There’s a lot of buzz in Canada about the Ice Dancing team Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue.
At 2009 World Championships they were third. But Canucks are speculating they could be the team to beat at 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Check out a short sample of Moir and Virtue on YouTube.
… “We want to be at the top,” he said in preparation for Friday’s Grand Prix opening of the Trophée Eric Bompard event in Paris. “We think we are the best ice dance team in the world.” …
This blog normally doesn’t cover figure skating. For that click over to the hilarous but profane Aunt Joyce’s Ice Cream Stand.
People tell me their judging system, formerly the worst of any sport, is much improved.
And Figure Skating remains one of the most popular spectator sports in North America.
1. NFL Pro football, 2. Ladies’ Figure Skating, 3. Ladies’ Gymnastics, 4. Major League Baseball, 5. Pairs Figure Skating, 6. Men’s Figure Skating, 7. Pairs Ice Dancing, 8. Men’s Gymnastics, 9. NBA Pro Basketball, 10. NCAA/CFA College Football.
10 comments ↓
Wow.. I didnt know we ranked so high… you would think Soccer would be way up there…
And While I think the new system is helping it still has a TON of issues, just like the gymnastics code… There have been hot debates about it ever since it was put in place. In fact most people are saying it needs to be revised again because there are so many issues with it still.
Wow, using 1993 stats to show that figure skating is popular in the US. There is no way NCAA Football currently ranks below figure skating in popularity.
I agree with Anon… not to mention , Wikipedia is the worst place to look for concrete information.
agree with above…..
figure skating and gymnastics ratings have deteriorated SIGNIFICANTLY over the last decade…..
in USA,
poker (go figure!!!???) and
extreme fighting b—s— are much more popular (among others)….
hey Rick, how the heck do you find enough money coaching gym to go hiking twice a year in Italy and the Himalya’s…..?
are there any openings in your gym that would allow me and Hannah to do that?
;->
Europe was expensive. But, as you know Jim, countries like Nepal are very inexpensive. Guesthouse room less than $2. And hiking is free.
Leave a link if you know of more recent stats on popularity of different sports.
Rick,
While I love Tessa and Scott, they’re going to have major competition in Vancouver. Right now they’re not in a good position in terms of world ranking. They’re sitting at 5th place with 4 very strong couples ahead of them in ranking and the couple right behind them are 5 time US National Champions, World Medalists and Olympic Medalists, Belbin and Agosto. Tessa and Scott are going to have to really really push hard to medal at Vancouver. Mostly likely the podium at Vancouver will look like this:
Gold: Meryl Davis and Charlie White (Ranked #1 in the World right now)(USA)
Silver: Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder (France) (if Isabelle can come back in time since having a baby in April)
Bronze: Belbin and Agosto (USA)
IIRC Isabelle’s baby was born at the beginning of October. That’s cutting it awfully close in terms of leaving enough time for training/int’l events leading up to the Olympics. Of course I would love for Isabelle and Olivier to go for gold in Vancouver – which would mean she’d join the ranks of Tatiana Navka and Katia Gordeeva, both of whom had kids before becoming Olympic champions. But you’re right, nobody is going into this thing with an overwhelming advantage (including Tessa and Scott) which should make for a fabulous competition.
whops! Thanks Lesley!
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