A lot of rumours on forums about Scott’s statements right after GPF: “he shouldn’t, he’s like PChan, he’s over/they’re over, he’s a sore loser, he shouldn’t talk sitting next to D&W..”
I honestly don’t see their problem.
Let’s start saying that I admire him just because he said what he had in mind right in front of his friends instead of complaining behind their back; he has been sincere and, whether I approve his choice to talk or not, I am proud of the way he behaved.
Then: he is competitive, we’ve always known that. You can’t have his passionate way of skating without his passionate way of living, especially considering he is not like PChan at all: he has always said great things about rivals even when losing, and that’s because he is capable of losing, he is just not capable of being robbed - and I’m not implying they have been robbed, but it’s pretty clear he felt that way.I honestly agree with him. After the fall, winning the competition was a rough path but they should totally have won the FD, especially the components. Losing that was even harder after 2011 Wchamp: yeah D&W were amazing, their connection had been growing throughout the season and the technical part was incredibly intricate, plus I love tangos, but they’re always missing something in the emotional side and that, dealing with a tango, is a pretty noticeable weakness. I’m not really saying V&M should have won - I mean, in my opinion yes, they should have, but I also get why D&W won instead so I’m just saying, now, that I get why Scott felt twice that way until that need of speaking clear; V&M were, in my opinion, true deserver: with a tricky choice, because some latin dances are not easy to perform on ice since they’re static, totally out of their “pretty and romantic” comfort zone, they created a routine that blew everyone away. If during Mahler or Cherbourg we were all thinking “So what, you’re trying to make us believe you’re not in love with each other?”, during the latin FD we were all thinking “So what, you’re trying to make us believe you’re not having sex together?”. In addition to a great technical effort during the whole performance, there was this artistic component that is something D&W are still far from achieving.
I don’t like terrorism about D&W special treatment and preferences, but we all know there are waves in figure skating, and I think that judges (and maybe Igor and Marina are riding the wave) want now to push ice dancing towards a more athletic version rather than artistic, and that’s more D&W than V&M. D&W are brilliant and beautiful, but I honestly think they’re the perfect second: I’m pretty sure V&M are the ones who will be remembered in ice dance history, just like Michelle Kwan will be the one and Sarah Hughes will be “the one who got Kwan’s medal”.And why is that happening? Avoiding the political part (easy to turn out ridiculous over there) D&W skating is easier to understand for the audience, even the less informed one. They are fast, they are athletic and spectacular and somebody who doesn’t know very well figure skating will likely be attracted from a recognizeable speed rather than from great, but subtle and detailed, V&M difficulties. V&M are so far away from the others that their programs risk to look easy to realize, and sponsors can always find their way to affect sports towards their kind of show.
Anyway, I like their rivalry, it’s alive and healthy and not every rivalry should end in splitting from the coach - even if I would like to see V&M with other coreographers, I’m just worried they wouldn’t be as dedicated to details as Marina is; but V&M are so talented in every aspect that it would be a great challenge to try something more sperimental: maybe Christopher Dean with Marina’s contribution is an utopia?
In the meanwhile, I’m expecting to enjoy Worlds very much: they will be pushing each other the whole time for the grand finale, and this burning atmosphere will increase the duel, making the four of them, in the absence of better dances (nothing really new this year), better athletes.
(Scott and Tessa, please, do what you do best: getting better and better with time until perfection, because that’s how you usually win)
