Is Tonya Back or Not!!

[Tonichelle]

I watched the split interview. Both ladies seem to me to have moved on in their lives. Good for them. I think we should welcome Tonya back, and Nancy has done extremely well.

Joe

why, in a SPORT setting, should we welcome back someone so unsportsman like as Tonya Harding... she's never ONCE said she's sorry (that stupid lawyer letter bunk she read so does not count)... she acted like a spoiled rotten little brat and she should just stay away...

 

[soogar]

I just think there's a double standard: male athletes misbehave all the time yet they are excused and are allowed to continue playing. The most Tonya did to Nancy was battery...it wasn't as if she tried to kill her. I'm still at a loss why Tonya would want to take Nancy out... it wasn't as if Nancy was that great a skater and nothing in Nancy's previous performances would even have foreshadowed her silver medal (bronze in '92 for not mopping up the ice and 5th place at worlds in '93).

I think she should be allowed to return to skating b/c I think that she paid a steep penalty for what she had done and I think that it was more than what she deserved. She pretty much lost the best skating years of her life and is a walking disgrace. I think that's enough punishment.

 

[Tonichelle]

she was practically a walking disgrace in 1994... she obviously felt threatened and as such she went and had her rival pounded... ya, lets so give her another chance... knowing Tonya's reputation she'll use a hubcap this time... not an ex with a baseball bat

 

[guinevere]

Click HERE to take a look at her new hair color. I kind of like the bangs. She looks a bit like Brigit Hanley from "Here Come The Brides."

Her hair actually looks pretty good that color - much better than the ratty too-long-in-the-bleach look she used to sport. However, those are not bangs - that is a Bang (one single entity)!!

guinevere

 

[JonnyCoop]

she was practically a walking disgrace in 1994... she obviously felt threatened and as such she went and had her rival pounded... ya, lets so give her another chance... knowing Tonya's reputation she'll use a hubcap this time... not an ex with a baseball bat

\
Can you imagine how busy she'd be? in '94, the only US rival she really had for all practical purposes was Kerrigan. If she came back now, she'd have Kwan, Cohen, Kirk, Corwin, Liang -- just for starters. You can really only take out so many people before it just saps your energy.....

 

[Ladskater]

Maybe Tonya should take up Kick boxing?

 

[SusanBeth]

Those don't look like bangs. She appears to have her hair pulled back under a hairband.

This has all the earmarks of a publicity stunt. Surely the girl knows enough about skating (if nothing else) to know the level of competition at the elite level. At any rate, it's better to get publicity by skating and talking nonsense, than to get it via hubcaps and DUIs.

 

[Tonichelle]

maybe she plans to sue the USFSA for a spot on the world team... and then she'll sue the ISU for the top spot of the podium at worlds

and then it's on to the Olys!


ok we're all having way too much fun at her expense!

 

[Jaana]

I never liked her skating, so for me there is no reason to wish her to come back to skating. To the comments posted here about her person I have nothing to add.

Marjaana

Ilia Kulik photos & photolinks
http://koti.welho.com/mjylha2/index.html

 

[yelyoh]

Let her back in! There is a double standard in sports regarding men and women and bad behavior. I do not think she could compete well at this point anyway so the matter would be resolved. Nancy K has moved on regarding TH, why can't we?

 

[show 42]

Let her back in! There is a double standard in sports regarding men and women and bad behavior. I do not think she could compete well at this point anyway so the matter would be resolved. Nancy K has moved on regarding TH, why can't we?

I must say, I agree......there seems to be a double standard...boys will be boys, but if a female causes trouble, let's stone her and be done with it..........42

 

[mpal2]

The only man I can think of that has had trouble getting back in the establishment's good graces is Pete Rose.

I can think of plenty of men who have blown chance after chance and still keep coming back to their sport. Names like Mike Tyson and Daryl Strawberry come to my mind immediately.

Are there any other ladies in sports that have essentially been banned and haven't come back?

 

[jesslily]

The punishment to Tonya is harsh or not, we need to consider carefully.. But I don't see she has any future in figure skating. The professional skating world will not accept her back. Now the eligible skating attracts most attention. There are many young talented skater, who wants to watch Tonya who at her peak years could only do a 3 axles but no artistry at all.

 

[JonnyCoop]

In regards to the "double standard" issue re. bad male behavior and bad female behavior --

Not to defend any bad behavior by either gender, I think the main difference between Tonya and "the guys" would be that Tonya's actions were directed at one of her rivals and fellow USFSA members. No male athlete, to the best of my knowlege, has ever been involved in a conspiracy to take out one of their rivals or teammates. Had Tonya been in a conspiracy to break the kneecap of some woman next door who kept letting her dog pee on her lawn, it would have been a different situation entirely.

By no means should the behavior of some male athletes be excused as much as it is, but within the context of "Should Tonya be allowed to come back?", there is a bit of a difference in situations here.

 

[Grgranny]

"no male athlete --involved in a conspiracy" Not exactly the same but didn't a boxer (or wrestler) bite off his opponents ear? I think maybe it was Tyson but since I don't pay attention to those sports, can't be sure.

 

[skatepixie]

It was Tyson.

 

[Tonichelle]

but we're not talking should she come back to sports IN GENERAL we're talking should she come back to SKATING


we complain all year long about cheating judges getting to come back and judge major events... and we tend to agree that they shouldn't be allowed back... so now the double standard is

judges who fudge scores shouldn't be allowed back in
but hey, those who beat the crap out of their "rival"s should be allowed to come back with no problem...


there's the real double standard... I don't care one iota about how Mike Tyson and Tonya Harding's cases are totally unfair... this is skating, just because Boxing is screwed up doesn't mean skating should take the same path!

 

[soogar]

Maybe guys aren't involved in conspiracies, yet they do beat the crap out of eachother over the most meaningless things. The one person who comes to mind is that football player (is it Mike Romanowski? or something like that) who got angry over a TEAMMATE'S block in practice and pulled the guy's helmet off and decked him, causing serious , possibly careerending injury to the guy's eye. I have't followed the incident too much so I don't know what's going on with it but I think the guy is still playing. Plus he had done this before!!! And there are lots of situations in which guys keep acting the same over and over and they just get slapped on the wrist with a fine.

I don't think that there's a whole lot that Tonya can do in the skating world but I think that she was overpunished for the incident.

 

[SusanBeth]

just because Boxing is screwed up doesn't mean skating should take the same path!

I am afraid in terms of corruption at the highest level, figure skating might not be any better than boxing. Considering that boxing judges aren't anonymous, we may have the edge on them.

In all fairness, Harding was found guilty of hindering the investigation. It has never been proven that she planned the attack. It was never legally proven that she knew about it beforehand at all. To punish her for a crime that she was never found guilty of committing would be unjust.

It would be an overstatement to say, she planned the attack on Nancy or even knew that others were planning it. Since we are still entitled to be considered innocent until proven guilty, we ought to acknowledge the same rights for others.

 

[blurrysarah]

I'd actually enjoy seeing Tonya compete against today's top US ladies. I say go for it Tonya, please, by all means go ahead.

Only for purposes of comedy though. It would be a riot to watch her ego crumble as she is outshone.