Plushenko & other Russians comment on the Men's Event

[Justafan]

part of the deal is plush can't talk about it for one year. Nbc spread the payments out to make sure plushy will stay evil until they can try and make back some of the money they lost on the olympics.
First up will be a tv special with evan, wearing a white cowboy hat baling hay to show how as an american he works harder than anyone else.

Next they will show evan eating his mom's apple pie with "america the beautiful" playing in the background.

Then it will jump back to skate america and show how the great evan won and another russian villain, lutai got drunk, stole a car and tried to molest innocent young american girls.

i am not allowed to reveal anymore of the plot but nbc expects to "hit it out of the park" with evan's first tv special and rumors are the commercials are selling at close to super bowl rates.

lol!

[dlkksk8fan]

One has a State of The Art program and the other is mired in the 90's.

I was thinking the same thing when I was watching Plush skate. I had seen it all before.

[Nadine]

Well then are you going to stop supporting all of the skaters who are bashing Evan?

This isn't about the skaters, this is about a commentator that has been out & out hateful toward Evgeni since I can remember. Scott couldn't even hold back his hateful remarks about Evgeni during Evan Lysacek's 2010 Nationals Free Skate, when Evgeni wasn't even competing there.

It gets tiresome after a while, Scott's fake friendly attitude to promote SOI, or his book, or whatever he's doing at the moment.

I've finally drawn the line after watching his NBC interview last night. Enough's enough for me.

I honestly wish him the best, and hope to God he's allright, because he sure didn't look it last night. Maybe whatever it is that is eating at him has affected his commentating. That's the only thing I can think of. Get better, Scott.

[ademption]

How do you know that the other skaters don't put in full days of training and complete run throughs? Where did you hear that Evan does full days of training and complete run throughs while his opponents haven't? Again, I don't question Evan's hard work. I question the comparison between the other skaters and him.

Alatariel, I appreciate your clarification. I agree with your statement that competitors should "swallow the bs when their turn comes." That's why I strongly disagreed with the IOC awarding Sale/Pellitier a gold medal. It set a precedent that now the Russians are following through with Plushenko's silver medal. Where's the British "stiff upper lip" with regards to the North Americans and the Russians?

[Raatkirani]

It has always been none how hard Evan works.... and I think Scott repsects the sport to much to let SOI interfear with his judgement

BS. He's done this a million times before. Let's go back in the time machine...the year is 1994, the place is Lillehammer. Pairs competiton. M&D have just had the SOTLs, a raucous standing ovation. Scott Hamilton is dead silent, doesn't say a work until Verne Lundquist breaks in and says "That was breathtaking." Then Scott opens up about how many gifts this pair has "his drama, her flexibility, blah blah blah..." but he's almost wetting his pants from nervousness because his SOI colleagues G&G are up. This is too close for comfort. They better get the gold because he wants them for SOI--they're a big draw. The rest of their performance (which was beautiful no doubt) was a gush fest from Hamilton.

And please, don't even get me started about Salt Lake City. We ALL know what happened then...

[Smuusik]

Part of the deal is Plush can't talk about it for one year. NBC spread the payments out to make sure Plushy will stay evil until they can try and make back some of the money they lost on the Olympics.
First up will be a TV special with Evan, wearing a white cowboy hat baling hay to show how as an American he works harder than anyone else.

Next they will show Evan eating his mom's apple pie with "America The Beautiful" playing in the background.

Then it will jump back to Skate America and show how the great Evan won and another Russian villain, Lutai got drunk, stole a car and tried to molest innocent young American girls.

I am not allowed to reveal anymore of the plot but NBC expects to "hit it out of the park" with Evan's first TV special and rumors are the commercials are selling at close to Super Bowl rates.

[Dodhiyel]

I have a lot to say, but I feel like limiting my post, partly because so many here (thank you) have already expressed very well, things I want to say. As an American, I am quite embarrassed by those posts of my fellow countrymen that are in the tone of the Cold War, a tone which is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games.

My favorites, over the years, have come from many countries. I celebrate when my favorite athletes win, no matter what is their country of origin, because for me it is about the individual athlete.

ETA: I meant also to include my embarrassment when the media people behave as if they enjoy the Cold War mentality.

[Raatkirani]

How do you know that the other skaters don't put in full days of training and complete run throughs? Where did you hear that Evan does full days of training and complete run throughs while his opponents haven't? Again, I don't question Evan's hard work. I question the comparison between the other skaters and him.

It peeves me to no extent whenever I hear Hamilton say that. "Evan is the hardest worker here" is really a ridiculous statement. Really, like the other skaters are just naturally gifted and came out doing triple axels out of the womb? They all work hard and they all make sacrifices. Evan doesn't do more or less than what the other top 10 are doing.

[nastasi1212]

NBC should be ashamed of themsalves. I remember back in 2002 they called Yagudin "skating conservatively" because he did only only one quad combination instead of two... I could laugh all night.
What do they think now of their skater Lysacek?
Shouldn't everyone say he skated conservatively?
My God how people's opinion change according to their interests?
Thank God they are recorded in TV, so that someone can expose them...
And from what I can remember in men's field the highlights were the jumps, but now they are something unimportant.

Back then they thought of PLushenko and Yagudin high, but now they bash Evgeni.
In Yagudin's LP in Salt Lake City the reporters were holding their breath in 4-3-2 combination and were cheering on Evgeni's attempt on 4-3-3 but now it's nothing important and plays no part in medals.
I am so sick I think I will never watvh figure skating again.
NOBODY can play games with the audience intelligence, we have memory and we remember what they were saying back then and what they are saying now.

[BigJohn]

What do we learn in all of this?

Russian politicians are pretty pompous.

Poutine may be a good spy turned enlightened despot, but his artistic tastes are questionable.

Watch the Lysacek program again, then the Plushenko program. I mean the PC marks are obvious gifts.
Plushenko's program looks like a cheesy exhibition program. It's hard not to laugh.

[colleen o'neill]

sorry, i was interrupted while posting, so this might seem off-topic...further back, someone justifying P's program on the ground that it was a Tango

That was not Tango. I don't mean the music , but the performance. The were no tango steps that I could see. Tango has no pelvic gyrations. Tango is the most sensual, passionate dance ever.. but it wasn't expressed here.

Give the man credit for what he did. He made a great comeback. It's amazing that he stepped back into the fray in the great form that he did. He has left his mark on figure skating..no question.But he came back into a competition and his choreography was lacking. It could have been criticized even under the old rules for front loading ,placement of jumps , stopping to pose, etc.

When we fail to acknowledge that there were any weaknesses ,we rob any justified arguments of credibility.

[Alatariel]

Of course there are weaknesses in Plushenko. The trouble is Plushenko has weaknesses and Evan Lysacek is the perfect all round skater.

[flesymtuobayzarc]

I have a lot to say, but I feel like limiting my post, partly because so many here (thank you) have already expressed very well, things I want to say. As an American, I am quite embarrassed by those posts of my fellow countrymen that are in the tone of the Cold War, a tone which is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games.

My favorites, over the years, have come from many countries. I celebrate when my favorite athletes win, no matter what is their country of origin, because for me it is about the individual athlete.

ETA: I meant also to include my embarrassment when the media people behave as if they enjoy the Cold War mentality.

Thank you very much, I'm sure many posters appreciate it.

[Jaana]

NBC should be ashamed of themsalves. I remember back in 2002 they called Yagudin "skating conservatively" because he did only only one quad combination instead of two... I could laugh all night.
What do they think now of their skater Lysacek?
Shouldn't everyone say he skated conservatively?

I think there is a big difference, because Yagudin was the last to skate and he definetely played it safe (skated better at 2002 Worlds).

Lysacek was the first to skate, he had to go all out, not hold back, which he did. To jump the quad was not in his plan, as he had problems with the old injury from previous season.

[nastasi1212]

"Tango has no pelvic gyrations"

You obviously have never danced the tango