Michael Weiss

[SkateFan4Life]

One of the reasons I personally think Michael Weiss should turn pro is that he is a much better exhibition skater than a competitive skater. IMHO, of course. I've seen a number of his exhibition programs, and, frankly, I've enjoyed them a heck a lot more than most of his competitive programs, the latter of which have consistently been sprinkled with miscues, falls, and two-footed quad landings.

At the age of 28, Weiss is a bit old to still be learning how to land the quads. Maybe he will achieve a miracle and skate two clean competitive programs this year. However, I sure wouldn't bet the ranch on it. If he continues to compete, which seems to be his plans, we can expect more of the same - unclean short and long programs.

Another annoying factor about Weiss is the press hype about his wife and kids.
Sure, I think it's great that he's happily married to Lisa and is the father of two cute kids. However, those dippy "up close and personal" pieces that continue to be a staple of the US Nationals coverage really make we want to scream.
Wouldn't you all rather watch one or two other skaters perform their routines than see the latest boring installment on Michael Weiss' personal life?

[Tonichelle]

well if you want to use the fluff pieces as an excuse to have Mike retire then MK should retire because her fluff pieces are so much more boring than Mike's IMHO because she doesn't have cute kids that steal teh show.

oh wait. MK can't retire. MK must be worshiped... Mike must be bashed. This is the way of the SkateGods.

and let's see... do MK and Mike have controll over the media... uh NO. They don't call the shots on what gets shown in those fluff pieces, yeah it sucks, but even if Mike retires those stupid fluff pieces will keep happening with the same skaters, just no Mike... how *exciting*

[BigSk8Fan]

Hi everyone....pretty new to the board. I think I only have one post so far.

I am not a fan of Weiss' skating, but yes, it is his right to skate eligible until he's ready for Viagra. But the quality of his skating has not really improved. He has been sent onto the international scene with highest expectations, and he hasn't always been able to live up to them. And sometimes he does come off as arrogant , and some of his comments to the press have been almost supernatural in their obnoxiousness. But he is one of our few hopes in int'l skating. I hope Goebel gets better and has gotten over whatever has been bothering him, and Weir is simply one of the most graceful men to stick a toe pick onto the ice (ugly costumes nws). But Evan Lysacek and Ryan Bradley are getting better, so even though Mikey has the right to continue in the eligible ranks, no doubt the new generation of young Turks are giving him something to think about. Remember Eldredge earned medals when he was Mikey's age; anything can happen now, especially with the CoP system.

[chuckm]

Todd Eldredge was earning medals at Mike's age, and he didn't even have a competition quad. But Eldredge had a huge, magnificent 3A that he rarely missed, unlike Mike, whose 3A seems to be less and less reliable. Todd also had a pleasant, low-key personality and I don't think anyone ever would have called him obnoxious. Bland, maybe, but not obnoxious.

[Joesitz]

One of the reasons I personally think Michael Weiss should turn pro is that he is a much better exhibition skater than a competitive skater. IMHO, of course. I've seen a number of his exhibition programs, and, frankly, I've enjoyed them a heck a lot more than most of his competitive programs, the latter of which have consistently been sprinkled with miscues, falls, and two-footed quad landings.

At the age of 28, Weiss is a bit old to still be learning how to land the quads. Maybe he will achieve a miracle and skate two clean competitive programs this year. However, I sure wouldn't bet the ranch on it. If he continues to compete, which seems to be his plans, we can expect more of the same - unclean short and long programs.

Another annoying factor about Weiss is the press hype about his wife and kids.
Sure, I think it's great that he's happily married to Lisa and is the father of two cute kids. However, those dippy "up close and personal" pieces that continue to be a staple of the US Nationals coverage really make we want to scream.
Wouldn't you all rather watch one or two other skaters perform their routines than see the latest boring installment on Michael Weiss' personal life?

Skatefan - Pray tell me how does one go "Pro"? Michael already is in COI and making big bucks. If he turns "Pro" he may lose that gig. Does SOI want him? We don;t know their plans Should he go into Snow White and disappear forever? What exactly would you suggest? A good administrator cites the fault (age, in this case) and then suggests a remedy. The remedy should be realistic and not just 'he can coach' like he already has 20 students.

What is wrong with waiting to see how he decides on his own life? At 28, he is not the oldest skater in competitions and many older skaters (and in other sports, too) have done very well.

No fan really likes those fluff pieces of anyone. Why single him out? when you hear constantly: I have to go back and work on that lutz or look at me on the beach, etc,

Joe

[BigSk8Fan]

No fan really likes those fluff pieces of anyone. Why single him out? when you hear constantly: I have to go back and work on that lutz or look at me on the beach, etc,Joe

You need to speak for yourself. Most of the time, I enjoy learning about the lives of the skaters off the rink, and I know of others who do as well. I am not a fan of Weiss, but the fluff pieces give a person insight into what type of person the skater in question is.

[berthes ghost]

You need to speak for yourself. Most of the time, I enjoy learning about the lives of the skaters off the rink, and I know of others who do as well. I am not a fan of Weiss, but the fluff pieces give a person insight into what type of person the skater in question is.

But the point still stand. If you love or hate UC&Ps is a separate issue. Why single Mike out?

[BigSk8Fan]

But the point still stand. If you love or hate UC&Ps is a separate issue. Why single Mike out?

True. But Joesitz shouldn't speak for me or others, that's all I am saying. I don't give a hoot what he thinks about Mikey.

But on topic, a lot of the reasons I think people single Mikey out is the fact that he talks the talk but doesn't always walk the walk. His PR is terrible; he rubs many people the wrong way for many different reasons. He was the great hope for US men's skating in a lot of people's eyes, especially in his own, and it's been a mixed bag, yet he still engages in borderline trash talk. The only quads he lands are mostly two-footed, and his "choreography" is stale and contrived. I found the comments of Ilia Kulik and Alexei Yagudin terribly arrogant, but they delivered beautiful skating. Mike seldom has. I see the fine qualities in his skating, but I think he needs to think about what is next. He could take some lessons in humility, maybe Eldredge could teach him.

And I don't understand why people SHOULD like him. If the previous posters think he should retire, it's their right to say so. I am up in the air IRT him myself, he may have another Olys in him, and he does still give us top ten finishes at Worlds.

[Joesitz]

You are not alone. I can't even say that some skater did such and such without an IMO in it especially when it concerns certain skaters. However, I should have said most fans instead of just fans. I apologize for this insensitivity you brought up. In previous posts most fans were putting down the cheesefests as not particularly grand competitions. However, we all enjoy watching them anyway.

And welcome to the Golden Skate.

I don't think people are wrong in urging MW to retire although I think the term "Go Pro" was used when the situation of getting a place in a "Pro" category is not all the certain. That would have to depend on how MW feels about doing that. We don't know. Many of us just think let him and all those others like ES, EL, make up their own minds. And that would also apply to retirement which is a very tough decision to make in any workforce of life. So disagreeing with the thread is a prerogative of those posters who want to wait till all skaters come to their own decisions. It's that simple.

Joe

Joe

[Tonichelle]

His PR is terrible; he rubs many people the wrong way for many different reasons.

Johnny Weir also comes to mind with some comments that make you want to roll your eyes...

Kurt Browning was cocky in his day too, he certainly knew how to deliver at worlds but he barely kept it together at the Olys...

however no one ever mentions either skater... only Mike (don't get me wrong, I love Kurt... always will... there's just something about the way he held himself pre-1992 that just irks me)

and if you don't want Joesitz to speak for yourself don't speak for others... saying "I think he rubs a lot of people the wrong way because..." you don't really know that... granted you just reitterated what was said here... but I think that's all Joe did as well.

[Joesitz]

Maybe it's the testosterone in men that make them brag more than the ladies, although we do know a few ladies who predict they will win the Olys. Oh why not? It's not like people do not have feelings and dreams. Let them be.

Joe

[RoaringMice]

I don't think that a skater's off-ice behavior, unless criminal, should impact whether or not they remain a skater. We expect so much more of our skaters, personally, than we do of our football, basketball or other sport players. Why this requirement for gentility in skating? I can understand it back in the 1960's when things were so different and skating so much less open - when, for example, you had to interview in order to be part of a skating club (in a dress, gloves, hat, hosiery, and heels), but why should it matter in 2004? Even tennis has grown out of this attitude a bit (especially after McInroe!). Why does it stick in skating?

[Fossi]

Last time I checked, Mike was #5 in the rankings. Why should he retire? Some people take the rankings very seriously, and if he's in the top 5, he's obviously good enough.

[Joesitz]

I don't think that a skater's off-ice behavior, unless criminal, should impact whether or not they remain a skater. We expect so much more of our skaters, personally, than we do of our football, basketball or other sport players. Why this requirement for gentility in skating? I can understand it back in the 1960's when things were so different and skating so much less open - when, for example, you had to interview in order to be part of a skating club (in a dress, gloves, hat, hosiery, and heels), but why should it matter in 2004? Even tennis has grown out of this attitude a bit (especially after McInroe!). Why does it stick in skating?

Good Post!! I think the sport of figure skating does not appeal to no more than a minority of men. So the Sport doesn't carry that aggresiveness that other sports do. It is for the most part, imo, an efete sport and one that is treated delicately. Maybe in Europe, the males put it on an equal plane with Fussball.

The International Tennis Association (ITA) has worked feverishly to promote the sport of Tennis. Tennis, like figure skating, used to be a limited interest sport. But the Association took full advantage of the sport in the early seventies and it became a houshold word, plenty of TV coverage; Arenas were filled up,etc.

Can we say the same about the ISU?

Joe

[pipsqueak]

I agree with RI: Mike Weiss saved out butts more than once when we had to go head to head with the whole quad-busting world. Sometimes it doesn't matter if you've got someone landing the latest jump cleanly, but it always matters if you've got someone who's at least in the game. That's exactly what Mike has been for us during a LONG LONG drought in American men's singles: in the game. Goebel will never skate again at the level he was approaching. Our younger men skaters are wild and inexperienced on the ice. They're not even done growing yet! Are Savoi's past injuries ever going to allow a quad? I doubt it....or I'll believe it when I see it. We are a LONG way off from having a stable of quad kings---or even quad pretenders.

Not only is he in the game, he's reliable for us in ways that other skaters have crapped out: He's stood up through stress fractures, skated his Olympics year Nationals at mile high altitude with near pnuemonia, has managed to have a fairly "normal" and balanced family life along with his skating, has helped maintain a family business at times, and shares in an extended family relationship that any of us could envy and revere. We can count on him to show up and skate when other skaters whimp out with their latest somantic complaints or equipment problems or emotional problems or family problems...... I'm not blind to his skating shortcomings, but I'm not stupid either about where we would in regards to our Men's Singles had he not been out there like the steadfast tin soldier year after year......esp when he COULD have walked away from it at any time ( while ON TOP) because he's certainly got a great life going otherwise and will be able to do any number of things after he stops amateur skating.