Monday, June 18, 2012

Rumor?

A few figure skating message board posters have suggested that, through no fault of its own, Skate Canada is having difficulty financing Worlds 2013, presently scheduled to go off in London, Ontario. Worse, these rumor-mongers have hinted that Skate Canada may actually "give back" Worlds due to the fact that the ISU isn't delivering the professionalism to which a savvy operation  like Skate Canada is accustomed.

I'm here to say I believe these rumors are nonsense. I agree with the poster who had the sense to articulate the obvious:
If the Russians can put together Worlds on one month's notice, I am sure a well-run organization like Skate Canada will be able to adjust for this change with nine months to go. They just had four rounds of qualifying and at least a couple of days of skating and practice time shaved off the event, which should make things easier.
Let's not forget either that the London Worlds will be a showcase for Skate Canada in the eyes of countless potential corporate sponsors. It's Thompson, Wilkes' et al's chance to put Skate Canada's best foot forward. Skate Canada isn't going to punt this Worlds and expose Skate Canada to ridicule, intensifying Kozy Shack's burden as Skate Canada's status sponsor while Skate Canada faces going major title sponsor-less into the Olympic season. Self interest alone argues against it - directors could lose their jobs over that.*

William Thompson  recently gave a heads-up to fans eager to purchase single-event tickets. There will be a delay before these tickets go on sale, and he showed un-Thompson-like restraint delivering the news - only mildly implying that those tools at the ISU are to blame. If London Worlds does get given back, which it will not, better believe it won't be Skate Canada's fault. Any skating federation would be tempted to give back if deprived of ticket sales for the preliminaries. Those preliminaries are a huge earner - the projected revenue stream keys off preliminaries and light shows. Even  the former Soviet Union would have difficulty mounting Worlds if preliminaries were cut short, and it'll be very tough on  them, the States, France, Korea, Japan, China, Italy or Finland if any of these countries find themselves putting on  Worlds 2013 instead of Canada, which they won't.

Besides, Skate Canada has brainstormed some auxiliary revenue generating schemes. For example, its Weaver/Poje - Platonic Pride! product line is in development aiming for a Xmas 2012! launch. Platonic Pride was inspired by Kaitlyn Weaver's hugely successful pay-to-read "inside access" blog for SOI's Love'n Life tour. You should see what the SOI crafts service table looked like after the money from that baby started pouring in. Regular coffee and hazelnut.

Unique items featured only in this exclusive product line:


Limited edition "Certified" "World's Best Breakfast Tacos" prints autographed by Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, inspired by reclaimed eBay item. Only in the new Platonic Pride line from Skate Canada.

They have nothing to hide.
These are no fan-crafted tsoskes. These are authentic, anatomically correct Kaitlyn  Weaver and Andrew Poje dolls.**


The Platonic (mini) Pine Tree, certified cultivated from pine cones from the tree Kaitlyn and Andrew planted platonically to commemorate Xmas 2011.***
 

Planned brand extensions include Auntie's Annual - an American-sourced commemorative tree ornament. Also in the works is the Platonic Pride Easter line of travel accessories. 
You will be able to travel a la Weaver and Poje'.
Beyond that, Thompson, Barb MacDonald, Debbi Wilkes and Mike Slipchuk are contemplating collaborating on an  e-book with the working title: Platonic Pride - Not Just for Figure Skaters. Thompson has determined that there is aunder-served market out there. There isn't a film, theatre, dance or television production or company in the present day, nor in all-time history that has managed to achieve Skate Canada's pristine, thoroughly documented record of platonicness between all of its heterosexual, partnered elite competitors under a single administration. Elsewhere, and worldwide, when single, physically fit, good-looking, emotionally intimate people with shared passions are together working towards mutual goals over a protracted period of time, it happens like clockwork, whether as brief as a hook-up or culminating in marriage. But at Skate Canada, even its most recent on-the-record non-platonic team connection (D&D) evaporated into a mutually satisfactory, cozy bff platonic partnership as soon as Skate Canada's current slate of directors were in their positions.
 

There are plenty of organizations, and businesses of all kinds, which have been unable to completely prevent romantic connections between heterosexual employees tasked on a mutual project. How does Skate Canada do it? How does it redirect its heterosexual figure skaters' romantic and passionate energies away from the person with whom they share emotional intimacy, their partner, the human being they trust beyond all others and consider a best friend, and instead get them to focus on somebody working a different schedule in a different department on a different floor whom they might even dislike? There might be a readership for this.
_________________________
*Lol! Jk.

**May be purchased only as a pair.

***Limited addition.

13 comments:

  1. A part of me feels it's mean to bring Kaitlyn and Andrew into this, but then another part of me feels they opened themselves up for it with that ridiculous icenetwork article. Why put out an article that hardly mentioned their skating but instead focused on their personal lives together - in a house they share! - and then insert it's "platonic?"

    (Big eyeroll!!)

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    1. I don't plan on brand-extending the blog, so to speak, to bring Kaitlyn and Andrew into it as a regular feature. This post was a combination of the article that went into such detail describing their shared lives, but throwing in "platonically", Skate Canada's indifference about sponsor attrition, the rumors about Worlds and follow up pieces about Kaitlyn and Andrew going to one of their family's for Easter. It's ridiculous. The only explanation for it all is that the dolls are indeed, anatomically correct. K&A, at least, appear to be Skate Canada pawns so this post is more about Skate Canada. They don't appear to be a duo that spends much time pretending, otherwise.

      I've also noticed how conspicuously platonic all of Skate Canada's mutually heterosexual, high profile skating teams are - conspicuous in that one or both makes a point of displaying their SO on facebook in often stilted-looking photos, and, from time to time, the SO is actually gay (I'm not going to go into that one). Yet in the teams where it's presumed one is gay, there's mostly silence on the nature of the team's relationship or the existence of SOs.

      Cue Barb having a lightbulb moment about a make-work task. She can insert little side blurbs in Above the Crowd about SOs of the teams she's neglected so far. She's all about closing loops.

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    2. Speaking of drama and lying in canadian figure skating, what do you make of this: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Figure+skater+Jamie+Sale+marries+former+Oiler+Craig+Simpson/6819535/story.html

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  2. Did the "exclusive" blogs expand on the platonic theme, is that where the Easter thing was?

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  3. I think the Easter thing is referring to how Andrew spent the holiday with Kaitlyn and her extended family and they looked the very picture of a cozy couple.

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  4. WP are a little different than VM, though. We know a lot more about WP, such as they live together, visit each other's families, shop together and travel. They aren't afraid to let us know they spend time together, but throw out that little asterisk at the end that it's alllll "friendly." Anyone with a brain says "yeah, right." WP clearly aren't putting as much effort into the sham so I don't think they care as much if people find out the truth.

    VM on the other hand, try as hard as they can to avoid mention of traveling together even on official trips. Nobody knows where they live or with whom (other than Kate.) Tessa might as well never be around except when they are performing. As soon as she steps off the ice she bolts for her "own life" at college. They mindF with so many people, fans think it's possible they could be friends, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt, because they're such "good kids." That's the difference that I see.

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    1. "They mindF with so many people"

      I thank this blog for showing me how much this is true. I've followed V/M since they were Juniors and for a long time it felt like things were just odd whenever the relationship question was addressed. Now that I know what the patterns have been it's very clear to see the set-ups and lies.

      W/P may still deny any relationship but at least there's not a feeling that they're deliberately looking for ways to set-up the fans and then mock them with the supposed SO, the way V/M have done. At least W/P seem to be going about their normal lives without fear of people's opinions or perceptions, no matter what is "officially" said about them in the media.

      I don't know that I'll ever forget how the V/M camp has set up their little narratives ("See Scott and Jessica at a wedding; See Scott and Jessica at the Moir's for Christmas; See Scott and Jessica in Monaco, in Paris..." "Tessa?" "Who's Tessa?"), with obvious intent to make fun of the fans. That's the part that offends me. It would be easier to accept all the denials if they had not also shown they were having so much "fun" mocking the fans.

      Gee, how interesting that all these people that at one time had public facebook pages knew exactly what to do to lock down their pages when they decided it was time to make them more private. Obviously, when they publicly shared all those yukky photos and wall posts they knew exactly what they were doing; they weren't stupid innocents who didn't know how to make things private.

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  5. I wonder if WP have pressure from Skate Canada to throw in the platonic asterisk just so they (a) don't steal TS thunder so to speak (as in people might ship another couple) or (b) make them look absolutely off the charts ridiculous (as in being together is REALLY not that big a deal). I think the above posters are right that WP really don't appear to have their hearts in it, and thank goodness for that.

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    Replies
    1. Well it will be interesting to see next year's FDs and see how W/P and Hubbell/Donohue come up with and whether these teams play up the couple factor. It will be interesting to see what V/T come up with as well in pairs. Although the figure skating crowd might want to support a popular couple in the end the skating has to be there with a range of interpretation.

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  6. Okay, so I can't afford to sign up for the fan club. Thus, I can't access Kaitlyn's blog (at least the Easter entry). Is there any way you could post the pictures from that blog entry?

    Also, speaking of skating couples who aren't hiding anything, Zachary Donohue recently Tweeted that he went on a family vacation - with Madison Hubbell's family. They seem to be pretty open about their relationship!

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  7. Anon 8:24

    Hubbell/Donohue skate for the USA, not Canada. The USFSA doesn't have policies for denying romantic relationships between skating partners.

    Weaver/Poje skate for that other federation (Skate Canada) that loves to tell the public all about the skaters' platonic intimacies.

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  8. I don't know nothing about Skate Canada, it seems so tottally wrong that they are controlling skaters' private life.
    But I noticed something. In the K&C WP call each other LOVE, so adding to this that they are always togeter, vacations, holidays,spare time,the conclusion is one.
    Now why they still don't say it pubblically, don t now, maybe they are just private persons, and don't feel the need to speak about it.Or SC is really into it. I just noticed that some FB's pics profile has changed lately...

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  9. Someone can share the blog's entries ??
    I can not have access to it !!!

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