I'm sorry, but how is this bullying? Are you saying that a commentator isn't allowed to comment on a pair's weaknesses? Just because you happen to disagree with his assessment doesn't mean it's bullying
Yep.
I'm sorry, but how is this bullying? Are you saying that a commentator isn't allowed to comment on a pair's weaknesses? Just because you happen to disagree with his assessment doesn't mean it's bullying
You know, there's a huge difference between saying "there is a joke about so-and-so" vs. saying "so-and-so is a joke." Huge difference.
And you know for sure he meant the former, instead of the latter because...
The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?
Perhaps English isn't your first language, but I can assure you that saying "there is a joke about someone" is extremely different from saying that the person (or team) in question IS a joke. A joke is about a very specific quality or foible of that person. We all have things that are laughable.
I am not aware of any top 10 skater or team in the world, whether current or retired, who can honestly say everyone in skating universally like how the said skater/team skate. For that matter, I am not aware of any such top 10 skater who can state that he/she/they have never been criticized for being overmarked. If you can think of any, please let me know. Stating that he know he has doubters, as everyone else surely has as well, isn't the same as someone else making fun of another competitor being "the joke among other professional skaters".
In other words, he is trash talking. Even last year, he is known to make controversial statements about other skaters but also joke about himself. Perhaps he honestly think he is funny but don't blame others if they don't share his "joke".
And yet, your are certain he meant it in the worst possible way, huh? Seems to me that if you are aware of the possibility of misunderstanding, it might occur to you that there is a possibility that he is being misunderstood :scratch:
So much drama over such a trivial thing.
The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?
Meanwhile, still waiting for you to show us via your fluent Russian the exact verbatim of Trankov' comment that demonstrate he meant it as "joke about so and so" as opposed to "so and so is a joke".
And I'm getting the sense that you interpret the most innocuous comments as insults. Being aware that there are people from various countries on this board, I was actually giving you the benefit of the doubt, thinking there might be some reason for your confusion. My mistake. I'll remember not to give you the benefit of the doubt in the future. You simply want to spew venom and assume the most nefarious motives for what people say. I'm not interested in that game.I think you are being intentionally insulting, which is unnecessary and uncalled for. The difference between the two are not in question, thank you very much. Meanwhile, still waiting for you to show us via your fluent Russian the exact verbatim of Trankov' comment that demonstrate he meant it as "joke about so and so" as opposed to "so and so is a joke".
Of course he didn't mean any harm by his words. He praised them a lot for their difficult elements, he just said that they don't skate as pair most of the time, and when they do, they're mostly doing hand in hand holds or simple dance holds. He said it during warm up, when Eric and Megan warmed up on different sides of the rink while other pairs did their pair's elements, and then after their performance. And they (skaters) are sometimes kidding about that. That's what he said. I don't know the difference between the words 'joke' and 'funny saying'. He used the words 'мы шутим', which may be translated 'we're joking' or 'we're kidding'.I don't know russian, but honestly from what was reported here I don't think he was saying they are a joke.
He said there is a joke about them that they're two solo skaters who skate as pair.
I'm not sure why he even used the word joke tbh. Maybe he said, meant, there is a saying about them?
Maybe Snow could help here, because he heard him.
And you know for sure he meant the former, instead of the latter because...
The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?
I think the "problem" (if that is a problem) is that Eric is very much a classical pair skater. He does have beautiful lines and movements, while Meagan looks more an athletic. It's like they have two different styles of skating.
IMO, the "problem" is that D/R are attempting huge difficulty of singles skaters, so they come across as technicians more than artists. I mean SBS 3Z and 3S when S/K are still doing 3T and 2A?
Perhaps the reason Trankov's calling them single skaters is because they're doing difficulty at the level of singles' skaters. Sure, Radford could skate with someone who better matches his lines and interpretation but they sure as hell wouldn't be able to land a triple lutz with the reliability of Duhamel. V/T themselves couldn't execute higher than an SBS 3S and a throw 3L.
I wonder if Trankov criticizes S/K's junior level SBS jumps the way he criticizes D/R for looking like two solo skaters. As for simple transitions... maybe he needs to look at their SP again where they do a freaking dance lift as a transition... And maybe he needs to look at how many transitions were in his own programs.
D/R has the jumping skills that are more than on par with single skaters. So many girls can't do a proper 3Lutz being a single skater. Technically superior does not lead to the conclusion that they skate like two single skaters. They don't. They skate as a very good pair despite of the height difference. They won fair and square. S/K are consistent, fast. But that's about it. To me they are by no means more like a pair than D/R. I like both pair but not a fan of any of them.
Talking about V/T, one of the things I don't like is she always take a long in the middle of the LPs, almost e very one, without any movement of the feet. And yes, they don't have that many transitions, in fact, much less than P/T or D/R or K/S.
I don't know the difference between the words 'joke' and 'funny saying'. He used the words 'мы шутим', which may be translated 'we're joking' or 'we're kidding'.