Red Dog said:
you know, this is really odd. This condemning of Sasha "haters" would NEVER have happened here two years ago (or even six months ago). Although I think the INTENTION of the post was maybe ill-intended, there was nothing I saw that would really make me mad. I don't think I've ever cheered when a skater has fallen (not even Irina in Torino), but I think it's a thing that certain fans might SUBCONSCIOUSLY do in their minds if they want their favorite to win. Of course some simply enjoy the skating of others, but there are some out there that want victory for their fave and will cheer or be happy when her competitiors fail. And- here is the news- this is SPORT, guys. We cheer when an opposing basketball team misses a free throw or the opposing football team throws an interception, right? (This is fan talk in particular, NOT the players themselves.) So, to use the same analogy, why can't fans of one skater cheer when another skater fails? Just living up to my custom title here. Skating is a sport, you say, right? So...why not?
The subject of "Figure skating is a SPORT! We're
supposed to hate the other guy!" comes up about once a year or so. Don't worry, I won't rehash already rehashed opinions, but I will say that figure skating is unique in that it combines sport and artistry, which are diametrically opposed.
Artistic expression involves the bearing of one's heart and soul, among other things intrinsic to the skater's personality and sense of self. You yourself talked about Kimmie getting a personality next season, albeit with tongue-in-cheek, I realize.
Anyway, I think there is true hate--like what Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron experienced from baseball "fans"--but what there is mostly is a kind of "sports anger." which, IMO, is a kind of sport in and of itself, a kind of "play" anger. Of course I realize millions if not billions of people around the world will kill people over a soccer match. But I personally have no interest in that kind of sport. Even in high school, during my crazed pro football fan phase, I never "hated" the other guys. The angriest I got was over
my team when they played so badly they lost a no-brainer!
Getting back to just the artistic aspect of figure skating, effective artistic performance usually requires that the skater reveal his/her deepest and often most vulnerable feelings. Unlike a tennis player or golfer, skaters are sharing themselves heart and soul with the judges and audience. To know that fans
hate you, that they "do a happy dance" when you fail at Worlds or the Olympics, events the skater has dedicated himself to winning or achieving certain goals at for years and sometimes decades, calls for the skater to have a rare combination of character traits.
Skaters need to have to be willing to reveal their emotional vulnerability while performing, yet be able to steel themselves against the constant criticism. I've always felt especially bad for skaters, even those I don't like, who win Worlds or the Olympics against the country's more favored skater, only to get negative press or a negative attitude from the USFSA for winning. I feel bad for such skaters because they do what they've always been told and have always seen as the thing you're supposed to do--and such skaters usually do so at a young age. So if they win, they're bashed; if they lose they're bashed.
It gets complex--see the second part of the post of yours from which I quoted, p7, Post #104--but let's save it for a summer thread, if anybody still cares, lol. The long and short of it is, IMO, figure skating is a horse of a different color. Because skating is a hybrid--part sport, part art, part entertainment--it's more difficult for some people, especially those from a strictly sports background, to understand, "Why shouldn't I just hate the skaters I want to? Isn't that what sport is?" IMO, the question should be, "Is figure skating what sport is, strictly speaking?" I'd include the old jawbone, "What is bashing?" but once people start discussing each other, they just end up bashing each other.
Red Dog, p4, Post #48:
Cohen was not made to be a champion- simple as that. Yes, I think going on and on about how much she sucks for not winning in a weak field is not a good thing, but it's not a bash IMO to say things like competition is not for her or she should find something else to do that makes her happy.
I don't know if the jury is in on your first statement. But I do agree with everything else you say here.
Laterz,
Rgirl
Red Dog! You know you're my favorite dog on GS, but who are you to tell others to "move on"? Coming from the poster who posted countless times for I forget how many weeks repeatedly trying to explain something about Kwan fans to Kwan fans that "they just didn't understand," I have three words for you: pot, kettle, black. 
Sigh. Sad state of affairs. And great posts, Doggygirl, kyla2, Rgirl, Dee, Joe, and others putting down this nonsense.
