Toddlers and Tiaras and Judges (Or is Figure Skating Really a Sport)

I needed a self esteem boost last night so I watched Toddlers and Tiaras.  I always feel better about my parenting when I watch.  I have never cajloled    bribed my child to get on stage/practice/perform by feeding her cheetos and "dance candy" (sugar cubes).  I haven't spray tanned her, plucked her eyebrows, or any of the other crazy things I see on that show.  Last night's episode was particulary interesting in that none of the 3 featured girls won any of the big prizes.  It really was sad for the little girls.  I felt bad for them, and of the 3, only 1 mom said she was done with pageants.  She figured it out, any time your child is judged they can come up short.

It set me to thinking of the old argument Peter Pan and I have over figure skating.  He (like many people  men) refuses to see figure skating as a sport because of the judges.  His argument is simple, there is no accounting for personal preference and judges are inherently biased.  Football, basketball, baseball, track, swimming, golf and many other sports have definable parameters for winning.  You score more, run faster, hit the ball harder (i.e. home runs) etc.   To his eye there is no definite parameter for winning a skating competition.  And of course over the years he has sometimes been proven right.  Before you vilify Peter Pan for this opinion let me make it clear that he acknowledges the athleticism of figure skaters, in fact he can see that they are often amazing athletes.  He just feels like the entire "sport" is more of an art than athletic event.

Sure IJS is supposed to prevent that by providing a scoring structure (elements are worth a certain value and then judged on performance).  It has helped, but judges are still people and they have personal preferences.  Does a skater have a Russian coach and thus a more Russian style of jumping?  I have seen (and heard) judges take off points or criticize that.  I have looked at Belle's protocols at a competition and seen judges line up by geographic areas (northern vs. southern).  I have observed poor skating by a normally strong skater rated higher than fair skating by a new or unknown skater.  The judges are still people with personal preferences after all.  To be fair, I have never met a judge who was intent on doing wrong.  They are volunteers who take their judging jobs very seriously.  And who is to say that personal preference is a bad thing.

My argument back to Peter Pan has always been that there is a certain amount of judgement in any sport.  Umpires and referees make questionable, even bad calls.  In fact many of their calls are JUDGEMENTS of a particular set of events.  It can and does impact games!  He holds firm that there are still more definite ways of seeing a score (touchdowns, baskets, etc.) and thus it is not all judgement and we are back to  figure skating is not a sport!

I always thought that as Belle progressed Peter Pan would change his opinion and realize it is a sport.  Nope, he did see how dedicated figure skaters are, but if anything he more than ever remains critical of the judged aspects.   He has seen Belle passed over, underscored, and hurt by the whole thing.  Of course, this doesn't always happen, she has certainly had her successes, but I agree, it is hard to tell whether it was the actual skating or maybe just preference.  I am not talking about times when she got exactly what she earned but those times when we were surprised by the low scores or placement.

At the end of the day, I think that sometimes I have been like those moms on Toddlers and Tiaras.  No I haven't bribed my 3 year old with sugar ( I do see a lot of junk food in those hotel rooms at pageants!)  But I have allowed my child to put it out there and be judged.  I have criticized when I thought the judges were wrong (of course they were wrong, my child was definitely the best one!!)  Belle says she hates it when I start "getting all conspiracy theory"!  I of course don't see rationally about my own child, most parents don't.  I am trying to grow up, but I really do have a blind spot about my own kids! 

And for the record, I can sometimes see that figure skating is more an art than a sport, but I love it all the same!