Article with some interesting quotes from Eldredge

Young Americans: Stage theirs for the taking
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_11684095

Elredge's opinion in a nutshell: the US must depend on Jeremy Abbott and Brandon Mroz for salvation because Evan and Johnny can't bring the audience in. Of course, he's hardly the first to level such a criticism at Johnny, but throwing it at Evan too? I wonder which fan group is going to get angrier at this guy.

MissIzzy said:

Young Americans: Stage theirs for the taking
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_11684095

Elredge's opinion in a nutshell: the US must depend on Jeremy Abbott and Brandon Mroz for salvation because Evan and Johnny can't bring the audience in. Of course, he's hardly the first to level such a criticism at Johnny, but throwing it at Evan too? I wonder which fan group is going to get angrier at this guy.

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As an avowed fan of Evan's I'm amazed and dumbfounded and can only wonder at Todd's remarks re: Evan. His comments do not diminish Evan but rather himself, imo.

To say Evan is into his own persona is ludicrous. Todd should know better. He's performed with Evan many times and should've discovered first hand by now that Evan always brings the crowd into his performances. It's one of his strongest talents. Todd needs to clean his glasses, or open his eyes, if he can't see that when Evan skates. Does he not remember Everett?

Evan's actions speak louder than any words - on and off the ice. His selfless devotion to helping others speaks for itself. The ultimate proof of that was in Geneva, IL where I was blessed to be in the audience at Evan's Evening of Hope. I've never seen an evening so NOT about self in all my life.

As to Jeremy - his skating leaves me cold. I feel no connection to what he's doing and I often get the feeling from what I see that he's not always connected to the music himself - let alone to the audience.

As to being a champion - it takes more than a gold medal to make one. Evan is a champion in every best sense of the word regardless of the color of the medal around his neck. IMO, Jeremy has a long way to go to become one, despite his gold medal.

Furthermore, there are few in the sport today more consistent than Evan. PJ Kwong mentioned in her 4Cs commentary for bold.ca that Evan is one of very skaters, if any, who can claim 10[senior career] medals at ISU events.

Evan works tirelessly for his sport and has given no one cause to believe he will not continue to do so even after he leaves the ranks of eligible skating. So much for longevity and sticking around.

What have either Jeremy or Brandon done as yet to come close to Evan's accomplishments? They had terrific skates at the right time in Cleveland. Then less than stellar performances at 4 Continents. Jeremy has never been known for his consistency, but rather the opposite. Brandon is brand new to the senior ranks - only time will tell what his future holds.

That said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Once again, different strokes for different folks.

I think he was just voicing his opinion - not a bash at either Johnny or Evan. One could argue if those boys do draw you into their programs? Their rivalry smacked of personal wins and not of beautiful skating, for me. Todd is apparently taken in by Abbott and Mroz. That's ok. Why not?

It could be too, that Todd is worried about the decline in the Sport (and SOI?) and he is hoping for a winner, particularly in the Ladies discipline.

Yes there are different strokes for different folks. When Evan won Four Continents he made the remark that he wanted to show Jeremy and Brandon that he was still in the game. I found it insulting that he picked on those two fine skaters who are his teammates for the USA. I guess because Jeremy and Brandon won Gold and Silver his ego cannot stand it. Please, let skating move forward. There has been enough of the Johnny/Evan crap so lets not have the Jeremy-Brandon/Evan thing start.

Nan said:

Yes there are different strokes for different folks. When Evan won Four Continents he made the remark that he wanted to show Jeremy and Brandon that he was still in the game. I found it insulting that he picked on those two fine skaters who are his teammates for the USA. I guess because Jeremy and Brandon won Gold and Silver his ego cannot stand it. Please, let skating move forward. There has been enough of the Johnny/Evan crap so lets not have the Jeremy-Brandon/Evan thing start.

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Agree, except for the Team thing.

No Olympian is concerned about his/her country's garnering medals. His interest is in him/her self, and why not?

There's that story that one of Britain's Track stars won his gold medal, and when asked about Britain not winning any other medals. He replied that he gets more publicity for being the only one. I believe he is correct. Think Peggy Flemming as america's only win that Oly year and what wondeful things happened as the only winner.

This year there will be Rachael Flat and Bodie Miller.

I understand if Todd prefers Jeremy and Brandon's skating to Johnny or
Evan, a lot of people do. Todd's other comments about Johnny and Evan
were ridiculous.and not worth me getting in a tizzy about. Sorry Todd you
know I love ya but.........

Nan said:

Yes there are different strokes for different folks. When Evan won Four Continents he made the remark that he wanted to show Jeremy and Brandon that he was still in the game. I found it insulting that he picked on those two fine skaters who are his teammates for the USA. I guess because Jeremy and Brandon won Gold and Silver his ego cannot stand it. Please, let skating move forward. There has been enough of the Johnny/Evan crap so lets not have the Jeremy-Brandon/Evan thing start.

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Just for the record, and I know it's nit-picking, but he did not mention them by name. He did not say they weren't fine skaters. Neither do I.

Furthermore, he made mention of "old guys" - not just himself but others as well who are out there and still to be reckoned with. IMO - he wasn't speaking just for himself. IMO he was commenting that there are others still in the field to be considered.

demarinis5 said:

i understand if todd prefers jeremy and brandon's skating to johnny or
evan, a lot of people do. Todd's other comments about johnny and evan
were ridiculous.and not worth me getting in a tizzy about. Sorry todd you
know i love ya but.........

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ita!

Nan said:

Yes there are different strokes for different folks. When Evan won Four Continents he made the remark that he wanted to show Jeremy and Brandon that he was still in the game. I found it insulting that he picked on those two fine skaters who are his teammates for the USA. I guess because Jeremy and Brandon won Gold and Silver his ego cannot stand it. Please, let skating move forward. There has been enough of the Johnny/Evan crap so lets not have the Jeremy-Brandon/Evan thing start.

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I am not a big fan of Evan - but I didn't find this comment offensive. Not at all. He got beaten, lost his National Title, everyone was talking about the new kids on the block - and he just wanted to show that he still has it. And he fought, he stayed on his feet and beat the new kids by quite a margin. I think it was an impressive display of his strong will, his passion for competition, his fighting spirit... Kudos to him.

And I love honesty. But I find Elredge's opinion somehow strange.

"They're so concerned with their own persona as opposed to the crowd, bringing in the crowd,"

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There are lots of internal skaters, are all those "so concerned with their own persona"? Poor Mao. Poor Kozuka. Selfish kids, skating for themselves instead of pleasing the audience. Or at least they look as if they skate for themselves.

Concerning Lysacek: the guy can fall 4 times in the first half of the program (I don't think he ever did that though) and still gets a huge standing ovation at the end, because he is so passionate during his step sequences, because he never gives up.

Medusa said:

I am not a big fan of Evan - but I didn't find this comment offensive. Not at all. He got beaten, lost his National Title, everyone was talking about the new kids on the block - and he just wanted to show that he still has it. And he fought, he stayed on his feet and beat the new kids by quite a margin. I think it was an impressive display of his strong will, his passion for competition, his fighting spirit... Kudos to him.

And I love honesty. But I find Elredge's opinion somehow strange.

There are lots of internal skaters, are all those "so concerned with their own persona"? Poor Mao. Poor Kozuka. Selfish kids, skating for themselves instead of pleasing the audience. Or at least they look as if they skate for themselves.

Concerning Lysacek: the guy can fall 4 times in the first half of the program (I don't think he ever did that though) and still gets a huge standing ovation at the end, because he is so passionate during his step sequences, because he never gives up.

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Well said, Medusa! :agree: And you're right, to the best of my knowledge, in his senior career IIRC, I've never seen him fall more than once in any program.

"It needs a Jeremy Abbott, a Brandon Mroz," Eldredge said. "It needs a new, young, fresh face that not only can go out and be endearing to the audience but consistent and be a champion and do well and stay in."

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Jeremy is not new nor is he young (isn't he 23 y.o. like Evan?). I’ve come to like him b/c he's different, funny, is a real thing, not b/c he's new and a fresh face (I'm not buying a car here). And I like his flying pigs-act!

Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir, who combined to win the five previous national championships, are unlikely candidates, Eldredge said.

"They're so concerned with their own persona as opposed to the crowd, bringing in the crowd," Eldredge said. "When I watch them skate, they don't bring me into their performance. They need to do that."

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Oh well, so they don't, to Todd. But I wouldn't write them off just yet. Both have lots and lots of fans and sell tickets. US figure skating needs them.

Medusa said:

And I love honesty. But I find Elredge's opinion somehow strange.

Concerning Lysacek: the guy can fall 4 times in the first half of the program (I don't think he ever did that though) and still gets a huge standing ovation at the end, because he is so passionate during his step sequences, because he never gives up.

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I'm not really into Lysacek's skating, but unless Eldredge was misquoted, I find his comments ridiculous. If anything, I think Evan is much more aware of the audience than Jeremy Abbott is - and I happen to like Abbott. Evan may not be a dancer, and his music selection isn't great, but he's expressive, he's a great performer, he's committed to what he's doing, and he knows how to get the audience involved. He also seems to give a lot of thought to making skating more popular and visible, and while anyone is free to criticize, the comments should at least have soemthing to do with reality.

BTW, I think Johnny is also a huge draw, but since this thread seems to focus more on Evan, I'll leave it at that.

A couple of other things in the article: Jeremy Abbott is not a young skater. He's the same age as Lysacek. And figure skating has not "slipped in popularity across the globe" - though it has in some places. Eldredge should have known better. The only part of it that makes sense was "When I watch them skate, they don't bring me into their performance." So it's a subjective thing, and he suggested otherwise.

Johnny and Evan do tend to speak their minds and they're not as favored by the judges as some skaters. But skaters should feel free to voice their opinions, and judges should reward more than one kind of skating - the audiences seem capable of appreciating diverse styles.

What a gratuitous slap from one US Olympian to others. It really makes me lose respect for Eldredge.

Plus, anything he says that might reduce my chances of seeing Johnny in either competition or shows - grrrr! Anyway, Johnny is one of the most popular male skaters in the world so what the heck is he talking about???

Buttercup said:

BTW, I think Johnny is also a huge draw, but since this thread seems to focus more on Evan, I'll leave it at that.

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No need to leave it at that. The article mentioned both of them so I think it's appropriate to discuss both here.

I agree, Johnny has legions of fans. Neither of them should be written off in favor of the "younger" set waiting in the wings.

(BTW: Jeremy is just one day younger than Evan so I wouldn't call him a "young, fresh face." He's been around awhile.)

Well, Todd being Todd, the remarks are not surprising really. It fits with my impressino of Todd. He's always seemed a tad into himself IMO and a bit too quick to talk about his mansion and corvette and the like Take what he says with a grain of salt..............

Gee, what a diva. So this diva is calling Evan and Johnny too diva?
So all the standing Os Evan and Johnny have received, those were not from the audience?

Well, Eldredge is entitled to his opinions. LOL, at least he does not jinx either Lysacek or Weir regarding the Olympics with huge expectations....

Jaana said:

Well, Eldredge is entitled to his opinions. LOL, at least he does not jinx either Lysacek or Weir regarding the Olympics with huge expectations....

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So true

I saw this article earlier and just new Todd was going to get flack for his statements. I happen to agree w/Todd....Evan doesn't draw me in either, even though he's a great skater and I like Johnny, but he always seems very serious to me. I think Jeremy & Brandon have a certain charm, and really look like they are having fun out there. They really let themselves get into their programs. (I think Brandon looks like a young Tom Hanks) We all see things differently,( and have our favorites) Why shouldn't skaters have opinions of other skaters?

I am amused by the total irony of Todd, one of the dullest and most boring skaters ever criticizing anyone for not engaging the audience! Methinks he is just jealous of Evan's quad and Johnny's international popularity. With all his medals and achievements, he never had either of that.

I never trust news reporters and their articles. For what I do, I have been interviewed for newspapers and magazines, and I'd say at least 90% of them have misquoted me to the point of absurdity. Very few journalists or their editors have ever come back to fact check.

Case in point, look at how many articles in the last month have attributed the Olympic gold medal to Michelle Kwan. And even this article has her listed as "retired," which is not true.

This Denver Post reporter has been sent out to write up a small piece about SOI. Obviously he's not a top tier Denver Post reporter, and I wouldn't put much credence in the article. I'd give Todd the benefit of the doubt and say his words were twisted around.