Sochi bids for 2017 World Figure Skating champs - official

[Alba]

I don't know what a federation could reasonably be asked to do to fix a bad crowd, but at least they could be required to confiscate drums and vuvuzuelas at the gate.

I hate the vuvuzuelas. I can't stand them in football let alone in FS.

 

[NYscorp6]

There is a Politics forum for discussions of nonskating politic and situations, like the situation in Ukraine. It is inside the Le Cafe forum. This thread is teetering on the edge of being moved there. Please do not insult all Russians for the boorish actions of the crowd in Sochi. Worlds in Moscow, and Cup of Russia in various cities over the years have been well run events, with good audiences.

My apologies for my previous post of a political nature. To be clear I was not trying to insult the Russian people or the athletes in any way, many of whom I admire a great deal. That said I will leave it alone.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I hate the vuvuzuelas. I can't stand them in football let alone in FS.

I nominate the vuvuzelas as the official noisemaker of professional bowling. Shall we petition and banish it to this sport forever? I bet I can find at least 2 million people who agree

 

[R.D.]

Another reson? Home cooking! Russia has very promising ladies...but the thought that these girls will get strong supports from their suspict officials let me feel uncomfortable.

Yup...this.

 

[Alba]

I nominate the vuvuzelas as the official noisemaker of professional bowling. Shall we petition and banish it to this sport forever? I bet I can find at least 2 million people who agree

Oh yes. A least the football fans in Europe will sign for sure, so more than 2 million.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

What about GPF in Sochi? Or 2011 Worlds in Moscow? Those were completely fine.

They were... and then Russia got too big for its breeches this season with the Cup of Russia and Sochi scoring/crowd.

 

[Ven]

As many have pointed out (including Mathman), it's clear the ISU is going broke.

This would certainly make it more susceptible to some kind of pay for play policy. Basically, the competitions are rigged for the highest bidder, which happens to be the host nation, who bids for the event.

 

[chuckm]

Putin may not have any $$ to offer the ISU given sanctions being imposed for you-know-what.

 

[Ven]

Putin may not have any $$ to offer the ISU given sanctions being imposed for you-know-what.

The sanctions are bogus. They only froze international assets of a select few politicians, who were probably given advance warning anyway.

The West (especially Germany) are not eager to impose sanctions on Russia, because the Russians could retaliate and instantly crash financial markets.

(sorry if this needs to be moved to political)

 

[anyanka]

No

Reason being? Audience was just not cool. It's one thing to be happy for your country's skater when they won, but I got chills listening to the way the crowd roared when Yuna's scores came out. It's just so disrespectful to the athletes.

Watching the GP series last year, I don't think any other audience has had that problem. But I guess the Olympics was a little crazy.

To play devil's advocate: the Vancouver 2010 crowd went absolutely bonkers when Domnina / Shabalin's FD score was only good enough for bronze, it meant that V/M secured gold. And I say this as a major V/M fan who thought they should have also won at Sochi! So it does happen everywhere, perhaps it was just euphoria.

I must say though that the excessive chants of "Rossiya" while other athletes were on the ice waiting for their scores or starting their programs was not cool. And I do agree with you that the roar for Adelina when Yuna's score was posted did not sit well with me (I smelled a rat, which was the difference, to me). I'm just hoping that this was an isolated instance given it was the Olympics.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Come on!!' Dorris asked everyone nicely to stop talking politics

 

[Ven]

Come on!!' Dorris asked everyone nicely to stop talking politics

That the ISU is going broke is certainly legitimate conversation. Because they are going broke, assuming they are more susceptible (if they weren't already) to pay-for-play corruption is also legitimate speculation.

Particularly since the ISU sees nothing wrong with conflicts of interests, nor do they see anything wrong with allowing former cheats to resume judging. It's obvious the entire ISU is a corrupt organization and figure skating's problems will not be fixed until the ISU ceases to exist and is usurped by another new organization, with a large scale purge and lifetime bans doled out for many current ISU members and judges.

Unless or until those things happen, the 'sport' of figure skating is dead. Nobody cares to watch the farce anymore except for an ever decreasing small number of people these days.

 

[dorispulaski]

I recently listened to Mike & Mike on ESPN, bemoaning recent changes in baseball and US football rules that are "ruining" the games. The call in question was whether a ball was caught or not by a baseman (and hence the runner out or not), depending on how you define "caught". Is it when the ball is within the webs of the mitt, but not necessarily touching the mitt, when the leading edge of the ball first touches any part of the mitt, when the mitt closes on the ball, etc. ? The discussion was like skating rules on UR's and edge calls. Both are driven by having the technologies to allow these "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin" kind of arguments. Mike and Mike felt the technology should be banned.

So yes, this kind of argument goes on in traditional team sports. Not all coaches and fans are as gracious as that hockey coach.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I accidentally erased my post while editing it

I must be more careful with my touchscreen.

 

[Rhodium]

I know that Sochi is a Putin's favourite place but... why that subtropical hole again? I would prefer a city with real winter, large population, FS fans and lack of ice rings like Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

How have I not thought of Yekaterinburg That would be fun!

 

[Rhodium]

How have I not thought of Yekaterinburg That would be fun!

Yes, especially for Julia :thumbsup:

 

[anyanka]

How about the Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg, with a party at Tamara Moskvina's house afterward?

 

[Meoima]

How about the Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg, with a party at Tamara Moskvina's house afterward?

Anywhere but Sochi. I don't even understand why they invest all the money for that place. Somewhere that winter with lots of snow!

 

[[email protected]]

My parents live in Sochi so that naming it "a hole" does not sound nice to me. As for subtropical, what's the problem? The rink is indoors. Outdoors it's +15C or 60F. In Ekaterinburg it could be as low as -10C or 10F in March. International crowd will freeze. And then we will have another round of complaints about Russia.