philip hersh writes about death of figure skating

[AgnesNitt]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-sochi-figure-skating-us-20140207,0,6506582.story#axzz2savOhRsm

[Loops]

He raises some interesting points.

I stopped watching skating in the mid-90's, in part for professional reasons (I was always out of the country during the height of the competition season) and in part because it became a jumping contest amongst 13 year old's.  I missed the artistry that comes with age and maturity.

It's gotten a little better with the age restrictions, but I have to admit, I feel like the sport has become acrobatics on ice- who can get their leg into the oddest position- who has the least connective tissue in their spine type of thing.

That's not to say that I'm not going to try to watch every minute I can, but I do miss the type of skating we saw with those skaters with whom we are on a first name basis- Debbi, Katerina, Dorothy, Scott (who is still a hoot and a half to watch!), Robin.....etc.  None of them were 15 and very few had a triple axel.   

Having said all that, the sport should be able to evolve, and we may not all like the way it does evolve.  People will always try to push the boundaries- quads are inevitable.  But I wouldn't complain if the pressure to pack the program were eased up, and these guys were allowed a little more leeway, to well, just skate!

[ONskater74]

He states the obvious. I think I posted a link to an audio interview with Alison Manley on this forum awhile back. Basically he says the same thing. People are just opting out, both from the consumer side of the sport and from the participant side. It has become perhaps even more elitist in that it takes a superhuman physique to succeed. Most of us aren't superhuman

[icedancer]

It may be less interesting as a spectator sport but from what I've observed at the various rinks I skate at - skating is more popular than ever!

I think that the days of skaters expecting to make large incomes from skating is largely gone - at least in North America - from what I understand skating is still very popular in Europe and Asia and companies like Holiday on Ice are doing very well - we have skaters who have gone on to shows like this and they skate to packed houses in places like France and Germany with two-three shows/day for a week in one location!

I've been reading these "Skating is dead" articles for years it seems.

Just as an aside, as much as I enjoyed Scott's skating, etc., I really really do not like he and Sandra Bezic as commentators (especially Sandra) - I think this is what sometimes turns people off - I do miss Dick Button although I know he turned a lot of people off as well.

[ChristyRN]

NBC's coverage is horrible. Take the Grand Prix--90% of what they opted to show was the men's and ladies. Very little of the disciplines of pairs and ice dance.

I feel like the introduction of IJS had made all the programs look alike. They all open with a quad/triple, then more jumping, a few spins and a foot work sequence. Nothing really individual or creative anymore.  Once one skater introduces a new trick, every skater tries it for the point value, not necessarily because it looks good or graceful. Simply for the points.

I still watch every time I can find it, but it all looks the same now.

[PrettySk8Dress]

I feel like the introduction of IJS had made all the programs look alike. They all open with a quad/triple, then more jumping, a few spins and a foot work sequence. Nothing really individual or creative anymore.
Simply for the points.
.  .  .  . but it all looks the same now.

My ice dancing partner mentioned that in their opinion, IJS, and it's inability to be readily understood,  has done more to kill the interest of the average ice skating audience viewer than anything else that could have been done. I have to wholeheartedly agree !

[icedancer]

My ice dancing partner mentioned that in their opinion, IJS, and it's inability to be readily understood,  has done more to kill the interest of the average ice skating audience viewer than anything else that could have been done. I have to wholeheartedly agree !

Yes and ten years ago those same pundits would have said that the "crooked judging" was killing figure skating and so the IJS was created in order to make the judging more objective.

I am also quite certain that the average television watcher never understood the 6.0 system either because AFAIK no one ever bothered to explain it to them -