While watching the skating this evening we were discussing the unfairness of the random choice of the nine judges. DrumsNWhistles Thank you for posting the link to John Emerson’s article about the mathematical flaw in the ice skating scoring system.
“Does the new scoring system increase fairness? On some level it does, but the system has introduced the unsettling possibility of dumb luck influencing the medal standings. In a close competition with skaters separated by only a few points, the outcome will likely be determined by the random choices of panels of nine judges. This is neither desirable nor fair, and the system can be improved easily. The outcome should be determined solely by the skaters and the judges, using the scores of all twelve judges.”
read the rest of this article here
I thought Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China showed us a true Olympic moment. The courage and spirit to continue after landing hard on both knees and sliding – awesome!
I guess I am getting old. The announcers over use of “for sure” and “fur sure” during the snowboard events drove me nuts. Do not ask me why – it just did – really – fur sure.
Enjoy the Olympics.
a test