Patrick Chan

4everchan said:

viv, i see what you mean but i had another impression coming from watching the video… )

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Thanks, 4everchan. I didn't see a video link. Did you watch this on TV? Maybe if I saw the video my impression would be different.

Thanks, skatingfan4ever. It does seem that we read the article a little differently, but that's okay. Yes, Patrick does usually say more than less. While I appreciate his vulnerability, sometimes it is TMI for me. I would say more but I don't want to draw the ire of his fans. Anyway, it's hard to compete and not care about the results--so I wish him the best in detaching himself from the outcome!

vivley said:

Thanks, skatingfan4ever. It does seem that we read the article a little differently, but that's okay. Yes, Patrick does usually say more than less. While I appreciate his vulnerability, sometimes it is TMI for me. I would say more but I don't want to draw the ire of his fans. Anyway, it's hard to compete and not care about the results--so I wish him the best in detaching himself from the outcome!

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We appreciate having you here. We don't have to agree on everything to all be fans of Patrick! :yes: Knowing Patrick's state of mind does, in a way, make me more nervous for him sometimes. I know it definitely did in Sochi because I knew exactly how much he wanted that OGM and so I REALLY wanted it for him. Maybe if he'd given more vanilla answers in the press, I would have been a little more calm. And no matter what he says right now, even he doesn't know exactly what it will feel like to be back in competition until he gets to each moment. There's certainly a fine line between being open with what you are going through and TMI, and that line can be different for every fan. Your follow-up post helped me understand more where you are coming from. Thank you. I hope my comments didn't come across as judgmental. If they did, that was not my intention and I apologize.

VIV:
here it is http://www.cbc.ca/sports/figureskating/video#2677568857

it was easier to spot a couple days ago since the video was close to the article... now it's much further since there are tons of SA videos...

skatingfan4ever :

I love your posts

Skatingfan4ever, thank you for your kind words! Your comments didn't come across judgmental. Obviously you know much more about Patrick than I do. I was just expressing my opinion derived from my impression of him so far. No problem!

Thanks for the video link, 4ever. The video is briefer and gives more context to what Patrick's saying than the article. I think I even like it better than the article.

YAY…

i had never read the article until you pointed it out… just watched the video… so we are all gaining out of this


YAY!!! (this is me being stupid but did you see the sexy pictures of patrick doing board ? HAHAHAHAH ) no need to answer to this

vivley said:

Skatingfan4ever, thank you for your kind words! Your comments didn't come across judgmental. Obviously you know much more about Patrick than I do. I was just expressing my opinion derived from my impression of him so far. No problem!

Thanks for the video link, 4ever. The video is briefer and gives more context to what Patrick's saying than the article. I think I even like it better than the article.

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4everchan said:

YAY…

i had never read the article until you pointed it out… just watched the video… so we are all gaining out of this
YAY!!! (this is me being stupid but did you see the sexy pictures of patrick doing board ? HAHAHAHAH ) no need to answer to this

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Oh, that makes sense now - enjoy the article! I was a bit jealous when they showed pictures from his break! Very adventurous guy, indeed!

Speaking of which - I was curious as to his personality type and found this page (note the gorgeous smile on his face). Someone thinks he's an ISFP. Here's a description of the ISFP personality "The Adventurer". Think it fits him?

Some ISFP Strengths:
Passionate – When people with this personality type are caught up in something exciting and interesting, they can leave everything else in the dust.
Artistic – ISFPs are able to show their creativity in tangible ways and with stunning beauty. Whether writing a song, painting an emotion, or presenting a statistic in a graph, ISFPs have a way of visualizing things that resonates with their audience.

Some ISFP Weaknesses:
Overly Competitive – ISFPs can escalate small things into intense competitions, turning down long-term success in their search for glory in the moment, and are unhappy when they lose.
Fluctuating Self-Esteem – ISFPs can start to believe the naysayers without strong support.

No personality test is perfect, of course. But I can see why someone thought he was this one!

vivley said:

Skatingfan4ever, thank you for your kind words! Your comments didn't come across judgmental. Obviously you know much more about Patrick than I do. I was just expressing my opinion derived from my impression of him so far. No problem!

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You're very welcome!

4everchan said:

VIV:
here it is http://www.cbc.ca/sports/figureskating/video#2677568857

it was easier to spot a couple days ago since the video was close to the article... now it's much further since there are tons of SA videos...

skatingfan4ever :

I love your posts

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: 4everchan, all this time I thought when you wrote "video" it was just a typo and you meant "article." Lo and behold, there actually IS a video! The video is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT in tone and content. And I have to agree with vivley on this one -- I like the video better than the article. I love your posts too!

So, now I'm wondering, how and why did PJ Kwong manage to get such comparatively negative comments from Patrick, since the video is so much more upbeat (and closer to how he has been speaking since his comeback announcement)? Do you think she "set out" to write that type of article, and so maybe framed the questions in such a way to get those types of responses from him? I don't doubt that Patrick experienced everything he talked about in the article. I am simply surprised that the article and the video give off such opposite vibes. I always enjoy reading Kwong's articles and I do think she is a good journalist. Any thoughts?

skatingfan4ever said:

You're very welcome!


: 4everchan, all this time I thought when you wrote "video" it was just a typo and you meant "article." Lo and behold, there actually IS a video! The video is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT in tone and content. And I have to agree with vivley on this one -- I like the video better than the article. I love your posts too!

So, now I'm wondering, how and why did PJ Kwong manage to get such comparatively negative comments from Patrick, since the video is so much more upbeat (and closer to how he has been speaking since his comeback announcement)? Do you think she "set out" to write that type of article, and so maybe framed the questions in such a way to get those types of responses from him? I don't doubt that Patrick experienced everything he talked about in the article. I am simply surprised that the article and the video give off such opposite vibes. I always enjoy reading Kwong's articles and I do think she is a good journalist. Any thoughts?

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skatingfan4ever - Exactly! The article seems to quote Patrick's negative comments without the context that he gave in the video. E.g., this one made me think TMI: “Why am I doing this? I shouldn’t even be coming back. This is so stupid, I’m so frustrated. I don’t even know why I’ve considered coming back, I should have just let it go.”

In the video he provides the context before and after this quote. At first he said that there were days when he wanted to pull his hair out. Then he concludes at the end, "I was frustrated". So I clearly got that he was talking about his past struggles to return to competition. However, in the article these little bits aren't included and they would have made a big difference in my understanding of his emotional state! The article made him seem whiny and weak, and a little too self-deprecating.

My guess is that either PJ Kwong really wanted to portray Patrick as an underdog, or she had an editor that didn't like Patrick. What do you think? Another thing that would have helped the article sound more upbeat is if Kwong had described Patrick's expressions or what he did during the interview. E.g., "I was frustrated," he acknowledged with a nod and a smile that showed his good humor despite the struggles.

that's media... always looking for drama

vivley said:

skatingfan4ever - Exactly! The article seems to quote Patrick's negative comments without the context that he gave in the video. E.g., this one made me think TMI: “Why am I doing this? I shouldn’t even be coming back. This is so stupid, I’m so frustrated. I don’t even know why I’ve considered coming back, I should have just let it go.”

In the video he provides the context before and after this quote. At first he said that there were days when he wanted to pull his hair out. Then he concludes at the end, "I was frustrated". So I clearly got that he was talking about his past struggles to return to competition. However, in the article these little bits aren't included and they would have made a big difference in my understanding of his emotional state! The article made him seem whiny and weak, and a little too self-deprecating.

My guess is that either PJ Kwong really wanted to portray Patrick as an underdog, or she had an editor that didn't like Patrick. What do you think? Another thing that would have helped the article sound more upbeat is if Kwong had described Patrick's expressions or what he did during the interview. E.g., "I was frustrated," he acknowledged with a nod and a smile that showed his good humor despite the struggles.

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vivley said:

skatingfan4ever - Exactly! The article seems to quote Patrick's negative comments without the context that he gave in the video. E.g., this one made me think TMI: “Why am I doing this? I shouldn’t even be coming back. This is so stupid, I’m so frustrated. I don’t even know why I’ve considered coming back, I should have just let it go.”

In the video he provides the context before and after this quote. At first he said that there were days when he wanted to pull his hair out. Then he concludes at the end, "I was frustrated". So I clearly got that he was talking about his past struggles to return to competition. However, in the article these little bits aren't included and they would have made a big difference in my understanding of his emotional state! The article made him seem whiny and weak, and a little too self-deprecating.

My guess is that either PJ Kwong really wanted to portray Patrick as an underdog, or she had an editor that didn't like Patrick. What do you think? Another thing that would have helped the article sound more upbeat is if Kwong had described Patrick's expressions or what he did during the interview. E.g., "I was frustrated," he acknowledged with a nod and a smile that showed his good humor despite the struggles.

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What's funny is that in my first reaction post I wrote that "the best thing about this article" was its lack of editorial comments by Kwong and how she gave only (what I thought were) the full quotes. Now I'm thinking those may not have been the full quotes. I've changed my mind in that now I do think the article could have benefited from at least some comments on Kwong's part. It's like she decided, for some reason, to leave out most of the "but I'm in a great place now" stuff. I suppose it makes for a more eye-catching story? Personally I think the video also has plenty of drama. But maybe that's just because of the visual aspect and the voiceovers.

Another thing I noticed about the article is that the paragraphs are very short. Quotes that seemed to be part of the same thought process were given as separate paragraphs. So, you had to keep scrolling down to find out where it was going, which could make "freaked-out Patrick" linger longer in your mind because there were so many paragraphs about it. Maybe Kwong could have condensed that into one or two paragraphs and then moved on to happier aspects. That way, Patrick could still have been honest about what he went through, but overall the article would be more positive. Is it a convention in journalistic writing to break up quotes into multiple paragraphs sometimes, even if they seem to be a continuation of the same thought?

Also, vivley, thanks for bringing over the info about Patrick's possible personality type. Very fascinating stuff.

My apologies if this video has already been posted:
http://www.tsn.ca/figure-skating/video/skate-canada-extreme-sports~735690

Haha, 4everchan, the media loves drama, indeed.

skatingfan4ever, I don't think quotes are supposed to be broken into multiple paragraphs. But since there were no comments from Kwong, I'm guessing that's what she did to make the article more readable. And you're welcome on the personality analysis. I like delving into these types of topics, ha.

m0001, thanks for the upbeat video of Patrick! By the way, has anyone noticed that he really loves the color gray lately?

Now here's the latest article I found:

Why Patrick Chan Is Competing Again

The article above is written in a way that seems to cast doubt on Patrick's reasons for competing again. But the last quote from Patrick is great. The question is how is he going to do it? Unfortunately, most of the world only pays attention if you win first place all the time. Patrick would need to put his marketing skills to use. I have some more thoughts on what he can do in the future but I will share in another post.

Thank you Vivley for finding another article. If you are interested, here's a podcast (2014) by Kwong about Patrick's life since the Olympics, figure skating in general and where he is headed in the future.
http://www.openkwongdore.com/2014/07/28/episode-84-patrick-chan/

There's an article on icenetworks that has some quotes from Patrick. He plans a single quad in his LP. http://www.icenetwork.com/news/2015/10/28/155700680
I think there should be a quad in SP as well.

Reading the article why he wants to come back, there's the part saying he felt lonely on New Year Eve, I feel so sad. Hopefully he will not be lonely this upcoming New Year Eve.

Sorrento said:

There's an article on icenetworks that has some quotes from Patrick. He plans a single quad in his LP. http://www.icenetwork.com/news/2015/10/28/155700680
I think there should be a quad in SP as well.

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Why would he only plan one quad in the LP for the GPs? I guess he is really focusing on "all the other stuff" for now. Ever since he debuted the 4T in competition, he's always done two in the LP. I know at JO last year and this year he only did one, but I assumed that once this season started, he would be back to two. Fernandez and Hanyu (and who knows who else) will surely pass him every time if his planned TES is that low. He'll be like Jason Brown, except with one steady quad. This plan makes no sense to me if he wants to medal (let alone win) internationally. Can someone explain it to me?

skatingfan4ever said:

Why would he only plan one quad in the LP for the GPs? I guess he is really focusing on "all the other stuff" for now. Ever since he debuted the 4T in competition, he's always done two in the LP. I know at JO last year and this year he only did one, but I assumed that once this season started, he would be back to two. Fernandez and Hanyu (and who knows who else) will surely pass him every time if his planned TES is that low. He'll be like Jason Brown, except with one steady quad. This plan makes no sense to me if he wants to medal (let alone win) internationally. Can someone explain it to me?

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I think this is set only for Skate Canada. It could also change. He will get the second quad in LP during the season for sure.

My guess is that he'll have two quads ready for the GPF if he has them by TEB, even better!

So Patrick is back and we're also getting lots of reports again, Here's another one if it hasn't been linked:

Skate Canada: Chan looking to leave his mark

There is a new Patrick. He may not return with the same level technically, but he's matured so much, with new experiences and perspectives on life and his sport. He's a long way from that 19 year old with a heavy chip on his shoulder, having just recovered from an illness and the resultant injury, facing hordes of media sharks for the biggest event on earth.

4everchan said:

that's media... always looking for drama

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Worse yet they want controversies and will manufacture some if necessary. They are a big part of the answer to Sam L's question:

Why is Patrick so unpopular?

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Firstly at Worlds 2009, Patrick angered Brian Joubert's fans when he defended Jeffrey Buttle's Worlds title that Joubert had disparaged. As well, Patrick went on to beat Joubert at that event and ever since.

Growing up a skating prodigy, Patrick had been dealing with a friendly group of Canadian sport journalists and he was used to being very sincere and open with them. He was not prepared for sensationalist media at the Vancouver Olympics while Plushenko smartly avoided speaking completely before his event. Patrick was the centre of attention of the controversy-hungry media. They took his words out of context and blew them up to create a rivalry of a disrespectful upstart against the elder icon. These days, a same story from one source is fed to all reporting media and headlines such as "Chan Blasts Plushenko As Old" were literally spread all over the world. The media left after the Games but they did considerable damage to Patrick's image, enraging Plushenko's fans in particular.

In the figure skating world, both Plushenko and Joubert had very passionate fans and Patrick became the most hated skater. Forums were filled with ridicules and even ill wishes against him. "Chan fan" was a dirty name.

And then there was a "journalist" who interviewed him after his first visit to China and released the report a few months later right before 2011 GPF, twisting Patrick's words as saying he would rather skate for China.

The continued attack on Patrick was based mainly on perceived favoritism from the judges and the disliked scoring system. As Plushenko and Joubert both stopped competing, bad feelings from their fans faded and Patrick has also silenced many critics with his now unquestioned superior skating skills though debates about marks and some fan wars will always go on. The height of his unpopularity is actually over.

The new Patrick is his own man and seems more confident of what he wants for himself and has a broader view. Not over pushing himself is part of that wisdom so we have to wait to see if and when he will focus on pushing the technical level again. He does achieve almost all his stated goals and I wish him well on what he sets out to accomplish this season.

It seems his relationship with Tess has ended but it was good that he could focus on his show skating and adventures during his time off. He also seems very close with Kathy Johnson and gets good support from her. This should put an end to the claim that he chose his coach because of her daughter and it would be big problems for him if he ended the relationship with Tess.

Eta: Patrick looks great, doesn't he?

I also think Patrick will have 2 quads by GPF. Slow but steady.