If you could change one thing in figure skating....

[saireea]

What would it be? If you could change one thing in figure skating?


I wish that the Tonya Nancy saga never had happened. Nancy was still able to skate the Nationals. I would have loved how the placements would have been with MK in the mix of things. I also would have loved to see Tonya around for a few more years. That gal could jump...and skate. I think the placings at that years Nationals and Olympics would have been so much more different without the influence of the media.

I also sometimes wish Tara would have stayed elgible....at least till her hip gave out. She was a well balanced skater. I miss seeing her on the ice even though I wasnt a fan of her then. I would have loved to see her skate with the CoP in place and such.

[sandrakae]

I would take that OGM from Tara and give it to Michelle where it belongs.

[Fumbilicious]

There are many things I would change. But the one thing that stands out in my mind that I would change would be Sergei Grinkov's death.

[gratefulmkfan]

Much as I would like to change some things in the past, I wouldn't do that. Pull one pice of yarn from a tapestry, and unexpected things change as well.

I'd go for the future, and change CoP, so that the "caller" didn't have a job anymore. If we have to have CoP's, then let the judges judge it all, rather just sit there looking bored and deciding GOE's only. Anonimity be gone as well! That's my wishes, and, no, I don't expect they will come true.

[rubyred]

$peedy gets fired and all the unnecessary politics would be gone.

[iceskaterdawn]

I'm a HUGE Nancy Kerrigan fan, but the attack all of a sudden made skatign a much mroe popular sport and had it not happened, odds are we wouldn't get half the TV coverage we do today. The GP Series was created out of the huge TV ratings that stemed from that scandal. Before that, all thsoe competitions were not connected in any way and not shown on TV.

If I could change anything, I would change what Angela has had to go through. I would not want Elena or her mom to have died, and I would not want her to have to battle with her shoulder injury. Also I would have put her on the 2002 Olympic team.

[lexeoe]

definitely transparency in the ISU and a separate federation run by figure skaters for figure skating and a more stringent way of screening and accrediting judges.

[Ice So]

I would have had COP much sooner.
I would give an OGM to Michelle.
I would have Alexei without his hip problem.

[mr pru]

Obviously, IMO, it would be HONEST judging.

In all major sports, umpires and referees make calls that the public can see as they happen.

They are held accountable for bad calls and decisions. Suspensions, withheld assignments from major events, and fines are normal.

All skating judge's scores should be made public as they are posted. The old days where the judges held up placards with the program score would be fine with me.

Considering past scandals and questionable judging, it shouldn't be considered out of line for each judges scoring sheets or printouts be made public immediately after each program.

There should be a panel who conducts OPEN sessions regularly to review all judging scores from the most recent events.

Skating has a checkered past-not near as bad as pro wrestling with predetermined results-but it's close.

The common fan will NEVER know 1% of the deal making that has obviously gone on for years.

TT's comments about "democratic" judging just sealed the deal in cement for me.

If anyone would be in a position to know all the back room deals-she would.

But, we all know that NOTHING will change.

[mkskatingfan]

I wouldn't change a thing! I love it just the way it is. I don't watch it cause I want my favorite skater to win. If they do it's just a bounous for me. I watch it cause to me it's entertaining and gracefull and tons of fun! So the judging, and bashing things that go on I don't pay too much attention to. I just watch it cause I love the skating and love to watch the skaters do what they do best.

[ceap]

I would:

1. Never have the judges "save marks" for the other skaters
2. Pasha and Evgeney either not win their second Olympic Gold or at least win it fairly. I love Evgeny, but, even with mistakes, some of their marks were too high.
3. Todd would not have fallen during his Short at the Olympics
4. Michelle given the Gold at the 1998 Olympics.
5. Michelle be placed correctly during the 2002 Olympic Long Program
6. Skaters be penalized for cheated jumps.
7. Do away with corrupt judging and deal making.
8. Nancy win Gold in the 1994 Olympics.
9. Sergei Grinkov would never have died.
10. Judges penalize every skater the same...ex. cheated jumps, lack of choreography, lacking footwork into a jump.

[iloveskating]

Do away with corrupt judging and deal making.ITA

[probativev]

Replace the speedskater as head of ISU????

[MKGrace]

I would never have allowed the two gold medal fiasco in SLC. :x :| IMO that was a stupid and cowardly thing to do. The squeaky wheel got the grease.

[candygirl559]

Corrupt judging along with getting rid of Speedy.

I also would've given the 1998 OGM to Michelle Kwan and the 1994 OGM to Nancy Kerrigan.

Never would've allowed the COP scoring system to exist in the first place.

[3axel]

Get rid of $peedy, and in time, everything else will fall into place.


3axel

[Forever Loyal]

corrupt judging and going back to figures

[kwanette]

I thought that we were changing ONE thing....

[mr pru]

"I can get gold."

[ceap]

mr. pru,

"I can get gold."

Who said that?

[Eeyora]

Remember Michelle said "I can get gold" in her fluff piece with Karl Malone.

I would

Get rid of anynomus judging
Give Angela her Mom and coach back, heal her arm and give her a spot on the Olympic team.
Establish the "Slutskaya Rule" limiting the number of times a skater can repeat a position.
Get rid of Speedy
Give Michelle the 98 OGM and Nancy the 94 OGM
Heal Hongbo Zhao's achilles tendon

[Yzerbear19]

But the one thing that stands out in my mind that I would change would be Sergei Grinkov's death.

That would be my choice as well. It was such a tragic loss to the figure skating community. Its hard to believe that its been almost 10 years since he passed away. :( I loved Gordeeva and Grinkov. There was something special about them. It would have been great to see what they could have done together, but we will never know. :(

Yzerbear

[honey827]

Make a rule that 5 points get deducted for all skaters that skate to the same over used music in one season. No more battle of the Carmens, Swans and Sing Sing Sing.


Angela's car accident never happens.


COI is shown on network tv or cable again.

More great skating specials are shown like what Kat and Brian used to do instead of silly ones like that Salute to the Oscars snoozefest.

[kgrama]

I would bring back Katia's Sergei.

[missmarysgarden]

I would get rid of anonymous judging.

[Crizzy]

the corruption in ISU and all federations. Starting off with a can of woop-a$$ at Speedy:CK

Although it is rather sweet to have Katia's Sergei back but what about Ilia? Who's will he be??? MINE!!

[Krista]

Good one Crizzy. I'd say a seperate federation for international figure skaters.

[EigthAv]

There would be waaaaaaaay more figure skating television coverage.Pro and eligibles. Nationals would get as much coverage as the Little League playoffs to include all senior programmes and junior freeskates.JGPs,World Juniors and USFSA sectionals would also be covered and most figure skating coverage would be live,not tape delayed.We would get back the World Pro event,Too Hot to Skate,the Improv event,COI on ABC along with monthly specials on CBS and those specials would be groovy,not hogwash with musical groups and singers hogging up the picture.A stem-cell research breakthrough would give Lipinski and Nam brand new hips.Skaters would pay no tax! I would take that mess off their backs!

[kgrama]

Crizzy, darn it, you beat me to Ilia....=P

[GoldenMichelle]

what I would changed can't be changed, and that would be taking all bias and subjectivity out of judging. Of course that is impossible be subjectivity is a part of any judged sport, but I wish we had honest enough judges that this wouldn't be a problem.

[FraggleRock]

It would be nice if the 1961 plane crash of our US Worlds Team, a very sad tragedy, never happened.

I agree about subjective judging, I wish the line between cheating, subjectivity, bias, and honesty was much larger, but alas...:(

[Deetlebug]

I'd go for the future, and change CoP, so that the "caller" didn't have a job anymore. If we have to have CoP's, then let the judges judge it all, rather just sit there looking bored and deciding GOE's only. Anonimity be gone as well!

Now that's a perfect 6.0!!!

I couldn't agree more.

While there are many things in the past that I wish hadn't happened, or else have happened differently, realistally none of that can be changed.

However, no matter how impossible it seems, it is still possible to lobby for and promote this change to COP going forward.

deetles

[SkateWorlds1]

I would have had the CoP much sooner. I would have love to have seen how well Midori and Tanya could have done. They weren't very artistic but could have sure racked up the points for their 3/axels.

[Ice So]

I'd go for the future, and change CoP, so that the "caller" didn't have a job anymore. If we have to have CoP's, then let the judges judge it all, rather just sit there looking bored and deciding GOE's only. Thats would be a terrible idea :eek There's many people who already think that there should be two judging panels (one for TES and other for PCS) because one panel can't evaluate everything at the same time, it's too much for them. If together with evaluating TES and PCS they also needed to identify the elements and their levels, I think this would be a huge step to more problems in judging.

[billob]

Sticking to things that can be changed I would ask that all of the judges who are scoring using the COP be identified.