I had no idea I was badmouthing Yuko. I think it's her life and she should do what she wants. It's just that I personally would not have the guts to be so unconventional and so I find her choices pretty wild.Originally Posted by let`s talk
I had no idea I was badmouthing Yuko. I think it's her life and she should do what she wants. It's just that I personally would not have the guts to be so unconventional and so I find her choices pretty wild.
I'm really curious how their new leader is going lead the country in the next few years. I have a feeling when South Korea got the Olympics for the second time that really hurt them, especially it being the winter games. They do have some talented skaters from what I saw in limited videos and I think they would really like to be a part of that, so he has to make major changes.
If current ISU skaters can convince them to make those changes, I don't see how that can be bad; like someone said, they aren't going to change the regime for the worse by skating there. Yuko Kavaguti has a degree in international relations so maybe skating there will help her career if she ever would like to go back.
I’m sure there was a time when no one thought the Olympics would be held in China or American baseball players would be playing MLB games in Cuba, but times change and it has to start somewhere.
In regards to Laura, with as much time as she has been off, I’m sure people haven’t been beating down her door to perform so she probably saw it as one more opportunity to have people see how good she really is. Not everyone gets to do "Art on Ice."
May I ask what is "unconventional/wild" about Yuko? Except maybe her sp hairsyle?
When a single Japanese woman decides to move to Russia on her own, that's unconventional and wild.
(It's not like saying, 'Oh, I'll study abroad in United States for a couple of years'. The level of cultural gap between Japan and Russia and the obstacles one would have to face to get accepted would be on a totally different level.)
Last edited by hurrah; 02-22-2012 at 12:21 PM.
I'm sure she's not the first and she moved to New Jersey with Moskvina not Russia; she didn't move to Russia until years later. Many skaters have to leave home it's not really unconventional.
Have you read Trankov's story when he was 16? And he just moved from Perm to Saint Petersburg
If you put her in a pool of skaters who have done more or less the same, sure that's the norm. But if you compare her to most Japanese women, she's wild. I'd say most top-level skaters (actually, all top athletes) aren't concerned with what's conventional. Rather, they wanna be unconventional.I'm sure she's not the first and she moved to New Jersey with Moskvina not Russia; she didn't move to Russia until years later. Many skaters have to leave home it's not really unconventional.
Have you read Trankov's story when he was 16? And he just moved from Perm to Saint Petersburg
Judging by how my kids from Japan I register for University each semester I think they are wilder than you give them all credit for.
BTW Narumri Takahashi moved to Canada to train when she was 15. Crazy kids!
I find this whole drama a bit contradictory. How come people from democratic countries react so strongly about someone else doing what they chose to do, knowing or not knowing the circumstance. Isn't that violation of the precious freedom or human right that we are all against?
Last edited by Ilvskating; 02-24-2012 at 12:37 AM.
You're confusing law and morality. Nobody is calling for these skaters to be punished by the law. Nobody is saying they have no *right* to be there. And we have every right to express disgust, justified or not, at their participation in this event.
If someone says to you "you shouldn't do X" when "X" is a human right, doesn't necessarily mean they're saying "you should be jailed for doing X". Learn the difference. One is merely expressing a moral judgement (itself a right), whereas the other is a call for violating a right.
Just to clarify the reason I called it a witch hunt is because every year the media singles out one skater and puts them through the ringer for it (rightly or wrongly is obviously your own choice to make) when in reality it is a show with several skaters taking part, but all but the one selected for the lambasting are let off the hook.
I can't decide how I feel about skaters taking part in this show, but do think it's unfair for one skater to bear the brunt of the criticism, especially when a lot of elite skaters have done this.
The article referenced at the beginning of the thread singles her out because it's a Finnish newspaper, so of course it talks about a Finnish skater. I haven't seen (though maybe there are) other articles singling out Lepisto, except those from Finnish papers.
I suppose you could label gsk8, and the posters here, as the 'media'. But I just don't see the witch hunt at all...
How is this relevant?
I must say I have to thank you all, especially Olympia and Mathman, for a most interesting discussion. I am one who is into the moral delema. Should Mirai go skate for the head of Syria's birthday?
Should Racheal go to China, where things can become interesting for female babies, and the pollution is so bad it effects the west coast of the US? And yet, the US buys tons of rare earth metal batteries
from China to power its cellphones so that little girls can text misc brain droppings to each other while driving their "environmentally friendly " Priuses which also have batteries that have polluted the Chineese environment.
Who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? I think it is a personal decision. If you dont like Stalin killing millions of Russians, then dont go skate for him. Its your choice. I am an American and will be till the day I die but I hate my government and what it is doing to its own people and others around the world. Black and white have be come grey for me.
As an aside, some of you young folk might want to do a search on Google for "Ping Pong diplomacy". Who knows what the future will bring because of skating in NK?
Chris without sin who casts many stones
IP: Basically, PB is saying that it's not Lepisto's fault there are issues in North Korea, so why should she bear the brunt of criticism
There is a point in the above. The world has now become WAY too intertwined for such nitpickings.
I think World Peace is a concern of Miss Universe. Skaters are not Unesco ambassadors, they are athletes. Shows is part of their job. It is not the case in other sports, only in fs we look so much their choices outside the arena.
I m not happy with how a big part of people in South Africa live but I didnt see why Mundial shouldnt be held there.
Last edited by seniorita; 02-24-2012 at 04:52 PM.
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