Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come True

[Dee4707]

Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come True

Alexei always amazes me

<a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olycol10jan10,0,101077.column?coll=la-headlines-sports" target="top">www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olycol10jan10,0,101077.column?coll=la-headlines-sports</a>

Dee

 

[CB1AB2]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

can you give a brief discription of the article=I'm not registered for the L A Times on line=thanks

cb

 

[Dee4707]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

Here is a narrative of the article:
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>When Alexei Yagudin read about 11-year-old Grisha Fournier, an aspiring figure skater, in The Times in September, he recognized similarities to his own life. Given the chance to make the boy's most cherished wish come true, the Salt Lake City men's figure skating gold medalist didn't hesitate.[/quote]
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Yagudin was flattered to learn that Fournier, who was abandoned by his mother and spent two years in a Russian orphanage before being adopted by an Alta Loma couple, admired him and dreamed of duplicating Yagudin's Olympic feats in 2010. That's all the four-time world champion had to know before agreeing to give up a day off from the Stars on Ice tour to meet Fournier this week at Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank.[/quote]
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>"Whatever you do in this life is not for yourself," said Yagudin, who supports his family and his maternal uncle's family. "It's not always about yourself. It's for other people. I can understand what he went through. I wasn't homeless in my life, but we shared an apartment with another family and my parents were divorced and we were pretty much poor. So I know what he went through.[/quote]
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>"I'm really happy to do this for him. I've kind of achieved a lot in this life and if I can make this a bright day for him, why can't I do that?"[/quote]

Dee

 

[Kara Bear]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

Oh dear, I feel an urge to make fun of this. Especially the line, "Its not always about yourself." Wheres Fetal when i need him?????

 

[rgirl181]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

Alexei re skating with SOI:
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>
"It's not easier or harder than competition," he said. "It's just completely different work. I'm responsible not only for my skating but for the group numbers, and I don't want to mess up the group numbers.... There's no competition going on between us and we learn from each other how to live this life."[/quote] I think this is a good cogent description of the meritorial differences between eligible skating and skating professionally with a group like SOI. It's also why I think skating with COI and SOI are so different.

As for Yags reputation as being self-absorbed and then saying, "It's not always about yourself"--I don't see they conflict. Every eligible skater out there is skating for him/herself (themselves if a team). But everyone lives with contradictions. You can do something for yourself while also using the rewards to benefit others. People love their "awww" Michelle articles. So Yags got an "awww" article. Good for him.
Rgirl

 

[Dee4707]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

I must be really naive because I thought it was just a nice article about someone doing something nice for someone else. I guess I never see Alexei as being self-absorbed but then I probably am so I can't see it in him.

Well, for whatever his unmeaningful reason he did this, he made that young man happy. I guess that's what counts.

Self Absorbed Dee

 

[rgirl181]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

Dee,
Personally, I think we're all self-absorbed. Unfortunately, Yags got a justifiable bad rap for some immature, out-of-line things he did when he was younger. However, I also think he got an unfair bad rap for stating his opinions and because some people who are Yags-haters (like Kwan-haters) twist things Yags did or said out of all proportion and infer negative things from rumor and innuendo. I think the guy has suffered from growing pains, but no more than most guys his age. He had some problems being young, alone away from home and family, and adjusting to a new culture, but I think some people have made a much bigger deal out of some of his behavior than was warranted. Someone once posted that Yags was so awful he didn't have any friends. Yeah, right. Anyway, I just used the "awww" thing to compare what people say about nice articles about Michelle as kind of a joke. The way some people talk, you would think Michelle is an angel and Yags is evil. IMO, Michelle is no saint and Yags is no demon, they're just people who sometimes do wonderful, unselfish things and sometimes don't. So what? We watch them for their skating and if they are average decent folk with human foibles, fine. At least that's how I see it.
Rgirl

 

[Lcp88]

Re: Article about Alexei making a Young Skater's Dream come

Well said, Rgirl!
Laura
And personally, I love Alexei. I don't really care about his past. Yea, hes had behavior problems, but so what?

 

[FetalAttraction]

A lurker on this board was there!

Somebody who lurks on this board, and never posts, but hangs out in the chat room was there when Alexei did his big orphan hugging thingie. Please tell us your experience, don't make me recount it with my own salacious twists!

 

[diabolical angel]

Re: A lurker on this board was there!

Well, since Fetal has so nicely threaten me with his salacious twists, I'm delurking here to tell my version before he gets to tell his :lol: .

note: this review is from a self absorbed point of view about me me me me my encounter with Alexei.

I went to this event and when I get to the rink Alexei wasn’t there yet.. Not long after, we saw two guys walking in with the third guy stooping low - it was Alexei. He was trying to hide himself so that Grisha won't see him enter.
Then he finally get to the rink. Shake the boy's hand... okay around this part my mind is failing me… I was too busy thinking <strong>@ “OMG!!! That’s Alexei !!! OMG OMG OMG !!! so near!! OMG !! @</strong> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=""> i think that boy showed him a section of winter footwork... The only thing I can remember is that the boy’s good Alexei didn't really skate he basically stayed on near the side and give some pointers to Grisha. At one point, Grisha fell and Alexei said jokingly "don't get yourself killed" :lol:
The session was quite short, then he stepped off the ice and was he’s surrounded. Some interviews, I think he was interviewed by KTLA5 as well… Then he kinda went around signing etc...

Insert <strong>@</strong> here… <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=""> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\"> :rollin:

I hand him a calendar and a sharpie. He open my sharpie with his teeth :smokin: and he kept the cap there there while he sign mine and someone's magazine... nice big curly “A” and no dot for the I (for those who wants to know how his signature looks like ) then I ask him if I can get his pic and he said yes. And he ask someone he knows to take the pic while saying to him “I think you should change profession” :lol: while he leans in I notice that he smells nice <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=""> Then i gave the gift I brought... he said thank you and he gave it to someone who apparently has been holding all his gifts lol and he jokingly said, “I got more than Grisha...” i think he said Grisha lol but who knows? my brain sure went down the drain...

Sigh... if that was a dream, i want to dream forever...

self absorbed lurker.

 

[FetalAttraction]

Re: A lurker on this board was there!

P.S., The gift she gave him was a box of Godiva liqueur. There's no keeping me from spilling the salacious details :b.

 

[rgirl181]

Re: A lurker on this board was there!

Congrats on losing your lurkinity, Diabolical Angel--luv your name--and thanks for the description of Alexei's good deed. Having heard your account, now I give it a double "Awww!":lol:
Rgirl
PS Godiva Liqueur--nice touch! A poster after my own heart

 

[Dee4707]

Re: A lurker on this board was there!

Diabolical Angel, I know who you are, Nani-Nani, Pooh Pooh.

Rgirl181, so you think Diabolical Angel's chocolate is better than the chocolate pony I'm supposed to give to you? Sounds good to me too.

Fetal, you're just a tell all kind of guy. No secrets are kept from Fetal.

Dee