Will Someone Please Slap Peter Carruthers???

JonnyCoop · Nov 19, 2006

He is just getting ruder and ruder and ruder. Talk about a buzzkill. Emily wins her first GP medal, a very significant career milestone for her and looks all thrilled and happy when coming out of K & C, despite falling out of the lead, and THEN she has to put up with a bunch of obnoxious questions from Peter Carrathurs. I give her credit for maintaining, because it looked to me like she was highly annoyed and I don't blame her one bit. ("Well, what did you expect, really? You downgraded the triple, you should have known that was going to be less points" or whatever it was he said because I couldn't even believe he SAID it.)

Anyone remember David Santee at Calgary sticking the mike in Orser's face and saying "Well, the good news is you got good artistic marks, the bad news is you're second?" ??? I notice Santee was pretty much out the door after that. How soon before Carrathurs pulls a TOTAL Santee, as opposed to just a partial? I would love it if the skaters started to complain to ABC/ESPN about it; there is just no excuse for that kind of thing. Even if you feel you need to ask a "tough question", there are much more diplomatic ways of asking them, involving much less snippy tones of voice.

R.D. · Nov 19, 2006

yes, but who's gonna take his place? I have a feeling there's no one to replace him so he's stuck there.

No one cares enough to do anything about it, it seems.

Mathman · Nov 19, 2006

Yes, that was just an atrocious interview.

Really, Emily looked like she was about to tell him off. :thumbsup:

To answer Red Dog's question, there must be dozens of ex-skaters who would jump at the chance to get into broadcasting.

La Rhumba · Nov 19, 2006

Well, at least he's a Skating *Expert*, if somewhat brusque by the sounds of it. I was equally furious with a radio news reporter on the BBC who insulted Steven Cousins, after finishing 6th in the SP at Birmingham Worlds in 95 - his best and the highest for a British Man since the Curry/Cousins era - so we were delighted, as was Steven, until the reporter said: "Hmm, 6th? Not very good really is it?"

:sheesh:
To his credit Steven gave a polite answer about being pleased with how he'd skated, etc. Had it been me, I'd have told the reporter to go off and do some research about Skating, then stormed off in a huff! :scowl:

demarinis5 · Nov 20, 2006

JonnyCoop said:
He is just getting ruder and ruder and ruder. Talk about a buzzkill. Emily wins her first GP medal, a very significant career milestone for her and looks all thrilled and happy when coming out of K & C, despite falling out of the lead, and THEN she has to put up with a bunch of obnoxious questions from Peter Carrathurs. I give her credit for maintaining, because it looked to me like she was highly annoyed and I don't blame her one bit. ("Well, what did you expect, really? You downgraded the triple, you should have known that was going to be less points" or whatever it was he said because I couldn't even believe he SAID it.)

Anyone remember David Santee at Calgary sticking the mike in Orser's face and saying "Well, the good news is you got good artistic marks, the bad news is you're second?" ??? I notice Santee was pretty much out the door after that. How soon before Carrathurs pulls a TOTAL Santee, as opposed to just a partial? I would love it if the skaters started to complain to ABC/ESPN about it; there is just no excuse for that kind of thing. Even if you feel you need to ask a "tough question", there are much more diplomatic ways of asking them, involving much less snippy tones of voice.

I agree about the interview with Emily. I don't care for Peter's interviewing skills. He is rather rude, crass and obnoxious. He does need to be b****slapped.

psycho · Nov 20, 2006

He did the same thing to Lysacek with "Where's the quad" and also with "How do you like getting beat by 7th ranked team" to Ben Agosto. What a tool!

R.D. · Nov 20, 2006

You know, I think the questions themselves are fine. It's just HOW he asks them and how MANY of them he asks. For example he seemed almost frustrated with Emily the way he was asking her all those negative questions in a row. She seemed to respond as well by trying to tell him she was happy with how she did, but he kept going on. I just think maybe he doesn't realize what he's doing. I don't think he MEANS to be that way but comes across that way to the skaters (and to the viewers).

demarinis5 · Nov 20, 2006

Maybe he does not realize what he his doing because it is rumored that he has a drinking problem.

Joesitz (RIP) · Nov 20, 2006

The Big Question is 'do we need these interviews?' I'd rather use the time to see another skater.

Joe

JonnyCoop · Nov 20, 2006

Joesitz said:
The Big Question is 'do we need these interviews?' I'd rather use the time to see another skater.

Joe

ITA. That time shown being rude to Emily and to Evan (I had totally forgotten about the "No quad; why not?" comment until psycho brought it up) could have been used to show Beatrisa, for example. Whom I feel should have been shown instead of Binshu Xu, tho I did enjoy seeing Xu for the first time. Seems Beatrisa gets no respect anyway; none from the judges and now ABC can't even bother to show her despite a top-5 finish. But that might be a subject for another thread. But I do think it is Carrathurs' TONE more than anything else; it's kind of like a good cop/bad cop interviewing style, only the good cop seems to be out of the arena.

Joesitz (RIP) · Nov 20, 2006

I get the feeling that Carruthers is holding inside an unsettled disappointment in his life and is using it on skaters of 'today'. He's an Olympic medalist but all those medals die out in time as new fans come of age and wonder Peter Who?
I could spec that envy comes into play when he realizes all the money being made by eligible skaters these days. But he got a good gig with ABC and he should be happy with that. As pointed out above, a bit of diplomacy would help his interviews. One can ask the most difficult questions without being blunt.
e.g. "how did you feel when you fell on that lutz?" v. "Do you think that untimely fall cost you the loss?".

Still I would prefer to see another skater.

Joe

Pixie Cut · Nov 20, 2006

Joesitz said:
I get the feeling that Carruthers is holding inside an unsettled disappointment in his life and is using it on skaters of 'today'. He's an Olympic medalist but all those medals die out in time as new fans come of age and wonder Peter Who?

I think everyone is giving Peter Carruthers way more power than he actually has.

The fact is, a producer or a director is shouting orders at him in his ear piece. He is following their directives. If he were more talented, perhaps he'd handle it better. But he isn't.

Also, this is who ABC chooses to hire. Rather than get professional sports reporters, they like to hire former skaters whose titles sound good. So complain to ABC about how their sports department chooses to handle figure skating programming. Psychoanalyzing one dumb former skater isn't the answer.

Dee4707 · Nov 20, 2006

Mathman said:
To answer Red Dog's question, there must be dozens of ex-skaters who would jump at the chance to get into broadcasting.

I agree Math, they had that one really pretty woman who had great big ................... words. :laugh:

Remember her???

Dee

merrywidow · Nov 20, 2006

ITA with PixieCut. These after competition interviews onTV have been like this for the past 30 years. If they aren't asking pointed questions (re: Carruthers) than they ask stupid questions (Are you pleased that you won? Are you disappointed that you didn't win?) How about that woman who asked Eldredge at the '98 Olympics how he felt after seeing his training partner win the gold (Lipinski) when he blew his chance for a medal? Some interviewers can be downright cruel. It all goes hand in hand with the fluff pieces. If you are a fan of figure skating it's something you put up with. You younger fans may think you can change things by complaining but it's not going to happen.

chuckm · Nov 20, 2006

Carruthers and the other interviewers are acting as REPORTERS. The skaters should know what to expect when they confront him.

The skaters have to be careful to stay positive and not get snarky, because then Peter has scored one on them. But they can counteract his barbs and make him come out the loser.

For example, Emily could have said, "Hey, I just won my first GP medal and I'm feeling FINE! I can go over all that with my coach tomorrow, but today I'm just going to celebrate".

Or Evan: "I just won a gold medal without the quad. I couldn't be happier!"

flying camel · Nov 20, 2006

Yea, first he was rude to Alissia, now Emily. They both looked like they were calling him something with their eyes. I like how Emily said of course she wanted to win, but it didn't work out.

SeaniBu · Nov 20, 2006

Sasha was about to be interviewed after her Dark Eyes at Campbell's, Peter was talking about cueing up a mistake made during her program. Sasha told him they should focus more on the positive, and acknowledged it was society, she said it was her job to change society - half heartedly licking her teeth. During that interview Peter asked her what she thought she did well in the program.

She said something, and a "slight" change was made.

On the side of what happened when interviewing Emily (YAH!!! I got the right name! :laugh:

) she handled herself very well. I love her eye contact during that interview.

And I agree, that is likely the directive the interviewers are given - "push buttons." :eek:

hwell:

Dee4707 · Nov 20, 2006

SeaniBu said:
Sasha was about to be interviewed after her Dark Eyes at Campbell's, Peter was talking about cueing up a mistake made during her program. Sasha told him they should focus more on the positive, and acknowledged it was society, she said it was her job to change society - half heartedly licking her teeth. During that interview Peter asked her what she thought she did well in the program.

She said something, and a "slight" change was made.

On the side of what happened when interviewing Emily (YAH!!! I got the right name! ) she handled herself very well. I love her eye contact during that interview.

And I agree, that is likely the directive the interviewers are given - "push buttons." hwell:

I liked it once when Sasha said.........let's talk about the weather. :laugh:

Dee

attyfan · Nov 20, 2006

SeaniBu said:
... .

On the side of what happened when interviewing Emily (YAH!!! I got the right name! ) she handled herself very well. I love her eye contact during that interview.

And I agree, that is likely the directive the interviewers are given - "push buttons." hwell:

I'm not sure that the interviewers are told to "push buttons" -- Suzie Wynn does interviews, and she isn't nearly so obnoxious as Peter is.

Peter though, probably thought he had to be rude to Emily because he was rude to Sarah. (At Trophy Lalique -- as it was then called, a clean Sarah and a clean Sasha were behind Maria Butyskaya after the SP, even though Maria had made a mistake. Peter asked them if they thought it was fair -- the look they gave each other "I can't believe he just asked that" -- was priceless.)

SeaniBu · Nov 20, 2006

attyfan said:
I'm not sure that the interviewers are told to "push buttons"

I wouldn't say "told" either. The comments on Sasha's inteview are stating where the "directive likely" comes from.

Will Someone Please Slap Peter Carruthers???

JonnyCoop

R.D.

Mathman

La Rhumba

Supporting All British Skaters!

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!

psycho

R.D.

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!

Joesitz (RIP)

JonnyCoop

Joesitz (RIP)

Pixie Cut

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

merrywidow

chuckm

flying camel

SeaniBu

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

attyfan

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