Chan thinks it's time figure skaters got unionized

[demarinis5]

Good Lord Patrick. What were you thinking. IMO This article does not shine a good light on him at all.

First he calls the competition "stupid" and "nobody" really wants to be there. We get it Patrick you did not want to be there but I don't
think the other skaters are going to appreciate you speaking for them.

Which brings me to the another point I wanted to bring up about WTT. What reason did Team Canada give for not skating a Team Group Number.
I realize it was an elective choice but they did not do it last year when Scott was Captain and they did not do it again this year when Patrick was
Captain.

 

[itoja]

That would be very cool. What prevents that from happening, though, is the Olympics. As long as the skaters themselves consider skating to be nothing more than "an Olympic sport," they place themselves under the thumb of the officially sanctioned Olympic body.

Don't worry Mathman, if Patrick loses the Olympics, he will start a campaign - it is a stupid competition and it should be valued much less than World Championships.

 

[clairecloutier]

Patrick Chan is one of the most unlikable figure skaters ever. I can't think of any other skater who's made so many unpleasant, self-centered, ill-advised, and foolish remarks in public. In this interview alone, he manages to insult the ISU, Menshov, Rogozine, the Japanese figure skating audience (by implying they were supporting a "stupid" competition), and (I would argue) V/M and D/W, by making it appear they "schemed" their way out of of WTT. What is wrong with this man??

That said, there is one thing I agree with him on, which is that the ISU is mismanaging the World Team Trophy event. The ISU needs to decide if it wants the team event to be a serious, legitimate, world-level competition. If they want it to be a legitimate event, then it should become part of the World Championships (held at the end, after the singles events). Also, it should use the same rules as the Olympic event. Only then will it gain legitimacy. Right now, they're treating the event almost like a pro-am, holding it weeks after Worlds, giving it to the same country every year for financial reasons, calling it a "Trophy" event instead of a world championship, using different rules than the Olympic event, and, yes, allowing top skaters to opt out. All this detracts and makes it seem like not a "real" event. Cinquanta has talked about adding the team event to Worlds eventually, but I don't think they should wait. Just add it now, if they're committed to it. This would also allow skaters to complete their season at Worlds, without having to continue training for several more weeks and traveling long distances to another competition.

 

[ser22]

Chan "goof" and not the WTT.:disapp:

 

[ranjake]

I love WTT and watched every second I could online . Had it been televised I would have done that as well; I don't thnk it's at all stupid- any competitive skating; I'm there. That said- I don't think Patrick or any skater should be forced to attend. Fatigue at the end of a season before an Olympic year is legitimate; imo. I don't think he MEANS to come off so badly, and yet I do appreciate his honesty.

 

[prettykeys]

eyria, great post.

Although, I think a Team Event held at Worlds or the Olympics, as I said, may have skaters who do not want to participate twice at the same event. And IMO, it should be their right not to.

BTW as much as I liked the antics of all the national teams (especially the US and Japan), I think Canadians have a love-shame thing with patriotism. I don't recall the last time Canadians did an American-like chant of "Canadaaaaaa, Canadaaaaaa", or anything like that. : So maybe this sort of format for a competition, especially for figure skating where it doesn't strictly make sense (e.g. gymnastics has different events, running or swimming have relays, etc.) may simply not appeal to more of our athletes like Moir or Chan. I am not looking for excuses for Chan's words, but trying to explain why they might feel unenthusiastic.

 

[KKonas]

Skaters have tried to have a union before (after the 2002 judging debacle and the end of 6.0). Rahkamo/Kokko were the leaders in this effort, which ultimately failed after only a few months.

 

[fairly4]

i actually agree with patrick regarding union of skaters.
Money especially with other sports like tennis, baseball, hockey, football, golf should get more on par with others, butbit is on par with women soccer, womens basketball.
But than figure skating as a whole has,to draw in more people in seats, viewing, online and be willing to pay for such services.
How can they when cant draw in,when videos are only $5.00 one year. Fanscpmlain about cost. In order,to acheive more money you have to be able to sell out moe than 2,000 -5,0000 in major events like worlds and sell out seats in all shows, tours.
Figure skating fans complain about the 39.95 cost if ice network. Yet how much do you lay for football, mlb, tennis, extreme spotrs, movie,singers etc. you pay just ad much if not more for one time, yet ice network,? Isu allows you how many times at least 6 for that price.p

 

[fairly4]

The other part for me is what comes across as arrogance or self-entitlement,, bitterness for not be able to pull.out. Entitlement is what patrick feels asbeing world champ. He knows he can,fall skate sloppy and still win ad ling as he has enough points,so why put in any effort to skate clean well
Public, media , fans who cares, I dont need you. I know all I need is the points as long as skate okay get the points I need.
For me that is how patrick comes off when he opens up his mouth.
He doesnt think about how others will see it or interpret it.

 

[visaliakid]

Patrick Chan has a huge Red Flag next to his name on Cinquanta's "To Do List"

 

[Poice]

,,I could have said I was hurt, which is what a lot of skaters did, the Russians and Chinese"
,,Who else of equal value is going to replace me?"
,,Nobody’s really interested in it. Skating is done after worlds."
,,What if my training for next year, an Olympic year, had gone out the window because of a stupid injury at a stupid competition?”

I think he should get some PR specialist...someone who will help him rethink his statements. He's just too honest and doesn't know how to manage media. I'm not his fan, but I agree with him about WTT not being so serious as others competitions. All these ,,funny" costumes, gadgets during Kiss&Cry are unnecessary and not helping to take this event seriously. To be honest - I don't get the whole idea about WTT...I mean - why can't they just compete in singles and after WCH or Olympics just sum up the places of skaters from each country and announce the winner? Or at least let skaters compete only in one segment - SP or FP.

 

[FSGMT]

For (I think) the first time, I agree with what Patrick says: that's correct! Read "Cracked Ice" by Sonia Bianchetti and you'll understand why the ISU now is such a negative thing for the whole FS world, especially its President... And, he isn't diplomatic in saying it, but the concept is true: D/W and V/M didn't want to compete, but they didn't want to say it to the press, he's done it, and everybody know that it's the truth: even if we fans find it so much fun and a beautiful competition, the skaters themselves don't like the WTT...

 

[phaeljones]

Patrick Chan is one of the most unlikable figure skaters ever. I can't think of any other skater who's made so many unpleasant, self-centered, ill-advised, and foolish remarks in public. In this interview alone, he manages to insult the ISU, Menshov, Rogozine, the Japanese figure skating audience (by implying they were supporting a "stupid" competition), and (I would argue) V/M and D/W, by making it appear they "schemed" their way out of of WTT. What is wrong with this man??

That said, there is one thing I agree with him on, which is that the ISU is mismanaging the World Team Trophy event. The ISU needs to decide if it wants the team event to be a serious, legitimate, world-level competition. If they want it to be a legitimate event, then it should become part of the World Championships (held at the end, after the singles events). Also, it should use the same rules as the Olympic event. Only then will it gain legitimacy. Right now, they're treating the event almost like a pro-am, holding it weeks after Worlds, giving it to the same country every year for financial reasons, calling it a "Trophy" event instead of a world championship, using different rules than the Olympic event, and, yes, allowing top skaters to opt out. All this detracts and makes it seem like not a "real" event. Cinquanta has talked about adding the team event to Worlds eventually, but I don't think they should wait. Just add it now, if they're committed to it. This would also allow skaters to complete their season at Worlds, without having to continue training for several more weeks and traveling long distances to another competition.

There are so many remarks on this thread that I agree with, and the above one probably says it well and the best.

I don't think Patrick Chan is a bad person, but he certainly lacks eq (emotional quotient . . . like an iq, only for people skills). He is perhaps the greatest skater so far (imo), but for the sake of the sport, someone needs to talk to him about the way he talks. His thoughts need a filter. Without a filter, he does talk weirdly and unacceptably when things go wrong (like his interview with Rob Black after Skate Canada, his comments about Plushenko to DiManno prior to the Grand Prix final or his comments about Oda afterward, just to name a small number of them). There are just too many instances and he is becoming an embarrassment not just to himself but to the sport (in the way that he talks). Just because he is one of the greatest skaters of all time, there is never a license for anyone to trash talk like this.

Can't someone from Skate Canada do something to fix this by either reading him the riot act or giving him a pr person to help him know what not to say? At the very least, Skate Canada in this particular case should respond to the comments made by their top skater and their team captain.

Regarding WTT, we all know that some skaters do try to avoid it. No one will deny that the scores don't carry the same weight as the Worlds. But, I have to say that if it was gone, I would really really miss it. I love watching those skates and the skaters who do attend (willingly). I get the sense that those skaters who are there for the most part like the sport and care about the fans.

In life, the love you get is equal to the love you give, no matter how well you skate, Mr. Chan.

 

[Mathman]

That said, there is one thing I agree with him on, which is that the ISU is mismanaging the World Team Trophy event. The ISU needs to decide if it wants the team event to be a serious, legitimate, world-level competition. If they want it to be a legitimate event, then it should become part of the World Championships (held at the end, after the singles events).

Money.

By making the World Team Trophy more like a cheesefest, it is a money-maker rather than an additional financial liability. The athletes share a million dollar purse, the ISU makes a little profit, the Japanese Skating Federation makes a little profit, and the money comes from outside the ISU's own war chest, from corporate sponsors and television networks.

Still, the ISU does not need to force grumbling sour-pusses to skate if they don't want to. If someone wants to stay home, all the better for the skaters who do want to skate. The audience doesn't really care whether they see Chan or Rogozine, as long as Takahashi and Asada are there. Those two can be compensated under the table by the event organizers.

 

[demarinis5]

Well I don't like getting up every morning and going to work, or being called away from my vacation
because of an emergency, missing an important event in my personal life, but I do it because it is my job.

 

[FSGMT]

Well I don't like getting up every morning and going to work, or being called away from my vacation
because of an emergency, missing an important event in my personal life, but I do it because it is my job.

Obviously yes, and I agree that they surely they have a lot of fun: skating is their (our) passion, so they should ALWAYS be happy to skate in front of a cheerful crowd, but it's also risky: when you skate full competitive programs with triples and quads, you always risk injuries, especially if you are not really ready to do it after peaking at the "real" Worlds (see Menshov, who is an exceptin because he didn't compete at Worlds, but that could have happened to any of the skaters)...

 

[tulosai]

Obviously yes, and I agree that they surely they have a lot of fun: skating is their (our) passion, so they should ALWAYS be happy to skate in front of a cheerful crowd, but it's also risky: when you skate full competitive programs with triples and quads, you always risk injuries, especially if you are not really ready to do it after peaking at the "real" Worlds (see Menshov, who is an exceptin because he didn't compete at Worlds, but that could have happened to any of the skaters)...

Fundamentally I don't think most of our jobs are like theirs. In many ways, demarinis5, I am sure your job is harder. But the real analogy would be if we had a job involving getting up and going to work each weekday (which all skaters at Patrick's level DO, just like us, if perhaps for not so many hours, at least in the off season) and also required us to do a difficult 'bonus task' certain weekends throughout the year for maximum advancement in our company and promotions (if we did well) and for all the money we get, since our 'weekday' work has no monetary gain attached to it whatsoever. I think in such a case, if a person wants to skip out on one of these 'bonus tasks' knowing it could cost them career advancement and a lot of money, that should be their choice, and indeed, with skaters, it IS their choice for every event but WTT.

I don't blame Patrick for his comments which I think express the opinion of a large percentage of skaters.

How he said them was awful.

 

[demarinis5]

FSGMT -Yes injuries could and do happen to skaters. It happens in practice, in competition, in training and also show skating, unfortunately it is a part of
an athlete's life and they know that. Every time they step out on the ice it is a risk.

I do think that the event could have been held at a more advantageous time for the skaters or bypassed completely
because of the upcoming Olympic season.

 

[aftertherain]

Eh, I don't think so. The last thing we need is for skaters to go on strike, and we lose skating for one whole year.

I'm trying to figure out whether you're worried about yourself not being able to watch skating, or for the skaters themselves (them losing prize money and things like that).

 

[ice coverage]

That's true. But that means that this journalist hates Patrick so much that she will leave no stone unturned in making him look like a jerk.

Journalists typically like to use quotes that are provocative and thus newsworthy.

Any favorable comments from Chan (if he made them) about Menshov, Rogozine, fans, etc. might have been omitted only because the reporter and/or editor deemed them "boring."
In other words, maybe DiManno's personal feelings toward Patrick are neutral ... or even (gasp!) positive.

OTOH, it is possible that she took pleasure in making Chan look bad, but I seem to recall that DiManno's stories often make her subjects look bad. That she had no qualms about highlighting quotes that would fuel anti-Chan sentiment might be more of a reflection on her preferred style of reporting than on him.

(That said, I do agree with the notion that if Journalist A generally likes Newsmaker B, then if/when B happens to says one controversial thing regarding Topic X, it is very possible that A might make a greater effort to show a balanced view of B as a whole -- perhaps giving equal emphasis to B's more mainstream/popular positions on Topics Y and Z, for example.)

... What reason did Team Canada give for not skating a Team Group Number.
I realize it was an elective choice but they did not do it last year when Scott was Captain and they did not do it again this year when Patrick was
Captain.

- I was not aware that Team Canada was offered the opportunity to perform a group number this year at the WTT gala. What is your source of this piece of information?
The only group numbers this year were those of Team Japan and Team USA. Team Japan represented the host country, and Team USA won the trophy. Japan and USA also were the only countries whose entire roster of skaters performed individual programs at the gala.
Because Team Canada placed second, it made perfect sense to me that it did not perform a group number and that its skaters were included in the gala only if they ranked among the top three finishers in her/his/their discipline.

- I was not aware that Team Canada was offered the opportunity to perform a group number in 2012 either. Again, what is your source of that piece of information?
If I recall correctly, Team Japan and Team USA performed group numbers last year as well. I do not remember whether or not any other team did.
Last year Team Japan won the event, and Team USA placed second.
Because the host-country team and the winning team were one and the same, it needed only one slot on the gala line-up for its group number. Makes perfect sense to me that the second group-number slot was given to the second-place team.
If teams that placed lower than Canada did perform group numbers in 2012, please refresh my memory as to which countries. Thanks.