ISU judging change

[skategeek]

This is interesting.  I don't follow competitive skating enough to know all the nuances, but it seems like a good thing.

http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1038244/isu-vote-to-abolish-anonymous-judging-system-in-figure-skating-to-increase-transparency

[skategeek]

And a followup article:  http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1038276/exclusive-outgoing-isu-president-fearful-of-move-to-scrap-anonymous-figure-skating-judging

[FigureSpins]

Saw that headline on Facebook today - I wonder if other performing sports like gymnastics and diving use anonymous judging?  Is there a downside to knowing what judge gave what score?  Stigma? Stalking?

OT: I was at the US Open Professional competition last week and they use a ten-point scale, which was different and yes, very subjective.  At one point, Doug Mattis, the emcee, announced the scores from each judge, stopping to say "The Russian Judge gives him a () score."  Everyone laughed because, back in the day, the Russian judges usually gave the lowest scores.  If s/he gave the skater a perfect score, it was cause for celebration!

[Query]

I think the whole point of the current judging system wasn't to eliminate imperfection, but to hide it, in an attempt to reduce public scandal. Anonymous judging is part of that.

But no system can eliminate problems, politics, and controversy in this sport, or in any sport in which judgement calls are made. That's a lost cause.