Chan: Maybe I'm saving it for the Olympics; Phil Hersh article | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Chan: Maybe I'm saving it for the Olympics; Phil Hersh article

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Patrick needed to watch Yuna Kim tonight to see how a real champion wins.

Chan will never have the respect level, greatness, or memorability that Yu Na has. Years from now the name Yu Na will be associated with legend and one of the all time best, and Chan will be met with eye rolls and thank goodness he is retired.
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
what I hope Chan is saving for the olympics is a fall on every element and a last place finish. damn it, i just can't stand him!

Be careful what you wish, especially the ill wishes to others. It might come back and bite yourself.;) Last time Takahashi fan wished Chan go to Morozov. A few weeks later, Chan didn't go. Takahashi's gone to.:laugh:
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Chan seems like a reasonably intelligent young man. You can't blame him for the scoring, but it's galling that he seems to believe it too. A proper response to a disastrous program like that is, "I'm disappointed I didn't do as well as I wanted to and while I am happy with the result, I will be going home to work even harder for next time". Not making comments about his competitors. ANY athlete who critiques their competitors performance, ESPECIALLY if they've won over them, is beyond classless. You just don't do that. I understand that if you lose to what you feel is a less deserving performance it's easy to critique in the heat of the moment, but if you're the one who came out on top...keep your mouth shut. It's not your place to say who did better.

He shouldn't mention his competitors at all.. he doesn't seem to realize it is wrong.. like the time he did too many jumps or something like that (can't remember exactly what) and said "I pulled a Nobunari" and laughed. I thought that was kind of inappropriate.. and his criticism of Johnny Weir for putting the flowers on his head at the Vancouver Olympics. And btw, I don't hate Chan AT ALL, I actually quite enjoy him sometimes, but those particular things he said were inappropriate.
 

Art&Sport

Medalist
Joined
Apr 28, 2011

Mixed from me: Its true as Chan said that it's tough to train and to go out there on the ice, and he works hard. And it's easy for fans and journalists to sit behind a computer and critique. Also, Chan doesn't have anything to do with how the judges score him and he shouldn't be blamed for that. OTOH, Chan hasn't seemed to be able to learn how to handle the over-scoring in a way that would allow fans to be more understanding toward him. Posters here have offered better ways for Chan to respond to the media. Maybe Chan could also benefit by advice from Meryl and Charlie. ;)

At one point, early in his career, Chan seemed to be a little too full himself in believing all the over-hype. I think it is a measure of his youth. He was so young when he hit the senior scene, so his maturity level as a person has had to grow at the same time he was being forced to deal with a lot of high-profile stuff that teenagers would find difficult to navigate. The fawning and over-protective fan worship has not helped either. Hopefully, Patrick will gain perspective, get PR help, and learn how to better use his charm instead of annoyance and defensiveness.

I think Chan's comments about his competitors were very defensive, and in the case of Denis, completely inaccurate as Denis' couple of mistakes of doubling out a couple of planned triples were not as serious as 3 of the 4 errors Chan made. Chan crashed on both 3-axels. Not completing even one 3-axel should be a huge penalty, and it is for most skaters. Chan's comments make it seem like he feels falling (at least for him) is really no big deal. Chan should apologize to Denis. But I'm sure the comments don't bother Denis or other skaters who probably feel sympathy for Patrick getting it on all sides from rival fans on fan boards, OTT judging, and the media. It should be the judges being grilled, not Patrick.

ETA:
:laugh: I have to laugh at Patrick saying that he would love to explain why he deserves all the points he gets! What skater is going to think that they don't deserve all their points when points aren't easy to come by and mean so much? In Patrick's case, he tends to hugely get more than his fare share of points when he skates well and even when he doesn't. He shouldn't be made to feel that his SS completely make up for his errors. Not true!
 

ks777

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
Oh I thought the title was " Chan saving himself for the Olympics" like the virgin bachelor Sean Lowe.
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Oh I thought the title was " Chan saving himself for the Olympics" like the virgin bachelor Sean Lowe.

Whew. I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I was really puzzled by the thread title for about five seconds (reminded me of that one article before the London Olympics about athletes and, erm, extra "pent-up energy". :unsure: :biggrin:
 

spikydurian

Medalist
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Proper post-competition sound byte remark from Chan for an ugly win like this:
"I'd like to thank the technical panel and judges for this gift. Clearly, I still have a lot to work on for next season. Thanks. Goodbye." (exit stage left)
Putting words in his mouth?

ImaginaryProgue said:
I'm pretty sure PTF is Canadian, actually.
I suspect a former competitor?;)
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
Patrick has to be the worst 3 time champion ever. You would think with a dominating streak like that he would have had some memorable skates during that time. Other then 2011 he was sloppy and lucky to win. Can you imagine showing someone Chan's skates from Worlds 2012 or 2013 twenty years from now? They will be like how the hell did this guy win?
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Patrick has to be the worst 3 time champion ever. You would think with a dominating streak like that he would have had some memorable skates during that time. Other then 2011 he was sloppy and lucky to win. Can you imagine showing someone Chan's skates from Worlds 2012 or 2013 twenty years from now? They will be like how the hell did this guy win?

By then, maybe it'll be the norm to win like that. Judges are now being conditioned to love falls. :laugh:
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Oh I thought the title was " Chan saving himself for the Olympics" like the virgin bachelor Sean Lowe.

Whew. I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I was really puzzled by the thread title for about five seconds (reminded me of that one article before the London Olympics about athletes and, erm, extra "pent-up energy". :unsure: :biggrin:

But notice how coy Patrick is being. "Are you saving it for the Olympics?

"M-a-a-ay-be. ;) "
 

ohwylime

Spectator
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
I totally agree.

It was so embarrassing watching the replays from all the winning performances this year, when you see amazing skates from all the other three winners and you see... inflation in full effect.

I understand that being in Patrick's position there will definitely be difficulties as he's technically not at fault for receiving the points he did. But several things he said makes it so much worse because it looks like he doesn't acknowledge it happening the least bit - this makes him seem ignorant and just full of himself, thinking that he actually deserves it.

some quotes worthy of questioning (from the MetroNews.ca article)

"“inflation…,” he said, with a half-hearted laugh. “I think people forget that it’s a two-part event. Hey, why don’t I call the journalists and tell them to come on the ice and try and do what we do?"

Anyone who tries to defend themselves with that line is pretty ignorant... has he ever even rewatched any of the events he's been in, or bothered to watch his fellow competitor's skates? He's trying to deny something obvious in an immature manner.

“If I combine both the short program and the long program, and combine the amount of mistakes I made, I don’t think I made any more mistakes than Denis did or Javier (Fernandez, the bronze medallist) did,” he said."

I don't want to blame him for saying something that's positive, but he didn't need to say this. He should know better.

"“But … inflation,” Chan added, with a long sigh. “If they have a problem with it they should talk to the judges, not blame me, I’m just doing my job. I deserved every point that I got, and I worked hard for it."

Again, you would think that a professional skater who's been on the international stage for a while can tell the difference between a good skate and a bad one. Heck, even fans can. So for him to say this... that "he deserved every point that he go" is either showing that he's super ignorant and full of himself, or he has serious issues with his standards


There are things he really doesn't have to say. I'd prefer it if Patrick speaks less... learn from Kim Yuna and Mao. They've also had to deal with a lot of crap relating to their countries' rivalries. These women know when to talk, and how much to say. That shows a level of maturity and humility.

Ugh.. i can't believe I'm saying this - I actually liked Patrick. But it's his time to leave this sport, so that it can be at a better place.
 

neraiselle

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 8, 2006
A National Post article titled, "Patrick Chan on criticism at figure skating worlds: ‘I truly believe I deserved to win’"

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013...ing-worlds-i-truly-believe-i-deserved-to-win/

I don't think Patrick is surprised and embarrassed at all - he said, "I went to bed a bit bummed,” he said, in a gathering with a handful of media people. “I can’t imagine if I didn’t win a gold medal, how much worse I’d feel. But I truly believe I deserved to win.”

“If I gave my own marks, I definitely would criticize myself a lot more, but that’s just the perfectionist in me. But I deserved every point that I got, and worked hard for it.’’

“It was one point. There was no inflation. If there had been inflation, maybe I’d have had a 10-point lead after the (short). I had a great skate in the short program, and yet Denis had it. He just didn’t capitalize.”

:disagree:

Can you get more presumptious than that?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
If I wanted to hear competitors make themselves sound good after a lackluster performance, I'd follow wrestling.

I'm not saying this because I'm from another country. I've rooted for every Canadian male skater since Toller Cranston. (Except when I supported Ilia Kulik in 1998.) Even Sandhu!
 

Leonardo

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
A National Post article titled, "Patrick Chan on criticism at figure skating worlds: ‘I truly believe I deserved to win’"

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013...ing-worlds-i-truly-believe-i-deserved-to-win/

I don't think Patrick is surprised and embarrassed at all - he said, "I went to bed a bit bummed,” he said, in a gathering with a handful of media people. “I can’t imagine if I didn’t win a gold medal, how much worse I’d feel. But I truly believe I deserved to win.”

“If I gave my own marks, I definitely would criticize myself a lot more, but that’s just the perfectionist in me. But I deserved every point that I got, and worked hard for it.’’

“It was one point. There was no inflation. If there had been inflation, maybe I’d have had a 10-point lead after the (short). I had a great skate in the short program, and yet Denis had it. He just didn’t capitalize.”

:disagree:

Can you get more presumptious than that?

Patrick Chan is ridiculous. Or delusional. Or both.

“If I go back and study it, I think that the amount of time I’ve fallen, and combine both the short and long programs, and count the number of mistakes I made, I don’t think I made more than Denis did or Javier (Fernandez, bronze medalist) did or anyone,” he said.
 

Rachmaninoff

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Lol. Wow. Well, then.

I don't know what to make of this dude. I've been annoyed by things he's been quoted as saying in the papers, but whenever I actually see him interviewed, to me he just seems down-to-earth and kind of awkward in a likeable way. I don't know what the deal is.

If he wants to say he earned his points, that's fine by me; arguably he did, since as I said earlier, the system works that way. It rewards the things he does well more than it penalizes his flubbed jumps, and he's not the only skater who's benefited from it. But those comments about his competitors are both tacky and bizarre. Did he not watch them? Is he just assuming they made a bunch of mistakes, too? And that "I'd like to see the journalists do what we do" comment was just :rolleye:. So everyone has to be able to do a quad toe in order to have a valid position on the outcome of this competition? 'Cause that would disqualify the judges, too.
 

Eislauf

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
It's peculiar that someone who has been repeatedly gifted with overmarking doesn't conduct himself in a way that is modest, humble and gracious, or demonstrate good sportsmanship and compliment his competitors. He knows full well that he didn't deserve the marks he rec'd and yet acts defensive and boastful, which only fuels the controversy and makes him even more unpopular. I mean, doesn't Skate Canada give him media training??
 

wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Eventually this gravy train has to end. It will probably end at the Olympics.

In other words, you are wishing him ill or crush & burn. meanwhile, S/S won their silver by falling and without even landing a single SBS Triple. Yet, I do not think they are any more or less humble than Chan and they certainly did not suggest they do not deserve it either. So why are you limiting your crusade on Chan and him alone? What about Kostner? Big fall in SP and LP over an Asada who did not fall even once. Kostner is the same sweet girl who said the reason why Rochette could be 2nd after the SP at 2009 Worlds was due to Skate Canada politicking for her. :rolleye:

I thought you really hate skaters falling and win, no? Maybe we should add an * to that.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I do expect the judging at the Olympics to be tougher on falls, though. After all, the IOC will be watching, together with a billion people or so.

I don't think the ISU will score events the same way as they do when they think no one is watching them.
 
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