Johnny Weir makes me want to throw a brick through my TV

[moonvine]

Seconded. I appreciate Johnny’s commentary (I’m of the opinion that it’s not a commentator’s job to always be nice) but I understand he’s not everyone’s cup of tea. That being said, the bulk of this thread seems so petty and meanspirited (ironically, the same things which seem to be a point of contention with Johnny).

I was truly going for lighthearted and funny. Guess I missed the mark HUGELY.

 

[Seven Sisters]

Can we all at least agree to hate commentators who won't SHUT UP during a skater's performance?! :curse:

Yes! I vote for no commentary until after the skate. If I have to listen to commentary during the skating, I’ll take the British Eurosport guys. I do think that their technical knowledge is not quite as up to date as it might be, but I do truly enjoy them.

My other pet peeve is commentators who know singles skating—like Tara and Johnny—trying to commentate on ice dance, which they do not “get” at all.

 

[Mathman]

... the bulk of this thread seems so petty and meanspirited ...

Oh, I don't know. I think the majority view is, "Oh, that Johnny, what a character -- sometimes I just want to throw a brick and knock that silly hat off his head."

Anyway, Johnny is laughing all the way to the bank. In show biz, all publicity is good publicity. Johnny has carved out a unique niche in the sport, and has done so by being (for better or worse) himself.

 

[moonvine]

Yes! I vote for no commentary until after the skate. If I have to listen to commentary during the skating, I’ll take the British Eurosport guys. I do think that their technical knowledge is not quite as up to date as it might be, but I do truly enjoy them.

My other pet peeve is commentators who know singles skating—like Tara and Johnny—trying to commentate on ice dance, which they do not “get” at all.

I haven't heard that in a long time, though. It has mostly been Tanith, Ben or Charlie in some combination, and all are in my opinion quite good. Of course I don't always watch the NBC broadcast. Sometimes I just watch the NBC Sports Gold Coverage.

 

[moonvine]

Oh, I don't know. I think the majority view is, "Oh, that Johnny, what a character -- sometimes I just want to throw a brick and knock that silly hat off his head."

Anyway, Johnny is laughing all the way to the bank. In show biz, all publicity is good publicity. Johnny has carved out a unique niche in the sport, and has done so by being (for better worse) himself.

Yes, I totally don't want to throw an actual brick at him and injure him or anything. That was absolutely not my intention in starting this thread.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Oh, I don't know. I think the majority view is, "Oh, that Johnny, what a character -- sometimes I just want to throw a brick and knock that silly hat off his head."

Anyway, Johnny is laughing all the way to the bank. In show biz, all publicity is good publicity. Johnny has carved out a unique niche in the sport, and has done so by being (for better or worse) himself.

Exactly. I cant speak for others but I dont hate J and T. Its fun to talk about them but they dont care about that. Its when someone gets boring that they have to worry about the next paycheck. Or, as my capt. in the state patrol said to me when I jokingly told him the troopers were making fun of me..."Chris, he said, its when they DONT make fun of you that you have to worry...."

 

[Seven Sisters]

I haven't heard that in a long time, though. It has mostly been Tanith, Ben or Charlie in some combination, and all are in my opinion quite good.

Of the recently-retired US ice dancers-turned-commentators, I think Ben Agosto is the best. He’s knowledgeable, insightful and best of all, he doesn’t talk too much.

I would have thought that Charlie White, with his vast knowledge and gift of gab, would have made a fabulous commentator, but I find him kind of eh.

 

[Arriba627]

I'm ok with Tara and Johnny. The one who makes me crazy is Tanith. She NEVER stops talking. One of the most frustrating commentaries I've ever heard was her 2016 U.S. Nats Shibs FS commentary. She talked about the music so much that you couldn't even hear the music and went on and on about their emotional journey. As the music was building and the crowd was roaring its approval during their twizzles, mostly you just heard her talking and lost the whole emotional impact of what was going on at the competition. When they were in the K & C and the scores came up, she was STILL talking and Terry cut her off so we could hear the scores. Sheesh!

 

[Casual]

Can we all at least agree to hate commentators who won't SHUT UP during a skater's performance?! :curse:

I always feel an instant burst of gratitude when commentators respectfully fall silent, when some of the great ones perform, and keep their mouths shut until the end.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

 

[Icey]

That is all.

Why not mimic Elvis by blasting it with a gun? lol

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

What I hate about Johnny and Tara is their blatant bias. Commentators can have opinions, but they can’t start spouting lies - like saying Masha’s jump technique is worse than Zhenya’s - just to try to bring down skaters they don’t like while uplifting their favorites. But bias is everywhere in commentary, Kurt Browning always ignores Kaetlyn’s flaws while pointing at every single one of Alina’s. Tara is the worse of the two honestly. She keeps only going off about seemingly unrelated topics. We don’t care about your experience at the final, and even if I did want to hear about it, I don’t want to hear about it during a skater’s performance!

 

[el henry]

The thread title is the best ever, not because I hate Johnny (I don’t care enough about Johnny to hate him) but because it’s hysterical.

Beats the heck of out of “Skater X wuzrobbed and if you do not find his/her/their programs the best most heavenly most wonderful most athletic most artistic most made in the shade ever, then you look with eyes that do not see” which I personally find far more mean.

And Johnny is always saying he’s just calling it as he sees it, and so are we.

I’m sure Johnny doesn’t give two figs what we say, as long as we say his name

 

[Casual]

What I hate about Johnny and Tara is their blatant bias.

I'm with you. What's the point of the commentator, when nothing they say can be trusted?

That's why I'd love to see more commentary from Charlie White. He came across as knowledgeable and trustworthy, unlike the bobble-head duo.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I’m sure Johnny doesn’t give two figs what we say, as long as we say his name:biggrin:

Who’s Johhny

 

[elbkup]

Johnny was my favorite skater back in the day... I felt his performances were lovely, lyrical and he was an underdog... someone I loved rooting for. When he retired from skating my perspective of him changed; while I like the sass, he does get bit OTT and is not my favorite commenter tho I think he is getting better. Whether by accident or design, I believe his delivery was just slightly more reined in and thoughtful this season. Tara not so much.
My favorite commenters are Ben Agosto, Ted Barton, the British Team who aways make me laugh, ladies from Canada who comment on Ice Dance. Added to my list is the lady that commented during Universiade .. she was wonderful!!! CaroLiza_fan spoke about her in another thread, said how wonderful she was and I agree!! This is a couple of examples... sorry, but I don't know her name ..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGuZnAAGa8

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IsleGjS50kk

Kind of drifted into OT here, sorry!

 

[ice coverage]

That is all.

Disclaimer: I have mixed feelings about JW. In other threads, I sometimes have been critical of certain things that he has done or said, but I sometimes have defended certain things that he has done or said.

Regardless of the intended humor of the thread title here, what gave me pause is the three-word OP.

What came across to me is something like: I wanna start a general anti-JW gripe-fest thread, and I don't even need to "justify" the "need" for the thread with any examples of my own specific gripes.

If XYZ were a still-competing skater, I hope that the GS moderators would not condone a new thread for "XYZ makes me want to throw a brick through my TV", with an OP of "That is all."

Back when GS added the "Thumbs Up" button, I was among some who thought a "Thumbs Down" button also would be a constructive addition.
My reasoning was that it could help prevent disagreements from escalating into excessively heated and prolonged battles lasting many posts.

At the time, other GS members felt strongly that it would be a terrible idea to allow us to give "Thumbs Down" on a post without explaining *why* we disliked the post. I wonder where those GS members are now.

---

In reply to someone's comment, the OP for this thread eventually did give two specific examples re Johnny, but not until many hours after starting the thread.

Why? This is strange. Johnny is awesome.

"They're the #1 pair in the US. Not like that is difficult or anything."
"How dare Keegan Messing bring out that hot mess of a Chaplin program after Hanyu just skated?" (Keegan won the silver medal behind Hanyu. I guess that isn't difficult either).

I'll listen to some more Worlds commentary and come up with some more later. I'm sure something specific he said made me want to throw a brick.

(I do happen to agree that Johnny repeatedly has gone too far with his comments against Keegan.)

---

… I would have thought that Charlie White, with his vast knowledge and gift of gab, would have made a fabulous commentator, but I find him kind of eh.

… That's why I'd love to see more commentary from Charlie White. He came across as knowledgeable and trustworthy ...

I am a big fan of Charlie White's commentary.

I think that he was good to begin with, and he has been getting better and better and better.

---

And Ted Barton is my hero.

 

[skylark]

I truly wasn't going for "mean and nasty." It makes me sad that it would come off that way, actually. It was meant to be funny. I have a "different" sense of humor and I guess it doesn't come across well at times. Especially in print.

I didn't say it to make you sad; I said it because so many posts that attack others, ironically for attacking others, do make me sad. To express my feelings.

And there were people who thought your thread title was funny. However, it's my impression that many who say Johnny's commentary is useless or worse, are holding one comment against him, or two, because of what he said about their favorite skater.(s). Kind of like if you live by the sword, wielding a weapon, you may get hurt in return. And it's a never-ending cycle.

 

[RoundedBackCamel]

I feel like I have to recuse myself from commenting on Tara because I’m still bitter about the gold win over MK and I feel I can’t be totally fair. THAT SAID, once I heard that Tara would be commentating for Olys I knew that I was going to have to endure “the scream heard ‘round the world.” I have intentionally avoided that footage since watching it live in 1998, but yep, there it was, over and over again. BUT, Tara drives me nuts with the tee-hee voice and the giggly delivery. She always identifies with the younger skaters (how many times has she called them “a little firecracker,” and how many times have we heard Terry and Johnny say, “Remind you of anyone?” And the tee-hee in response.) It also annoys when she talks about her career compared to others when she RETIRED at 15!

I’m ambivalent about Johnny. I would really like to hear him with someone else. It def seems like, as someone upthread said, they are more interested in promoting their brand and their playful banter drives me batty.

Terry Gannon can stay as long a he wants. Plus, has any commentator aged as well as that man?

Re. Uncle Dick. I liked him but he sure had his own biases and it’s true Peggy tempered them. (He freaking LOVED Lucinda Ru, but just try to find *one* positive comment about Yagudin. He didn’t like how he dropped his back when he landed and he felt the footwork was effective but “not very creative.” Check out the exhibition skate, I think it was after Skate Canada, and he can’t muster one good thing to say. He says it’s very dark, very Russian, and that he calls it “dramatique.” Peggy is clearly annoyed and praises Yags. And if he didn’t like Yagudin, he disliked Plushy even more. "Arm movement that doesn’t add up to anything” was one of his favorite phrases. He also freaking loved the “turnout” of the leg in ladies camel spins, so much so I still look for it all these years later! I still have an affection for him though.

Re. Ryan Bradley, I don’t know why no one still has not had an intervention with his preschool teacher manner of speaking!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I feel like I have to recuse myself from commenting on Tara because I’m still bitter about the gold win over MK and I feel I can’t be totally fair. THAT SAID, once I heard that Tara would be commentating for Olys I knew that I was going to have to endure “the scream heard ‘round the world.” I have intentionally avoided that footage since watching it live in 1998, but yep, there it was, over and over again. BUT, Tara drives me nuts with the tee-hee voice and the giggly delivery. She always identifies with the younger skaters (how many times has she called them “a little firecracker,” and how many times have we heard Terry and Johnny say, “Remind you of anyone?” And the tee-hee in response.) It also annoys when she talks about her career compared to others when she RETIRED at 15!

I’m ambivalent about Johnny. I would really like to hear him with someone else. It def seems like, as someone upthread said, they are more interested in promoting their brand and their playful banter drives me batty.

Terry Gannon can stay as long a he wants. Plus, has any commentator aged as well as that man?

Re. Uncle Dick. I liked him but he sure had his own biases and it’s true Peggy tempered them. (He freaking LOVED Lucinda Ru, but just try to find *one* positive comment about Yagudin. He didn’t like how he dropped his back when he landed and he felt the footwork was effective but “not very creative.” Check out the exhibition skate, I think it was after Skate Canada, and he can’t muster one good thing to say. He says it’s very dark, very Russian, and that he calls it “dramatique.” Peggy is clearly annoyed and praises Yags. And if he didn’t like Yagudin, he disliked Plushy even more. "Arm movement that doesn’t add up to anything” was one of his favorite phrases. He also freaking loved the “turnout” of the leg in ladies camel spins, so much so I still look for it all these years later! I still have an affection for him though.

Re. Ryan Bradley, I don’t know why no one still has not had an intervention with his preschool teacher manner of speaking!

Well, I agreed until Ryan Bradley got thrown under the bus, the intervention was he's not commentating anymore so there's that. I thought he was a good commentator. Yes, he needs commentary speaking lessons but other than that he was always positive and pointed out things that the others do not. Even with the issues with speaking, I'd take him over Tara and Johnny and their crap any day.

 

[karne]

One of the reasons I dislike Weir as a commentator is not only that he is petty and catty and nasty, but that it plays straight into every negative stereotype of our sport that exists. Our sport already has a credibility problem in Western countries, and so the US puts up a guy who literally feeds straight into it. No wonder we can't seem to move on from the bloody whack, if the Average Joe tunes into skating broadcast and hears some guy making nasty catty remarks about skaters better than he was!