Pet Peeve and Skating

It bugs me when people jump to a conclusion without
knowing all the facts and start broadcasting it to
everyone in hearing range. I know a few people who
just read a headline from the newspaper and think they
can make an informed opinion. That drives me crazy -
we live in an age where information is everywhere, we
just have to look for it beyond the headlines and the
sound bites.

For instance: This morning I overheard someone say
"That Sasha skater should have gotten the bronze
medal, not the silver, because she fell twice. The
Russian skater fell once so she should have the silver
medal." I asked if she had watched the performances
and she said no, she just "heard what happened." I was
pissed off that someone would broadcast such an
ill-informed opinion about something they did not see,
and knew nothing about. I stayed up and watched the
performances. Since I watched them I felt I could
make an opinion, and I said back to her, that "yes,
Sasha fell once and touched the ice once on her first
two jumps, HOWEVER, her grace and artistry are head and
shoulders above Irina's and she completed the
remaining three minutes of her program BRILLIANTLY."
If she was scored on the last three minutes of her
program and they threw the first one minute out, she
might have won gold. Japan's Shizuka's performance
was excellent, though, for four minutes, and she
deserved to win the gold medal. Irina had one fall
(hence, the hastily drawn conclusion above), BUT she
does not have the artistry that Sasha does, she was
very sluggish throughout her program and she looked
tired. She did not perform better than Sasha. And
these top three put together better programs than the
rest of the women and, even though some of them skated
cleanly, they were not of the same caliber. So, in my
opinion, the medal podium looked exactly right.

Plus? I'd like to see Miss Know-It-All get out on the ice and fall on her ass.