Ashley Wagner to skip Grand Prix Series

[evasorange]

Ah, the "there's worse out there" rebuttal.

There is though? Trash talk is a part of every sport and always has been. It's just the figure skating trash talk is so tame that I can't believe people even get worked up over it, except to laugh. But most people hate Ashley regardless, and will jump on any little thing to justify their hate. Where was the moral outrage when Gracie was being snarky and calling out things on twitter literally all Nationals? Why aren't people bringing that up in her comeback thread?

 

[gmyers]

She’s still a competitor?!?

 

[frecklesk8s]

Yes! I am so excited!! I am dying to know what she will be skating to.

 

[evasorange]

IMO (don't attack me) she should've been at the Olympics over Karen, and I'm sad that Mirai and Adam are the big public famous bff besties now when Ashley and Adam's friendship has been such a joy over the past four years and knowing how much they worked together to accomplish what they did during this past Olympic cycle.

Who could attack you over that now? MAYBE right after nationals but once we saw what Karen put down at the Olympics....honestly being there in person none of the three us ladies skated memorably or with any sort of passion. Ashley, for all the urs or slow spins, still puts her heart into and gives you show and a skate you will remember. Also agree with second your point about Mirai and Adam. Like I get why they play up the bff angle now but for those of that have been paying attention for years and years...that most certainly was not the case.

 

[Mrs. P]

There is though? Trash talk is a part of every sport and always has been. It's just the figure skating trash talk is so tame that I can't believe people even get worked up over it, except to laugh. But most people hate Ashley regardless, and will jump on any little thing to justify their hate. Where was the moral outrage when Gracie was being snarky and calling out things on twitter literally all Nationals? Why aren't people bringing that up in her comeback thread?

FWIW, people respond much more harshly to trash talk in other sports then people here. I've definitely seen people get worked up over NBA players trash talk. Those trash talking players happen to include players I really like and I get the outrage.

For the record, I don't hate Ashley, in fact I really respect her. As I said, you can disagree with someone and take issue with their comments and still like them at the same time. Anyway, I think it's a dead horse to bring back the comments, so I'll move on at this point.

 

[ice coverage]

... Also agree with second your point about Mirai and Adam. Like I get why they play up the bff angle now but for those of that have been paying attention for years and years...that most certainly was not the case.

Adam and Mirai have a great and longstanding friendship, which was and is a joy.
Just one example: When Adam started training in SoCal, he stayed at Mirai's house on most weekends.
I wonder whether those complaining about Adam and Mirai's friendship were paying attention to their friendship for years and years.

Rippon met Nagasu at U.S. championships 11 years ago, but the two became close when he moved to Los Angeles six years ago to train. Needing a place to stay, Rippon turned to his coach, Rafael Arutyunyan, and lived in his basement. On most weekends, Rippon said he would stay in Nagasu's guest bedroom since she lived nearby.
https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/F...ver-Mirai-Nagasu-Hopes-To-Be-Cinderella-Story (Feb 2018)​

Adam and Ashley also have a great and longstanding friendship, which was and is a joy.

 

[Figure 8's]

I have always been a big fan of Ashley's. I especially liked how she made some big changes after her big disappointment of not making the Olympic Team in 2010. That is not an easy thing to do and takes a lot of motivation. However I do not think it is appropriate how she acted at last years Nationals and she came across as a very sore loser. I do not think it is appropriate for her to criticize other skaters especially coming from someone who has had their share of bombs and bad skates. I believe noting wrong with stating your opinion but coming across as nasty and classless is.

 

[saturdaysun]

It's irrelevant whether Ashley is right or not in her opinions. She can say whatever she wants, but given how she reacts when she gets pushback on her comments, I get the feeling she wouldn't like it very much if other skaters talked about her skating the way she talks about theirs -- and there is plenty they could say, as she herself acknowledges. But other people don't talk crap about her, because it's bad sportsmanship. Skater's job is to skate. It's frankly none of their business how other skaters choose to design their programs.

 

[macy]

I will never understand why so many skating fans are so positively determined to hate Ashley Wagner and anything and everything she says or does.

It’s self aware because it shows that she can publicly acknowledge and poke fun of her own skating weaknesses even while recognizing those same weakness in others, and pointing them out. Mild self-deprecation via reflecting a criticism back on oneself is a very common strategy specifically to lessen the inherent harshness of criticism so that it comes across less negatively, and again, one which rests on self-awareness— and also, an understanding of humour.

It does not necessarily need to literally imply that she truly believes all she has to offer are crossovers, nor that she doesn’t do any transitions. (She certainly had more transitions in Boston, for example, than Boyang has ever included, so many that I think she actually weakened the choreographic impact of her program slightly, but that’s getting off track.) She also made this post during the Singles event, not the Team event where she won her medal. In fact, I think most people commenting in good faith would understand that and so it personally strikes me as a little disingenuous to act as if she meant her statements to be 100% literal.

And I’m just not sure what you’re seeing that you’d describe as a “horrific attitude” at all? Scrolling through her feed during the Olympics, I see her being generally supportive and complimentary:
(American Skaters)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/966917150844764160
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/962880986336788486
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/962912355699970049
(Hendrickx)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964701264700256257
(Zagitova)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/968297642521325568
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/965136411035758592
(Patrick... and there's that self-awareness again)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964720470640635905
(Shoma)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964726390137372672
(Aljona/Bruno)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964328910447034368
(And to the FS fans)
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964724577510174720
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964704153925660672

I suppose YMMV as to whether all of the above, or her Tweets below, qualifies as a “stream of nonsense.”

The only real criticisms she made of skaters during the Olympics were for (mostly Boyang’s) empty programs and for Alina’s extreme backloading: and, IMO, considering her posts about Alina, it’s a mistake to read her comments on “yay, more crossovers” as criticizing *only* the relatively large numbers of crossovers, but also a perception that there’s not much else of the aspects of skating which she personally values the most on offer in those programs. As she rather frequently explained in her relative posts about, with a few more doses of self-awareness:
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964369428950364161
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964726535910342656
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/965134128432611328
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/965137000939470848
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/964758054142013440

She’s been fairly consistent with this feeling before, so it’s not as if she was unleashing her horrific new attitude on the poor, unsuspecting Olympians:

I mostly found her criticisms to be valid, although I don’t *completely* agree with her: it’s true Boyang could do with some more complete choreography, but he’s a an excellent, natural performer and quite charming. But even I thought his 2016 Worlds FS was amazingly dull when I saw it in person, and his program last season had looooong empty stretches.

And her comments on Alina’s program. Again, nothing I’d call “horrific”:
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/962882352199319554
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/962882943885524992
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/962883453145399296
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/962892839632846848
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/968297638616473601
https://mobile.twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/968297639925067777

I would not characterize any of her tweets as “attacks” on her competitors, as has been suggested in this thread by other posters— and the men are not even her competitors in the first place— nor would I say she displayed a “horrific attitude” and certainly not more so than, well, the majority of posters on this forum display on a daily basis.

THANK YOU.

NONE of these tweets were nasty, nor did she "attack" anyone. she simply stated her opinion without being cruel and poked some fun at her own skating and weaknesses, with a good portion of them being supportive and congratulatory toward the competitors. there was literally NOTHING "horrific" about anything she tweeted. she is entitled to her own opinion, whether any of us agree with it or not.

i don't understand the downright hate so many people on this forum spew towards her either, and i don't think i ever will. she is an outspoken person and will always give you her opinion and tell you how it is, but NEVER has she ever been mean or nasty to anyone.

as far as her being a "poor sport" she has never directed her anger at another competitor because of the results. ever. THAT is being a poor sport, not being angry at judges or the technical panel because you don't agree with them. when she was not selected for the team this year she was nothing but supportive of the other 3 girls.

just because you might not respect that about her or agree with what she says simply because you don't like it also should not have any connection to whether or not you like her skating, and that goes for any of these elite skaters. ashley has given US figure skating SO MUCH the last 8 years, more than any other US lady probably since sasha cohen. she deserves to be appreciated for that.

 

[saturdaysun]

she simply stated her opinion without being cruel

So if other skaters were publicly rooting for Ashley's competition expressly so she wouldn't medal, you wouldn't consider that cruel? k.

 

[theharleyquinn]

When you're competing in an elite sport at the highest level, you're not going to be treated like a child, and you're as open to criticism as any adult you are competing against.

It's not about Alina being a child, but rather about Ashley being a senior competitor in the sport and putting more junior skaters in a difficult position where they are limited in how they can respond to her sometimes mean-spirited quips.

 

[Imagine]

It's not about Alina being a child, but rather about Ashley being a senior competitor in the sport and putting more junior skaters in a difficult position where they are limited in how they can respond to her sometimes mean-spirited quips.

I dunno...I feel like Zagitova responded quite well to be honest...

Then again, I suppose she didn't have a lot of time to think too much about online bullies...busy actually being at the Olympics, becoming champion, and all that jazz.

 

[andromache]

It's not about Alina being a child, but rather about Ashley being a senior competitor in the sport and putting more junior skaters in a difficult position where they are limited in how they can respond to her sometimes mean-spirited quips.

Uh, I was responding to someone else who literally said that Alina is literally a child. So my comment is about Alina being a child.

Ashley has opinions about the skating she watches, and of course they aren't all positive ones, and as a non-retired skater herself, it's clear that giving her negative opinions is viewed as tasteless and unnecessary. Her tweets during the Olympics were not great decisions.

So what?????? WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS????

ETA: I'm sure we've all made some not great decisions about what we say on social media. The only difference is that Ashley has way more people scrutinizing and getting upset over what she says. As a semi-public figure, Ashley's in a position of not having a PR team or PR training like a "real" celebrity does but she's famous enough that lots and lots of people are going to care about what she tweets.

 

[ucrgirl]

So what?????? WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS????

ETA: I'm sure we've all made some not great decisions about what we say on social media. The only difference is that Ashley has way more people scrutinizing and getting upset over what she says. As a semi-public figure, Ashley's in a position of not having a PR team or PR training like a "real" celebrity does but she's famous enough that lots and lots of people are going to care about what she tweets.

Exactly. Ashley and I probably wouldn't be friends in real life and in general I think most of us shouldn't tweet as much as we do, however I wish we could all relax a bit. Our society has gone crazy about shaming people for twitter mistakes. (I recommend reading "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" by Jon Ronson.)

 

[lesnar001]

So what?????? WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS????

4 months isn't a long time.

There are still people who "hate" on Tara Lipinski for something that happened over 20 years ago.

 

[Ladskater]

I thought Ashley would be retiring by now especially with all the young phenoms on the horizon...

 

[acapenci]

I thought Ashley would be retiring by now especially with all the young phenoms on the horizon...

Me too, i dont think she will be able to perform at the same level as thosr kids amd she isnt getting any younger...

 

[Lamente Ariane]

Ashley has opinions about the skating she watches, and of course they aren't all positive ones, and as a non-retired skater herself, it's clear that giving her negative opinions is viewed as tasteless and unnecessary. Her tweets during the Olympics were not great decisions.

So what?????? WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS????

Agreed 100%. I'm a fan of Ashley and I'm certainly not going to sit down and defend everything she's ever tweeted. What I don't understand is why we cannot have a discussion about Ashley's actual skating and career without people stepping up every single time to say she should shut up.

 

[andromache]

I thought Ashley would be retiring by now especially with all the young phenoms on the horizon...

Not a lot of young phenoms coming for her this season, or even next season, in the US. While the international depth gets more and more daunting, the US ladies are probably less of a "threat" now than they've been at any time in the past several years. No Polina, no Mirai, Gracie is a question mark, and Karen bombed Olympics and Worlds along with sponsor issues. There's Bradie and that's it.

That said, I think it's unlikely Ashley will compete again. But I think she wants to keep her options open because she's unhappy with how her career ended. Like Adam (and probably Mirai) and a lot of other skaters, she wanted to end her career with a great Olympic performance regardless of numerical result, and that didn't happen. Her career, if it's indeed over, ended on a pretty angry note, and she's probably not satisfied with that. That's probably the only thing potentially motivating her, at this point. (I keep saying "probably" because I'm just speculating as to what makes sense.)

 

[Eeyora]

I for one will miss Diva Wagner. Despite her “clunky, heavy skating” she brought something to the sport in the US. Her bravery and determination to rise above her challenges should be commended. I watched her bring the house down at Worlds 2016.

I don’t know what happened to her last season. I love how people seem to say she was lazy and took it easy. I doubt she spent last August sitting on the couch and eating bon-bons. Heck it’s not like those endorsement commitments took too much time. It always seemed to me on Instagram she was always at the rink.

Why I am saying this I don’t know but I think the worst thing for Ashley was being part of that Team Toyota Campaign and having to go to Korea to fulfill that contract. Where she should have been was on vacation and away from social media and skating.

All being said I really think it stinks that the only opportunity for pro skating in the US is the Stars on Ice tour which is a glimmer of its old self. Only stopping at 10 + cities.