Comments on: Art and Sport in the 2010 Olympics http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/2010/02/art-and-sport-in-the-2010-olympics/ Thoughts on theater in the Bay Area Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:09:26 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Katrina http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/2010/02/art-and-sport-in-the-2010-olympics/comment-page-1/#comment-1744 Katrina Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:09:03 +0000 http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/?p=2835#comment-1744 You're welcome! Yah I saw that yesterday. I'm not surprised. What I am surprised at is that Rouge is not doing anything about it. As for Evan, he definitely has both artistry and athleticism. I highly suggest go and watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6edwp_xtpc I like her short program but as for her long program, I don't know.. something about it just doesn't do it for me ... Just to be fair, I don't particularly like either of the American women. To me, most of the women's field this year to me is rather boring... You’re welcome!

Yah I saw that yesterday. I’m not surprised. What I am surprised at is that Rouge is not doing anything about it.

As for Evan, he definitely has both artistry and athleticism. I highly suggest go and watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6edwp_xtpc

I like her short program but as for her long program, I don’t know.. something about it just doesn’t do it for me … Just to be fair, I don’t particularly like either of the American women. To me, most of the women’s field this year to me is rather boring…

]]> By: jolene http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/2010/02/art-and-sport-in-the-2010-olympics/comment-page-1/#comment-1742 jolene Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:55:44 +0000 http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/?p=2835#comment-1742 Hi Evan and Katrina - thanks for commenting! @Evan - I thought it was fascinating that they both got the same scores for artistry as well. I'm still not sure what that means. I think the sport is struggling with an identity crisis as well, and the tension between artistry and sport is very real and not yet resolved even in the judges' minds. I too thought Lysacek deserved the gold - not only were his jumps solid, but Plushenko sealed his own fate by struggling with some of the landings on his triple jumps. @Katrina - thanks for defining ice dancing! :) Yeah, Plushenko's behavior is becoming more and more unbearable, but to be honest, he's just making himself look bad. Who can take him seriously? Did you see that he awarded himself the platinum medal? http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2010/02/evgeni-pluschenko-platinum-medal-evan-lysacek-olympics-upset-bitter-website.html Why aren't you happy about Kim Yuna?? I used to share a rink with her *occasionally* (not that I was anywhere near her league) when I took ice skating lessons in Korea a few years ago. She was younger then, and I had no idea she would come this far... Hi Evan and Katrina – thanks for commenting!

@Evan – I thought it was fascinating that they both got the same scores for artistry as well. I’m still not sure what that means. I think the sport is struggling with an identity crisis as well, and the tension between artistry and sport is very real and not yet resolved even in the judges’ minds.

I too thought Lysacek deserved the gold – not only were his jumps solid, but Plushenko sealed his own fate by struggling with some of the landings on his triple jumps.

@Katrina – thanks for defining ice dancing! :) Yeah, Plushenko’s behavior is becoming more and more unbearable, but to be honest, he’s just making himself look bad. Who can take him seriously? Did you see that he awarded himself the platinum medal? http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2010/02/evgeni-pluschenko-platinum-medal-evan-lysacek-olympics-upset-bitter-website.html

Why aren’t you happy about Kim Yuna?? I used to share a rink with her *occasionally* (not that I was anywhere near her league) when I took ice skating lessons in Korea a few years ago. She was younger then, and I had no idea she would come this far…

]]> By: Katrina http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/2010/02/art-and-sport-in-the-2010-olympics/comment-page-1/#comment-1741 Katrina Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:38:43 +0000 http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/?p=2835#comment-1741 Plushy is a whiny 2 year old who's mother didn't teach him manners. He should be sent home for conduct unbecoming of an Olympian... Evan beat Plushy on the jumps for crying out loud! Not to mention that Plush funnily enough LOST to Tim Goebel in 2003 at World Championships because of Jumps (Tim Geobel is nicknamed "The Quad King". It's rather funny/sad. He's a very sore loser. And No, Evan has also had artistic marks. His spins, footwork, and transitions have been some of the best in the business for years, unlike Johnny. Ice dancing comes from Ballroom just faster and on ice. Women: Kim Yu Na (though I'm not particularly happy about that), then Mao Asada, and then Joannie Rochette. Plushy is a whiny 2 year old who’s mother didn’t teach him manners. He should be sent home for conduct unbecoming of an Olympian… Evan beat Plushy on the jumps for crying out loud! Not to mention that Plush funnily enough LOST to Tim Goebel in 2003 at World Championships because of Jumps (Tim Geobel is nicknamed “The Quad King”. It’s rather funny/sad. He’s a very sore loser. And No, Evan has also had artistic marks. His spins, footwork, and transitions have been some of the best in the business for years, unlike Johnny.

Ice dancing comes from Ballroom just faster and on ice.

Women: Kim Yu Na (though I’m not particularly happy about that), then Mao Asada, and then Joannie Rochette.

]]> By: Evan http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/2010/02/art-and-sport-in-the-2010-olympics/comment-page-1/#comment-1740 Evan Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:52:47 +0000 http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/?p=2835#comment-1740 Glad you shared your thoughts on this, Jolene! Interestingly, Lysacek and Plushenko received identical program component scores, which measure artistry. But Lysacek got a slightly higher score for his technical components because his jumps were executed better than Plushenko's. The media seems to be overlooking this fact and instead highlighting Lysacek's artistry, but perhaps this is because his performance (at least to me) was choreographically more interesting than Plushenko's, and definitely about much more than just the jumps. I completely agree with you that athleticism and artistry are not mutually exclusive, and non-figure skating Olympic athletes definitely show artistry. But I think their scores are based solely on speed, and not on the trickier, more subjective matter of artistry. I shared some more thoughts on this yesterday on my blog: http://dancingperfectlyfree.com/2010/02/22/figure-skating-the-quad-quandary/ Glad you shared your thoughts on this, Jolene! Interestingly, Lysacek and Plushenko received identical program component scores, which measure artistry. But Lysacek got a slightly higher score for his technical components because his jumps were executed better than Plushenko’s. The media seems to be overlooking this fact and instead highlighting Lysacek’s artistry, but perhaps this is because his performance (at least to me) was choreographically more interesting than Plushenko’s, and definitely about much more than just the jumps.

I completely agree with you that athleticism and artistry are not mutually exclusive, and non-figure skating Olympic athletes definitely show artistry. But I think their scores are based solely on speed, and not on the trickier, more subjective matter of artistry. I shared some more thoughts on this yesterday on my blog: http://dancingperfectlyfree.com/2010/02/22/figure-skating-the-quad-quandary/

]]>