pangtong is right. Joannie Rochette and Jeff Buttle were well liked not only by Canadian fans, but fans all over the world. When they won medals, everyone was glad. The problem with Chan and Moir is they are gratingly egotistical, diss their opponents, and are very vocal about their self-promoting opinions. Moir is lucky that his partner never gets involved with his trash talk, or V/M might have fewer fans.
Nope. I know that is what you would like to believe, but this is a thread about the decline in popularity of Figure Skating within Canada. What pangtongfan said was...
Patrick Chan and V/M both get loud cheers from the audience whenever they skate on home ice. I have been to several competitions within Canada, and can testify to that fact.Originally Posted by pangtongfan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS9HFO-vgG8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeE5wY7-pzQ
For the popularity of Figure Skating to increase in Canada, it is necessary to get more indifferent or casual fans to watch on TV. No readers/viewers, no interest by the media. No interest by the media, no effective way to reach potential new fans. These people don't go out of their way to read internet articles about what Patrick or Scott say, or lurk on these boards. That is what avid fans do. The daily newspapers don't typically bother with Figure Skating at all, much less discuss which skater said what. Newspapers are more interested in articles about hockey players. The indifferent or casual fans have no idea what any figure skater said, assuming they even know who they are.
Spot on. Comes across as personal mission from the threads. S & P must have pissed in someone's gardenTrying to blame the decline of Figure Skating in Canada on Scott and Patrick, because you personally hate them.
I don't know what you currently do for a living, but you should seriously consider becoming a comedian instead.
Crowds who pay huge money to attend events (although Worlds in Canada wasnt even sold out for anything until later in the week I have heard) are almost entirely die hard skating fans, but die hard skating fans dont make up the majority of a fan base. Casual skating fans are the ones who make up the majority of a fan base.
So what are you trying to imply? Only Canadian avid fans cheer for V/M and Patrick at events, while the majority of casual fans who are not at events don't like them?
(note: the video examples I posted were from 2013 Canadian Nationals, not Worlds).
As I have already mentioned, casual fans typically only watch skating on their televisions at home "occasionally". That is why they are "casual". They have little interest in searching the internet for articles about skaters, or visiting skating boards. They are not going to know what the skaters say. Therefore, why would casual fans have any malice towards Scott or Patrick when they know little about them? Are you going from home-to-home throughout Canada knocking on doors telling them? They are certainly not going to get the information from TV or the newspapers.
Avid fans are more likely to take the time searching the internet for information about skaters. These people are demonstrating an above average interest in the sport, and are not going to give-up on Figure Skating simply because some may not like what a skater may have said. Otherwise, why are you still here?
Only rich die hard fans like Scott and Patrick. Poor casual fans hate them.
Maybe the dispicable, arrogant, self absorbed, rude, and completely unlikeable Scott and Patrick are bribing the audience to cheer for them. That is why they are rich.
I am from Canada. To raise interest in the sport we need a big personality. People still mention Brian Orser, Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko and mention them by name, rather than "that boy who won a medal". Heck they are more likely to mention the likes of Yuna Kim than Patrick Chan. 5 years ago at a maternity class for an ice breaker one of the questions was who is the current Canadian Women's figures skating champion. Canadians had been the week before and I was the only person to know who it was. Either people just aren't interested or there isn't enough media coverage?
That is just one problem that I can see. I'm not going to comment on the likability of Scott or Patrick (I think their comments display an immaturity and spoiledness). Quite honestly the general population would have no idea who they are. I guess we just need someone the "common folk" can identify with.
Exactly, Canada needs big skating personalities. The best time to promote is at the Olympics, because that is when the majority of the population is watching. The trick would be convincing the viewers to watch Figure Skating instead of bobsledding etc.
At Vancouver, Patrick Chan finished 5th. He did not begin winning Gold until afterwards. Since people who are indifferent towards Figure Skating are not likely watching Worlds, 4CC, Nationals, or GP events, Patrick would remain a nobody in their mind. At Vancouver, pairs were also not a threat for a medal. Although V/M did win Gold, they did so at a time when Canada was winning many medals. The news of their win became buried under all the other medals that were pouring in from other sports. I also don't recall much publicity surrounding the V/M win outside of the Figure Skating niche (since V/M appear to be private people, it is OK, if that is the way they want it). Hence, the only publicized medal was Joannie's. However, she retired immediately after. Overall, Vancouver didn't seem to do much for the popularity of Figure Skating within Canada.
Today, we have D/R and MT/M challenging near the top in pairs. V/M will again be challenging for gold in Ice Dance. Likewise with Patrick in Mens, if he is on. We also have Kaetlyn in Ladies, who appears to have become popular regardless whether she can medal. However, this all means nothing if Figure Skating is not adequately promoted. In advance of each competition, it would be helpful to get the word out to the general public, by ensuring TV hosts briefly announcing there may be a chance for a medal in the upcoming Figure Skating event. If the general public does not know, they may tune-in to watch another sport. If there is a medal win, try convincing the newspapers to publish the news, perhaps with a human interest story about the athlete(s). After the Olympics has closed, it would be necessary to find a method to keep the momentum going. With a little luck, maybe the public will remember and be more eager to watch Worlds, 4CC, Nationals, and GP events.
I am going to predict with full confidence that the interest in Canadian figure skating, barring a huge judging scandal in Sochi (and if there is one you know it is 99% likely involving Chan himself) will skyrocket again after 2014 when Chan and Moir are both retired and Osmond, Duhamel & Radford, Weaver & Poje and others take over as our new stars who are winning medals. Now will that be just coincidence when that happens? You are free to think that, but I tend to believe otherwise.
Considering what I said in my last post, you are hardly sticking your neck out with that prediction.You have provided absolutely no evidence or logical argument to explain why casual fans would know or care about Patrick or Scott's comments. A prediction that has multiple possible explanations is hardly proof of anything.
Yeah, right! We believe you.
Exactly! rvi5 has given explanations which make sense, while pangtongfan is just spewing useless babble based on personal hate.
I think pangtongfan and sky_fly20 should get together for beers, and reminisce about the good old days when they still had some credibility.
I'm with rvi5 on this one. I would doubt casual fans know anything about comments from Patrick or Scott, in fact I know that for a fact since I asked a not so casual fan today. Casual fans will cheer for whoever is doing best at any given moment.
I honestly don't think the skaters coming up have big enough personalities to make much impact.
Part of the problem I can see for losing fans could be the fact most of our top skaters don't train in Canada. If a skater from the southern Ontario area were to make it big while training here I bet people would become more aware of skating. And I say from Southern Ontario because that is just where a big part of Canada's population is located.
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