Patrick Chan Article in Maclean's

[blue dog]

I agree with Imaginary Poje. It's best to just move past it. Just agree to disagree.

On that note, while it would be nice for skating to not be so uptight, it's great that skaters either do not talk trash, or just do not air skating's dirty laundry for the public to consume. Skating is enough of a mind game that they shouldn't concentrate on what someone is saying about someone else.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

are you aware of the controversy in american football right now because teams have been trash talking "too much" this season? they're no longer allowed to celebrate a touchdown with a dance or even a kneel and prayer... I don't think FIGURE SKATING is the only uptight sport.

Nothing unusual about guys btching each other in Sports. btw, the NY Jets are doing just fine especially in a baseball city.

As I said before, no red blooded American boy cares what Chan says. They do care what he does in competition.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Thank you for posting the link! I enjoyed reading it very much!

I like him more and more. Can't wait for the Worlds and cheer for him. I, too, find the quad learning part refreshing, insightful, and amazing. Hasn't that given a little justification to his cockiness? To me, I don't mind as much as before for what he said when he didn't have quads. Then again, I'm glad that he's a little mature and has a bit guard on his words now...knock on the wood.

 

[Tonichelle]

Nothing unusual about guys btching each other in Sports. btw, the NY Jets are doing just fine especially in a baseball city.

never said there was, however the NFL is cracking down on such antics... which this "red blooded female american" thinks is stupid.

 

[Mathman]

As I said before, no red blooded American boy cares what Chan says. They do care what he does in competition.

The first part is certainly true. Not so sure about the second. I doubt that very many American boys have ever heard of Patrick Chan, no matter what color their blood is.

 

[seniorita]

well i find true that fs fans (most) want the athletes to be role models and all that, I dont think in most sports it is like this, do you care if swim boys are role models for society? Or you admire the fastest and best?
For the same reason and reading from Mao´s thread, i cringe whenever I read about work ethics and all the jazz, I doubt there is an elite skater who doesnt train as much as it is needed or even more, it is pointless to single out one athlete, they are there for a reason.

 

[Layfan]

well i find true that fs fans (most) want the athletes to be role models and all that, I dont think in most sports it is like this, do you care if swim boys are role models for society? Or you admire the fastest and best?
For the same reason and reading from Mao´s thread, i cringe whenever I read about work ethics and all the jazz, I doubt there is an elite skater who doesnt train as much as it is needed or even more, it is pointless to single out one athlete, they are there for a reason.

I'm sure they all work exceptionally hard but I don't find it hard to believe that some are more disciplined that others during practice.

 

[Tonichelle]

I don't know about other countries, but olympic athletes - the really good/well known ones - are likened to role models. That's why when it was revealed that Michael Phelps did pot it was a huge scandal... However, it seems SKATING is one of the few sports where the "bad guy" is truly villified. Tonya Harding, case in point. No one seemed to forgive her in her sport, much less the american public/media. Michael Vick, on the other hand, is a football hero (so said our president) after he was convicted and did time for severe animal abuse (dog fighting). Go figure.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Picture this: Mr. Manly Skater, in a black masculine costume (lycra of course, some traditions are sacred) finishes his LP, lets out a virtorious roar, gets into a kneeling position to pump his fist, jumps up in the air, rips his top, beats his hairy chest, and does some taunting booty-shaking dance........ your usual red blooded American macho man's victory celebration and display of superior masculinity.

That should help dispel the sissy gay image of figure skating, no?

What do the public want from the skaters anyway? And the fans?

 

[seniorita]

I'm sure they all work exceptionally hard but I don't find it hard to believe that some are more disciplined that others during practice.

true but I think discipline goes with ones needs. It is like any other goal we need to reach, I might need 15 hours to solve a problem at school and you might need 2 hours for the same and then go partying, I have worked more but you did it better and faster.

I know Olympic athletes are to be role models for the audience in any country, that is what I was judging, I would get they could be a role model for younger athletes and that is by their work and not so much by their interviews-unless they killed a cat or someone-and inspiring for the fans but until that, the rest seems exaggeration to me. Does it take away from their victories? I have no idea, what did Phelps dO?

 

[sequinsgalore]

According to icenetwork, Chan will try two quads in his long program at Nationals. The second one will replace his first triple axel. I think it sounds as a clever move, as Chans triple axels aren't too consistent and he will gain more points, as long he doesn't pop it which he rarely does (he just falls...).

 

[Mathman]

Tonya Harding, case in point. No one seemed to forgive her in her sport, much less the american public/media.

Tonya Harding was part of a criminal plot to physically main and incapacitate a rival athlete, off the playing field. (It's OK if you main and incapacitate an opponent on the playing field.

Michael Vick, on the other hand, is a football hero...

Michael Vick was recently voted the most hated athlete in America. (I know this because it was one of the questions on the "Million Dollar Money Drop." I don't think O.J. Simpson was on the ballot.)

Personally, I am a fan of Amish spelling bees (see post three above). All this strutting about talking smack about about yo' mama...

"When I was a child, I spake as a child...But when I became a man, I put away childish things."

 

[Olympia]

I was a bit surprised that Vick was allowed back in to football, but I've never understood the dynamics of major league team sports, so I'm not the one to ask. It isn't just skating, though, Tonichelle. Remember that baseball player Pete Rose was villified for betting on games. It's possible he'll never be elected to the Hall of Fame (he's currently ineligible "forever," though they're still arguing about that one).

Harding was a special case, because an assault on a fellow skater was involved. It can't get much worse than what those people planned to do to Kerrigan, and how close they came to damaging her body for life. As I've said before, it was sheer dumb luck on their part that Nancy sustained no permanent injury. In addition to deserving punishment for that action, the plotters including Harding had to be made examples of, because any hint of tolerance for such behavior would endanger future skaters.

One possibility about the different fates of Harding and Vick (and this is sheer guesswork on my part) is that maybe the skating federation has much more power over skaters than the football commission has over football teams. Additionally, a lot more money is involved in football. Tonya Harding's presence in skating wouldn't enrich anyone to the degree that Michael Vick's presence in football enriches his teams (ticket sales, TV broadcast agreements, and so on).

 

[Mathman]

The Pete Rose case proves i's all about the Benjamins.The reason Rose's offense is the worst possible crime you can ever commit as a baseball player is that if people think players are betting on games, then next they will start thinking that palyers are throwing games and that the games are fixed. Then no one will be interested in coming to baseball games. (Is there a lesson for figure skating in there somewhere? )

Ray Lewis (linebacker for the Baltimore ravens), on the other hand, was arrested for murder after he got in a fight in a bar in which two people were killed. He copped a plea by agreeing to testify against his two friends that were also involved, played in the Super Bowl that year and won the most valuable player award.

 

[Violet Bliss]

According to icenetwork, Chan will try two quads in his long program at Nationals. The second one will replace his first triple axel. I think it sounds as a clever move, as Chans triple axels aren't too consistent and he will gain more points, as long he doesn't pop it which he rarely does (he just falls...).

It's all very good planning and strategy. It was exciting when we had two top contenders pushing each other but today we have 4 or 5 men, depending on the stars' alignment on the day. Chan was right last year that a quad was not necessary to win a major event but it's no more true this year. He knows it and probably plays a major role in invalidating his own statement from last year.

What is more, this time around the top men are not discarding skating for jumping. They are all amazing skaters who add quads to their programs. A few jumping phenoms, such as Kevin Reynolds, are adding skating components to their programs. It is indeed a new era in men's skating. The perceived score "inflation" really mostly reflects the increasingly high level of skating and technical elements in this year's programs.

 

[blue dog]

That should help dispel the sissy gay image of figure skating, no?

What would dispel this image, is if everyone were just more comfortable with who they are--viewers included. If society wasn't so...uptight.

However, that won't happen anytime soon, so do what I did--my friends used to say skating is such a sissy sport, and I should take up hockey. I took said friends to the rink, and taught them simple moves. Some still thought it was sissyish. I said...ok. Let's try jumping. My normally very athletic friends couldn't even execute a bunny hop! Once they began falling, they realised there is nothing sissyish about figure skating. And that unlike football and all those other sports where you're allowed to show how hard you are working, figure skating is all about working just as hard as those people in "masculine" sports, but making it look easy.

 

[Violet Bliss]

^^^^^......and effortless, artistic, and musical. What other sports require a princely presence while attempting feats beyond most other athletes, or looking like a princess or diva while excuting elements requiring incrdible strength, flexibility and elegance? And all these on slippery ice?

 

[blue dog]

^^^^^......and effortless, artistic, and musical. What other sports require a princely presence while attempting feats beyond most other athletes, or looking like a princess or diva while excuting elements requiring incrdible strength, flexibility and elegance? And all these on slippery ice?

And we don't wear pads, either =P

 

[Violet Bliss]

And we don't wear pads, either =P

.......because they are not always necessary.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

According to icenetwork, Chan will try two quads in his long program at Nationals. The second one will replace his first triple axel. I think it sounds as a clever move, as Chans triple axels aren't too consistent and he will gain more points, as long he doesn't pop it which he rarely does (he just falls...).

The article did not name the second quad. I assume it is the same quad in combo with a 3T a la Lambiel. Reynolds has shown that he can execute 3 different quads. No one to my knowledge has done that in competition. I think Pushy and that American Quad king has shown 2 different quads in comp.