THE DEARTH OF FIGURE SKATING

There has, for years, been lots of figure skating on television.....now there is practically nothing! Even the World Championships may not be televised........I must watch snippets on Youtube.....Even the ISU site is relatively devoid...... ESPN has been paying the ISU $5 million a year for rights to all ISU figure skating and speedskating events, which include the figure skating worlds and Grand Prix series.

ESPN has not renewed the contract. and although NBC has agreed to air the 2009 worlds in Los Angeles, that deal – yet to be officially announced – is for one year and probably will not include any Grand Prix events on TV. Boohoohoo......America's culture is geared toward the more boring and artless sports such as football, wrestling and boxing, and there is so little "ART" except for broadcasts on public television....and much of that is pablum for the unsophisticated and nostalgic....If there's a war, violence in general or a hurricane in a remote and uninhabited part of the world, you may be certain that there will be lots of "coverage"......forget ballet, ice dancing, classical music other than "The Nutcracker" or tunes made temporarily popular by trendy mall movies......Americans just aren't interested! You know.....I never watched the O.J. Simpson "car chase"....or the "Lady Di automobile collision"........was I the only one........Where's the Art?