Minto Summer Skate falls somewhere in the middle.  I didn't think the
competition ran noticably faster, yet there didn't seem to be any holdups.
Numerical scores were not read in the rink.  The biggest holdup was getting
the results posted to the website.  Because the accounting was run by Skate
Canada, the Minto Club had to wait until they were provided with a CD with
the results.  SK took their own sweet time providing it.

Marg


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sleeping Dragon Sports" <SleepingDragonSports@...>
To: "SkateFans" <SkateFans@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 9:35 PM
Subject: [SkateFans] CoP and Club Comps


> Sandra Loosemore recently made the comment that the judging at the recent
> USFSA club comp she attended (the Cranberry Open?) was so slow and the
> wait between skaters was so long that she's seriously considering giving
> up going to these events.
>
> I recently attended Thornhill Summer Skate and found the opposite to be
> true.  The event moved along more briskly than it ever had, and for the
> first time ever, we were given the skater's unofficial score before the
> next skater started, allowing us to know where the skater had finished
> without waiting for an hour or more for the results sheets to be posted.
>
> Liz

My experience at Silicon Valley Open was that it took much longer with the
new scoring system than with closed judging under 6.0 and somewhat longer
than open judging under 6.0. Sadly, the new system is here to stay, so
either one must get over the drawbacks or, as Sandra is considering doing,
stop going. I enjoyed SVO enough that I will keep going. I plan to attend
Central Pacific regionals, which is also under the new judging system for
the first time this year.

-- Kevin


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>>  The ISU has just released a new communications on "TV Celebrity
>>  Figure Skating Programs".

Dej:  Obviously, this was an imperative problem that had to be attended
to immediately.


Isn't it freaky when people are a living parody of themselves?  When
they are living the Saturday Night Live skit of their life?  Speedy and
the ISU have been doing that for awhile.  This is the cherry on the
cake of their idiotic, counter-productive blustering.

--JOdy

Sandra wrote:

"Really? At US comps where they used closed judging, I'd say the average delay
for judging between one skater finishing their
performance and the next being introduced by the announcer was on the order of
15 seconds. Now it takes at least 2-3 minutes for the technical panel to finish,
and then the announcer has to read this long litany: "The technical elements
score for Suzie Skater is 19.43, and her total program components score is
21.54. The total segment score for this performance is 38.97. Suzie Skater is
currently in 4th place." It takes pretty near another 30 seconds just to say all
that."

At Thornhill, the next skaters came on the ice as the current skater was taking
their bows (which I found to be rude).  As the current skater left the ice, the
announcer said "The unofficial score for Suzy Skater is 21.54" and then
announced the next skater.

Liz





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, Kathy Godfrey <kgodfrey@...> wrote:
>
> At 03:02 PM 8/31/2006, eaennis wrote:
> >The ISU goes on to "recommend" that all officials of any capacity
do
> >not participate even if the event is sanctioned. They are also
> >told to in no way identify themselves as being an ISU official.
> But Sally Anne Stapleford and
> Jon Jackson are available.
>
> It's one thing to want to be in charge of the sport, but
> this dog-in-the-manger attitude toward shows like "Skating with
> Celebrities" or the more "rigorous" "Dancing on Ice" is
> ludicrous.  Why on earth should Speedy feel threatened by
> something that even the most out-of-the-loop viewer couldn't
> possibly confuse for a "real" competition, and can only
> increase awareness (and possible interest) in the pair
> and ice dance disciplines?  Another chance to attract
> and even educate viewers about these "arcane" disciplines,
> so of course it must be eliminated.

Kathy Godfrey


-------------------------
   Because Speedy is an idiot.  The ISU has lost money in TV revenue
and maybe he wants to lose MORE.   What an a-hole.   As if Skating
with Celebrities was any kind of real competition.  Just
entertainment, that's all.  This jerk doesn't know the difference.

Doria

"Sleeping Dragon Sports" <SleepingDragonSports@...> wrote:

> Sandra Loosemore recently made the comment that the judging at the
> recent USFSA club comp she attended (the Cranberry Open?) was so
> slow and the wait between skaters was so long that she's seriously
> considering giving up going to these events.
>
> I recently attended Thornhill Summer Skate and found the opposite to
> be true.  The event moved along more briskly than it ever had, and
> for the first time ever, we were given the skater's unofficial score
> before the next skater started, allowing us to know where the skater
> had finished without waiting for an hour or more for the results
> sheets to be posted.

Really?  At US comps where they used closed judging, I'd say the
average delay for judging between one skater finishing their
performance and the next being introduced by the announcer was on the
order of 15 seconds.  Now it takes at least 2-3 minutes for the
technical panel to finish, and then the announcer has to read this
long litany: "The technical elements score for Suzie Skater is 19.43,
and her total program components score is 21.54.  The total segment
score for this performance is 38.97.  Suzie Skater is currently in 4th
place."  It takes pretty near another 30 seconds just to say all that.

Competitions that used open marking under the 6.0 system were also a
real drag because of the long delays in judging and reading the marks.
But we're talking novices here; in the "old days", novice and below
*always* used closed judging, even at Nationals, and it was the norm
for junior and senior at club competitions as well.

-Sandra

Sandra Loosemore recently made the comment that the judging at the recent USFSA
club comp she attended (the Cranberry Open?) was so slow and the wait between
skaters was so long that she's seriously considering giving up going to these
events.

I recently attended Thornhill Summer Skate and found the opposite to be true. 
The event moved along more briskly than it ever had, and for the first time
ever, we were given the skater's unofficial score before the next skater
started, allowing us to know where the skater had finished without waiting for
an hour or more for the results sheets to be posted.

Liz

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Has anyone purchased tickets for this event through Ticketmaster?  How
about through the Box Office?  I just looked it up and there is a $2.
per ticket charge for a facility fee plus $6.25 handling fee from
Ticketmaster.  If you buy the cheapest ticket for Thursday the fees are
more than the ticket.

Meagan Leigh

At 02:55 PM 8/31/2006, skatfan@... wrote:


>It's one thing to want to be in charge of the sport, but
>this dog-in-the-manger attitude toward shows like "Skating with
>Celebrities" or the more "rigorous" "Dancing on Ice" is
>ludicrous.  Why on earth should Speedy feel threatened by
>something that even the most out-of-the-loop viewer couldn't
>possibly confuse for a "real" competition, and can only
>increase awareness (and possible interest) in the pair
>and ice dance disciplines?

Because the ISU can't make money off it?

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "Anna Kondakova" <annakond@...> wrote:
>
> As far as I could tell in two Russians versions of "selebrity skating"
> this communication only affects the total of one dance team, namely,
> Grebenkina and Azroyan, who participate in the current RTR "Dance on
> Ice" project together with a number of Russian pros and Ruslan
> Goncharov, which puts the show under that "2 different ISU members"
> requirement. The other show, which was supposed to start on the ORT
> channel this Saturday will feature the whole crop of the current
> Olympic Champions (Marinin, Slutskaya, Plushenko, Navka, Kostomarov),
> but ironically they do not violate the ISU rules, as only Russian
> skaters are participating.
>
> Ann.
>
Gee, think that loophole was written with them in mind ;-)  Just
kidding!

I think the ISU wants to control the North American market as that's
where the money is to be made.

Meagan Leigh

As far as I could tell in two Russians versions of "selebrity skating"
this communication only affects the total of one dance team, namely,
Grebenkina and Azroyan, who participate in the current RTR "Dance on
Ice" project together with a number of Russian pros and Ruslan
Goncharov, which puts the show under that "2 different ISU members"
requirement. The other show, which was supposed to start on the ORT
channel this Saturday will feature the whole crop of the current
Olympic Champions (Marinin, Slutskaya, Plushenko, Navka, Kostomarov),
but ironically they do not violate the ISU rules, as only Russian
skaters are participating.

Ann.

Thinking back to the US Skating w/Celebrities, I guess since John Nicks still
coaches eligible skaters, perhaps the ISU could reach out and touch him,
otherwise no one involved in this program had any connection with eligible
skaters (again I suppose Rene' Roca or Randy G. might want to do choreography
but I don't know if they currently are.)

Reminds me of the period 8-10 years ago when Pro comps were so popular and the
ISU attitude was clearly that nothing on ice skates should be watched or a dime
made from that "we don't control"  (except hockey I guess)

Dumb, just dumb

Fred


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In a message dated 8/31/2006 12:32:27 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
kgodfrey@... writes:
At 03:02 PM 8/31/2006, eaennis wrote:
>The ISU goes on to "recommend" that all officials of any capacity do
>not participate even if the event is sanctioned. They are also
>told to in no way identify themselves as being an ISU official.

So I guess we won't see Debbi Wilkes on a Canadian version of
"Skating with Celebrities."  But Sally Anne Stapleford and
Jon Jackson are available.

It's one thing to want to be in charge of the sport, but
this dog-in-the-manger attitude toward shows like "Skating with
Celebrities" or the more "rigorous" "Dancing on Ice" is
ludicrous.  Why on earth should Speedy feel threatened by
something that even the most out-of-the-loop viewer couldn't
possibly confuse for a "real" competition, and can only
increase awareness (and possible interest) in the pair
and ice dance disciplines?  Another chance to attract
and even educate viewers about these "arcane" disciplines,
so of course it must be eliminated.
Given the atrocities Speedie has already committed against the sport,
this is like shooting a fly when the ground is littered with landmines
already...

Renee


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

At 03:02 PM 8/31/2006, eaennis wrote:
>The ISU goes on to "recommend" that all officials of any capacity do
>not participate even if the event is sanctioned. They are also
>told to in no way identify themselves as being an ISU official.

So I guess we won't see Debbi Wilkes on a Canadian version of
"Skating with Celebrities."  But Sally Anne Stapleford and
Jon Jackson are available.

It's one thing to want to be in charge of the sport, but
this dog-in-the-manger attitude toward shows like "Skating with
Celebrities" or the more "rigorous" "Dancing on Ice" is
ludicrous.  Why on earth should Speedy feel threatened by
something that even the most out-of-the-loop viewer couldn't
possibly confuse for a "real" competition, and can only
increase awareness (and possible interest) in the pair
and ice dance disciplines?  Another chance to attract
and even educate viewers about these "arcane" disciplines,
so of course it must be eliminated.

  >>Kathy Godfrey
    kgodfrey@...

>http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-177946-
>195164-110940-0-file,00.pdf
>
>The ISU has just released a new communications on "TV Celebrity
>Figure Skating Programs".

Obviously, this was an imperative problem that had to be atteneded to
immediately.

dej
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn to use Google Analytics to make your web site more effective.
Buy my book! http://www.google-analytics-book.com/ ISBN#: 0470053852
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Entirely self-assured (or self-deluded) egotists aside, most artists
reconcile themselves to living with a constant sense of uncertainty,
that gnawing feeling that next time the muses may be silent. (...)If
they are to continue to practice their craft they struggle through
and carry on.--Charles Isherwood
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the midst of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there
lay an invincible summer.--Albert Camus
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am Writer, hear me Pontificate!

http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-177946-
195164-110940-0-file,00.pdf

The ISU has just released a new communications on "TV Celebrity
Figure Skating Programs".

Key items...

"If any such program involves: (i) judging of any kind, AND (ii)
international participation by skaters (whether eligible or
ineligible) and/or officials from at least 2 ISU Members/countries,
the program would be considered by the ISU to be an international
competition that requires an ISU sanction.

"Participation by an ISU-eligible skater or Official in such an
international event (conducted without an ISU sanction) could be
evaluated by the proper ISU authorities as a breach of Rule 102,
paragraph 2 of the ISU General Regulations. The result for the
participant could be loss of ISU eligibility to skate/officiate in
ISU sanctioned events and the Olympic Winter Games."

The ISU goes on to "recommend" that all officials of any capacity do
not participate even if the event is sanctioned.   They are also
told to in no way identify themselves as being an ISU official.

Beth

Taken from Yahoo! TV for the week of Sat. 9/2/06 through Fri. 9/8/06.
All times Eastern; please doublecheck your local listings.

And always bear in mind that broadcast network afternoon
skating is often subject to the vagaries of delays due
to other live coverage, or being rescheduled, shortened,
or even completely preempted by your local affiliate.

Sat  Sep  2   "Ice Princess" (2005 movie)              Starz 2-4 p.m. EDT
Sat  Sep  2   Stars on Ice                             NBC 3-4:30 p.m. EDT
               [Lake Placid, NY, 11/26/05] (rep from 1/14/06)
Sat  Sep  2   "Malcolm in the Middle" with quad-roller "free skate" syndicated
               [repeat from FOX 7/23/00]
Wed  Sep  6   "One in a Million" (S. Henie movie 1936) FoxMovieChannel 6-8 a.m.
EDT


>>Kathy Godfrey
   kgodfrey@...

At 08:02 PM 8/30/2006, Kathy Godfrey wrote:
>I haven't been to a live gymnastics competition since they
>instituted their own new system this past year, but it usually
>didn't take very long for the scores to come up (faster
>than 6.0 figure skating)--when it did, it was because the rules
>allowed for challenges on the spot by a coach, and also
>required conferences to consensus if there was serious
>disagreement among the judges.

I should also mention that at most gymnastics competitions,
there is more than one gymnast going at once, which makes
it harder to watch everything you want to, but also means
there's almost always something to watch if waiting for
scores bores you.  (And the scores are posted at each
apparatus for the last person to complete a routine,
so you can always glance over before the next score
is posted to see how that gymnast did.)

  >>Kathy Godfrey
    kgodfrey@...

One poster asks: is it really true there was once a European ice dance
test session judged by a blind judge placed at center ice who assessed
the dances by sound?

I'd never heard that one before. Excellent.

janet brings up the story of judge who assess Moves-in-the-Field tests,
which by the way are complex strings of footwork and spiral sequences,
by closing her(?) eyes and listening to whether the counters/brackets,
three turns sound stratchy.

Of course, under the current system, with judges pressing their faces
into their touch screens, scribbling notes, looking rapidly back and
forth between the screens and the skating, you might say they were at
least half blind to the performance. <G>

My preference in talking my dance tests was that the judges had great
eyesight but weren't very smart on the down-and-dirty technical
aspects.  You see, you rarely master an ice dance until you've passed
it, and so wheter it was the Viennese or the Paso Doble, I wanted them
looking at my posture and extensions and expression, and away from
whatever little technical thing I hadn't yet gotten over on step 45(b).

Some of my peers would get kind of annoyed here and there when I would
pour on the dazzle and expression and get away with a technical flaw or
two that might have torpedoed an ordinary test.

Then again, I had a technically exact and for the test level flawless
Killian, and managed to go out on the solo and trip and fall and then
sprawl on the introductory steps. So things evened out. The referee
called me over. She was wry character. Hhemm ... she said something
close to "I think we're go to take that from the top." (I passed)

Ben Currie

On Tuesday I attended a press conference at St. Paul's Xcel Energy
Center, where the 2008 USFSA Championships will be held. Kristi
Yamaguchi (who vacations in Minnesota in the summer) and Emily Hughes
(hopeful) both spoke. The most interesting news of the morning (to me)
was that every competitor at every level will be televised in some way
(including via the internet or webcasting). (The network has not been
confirmed.)

Both skaters were kind enough to send video birthday greetings to my
10-year-old via my cellphone after the press conference.

Carol Leach












________________________________________________________________________
Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email
and IM. All on demand. Always Free.

-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Margaret Burwell" <burwellm@...>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Currie" <ncurrie40@...>
To: <SkateFans@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:37 AM
Subject: [SkateFans] Re: survey reveals satisfaction

> Figures tests, especially the 6th 7th and 8th tests were just weird to
> watch. A lone skater on a full ice rink. Warming up each successive
> figure at the end by the hockey goal, while three adults with rubber
> souled boots walk around on the ice, bending over the tracings even
> placing little wooden markers on the ice to see of the turns are
> properly lined up on the main axis of the circles of the figure "8"

I'm not sure if you mean this literally or not. At most Ottawa Clubs, there
used to be 3 or 4 tests going on at the same time with 2 warming up at each
end of the ice. I remember any number of test sessions where a coach would
have a skater at both ends of the ice at the same time. We joked that the
board should provide scooters for them to use.

JSH:  In the US, when you got/get above the first 2 tests, you must have a panel
of at three judges, and for the highest tests, you need the highest judges.  
the odds of finding 6 or 9 gold figures judges are/were next to zero, so you
would essentially never have had more than one gold going on at the same time,
although you could (and sometimes did) have had a gold and a test below the 6th
at the same time, or (not uncommonly) two mid-level tests and a preliminary test
going on at the same time.   (6th, 7th, and 8th tests all require a gold panel).
Canada has historically single-paneled more tests, so it might have been much
more common to see more figures tests on the ice at the same time, because you
wouldn't have needed so many judges.
The gold test required a lot of ice, as figures needed to be placed so that the
skater did not overlap previous figures in a way that would interfere with their
judging (and the gold test was so complex that lots of the figures needed to be
placed with no overlap at all), and could not place the figures in a manner that
let them use existing markings on the ice.    And all figures tests required
unmarked ice.   So sometimes in the middle of figures tests, you would get to
see them "barrel" the ice ...... that is, drag out what amounted to a "manual
zamboni" -- a barrel that rolled on an axel, that had holes in it, and a
cloth/chamois to spread the water around on the area that was marked up. 
Because figures tracings are generally light, this was enough to erase them and
give the skater clean ice again.
As for the sense of geometry, after a while you feel it in your body.   Of
course you use external cues to check your orientation, axis, boundaries, etc.,
but if you have mastered the figure, you just "get" the geometry with your body
lean, depth of edge, degree of check, etc.
I will never forget the thrill when one day I just struck off on a FO edge "in
the middle of nowhere" (showing someone something in answer to a question I now
forget, and explaining as I went), -- and I came right back EXACTLY to my center
(that is, I closed the circle precisely).   I was so excited that I went back
and marked it off and discovered that it was EXACTLY the size it needed to be
for me (10 1/2 sideways paces in diameter), and perfectly round.    That's a
part of the thrill that Ben talks about, too.   It's in the first figures test
(i.e., Preliminary), and the most basic figure there is, but the sense of
mastery, pride, pleasure, and ease is still there even at this level.
And this feeling of mastery, pleasure, and ease is what makes skaters who have
advanced even farther "doodle" figures on the ice in their spare moments.   It
just feels incredibly cool.
And the little figures with the littler circle at the top of each circle were
the loops.
      janet


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I am working on Prelim figures on and off.  Usually I try to work on
them for a bit early in the morning, before other skaters get on the
ice.  I also have mastered the art of finding my tracings of my
figures in between those of the kids who insist on using my space for
their warm-ups (even if there's only 3 or 4 of us on the ice).

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, Sandra Loosemore <sandra@...> wrote:
>
> "Ben Currie" <ncurrie40@...> wrote:
>
> > I hadn't thought of that --- the disappearing knowledge among
judges of
> > the standards for figure tests.  But also, how are they patching
(the
> > word for practicing figures on a strip "patch" of ice)? ---There
used
> > to be lots of sessions for figures, but there cannot be many now.
>
> At some rinks, they'll cone off the end of the ice during a
> not-too-busy freestyle session.  If a coach wants to teach figures,
I
> imagine they can probably negotiate something for their students.
It's
> probably hard to get enough patch time to practice figures to the
same
> standard as in the "old days", though.  At many rinks, the pattern
used to
> be alternating patch and freestyle sessions (and then an ice
resurface)
> all day long.
>
> -Sandra
>

> So according to this article Steuer has been in Toronto working with
> S&S and other pairs.  I thought Canada required specific training and
> education for coaches.  Does Steuer have these qualifications?
>
> I wonder if this will jeopardize Germany's hosting Jr. Worlds this
> season?
>
> I thought DEU made money hosting 2004 worlds and got endorsements
> from companies after the teams good showing.  Sounds like a similar
> problem as the Japanese federation.
>
> Meagan Leigh

There are various but specific requirements for accreditation as a Canadian
Coach which apply mainly to higher level competitions.  You have to
accredited as "level X" in order to coach at the boards at a Canadian
championships..  This is the reason Klimova and Ponomorenko were only
accredited as consultants when they coached Bourne and Kraatz. Isabelle and
Paul Duchesnay complained that as former Olympic and World medalists, they
shouldn't have to jump through these hoops.  It played a part in their
decision to relocate to Florida.  There have been many instances of foreign
coaches bringing skaters to Canadian training sites.  There are ways around
the rules or ways to bend them when you really want to.

Marg

I have no idea, I'll ask someone I know who judges at gymnastics
competitions.

--- In  SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "Fred Goss" <ghgang@...>  wrote:
>
> Sandra L. wrote, "and none of these 500 offficials is  ever going to
have think, 'gee was this performance better than that other  one"
>
> And, I reflect, this is exactly what OC had in mind with  the new
system.
>
> Fred
>
Has anyone attended a  major gymnastics competition?  Does it take very
long for the scores  to come up?  Just watching it on television, it
seems to go quite  quickly but they could be editing because we hardly
ever see a competition  live.





Renee
a bit skating obsessed, but it's  legal


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hooloovoo wrote:

  >Skating reference on Eureka! the new sci-fi series about a town of
geniuses.

Hey - It's a cool show!  I kinda felt like I maybe was the only one
watching it.  And yes I caught the reference.  Glad to know I'm not the
only one out there ;-)

There was another reference to skating on last weeks PGA tourney in a
comparison to sheer quality of performance during to the time that you
need to perform referencing to Michelle Kwan and Tiger.  Now THAT's a
pretty cool comparison!

Barb

Skating reference on Eureka! the new sci-fi series about a town of
geniuses.

Scene is underling complaining about another work team that's got better
resources and is outperforming them unfairly.
Boss says competition breeds excellents
Underling responds "Yeah tell that to Nancy Kerrigan"

-Hoo

                 Hooloovoo -- http://www.hooloovoo.com/
             ---------------------------------------------
      Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.

>  > PS: The very first steps of Evan Lysacek's "Singin' in the Rain"
>>  program from 2006, were back loops ... a design that one had to trace
>>  in figures ... and Evan's were pretty lousy back loops, but a nostalgic
>>  little hint to the judges about how he'd been trained properly.
>
>Brian Orser's Somewhere in Time number begins and ends with a test figure.

Boitano did a number a few years ago (I see a vision of dark blue
velvet--but really, that could be almost ANY of his numbers), where
he began with a rather complex celtic cross type figure, which wasn't
a school figure, but was rather from an earlier time when fancy
figures were in vogue--like the late 1800s.

dej
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn to use Google Analytics to make your web site more effective.
Buy my book! http://www.google-analytics-book.com/ ISBN#: 0470053852
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Entirely self-assured (or self-deluded) egotists aside, most artists
reconcile themselves to living with a constant sense of uncertainty,
that gnawing feeling that next time the muses may be silent. (...)If
they are to continue to practice their craft they struggle through
and carry on.--Charles Isherwood
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the midst of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there
lay an invincible summer.--Albert Camus
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am Writer, hear me Pontificate!

At 07:30 PM 8/30/2006, denbydilbert2001 wrote:
>Has anyone attended a major gymnastics competition? Does it take very
>long for the scores to come up? Just watching it on television, it
>seems to go quite quickly but they could be editing because we hardly
>ever see a competition live.

I haven't been to a live gymnastics competition since they
instituted their own new system this past year, but it usually
didn't take very long for the scores to come up (faster
than 6.0 figure skating)--when it did, it was because the rules
allowed for challenges on the spot by a coach, and also
required conferences to consensus if there was serious
disagreement among the judges.

  >>Kathy Godfrey
    kgodfrey@...

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, "Fred Goss" <ghgang@...> wrote:
>
> Sandra L. wrote, "and none of these 500 offficials is ever going to
have think, 'gee was this performance better than that other one"
>
> And, I reflect, this is exactly what OC had in mind with the new
system.
>
> Fred
>
Has anyone attended a major gymnastics competition?  Does it take very
long for the scores to come up?  Just watching it on television, it
seems to go quite quickly but they could be editing because we hardly
ever see a competition live.

Meagan Leigh

--- In SkateFans@yahoogroups.com, Anke Gray <ankegray@...> wrote:
>
>
> A little background on the German federation (DEU) that I have not
had
> time to report:  In July the top leadership of the DEU resigned
(i.e.,
> Reinhard Mirmseker, Sissy Krick, Ingrid Charlotte Wolter, etc.)
when they
> did not get unanimous support from the members at their annual
meeting.
> A new election was quickly held, and the new president is Dieter
> Hillebrand, whose background is hockey.  He was head of the recently
> disbanded "Eissport-Dachverband" ("Umbrella Association of Ice
Sport"),
> which was felt to be superfluous.
>
> The primary issue with the DEU is solvency, and the members did not
trust
> the leadership to save the DEU from bankruptcy.  Apparently the
financial
> records had not been made available for review for several years.
The
> German Interior Ministry has also withheld all funding since the
Olympics.
> Some have speculated that they were punishing the DEU for not
successfully
> splitting Sav/Szol from Steuer, but other reports point to the
> government's desire to see more financial information and
accountability.
> (Germany has its own financial woes and needs to cut back as well.)
>
> The new president, Dieter Hillebrand, and his new team have been
studying
> the situation for the past month, and the report that he has talked
with
> Sav/Szol is the first news about the Steuer situation.  Prior news:
> there is no money to support any summer camps for skaters.  All
skaters
> have to be content with working at their home rinks.  The other,
shocking,
> news is that a number of rinks may close.  The rinks rely on
support from
> the DEU and that's currently not available.  Most notable among
them is
> Oberstdorf!  There is hope that Oberstdorf will be able to earn
enough at
> the fall events they are hosting to survive, but things are
definitely
> dicey.  (Oberstdorf would continue as a training site for other
sports.)
>
> I've summarized a number of reports, and have more to read, but
here's one
> German report.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/nf9m6
>
> Anke
>
So according to this article Steuer has been in Toronto working with
S&S and other pairs.  I thought Canada required specific training and
education for coaches.  Does Steuer have these qualifications?

I wonder if this will jeopardize Germany's hosting Jr. Worlds this
season?

I thought DEU made money hosting 2004 worlds and got endorsements
from companies after the teams good showing.  Sounds like a similar
problem as the Japanese federation.

Meagan Leigh