I’m with you. A fall breaks the spell. There is definite impact on the overall artistic impression.

Oh, I’m so glad you found us too!! We can occupy a small, smug corner of sanity here.

Great comment, most especially this:

YES. I read The Root but that’s all I do. Many commenters there make it pretty clear that they’re not interested in hearing the white woman’s perspective - if they want that they can come here.

I am sorry that you are experiencing anxiety. That sucks. I’ve definitely been in situations where I was very invested in an internet space, where you get to know the commenters more personally, and thus when the inevitable clash of personalities that happens in any open forum happens, it stings. I’ve literally lost…

(I am also old.)

*Required

Is your moniker a take on the Maritime band, Great Big Sea?

Hunh. That’s very interesting, especially to get the Eurosport and BBC perspective. When you’re watching your own country’s people go on at length about the greatness of a team from your country, it’s hard to know how much is hyperbole. God I love them. I LOVE THEM! Watching them win in Canada in 2010 was <chef’s…

Yeah, I’m with you on Virtue and Moir. GOAT in my opinion. My issue about the Rippon article was that people there were bitching about his placement, and they didn’t understand the judging system, etc. But ice dancing is definitely a tougher nut to crack. Even Canadian commentators (I think at the Grand Prix final?…

For sure, he mentioned a lack of maturity. Which isn’t a huge diss, considering she’s pretty young and has some time to develop her artistry and still be competitive. (I agreed with him!)

Oh my impression was that Kurt Browning acknowledged that the scoring system encourages the back-loading and that you couldn’t fault Alina for it, and really, it’s a great show of her stamina and athleticism to be able to land those jumps in the last 2 mins of the program. I felt like his comments were mostly just…

I really like how they have a technical panel and they judge every single element with degree of difficulty and grade of execution. Olympic watchers see a program with no falls and are clueless about cheated landings and flutzes and such. I don’t know that casual viewers are ever going to understand the sport when…

Agree with all that. I also thought Kevin Reynolds (and thus Team Canada) got jobbed four years ago when Plushenko was scored higher during the team event - Plushy’s a fan favourite but he just skated around and did jumps. There was nothing to his program. But I am certainly biased for the maple leaf :)

I love unintentional puns!

It’s not just about the jumps. The judges are looking at all elements, which include the quality of edge they skate on, speed, spins, footwork, etc. When the new judging system was introduced in 2004, they decided to try and encourage the athletic aspect of the sport by rewarding risk. Many skaters in the style of…

Ah yes, the wardrobe malfunction! Nipplegate on ice. Except I doubt her nipple was ever in any real danger.

If this article is indicative, they don’t really understand the sport; they write about what they do understand.

ugh, that’s a bit garrish for the figure skating look!

Undercrackers? Nice!