Skaters you Don't Miss

Cackling here over the hygiene/grooming remarks. (Not to mention the "who let the dog in" slam.) I have never understood how a skater could go out without looking their best... you see it all the time... even on World and Olympic telecasts. If you knew you were being recorded for all time wouldn't you shave, brush your teeth and wash your hair??

And in keeping with this thread--- bash me if you will--- but I could live with never seeing Plush skate again. Just don't like the over-the-top theatrics and arm-flailing. (And talk about poor grooming... he is frequently guilty of skipping a shave... and don't get me started on the chili-bowl haircut.)

Also-- sorry-- never a Tara fan.

Laurent Tobel. He did make me laugh, unfortunately it was at him and not with him. Not to say he wasn't talented, but OMGoodness what an odd duck!!!

Gary Beacom. I just never got into his skating. Uh, is he out of jail?

Plush. I just don't care for his robotic skating.

Urmanov. ZZZZZ....ZZZZZZ....ZZZZZ...

Ok not trying to pick on anyone but here's my list.
Tara Lipinski - not because she beat Michelle like some
Nancy Kerrigan - whinner
Michael Weiss - his big oversize ego
Vicotr Petrenko - he's tries to be funny and it just doesn't work
Maria Butreskya - her skating is stiff and jurky
Philippe Candeloro - not into the stripping, and at a family type show uncalled for
Sarah Hughes - just never could get into her style
Oksana Baiul - sorry she lost her family but she used the ophran card too many times
Surya Bonaly - when she took her medal off, I just don't know

Lipinski
Bauil
Urmanov
Candeloro
Hamilton
Sumners
Schuba

ETA Pasha AKA Oksana G. (how could I forget her :sheesh: )

My goodness, your replies have reminded me I am not so fond of more skaters than I thought!
Definately would add Grishuk/Pasha to the list tho I didn't mind Evgeny Platov.
Also Fusar-Poli/Margaglio, especially Fusar-Poli.

Fusar-Poli & Margaglio: The definition of overmarked and overrated. So sloppy.

Nancy Kerrigan: I always hated how her programs seemed to build and build towards her long and boring spiral sequence.

Scott Davis: Paul Wylie he was not.

Alexei Urmanov: I could never get into his programs, at least for awhile. After he came back from his injury, however, I was rooting for him.

Shiskauma & Naumov: Although they had talent, they could never wow me.

Tonya Harding: From the gold blades to throwing hubcaps, well....I think I've said enough.

Ina & Zimmerman: I always liked Kyoko but Zimmerman was lost on the ice. I just got fed up watching him stumble through program after program. I did enjoy them at SLC though.

Rudi Galindo: I love his personal story, but his skating bored me to tears.

Marcus Christensen: A Canadian skater who always seemed to place third or fourth at the Canadian Championships during the Kurt and Elvis years.

And I agree with everyone who said Michael Weiss. He can't retire soon enough. It's hard to believe he used to be billed as the "Man With The Quad". More like the two-foot quad and skid Axel. I wonder what happened with the Hummer...?

eyria said:

Krylova & Ovsiannikov--overhyped, too melodramatic

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On what planet were K&O overhyped?
They were usually in the shadows of Grishuk & Platov, Anissina & Peizerat or even Bourne & Kraatz.

I do have to agree with them (or at least Angelika) being melodramatic-but I sort of liked that.

NJSk8Fan said:

I'm not good at remembering specific programs and I don't mean my answers as a slam, either, but, for the most part, I have not enjoyed the skating of:
Tara Lipinski
Maria Butyrskaya
Nancy Kerrigan
Gary Beacom
and tho he's still "on the scene", Michael Weiss
Altho I've enjoyed a program here or there by all listed (except Beacom), most of the time I just wasn't drawn into their skating.

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Gary Beacom is on your list? Wow! You really missed some great skating. Beacom is no ordinary skater; rather very avant-garde. I guess one has to be a figure skater to appreciate his talents. I think he is very talented on the blade.

I don't miss Phillipe Candeloro...at all. He was embarrassing to watch.

Personnaly, I just have to agree with some of your choices:

For me in women:

Tara never did anything for me, only her olympic win gave me chills.
Jennifer Robinson, everytime I would see her live, she looked like a junior.
Maria Burtirskaya, she was very stiff, she always kept me on the edg
Katia Gordeeva: Although I always loved her skating, since she change her choreographer, she is not the same, I just saw her in a TV special and in some videos on the Internet and some of the last programs I've seen, it look like she is taking some choreography from Ilia Kulik, I prefer when she skates some romantic programs and pairs is her thing. sorry but still love the person and some of her programs.

I don't miss Tara's professional skating at all. Without the jumps there was nothing to watch. The only pro program of hers I liked was the mirror image one she did with Scott Hamiton.

I definitely do not miss Chen Lu. Loved her in the '98 Olys - afterwards all of her programs had her shimmying embarrassingly to some awful pop song.

Jennifer Robinzzzzzzon
Tatiana Malinina (she made me too nervous while she skated)
Josee Chouinard
Caryn Kadavy


Scott Hamilton
Phillippe Candeloro
Meno & Sand

chania36 said:

Although I always loved her skating, since she change her choreographer, she is not the same, I just saw her in a TV special and in some videos on the Internet and some of the last programs I've seen, it look like she is taking some choreography from Ilia Kulik, I prefer when she skates some romantic programs and pairs is her thing. sorry but still love the person and some of her programs.

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Ilia has created no choreography for Katia.

Marjaana

They were good, they were great, they always were classy winners, but I really don't miss Scott Hamilton, Kat Witt, or Roz Sumners. I just got tired of them, and with the exception of Scott, after awhile every program Kat and Roz put out looked the same.

Also, I could live the rest of my life perfectly fine if I never saw Candeloro take off his clothes, Maria Butyrskaya rag on about Kwan, Bonaly's sloppy skating, or Baiul's childish behavior and histrionics again in this lifetime.

Don't really miss Nancy, Tonya, or Tara either.

One of the skaters I have not missed seeing all the time is Kristie Y. Never understood what was so wonderful about her. :sheesh:

Dee

Todd Eldredge -- excellent technique that many could stand to learn from, but ZZZZZZZZ.

Alexei Urmanov -- Same, only with much uglier costumes.

Viachaslav Zagorodniuk -- one of the slowest skaters I have ever seen, except for skaters who finish 17th in Worlds qualifying groups and last in Junior Nationals.

Brian Boitano -- Yes, he was brilliant in Calgary, and his short program that season is still the best I've ever seen. However, everything before that and after that -- BORING. And I don't like how he tries to come off as some sort of born dyed in the wool artiste a la John Curry. For one thing, it's hard to convince anyone of that who remembers his exhibition program to "I'll Be Your Freakazoid Come On And Wind Me Up" (circa 1985). And for another, he only went the artistic route because without the quad it was the only chance he had of beating Orser.

Tara Lipinski -- I was sick of her before she even won the Nationals. Having had to sit through all the media hype over this alleged "protege" who HADN'T EVEN WON ONE TITLE OF ANY CONSEQUENCE WHATSOEVER in the 3 years before she won Nationals could tend to do that to a person. I hope we never see a publicity machine like that in motion ever again. And it's not like she ever evolved into anything even remotely approaching a stylist out there.

Oksana Baiul -- All that bawling tends to be a bit much after a while. And even now she always looks like she's about ready to burst into tears and/or pass out from the sheer DRAMA of what she's presenting.

Eltsova & Bushkov -- These two were like a time warp. Everyone else was in the mid-90s, they were somewhere in the early 80s. And even compared to the top pairs of the early 80s, they weren't much to write home about either.

Girtshuk & Platov -- for all the reasons listed above by others, and for others as well. How many mistakes did they have to make before they would even be placed 2nd? I still think there should be a judging investigation as to why they were allowed to be so dominant for 4 years.

Sargent & Witherby -- Within 30 seconds after they got off the ice, I could never remember one single thing they had done out there.

Hehe I feel a bit cruel doing this! But I don't miss:

Tara - I respected her skating and appreciated her programs, but I was so pleased when she retired from amateur skating.

Sale/Peletier - Never got into these two, and the whole SLC thing just annoyed me even more.

Grischuk/Platov - They just got on my nerves (esp her!)

Sarah Hughes - She seemed nice, and definitely deserved her Oly gold but I found her skating kinda ugly....

Eldredge/Stojko/Eltsova & Bushkov/Meno & Sand - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Viacheslav Zagorodniuk. He was a very boring skater to watch.

For me, I'd have to say Oksana Baiul and Maria Butraskaya (sp ?).
Oksana seems like a really nice person, but I just never got
into her programs . . . especially that "rapping swan" one she
did at Ice Wars. :scratch:

Maria ? Well, I gotta give her credit for skating eligibly 'til she was 30,
not many can say they did that. BUT. . . she was way too stiff when
skating and when she didn't do too good, she wasn't very sportsmanlike.
(She also dissed my favorite skater once, but that's another subject).


--Hermy

Great thread! I'm not trying to be nasty, but these are some skaters who I really do NOT miss:

Nancy Kerrigan. I always thought she was over-rated and received marks that were inflated, bigtime. While I truly admire her tenacity in recovering from the horrendous attack of 1994, she never would have become the media star she became had she not been attacked. I was really disgusted to see all of those commercials she made between the attack and the Olympics air during the Olympics coverage. One such commercial was aired immediately before the coverage showed her long program. Bad taste, IMHO. Then, of course, she wasn't exactly the most gracious second-place finisher, either. She told the television commentator that "everyone thought I had won the competition".
Oh, really? OK - sorry to sound like I'm criticizing the girl. Her skating, IMHO, was always stilted, uninspired, defective on technique, and she was prone to make at least one or two clumsy errors. Again, my apologies to all of you who are Kerrigan fans. You're entitled to our opinion, as I'm entitled to mine.

Suraya Bonaly - Again, folks, my apologies to all of her fans. I never liked the girl's skating. In my opinion, she was totally ungraceful, had no musical interpretation, and her jumping was more like "springing" than true jumping. Her landings were flawed, and her choreography, if you can call it that, was nearly non-existent. Just plain stroking from one end of the rink to the other - JUMP - then more stroking to the other end of the rink - JUMP. Ugh! Her costumes were typically over-the-top, too. Again, IMHO.

Todd Eldredge - Yes, he has always been and will always be a completely nice guy. But his skating! BORING!!! I never saw him skate a program that contained any real choregraphy - just a plateful of jumps, with not the best of landing technique, either.

I guess I'd better stop before the Golden Skate police evict me from this board!