- Joined
- Jan 17, 2014
Home schooling is illegal here and we have compulsary education..
Is this the future of EU?
It's simply horrifying. I am glad I have at most only 25 more years of staying around...
Home schooling is illegal here and we have compulsary education..
I don't think people care a lot about the big elements, honestly. Like obviously its impressive but when you think about it it's hard for someone who doesnt watch figure skating to tell the difference between a triple and a quad and even harder between a lutz and loop. And a lot a people were mad that Patrick chan scored above Adam in the team event even though Patrick had a harder program.Logically thinking, that would be the right conclusion. But it contradicts my observations of the rapid decline of pair skating in favor of ice dancing.
While I agree that there is, hour for hour, more skating on than there was in 1968, you have to dig for it and pay for it. Part of the problem is that viewership is so fractured nowadays. Back in the day you watched Wide World and watched whatever was on because it was all exciting, figure skating, downhill skiing, ski jumping. ...So you got introduced to figure skating that way and your interest developed. How is anyone going to develop an interest now when they aren't introduced to it unless they are already interested and searching for it?
Then there is the new scoring, that, face it, doesn't make good TV. Go to the K&C, wait, up come a bunch of numbers that you don't really know whether are good or bad, coach frowns at the monitor trying to figure it out, skater stares at them, then the ranking comes up and everybody looks happy or sad. No more Tara shrieking in the box, no more guessing at home - 5.6? no, better than that; 5.7? It should really be a 5.8 but no way...5.7, YES. YES!!!
I hate to admit it, but I think casual fans are attracted to the jumps and "wow" elements.
I also think there's something to be said for nobody really skates anymore. We skated on ponds and if we were lucky an indoor rink from time to time. Most girls had ice skates, guys played hockey.
Saying from my perspective - Poland in the 70/80s, then Canada in the 90s and US in the 2000s. Generally in the Western Culture.
3) Marketing? This isn't completely the fault of the USFS, but figure skating is too focused on nationality. I don't think the system is most effective for maximizing popularity. US skaters aren't typically the most dominate, yet there's still a US-centric way the media covers figure skating that just doesn't make sense. Even with this system that is overly focused on nationality (max 3 spots a country, etc) I still don't think they are maximizing popularity by almost exclusively focusing on US skaters. Tennis has a much better system in general, completely individualistic (except perhaps the Olys where the nationality matters--- but still Tennis has completely transcended being just an Olympic sport, something FS has never done)
- the scoring system is confusing for average person. Back in the day, it was very easy to understand that one can get a maximum of 6 for presentation and for elements (even if this system was really unclear and flawed in general). Now the system is more clear for skaters and dedicated fans, but a casual viewer won't understand if 237.60 is a good score or not
But how could a casual viewer figure out why one skater was awarded 6.0 and the other 5.8? I think new system is much more clear and being able to see live technical scores is the best thing that could happen to figure skating
Is this the future of EU?
It's simply horrifying. I am glad I have at most only 25 more years of staying around...
Figure skating is still big in Russia and Japan, where there is no lack of world-class talents.
With respect to Japan....I would differentiate between figure skating and Yuzu/Satoko/Mao etc. That is, Japan doesn't love figure skating, its loves its stars.
The reason why I say that is because if you go to a smaller competition, like Autumn Classic, you'll notice that Japanese fans don't come to watch the skating, they come to watch Yuzu. They'll fly all the way to Canada, pay for airfare, hotels etc, and show up to the competition for Yuzuru's flight, then promptly leave when he's done skating. Last year, I was absolutely shocked at how the stands got filled for Yuzu's skate and then were emptied when he was done.
With respect to Japan....I would differentiate between figure skating and Yuzu/Satoko/Mao etc. That is, Japan doesn't love figure skating, its loves its stars.
The reason why I say that is because if you go to a smaller competition, like Autumn Classic, you'll notice that Japanese fans don't come to watch the skating, they come to watch Yuzu. They'll fly all the way to Canada, pay for airfare, hotels etc, and show up to the competition for Yuzuru's flight, then promptly leave when he's done skating. Last year, I was absolutely shocked at how the stands got filled for Yuzu's skate and then were emptied when he was done.
Sorry if this discussion was already here before, but my memory is short and I can't recall it.
Here it is:
I remember figure skating being much more popular in the 70s into the 90s. It was always like one of mainstream winter sports. What happened? Why is it pushed more and more into an obscure niche? Decades ago there used to be only a few TV channels and figure skating events were always guaranteed to be on. Now, there are hundreds of channels, plus internet, and good luck finding figure skating coverage anywhere. There is plenty of snooker, poker, bowling, darts on TV. But not figure skating. We are losing big time to curling. What's wrong?
What is the problem? Why can't figure skating evolve to the changing times? Who is at fault? Why is it less and less appealing to the masses? How can we revive it?
Except in a tiny minority of countries at varying times, figure skating has never been anything other than a niche sport. I don't see the problem.