It took a while, but I’ve finally figured out what—or better
said, who—I want to focus on in this
post-ladies final fallout.
Scott Hamilton.
Yeah, I know. He’s the guy you might get sick of hearing
after a couple nights (or less) of figure skating on NBC, with his “triple
luuuuutz!!!!” grunts and drinking-game-worthy quips (did you know blades
do not like to go sideways?), OR he
might be the Olympic champion athlete/entertainer/cancer survivor/humanitarian
and all-around Good Guy that would make your short list for Celebrities I’d Like to Invite to a Dinner
Party.
Either way, he’s been doing skating commentary for the better part
of 30 years. At CBS he worked the first-ever prime-time Worlds coverage in
1987, as well as three Olympic Games. He’s the voice we heard as Paul Wylie
skated for the silver medal in Albertville ...
as we waited and waited AND WAITED for Tonya to take the ice in Lillehammer ...
as Michelle and Tara went toe-to-toe for their medals in
Nagano . Then he followed the TV
rights to NBC and started covering the Games with Sandra Bezic and Tom Hammond
in 2002—where his “How could that happen??” led the battle cry for the Salt
Lake City Pairs Scandal. The three have worked the front lines of Olympic
Figure Skating ever since... and of course, were in the booth when Kim Yu-Na’s free
skate scores came up Thursday night.
Since then, we've seen and read a lot of things:
We've seen that the component scores for Adelina Sotnikova
were so much higher than her previous best components, you'd think they could
inject elements like skating skills, transitions, and
choreography with baseball-quality steroids. (Scroll halfway down through this article to see what I mean)
We've read (and maybe signed) the petition making the rounds demanding "Open transparent scores" and the removal or anonymity...
We've seen the picture of Sotnikova getting bear-hugged by
the same Russian judge that sat on the panel for her winning free skate.
We've read that South Korea
filed a complaint with the IOC... and that it was filed far too late to do any
good.
And we heard from Christine Brennan (among others, but she
was Tweeting about it before the event was even over) about the suspect judging
panel... then from Phil Hersh, with quotes from ISU Prez Ottavio “Speedy”
Cinquanta that proved his well of cluelessness is deeper than his harshest
critics gave credit for...
And we heard from... Scott? One of the most historically
outspoken guys in the sport? Well... there was this in the LA TIMES:
"I was waiting
for the mistakes she (Sotnikova) usually makes, and she never made them,"
said 1984 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton, commentating for
NBC.
"I looked at the
way the component score (rules) are written, and Adelina checks off every box.
It's not as aesthetically pleasing as Yuna or Carolina
Even so, Hamilton
OK... did he say anything else about that jaw-dropping? No?
Well, maybe over here in this link from CBS News:
--
Watching from his NBC
broadcast location, 1984 Olympic champ Scott Hamilton was intrigued by the
17-year-old Sotnikova's strategy, which he said worked perfectly for the
scoring format. It was more than enough to beat Kim and Carolina Italy Hamilton
"It may not have
been as beautiful as Yuna and Carolina
It’s not that what he’s saying is incorrect... it’s just
surprisingly opinion-free. But then Hersh’s article produced this within its
final lines:
--
To Scott Hamilton,
the 1984 singles champion and a TV commentator, the controversy is the best
thing that could have happened.
“You’re going to be
around the water cooler and everybody is going to have an opinion, and I love
it because it will make everyone care about the sport again,” he said,
laughing.
--
Which may or may not have prompted this comment from Hamilton
on Twitter:
Or this one...
Leave Sochi
So here’s the thing. I spoke at length with Scott Hamilton
for the Skating on Air book, and if
you’ve read it, you know he’s got a soapbox and he’s not afraid to use it.
Here’s a passage from page 185:
And as mentioned in a
previous chapter, the fact that the IJS seeks to improve the quality of
scores—rather than the quality of the judges that give them—leaves some
believing the entire system was is an exercise in futility. “If George
Steinbrenner gets to pick the umpires for the World Series, would you ever believe in the results?” asks Scott
Hamilton. “It’s the same thing... instead of looking at the quality of the
judges, they’re representing their country, and there’s a conflict of interest
there. I think there’s a way to set up judges who are affiliated with the ISU,
but are still their own person... and the best
judges should be the ones to go to the Olympic Games. I think it would inspire
greatness.”
That paragraph, interestingly enough, is followed by a
comment by Tracy Wilson about the real suspense in an event these days coming
with the judges’ draw... a factor that reared its head this week in Christine
Brennan’s “anonymous source” article.
But back to Hamilton .
The first quote from him up there sounds like someone trying to be as
diplomatic as possible, perhaps purposely leaving it up to readers to say Well if THAT’S considered good components
these days...
Then what? Do four-year fans tune out in disgust when 2018
rolls around? Maybe... but probably not. Any four-year fans still following
after 2002’s Skategate seem to be a pretty forgiving lot. How about die-hards?
Will this be the judging controversy that finally does some of them in? Yeah, there
might be a stronger possibility there. But with most non-Olympic skating
coverage relegated these days to online streams and delayed highlights on
network TV, maybe NBC simply doesn’t care what they do—or, better possibility,
they realize that die-hards don’t rely on Hamilton to help them understand
things.
The second quote from him is all about “strategy”; more
words seeming to be pro-IJS but comes across to me as a non-endorsement of anyone...
especially Kim Yu-Na as he echoes what some have said about Kim not really bringing it here as she did in Vancouver .
It’s also possible he was trying to play up the athletic side of the sport in
an effort to keep this whole thing from sinking to the melodrama status that
people love to hate (or hate to love, depending on who you ask). But some may
have interpreted it as Dang, Scott
doesn’t have Yu-Na and Caro’s back on this one?? What side is he on anyway?!
As for the “watercooler” quote... I’m a little suspect of it
as being the kind of thing Hersh might grab quickly to wrap up a story when
there were many, more complex quotes to choose from. But I cringe at its
flippant nature nonetheless. If I didn’t know any better, I might think he only
gets up in arms about things when a North American skater is involved.
I do know better.
So I’m left being a little puzzled by it all. On his FB page, following each of
those semi-apologetic messages of his... all the thread comments I saw were
very positive in nature, so I don’t know exactly which “angry tweets” he was
referring to (unless he meant figure skating-related Twitter traffic in
general). Maybe he’s under some pressure from NBC to downplay the controversy
since, unlike in 2002, secret judging is likely to keep the story from
unfolding any further. Maybe he’s feeling some heat after being effectively
upstaged throughout the Games by the “B” squad of Johnny Weir and Tara
Lipinski. Maybe experience has taught him the futility of fighting some of
these decisions, and he just wants to stay out of it as much as he can. Hand that
baton to someone else.
“They’ve gotta dance with the date they brought,” I remember
him telling me in reference to the ISU making heads or tails of IJS once it was
locked into place. Maybe, at age 55 with nearly three decades of skating
broadcasting behind him, he’s finally resigned himself to “dance” a little too.
