Phil Hersh is interviewed in this podcast | Golden Skate

Phil Hersh is interviewed in this podcast

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Great interview! Allison Manley has a very pleasant melodious voice.

Well. I have to agree with everything he said about the judging system and the kind of performances and results that it produces. Best line, when the skaters fall three or four times, they are not even fooling themselves.

No, actually the best line was, as extraordinary as Michelle Kwan's skating career was, what she has done afterward is even more amazing. :yes:

Kind of a sad prognosis about the future of mainstream figure skating coverage: when the current generation of figure skating reporters retire, there won't be another generation .
 

babyalligator

On the Ice
Joined
May 18, 2009
Thanks for posting this!
I've always enjoyed reading Hersh's columns because he just tells it like it is instead of just being a cheerleader.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
And Hersh revealed that he lurks at Golden Skate, as well as FSU & Skatefans :) He swears he will never post though.
 

clairecloutier

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
Thanks for sharing, Doris, I can't wait to listen to this! I'm not surprised to hear that Hersh actually loves figure skating. I always assumed he did, despite his often harsh opinions. He wouldn't get so angry about skating if he didn't love it!! Also not surprised he lurks on the boards--I'd suspected as much from comments here and there in his articles.

Although I disagree with Hersh at times, the fact is I don't miss an article from him. I guess that makes me a fan. :)
 

clairecloutier

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
Just listened to the whole podcast. So interesting, and I agree with Phil on so many points. For example, the need for greater musicality and more musical experimentation by skaters. Also, I loved hearing him talk about pairs, basically saying that when it's done well, it is possibly the greatest of all the disciplines. The only thing I wish is that the interviewer had asked him more about Michelle Kwan (as a skater) and Yuna Kim. Anyone who reads Phil's columns knows what a fan he is of Michelle and, in particular, Yuna. I would've liked to hear a bit more about this.

The interviewer pressed him quite a bit on his oft-critical remarks about skating. I personally have no issue with Phil's comments about the Patrick Chan situation at Worlds, for example. What bothers me is I feel he's too critical about up-and-coming U.S. skaters. With U.S. skaters, all he seems to care about is medals. If we're not winning medals in every division at Worlds, we're failing. It doesn't make much difference to him if we're placing 4th or 22nd, all that matters is it's not a medal. On an ultimate level, he's right--success is winning. I guess I just like to celebrate what successes we do have. This year, Ashley & Gracie combining to get the third spot back for the U.S.--that, to me, felt probably as good as a medal.

I was interested also in his opinion that figure skating boards should not be anonymous. He is right in noting that board posters are often intensely personally critical of skaters, far more so than he is in print, yet because we're anonymous, we can "get away with it." He has a point, I think. I wonder how many posters here would be willing to post under their real name.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
:eek::

Me

It keeps me from getting too evil.

BTw, he said that he always answers any communications that include a person's real name.

I'm tempted to try...
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Thank you very much for posting the link, not only because Phil Hersh turned out to be far more interesting a subject than I thought he would be (many writers can be surprisingly inarticulate when interviewed), but for the dozens and dozens of other interviews on the site.

And yes, I agreed with most--though not all--the Mr Hersh said, particularly about music (in one way I am dreading the Olympic year because it's usually like The Relentless Attack Of the War Horses), and about anonymous/reputation scoring.
 

hikki

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Country
Japan
Thank you for this! I agree with pretty much everything he had to say, especially about the judges' accountability and their role in explaining to the public.

I didn't know about Manleywoman SkateCast until now. So much good stuff! It's so nice to have insights of the skating world via internet media like The Skating Lesson and this one. :clap:
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
This is one of the better interviews Allison has done lately. I love hearing what Phillip had to say about music, he is so right and I 100% agree. he should have talked about Jeremy Abbott's musicality. talk about a skater who really knows how to pick music. He and Sasha are in a class of their own. Interesting to hear that he though Elena and Anton should have easily won in 2002. I agree, but I didn't think he would have. The musicality, choreography and skating skills were indeed incredible.
 
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