Nice Sports Illustrated Boitano interview

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/em_swift/12/08/boitano/index.html

The final sentence of the interview is golden.

Good interview! He tells it like it is. Thanks for sharing, Spirit.

Very interesting. Great article, thanks for posting.

I have always been a huge Boitano fan. I like his attitude and work ethic [and I love the Plushenko bits] - right on!

I thought this was an interesting take on the question of why U.S. men's figure skating has fallen off the pace since the time of Boitano and Scott Hamilton.

"It may have started when the USFSA started paying big money to skaters so they wouldn't turn pro and would compete in USFSA-sanctioned events. Their goal was to kill professional skating, and in some ways they succeeded. But it took away a lot of incentive. All of a sudden a skater didn't have to be a world champion to make healthy six figure incomes. So instead of training really hard and cutting back on competitions, which is the best way to improve, the skaters were thinking: I'm making good money, now. I'm successful. This is the life I want."

I do. however, disagree with Brian about spectators and fans being confused by the New Judging System. What was baffling to the uninitiated viewer was the old ordinal system. Michelle got a 5.7, Sasha got a 5.6. They were both pretty. What are the judges judging?

In the NJS, maybe the casual fan won't take the trouble to look up the base value for triple loop (5.0), but the idea of getting points for each element that they do, then add them up and see who wins -- that's perfectly transparent and it is how every sport works.

MM

Mathman said:

I do. however, disagree with Brian about spectators and fans being confused by the New Judging System. What was baffling to the uninitiated viewer was the old ordinal system. Michelle got a 5.7, Sasha got a 5.6. They were both pretty. What are the judges judging?

In the NJS, maybe the casual fan won't take the trouble to look up the base value for triple loop (5.0), but the idea of getting points for each element that they do, then add them up and see who wins -- that's perfectly transparent and it is how every sport works.

MM

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I'm not sure it's so much confusion as it is boredom -- and suspicion that is attached to anything that's anonymous. With anonymity, people tend to believe there MUST be something to hide if the judges can't put their names on their marks, especially with the recent scandals.

As for boredome -- well, there not any anticipation any more waiting for scores to come up. With the 6.0 system (which I wasn't exactly fond of), at least you could look at some marks that you could gauge what was going on -- you may not understand really how the system works, or understand that a 5.9 and a 5.6 are really THE SAME THING as long as both were the highest mark that judge gave, but a casual viewer could say wow, that skater got a lot of 5.8s and 5.9s, that's pretty good, or gee, this skater got 5.6s and 5.7s, maybe a 5.5, I either agree or disagree with that. And wow, if a 6.0 comes up, that's exciting. And the skater, coaches, etc., would either get excited or look sad or upset as marks came up.

Now, a casual viewer sees a long string of numbers come up that mean absolutely nothing to them. I have watched quite a while, and I know what TSS and PCS means, and I STILL can't make any sense of the numbers that come up in the time they are displayed. So it's a long string of numbers of which only one -- the final total -- is important. The impact of that point total is lessened by the long string of numbers that commentators and fans feel they have to notice so they can understand WHY the skater got this point total. Which they simply can't. No spectator, or casual fan, or fervent fan, can figure out why a skater got all those numbers in a few moments. Which means, what you get is simply a total of points for the program and an overall total (if it's the second program) and they either move into the lead or don't. Most of the skaters are still as confused as the fans are -- there's little animation from them or their coach as the marks come up -- they look at them and seem to shrug or smile or something, but there's no "wow, look at all those 5.9s and wow, there's a 6.0" feel nor a "how in the heck did I get all those 5.6s when I skated great" reaction. It's just, oh, well, there's the marks and I'll have to wait until I get the protocols and peruse them to know why I got the marks I did. There's no specific judge or specific marks to get excited or upset about. Which makes it more clinical and less exciting and tense (at least to me).

Maybe in several years when it's been around for a while, getting a "personal best" or a "world record" in points will mean something. Maybe the current "world record" of points or 9s in PCS marks will become as well-known as a "perfect 6," and then fans, casual and fervent, and skaters will be waiting tensely to see what the point total is and will be able to find some excitement, some involvement, in the string of numbers that come up. But right now, it seems to me that Brian's right -- there's just not the excitement, not the "understanding" of the numbers of COP, that there was in the 6.0 system.And that's bad coming at a time when skating interest and ratings are down. If this had happened at the height of skatings' popularity, it wouldn't have mattered as much, because people would have had a chance to become acquainted with the system while they were watching in droves.

Hopefully, enough people will stay with skating long enough and the COP will start working well enough (and they'll get rid of the really damaging, as far as I'm concerned, anonymity) that it will actually MEAN something to set a world record of points (the system has changed so much each year, and the judging and calling have been so all-over-the-place from event to event, that someone getting a "personal high" or "world record" is still just a "so what?" shrug for me). At this point, Irina Slutskaya setting a new world record in points hasn't got near the impact that watching a string of 6.0s come up for Torvill & Dean.

I am not a big fan on Brian Boitano I must admit, but I read the interview anyway to see what baloney the interviewer might get from him. Nothing in it surprised me. Boitano picking Kwan to win? Hmmmm, I suspect he either never watches skating anymore, or he was hit in the head playing a game of baseball before the interview and was still a bit fuzzy. Boitano saying that with the exception of Kwan skaters dont stay around anymore, earth to Boitano Slutskaya also has been around since 1994!!!!! None of the U.S men want it? Hardly, Lysacek and Weir want it badly, they simply arent good enough to challenge Plushenko, nobody is right now. Slutskaya looked strong at Skate Canada? Yes she looked pretty good at Skate Canada, back in 01-02 the last time she skated in the event, as I said does he even watch amateur skating anymore? I found it worth more humour for its silliness than anything. Thanks for the link.

slutskayafan21 said:

Boitano saying that with the exception of Kwan skaters dont stay around anymore, earth to Boitano Slutskaya also has been around since 1994!!!!! None of the U.S men want it? Hardly, Lysacek and Weir want it badly

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I recall an interview that Johnny Weir gave recently where he stated that an Olympic gold medal doesn't mean too much to him. As for Boitano not mentioning Slutskaya, the only names he dropped, really, were American skaters' names.

Slutskaya looked strong at Skate Canada? Yes she looked pretty good at Skate Canada, back in 01-02 the last time she skated in the event, as I said does he even watch amateur skating anymore? I found it worth more humour for its silliness than anything.

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Picky, picky, picky... On Brian's behalf, may I say, "Mea Culpa!" You say you don't like Brian? BIG surprise there. :sheesh:

SingAlto said:

I recall an interview that Johnny Weir gave recently where he stated that an Olympic gold medal doesn't mean too much to him. As for Boitano not mentioning Slutskaya, the only names he dropped, really, were American skaters' names.

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I have seen profiles on Weir where he says he is very determined to reach the top. I would assume winning an Oly gold would be part of reaching the top. He is a pecurial temperment though, like Sandhu, so who knows how many different statements he makes.

As for Slutskaya not being mentioned, I would have assumed he was only referring to Americans too except he pointed out somebody like Katarina Witt. Witt is not truly an American no matter where she resides, and she certainly was not an American back in her amateur days in any way, shape, or form.

Picky, picky, picky... You say you don't like Brian? BIG surprise there. :sheesh:

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Well if he does not even know the events Slutskaya has competed in this year, or recently, and states an event she has not skated in in 4 season, it is hardly a surprise that he would be so oblivious to the current state of the womens field to pick Kwan as his prediction for Oly gold in Turin.

Love Boitano. Here's another interview w/ him from the LA Times - few days ago. I like a few parts of this one in particular

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-olycol7dec07,1,4703694.story


"I can't talk about Michelle without showing my favoritism. She's my baby. If anyone can make the most of a situation, she can."

And ...

Boitano said he probably won't be at the U.S. championships next month in St. Louis, where the Olympic team will be determined, but might go to Turin to watch Kwan if his nerves allow.

"I practically had a meltdown in Salt Lake City," he said of her bronze-medal finish. "I want her to retire [from Olympic-eligible skating] so she can skate with me."

slutskayafan21 said:

IAs for Slutskaya not being mentioned, I would have assumed he was only referring to Americans too except he pointed out somebody like Katarina Witt. Witt is not truly an American no matter where she resides, and she certainly was not an American back in her amateur days in any way, shape, or form.

Well if he does not even know the events Slutskaya has competed in this year, or recently, and states an event she has not skated in in 4 season, it is hardly a surprise that he would be so oblivious to the current state of the womens field to pick Kwan as his prediction for Oly gold in Turin.

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Please excuse him if he happened to catch an event on ESPN, either on its first run or on a re-run, and didn't manage to figure out which one it was (or watched Skate Canada men one night and then got Cup of Russia women the next and got confused). I've caught several events in bits and pieces this year, and frankly, I'm never sure the day after which one I saw and which one's coming up or which one's on repeats. Oh well, guess that just means I'm not as smart as you, so you can feel superior. I'm sure nobody on this list (and no other fans flipping through stations) has ever made the mistake of not knowing for sure which event we were watching, with all the tape delays and repeats and such, and nobody has ever mis-named or forgotten which of the GP events this or that performance was in. Brian's been rather busy, performing and flying around the country during the time these events have been televised -- he's probably lucky to have caught any of them on TV.

What he did remember from the event is that Irina looked good, that she's skating well. Is that so terrible or so stupid? As for picking Michelle -- he's her good friend, he has watched her skate many times and he's a big fan of hers. You pick Slutskaya to win, I'm sure her husband would pick her to win, I'm sure her mother and father and best friends would predict she'd win -- what's the big problem with a good friend of Kwan's picking her to win, while saying that Irina's skating very well and he likes the way she gives everything to her performance and that Sasha may slip in for a medal if she skates clean? I think there are many people who would put those three on their list as potential podium finishers, even if not in that order. Yes, the Japanese skaters are strong, and Carolina is defending world bronze medalist, etc., etc. But Brian picks three names that he's got a chance to be pretty familiar with, and goes with them. I don't see the big deal. And he obviously knows enough about the men's event to know that Plushenko is the likely men's gold medalist (and he likes Plushenko's style -- guess that's bad, too?) and that the U.S. men may sneak in for a medal.

But as SingAlto noted, it's not surprising anything and everything Boitano says and does gets a thumbs-down from you.

Slute-fan, you can't blame Brian for tossing his best wishes Michelle's way. Check out Tharrtell's quote a couple of posts up. Brian and Michelle have been best buddies for a dozen years.

Brian's gold medal performance in Calgary was Michelle's big inspiration to become a champion figure skater.

MM

PS. OT, but here's a great picture of Brian with Kristi.

http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Dec-14-Fri-2001/photos/brian.jpg

I very, very seldom post here, but I need to say that my take on what Brian is saying about the American men not wanting it badly enough is not so much the lack of talent, but the lack of a really good work ethic. Brian struggled when he started out, too, but he had (and still has) an incredible work ethic and would put in the time and effort needed to really succeed. It wasn't about the glamour of being a "celebrity" back then, no one knew you outside the skating world until you won the Olympics. Scott Hamilton had a similar approach. I think some of the younger skaters now think things are just going to come to them if they put in a little effort, but they don't understand the complete dedication it takes to make it to the top of this sport.

MM, where is that cartoon from? I remember that skate they did together - very cute - but what is the cartoon from? Not to highjack the thread, but w/ regards to Brian and Michelle's friendship, I always remember an interview w/ Brian, don't know what it is from, where he's talking about her fuzzy little baby hair (the hairs around her hairline that don't seem to grow - I've got them too, the little buggers) saying she reminded him of a little chick that was about to hatch. Somthing like that. I'm sure I've butchered it, but when I think of the two of them I think of Michelle as a little chick! Yeah, silly.

The cartoon is from "Diane's rink."

http://www.dianesrink.com/cartoon/misc/index.html

(Also click on Dick and Peggy )

In one interview they asked Michelle what was her most fun time in skating, and she said, when she first went on tour with COI and hung out with Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill, watching silly movies in the trailer.

PS. Jamie and David, LOL.:
http://www.dianesrink.com/cartoon/pairs/sp.html

Mathman said:

In one interview they asked Michelle what was her most fun time in skating, and she said, when she first went on tour with COI and hung out with Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill, watching silly movies in the trailer.

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She was probably about 16 at the time! Mature beyond her years? Old soul? Thinking about her back in the day ... making me miss her skating much this year.

I guess we have hi-jacked this thread after all, Thartell

It always seemed to me that Michelle did enjoy the "everybody's kid sister" role. Maybe because she has an older brother and an older sister that she obvioiusly looks up to.

Now there is a younger COI group that hangs out together -- Sasha, Johnny Weir, Tim Goebel, Belbin and Agosto, Orsher and Lucash

Mathman .

tharrtell said:

She was probably about 16 at the time! Mature beyond her years? Old soul? Thinking about her back in the day ... making me miss her skating much this year.

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Actually Michelle was 13 during her first year doing COI.