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OriginalCyn

By OriginalCyn
in Sports

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ChicksDigScars
ChicksDigScars

“I wish the Shibutanis were [in Milan] because last year I gave them my medal,” Donohue said, “and I don’t plan on doing that this year.” Uhhh..what? Yeah, and they gave you their National title

absnow54
absnow54

I get that figure skating is a jumping sport right now, and Alyssa Lui is the best chance for competing with the Russians, but damn, Mariah Bell’s free skate is the reason I find this sport so compell

Jeddah
Jeddah

I do love the Shibs, but it still would have been an obnoxious thing to say about any team, not just them. It implies that they didn’t earn their medal. That they didn’t work for it. That their two cl

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

2 hours ago, SeanC said:

When it comes to Gordeeva's affections, only Olympic gold medalists need apply.

Katia deserves The Best!!  I need to go lie down now to recuperate from two shockeroos in skating "news":  Katia & Pelletiere and Alissa & Kurt. Geez laweeze.

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Jeddah

Jeddah

3 hours ago, SeanC said:

When it comes to Gordeeva's affections, only Olympic gold medalists need apply.

Ilia and David only have one each, so they still aren’t on her level.

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irisheyes

irisheyes

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Wait Alissa Cziny (or whatever it is lol) and Kurt Browning are dating? Wow, that has to be quite the age difference.

22 years. She was less than a year old when he went to his first Olympics. 😳

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healthnut

healthnut

The only news these days seems to be music selection. On Ice Perspectives posted a video clip of Mariah’s new short program to Lady Gaga’s Chromatica album. Her free program music is Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell. 

I highly recommend following On Ice Perspectives on either Instagram or YouTube. They posted a clip of Lu/Mitrofanov’s new free a while back, complete with a triple salchow/Euler/triple salchow combination.

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NUguy514

NUguy514

1 hour ago, Jane Tuesday said:

Six months? GTFO. There's no amount of "education" that will redeem this louse.

That was my reaction, too.  How about a permanent, irrevocable ban?  That would actually be the correct punishment.  Six months is nothing.

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

12 hours ago, Jane Tuesday said:

Six months? GTFO. There's no amount of "education" that will redeem this louse.

What a creep. He came across during his competitive years as such a nice guy in addition to being one of the great stylish skaters. I was always pulling for him. Damn. What's with these lowlifes? Six months? He should be o.u.t. of skating completely.

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Jaded

Jaded

18 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Some insight into why Miner was suspended:

 

Whatever that link was to won't load for me. I guess it got deleted. Is there a brief explanation of what was said in regards to what he did?

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healthnut

healthnut

In the absolute craziest off season news yet. Aljiona Savchenko has teamed up with TJ and will compete for the US. She has been released from Germany. Yes, TJ Nyman, the same skater who’s been accused of sexual assault. And he’s 21. She’ll never get citizenship to compete for the US in an Olympic Games anytime in case anyone was wondering. 

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Jeddah

Jeddah

43 minutes ago, healthnut said:

In the absolute craziest off season news yet. Aljiona Savchenko has teamed up with TJ and will compete for the US. She has been released from Germany. Yes, TJ Nyman, the same skater who’s been accused of sexual assault. And he’s 21. She’ll never get citizenship to compete for the US in an Olympic Games anytime in case anyone was wondering. 

Noooo! I had so much respect for Aljona. Now that’s gone. Why would she do this?

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Harry24

Harry24

1 hour ago, healthnut said:

In the absolute craziest off season news yet. Aljiona Savchenko has teamed up with TJ and will compete for the US. She has been released from Germany. Yes, TJ Nyman, the same skater who’s been accused of sexual assault. And he’s 21. She’ll never get citizenship to compete for the US in an Olympic Games anytime in case anyone was wondering. 

Wait.  What date is it?

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Harry24

Harry24

5 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

And in Day of Our Skating Partners, Bruno unfollowed Aljona on instagram.

Whoa.  That’s serious.  Are we to assume it’s because of serious accusations against her new partner?  I certainly hope that’s the reason and not something more personal.  I don’t know much about Massot and what kind of guy he is.

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healthnut

healthnut

I have lots of thoughts on Grand Prix assignments:

1. C/B & H/D going head to head right out if the gate at Skate America. Usually they split them up and they don’t go head to head til Grand Prix final. Meanwhile G/P get a free pass at Skate Canada. 
2.  No assignments for Calalang & Johnson. Jenni and Todd posted a clip them yesterday just to make sure people know they’re still together. 
3 Chelsea Liu & Danny O’Shea getting a spot at Skate America. I didn’t even know they had teamed up and then On Ice Perspectives release a video from their short program the same day. Interested to see what they look like. 
4. Alysa Liu and Kamila Valieva are both debuting at Skate Canada. 
5. All the women’s events are STACKED. It will be difficult for America’s ladies to medal at all. At Skate America alone, Bradie and Amber are up against Young You, Kaori, Trusova, and Daria.

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Enero

Enero

On 4/26/2021 at 12:56 AM, displayname said:

Maybe this reddit thread is for you then: https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkating/comments/myc7sd/i_listen_to_tsl_so_you_dont_have_to_heres_the_new/

Thanks for posting. Wow this is messy. I’m glad Vanessa is able to attempt a comeback. It was unfortunate how her career abruptly ended due to the allegations against Cipres. But based on what happened with this change I don’t know if I’d trust Radford to be up front with me. Also, it seems like he may frequently be looking for a better skating partner than he’s with. Anyway, I hope it works out for her. 
 

On 5/13/2021 at 7:40 PM, Quof said:

Living with Kurt.

I thought Kurt was married? I guess not. SMH. 

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

4 hours ago, healthnut said:

I have lots of thoughts on Grand Prix assignments:

1. C/B & H/D going head to head right out if the gate at Skate America. Usually they split them up and they don’t go head to head til Grand Prix final. Meanwhile G/P get a free pass at Skate Canada. 
2.  No assignments for Calalang & Johnson. Jenni and Todd posted a clip them yesterday just to make sure people know they’re still together. 
3 Chelsea Liu & Danny O’Shea getting a spot at Skate America. I didn’t even know they had teamed up and then On Ice Perspectives release a video from their short program the same day. Interested to see what they look like. 

The fix is in...maybe? Cause it sure is very strange to have H/D & C/B at Skate America while G/P have Skate Canada to themselves. And what's with Calalang & Johnson not having *any* assignments while a brand new pairs team (sure, they're not novices, but still...) gets Skate America?  

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ML89

ML89

Just now, annzeepark914 said:

And what's with Calalang & Johnson not having *any* assignments while a brand new pairs team (sure, they're not novices, but still...) gets Skate America?  

That was very weird but then again, we never did learn exactly why they weren't going to Worlds, I think? Didn't they drop out right before?

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SeanC

SeanC

4 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

The fix is in...maybe? Cause it sure is very strange to have H/D & C/B at Skate America while G/P have Skate Canada to themselves.

Chock & Bates were the fourth seed, meaning they had their pick of the Grand Prix events apart from (theoretically) Rostelecom had RusFed chosen to host-pick Stepanova & Bukin. They and the USFS evidently decided they wanted to compete at Skate America.

Since the Olympic bronze is probably between the North American teams, perhaps they decided to avoid starting the season with a potential loss to Gilles & Poirier in the latter's home court.

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And what's with Calalang & Johnson not having *any* assignments while a brand new pairs team (sure, they're not novices, but still...) gets Skate America?

They're not included in either the ISP or the USFS funding envelope either, so something is going on with them.  What, I have no idea.

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Jeddah

Jeddah

I’ve been so caught up in the Olympics that this slipped right by me. He’s a smart guy. How did he give such a stupid answer? So offensive. At least his apology seemed genuine. 

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halopub

halopub

3 hours ago, Jeddah said:

I’ve been so caught up in the Olympics that this slipped right by me. He’s a smart guy. How did he give such a stupid answer? So offensive. At least his apology seemed genuine. 

I listened to the whole interview before it was taken down. During the hour, they focused mainly on work ethic and how his parents emphasized education and other interests like ballet and piano rather than make skating the one thing in his life.  The people interviewing him don't know anything about skating and judging by their peppy tone, clearly didn't realize what a loaded, setup question they were asking Nathan. And Nathan has a bad habit of using questioner's phrases back in his word salad responses.

In the context of the question and what he was trying to say - yes very poorly - I'm going to be a little more sympathetic. He certainly could have been more eloquent in expressing his frustration that skating is not seen as a genuine sport in American society and that he's trying to expand people's perception of the sport by bringing in other kinds of music, etc. Instead he tripped all over himself with descriptors like feminine/masculine he should have been way more careful with. In addition to the required athleticism, individualism and a diversity of style in how skaters express themselves is a beautiful thing.

And I was not impressed by Yuzu stans who had a field day making Nathan out to be the worst person ever and spamming such a short snippet of the interview. "We will not forget." Yikes. 

I was pleasantly surprised that The Skating Lesson duo, in reluctantly discussing the interview, took the time to delve into how sports that have a strong artistic component (or vice versa) are viewed around the world vs. the US. 

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Jeddah

Jeddah

2 hours ago, halopub said:

In the context of the question and what he was trying to say - yes very poorly - I'm going to be a little more sympathetic. He certainly could have been more eloquent in expressing his frustration that skating is not seen as a genuine sport in American society and that he's trying to expand people's perception of the sport by bringing in other kinds of music, etc. Instead he tripped all over himself with descriptors like feminine/masculine he should have been way more careful with. In addition to the required athleticism, individualism and a diversity of style in how skaters express themselves is a beautiful thing.

I think that’s what he was trying to say too, and you put that really well! Nathan needs you as his publicist!

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displayname

displayname

(edited)

I don't think Chen is a homophobe, I just think he's immature and not particularly smart and knowledgable, and perhaps felt discomfort before (also entirely possible is that he's had questions about his sexuality directed at him before, but he's old enough now to shrug it off, at least IMO). I hope he takes the time to actually study the music and the styles he's talking about, and here's why.

For me, the worst part of the interview was where he seemed to be equating "masculinity" with "hip hop" and "pop" (and "femininity" with "classical music"). Maybe he didn't mean it that way (OTOH, I don't think he and his friends must be very knowledgable about music), but "masculinity" is probably the most superficial trait of hip hop music, at least for me, and there's possibly lots of discussion about how hip hop culture can be misogynistic and homophobic. Again, maybe he just didn't mean it that way, and it's possible he's never given it any thought, but if I place it next to his skating, and the fact that he did say he and his friends are trying to change the perceptions of skating by bringing in these "new" styles of music, it does look somewhat... derisive, to me. That maybe he really does believe he's doing skating a favour by making it "masculine", and is doing so by reducing "hip hop" to "masculinity", which is not a good look for me, and gives me obnoxious flashbacks to Lysacek.

For the accessibility - I agree that there's a problem with skating being perceived as not being a sport in the US. I don't particularly think it's to do with "femininity" or "masculinity". If "femininity" or skating to classical music were a problem, then why would ladies figure skating be popular? Or, say, if people have a problem with men being feminine or skating to classical music, why would figure skating want those people as part of the audience anyway? It is indeed supposed to be for a range of expressions. Jason Brown's Riverdance went viral, despite not being hip hop or pop. The people who are uncomfortable with feminine men have no place in figure skating. Skating knows its audience, and the audience largely consists of people who are perfectly fine with "femininity" - explanations of its waning popularity in the US need to be searched for elsewhere. 

I'd point out that there have been many American men who have specifically skated to rock music, and pop music, and some even to hip hop music, and yet the popularity declines (so I'm not even sure what he's talking about there, and maybe he needs to watch some more skating on YouTube). The answer to this was certainly not how he is a straight man in a "homosexual dominated sport".

When it comes to the hip hop section he did do once (or twice if we include the junior Michael Jackson SP of his, I guess), I found it to be pretty bad, so I wouldn't really say he's been successful. If he really intends to bring hip hop to skating, then he needs to learn how to do it better. Jimmy Ma, who's probably the friend who did Turn Down For What, really does have Hip Hop chops off the ice. He's posted videos of his dancing on Instagram. He did create a viral moment - but viral moments are different from showing people figure skating isn't just this and that. And I'd say the common link between Brown's Riverdance and Ma's Turn Down For What is that they looked comfortable with themselves and like they knew what they were doing, rather than some forced interest in showing people what your ideology is.

Edited by displayname
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Enero

Enero

(edited)
On 7/28/2021 at 11:55 AM, DawnDavenport said:

https://www.outsports.com/2021/7/28/22597517/nathan-chen-homophobic-figure-skater-remarks-apology

There's a link to the interview that someone saved after it was removed from Youtube.

Thanks for the link!

On 7/31/2021 at 6:11 PM, halopub said:

In the context of the question and what he was trying to say - yes very poorly - I'm going to be a little more sympathetic. He certainly could have been more eloquent in expressing his frustration that skating is not seen as a genuine sport in American society and that he's trying to expand people's perception of the sport by bringing in other kinds of music, etc. Instead he tripped all over himself with descriptors like feminine/masculine he should have been way more careful with. In addition to the required athleticism, individualism and a diversity of style in how skaters express themselves is a beautiful thing.

Honestly, based on the clip provided above, I didn't really see anything wrong with what he said. Yes. It could've been stated more eloquently, but he wasn't being sexist, mysogynistic or homophobic at all. The bottom line is Americans see figure skating as a female sport  - ballerinas on ice, and thus doesn't take it seriously when it comes to men. 

I believe his thought is, as you said, by incorporating more mainstream music into his programs i.e. hip-hop and pop, he may be able to change perceptions of the sport and perhaps draw the interest of diverse youth who can better relate to the latest pop/hip-hop hit than a tune from more than a century ago. 

Edited by Enero
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