Johnny Weir to author book

[Raatkirani]

and in the 80s Ice Capades was all there was for Scott Hamilton. He had enough 'star power' that he fought to get his own tour started. SOI has done pretty well from meager five show beginnings, even with the cut backs in the last few seasons.

Johnny doesn't need the Olympic title to do the same thing. He's very recognizable. If he or anyone else is using SOI as an excuse not to have a career then that's just sad. It's not Hamilton's or anyone else's job to give Johnny a spot on a tour. If the tour won't fit Johnny he should take it upon himself to make one that fits him. IF that's what he wants to do. I don't think he has the desire or commitment.

The thing about Stars on Ice was that it was created by IMG (a huge marketing firm) for Scott Hamilton after he was released from Ice Capades. It wasn't something he financed on his own and I'm assuming it costs an arm and a leg to put an ice tour on. Right now, figure skating is a cold commodity in the US. COI folded and SOI isn't half of what it used to be. Even SOI has trouble selling tickets nowadays because other than the golden era post 1994, the American public isn't entertained by skating. Johnny has image issues and lack of an Olympic gold that would probably prevent a major corporation from sponsoring him. And that's what he needs, a sponsor.

[Tonichelle]

IMG did not put all of their eggs in Scott Hamilton's basket. Scott's AGENT bent over backwards to get teh ball rolling. Scott wasn't overly wealthy (amatuers didn't get the megabucks back then). Scott organized a group of his friends in the same boat as he was (unhappy with their touring gigs, wanting something of their own) and they went about creating it from basically nothing. They didn't have huge sponsors or anything like that. It took time.

If Johnny *WANTS* to tour, and they aren't "letting" him (just as ice capades let go of Hamilton) then he should thumb his nose at them and instead of pout and gripe about it like he apparently is doing he should get his rear in gear and get to work and prove them all wrong. I'm not in his boat at all, but I think he would be successful in what he set out to do IF he didn't lose interest two seconds after starting it and wanted to work hard at it. If he just wants to ride high on his plateau, then yeah, SOI isn't going to want him and he's not going to tour. It's THAT attitude that I think keeps him out of the show before anything else.