What do you think of Ben Agostoās twitter commentary? Iām starting to wonder if heās auditioning for broadcasting gigs and trying to stay in good graces by supporting the winning narrative- do you think him being wowed by FG is convincing?
Q #214:
Hi anon,
Ben has actually had quite a few broadcasting gigs (NBC w/ Tanith for a bit) over the years so Iām not sure itās as much a continual audition for roles as remaining in the ice dance world. I donāt think him being āwowed by F/Gā is necessarily what heās trying to go for, more of an understanding of the narrative.
Itās hard to be a commentator and be like āwell team Y is gonna get a very high score cause of politics despite team X being betterā because it undermines viewer confidence in the integrity of the sportā¦ but it is sort of needed for accuracy in ice dance. Which is why itās very clear in how he never claims that Lilah is good at skating compared to others but to *her previous level.* Which isnāt wrong, but she hasnāt had the Vika Sinitsina glow up in edge quality and control that would rationalize the massive jump in world ranking theyāve undergone as a team. Which is also why he talks about things like Charleneās bad back mobility which affects the quality of her movement & posture but not necessarily her skating skills, but itās something thatās pretty clear to people who arenāt familiar with ice dance and lets people draw the conclusion that itās a reason for their lower score.
Itās pretty clear heās walking the tightrope of being supportive enough of F/Gās *improvement* to rationalize their jump in ranks, while not actually saying theyāre exceptional skaters or even amazing artists (just that their material is different from what everyone else is doingā¦ which thereās a reason no one else is doing it).
Thatās just my take! But I hope that helps add clarity.
