Originally posted by bigMoneyRacing:
I tune into ice skating about once every 4 years--and even then only for a day or two; but *every* time the announcers are bitching about inconsistent scoring. WTF is up with this sport?
Well, that's what happens when you only watch for two days every four years. Imagine trying to pick up on the rules for baseball if you never played and only watched the the last World Series game every leap year. 
Figure skating has moved WAAAY away from the simple "judged sport" thing. After 2002 in Salt Lake City, a completely new system for scoring elements was implemented that is much more concrete. It used to be that skaters started with the assumption of a perfect score and then points were deducted based on how the program was performed. Now, it starts with a base score and you build points based on elements, in a much more complex system. It's not perfect, but it is different, and the intention was to take away the element of outside pressure (like what happened in SLC) from the judging table. Whether or not that is going to work in the long term is up in the air.
Speaking of up in the air, do you all consider gymnastics a sport? It's based on judgement calls too. So is boxing, for that matter, and heck, so is football.
"Think of it, if you like, as a librarian with a G-string under the tweed." Clarkson on the Mondeo.
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