I think the USFSA sees him as a choker and as someone who does not live up to his talent. Personally I don't think they should see him this way, but I think they do see him this way. I think the fact that he is a Russophile does not help him either.Per Mathman:Why would the USFSA bear resentment against Johnny Weir -- or against any skater, for that matter?
I believe that they resent his outspoken admiration of all things Russian and his Russian coach. I think that with the exception of ice dancers, there is a prejudice on the part of US judges about having a non-American coach. A friend of mine was sitting immediately in front of a couple of US judges and heard a negative comment from them to that effect.
if you pop a triple Axel in your short and do it again in the long you're likely to end up fifth best at U.S. nationals.
You're right, Nylynnr. But I still think the USFSA has a more negative opinion of Johnny Weir than he deserves. I wish he would put it all together and show them, but his time for that is running out.It doesn't matter if you are a Russophile, Francophile, or died-in-the-wool U.S. patriot, if you pop a triple Axel in your short and do it again in the long you're likely to end up fifth best at U.S. nationals.
I believe that they resent his [Weir's] outspoken admiration of all things Russian and his Russian coach. I think that with the exception of ice dancers, there is a prejudice on the part of US judges about having a non-American coach. A friend of mine was sitting immediately in front of a couple of US judges and heard a negative comment from them to that effect.
It doesn't matter if you are a Russophile, Francophile, or died-in-the-wool U.S. patriot, if you pop a triple Axel in your short and do it again in the long you're likely to end up fifth best at U.S. nationals.
Weir also seems to have a general tendency not to do all his jumps in the freeskate, what ever the competition may be.
As for the idea that USFS doesn't like him, I think that comes directly from certain things they have done, such as leaving Johnny off both the web site and printed materials for Nationals 2007 while prominently displaying Evan and all of the other top US skaters in large photos on both, even though Johnny was then the three-time reigning champion. Or the kind of negative way they report Johnny's successes on their official website compared to the way they report on Evan or other skaters - for example, when Evan won his bronze medals at Worlds, they trumpeted it in excited terms describing what a triumph it was, but when Johnny won his World bronze, they were considerably more subdued and even negative about his win, remarking that he didn't skate his best (which may have been true, but neither did Lysacek when he got bronze).
Weir also seems to have a general tendency not to do all his jumps in the freeskate, what ever the competition may be.
USFS has formed icenetwork as a joint venture with MLB and it is the main repository of US skating news. Johnny's bronze medal was reported in detail on IN, not on the USFSA site, which by that time was not the site that posted competition reports. Skating magazine also did a lengthy cover story on JW after his bronze medal win. IN does not downplay JW.
You are correct that icenetwork does not downplay Johnny, but you are incorrect that the USFS official site did not report on Worlds and Johnny's bronze medal there. The USFS official site did indeed have articles about both Johnny's and Evan's bronze medals at Worlds in their respective years, and there is no question that they were covered very differently.
I wouldn't call those news blurbs on USFS' home page "full articles" -- just quick summaries written by whoever was managing the USFS site at the time. I think you're reading too much into them... just my humble opinion.
I don’t think it has anything to do with reading into them, I think it has more to do with reading what was actually written.
Weir also seems to have a general tendency not to do all his jumps in the freeskate, what ever the competition may be.