Skating Petitions

[blazingblades]

1. Requesting the resignation of Ottavio Cinquanta from the presidency of the International Skating Union - Signed
with 3,693 supporters to date @ http://www.change.org/petitions/ottavio-cinquanta-requesting-the-resignation-of-ottavio-cinquanta-from-the-presidency-of-the-international-skating-union

2. Petitioning ISU Figure Skating Federations and Associations - Reject ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta's Figure Skating Proposals for the 2014 ISU Congress - Signed with 2,648 supporters to date @ https://www.change.org/petitions/isu-figure-skating-federations-and-associations-reject-isu-president-ottavio-cinquanta-s-figure-skating-proposals-for-the-2014-isu-congress

[FigureSpins]

  - the link I wanted to post was out of date.

[Query]

Wow, pretty sweeping proposals.

>2. Simplify the IJS Scoring System to make it more understandable to the general fan.

Personally, as someone who watches skating on TV too, I love this idea. But there are actually very few sports where most of the fans know all the rules, so you can take this way too far.

>4. Redefine/Rename the 'Senior' category to allow for wider range in age for competitors

might mean that the skaters who are old enough to compete at Worlds are also old enough to compete at the Olympics. I don't get why there is a difference.

>5. Eliminate all Short Programs across all disciplines.

I'd rather see them as separate medals, like different ski events get separate medals. That would certainly give more skaters the chance to medal, which is what the team event was sort of for. And it would motivate TV coverage to include all events.

>7. ISU decide what will be the one Team Skating discipline for the Olympics; the Sochi model or Synchronized Team Skating.

We all know the Sochi model can really only be won by one team, and is completely unfair to skaters from most countries.

As an aside, if you have one Synchro team, would you take a country's best Synchro team, or would you try to combine the best skaters from many teams? If the latter, you would have the same problem as you have with hockey - the skaters wouldn't have time to practice much as a team. Which would mean that a National Synchro team wouldn't be as good as the individual teams within country - as is true of hockey, where the best NHL teams are much better than any of the Olympic teams. Maybe more so, since unison is one of the biggest factors for judging Synchro.

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Maybe ISU could just split into ISU/Speed and ISU/Figure.

Anyway, it is hard to believe that the ISU governing council would pay any attention to a petition signed by people who aren't verified to belong to the ISU, including their ISU membership numbers. I hope they had the sense to so limit it.

[Neverdull44]

Wow, pretty sweeping proposals.

>2. Simplify the IJS Scoring System to make it more understandable to the general fan.

Personally, as someone who watches skating on TV too, I love this idea. But there are actually very few sports where most of the fans know all the rules, so you can take this way too far.

I agree with you here.  Look at Dancing with the Stars.  While not a "real competition", they have dumbed down the scoring.  It's simple and the judges give live comments.  The audience eats that up.  Does the judging need to be dumbed down?  No, but definitely more understandable.  Do the judge's sheets/comments need to be immediately made available?    When I am in front of the judges, I definitely want the comments as a learning tool.  Don't know if I'd want them aired to millions. 

>4. Redefine/Rename the 'Senior' category to allow for wider range in age for competitors

might mean that the skaters who are old enough to compete at Worlds are also old enough to compete at the Olympics. I don't get why there is a difference.

>5. Eliminate all Short Programs across all disciplines.

I'd rather see them as separate medals, like different ski events get separate medals. That would certainly give more skaters the chance to medal, which is what the team event was sort of for. And it would motivate TV coverage to include all events.

I agree with you here.  Short is different than long.  Needs a separate medal.

>7. ISU decide what will be the one Team Skating discipline for the Olympics; the Sochi model or Synchronized Team Skating.

We all know the Sochi model can really only be won by one team, and is completely unfair to skaters from most countries.

As an aside, if you have one Synchro team, would you take a country's best Synchro team, or would you try to combine the best skaters from many teams? If the latter, you would have the same problem as you have with hockey - the skaters wouldn't have time to practice much as a team. Which would mean that a National Synchro team wouldn't be as good as the individual teams within country - as is true of hockey, where the best NHL teams are much better than any of the Olympic teams. Maybe more so, since unison is one of the biggest factors for judging Synchro.

I vote for Synchro to be given its own spotlight.  The skaters that perform that are true thrill seekers!

---

Maybe ISU could just split into ISU/Speed and ISU/Figure.

Anyway, it is hard to believe that the ISU governing council would pay any attention to a petition signed by people who aren't verified to belong to the ISU, including their ISU membership numbers. I hope they had the sense to so limit it.