Starting Again

It's been almost a year since I've blogged, and since tomorrow is the start of the figure skating season, I think I'm ready to take it up again. I think that last season I was a bit burned out on figure skating, after my marvelous experience at Nationals in 2007. One of my personal goals is to make back to the Nationals in 2010, when it's back in Spokane, one month before the Olympics.

It looks like I'm going to have to depend upon MySpace if I'm to get serious about following the Grand Prix series. It looks like the only GP event that's going to be television here in the US this season is Skate America on NBC, and they're only showing the ladies long program on Friday afternoon. My plan is to tape it, and hope that the other events make it on YouTube. I'm certain that Skate Canada next weekend will be downloaded there. I just wish that the CBC put figure skating on the web, like so many US networks have their programs there.

The ISU have to really get it together and make a deal with NBC to broadcast international events, like they've already done in '09 for Worlds. Maybe they can do it with the money they're saving by using fewer judges. At least the situation in figure skating is better than the judging in gymnastics.

I watched a great deal of the Summer Olympics this year (it was just marvelous--Michael Phelps! Volleyball, all!), and I had to stop watching gymnastics because I was disgusted. Disgusted by the little Chinese girls who were obviously too young. Disgusted by the scoring system that I, as someone who knows little about gymnastics, found incomprehensible and unfair.

Figure skating has had many of the same challenges to overcome, but the sport has been able to so much better at revamping their scoring system. Sure, it's more complicated than the 6.0 system, but I don't think it's impossible to comprehend. Sure, there need to be some changes, and it's by no means perfect, but I don't think it shames the sport.

I haven't been here for a year, but that doesn't mean I lost my opinions! I'm looking forward to following the new season, even if it's going to be more difficult.