I certainly don’t hate Michael Weiss. I do appreciate his contribution to the US Men’s team, and his efforts have paid off in the past 3 years by allowing the US to keep its 3 Men’s spots at Worlds.
But I have to admit I have been turned off by several of the comments he has publicly made.
It annoyed me after 2002 Nationals, where the US judges had gifted Mike with 3rd place and an Olympic berth, when Mike boasted about how strong the US team was—when he was the weakest one on it!
And of course there was the Hummer chest-thumping at World 2003. That made me cringe!
Mike has been more circumspect lately in his statements to the press, and that is good. But his recent interview showed that the old Mike is still in there somewhere. He basically denied he had said anything negative about his teammates after the SP at 2003 Nationals, instead, he blamed it on the media. But I HEARD what he said, from his own mouth, and it was that the 3 skaters who’d been placed above him in the SP (Goebel, Weir, Savoie) had done so with skills that you’d see at the Junior level. At the time, Mike’s own (new) coach, Don Laws, reprimanded him and said that the three men deserved to be placed ahead of Mike because they had skated better than Mike did. So it’s somewhat disingenuous now for Mike to point a finger at the media and absolve himself of any wrong.
I firmly believe that Mike has the right to keep competing, and if he can deliver performances good enough to keep ahead of the younger men, then he fully deserves to be on the US World team. But I also hope that the US judges will place Mike based on his performances, and not on past successes.
But I have to admit I have been turned off by several of the comments he has publicly made.
It annoyed me after 2002 Nationals, where the US judges had gifted Mike with 3rd place and an Olympic berth, when Mike boasted about how strong the US team was—when he was the weakest one on it!
And of course there was the Hummer chest-thumping at World 2003. That made me cringe!
Mike has been more circumspect lately in his statements to the press, and that is good. But his recent interview showed that the old Mike is still in there somewhere. He basically denied he had said anything negative about his teammates after the SP at 2003 Nationals, instead, he blamed it on the media. But I HEARD what he said, from his own mouth, and it was that the 3 skaters who’d been placed above him in the SP (Goebel, Weir, Savoie) had done so with skills that you’d see at the Junior level. At the time, Mike’s own (new) coach, Don Laws, reprimanded him and said that the three men deserved to be placed ahead of Mike because they had skated better than Mike did. So it’s somewhat disingenuous now for Mike to point a finger at the media and absolve himself of any wrong.
I firmly believe that Mike has the right to keep competing, and if he can deliver performances good enough to keep ahead of the younger men, then he fully deserves to be on the US World team. But I also hope that the US judges will place Mike based on his performances, and not on past successes.