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Still a song and dance
And then there is Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz.
Their battle is with a system that knocks them down and bloodies them every chance it gets, hoping that, at some point, they will throw up their hands and walk away from it all.
But Bourne and Kraatz, two of the most admirable individuals you will ever meet in sports or in life, keep dusting themselves off and coming back for more. Their resilience, their faith and belief in what they do and what they are about, is at times, too staggering to put into words.
"Shae-Lynn and Victor just won't give up," said an almost disbelieving David Dore yesterday in the quiet confines of the Target Center's press conference room.
"I find that shocking."
No more so than the events that transpired Friday evening, when Bourne and Kraatz brought the house down with a free dance for the ages. Poured their hearts and souls into Riverdance like never before, then sat and watched as the judges stuck it to them one more time.
Told them Riverdance was no better than the third performance on that night, when just about everyone else in the building knew that just wasn't the case.
"There were two medium free dances, and there was one special one (among the medal winners)," said Dore, the Canadian Figure Skating Association's director-general. "I felt they won."
Said Canadian ice dance judge Jean Senft, who wasn't selected for the panel that marked the original and free dances: "I was absolutely disappointed with the results (Friday) night. Shae-Lynn and Victor skated enormously well -- I don't think they could have skated any better.
"In my mind, there was no decision to be made. They were first."
Yet, surprise, surprise, the judges lined them up the same way they stood after the original dance -- Russians Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov first, French skaters Maria Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat second, and the Canadians third. The fans, though they could do nothing about this farce, responded accordingly -- they booed long and loud.
Dore, who stayed strangely silent while his prize ice dancers were shafted right off the medal podium at the Nagano Olympics, couldn't hold back any more yesterday.
"I think this was an outrageous abuse of power by people who seized the wrong moment to do something that was very bad for the sport," he said. "It was so clear (Friday) night ... there is no question in my mind that (Bourne and Kraatz) won the free dance. I am apalled that this group of people (judges) did what they did. In a way, I think it is a sin."
What should be pointed out is that if Bourne and Kraatz had indeed won the free dance, it wouldn't have meant a world title. Keeping in mind the ordinal placement system, the Canadians would have needed the French to finish second and the Russians to wind up third to claim gold.
The consensus, among many media and some fans, is that is exactly how they should have finished, although some could have lived with Anissina and Peizerat on top. Yet, Krylova and Ovsiannikov, whose Carmen free dance was nothing more than a series of contrived poses, went home with the gold medals.
Still, when Dore huddled with Bourne and Kraatz yesterday, the skaters expressed a desire to keep going. And they told the CFSA boss not to wade into the slimy back-door politics, to keep everything above board.
Dore remains floored by their resilience.
"I have to say that if two people would have that done to them and would say the next day they were willing to commit to go on ... it's quite amazing," said Dore, who does believe International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta is sincere in his desire to clean up ice dance.
"I would have thrown in the towel."
And losing Bourne and Kraatz, for this most wrong of reasons, would be the biggest tragedy of all. Canadian skating fans love and adore them. The Canadian system needs them. So does the sport of ice dance.
Nothing in this sordid tale could be more heart-breaking.
"It would be a huge shame," Dore said when asked how he'd feel if the politics of ice dance forced Bourne and Kraatz out of the game. "They could be possibly the most creative, innovative dance team ... it would be a huge, huge crime.
"One of the things I was saying to people (Friday) night was I hope that, as a result of this, you haven't pushed out two very talented young people."
Shame on them if they ever do.