James/Radford announce partnership

[ladyjane]

It might be a jerk move on Eric's part but the same can be said for Meghan's social media behavior, based on what Eric said once he knew the partnership with Vanessa was going to happen he contacted Meghan, he's not required to preemptively tell her of plans he's considering. Eric could make the same complaints against Meghan that she moved away to a different city from him where they couldn't train together and has the skating school going.

Eeh...black and whites again. When Meagan moved, this different city thing wasn't an issue. Free travelling and all that, before Covid-19 that was all normal. I'm sticking to grey: no one did anything maliciously, there were some communication issues, and I totally retract the jerk part in any of my posts.

 

[Amei]

Truthfully? I think he just wants to skate with Vanessa. And he probably would have been better off saying that instead of implying that Meagan’s priorities were the problem. JMO.

Would he have responded with what he did if Meghan hadn't done her social media postings?

 

[el henry]

Well, whatever was said two weeks ago, Eric and Meagan have very different recollections of the conversation. I'm still not sure what he actually said to her, given he acknowledges she didn't hear what he thought he was saying, but there was a conversation at least.

And if it was communicated as clearly as Eric says, why the major brouhaha? Why not get a quote from Meagan, as Brandon did from Haven, "I've talked to Eric, he and Vanessa will compete, I wish them well." Eric's no spring chicken and no newbie, that's a pretty common quote for these situations, where it truly has been communicated. Nothing Meagan did or didn't do justified a break-up of their professional prospects, but it doesn't need to be justified if it was communicated and arrangements were made if there were contracts or promises.

In fact, for me, Eric comes off somewhat as a cheating spouse justifying his behavior in the way this response is formulated... and yes, I know, pairs are not forever, pairs come and go, pairs are not marriages. I said "somewhat as", this is my simile and my metaphor and I'm running with it. Hear me out,

Eric skates with Vanessa. Lights flash and the world spins. He never expected to feel this way. The mantra of spouses leaving spouses for others everywhere

But he has clearly made some sort of commitment to Meagan, (from my point of view, or else why go through out that dialogue about the baby and Japan and it just doesn't make sense as written. Maybe the CBC person did not transcribe well?)

But he didn't tell Meagan right away that he had found happiness with another partner. He waited, like the spouse, until the true love actually left her own spouse and moved in with him. Then he says, "oops, guess what" Why didn't I tell you earlier? well, who knew if she was going to leave? And then where would I be?

this introduction, IMO, was boffed. And I say that as someone who is not a particular fan of any of the skaters involved.

 

[ladyjane]

Well, whatever was said two weeks ago, Eric and Meagan have very different recollections of the conversation. I'm still not sure what he actually said to her, given he acknowledges she didn't hear what he thought he was saying, but there was a conversation at least.

And if it was communicated as clearly as Eric says, why the major brouhaha? Why not get a quote from Meagan, as Brandon did from Haven, "I've talked to Eric, he and Vanessa will compete, I wish them well." Eric's no spring chicken and no newbie, that's pretty common quote for these situations, where it truly has been communicated. Nothing Meagan did or didn't do justified a break-up of their professional prospects, but it doesn't need to be justified if it was communicated.

In fact, for me, Eric comes off somewhat as a cheating spouse justifying his behavior in the way this response is formulated... and yes, I know, pairs are not forever, pairs come and go, pairs are not marriages. I said "somewhat as", this is my simile and my metaphor and I'm running with it. Hear me out,

Eric skates with Vanessa. Lights flash and the world spins. He never expected to feel this way. The mantra of spouses leaving spouses for others everywhere

But he has clearly made some sort of commitment to Meagan, (from my point of view, or else why go through out that dialogue about the baby and Japan and it just doesn't make sense as written. Maybe the CBC person did not transcribe well?)

But he didn't tell Meagan right away that he had found happiness with another partner. He waited, like the spouse, until the true love actually left her own spouse and moved in with him. Then he says, "oops, guess what" Why didn't I tell you earlier? well, who knew if she was going to leave? And then where would I be?

this introduction, IMO, was boffed. And I say that as someone who is not a particular fan of any of the skaters involved.

Love your take on things. Makes sense. A lot. As this is a grey, not black and white, thing there could be other explanations. But I like this one. And it remains grey, nobody's a villain, but perhaps a cheating spouse is a good comparison. Not criminal, not nice either.

 

[readernick]

I think the issue here is communication. ( Also Radford's tweet is a bit sexist.. Megan obviously was willing to continue to skate in shows after having a baby so blaming her motherhood is quite suspect) Radford made assumptions about Megan's goals and plans and scheduled his future without consulting her. He has the right to skate with whomever he chooses. However, he should have informed Megan of his plans from the beginning. It sounds like she was counting on income from the shows which they had agreed to do together. If he had told her about his plans earlier, it would have given Megan time to come up with an alternative plan for skating in shows/coaching. Frankly, he isn't a terrible beast or anything but he was selfish when he failed to consider how his lack of communication and his choices would affect Megan.

 

[Harriet]

IF (and I am relying on Meagan’s account here, but we have no other account) there were oral promises to participate in shows

Well, you know the old saying: an oral contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on. If it's a matter of business and/or your livelihood depends on it, it's always best to get things in writing.

 

[el henry]

Love your take on things. Makes sense. A lot. As this is a grey, not black and white, thing there could be other explanations. But I like this one. And it remains grey, nobody's a villain, but perhaps a cheating spouse is a good comparison. Not criminal, not nice either.

And I don't even mean for it to be that harsh, like I said, I know darn well a skating pair is not a marriage (well, the Knierims ).

If he had just tried to get a statement before making an announcement about how happy he and his new "spouse" were, then if Meagan had issues or problems or wanted to say, oh my god, what's happening to our show career, Eric could have addressed them before his big announcement. Or at least known it was coming and have been ready with his own, less "blaming the baby" response.

The way it was done, a right proper mess

 

[el henry]

Well, you know the old saying: an oral contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on. If it's a matter of business and/or your livelihood depends on it, it's always best to get things in writing.

Oral contracts can be enforced, but it's not easy. I will always support lawyers being paid money for drafting documents

Particularly with family or friends, the risks are more than to just a business.

But this situation also called for at least someone thinking proactively about the PR, or lack thereof. And I'm not sure that happened

 

[chasingneverland]

And I don't even mean for it to be that harsh, like I said, I know darn well a skating pair is not a marriage (well, the Knierims ).

If he had just tried to get a statement before making an announcement about how happy he and his new "spouse" were, then if Meagan had issues or problems or wanted to say, oh my god, what's happening to our show career, Eric could have addressed them before his big announcement. Or at least known it was coming and have been ready with his own, less "blaming the baby" response.

The way it was done, a right proper mess

Except for he thought that she WAS happy for him when he told her when Vanessa got released.

I think how the news got out didn't help anyone.

 

[saturdaysun]

Wow, I would not have bet on Eric Radford turning out to be such a jerk. He clearly wanted to skate with Vanessa more than Meagan, but kept the old option open on the backburner just in case the new partnership didn't work out. How cowardly. Even more cowardly and so misogynistic to then publicly blame the dissolution of the partnership on Meagan getting pregnant. That was when he first started thinking about leaving her? Really?? Yikes. Big yikes.

There is already so much to dislike about this new team, but uh, best of luck to them I guess. Fans have short memories, especially if they start doing really good in competition.

 

[ice coverage]

... The way it was done, a right proper mess

Seems to me that Meagan's communication skills are far from stellar, given that Eric's understanding of the phone call was, "... on that phone call I got nothing but support from Meagan. She shared with me on that phone call that she was not coming back to competition and she wished me and Vanessa all the best ..."

I have to wonder whether Meagan on the phone call actually had said to Eric anything that was close to what she said on social media?
"... The professional skating career that Eric and I worked so hard for has now come to an abrupt end and that breaks my heart and hurts me so deeply ..."

---

I wish Eric and Vanessa all the best. (And I am a big fan of Evelyn and Trennt. I wish them the best as well.)

 

[TontoK]

Truthfully? I think he just wants to skate with Vanessa. And he probably would have been better off saying that instead of implying that Meagan’s priorities were the problem. JMO.

You may be right.

But, I can see why he wouldn't say that.

Figure skating fans seem to me to become overly connected personally to their favorites. I don't understand it, but whatever. My observation is that this is especially true of Canadians.

Already, we're getting "that cheating bastard" vibes from some quarters. Can you imagine if he just came right out and said, "I want to skate with Vanessa, not Meagan. That's the story." There would be a national meltdown.

 

[4everchan]

i find Eric's response disappointing.

1) they BOTH had retired from competitive skating... they were both injured...
2) Meagan and Bruno moved to Ontario, Eric stayed in Montreal with Luis Fenero...
3) Show skating IS fine (when there is no pandemic) with partners not necessarily living in the same town

so to me, it looks like he decided to come back to competitive skating, knowing very well that it would end their show skating career... and he needed to handle this very differently. BUT HE DID NOT .... because he was not sure that Vanessa would be released.... so he kept quiet about it... would have done shows with Meagan if possible... and when she would have been released, he would have finally broken down the news to Meagan.... I hope for Eric that he and Vanessa are in for a longer run than a 6months deal like Charlie and Lubov... because if this new partnership is short lived, Eric will suffer from his own collateral damage. ...

Gosh... we are almost as close as a Grichuk Platov Usova Zhulin mess... thanks to Eric's lack of consideration in communicating honestly and efficiently.

And PS... I cannot believe that babies are used here as an excuse when Meagan skated while pregnant and did BOTB after giving birth...
Coming from him, as he is proud to represent diversity, it's a major faux-pas... So sexist... Anyways... I am probably done with this... In a few months, I will be looking forward to seeing them skate... and they better be good

 

[ladyjane]

Totally agreed. The 'blaming the baby' thing is awful. Timing things isn't. that should be easy. You can't time everything but this could have been done a lot better. Not that better timing would have left Meagan less unhappy, but it might have left her more in equilibrium,

 

[twirlingblades]

This situation is so messed up. Plus- I think Vanessa hasn’t acknowledged the Morgan situation at ALL. Like, sis, we all still remember.

plus this is scummy towards Trent and Evelyn, whom Eric works with. The way everyone found out was ugly.

 

[anonymoose_au]

plus this is scummy towards Trent and Evelyn, whom Eric works with. The way everyone found out was ugly.

I'm not sure whether that should be an issue though? Like who knows a new or existing couple (not Eric and Vanessa) could come up next season and be better than them, so I wouldn't count them on the "betrayed" people list.

It is interesting though that Eric says Meagan was supportive, but Meagan says she was blindsided? Those are completely opposite, is someone not telling truth?

 

[el henry]

Seems to me that Meagan's communication skills are far from stellar, given that Eric's understanding of the phone call was, "... on that phone call I got nothing but support from Meagan. She shared with me on that phone call that she was not coming back to competition and she wished me and Vanessa all the best ..."

I have to wonder whether Meagan on the phone call actually had said to Eric anything that was close to what she said on social media?
"... The professional skating career that Eric and I worked so hard for has now come to an abrupt end and that breaks my heart and hurts me so deeply ..."

---

I wish Eric and Vanessa all the best. (And I am a big fan of Evelyn and Trennt.)

Given that Eric's communication skills in this fiasco have been far from stellar, I have to wonder if Meagan did in fact say what Eric claimed she did.

Particulalry in the absence of a statement from her about "wishing them well". It's not rocket science to obtain that statement ahead of time.

But I wasn't there, and I can't say which of them is reporting accurately,

 

[ice coverage]

I do not find Meagan more credible than Eric. (I wasn't there either.)

I think it is fair to say that her social media (ETA: mostly ) has been self-serving, no matter how genuinely hurt she feels.

Particulalry in the absence of a statement from her about "wishing them well".

Meagan did say on social media: "... I wish Eric happiness in his new adventures. ..."

 

[twirlingblades]

I'm not sure whether that should be an issue though? Like who knows a new or existing couple (not Eric and Vanessa) could come up next season and be better than them, so I wouldn't count them on the "betrayed" people list.

It is interesting though that Eric says Meagan was supportive, but Meagan says she was blindsided? Those are completely opposite, is someone not telling truth?

I think Eric full of s*** and he knows it.

And I’m sorry, if a coach I worked with came out and said he had gotten a new partner (now released) after retirement to come and potentially take and Olympic spot I would be pissed too. It’s so low class. Like, he was openly miserable for like 2 years before retiring and now this? How much is Skate Canada paying him? And I understand Meagan’s reaction- especially if they were doing shows.

EDIT: and I think Skate Canada endorses this because they don’t have anyone better than KMT/MM right now. I hope this doesn’t take away from their steam either.

EDIT 2: this is why I stuck to singles skating. You trust a man to yeet you across the ice, then they do this? Nah. I mean, he’s no Charlie B, but still. This whole thing is yikes.

 

[ali0125]

I feel sorry for Meagan and wish her best of luck for future endeavours. However, IMO it's not Vanessa and Eric (and Skate Canada to some extent) to blame - they choose what's best for them, like many other people do in competitive sports. I wish them best luck and surely they are able to create something unique on ice.

After all, with such a judging/scoring system, this sport has nothing to do with high level of ethical standards. And people who are good at politicking are more likely to be successful in this sport too