Mathman said:
If "hype" refers to excessive or unearned praise, it is hard for me to see how Michelle comes into the picture at all.
I agree with the "unearned" part but not the "excessive" part. JMO.
If you say, "I think Michelle is the greatest U.S. skater ever! -- Go Michelle!!" then you can defend your position by pointing to her 9 U.S. championships, while still acknowledging that others will have differing opinions.
I suppose you could, but of course, different people have different favorites. I hardly would think that the reason one would like MK is because she's won 9 US championships. One might
respect her for that, but they don't have to
like her. I would think they like her because they are enthralled by her SKATING. JMO- I could be wrong.
Conversely, if the best you can say about your fave is to brag about what he or she is going to do at some time in the future, then you must be prepared to face critics who say, let's wait and see.
Yes, this is true as well. But once again, one is most likely to be enthralled by the SKATING of said skater in order for her to be their fave. The talk of the future is just blabbering due to excitement and anticipation that the favorite is going to do well and blow everyone away. JMO.
Hype is as Mathman said. It's over exposed publicity. that is the definition and to continue this conversation about gushing is fruitless. Make a new thread about Who is the Most Gushed in the Forums?
And, with this there are differing opinions as well. I happen to think that MK gets a whole lot of publicity. Doesn't mean she doesn't deserve it but there you have it; she does. Cohen also gets a lot of publicity. Does
she deserve it? Depends on who you talk to. And now, we have Kimmie. Does she deserve all the publicity she's getting?
With MK, you could argue her record. With Kimmie, you can argue that she did a 3A in competition at Nationals. Not everyone does that. With Sasha- hmm. I'm not so sure here. I guess now that she has two World silver medals you could argue that, but before I really do think it was a bunch of hoopla over nothing. Oh yeah, her "talent". Of course it means absolutely nothing unless you put it to use. JMO, of course.
I think by asking who is gushed about the most, you will get similar answers. IMO- of the ladies (here, anyway) it's Kwan, then Liang, and then it's pretty even from there. Cohen has her fair share of gushers as well. Slutskaya has a few also.
A variation of this topic could be, "Of The Skaters Who Are Hyped The Most, Who Most
Deserves It?"
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