International Fans

[Kasey]

I would like to hear a sincere answer! About Zhang, Wagner and Nagasu! If they were representing China, Germany and Japan, do you think there will be so many threads dedicated to them?

If they had the same kind of successes, and as many people had had access to seeing their performances, yes, I think so. I think the most talked about skater going into the 2006 Olympics was a junior, non-American skater who was supposed to be THE next big thing, and of course, was age-ineligible to go. Or maybe you weren't here when the initial wave of Mao-madness hit the forum.

 

[hockeyfan228]

I would like to hear a sincere answer! About Zhang, Wagner and Nagasu! If they were representing China, Germany and Japan, do you think there will be so many threads dedicated to them?

Um, no, because they wouldn't be shown on US TV and hyped by the likes of Peggy Fleming. I'm sure in Japan the younger Japanese skaters and the next tier down are discussed fairly regularly on Japanese forums.

 

[Hsuhs]

Yet another thing regarding international fans. Seems like many skaters think that only their skating counts, and thus there is no need to do smth special to attract international fans.

Plushy is kind of known for his (nonideal) attitude towards his fans in general. But, at least he can say a word or two in English.

Can't say the same about many other skaters. It's usually the fans who take care of things: they translate articles and interviews, start sites dedicated to their faves, share info and news with other fans. The nat. federations (and the skaters themselves) don't give a damn. Quite an interesting phenomenon, IMO. A huge army of volunteers does someone else's job, and this is taken for granted.

 

[chuckm]

All I can say is the German fans would be THRILLED to have Ashley Wagner competing for them.

 

[Mathman]

This is a fun topic.

If you want to start a gigantic 40-page war over on FSU, just start a thread with the title "Is Michelle Kwan a popular skater?" Half the posters will say, "Are you kidding me? Here in the U.S. she's the greatest thing since sliced bread!" And the other half will say, "Phooey, she's not fit to tie Yagudin's boot laces because outside the U.S. nobody can stand the witch."

Another goodie is, "Does anyone care who wins U.S. Nationals?" Half the posters will say, "Are you crazy, it's the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, you moron!" And the other half will say, "*yawn* Who cares about a piddling little local contest, wake me up when Worlds comes around."

It's all good.

 

[Mathman]

Think about the way that Evan Lysachek got hyped this year after doing well at nationals. Realistically speaking people knew that he isn't going to medal at any Worlds anytime soon, but they had to pump up the expectations because American fans don't really care about the other male skaters. What percent of the World championship audience in the US cared about Lambiel and Joubert?

That's actually an interesting question. If you are talking about casual fans, I don't think very many American television viewers give much of a hoot about Lambiel and Joubert OR about Lysacek and Weir.

For the truly immersed fan (those who post on figure skating message boards) I get the impression that Lambiel has the most supprters (it used to be Yagudin by a mile). Most of the posts I read about Lysacek merely make fun of how he is being marketed these days.

Will he win a world medal "any time soon?" Well, he won one in 2005 and another one in 2006, and he is better now than he was then (now he has a quad). So anything can happen. I don't see any reason to rain on the parade of the Evanistas.

 

[Vodka Shot]

I'm American; the only current US skaters I like are Johnny, Rachael Flatt, Alissa Czisny, and Melissa & Dennis. I'd whether watch grass grow than watch Lysacek, Kimmie, Tanith & Ben, or Emily Hughes skate.

I don't really think serious skating fans prefer skaters based on nationality, but America is a very patriotic country so when I do see it I'm not shocked.

I'd prefer the sport break down to an individual level and the whole national thing to be completely done away with. I think in light of how global the world is now that thinking is silly. During the whole Johnny/jacket fiasco when people were screaming about how he's not "representing his country" all I could think was, that imo he should be representing himself; not a country.

 

[gio]

There is nothing bad if a forum has more threads dedicated to a skater or to another one! The fact is that in this forum American skaters are discussed a lot (even lower positioned skaters such as Bebe Liang, Christine Zukowski, Veronica Canarozzo, Megan Oster have some threads and are discussed - and this is good because I had the chance to know interesting skaters who don't have any international coverage), more than skaters of other nationalities (where are the discussions about Elena Glebova, Anastasia Gimazetdinova or Nana Takeda???). Skaters of other nationalities who aren't in the top10 are ignored, probably because they don't have any media coverage in the US! So to answer to my question, IMO if Caroline Zhang skated for China she wouldn't have all these threads dedicated to her! Obviously it might be the opposite, mine is just a speculation, so who knows? Let's see if in the next few years a skater who win Junior Worlds of another nationality will get all those attention!

Kasey, I remember the discussion about Mao, but that was a very particular case. She had the 3Axel and she gained a lot of media coverage because of the Olympics ineligibility controversy!

Probably it's all about media coverage! Look at Tugba Karedimir, she is much more discussed than Elena Glebova, but Elena had better results this year and has more triples.

 

[gio]

I'd prefer the sport break down to an individual level and the whole national thing to be completely done away with. I think in light of how global the world is now that thinking is silly. During the whole Johnny/jacket fiasco when people were screaming about how he's not "representing his country" all I could think was, that imo he should be representing himself; not a country.

Months ago I was skeptical about this, but now I agree with you! Let's turn skating in an individual sport! Drop the nationality rule of no more than 3 skaters per country allowed at Worlds and multiplicate the competitions (GPs, Trophies...)! Let the skaters represent themselves and not their countries!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I'm American; the only current US skaters I like are Johnny, Rachael Flatt, Alissa Czisny, and Melissa & Dennis. I'd whether watch grass grow than watch Lysacek, Kimmie, Tanith & Ben, or Emily Hughes skate.

I don't really think serious skating fans prefer skaters based on nationality, but America is a very patriotic country so when I do see it I'm not shocked.

I'd prefer the sport break down to an individual level and the whole national thing to be completely done away with. I think in light of how global the world is now that thinking is silly. During the whole Johnny/jacket fiasco when people were screaming about how he's not "representing his country" all I could think was, that imo he should be representing himself; not a country.

Amen. Stephane, Yu Na, Virtud/Moir, McLaughlin/Brubaker. None are my favorites but all are liked more than others in the same divisions. Will they win?
Doesn't matter, I will still like them more than others.

Joe

 

[satorare]

As long as the figure skating (especially ladies) is one of the most popular (viwership-wise) Olympic sports, its political side can't be ignored.

At the time of Torino Olympics, the Koreans have totally looked down on Japan until Arakawa won the gold. That one medal totally made them jealous. Most of the non-Koreans wont bother to know how many medals they won, but ladies figure skating is different. The whole world pays attention.
Thereafter that "Yuna fever" comes to South Korea. She is expected to beat JAPAN and the US at VANCOUVER, to elevate the "world status" of her nation.
I don't deny that Japan and other countries have same attitudes toward their elite skaters in different degrees. Individualism has little room for politics of Olympics. And that's one interesting aspect of this sport.
And as long as the WC of a year before Olympics decides how many skater each federations (= NATIONS) can send, the current system can't be easily changed.

 

[Kasey]

Well, perhaps the fans of the lesser-known skaters from other countries could start threads to introduce them to us. I am thankful for CCTV, where I can see more skaters during the GP series than I would ever see on U.S. television. And FSVids is a goldmine. But the fact remains, a lot of the lesser-known skaters (outside of the U.S.) I don't get access to viewing without help from other people.

 

[Hsuhs]

:scratch:

 

[hockeyfan228]

(where are the discussions about Elena Glebova, Anastasia Gimazetdinova or Nana Takeda???). Skaters of other nationalities who aren't in the top10 are ignored, probably because they don't have any media coverage in the US!

Why would the US media cover them? They don't even cover the top 10. This isn't British Eurosport, where just about everyone is shown for Euros, Olys, and Worlds. (They used to cover quali rounds, too.)

Probably it's all about media coverage! Look at Tugba Karedimir, she is much more discussed than Elena Glebova, but Elena had better results this year and has more triples.

Of course it is. Maybe 3-5 thousand people see Europeans and maybe 5-8 thousand people see Worlds (with many repeat visitors) unless Worlds is held in a NA hockey barn. Some of them are from the US, but several thousand people does not Peggy/Dick/Peter hype make.

Last I heard, Elena Glebova, whom I seen several times and like a lot, one of my favorites of the little known Euro skaters, hasn't moved to Canada to train, where she's gotten plenty of media coverage, didn't have her father sacrifice his career for her, or any other fluff-worthy background. Until she moved to Canada, Karademir (Tugba who?) was a skater I saw at Euros and Worlds with lovely spins and spirals who couldn't do anything harder than a 3Sa and got buried in the 6.0 system. Now, her SP gets shown on US TV, and people know who she is.

 

[dollee]

At the time of Torino Olympics, the Koreans have totally looked down on Japan until Arakawa won the gold. That one medal totally made them jealous. Most of the non-Koreans wont bother to know how many medals they won, but ladies figure skating is different. The whole world pays attention.
Thereafter that "Yuna fever" comes to South Korea. She is expected to beat JAPAN and the US at VANCOUVER, to elevate the "world status" of her nation.
I don't deny that Japan and other countries have same attitudes toward their elite skaters in different degrees. Individualism has little room for politics of Olympics. And that's one interesting aspect of this sport.

I know the fact that you have already made the thread here before of korean dropping poison in foods of japan's skaters GPF 2006 in russia. I don't know why you indend to keep doing negative posts on korea and Yu-Na Kim over and over again. This place is a figure skating forum, not anti-korean site.

If you are concerned, as you said, that individualism has little room for politics of Olympics, I wish you not to take a biased attitude at first.

 

[Germanice]

This is a fun topic.

If you want to start a gigantic 40-page war over on FSU, just start a thread with the title "Is Michelle Kwan a popular skater?" Half the posters will say, "Are you kidding me? Here in the U.S. she's the greatest thing since sliced bread!" And the other half will say, "Phooey, she's not fit to tie Yagudin's boot laces because outside the U.S. nobody can stand the witch."

Another goodie is, "Does anyone care who wins U.S. Nationals?" Half the posters will say, "Are you crazy, it's the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, you moron!" And the other half will say, "*yawn* Who cares about a piddling little local contest, wake me up when Worlds comes around."

It's all good.

Great post, love it, Mathman! .
And so true!

Anke

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Why would the US media cover them? They don't even cover the top 10. This isn't British Eurosport, where just about everyone is shown for Euros, Olys, and Worlds. (They used to cover quali rounds, too.)

The US Media is based on the belief that American figure skating fans are only interested in Ladies skating and only when an American is a challenger. They admit to other divisions of figure skating but only if an American is set to win.

Since TV is driven by the sponsors who are driven by the ratings, I believe that the media has done market research to justify their programming of figure skating. Unfortunately for the serious fans of the Sport, we get the barest minimum of coverage except for Senior Ladies, and a sprinkling of other divisions particularly if an American might win. International events are hard to come by if they are not held in the US. I don't see any change in this attitude in the near future, and forget about Junior Championships.

Full coverage of Figure Skating does not exist on any network. Golf, of coure, will get full coverage and then some in overtime.

Joe

 

[iluvtodd]

I love this sport, and yes, I do support & cheer for the US skaters, but not exclusively. I am a fan of many skaters, regardless of nationality.

For the record, some of my all time favorite skaters are Canadian. I wish we could get to see the Canadian Nationals on TV (we don't live near the border). Ditto for the Japanese Nationals. hwell:

I do not consider a national title to be "small potatoes." Let's not belittle the accomplishment of winning national titles, please. :sheesh:

 

[sorcerer]

A glass of wine brings the lighter side of sorcerer

Wouldn't Lennon have sung like this ?
---------------------------------------------------

You've shown your spiteful observations
Well, you know...
Thing are lop-sided in your head

You seem to deny the good motivations
Well, you know...
You'd better heal your mind instead

'Cause while comparing the combos of Yu-Na or Mao
Their pops and falls could happen anyhow
..but you know they're gonna be
Alright!
..and you know we're gonna be
Alright!
..so you know it's gonna be
Alright!
Alright!
All right!!!


Too hard to sing? ...then here's a guide:

(/ woop shoobi / doowop, / woop shoobi / doowop) You've

/ shown'your spiteful / obser-/ vatio-/ o-ns We-/ e-ell, you
/ know... / .... /..Things'are lop- / sided in your
/ head (shoobi / doowop, / woop shoobi / doowop) You

/ seem to deny the / good moti-/ vatio-/ o-ns We-/ e-ell, you
/ know... / .... /.. You'd better / heal your mind in-
/ ste-/ead .... / .... / ....

/'''Cuz while c'm-/ paring the combos of / Yu-Na or / Mao ....
/ Their pops 'n' / falls could happen / any-/ how .... / ....

/ .... But you / know they're gonna / be..../.. Al-
/right!..And you / know we're gonna / be..../.. Al-
/right!..So you / know it's gonna / be..../.. Al-
/right!.... / .. Al-/right!.... / .. All /
/right!!!.. //

Peace on Earth!

 

[Metapour]

Continuing the John Lennon thing...

I'd like to see someone skate to John Lennon's Imagine. Has anyone skated to it? That would be cool...John's Imagine seems relevant to this thread.

I profess no allegiance to any country or anyone what so ever.


Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

John Lennon

October 9, 1940
V December 8, 1980

John's video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xjw-l673UI