I'm taking a few days off from work, which is why I was looking for something to watch yesterday afternoon and came across ice dancing on Universal Sports Network.
It was the Grand Prix final from Fukuoka, Japan, and while it wouldn't necessarily have been my first choice, it was on, I can find ice dancing entertaining and Tanith Belbin was one of the announcers. I didn't actually see her on camera, but it was nice to know she was there.
So anyway, when the Canadian team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir came out to skate, the announcer (no idea who it was, like Ben Agosto, he was the dude with Tanith Belbin and if they said his name, I missed it) made sure the viewing audience knew that Virtue and Moir had never, ever won a Grand Prix final.
In fact, he so wanted us to know that Virtue and Moir had never won this very important competition, he said it at least twice.
That would be Virtue and Moir ... the 2010 Olympic champions. Trying to build a storyline for the event you're broadcasting aside, that would be like obsessing that Sarah Hughes' resume is lacking because she never won a senior U.S. or world title.
As it turns out, Virtue and Moir have still never won a Grand Prix final. The American team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White did. (Interestingly, the introduction on YouTube to the video below also notes that Davis and White have five Grand Prix final wins, and Virtue and Moir have none.)
I sure hope Virtue and Moir can recover from the crushing disappointment as they try to defend their Olympic championship.
