32 responses so far ↓

• 1 Enigma // Feb 18, 2010 at 12:26 pm

  I honestly don’t get it. As a sports anchor / reporter myself, I’m just shocked at some of the comments that are made.

  Whatever happened to fair commentary? Whatever happened to treating each sport with respect and dignity?

  These guys need to stop making their shows about themselves and start talking about what really matters.

• 2 Helen // Feb 18, 2010 at 12:42 pm

  Not to mention the US commentators who after discussing Evan Lysacek skate for hours started giggling like school girls as if he was a joke. They didn’t talk about his skating at all! WTF? He is an Olympic level athlete who earned his spot despite all the efforts by his federation to leave him out. He is no ones joke! I hope he medals so I can see “family values” Scott Hamilton’s head explode.

• 3 Helen // Feb 18, 2010 at 12:44 pm

  To clarify, I meant to say when they started discusing Johnny Weir.

• 4 ger // Feb 18, 2010 at 12:47 pm

  What about the homophobia in Plushenko’s post-skate interview? His whole “Without a quad, the skating is not man, it’s not men’s figure skating”. If the homophobia’s coming from within the sport, we have no hope when it comes to sports commentary.

• 5 Hector // Feb 18, 2010 at 1:24 pm

  Plushenko meant that if you don’t have the quad, you’re reduced to women’s skating where they don’t even attempt it and can just do triples.

• 6 DR // Feb 18, 2010 at 1:50 pm

  I agree that the Aussie’s comments were immature (at best), and the guy in the pic shouldn’t be calling Johnny a “queer”.BUT…

  John Mamola’s point is a fair one. Even on here, a good chunk of the discussion has been about everything BUT Johnny Weir’s skating. Flamboyant attitude, flashy costumes, crazy commentary… and all of that is in Johnny’s control. If he wants to become a celebrity instead of a world-class athlete, that’s his choice, but when he does all that, that’s what people are going to talk about. He let’s the person he is totally overshadow the skating he does. That’s not homophobia, that’s reality.

• 7 buccoman // Feb 18, 2010 at 1:53 pm

  Why is it that gay athletes often choose skating as their sport? Seems like a higher proportion of gay folk are in this sport than in others. In terms of athleticism, I don;t think snow boarding is anymore (or less) “athletic” than skating (and it’s actually a bit similar in its conception), but it’s not considered a gay sport, and it seemingly doesn;t attract nearly as many gay athletes.

• 8 John McClelland // Feb 18, 2010 at 2:56 pm

  I think in figure skating you are more apt to think “hey I think that dude is gay” due to the over the top theatrics of the sport that are included in their programs. A lot of the guys are also very good looking. So it is natural for anyone to think there are more gay people in figure skating than any other sport. But as well all know, thanks to Outsports and our own life experiences, there are gay people in every sport on every level. They just don’t ping on people’s radar, or choose not to come out.

• 9 homophobic aussies // Feb 18, 2010 at 4:11 pm

  here is the link to the aussie homophobic coverage. it was pretty bad and childish for a supposedly world class coverage of a world class event. complaint letters have been written to network and newspapers….

  http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/02/18/eddie-and-mick-feel-the-heat-in-vancouver-gay-row/

• 10 D // Feb 18, 2010 at 4:20 pm

  A lot of this is driven by the lack of support by these skaters official federations. The Federations would come to the defense of their athletes in a second, if a racial slur was ever implied, but organizations like Skate Canada won’t stand up for gay skaters and by standing up, we me using what ever media pressure they have to force apologies, publicly and behind the scenes as well. Having said that, not one single figure skater has ever been out, so cowardice draws out bigotry. If skating had a few butch dykes in it, you know these commentators would be getting a verbal bashing right now.

• 11 terry // Feb 18, 2010 at 9:07 pm

  Mens figure skating will always have this stigma, regardless of who wins. Let’s admit it. It’s a feminine sport. There’s nothing wrong with that so why do the people in Skate Canada try to prove its anything but? Western culture has this philosophy: whatever men do, women should be able to do it. Whatever women do, men shouldn’t do it because it’s inappropriate or for sissies. Notice nobody bashes womens ice hockey but people get upset with Weir. How sad.

• 12 Kelly // Feb 18, 2010 at 9:18 pm

  C’mon guys. I think some folks who are rightfully outraged at the homophobia surrounding figure skating are guilty of engaging in some stereotyping themselves.

  The great Robin Cousins was the most elegant male skater I’ve ever seen. He’s gay, but his skating wasn’t effiminate. He showed that masculinity and grace were not mutually exclusive.

  Yet many folks here keep behaving as if the only way to be graceful is to be effiminate. Also, all graceful skaters aren’t gay and all gay skaters aren’t effiminate or for that matter, all that graceful. Some are powerful and butch.

  That can’t be news to anyone here. I mean, does anyone think that most of the gay men in the military are effiminate?

  It’s as if folks are trying to put all skaters in a box where everyone is required to flame.

• 13 tristram // Feb 18, 2010 at 11:22 pm

  Right, c’mon guys - spend 10 minutes in the locker room of any (non-gay) gym in the country and you’ll learn that by definition ALL figure skaters are fags. If you’re a real man, you play hockey or maybe get away with speed skating. But put those little notches on the front of your blades, and you’re automatically wearing a tutu and eyeliner. Johnny Weir’s problem is that he understands and embraces the perception - and a lot of guys just can’t deal with this. (ps - people who need to use ‘effeminate’ as a put-down in every other sentence should learn to spell the word)

• 14 Kelly // Feb 19, 2010 at 2:09 am

  I didn’t run spell check, so sue me. At least I didn’t use the “f” word. That’s as tacky as black people using the “N” word.

  Besides, the word “effeminate” was not used as a put down but as a challenge to stereotypes. Beloved Johnny has used it to describe himself and I’ve never known him to speak about his behavior in a negative way.

  You engage in stereotyping as much as any of the straight men in gyms that you criticize.

  Sorry but MOST of the gay men I know and love are out and can kick most straight men’s asses. And the straight men around here know it.

• 15 Richard Davis // Feb 19, 2010 at 2:17 am

  My observation as a professional photographer that has spent his 35 year career photographing professional sports is that the great majority of the professional skaters, judges, and most coaches are in fact gay. It is not a sport that a straight athlete would feel comfortable aspiring too nor proud of being part of.
  I feel that they should wear uniforms like all other athletes and be judged on their skills not their “artistic impressions” or in my opinion very questionable attire.
  Without question the sport is a totally gay sport and could use an infusion of a more balanced example of athletes.
  Can you imagine a snow boarder wanting to join a community of people like that?
  I think not!

• 16 Richard Davis // Feb 19, 2010 at 2:28 am

  If it waddles like a duck,
  Quacks like a duck,
  Has feathers like a duck,
  Looks like a duck,
  And mounts other ducks,
  It’s a fucking duck

• 17 Daniel // Feb 19, 2010 at 6:37 am

  It wasn’t homophobic, just childish and a bad attempt at getting a few cheap laughs. Molloy is a hack comedian, who has been sacked by every major Australian TV network.

  The host(Eddie McGuire) tried to clarify the comments by saying they were discussing the issue regarding the “feminine” v “masculine” skater issue…nice try but the Australian public aren’t that stupid.

• 18 sportinlife // Feb 19, 2010 at 11:08 am

  “He let’s the person he is totally overshadow the skating he does.”

  Now that’s an interesting observation. I wonder how many straight skaters’s personalities overshadow their skating. What if a skater constantly emphasizes his former hockey game?

• 19 Greeneggs N. Hamm // Feb 19, 2010 at 11:12 am

  On the positive side, there’s this glowing profile of Weir from Thursday’s Globe and Mail (Toronto), at: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/columnists/c=christieblatchford/newsid=45211.html

  Also, in today’s Soleil (Québec City), there’s a fairly long article about how two otherwise well-respected TV commentators on Canada’s French-language networks went on the air this morning to apologize for disparaging remarks about Weir.

  http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/arts-et-spectacles/television-et-radio/201002/19/01-953156-propos-homophobes-mailhot-et-goldberg-forces-de-sexcuser.php

• 20 Sal // Feb 19, 2010 at 11:15 am

  Figure Skating might not even be the sport with the most gay men. That might be Diving or Gymnastics or Snow Boarding for all we know.

• 21 DR // Feb 19, 2010 at 12:04 pm

  sportinlife…

  depends… does he or she emphasize it to the detriment of the sport? is that all anyone talks about?

  most of the time when people talk about Johnny, it’s not about his skating, but everything else. he wants to be a celebrity. did he need a reality tv show? the pissing contest with PETA? the whining over having to live at the Olympic village?

  Johnny’s all about drama.

• 22 Stef // Feb 19, 2010 at 1:49 pm

  “John “Rock” Mamola on 670 The Score in Chicago said people at the station never talk on air about how great of an athlete Johnny Weir is, because all they can think about is whether he’s gay.”

  Well guess what you’re focusing on?? You’re not helping. Johnny skated 2 great programs, that’s what matters.

• 23 Michael Compton // Feb 19, 2010 at 4:26 pm

  The types of comments these announcers made are a disgrace and an embarrassment (never made it out of Jr. High, guys?). I wish i could say they were a surprise, as well.

• 24 joe // Feb 19, 2010 at 6:51 pm

  Let’s face its ballet on ice and to most men ballet means gay. Now if they beat each other up between routines…

• 25 Richard Davis // Feb 19, 2010 at 7:34 pm

  Someone please explain to me why is Figure Skating the only Olympic event with costumes instead of national uniforms?
  Why do they pick their own music and programs?
  Because it seems to me that it is not truly an Olympic event but just another ice show that is judged.
  If the skaters wore uniforms and performed with the same program and music people would concentrate on the only differences which is the skating. Then it would be a true Olympic competition!

• 26 averagejoe // Feb 19, 2010 at 8:31 pm

  I thought the comments were funny. “Brokeback Mountain skating” haha haha! You’re only offended because face it, it’s true. Skating is supposed to be a sport, not a drag queen beauty pageant. Weir’s stereotypical gay flamebait outfit and behavior is a disgrace and an embarrassment to the gay community.

• 27 edo // Feb 19, 2010 at 10:31 pm

  What the olympic judges did last night was tell everyone that if your
  openly gay and HONEST you have no chance in figure skating… they sent a message
  ….why would anyone in their right mind put their child in this sport,
  spend hundreds of thousands of dollars training them and dedicate their
  life to it when if you happen to be gay and tell the truth you will not win no matter
  what.

  Can anyone please explain to the public who watched the mens figure
  skating how Johnny Weir was scored lower than:

  * DAISUKE TAKAHASHI (Japan, Bronze Medal) Takahashi fell on his first
  jump in the program, a quad attempt, and landed squarely on his ass. I
  mean that literally. He slid on his ass for what seemed like an
  eternity, got up, and finished a program that otherwise had the same
  degree of difficulty as Weir. His scores were so inflated that NBC
  cameras actually caught him reacting with shock, not entirely pleasant,
  that he had scored as highly as he did despite a bad fall and other
  errors.

  * STEPHANE LAMBIEL (Switzerland, 4th Place) Lambiel bobbled nearly
  every landing and mailed in all his other elements. The crowd seemed to
  drift off into sleep as Lambiel nearly missed jumps, stumbled from one
  element to another, and skated in slow motion.

  * PATRICK CHAN (Canada, 5th Place) In addition to a fall, Chan’s
  performance was all over the place. It was unfocused, sloppy, and he
  couldn’t seem to hit anything right. The commentators were full of
  excuses for Chan: he’s injured, he changed coaches, he’s too young. He
  wasn’t too young, however, when he won Silver in the World
  Championships last March.

  Ridiculous.
  Why would anyone follow the figure skating sport or become involved
  when performance is not rewarded but image and behind the scenes deals
  are.
  THis is why the sport will never build a large fan base..the judging is corrupt and the best performance of the night doesNOT win.
  The only good thing is I am now a JOHNNY WEIR fan for his honesty courage and principles. There are not many people in the world that stand by their convictions to eliminate predjudice as Johnny Weir has. YOUR A HERO IN MY BOOK.

• 28 Chelsea // Feb 20, 2010 at 5:01 pm

  What makes it a ‘masculine’ or a ‘feminine’ sport…

  I do not agree with the comment about no one bashing womens hockey. Women do not receive close to the respect they deserve for playing hockey. Still the women that do play get portrayed as ‘masculine’ and are therefore labeled instantly as lesbians, which takes on a negative connotation. Why do people neglect an athletes athletic ability and rather discuss their homosexual behavior. The Olympics is about the sport they are participating in not the individual itself. It is unfair that an individual gets ridiculed for being who they are. The conservative nature of the IOC displays acts of homophobia, case in point the situation with Johnny Weir.

• 29 terry // Feb 23, 2010 at 5:01 am

  Chelsea, I agree with you that female hockey players do not get the respect they deserve but I also have to add that neither do they get dissed either. Male figure skaters, on the other hand, are usually looked down upon by male sportswriters and they are constantly dissed by mainstream sports fans. I’m not saying that female hockey players (and female athletes for that matter) don’t get this kind of treatment from fans; it’s just that the hateful remarks are often aimed at somebody else while ignoring them.

• 30 SUNfiltered : Fresh culture daily. » Blog Archive » Johnny Weir to address the press // Feb 26, 2010 at 3:01 pm

  [...] at 4pm PST (7pm EST), Johnny will hold a press conference to address the unfortunate remarks made during his free skate. He will additionally react to the amazing out pour of support [...]

• 31 Artemis // Feb 27, 2010 at 12:35 pm

  To the post about women not attempting the quad–there have been women’s quads in skate competition (Miki Ando, for example), so I still don’t know what exactly Plushenko was talking about, unless he just thought there was too much emphasis in scoring choreography.

• 32 Corey // May 22, 2010 at 11:28 pm

  “He let’s the person he is totally overshadow the skating he does. That’s not homophobia, that’s reality.”

  Most Olympic and prime-time athletes do the exact same things that Johnny does, only those athletes aren’t competing in performance sports - get it, performance sports. Does that make any sense? Flamboyant costumes and perfectly choreographed dramatic elements add to the magic and emotional gravity that Johnny & other skaters portrays on ice.

  Off the ice, he’s just like any other athlete who’s exploring their celebrity potential. But it’s comments like these, even from a fellow gay man, that reiterate how uncomfortable America still is with individuals who feel totally free expressing themselves for who they are. Johnny’s skating is perfectly wonderful, and his personality only adds to the flair that we look for as we watch his performances. He’s no different than other skaters and performers on the ice.

  It saddens me to see a fellow homosexual show disdain for someone so content with who they are. We’ve got some work to do in this country it seems…

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