Any coach has the right to drop a team that s/he thinks isn't worth his/her while, too. Those two things -- "I'm gonna drop you and your wife as a team" and "You should pair up with someone else" can be related. Or they can be two separate things.Originally Posted by soogar
Skating together isn't necessarily the best for marriage, and choosing another partner can be beneficial for the marital relationship. We don't know in this case. I'm pointing out an alternative to your theory.
I don't see that all of Sphilband's girls are thin. Tanith certainly is, but Megan Wing is on the bigger side for a skater.
THANK YOU! It's asinine in my opinion to post something about someone supposedly being physically and mentally abusive to people and then say "well, it's ok, because he's hot". So are a lot of wife beaters, child molesters and other deviants of society. If that is your criteria for an ok human being, have at it. Most people with a brain sure won't be lining up in front of you.
How do we know if the allegations on Igor are true? How do we know if the person who shared them in FSU, was just trying to make some gossip. I try hard not to gossip or induce gossip, but figure skating isn't exactly the most public sport like football, baseball etc. It's not like we see Michelle Kwan's face on the National Enquirer everyday.
Yay, backspin. I too think some people are being appallingly naive about some of the allegations against not only this coach but others.
As a skating fan, I'm sometimes bothered that I'm a fan of a sport where there is so little oversight of coaches, and so many allegations of improper/unethical/illegal behavior. The kind of stuff that would have a public school teacher in the US thrown out on their butt, teachers' union or no.
And I've heard too many bad stories to not believe there's some truth to the "skating mother" myth. I'm sure there are some parents who'd do anything, overlook anything, to get their kid "famous."
And no, it's not acceptable to say, "Well, it happens in the arts too." wth? The fact that other disciplines, such as the arts (or Little Leage baseball or whatever) have their monsters and their problems should NOT be the standard we compare skating to. Should we say that eating disorders in the ballet world may be even worse than in skating, so gee, skating's not so bad after all.
I grew up in classical music and theatre. I worked with some eccentrics, some people who'd throw hissy fits, etc. But I like to think if I ever had a teacher/conductor/director act mentally or physically abusive, my parents would have had me out of there in about two milliseconds.
As for the particular person in question - In the extremely limited exposure I've had, I witnessed one small thing once that bothered me. I also recall how awfully thin Tanith looked a few years ago. (I noticed this in person, before I'd ever heard any Net discussion about it. So it wasn't as if someone else influenced me with "rumors.")
And then there's the rumor as to why Zoueve/Sphilband left one rink and moved to another. If true, it was also unprofessional behavior on the part of one of them (and another person).
I have absolutely no idea if the particular coach in question is abusive, but as the mother of a skater, I do know skating parents and skaters. I believe that it is entirely possible that if you worked your whole life to get to the point where you were accepted by someone who is considered to be (by some, anyway) one of the best ice dancing coaches in the country, many skaters and their parents would put up with abuse because there are a limited number of places to go where you can get coaching at that level. I would not personally put up with it, but I have also resolved not to let my daughter's life revolve entirely around skating. I can tell you, many skating parents let skating take over entirely, and NOTHING is more important than skating and competitions. Potentially even if it means their child is being abused.
Backspin I couldn't have said it any better and I couldn't agree with you more. And since when is telling the truth cause to close a thread? That's what I wondered about - why that thread was closed at fsu. I also wondered how could fsu be liable for what people post on threads there? Perhaps Igor did read that thread and personally contacted them and asked them to close it?
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