Rate Lipinski/Weir | Golden Skate

Rate Lipinski/Weir

GiveHer6.0's

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
I wasn't quite sure what to expect of these 2, but I have been pleasantly surprised (although I can never forgive Tara for what she did to Michelle in Nagano ...hehe). How do they compare to Bezic/Hamilton
 

UnsaneLily87

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 8, 2006
I wasn't quite sure what to expect of these 2, but I have been pleasantly surprised (although I can never forgive Tara for what she did to Michelle in Nagano ...hehe). How do they compare to Bezic/Hamilton

I'm really enjoying it!! They're kind of like a more primetime, less snarky Dave-and-Jenny.
And come on now, all Tara did was skate well! It's not like she knee-capped Michelle.
 

emma

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Overall, it's fine - but, I much, much prefer two people teams than three. I would prefer Gannon-Weir, or Gannon-Weir for two events and then Gannon-Lipinski for two. I think Weir is better than Tara at calling elements and explaining things, but when there is the third person, it gets too chatty too fast. But, overall, I enjoy this.
 

amc987

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
I love Tara and Johnny. Yes, it sometimes gets chatty. Yes, they're sometimes a little snarky and they play favorites. I don't always trust Johnny's grasp on reality or Tara's feeling for artistry (goodness knows she was NOT artistic for the majority of her career and her presentation was only okay on her magical night in Nagano). Still, I think they do a wonderful job of explaining technical skating issues to casual viewers and detailing why things went wrong. I also like the way that they point out positive attributes of each skater in a sincere way that doesn't sound like cheerleading. Honestly I'd take the Weir-Lipinski-Gannon triumvirate over Scott, Sandra and the other dude every day of the week. In fact, I'd say only the guys on British Eurosport are better.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Weir and Lipinski have their biases but are knowledgeable and explain well.

Tracy Wilson still rules in terms of being fair and calling stuff out without being too annoying.
 

hippomoomin

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
They both have very nice hair style, makeup (Tara seems to have changed her makeup style everyday so far) and eye contact with the camera;)
 

ks777

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
They both have very nice hair style, makeup (Tara seems to have changed her makeup style everyday so far) and eye contact with the camera;)
LOL Yeah they kinda remind me of Joan Rivers and Melissa. maybe they should be fashion Policing instead.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
I wasn't expecting to like this commentating group, but I do.

At least I like them better than Scott Hamilton.
 

moviechick

On the Ice
Joined
May 7, 2008
Johnny and Tara are awesome. There was definitely some subtle shade thrown around and Johnny's fashion choices are epic.
 

tvforeverus

Spectator
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
They are adapting themselves nicely...even ESPN's Pardon the Interruption gave them a shout out to them calling them incredible. They make a four to five hour slog with some of the early skaters falling around and everything bearable. They seem to have factoids for every skater no matter how awful they perform and no chance of making the cutoff. That takes talent...I've noticed with all of these new sports added to the Olympic program NBC primetime is skipping a lot of skating performances even if skaters finish say in the top five....For example they didn't even show Stoblova and Klimov's short program on Tuesday night despite their placing third due to time. But at least we got to see it live or DVR'ed on NBCSN. For that I am extremely thankful.
 

Artistry

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Very informative, funny, enjoyable. The new generation, but still nicely connecting with the past, by comparing the old styles, quoting Dick Button, etc. Very nice.
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
I'm just thrilled that Terry Gannon is in the mix with them. I'll take Terry, Tara, & Johnny any day over Scott (whom I :love: as a skater & person, but not as a screechy commentator), Sandra, & Tom H. I always liked Terry, Dick, & Peggy most of all.

I know Johnny's so into fashion, but in a way I wish he would tone it down for the Olympics.
 

BrentWolgamott

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
I always liked Terry, Dick, & Peggy most of all.

I think we ALL liked Terry, Dick, and Peggy most of all.

Or as Dick might say (after Rudy Galindo landed his first triple Axel/triple toe combo) at the 1996 US Nationals:

"OOhhhhhh--oooooooo--AAHHH-ahhhh-AHHHHHHHHHHHH-aa-oooohh-AHHHH!!!!!!!'
 

Dutchie

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
I will never ever forget the comment made by Dick Button about Angela Nikodinov during nationals one year. He said it was the perfect time to go to the refrigerator for a snack. I lost all respect for Dick after that and haven't enjoyed his commentary ever since. He clearly CLEARLY had his favorites and in an interesting interview with Timothy Goebel (done by Jennifer Kirk) he mentioned how detrimental those comments were for some of the skaters. In this same interview, Jenny also cited the same refrigerator comment that I remembered so obviously it resonated with other viewers too. I for one am glad he's gone and find Johnny and Tara's perspectives refreshing and entertaining. It also helps that Johnny competed under IJS and can give more insight into the system. These two have the ability to draw in average viewers and make them fans of figure skating. I say gone with the old, in with the new!!
 

lighthouse

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I actually haven't enjoyed Tara and Johnny all that much. I find that they are silent a lot when I wish they would call something (like when it looks like a skater doubled an intended triple, but I'm not sure- I wish they would say something like "That was supposed to be a triple") but then they talk A LOT when I wish they were silent. And I find a lot of things they say unnecessarily negative. And I don't enjoy Johnny's explanations that much. Since I already know most of what he is explaining, I'd rather he be quiet. Although I guess his explanations are helpful for some people, I still don't like the way he explains things. When I'm watching the broadcast with Tara and Johnny, I find I lower the volume about half the time.

Although I've never been a big fan of Bezic and Hamilton (I like British commentators better), I actually find I like them a lot better than Tara and Johnny. OK, I know that Scott gets overexcited sometimes, but I prefer his positivity to Tara and Johnny's negativity. If I find time to catch the nightly recaps, I can watch it fine without muting the volume.

I'm actually not used to watching this much coverage of figure skating with US commentators. Although I live in the US, I usually catch figure skating broadcasts on-line, either through streams or youtube videos, where the broadcasters are British or Russian (I can understand English and Russian- and I can understand a few words of Italian too if I catch their broadcasts). Overall, I like British and Russian commentators better than US commentators.
 

Seruleane

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I've been watching NBC live extra and have two British sounding commentators. The guy is a big fan of Joubert. They're really good and not at all annoying- anyone know who they might be? Also, where are people getting Tara and Johnny as commentators? I'd like to tune in sometime...
 

crankyintheAM

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
I love them! I love Terry Gannon too. I like that they, specially Weir, had found at least 1 positive thing to say about every skater and that alone has to be a lot of work. I don't understand the "negativity" accusations I've seen around, just because they're not acting like they're some skater's mom or biggest fans?
I've watched or commented afterwards with friends who rarely watch figure skating and they enjoy Tara and Johnny, the "I feel like I understood what was going on" came up several times. That alone would make their commentary superior to the prime time team's.
I love watching figure skating, I enjoy many skaters who aren't and will never be top 10 at Worlds, but I don't think I would have watched 4 hours, day after day, if I didn't have their commentary, which I found mostly entertaining and informative.

They're new, of course there are things that need to be polished, but to me they're already far better than Hamilton/Beizic/Hammond ever were. I also understand that it's a matter of personal opinion anyway, some people really seem to love what Hamilton does.

I think Johnny Weir's fashion choices have been great for NBC, brought a lot of mostly positive buzz and free advertisement for NBC Sports Channel. I read a person complaining about how distracting his outfits were which is the most ridiculous thing, since we never seen Weir, nor any other commentator, while skating is actually going on. Get distracted from what exactly, the zambonis?
 
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