Skaters who are not "your cup of tea"?

WinterLily · Feb 18, 2014

E. Plushenko - from the first time I saw him (I don't like his skating and his persona)
B. Joubert - I was actually a fan from 2002 to 2005 if I remember correctly, then he started to imitate Yagudin's style but he was still just an imitation...and then he stopped improving and repeated the same kind of programs again and again.
M. Asada - I don't get her artistry, I don't like her expression, and because of this 3axel thing, her programs look so empty now...
F. Amodio - just not my cup of tea:/
A. Leonova - terrible "artistry", her expressions are exaggerated ....she reminds me of an overly expressive Slutskaya (don't like her either)
A. Gachinski - Plushenko 2.0

Robeye · Feb 18, 2014

moviechick said:
Exactly, racism is not always intentional. Most of the time it does just come from a place of ignorance and not understanding that certain things are offensive, rather than an openly hateful Westboro Church type of way.

OK, IMHO that is a useful distinction to make. I maintain, however, that something done out of ignorance should not be conflated with something done out of intention. As Kant would put it, morality is not a matter of result, but rather of the existence (or absence) of intent. A young person may act out of high spirits and foolishness and immaturity, and find that they have hurt or offended someone or some group, as Gracie did. As you say, this should not be thought of in the same way as deliberately acting in a manner designed to express hate or contempt, knowing full well the consequences.

I certainly do not say that Gracie did right. But if her action is of the first category, then, having digested the reproaches rightfully directed at her, I would expect that she express genuine contrition, learn something from the experience (why people found what she said offensive), and not do it again.

Lumping both the ignorant and the intentionally malicious together under the common rubric of "racism" is unproductive and is itself unjust, because the term is heavily freighted with implied accusations of the most serious nature. You may make fine distinctions between sub-categories of racism, but, by and large, such intellectual niceties will be lost on the wider world, where being labelled a racist means being perceived as a mouth-breathing clod in a bed sheet. You may practice a different approach, but for such reasons, when dealing with real people and not simply in the philosophical abstract, I generally like to reserve use of the word for cases of malice aforethought. While what Gracie did was wrong, I do not think she quite deserves that.

seniorita · Feb 18, 2014

ks777 said:
Yuna's feet.

LOL. Sorry that was funny.
off topic, I went to the Korean house at Olys, there was a huge cupboard of Yuna's pose from James Bond sp, everybody was having a picture next to it, so did I

bartlebooth · Feb 18, 2014

Evan Lysacek

Shibutanis

Sonia Lafuente

Zamboni · Feb 18, 2014

Back in the day:

Laetetia Hubert

There was a kind of hostility in her skating.

Surya Bonaly

Interesting skater but her choreography sucked and basic skating technique was bad.

Irina Slutskaya

My only explanation for her multiple awards was SWR. I still laugh at Sandra Bezic's explanation that Irina made no pretense to be artistic :laugh:

Tara Lipinski

Lots of energy but she stole that gold medal away from Michelle!

Tatiana Totmianina

So nasty and rude and she and Maxim skated with no emotions. She always looked like she'd bitten a sour pickle. They almost always skated perfectly, though, but with no personality. However, I have read about her difficult life, and now I understand why she is that way. Still don't like her skating, though. Is she still with Yagudin?

Amei · Feb 18, 2014

Pairs/Ice Dance: Don't really watch enough of either to say something beyond - I don't like their program

Men: Patrick Chan - He's inconsistent on the ice and it seems like he consistently makes poor choices in his comments to the media

Ladies:
Gracie Gold: her skating and interviews seem very robotic
Ashley Wagner's presentation: I like her skating, but how her& her team have packaged her on the ice just puts me off.
Adelina Sotnikova: skating/presentation just aren't my thing

Sam-Skwantch · Feb 18, 2014

FEET!!!

seniorita said:
LOL. Sorry that was funny.
off topic, I went to the Korean house at Olys, there was a huge cupboard of Yuna's pose from James Bond sp, everybody was having a picture next to it, so did I

I let out a laugh too and like you, not at Yuna(I think) but at that whole FEET thing.:yay:

amc987 · Feb 18, 2014

Men: Plushenko, Machida, Lysacek, Ryan Bradley, Kevin Reynolds
Ladies: Leonova, Gold, Edmunds, Ando, Sarah Hughes, Surya Bonaly
Pairs: Volosozhar/ Trankov, Stolbova/ Klimov, Duhamel/ Radford, Kavaguti/ Smirnov
Dance: Domnina/ Shabalin

There are other skaters I can't stand for non-skating reasons- I find Patrick Chan and Scott Moir unfathomably arrogant- but I assume the question was alluding to not caring for a skater for on-ice reasons.

centerpt1 · Feb 18, 2014

Not my cuppa:

Evan Lysacek
Either of the Hughes sisters
Gracie Gold
Ryan Bradley
Brian Joubert

noskates · Feb 18, 2014

OMG - I forgot about Surya Bonaly. And her creepy looking mother standing at the boards. I thought she had a horrible line, no grace, jumped like a roller skater convert.

Sochi_2014 · Feb 18, 2014

Yuna - Although I do respect her, and her gold medal, her layback drives me absolutely nutty. I'm a layback stickler.

Chan- I don't like those beady eyes, they give me the creeps. It's like he's staring into my soul.

Osmond- Honestly, couldn't tell ya why.

Victoria Helgesson - Never quite seemed fully invested in the sport to me.

Jeremy- because of the constant inconsistency.

Reynolds - totally fixated on those jumps and nothing else.

Antilles · Feb 18, 2014

I can find something I like about every skater, but I think some get praise to a level that makes me scratch my head:

Current(ish):
V&T: lovely pair team, I just don't get why so many people think they are the second coming.
Plushenko, although he's grown on me more over the years
Bobrova&Soloviev

Past:

Sale&Pelletier: they make the top of my all-time list
Bourne&Kraatz: again a lovely team, but I got sick of the Canadian press (and I'm Canadian) talking about them as if they were the Best! Thing! Ever!
Navka&Kostamarov
Domnina&Shabalin
Totmianina&Marinin
A lot of the pair teams in the mid-90s

For those who listed Duhamel&Radford, I think it's her posture and thus their mismatched body lines that might bug you. I've either gotten used to them or she's gotten better. Either way, they have a lot of qualities and a drive that I like.

invisiblespiral · Feb 18, 2014

A lot of pairs teams and most of the Russian men...

Mathman · Feb 18, 2014

Sochi_2014 said:
Chan- I don't like those beady eyes, they give me the creeps. It's like he's staring into my soul.

I am not a doctor, but Patrick has some sort of neuro-ocular condition (diplopia). His right eye cannot move upward. This is what you are reacting to.

moviechick · Feb 18, 2014

https://31.media.tumblr.com/c0a0b49739ff17f1385e50e47b01cbaa/tumblr_n14498csMx1rcr5ajo2_250.gif

What nightmares are made of.

TontoK · Feb 18, 2014

Hanyu.

Ashley Wagner.

Plushenko when he was young.

Dance team from France, P/B.

Every single pair team since B/S left the competitive arena.

Franklin99 · Feb 18, 2014

Mathman said:
I am not a doctor, but Patrick has some sort of neuro-ocular condition (diplopia). His right eye cannot move upward. This is what you are reacting to.

Thank you for mentioning that bit of news. Every time I look at pictures of him, his eyes always freaked me out. Now that I know it's a condition, and not just him being creepy, I no longer see it as creepy. But I do hope there's a way to fix it so he can have full control of both eyes.

Interspectator · Feb 18, 2014

Franklin99 said:
Thank you for mentioning that bit of news. Every time I look at pictures of him, his eyes always freaked me out. Now that I know it's a condition, and not just him being creepy, I no longer see it as creepy. But I do hope there's a way to fix it so he can have full control of both eyes.

A friend of mine has got something like this. His eyes don't point in exactly the same direction so it looks 'odd' ...but he has glasses that correct this and help his eyes to focus evenly. --Can't really be helped.

Ryan O · Feb 18, 2014

People shouldn't be commenting on Chan's eyes - he has no control over that.

His less than gracious comments after a competition on the other hand are fair game.

Becki · Feb 18, 2014

Mathman said:
I am not a doctor, but Patrick has some sort of neuro-ocular condition (diplopia). His right eye cannot move upward. This is what you are reacting to.

Wait, doesn't that mean he can see double?

Are you sure about this, or is this some kind of speculation?

Skaters who are not "your cup of tea"?

WinterLily

Robeye

seniorita

bartlebooth

Zamboni

Amei

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

amc987

centerpt1

noskates

Sochi_2014

Antilles

invisiblespiral

Mathman

moviechick

TontoK

Hot Tonto

Franklin99

Interspectator

Ryan O

Becki

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