Weir/Lipinski take spot as top figure skating commentators at NBC

[Mrs. P]

For me, it's much easier to discuss things at face value and not to try to attach a person's motives to their comments.

For me, a few questions have come up in this thread:

** Has Johnny and Tara's presence as skating commentators -- as well as developing NBC sports personalities -- helped figure skating?
** What obligation, if any, does Johnny and Tara have as far as promoting the sport outside of planned figure skating coverage?
** How well has Johnny and Tara done in providing informative commentary as viewers.

I think it's clear everyone has varying answers and views on all three.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

Mrs P, I really did not say that it was all people in the thread. As Rallycairn said, I said 'at times'. I try very hard not to generalise.

 

[Mrs. P]

Mrs P, I really did not say that it was all people in the thread. As Rallycairn said, I said 'at times'. I try very hard not to generalise.

I was just making a general comment, not aiming at you or any poster, but wanting to note the general perception. As I said, better to take things at face value and not try to interpret why someone says something.

To get back to the topic: I get the appeal of J&T's commentary from a casual viewer standpoint. They can be quite humorous and they sort of have this interesting dynamic as a duo going on that other past duos don't have, i.e. Peggy & Dick and Sandra & Scott, etc.

However, I do think they still have work in terms of providing relevant and information commentary. There are moments where they do that -- Johnny's explanation of why Anna P's messy triple lutz scored better than Mirai's clean UR lutz at Cup of China comes to mind. I also think Tara did a good job incorporating her interviews with coaches/skaters at nationals during the program. So for me, it's seeing more of those comments and less subjective comments that have no bearing on the skater's score.

 

[cruzceleste]

After reading P Chan interview, Johnny is looking very polite and correct

 

[Celine]

Chan(dor) always makes for good press

 

[ice coverage]

For me, FWIW, (and my opinion and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee), noskates hasn't been tiresome at all. Surely it is ok to have some pro-J & T commenters on the thread. The naysayers have repeated themselves a number of times, I'm pretty sure. And btw, I went back and read golden411's comments on the Bryant Park event, and wasn't the only Johnny-specific comment on that thread that he was adroit in introducing Ashley's program for the evening (unless I'm missing another thread, and that's certainly possible)? It was certainly a nice comment, but I didn't find it "profuse" praise, but golden remembered it as such. And the reason I bring that up is simply and only that I wonder if some posters are being more negative than they realize? Not just golden, that was just an example -- and golden is generally very balanced in comments, as I said, but that example just stood out to me in the context of this thread. **I repeat, it was an example that came to mind in the flow of the conversation of the thread and not meant as an attack on golden.**

And everyone can see that I am biased for J/T. But basically I found it unfair to call out one side for being tiresome when I think both sides have persisted in their opinions. Maybe the whole debate is tiresome! I'm sure I'm tiresome! -- But it is the off-season and what else have we got to be tiresome about?


Ugh, honestly, this post probably adds nothing to the conversation but now I've spent the time typing it out I hate to just delete it and declare the whole thing a waste.

I see that my attempt at humor fell on deaf ears, so to speak.
If you go back and read my post, I readily acknowledged that noskates would find my posts as "tiresome" as I found hers.
I did so for the very purpose of calling myself out :yes: for being repetitive! I deliberately was not one-sided about it.

Re Bryant Park and JW:
I haven't gone back to look for my old comments, but I seem to recall that the Special Olympics show was being discussed in more than one thread.
Anyway, I don't remember if I made more than one comment that was focussed individually on JW, but I do believe that I happily gave ample collective praise to the group of four elite skaters -- Johnny, Caydee, John, and Ashley.

ETA, and now I have looked back at my comments from the Special Olympics ice show thread. (Didn't go looking in other threads.)

... In addition to Wagner, Weir, and D/C, skaters from the Special Olympics will be performing in the Bryant Park show. ...
Very cool that the skating champions are supporting the Special Olympics . ...

... I know that many elite skaters love to give back to all kinds of good causes, but seeing the support of these four tonight for the Special Olympians and the Special Olympics will be a fond eyewitness memory for me. ...

golden411, glad you were able to stay for the whole thing. ....
Sorry to have missed Ashley's Moulin Rouge - did she do any jumps? ...

Johnny put a lot of nice ooomph :yay: into his introduction of Moulin Rouge -- that it would be Ashley's last public performance before Worlds, for example. He adroitly referred to it as "a version" of her competitive FS. She did not jump (b/c of the extreme cold, I assume), but the beauty of her skating was thrilling. (And she looked gorgeous in her red dress.) ...

---

Well, it isn't a crime for noskates to be a Weir fan and, yes, I know you didn't say that, but there comes across an implied dismissal of their opinion for being so. And I'm not sure why a polite opinion, even if repeated and strong, should be dismissed as tiresome?

Tbh, I have been reading this thread and there does seem at times a rather OTT tone to people's criticism of him that comes across as personal dislike rather than just discussion of the commentary. ...

The dismissive thing goes both ways.
I honestly don't see how I have been more dismissive of noskates than she has been of me. (Of course, she is entitled to her opinion. As am I.)

And again, I already noted in my previous post that I in turn would be "tiresome" to noskates.

BTW, I have no personal dislike for JW. Examples:
When he originally announced on the Today show that he was retiring from competitive skating ... and becoming a commentator (when Hamilton and Bezic still remained the lead commentators), some GS members rolled their eyes about JW's new role. I was one of the voices who opposed the eye-rolling.
In response to posts suggesting that Johnny has something personal against Max, I have noted more than once that Max has called Johnny a great friend.

...Plenty of broadcasters who are known for one thing start being used for other broadcasts and yet don't plug their original gig all the time.

Agree.
BUT ... what is different about W/L is that their "original gig" as FS commentators is not a former gig. It is a current gig -- and it will remain a current gig at least through 2018.

... Again, the line isn't that Tara and Johnny shouldn't promote themselves at all -- it's that it would be nice if they would acknowledge the sport a little more when they have a captive audience

.... and it's presumptuous to think everyone who have provided criticism or thoughts in this thread all feel this way out of some sort of personal dislike.

Thank you, Mrs. P.

---

Adding one more thing along the lines of what I said in my previous post:

Maybe W/L already have decided that they have no desire to continue as NBC's FS commentators after 2018. If so, that is their choice to make, of course.

But if they think that they might wish to continue as NBC's FS analysts after 2018 ... then again, it is in their interest to draw as many viewers to NBC's FS coverage as possible.
When their agents are negotiating a contract renewal -- and possibly a salary increase -- increased ratings for FS obviously would be helpful leverage to justify both the contract renewal and the salary increase.
It's another reason that promoting their own FS coverage would make good sense.

 

[Matilda]

This may not be the kind of publicizing of skating that most members here have in mind, but Johnny is pretty good with social media, and anyone who follows him on Instagram cannot avoid frequent reminders of figure skating: half of the pictures he posted in March and April were skating related--mostly his practice videos, but also images from Plushy's Snow King, of working with Drew on choreography, etc. The rest of his Instagram is dominated by pictures of his puppy

If the past trend holds, most of his IG will soon be pics with and of skaters in the shows in which he performs during the summer--many of them current international competitors.

 

[psycho]

Noskates, you and a few others are a breath of fresh air in this thread! Don't let them bully you into silence, or this thread will disintegerate even further into groupthink than it already has!

To me Jason did look disappointed. So I agree with Jonny. Now whether he was indeed or not, I do not know.

Any competitor worth one's salt would be disappoined if they do not skate to the best of their ability, and Jason was technically sub-par. Johnny would have been disappoined with an outing like that, as evidenced by his reactions to even his high-placing/winning performances. Many athletes are trained to see even 2nd place as not good enough. No one can say for a fact if Jason was disappointed or not, no matter what he says in the press, because that is all PR, folks. Maybe Johnny was projecting how he would have felt if he skated like that, but to act like that comment was some kind of crime against St. Jason is ridiculous. He is giving him a compliment, implying that even though he did well, he should and could do better.

 

[Mrs. P]

Any competitor worth one's salt would be disappoined if they do not skate to the best of their ability, and Jason was technically sub-par. Johnny would have been disappoined with an outing like that, as evidenced by his reactions to even his high-placing/winning performances. Many athletes are trained to see even 2nd place as not good enough. No one can say for a fact if Jason was disappointed or not, no matter what he says in the press, because that is all PR, folks. Maybe Johnny was projecting how he would have felt if he skated like that, but to act like that comment was some kind of crime against St. Jason is ridiculous. He is giving him a compliment, implying that even though he did well, he should and could do better.

It would have been simpler to just say that rather than try to guess what he was feeling based on his facial expression.

This may not be the kind of publicizing of skating that most members here have in mind, but Johnny is pretty good with social media, and anyone who follows him on Instagram cannot avoid frequent reminders of figure skating: half of the pictures he posted in March and April were skating related--mostly his practice videos, but also images from Plushy's Snow King, of working with Drew on choreography, etc. The rest of his Instagram is dominated by pictures of his puppy

If the past trend holds, most of his IG will soon be pics with and of skaters in the shows in which he performs during the summer--many of them current international competitors.

It's nice certainly. I do enjoy seeing his skating clips. That said, I think the point being made is that NBC Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl, et al. have a bigger, larger captive audience and it would have been nice to get a mention for figure skating coverage when there are more people watching.

Johnny has 143k followers, which is a nice amount, but nothing compared to the 16 MILLION people who watched NBC's Derby coverage on Saturday. (And compared to 3.3 million during peak U.S. Championships coverage on NBC).

 

[ice coverage]

This may not be the kind of publicizing of skating that most members here have in mind, but Johnny is pretty good with social media, and anyone who follows him on Instagram cannot avoid frequent reminders of figure skating: half of the pictures he posted in March and April were skating related--mostly his practice videos, but also images from Plushy's Snow King, of working with Drew on choreography, etc. The rest of his Instagram is dominated by pictures of his puppy

If the past trend holds, most of his IG will soon be pics with and of skaters in the shows in which he performs during the summer--many of them current international competitors.

... It's nice certainly. I do enjoy seeing his skating clips. That said, I think the point being made is that NBC Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl, et al. have a bigger, larger captive audience and it would have been nice to get a mention for figure skating coverage when there are more people watching.

Johnny has 143k followers, which is a nice amount, but nothing compared to the 16 MILLION people who watched NBC's Derby coverage on Saturday. (And compared to 3.3 million during peak U.S. Championships coverage on NBC).

:agree: Agree with Mrs. P.

:agree: At the same time, agree with Matilda that those who do make a point of following JW on social media get to see his love for and involvement in skating.
(Off topic: I'm a sucker for doggies, so it always is endearing to me that JW is so attached to Tëma.)

One thing that I did notice recently from JW's Twitter:
As most broadcasters do, JW does take an interest in TV ratings ... or at least he did so for the Derby. He retweeted an NBC tweet about its good ratings for the Derby.

To be crystal clear: I have no problem with JW's retweeting. It is only natural for a broadcaster to hope for and to be proud of good ratings for her/his broadcast.
I hope JW cares about the ratings for W/L's FS coverage as well .

 

[noskates]

Maybe it's history, maybe it's my lack of complete adoration for Max Aaron, or maybe it's just the moon is in the 7th house. But I didn't see the humor in being called tiresome. My opinion about this whole topic hasn't changed but I'm not going to beat a dead horse. I think sometimes the internet provides an outlet for frustration and the anonymity of it makes it possible for some to come across either the way they wanted to....or not the way they wanted to. But what's in black and white without voice inflection, body language or context can sometimes be hurtful and or really, really annoying. I think all of us should be able to voice our opinions without negative ramifications and or bullying.

I hope this thread can get back on track in discussing the merits of J&T's commentary at skating events and not what they should do, could do, didn't do, or tried to do.

 

[ice coverage]

Maybe it's history, maybe it's my lack of complete adoration for Max Aaron, or maybe it's just the moon is in the 7th house. But I didn't see the humor in being called tiresome. My opinion about this whole topic hasn't changed but I'm not going to beat a dead horse. I think sometimes the internet provides an outlet for frustration and the anonymity of it makes it possible for some to come across either the way they wanted to....or not the way they wanted to. But what's in black and white without voice inflection, body language or context can sometimes be hurtful and or really, really annoying. I think all of us should be able to voice our opinions without negative ramifications and or bullying.

I hope this thread can get back on track in discussing the merits of J&T's commentary at skating events and not what they should do, could do, didn't do, or tried to do.

The humor was that I had called my own posting tiresome in the same breath that I called your posting tiresome.
And I had used the "wink" smiley.

I believed my intention of lightheartedness would be clear for the reasons above.

Re: "I think all of us should be able to voice our opinions without negative ramifications and or bullying."

I could not agree more, noskates.
Hope you will keep your own words in mind when you are posting on GS. They are applicable to you as well as to me and to every other member of GS.​

 

[Meoima]

Anyone tell me was it Tara who commented here? http://youtu.be/hnSIfSK6LtU

If it's her then I'd say she has improved a lot.

 

[Mrs. P]

Anyone tell me was it Tara who commented here? http://youtu.be/hnSIfSK6LtU

If it's her then I'd say she has improved a lot.

Yes, that is Tara. And yes, I'd agree she's improved a lot since that video, as far as delivery goes.

I hope this thread can get back on track in discussing the merits of J&T's commentary at skating events and not what they should do, could do, didn't do, or tried to do.

I'm not against discussing the merits of their commentary (please note the comment above), but it's not about off base to talk about their appearances OUTSIDE of skating coverage because that too is part of their job with NBC. They are now the lead commentators for a major television network and for many casual fans the only point of contact for the sport.

 

[ozmodiar]

I don't know why anyone expects Tara and Johnny to be promoting skating at the Kentucky Derby. What are they supposed to say, "Watch figure skating....the next broadcast is only 6 months away!"

The other Derby commentators didn't talk about their other jobs, just as Terry Gannon doesn't bring up basketball or golf during his skating commentary. If NBC wants more on-air promotion, I'm sure they'll let Tara and Johnny know.