I got the vibe he had a funny side
I love how he Stéphane lambiel and Johnny seem close
Johnny and Tara
- Thread starter moonvine
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I love how he Stéphane lambiel and Johnny seem close
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I do believe that Johnny has toned down the cattiness in his commentary as of late. I noticed a difference this last Championships.
Johnny does tend to gush about the Russian skaters, and he is truly enamored with the Russian culture. Perhaps one should remind him that if he walks down the streets of Russia dressed and primped the way he is when he does commentary, that he'll be thrown in jail for promoting a gay lifestyle.
Talking about cattiness, I laughed at a comment Terry Gannon made during the ladies long program. Terry is always professional, and doesn't appear to be one to shade anyone, but during his commentary he said:
" Johnny and Tara, you both know about competing at worlds, and Tara, in your case, win."
I busted out laughing and said "Oh, the shade of it all!"
Johnny does tend to gush about the Russian skaters, and he is truly enamored with the Russian culture. Perhaps one should remind him that if he walks down the streets of Russia dressed and primped the way he is when he does commentary, that he'll be thrown in jail for promoting a gay lifestyle.
Talking about cattiness, I laughed at a comment Terry Gannon made during the ladies long program. Terry is always professional, and doesn't appear to be one to shade anyone, but during his commentary he said:
" Johnny and Tara, you both know about competing at worlds, and Tara, in your case, win."
I busted out laughing and said "Oh, the shade of it all!"
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Johnny and Stephane go way back, likely to their junior days. I remember noticing how fond they seemed to be toward each other at 2004 Worlds and later during video excerpts of them practicing exhibition numbers on tour. Johnny is friendly with many of the guys he grew up with and battled with, including Tomas Verner, Brian Joubert, Timothy Goebel, Stephane Lambiel, and even Plushenko (who was more of a veteran when those guys came up, because Plushy was on the scene so young). Goebel and Johnny were direct rivals, which didn't keep Goebel from once saying, "Johnny is the funniest person I've ever been around."
Johnny is also very friendly with the generation of skaters who came up before he retired, including Javier Fernandez and Yuzuru Hanyu.
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I seen YouTube videos of behind the scenes of Kings on ice which I think Plushy was in charge of Brian Stéphane and Johnny were in it along with many others you can tell they were having a great time
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That is so sweet. If you talk anyone into it my name and address are on the Christmas card list
. It does kind of remind me of when I got the “most team spirit” trophy in softball. I’m quite likely the worlds worst softball player.
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I watched some NBC footage of worlds, which I haven't done in years. I was pleasantly surprised that both of them seem to be more professional than I remembered. Maybe they were toned down because of the remote aspect of the commentary. Physically separating them from the immediate excitement of the arena... and each other... seems to have worked fine.
They can chatter all they want after the performances, I don't mind. But Tara, in particular, still talks too much during the performance.
I enjoy Terry Gannon better than both of them, honestly. What he lacks in technical skating knowledge, he makes up for in his casual but professional approach, making the sport relatable to the viewer.
They can chatter all they want after the performances, I don't mind. But Tara, in particular, still talks too much during the performance.
I enjoy Terry Gannon better than both of them, honestly. What he lacks in technical skating knowledge, he makes up for in his casual but professional approach, making the sport relatable to the viewer.
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I look at it this way. Terry Gannon is a professional sports announcer and lead commentator. Of course he is better than Johnny and Tara, who are jocks. Johnny and Tara skate better than Terry. Terry announces more profrassionally than someone hired to do "color." It's like Greg Gumble versus Charles Barkley on NCAA basketball -- they serve in different capacities.
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I loved Johnny as a skater before CoP ruined skating and I like him as a commentator. I am from the general area he came up in and had chances to see him skate in local competitions. I do think there was a change in him and in Tara most recently at Worlds, but I figured it was because they weren't at the skating. Johnny knows a lot about skating and what goes into it, including music. I feel like his commentary has been dumbed down recently, but what hasn't. Tara I'm never going to be a fan of, because...well, let's not go there. I do miss Carruthers, whom I thought was a great commentator and an all around nice guy. He managed to stay positive without gushing, but was able to talk about what went wrong in any given situation.
That was kinda funny, but personally, I am so tired of hearing about Tara’s one world title and one Olympic win. That wasn’t the only reference, they decided to reference Tara’s history in the context of the importance of winning the worlds the year before the Olympics in the men's competition (her lone world title came in 1997). It’s obnoxious—Peggy Fleming and Dick Button had far more titles between them than Tara, and they had a fraction as many references. It's absurd to make so much of Tara's record, as if it's relevant to attempting to win a third world title, as Nathan was trying to do, or you know, having a senior international career that lasted longer than two seasons and more than one Olympics. The more they try to tie things to Tara's career, the more it's apparent she has nothing insightful to contribute that would help the viewer understand the arc of Nathan's career, which is nothing like hers, or the men's field, which is again, nothing like what she faced.
The one thing that I think would be of interest is if Tara brought up her own personal history and talked about the possible tradeoff / correlation between success at a young age and things like bad technique / growth spurts / injuries / competition / lack of motivation that can prematurely end your competitive career. Let's talk about the real pros and cons of attempting incredibly difficult jumps at a very young age. Why is it that we see ladies champions burn out at a far faster rate than then men's? Why is Elizaveta one of the few to have an enduring career -- with success? Are we going to continue to see a revolving door of ladies champions, ever younger with jumps that aren't sustainable? Tara speaks positively about young jumping bean champions, because they're just like her. But if Tara has ever mentioned her own history critically in terms of discussing career longevity, I missed it.
Agree, the constant bringing up of Tara's Olympic title has been a bit annoying. While I agree with your comments about Tara's career, did she trade off the early title for longevity would be an interesting discussion and to get her perspective would be interesting, I don't think it would necessarily the time during a competition.
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I tried to post his TSL Interview but for some reason, I could not get it to appear on the site. Has adding Videos been blocked from GS?
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About Tara, I think it is NBC rather than Tara herself who is intent on pushing her credentials. Most of her references to her career come at Terry Gannon's prodding, which I am sure is just following the NBC playbook. As the lead lady commentator, Tara had pretty big shoes to fill after Peggy Fleming. Fleming was a household name even among viewers with little knowledge of or interest in figure skating. NBC has an interest both in pushing Tara's successes in competitvtion and in bringing her along at a steady pace as a TV personality and commentator.
I remember that Peggy said afterward that she was scared to death when she first started commentating because she thought that Dick Button didn't like her or her skating. (He actually liked both, but Button could be blunt and brusque at times.)
I remember that Peggy said afterward that she was scared to death when she first started commentating because she thought that Dick Button didn't like her or her skating. (He actually liked both, but Button could be blunt and brusque at times.)
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Peggy never had much contributory to say in her comments but she was Peggy Fleming so it was okay! Tara is all kinds of annoying. She talks during the programs and is so hung up on quads. Johnny - whether you like him or not - knows what he's talking about. I think he's the most technical of any of the commentators except maybe Tanith in Ice Dance. I don't have a problem with him calling Terry Gannon "Terrance" and think it's kind of funny. If it bothered Terry it wouldn't be happening anymore. But I do agree that NBC wants to capitalize on Tara's OGM. Sadly.
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Not to go off-topic, but I often think about the different aspects that people consider when they talk about skaters and their careers and what makes a "legend", I often go to maintained success rather than gold medals.
Example, if I had to choose between Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan, my nod goes to Michelle every time. Tara came and went in a flash, while Michelle kept going, and maintained her success for many more years, without an Olympic gold medal.
However, as I understand it, Tara left the sport because she had a hip injury that required surgery to fix it. If that injury had not happened, maybe she would've stayed in the sport longer.
I think how we consider 'legends' is also influenced by who our favorites are, it kinda goes in line with the 'how important is an Olympic gold medal' - if a person's favorite skater doesn't have Olympic gold, then that fan generally downplays an Olympic gold in how its an 'achievement' towards legendary status.
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Why wouldn't NBC make a big deal about Tara's Olympic win? That's why they hired her.
That medal is money in the bank if they're trying to lure viewers who don't follow the sport as closely as we do. They don't need to lure us; we're going to find a way to watch skating competitions by hook or by crook. Think about it - we track down livestreams for obscure junior competitions in countries most people can't find on a map.
When NBC is considering who to cater to in hiring commentators, I promise we're not top of mind.
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Tonto - sort of agree with you. But like someone said upthread - Tara was there and then gone in a flash. I bet more people remember her for being a commentator than a skater. AND it was a long time ago. I don't personally consider Tara a "legend in figure skating because the longevity definitely wasn't there. I don't think she has the technical knowledge that Johnny has or even a Ryan Bradley (by the way - where is he these days?) But since no one from NBC has asked for my opinion.........................
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Ryan is coaching and was skating in shows (SOI etc), until the pandemic put the latter on hold.Tonto - sort of agree with you. But like someone said upthread - Tara was there and then gone in a flash. I bet more people remember her for being a commentator than a skater. AND it was a long time ago. I don't personally consider Tara a "legend in figure skating because the longevity definitely wasn't there. I don't think she has the technical knowledge that Johnny has or even a Ryan Bradley (by the way - where is he these days?) But since no one from NBC has asked for my opinion.........................
