and good reporters want to provide some sort of a clue to what is reported (e.g. the men's splatfest) , it is not a surprise that they found it in the unusual time the event took place at. There is nothing American-centric about it.

Second, is it really strange that NBC goes after the U.S. skaters first to seek answers and opinions? I do not understand what you mean by "extreme focus on how American athletes are dealing with." Do you seriously argue that NBC has obligation to seek every skater's opinion before publishing its coverage of skating events? Surely you would not argue that other broadcasters (CBC, NHK, RA, Eurosport, etc.) should consult every single skater before publishing any fluff pieces. That standard would heavily burden smaller broadcasters from smaller countries, let alone pester skaters who wish to refrain from giving their views.

While I have a lot of criticism of NBC's skating coverage, I do not understand the complaint of an American press for reporting American athletes' experiences and opinions. There is nothing "extreme[ly] focus[ed]" about it.
 

champs

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
I find it funny that people think athletes aren't allowed to comment on the less than ideal conditions caused by NBC's deals. There's a fine line between whining and simply commentating on something that might negatively affect your performance, and not a single skater has crossed it thus far. Though I do love seeing all the comments here from random posters about how in their day, they had to deal with whatever -- sorry, I doubt your fancy ~practices and ~competitions were the Olympics.

This. Thank you.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
What is he talking about? This schedule is to boost popularity of his own sport. It’s him who should be lobbying for this in the first place.
 

Alchamei

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Here is a Czech article about Dušková and Bidař, their success in the competition, but mainly, about the idiotic time schedule. https://oh.idnes.cz/report-az-dusko...i.aspx?c=A180215_054028_zoh-krasobrusleni_tm2

If you're reading the headline, and you're wondering what it means and whether it has something to do with the schedule, you're right. The headline is: Waking up at 5.15, training at 7.15, happiness at 11.00.

Here are some translated snipets:

The mission is successfully over. Anna Dušková and Martin Bidař have a huge smile. They succeeded in the Olympic final full of emotions, improved their standings and took off to the next Games and hopefully medals. 'And now we can finally sleep'.

Why is the alarm ringing again, they think on Thurday morning... Well, why. Because it's the Olympics. And because the American TV NBC managed to have the figure skating finals at 10 a.m, so Americans could watch it in prime time.


I'm not sure whether it's really confirmed NBC pushed the schedule, but there are lots of reasons to believe it. Seriously. Absolute morons.
 
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