Sunday, October 28, 2012

Run, Kaetlyn, run

 
ETA - there are people swearing that although they'd considered attending Worlds or Canadians, they won't if the in-house commentary by Wilkes continues (not a positive remark to be found - Debbi might want to have Barb get on that). Wilke's fatuous babble after every skater skates has turned people off more strongly than would a program of aboriginal folk dances choreographed by Linichuk.

Of course the in-house commentary, plus interviews conducted by Wilkes, will continue, because she's got somebody's nuts in a vise. Wilkes got involved in Skate Canada in the first place not to do a job but to mug the camera, and Skate Canada is running out of work arounds. So all you potential attendees who were going to spend money on tickets to enhance SC's revenue - may as well stay home.

I kind of feel as if I'm patronizing Kaetlyn Osmond by wanting her to refuse to be interviewed by Debbi Wilkes. When you look at that slight eyebrow raise and smirk of Kaetlyn's, you know she gets it.

Still, may as well point out that Osmond, like Scott and Tessa, can decline to be interviewed by Debbi Wilkes (Debbi has interviewed all the SC 2012 Canadian figure skaters except Tessa and Scott, who are saving themselves for P.J.).

An advantage of belonging to a dysfunctional federation like Skate Canada with nothing for title sponsors and a bankrupt women's program is, if you are a female figure skater who has, thanks to your own efforts, and to the support team you have personally put together, emerged from obscurity to become a skater who can do triple combinations and win a Grand Prix, there's no need to endure a creepy, narcissistic eyesore shoving her way into your spotlight.

I don't believe any skater should be figuring out how to avoid one of their federation's directors. Debbi's situation is that because she's a director with an empty title, she can insist upon a media role for herself. But Tracy Wilson, PJ Kwong, Beverly Smith and the competent, professional bunch of apparent no-names who've done media for SC are the ones who ought to be doing media. Debbi's not media. She's the Director of Business Development, and what a fine job she's done, what with having a minor sponsor in Thomas Sabo jewelry and with Kozy Shack not actually cutting and running but merely downgrading their involvement to "preferred supplier".

Debbi has no purpose. She's a complacent fool. She's nasty. The target audience can't stand her. She alienates sponsors and public alike.

She invades the personal space of not only the person she's interviewing, but those watching. Maybe if Debbi stopped fogging up the camera lens with her ghastly visage and pried her nose away, the rest of us could breathe.

Among the universally disgusted reviews with Debbi's revolting performance (even someone competent would be obnoxious bleating on after every figure skater, their words echoing throughout the venue. The fucking vanity!), there's this:
kwanfan1818: Yeah, that and, did you ever consider that you might be creating a little Field of Play violation by reviewing performances while the judges were marking inciting the crowd to disagree with the judges?
Skate Canada never considers anything, Kf.  

So this:
I was considering going to Canadian Nationals if I could work it out, but if they continue with the in-arena commentary, I'm never attending another of their events.
is best. Of course SC was going to figure out a way to snatch attention from the event and turn it towards Debbi (by force). Debbi also did her best to hijack the Olympic spotlight from the figure skaters and direct it towards her own suffocating imbecilities.

Lots of events in Canada this season. Good idea to start off by making those who dug into their pockets to spend their hard-earned money decide the experience isn't worth repeating. There's nobody who works for a living just to use their disposable income to satisfy  the vanity of Debbi Wilkes.

25 comments:

  1. I'm still reeling from hearing Debbi's stupid comments all weekend. It was horrific and inappropriate in every way, and very clear that she loved hearing herself talk. What an embarrassment for Skate Canada.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With the skatebug device, people can remove it. They have the option. Of COURSE Debbi has to decide that if there's a skatebug glitch (as someone else says, that's SC's story and they're sticking with it - I suspect that's just ass coverage in case the Debbi gambit failed) - the best fill-in is to leave anyone in the arena with no choice but to listen to her. Imagine the arrogance. The skaters have just competed. Judges are working. The audience is waiting for scores. And Debbi's voice is carrying throughout the arena with her obnoxious, irrelevant and completely useless remarks, complete with laughter and cross-talk. If skatebug is experiencing a glitch, you do without it. It's not a necessary element. But of course, it represented opportunity to Debbi, and we're meant to believe this wasn't a manufactured opportunity, but happenstance and she stepped into the breach. I don't believe it.

      You don't consider skatebug such a must have you substitute by broadcasting Debbi's bullshit through a public address system. This is a set up.

      Delete
  2. This is so bizarre. I would gladly have gone to every event at all three 401 competitions if I had the resources. I was crushed that this past weekend didn't work out, Worlds is not doable $$ wise at the moment, so have been setting all my hopes on Nats. Finally have enough scraped together for it. And I'm actually having to seriously contemplate whether I should buy the tickets. I don't cope well with torture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Skate Canada had a lot of empty seats. The upcoming Canadians can use every ticket. Plenty of people are saying "no thanks" just like you. They're disappointed, but it's not worth it. And Debbi will not relinquish this in-house gig.

      Look at this ass. When she concocts a scheme to push herself back into the spotlight, there's no proportion. The gig is set up to talk constantly throughout the entire event, which she does anyway, but now she's miked so that everybody in arena, all of the figure skaters after they've performed, and everyone at home is forced to listen to her virtually nonstop. That's her idea of enhancement. What kind of raging attention freak is this woman and how sick is Skate Canada as an institution to enable this?

      Delete
  3. "kwanfan1818: Yeah, that and, did you ever consider that you might be creating a little Field of Play violation by reviewing performances while the judges were marking inciting the crowd to disagree with the judges?"

    That's a good observation. With that kind of reasoning, the ISU should step in and put a stop to the interviews. I'm sure the idea of the interviews was to give her more notoriety instead of educating the fans.

    What other kind of organization would have its "director" of whatever, doing interviews rather than hiring a celebrity of sorts to do it. There are former skaters that do commentary, but they don't try to run a whole skating federation on the side. This makes them look "small time" like they don't have the resources to get enough people for all the jobs, so they have to have one person doing multiple jobs.

    I wondered why SC isn't all up in the business of its other talented skaters, and then I realized it's because the other skaters don't need SC's help or approval. V/M's lie has to have SC to exist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Surely the judges can't have appreciated it anymore than the fans did. Surely the ISU will hear some feedback. But even if they can stop it at Worlds, there's no hope for Nats, is there? :(

      Delete
    2. It does make them look small time, which is what they have become. Debbi was one of the biggest braggarts that the previous administration had let the greatest and biggest skating fed on earth deteriorate. So now Debbi & Co. have turned it into the skating equivalent of the Ravenite Social club - not an improvement.

      I don't think Debbi is doing multiple jobs. She's not business developing. Her position allows her to shove her face on camera and that's all her "job" involves. The title is a sham.

      Why do you think SC comes up with ridiculous obsessions like their strenuous promotion of Piper and Paul? They're not doing real things. And nobody is. There's nobody minding the actual store.

      I think we can all just resign ourselves to Canadians.

      I still cannot believe that Debbi Wilkes used a public address system or whatever the fuck she was wired to to tell the entire arena about Tessa's "tummy problems." She is the worst.

      VM appear to be avoiding Wilkes, at least in public. It stands out that the event's biggest stars were the only figure skaters Wilkes didn't get to interview. Why now are they ducking her? She's been up in their business for years.

      Delete
  4. Someone at one of the skating boards said they heard there was a technical problem with Skatebug during Skate Canada, hence the Debbi-commentary available to the entire arena. That these Skatebug thingys are supposed to be up and running for Nationals/Worlds.

    Oh, so of course, what would the audience do if they didn't have Debbi talking to them through Skatebug. It looks like Debbi was so positive of the fans' love she just decided to share herself with everyone (not just those who purchased Skatebug privileges). Isn't Skatebug the medium Debbi used one year to announce Scott and Jessica were dating?

    To me it looks like enough people in the past have given Debbi positive feedback and she was flattered enough to believe she really was adding something special to the event. Wanna bet any positives to her were all lies? The way SC seems to run, it's all about staying in certain people's good graces - no wonder they'd tell Debbi she's all that. (What an incompetent and corrupt group of losers they all are.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Positive feedback has nothing to do with it. Debbi doesn't wait for that. She's an opportunist who is political, so she actively manipulates to create or coerce opportunities. She was never flattered or self-deluded about her appeal. She couldn't care less what others think.

      Here's her deal. Debbi is avaricious for any type of spotlight, she's a control freak, and she's a politician. Set her among the huh duh crowd below director level in figure skating (the ones that want to buy into the "Oh Canada!" mentality that Skate Canada cynically exploits), and understand that the woman has plenty of time on her hands to cultivate political relationships that will further her one-track agenda. She's working with wimpy small-timers. There it is.

      Debbi aside, how lazy is everyone at Skate Canada to allow this gorgon to run amok? Benoit, the counsel members? Spineless, too.

      Delete
    2. 10:26

      In light of Debbi's history at SC, with VM, and now this latest self-made gig as "the voice" at an international event, I agree this is a good description of her.

      I wonder if she's self-aware enough to realize any of this about herself. My experience with OTT self-absorbed and mean-spirited people is that they rationalize and justify so that in their own minds they have it all wrapped up with pretty ribbon. They really think they have just cause, or are doing someone a favor. In that respect I could see her telling herself that if people have liked her on Skatebug, well why not the whole arena. I'm not saying Debbi does these mental gymnastics, who knows. It's more an observation I have about people like her.

      Delete
  5. "I still cannot believe that Debbi Wilkes used a public address system or whatever the fuck she was wired to to tell the entire arena about Tessa's "tummy problems." She is the worst."

    OMG. I could. not. believe. she said that over the public address system. Does anyone in that sick organization know how ridiculous SC looked all throughout the competition?
    Debbi should be fired.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obliviously not. I overheard several people mocking her in the stands Saturday night.

      Delete
    2. How humiliating for a skater to be sick and have it told to the whole arena. It's nobody's business. If they want to talk about it later they can.

      Delete
    3. And here's Debbi, using words like "tummy" to make it worse. She's horrible.

      Delete
  6. Hey what do you think about the latest Tessa and Scott article that pointed out they were not dating. Seemed a bit unnecessary and looked like they were trying too hard to deny it especially Tessa at the end. What do ya think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least it was just a very short mention instead of a long elaborate Q&A. I'd like to think they're going back to their immediate post-Olympics tone, where they seemed to emphasize that they weren't DATING, because that's true.

      Delete
    2. I don't think I've seen it. The only article I've seen with the relationship stuff in it was Rosie DiManno's prior to the short dance, where she lied through her teeth, violating every journalistic guideline. After Vancouver, I'm fairly certain she knows the truth so as a legitimate reporter, she simply can't say they're not a couple. She has to say they say they're not a couple.

      Delete
    3. Did my reply get put in spam accidentally? It's not a big deal, I was just sure I already posted here.

      Delete
    4. It did - I just unspammed it - sorry. There hasn't been anything in spam for awhile so I haven't been checking it daily. I'll start doing that again.

      Delete
  7. http://m.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/steamy-sensual-free-dance-is-a-departure-for-virtue-and-moir/article4706987/?service=mobile
    This is the link to the article.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was an article on the globe and mail.website.

      Delete
    2. The not dating mention seems as if it were independently inserted by the writer instead of something Scott and Tessa brought up. The faceful of skirt thing just sounds to me as if Tessa needs to freaking relax, but that doesn't even say much either, one way or the other. And, it's true, they're definitely not dating. :)

      Delete
    3. I thought you said they have a child and now you're saying they are not dating?

      Delete
    4. She says they are married and have a child. But even if a couple is not married, if they have a child together, I still wouldn't usually describe that as "dating".

      Delete
    5. Exactly. It's all semantics. Would you describe a married couple as dating? A couple living together as dating?

      Delete