138LikesI agree! He has really had the right perspective this time around and it has been doing him good!!Originally Posted by chrisg;3834925;
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Two Quebecois sportscasters are in a steaming pot of hot water for making very similar comments.
Canadian commentators fail to cool it with Johnny Weir jokes - Fourth-Place Medal - 2010 Olympics Blog - Yahoo! Sports
They said a bunch of other stuff too, of course. I really don't buy it - I think the days where people think figure skating is a girl's sport so therefore the men who participate in it must be gay are way in the past. I like Johnny, I think he brings a sense of humour and fun to a highly intense and competitive sport. Skaters begin their careers at such tender ages and even the youngest must compete - it's all deadly serious. I think Johnny brings a very positive aspect to the sport, rather than a negative.
Further to the scoring...I was thinking that if it's changed to favour the more athletic skaters, perhaps the sport is in danger of losing fans? It might garner a whole new group of fans but those who watch for the artistic elements may abandon it.
All my life, I have felt destiny tugging at my sleeve.~ Thursday Next
I don't want to "go with the flow". The flow just washes you down the drain. I want to fight the flow.- Henry Rollins
All this spiritual talk is great and everything...but at the end of the day, there's nothing like a pair of skinny jeans. - Jillian Michaels
The original comment on Johnny Weir was actually trying to make the opposite point, that the judges want the skaters to be masculine and that JW gets docked for being too feminine. I personally think there could be an argument there. It seems to me that there have been very few male skaters that were openly gay. Johnny and Rudy Gallindo (sp?) are the only two I am personally aware of (altho I know little about the situations of other skaters in their own countries). And when you hear the announcers talk about the male skaters a lot of their focus is on "power" and "masculinity". They frequently seem at a loss to me when they have to comment on Johnny's programs.
I think it's his flamboyancy that's the object of concern, not his sexuality. I also think that some might not like that he may give the appearance of not taking competition as seriously as some - not saying that he does or doesn't, but he marches to the beat of his own drummer and there will always be people who don't like that.
All my life, I have felt destiny tugging at my sleeve.~ Thursday Next
I don't want to "go with the flow". The flow just washes you down the drain. I want to fight the flow.- Henry Rollins
All this spiritual talk is great and everything...but at the end of the day, there's nothing like a pair of skinny jeans. - Jillian Michaels
Johnny Weir was my favorite skater. He had one slip-up (on a turn, of all things), but everything else seemed like pure perfection. He was great to watch. Politics or not, it's disappointing he didn't move up in the ranks.
Good for Bode! I love how he has a collection of all three medals from these Vancouver games now. After the disappointment of Turin, his life is really turning around these days.
I had a few questions to ask in the past, but I kept forgetting to post them. So here the are...
When Lindsay Vonn and Julia Mancuso went one and two in the women's downhill, did they seem a little tense standing by each other? I don't know, when they were interviewed side by side, it just seemed a little... awkward.
What is everyone's opinion on the design of the medals? They're eye-catching, definitely, but I personally don't like the way they look wrinkled. I think I prefer Turin's hole medals more, and I didn't like those very much either.
This is a stupid question, but does anyone else enjoy the background music that plays during events such as men's and women's moguls? When Hannah Kearny won her gold medal, her run was nearly perfect. But what topped it off, for me, was the background music that played during her it. I think I get too analytical, with this and the design of the medals. But I enjoyed it.Does anyone know the name of that song that played during Hannah's run?
Well, wow. We drove up to Vancouver this morning and breezed across the border. We were parked by 10 am. It was an incredibly gorgeous day. We walked around and soaked in the atmosphere then we followed the crowd walking to the Russia/Czech hockey game and did some people watching while soaking in the sun. There were way more people looking to buy tickets than sell them. It was so much fun seeing all the different countries' fans and representatives. Right before game time, we walked over to Gas Town and found a bar to watch the game and the skiing. I can't tell you how much I appreciated getting to watch the ski race in real time. Seeing Bode win was a thrill. So was getting to see basically every skiier while being able to follow the hockey game too.
Then we made a mistake and got up to walk around some more (Btw, the different countries have these really fun houses that are open to everyone, except the US House which is extremely limited. The Irish House looked like a blast but the line to get in was wound half way around a city block).
By the time we decided to try to find a place to watch the US/Canada game, even though it was two hours before game time, we couldn't find a spot at the first 15 bars we visited. Every single one was completely packed with fans. We finally ended up at a rooftop sports bar that we spotted by accident several blocks from where the game was. It's located on the top of a nice seafood and chop house. It had room to stand when we got there. It couldn't have been more crowded by five minutes into the game. I'm pretty sure any fire marshal who walked in would have shut it down. We some how got seats by the start of the second period sitting next to the only other three US fans in the place. It was a sea of Canadians in various Canada gear. It was also one of the most fun times I've had watching a game. There were lots of chants of "Go, Canada, Go!" There was also a lot of good natured ribbing. But, it was a great game and everyone was very gracious as well as being totally into the game. I've been to some great sporting events in person, but I think this is going to be one of my favorite sports memories ever.
Mariner, that's so great that you went! I was thinking about you this weekend since you said you might head up there.
CRTW, you definitely follow the sport of skating more closely than I do -- and you also know how vigilant I tend to be about discrimination in society -- but having friends in musical theatre and ballet, what I've seen is that the people who tend to be attracted to a field that has a strong focus upon performance based artistic interpretation also tend to be incredibly open minded about a wide range of gender expression. These are such yin, artistic areas to begin with and people that view guys as only fitting in a yang/alpha/hetero role tend to not really gravitate toward undeniably artistic fields from anything I've seen -- even those people that would tend to be considered of an older generation.
CrossingGuard, I haven't gotten the impression that Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso are particularly close either. They've been competing against each other since they were young so that may have a lot to do with it. And outside of the Olympics, Lindsey has the much more impressive record by far. Not sure how much that factors into it. Maybe Lindsey has a thing against tiaras? I know it kind of bugs me a little.
I think the tiara needs to be put back where it originated. It may be a fun inside joke for her and her coach, but it sends the wrong message out to the general public. Blah.
And I am sooooooooo not on the Lindsay Vonn train. For some reason I just get this air of insincerity from everything that she says. Her boohooing after her gold medal, while appropriate, just seemed false and forced for public viewing. I want to like her... I just don't.
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