Johnny Weir officially retires + joins NBC as skating analyst | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Johnny Weir officially retires + joins NBC as skating analyst

Kitt

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Country
United-States
This news makes me very happy; I thought his commentary for IceNetwork was very entertaining and illuminating. He is a natural wit and this seems like a good fit for the next phase of his career.
 

chloepoco

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Thank you for the kind words, tulosai! I am just one of you trying to understand the system and picking out hte numbers seem to help!

Anyway here's the video of Johnny's segment:http://www.today.com/news/johnny-weir-retires-joins-nbc-olympics-figure-skating-analyst-8C11446723

I agree with golden411, he was very tasteful and very graceful in his announcement, both regarding his retirement and regarding his decision to join the NBC Sports crew.

Johnny did do some commentary for Ice Network at 2012 U.S. Nationals. Here's a video of Jason Brown's SP that has Johnny's commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2H-dV6aww4

Johnny adds some color...but also explains aspects of the system (i.e. the value of seamless entries into jumps and spins etc...the high value of a 3A and why Jason needs to have one, etc...)

I thought Johnny was very classy and professional in this Today Show segment; I'm looking forward to his commentary!
 

lcd

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
My impression is that the core on-air event commentating team will be the same. I get the impression that the 3 announced will be more "field" reporters, doing pieces which can be played during non-competition segments. A logical and incrementally positive addition to the overall broadcast plans for an event with as wide a scope as the Olympics IMO.

Naturally, these 3 know the athletes on more of a personal level and that will help with the "chemistry" when doing interviews.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
I think his commentary style is good. He's not over the top like Kurt, and he's informed. I think being a recent athlete skating under CoP, like Tanith, will also make him an asset. He also knows how to reign it in, and I don't picture him having the US favouritism that other commentators have had in the past (hah, especially when he hates the current crop of American men :p).
 

Matilda

Medalist
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
So happy for Johnny! :clap::party:And what a blessing for the viewers. Johnny is very smart and witty. Since he will be the "expert analyst" I believe he will actually give us insight into the system as well as to the specific skaters and their place in the map of world figure skating. He has a lot to offer since he has actually competed under the system and knows many of the skaters personally.

I hope Johnny will do commentary from the Nationals as well, because I want to hear him talk about "honeybadger Messing" and Max Aaron's eyebrows again :p Rock on, Johnny!! :)
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
My impression is that the core on-air event commentating team will be the same. I get the impression that the 3 announced will be more "field" reporters, doing pieces which can be played during non-competition segments. A logical and incrementally positive addition to the overall broadcast plans for an event with as wide a scope as the Olympics IMO.

Naturally, these 3 know the athletes on more of a personal level and that will help with the "chemistry" when doing interviews.

I'm not sure what to expect as far as the exact nature of the new roles for Weir and Lipinski.
I'll put it this way: If I were the agent for Hamilton or Bezic, I would have jumped on the phone to NBC a.s.a.p. to protest that their continuing roles (if they really do still have them) were not acknowledged in today's press release.

"Weir and Lipinski will appear on NBC this Sunday at 4 p.m. ET alongside Terry Gannon on the network’s telecast of the 2013 Skate Canada International featuring performances from the men’s and ladies’ free skate competitions," according to the NBC release.
OTOH ... I suppose it could be that they will be next to Gannon only this once to be "introduced"/announced ... and that for the Sochi broadcasts, they will not sit next to Gannon or Tom Hammond or whomever, but will serve as field-reporter types. Cannot rule out that scenario.

And it is true that right before Skate America, Lipinski taped a lot of stuff in the field with skaters in the Detroit area, which could be "banked" for use during the Sochi broadcasts.
She also served as the correspondent for the local NBC station in Detroit for at least two stories pegged to Skate America.

(Whatever the roles of Weir and Lipinski turn out to be, Belbin's role clearly is something different.)

I think his commentary style is good. He's not over the top like Kurt, and he's informed. I think being a recent athlete skating under CoP, like Tanith, will also make him an asset. He also knows how to reign it in, and I don't picture him having the US favouritism that other commentators have had in the past (hah, especially when he hates the current crop of American men :p).

On the contrary, I believe that Weir has been very supportive of some of the current American men. Aaron, Brown, Miner, and Dornbush (and maybe others) have skated in shows with Weir. In his reddit AMA (and prob. at other times too), Aaron has referred to Weir as a great friend. (Random fact: Weir is the one who originally set up Max's Twitter account.)

Sample tweets from @JohnnyGWeir during Skate America:

Looking fancy boys! Good start. @Adaripp crazy 4Lz-ing and @MaxTAaron bringing sexy back! @USFigureSkating
4:33 PM - 18 Oct 13
https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir/status/391346233648095233

The future has become now. Well done and congratulations @jasonbskates and his coach Diva Kori! Enjoy people! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRmWq-1g4_w
9:25 PM - 18 Oct 13
https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir/status/391419719720263680

And an excerpt from the past week of an Instagram caption from @coachtomz:
Johnny Weir and I backstage at Nationals in 2012. ... Thank you for all that you do for our sport and your support with Max. #tbt #icon
http://instagram.com/p/fkZV8QjYwz/
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
This. I don't doubt he'll comport himself as appropriately as possible when the time comes.

I join Doris and others in thinking this will be a huge improvement over Scott. I used to somewhat enjoy Scott's commentary pre-COP but at this point, as we've all discussed on other threads ad nauseum, he is IMO actively hurting the sport's attempts to gain viewership. I think he is also reinforcing in a subtle way the idea some people have that it's not really a sport. Even without any 'deep' understanding of COP, you can say something like 'this is a lutz, for most people the hardest triple jump. It's got a base value of X more than the triple flip, which is the hardest jump her competitor, Y will be completing'. 'I'm not sure of the level of that spin, but it may have been a level 3. To get a level 3 spin,the criteria are X' instead of just saying during the slo mo replay 'great spin positions!'
Also, I don't think COP is as beyond the reach of many Americans as Scott seems to think it is. I'm no Mathman or Mrs. P but I was able to come to a rudimentary understanding of COP quite quickly and really believe most other people could too (whether they agreed with it or not). I'm hopeful Johnny can open that door for them.


You mean something like this:

All spins, jumps and step sequences are now given a specific base value, depending on their difficulty. When the skater performs the move in a program, judges evaluate how well the move is performed on a Grade of Execution scale from -3 to +3. The GOE score is either added to or subtracted from the Base Value. Then all of the scores for each element performed in a program are added together to determine a Technical Elements Score.

4 sentences off the top of my head. I know it is more complicated than that but really, that's all most people will want to know. Add the problem of under-rotations when looking at the first skater to do so. Add some pretty graphs and you're good to go.

And feel free to add any suggestions. Maybe we can send it off to NBC and they'll use it.
 

Matilda

Medalist
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
Johnny's weekly column is about his career and retirement: fcnp.com/2013/10/23/johnnys-world-the-ice/
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
You mean something like this:

All spins, jumps and step sequences are now given a specific base value, depending on their difficulty. When the skater performs the move in a program, judges evaluate how well the move is performed on a Grade of Execution scale from -3 to +3. The GOE score is either added to or subtracted from the Base Value. Then all of the scores for each element performed in a program are added together to determine a Technical Elements Score.

4 sentences off the top of my head. I know it is more complicated than that but really, that's all most people will want to know. Add the problem of under-rotations when looking at the first skater to do so. Add some pretty graphs and you're good to go.

And feel free to add any suggestions. Maybe we can send it off to NBC and they'll use it.

Yeah I was thinking more of things to say during a performance or during the slow mo replays of moves. A basic explanation of COP is also sorely needed.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Yeah I was thinking more of things to say during a performance or during the slow mo replays of moves. A basic explanation of COP is also sorely needed.

I would love a 10-minute segment like this one CBS did in the 1988 Olympics on school figures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31-yn9XYq0k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQwszzIeWo

Or a breakdown of the top three performances, post-facto.

Here's the thing, I get Scott Hamilton's sentiment that it's hard to do a lot of work on the spot. However that is not an excuse. No sports journalist in the US, whether they cover prep football (high school) or the NFL, come into the games empty handed. They know the basic stats of the players and how they performed previously. A lot of these stats are gathered over SEVERAL years.

The work I did on my Nate Silver thread, for example, could have been done prior to the competition. What's Mao's BV on paper and what does she actually execute in the end? What's her triple axel success percentage rate? How often has she won w/o a 3-3? What has been the history as far as levels from these skaters?

The really good ones have kept excel spreadsheets that keep every single stat and they are armed and ready come game time.

The best ones know how to "interview the data" to answer the big questions.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I am very happy for Johnny. Some of you may have heard his commentary from the 2012 Nats (for Universal?) and he was VERY good. I've been bored with Scott for years now. Same with Peggy Fleming and Dick Button. I think Johnny will bring current opinions and observations to the mix. I think he has a good sense of humor and his criticisms were never mean. I'm not so excited about Tanith Belbin or Tara Lipinski. But.......both are a vast improvement over Sandra Bezic. I think Sandra is a good choreographer but she's a little to aesthetic in her commentaries and they don't hold much meat!

I do hope Johnny doesn't give up figure skating as I've always loved watching him skate.
 

Matilda

Medalist
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
I do hope Johnny doesn't give up figure skating as I've always loved watching him skate.

From his column today:
"While my retirement surely isn’t a shock to the skating world, I have been able to become a sort of face for my sport to people who rarely watch it, and I always quickly follow up the statement of “I’m retiring from competition” with the truth that I will continue to skate and perform as long as my body will allow me and that I pass my presence in the competitive ranks on to some genius upstart, the youth that keeps the Olympics and sports alive."

source: http://fcnp.com/2013/10/23/johnnys-world-the-ice/

I hope we get to see Johnny skating in shows for many, many years :)
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
Now they just need to add Terry Gannon as the lead commentator and NBC will be listenable again.
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
LOVE Terry Gannon. So glad we'll be getting him this weekend. Has he found a phrase to replace "those finishing in the top three after the short control their own destiny" yet? His go to.

I seem to remember Terry Gannon and Tara Lipinksi were the commentators on the grand prix last year, yes? I can't find any signs of NBC grand prix coverage online. : /

Maybe they reserve Sandra and Scott for what they think are higher profile events in the US.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
Sadly Scott and Sandra will be doing the Olympics again i'm sure. Johnny isn't ready to take over yet. But if he sticks to it he might be the future color commentator when Scott retires or cuts back. But Terry really needs to take over as lead commentator. Tom Hammond as i said adds nothing and is will be 70 years old next year.
 

penguin

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
Oh, yay for this! I watched Johnny's reality show and found it very entertaining, but I did worry that his funny, snarky diva personality would detract from commentary roles. But then I watched him do commentary for Universal Sports and he was fantastic - knowledgeable and professional, and knew that it wasn't his spotlight to take over. I think he'd be such an improvement over the current commentating regulars.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
I was never a fan of Weir's skating - I didn't dislike it, it just wasn't "for me". But, when he did some commenting/analysing for IceNetwork a few years back, I was surprised to find out how much I absolutely loved it - I ended up tracking down all the segments on Youtube. Well, whatever he does - commentry or just analysing (I'm hoping for commentry myself :) :), I'll be looking forward to seeing clips on Youtube!

Following the link Mrs P provided, I caught a glimpse of him in the still - he was looking really nice... distinguished, I thought. Alas, the video did not play for me, however - appears to be geoblocked. (They did manage to show me a commercial while the video was loading however - which I thought was quite mean; of course, I wasn't paying it attention enough to have the foggiest clue what it was about - so... Ha! to the meanies at NBC! Sniff!)
 
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