Saturday, November 23, 2013

I see what you did there, Scott

This Q&A

reads like an email Q&A with cbc.ca*

has Scott answering this question:

Q: What made you decide on ice dancing?

With this:

Scott: Ice dance was a part of my life from a young age. My older brother ice danced and like many younger brothers, I wanted to follow in my older brother's footsteps. My first love was hockey, but it seemed the more I skated and danced with Tessa, the more I fell in love with the sport. Next thing I knew I had an extreme passion for the sport.

From Tessa: there was this:

Community involvement is also paramount, and I'm proud to say that both London and Ilderton have come together to help Scott and I in many ways. Needless to say, we have a wonderful support network that we rely on immensely. 

Do tell.

________________________
*Correct. The bottom of the interview says it was email.

38 comments:

  1. I know, right? I thought it was sort of sweet...

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  2. Their relationship with each other seems to be very complicated. Some days they look very in love with each other, on other days Tessa looks like she can't wait to get away from him. Then add Cassandra, whom Scott apparently seems to be quite fond of. Maybe not in a romantic way but he definitely likes her better than Jessica. He still keeps a little distance but his body language in the picture is a different than when he used to pose with Jessica. And over the last year his facial expressions also don't look as forced and uncomfortable anymore. Even though he seems to adore Tessa it must be difficult for his ego to be with a woman who made it very clear that she refuses to be seen or associated with him in any way other than on the ice. No matter how great the love is, that just isn't healthy and I wonder how long their relationship can survive this. It's difficult enough to keep a long term relationship alive even without pretty fake girlfriends who adore your husband for the 15 minutes of fame that he can guarantee her. Cassandra surely would do everything if it assured her more spotlight - that much she has proven by now. And who could blame Scott if he fell for her a little. At least Cassandra doesn't make him look like an undesirable fool in public ( like Tessa does when she constantly repeats how unimaginable it is for her to fall for Scott ). And he seems to spend a lot more time with her than just for the sham. Tessa wasn't around for most of the shamming. She was in Toronto, did photoshoots and visited the film festival while Scott was far away vacationing with Cassandra and going to golf tournaments with her. But maybe that's what Tessa wants. She keeps saying her sport doesn't define her, there is more to life, she wants to do so many different things that have nothing to do with skating and by default with Scott. Maybe Tessa actually hopes that Scott and Cass give her a reason to end the relationship so that she can be free and do her own thing. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see them together anymore after the Olympics.

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    1. @10:26. That's a whole lot of assertions about their feelings, their desires, the status of their relationship plus the amount of time Scott does or does not spend with Tessa or Cassandra. You got all that from the pictures Moirville has put on social media? You have no idea what is happening outside the picture frame. Who is around, what anyone is doing. What VM are doing the other 99.99% of the time that is separate from whatever is happening in those pictures.

      Obviously the pictures and various fan sightings or posts are designed for the fans to jump to certain conclusions. Moirville has egregiously and excessively twisted facts and manipulated photo-ops and social media. I'm not going to be played by them any longer. I'll trust REAL facts, not their tightly controlled, fake narratives. And you can bet that reality series featuring VM will be more of the same. I think we can safely say anything portrayed about their lives off-ice will be LIES.

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    2. "Their relationship with each other seems to be very complicated. Some days they look very in love with each other, on other days Tessa looks like she can't wait to get away from him."

      YEP. they are my favorite hot mess <3

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    3. Anon at 10:26 am - well first of all - when Cassandra was introduced - I think we all knew that getting photos would be so much easier since the girl lives in London. The Moirs and the Hilborns already knew each other - since one of the Hilborn sisters used to skate and was coached by the Moirs - a while ago. Then add that prior to last year - we had no clue about Tessa's friends really and then there has been a trend that somehow when Scott has been seen with Cassandra, one of Tessa's friends posts a picture with her - it's very subtle - but the timing is eery.
      I am not saying that VM are together 24/7 - but I think that's how Moirville functions..feed sporadic pictures and tweets and all of a sudden let the fans put doubts that they don't even get along...Of course Cassandra loves the attention and apparently the travel but she does come from a family who also has some $$...who the hell knows what the real truth is but I think we tend to forget that athletes retiring from sport - is not an easy process and that some days are easier than others especially in an Olympic year. Then add the stupid reality show - and voila - magnify the stupid. Tessa was at the Toronto Film Festival and at the Hello Canada party with Patrick Chan but the film crew was also there. So again - after the High Performance Camp was over - some skaters attended the TIFF in one form or another and Scott decided he wanted to be in London...not everyone likes attending these galas...remember back when before the previous Olympics - Buttle, Rochette and Tessa were at the MTV show but Scott wasn't there - because according to Tessa - he wanted to spend time with his family...no big deal....Both Tessa and Scott will need time to figure out what they want to do post-competitive skating. As outsiders - I think it is very easy to stereotype that Scott will coach and that Tessa will have nothing to do with skating. Look at Jeff Buttle - was at school at the University of Toronto in engineering and during his competitive career - I don't think anyone would have thought that he would not finish his degree. After he stopped skating competitively, he assessed everything and was true to himself - and skating and choreography was more important in his life than he led on...I can see that happening with Tessa. Hell I can see Tessa and Jeff working together as co-choreographers...So again as outsiders we just get a glimpse of who these people are...

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    4. Scott wasn't at TIFF, I believe, because he had to show at the golf event that raised money for the Moir fiefdom, ISC.

      I notice he's now added to his talk of home how they value him for him, not because he's a skater. That rings about as true as him and Tessa's platonic passion.

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    5. OC 12:02
      It's hard to believe Scott isn't adding that particular attribute to Moirville as a reaction to this blog and the discussions about Moirville leeching off VM. I find in general they are very reactionary when it comes to this place.

      Don't they realize it just makes them look more fake, guilty and stupid? I think even agreeing to this ridiculous TV show was a reaction to fans calling them out on their b.s. Somehow they think digging themselves an ever deeper hole will prove their right to hoax the public. They may believe the whole world is in their corner and will protect them forever but they are in for a rude awakening some day.

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    6. OC - I know that line in the interview was hard to read. How home they value him for him, not because he's a skater. Scott - if there is one skating family that has treated you like a commodity - it's you. Without winning the Olympics in 2010 - do you think that London, Ontario would have been granted Worlds 2013? Would your relatives have opened the restaurant knowing there was no chance at having Worlds in 2013...how about those yellow sweatshirts...when was the last time Scott you went to a competition without Mom and Dad around? Yes they provide support but holycow I don't think Mom or the family is exactly hands off...

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    7. What is the rude awakening that they will get some day?

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    8. 12:50
      I think rude awakening is referring to fallout, consequences. Since when did lying and hoaxing result in life-long rewards?

      At the moment things are in VM's favor as far as keeping their fake personas alive and well and getting away with it. What happens when this ride is over? People will let themselves be fooled only so far. After that they'll turn on the liars. Would that constitute a rude awakening?

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    9. 12:30pm - It just makes Scott look like a puppet. His community and family have been called out - even if this community had the BEST of intentions, the sheer number of people involved in what is a basic sham shows everybody's ass. Overinvolved, overinvested, self-seeking, living through Scott and Tessa.

      Scott assuring us that the community loves him for him and not his skating success is another sop to the community. It's not for our benefit, it's for theirs. He's their bitch; this is another example.

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    10. "I think rude awakening is referring to fallout, consequences. Since when did lying and hoaxing result in life-long rewards? "

      What are the consequences you think V/M will face?

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    11. 12:42 - and Scott and Tessa have apparently been reared to treat themselves as a commodity. To treat the supposedly most important thing in their lives - their relationship - as proprietary material over which only they have rights. Only they can exploit it. That's why we get shoveled mountains of fake - here, have some more!

      Remember a couple of years ago the blog pointed out the many inoccuous photos in the Journey to Gold book, including a photo of Scott and Tessa "sharing free time" that you'd think they would never share, because it showed them together on what appeared to be a vacation. There were simple photos of Scott posing with Tessa prior to the opening ceremonies, just like those he posed with and published with Jessica. They put all of those photos in the book without being concerned that it would confuse the sham issue. But of course, they were selling the book. We had to pay.

      If we suppose they are so on message with Cassandra because they're afraid if they publish pictures with Tessa, even at rehearsal, the public will be confused, then they wouldn't have published photos like that in the book.

      Although let's be real, I'm straining to credit them with some kind of sham logic in how they never share Scott and Tessa candids, not even professional ones, and there really isn't any logic. Not showing candids (taken by Scott or Tessa when Scott was on social media), not even in professional situations, isn't connected to the sham. It can't be. Because out came the book which was jam packed.

      And here comes the reality show, which is going to show practices, albeit practices for which Tessa has curled her eyelashes and applied ready-for-HD make-up. And it's going to show at least a couple of faked out situations of them "hanging out" (Tessa all Real Housewives at the pool, Tessa and Scott all feminine hygiene styled for the carnival).

      So they exploit themselves. I hope they don't break their arms congratulating themselves for not whoring out their child while they do it, but that's going to inevitably come around and bite them in the ass because of the garbage they've pumped out on the internet of Scott and other woman, and the things Scott and Tessa have said that proactively exclude her.

      Anyway, it's quite a scenario, no wonder people who don't believe the blog think the blog is insane. They think the blog is insane because the premise is insane. But as the blog is true, what does that say about these people?

      They shovel a lot of shit, they may even spin themselves. However, clearly, they see their relationship as their biggest marketing asset. More and more the whole thing has evolved to pretty much that.

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    12. There's the theory that they want to have it both ways - commercially exploit their chemistry by selling a fake version of their private lives (constantly telling us "it's all out there" and "open and genuine" - proactively telling us there's nothing we don't know and aren't being shown - and we're supposed to sit and watch it and give it high ratings, just as we were expected to pay for lies in their book). That supposes they have a dilemma - popular, attractive skaters at the peak of their attractiveness, commercially viable, and they need to strike while the iron is hot, but they have this "unique" private life so how can they take advantage of their position while protecting their private life? Make it up and use our real chemistry to sell our fake private lives.

      I'm not so sure it's that pat. I think it's even more cynical than that.

      Does privacy AS privacy come into it at all? It looks like that's a load of crap, no matter what they pretend. They're hard headed and very committed - they don't do one fucking thing they don't want to do where the public is concerned, they've left the public holding the bag before (Scott repeatedly on social media). I find it hard to believe that if they were out in the open they'd suddenly become victims of media intrusion (the very media that already knows and protects them), or that "intense fan interest" they keep pushing on us (as that now extinct tumblr said - it's because of US - everything they do is OUR fault).

      So it could be to protect the franchise. If we know they're married and have a child, the story is over and their control of the product is over. It's not to protect their child, because their "wonderful support network" (and it is BIG) in London and Ilderton, that community, already knows about their daughter and that community already operates a whole lot like fans. They're groupies. They're no less "intensely interested."

      The skating world knows about her too.

      Compared to that, the public from whom Scott and Tessa are easily shielded (not that the public is pounding down their doors), is a non-issue, though they make sure to put out there and keep in play that WE and OUR "intense interest" is a major factor. But we're not. We're nothing compared to their own communities.

      So it looks like this: they don't want to lose control of the material. Their own relationship is material. They're young enough to pretend fans are still into the "will they or won't they" deal they set up - they SAY platonic and Scott SAYS "Tessa's boyfriend" and he poses with Cassandra (and maybe we'll see the two of them blow off steam in the reality show), but then they behave together and look at each other as the romantic couple they are. They consciously play both things against each other.

      If they were officially a settled couple everything would match up and make sense, and what they see as their big commodity - their chemistry - wouldn't have the same off-ice market value. That's what their "thinking" looks like.

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    13. I don't think it's going to be a thrilling situation for their daughter to see that material. Tessa can do fantastic things with her mind, however. Maybe she intends to do fantastic things with her daughter's mind.

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  3. I'm 10:26 I got all these assumptions from the way they behave around each other, their body language and especially from Scott who is incapable of faking anything convincingly. Not just from one picture. Sure, the picture is fake, but it's true that they spent a lot of time apart when Tessa was in Toronto without Scott while he was off with his family and Cassandra. How well can their relationship be if he has no problems to leave child and wife alone to take pictures with Cassandra ?
    Tessa might be around for some of the shamming but she obviously wasn't this summer.

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    1. Anon at 10:26 - I am a little confused. What time period are you referencing when Tessa was in Toronto without Scott - are you talking about after the High Performance Camp? How much time do you think it was?
      Are they as lovey-dovey as before - perhaps not - but look at how much pressure they are under. Do you see Weaver-Poje making out or even Madison-Hubbell/Zach Donohue who actually are a couple - get ridiculously touchy-feely - no.

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    2. While Tessa was in Toronto after HPC, Scott had to attend a golf tournament which in part benefited the Ilderton Skating Club. As per their usual, they attached some shamming to the event.

      "Are they as lovey-dovey as before - perhaps not - but look at how much pressure they are under. Do you see Weaver-Poje making out or even Madison-Hubbell/Zach Donohue who actually are a couple - get ridiculously touchy-feely - no."

      Right. Most adult, long-term couples aren't making out with each other or being lovey-dovey all the time in public. Also, we have no clue how VM are behaving in private with each other. They're so guarded in public, we can't judge anything off of that.

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    3. Hi this is anon at 11:40 am - anon at 10:26 - you are correct that this season reading their body language has been frustrating and can be interpreted a number of ways - depending on the interview or set of pictures. Hot mess indeed, LOL...but I think one thing is clear - they do have immense respect for each other....sometimes you do have to wonder how much the mama bears (Alma Moir and Kate Virtue) are protective...

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    4. I hope everyone isn't forgetting that when WE see them on film, another set of cameras is filming them as well - the reality show. They're performing their platonic act for the reality show. They are more dedicated with the performance for that show than they are in front of the usual cameras.

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    5. and I hope that no one is forgetting that there is also a baby! Tessa is also mad and crazy scott that follows! what woman would throw her own husband, the father of her daughter, as well as partner of 17 years in the arms of another? the answer is .. it's all fiction! as we have seen in the picture facebook scott was with tessa and when someone has replaced tessa with cassandra .. and you're done! scott never with cassandra .. is fotoshop!!

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    6. "scott never with cassandra .. is fotoshop!!"

      It's not photoshopped. It's Scott starring in his very own, live, fanfiction.

      Whenever the TV network finds out they were used to promote the VM fanfiction, will they demand their money back? Lol

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    7. Even a cursory google search for VM would probably turn up this blog. You'd think that someone, somewhere would have done a bit of research on them before signing onto the project. Additionally, if many media types supposedly know the truth behind their lies, then I don't buy the suggestion that the network has been kept in the dark about a marriage/child.

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    8. My guess is, the network isn't in the dark, but as long as Scott and Tessa play the part when the crew is around, the network might be able to claim they saw nothing to contradict the version of themselves that Scott and Tessa were pitching. It's all legalistic when it comes to tabloid scenarios, and that would be one way to cover themselves.

      If the director and crew are for hire, it might be argued they can see whatever they see and it's not their job to tell us, it's the production company's. The crew and director wouldn't be the responsible entities from that perspective, the production/network would be. It's a conscious veil they'd put up even though everybody knows what's behind the veil. It's shady but it's how this stuff can slip through the cracks.

      So much of this is about skating fans. I don't believe journalists and entertainment media would participate in a hoax of football and hockey fans at this level. Not as far as actively knowing the real story, and then pro-actively putting out the exact opposite, putting lies out in their articles and reports, all to serve the personal interests of the subject they're writing about.

      Take Steve Milton. I can't vouch for his journalistic bona fides, but he's received recognition for his sports reporting. When he signed on for Tessa and Scott's book, we were told it was as sports journalist Steve Milton, and his credentials as a sports journalist were shared with us. It wasn't "sports journalist Steve Milton has teamed up with Virtue and Moir as part of Milton's sideline as a tabloid reporter/Virtue Moir gatekeeper/pr flunky/part-time liar and hoaxer."

      So if he, a journalist, knew Virtue and Moir weren't platonic, but wrote they were platonic, and, in fact, did the usual putting it on fans as if fans just couldn't let go of what was portrayed as a fantasy, he apparently sees no conflict between his position as a sports journalist and, how he, while still functioning as a sports journalist, lied on behalf of Virtue and Moir, all because they wanted the profit of their celebrity and the exposure from a "tell all" but didn't want to tell the truth, or even the facts. They lied about the facts.

      Where is it written that a reporter can lie their face off and help their subjects' hoax the public as long as the public is skating fans? Football fans, no, hockey fans, no, figure skating fans, yes. Where? Where's that footnote?

      If Milton was in the dark, and remained in the dark even after the book was out (when an article of his assured us that "sadly for the dreamers" Virtue and Moir, then married parents, remained platonic) - that means Virtue and Moir teamed up with Milton, a journalist with a reputation he apparently values, whose work has been recognized, a man who has been working in the field longer than Virtue and Moir have been alive, and duped him into putting his name on a book full of horseshit, and duped him into putting his credibilty on the line in order to sell their lies.

      When Ryan Pyette wrote up that Virtue Moir reality show interview, he reached into his reserve stock of quotation marks and went to town. There wasn't an "um" that he didn't put in quotes. If Virtue and Moir sneezed, he put it in quotes. When he summarized, he was explicit that he was summarizing what THEY were saying.

      There wasn't thing he didn't attribute. That's a little bit of a departure for him - let's see if it continues.

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  4. jbutt dropping truth bombs.
    same can be said for D/W https://twitter.com/J_Butt/status/404321674839224320

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    1. but the D/W american fans are all over this like ants on a apple turnover lmao

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  5. am i crazy or is weaver and poje's free dance amazingly choreographed? if not skated with enuff power and speed to show it off? i think their lifts are subpar but entertaining and a second to VM lifts. but how would you guys rank the FDs this season? I say VM, obviously, weaver poje, and the russians at TEB.

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    1. Well, this is an opening for me to wonder why do fans think figure skating pits this team's choreography against the other team's choreography. Each season I scroll through fsu and I read "I don't know, P/B's Rolling Stone program is supposed to be NAILS!"

      Unless P/B also transformed their skating to the point they're better than V/M, I don't understand the relevance of choreography/program apart from the skating.

      Last season, MTM previewed their programs. I liked their programs - I usually do, but that wasn't the point. Kirsten had transformed her body, and with it, her skating. She distributed her weight differently. Her alignment had changed. She was deeper into the ice (we can see how much more consistent she's been last season and this).

      I like W&P's programs this year but, as programs, honestly, I enjoyed Sound of Music/The Statue more. That's me deciding how often I'm going to re-watch something on youtube, using a program as entertainment, and not evaluating it on a competitive level.

      IMO, the reason W&P's programs are having impact is Weaver & Poje's skating has grown.

      That said, I agree that W&P have strong programs. I keep bashing Je Suis Malade, because, boy did I hate it - not so much the program but the angstier-than-thou, high-school-drama-club-but-only-moderately-talented performance mode it brought out of Kaitlyn and Andrew. Their programs this season and last are more effective because they're very strong skaters, they've really developed their skating individually and as dancers dancing together, and the material they're using now brings out more of their natural qualities, so their programs breathe more, have more natural rhythm, use the music more organically, and they use their bodies more organically, all of which is a wonderful complement to their improved skating skills.

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  6. I see you have a new cover, such a lovely one :D love you OC :))))

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  7. I've had a bit of an unexpected hiatus, but I hope to have several new DW vs VM comparisons up in the next couple of weeks. However, I'm also starting a new series which I believe will be of interest here - Paul/Islam vs Gilles/Poirier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm1tNdcQwL4
    And I'm now thinking I might have to tackle B/S at some point as well...

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    1. I'm curious about a speed comparison between Paul/Islam and Gilles/Poirier.

      I probably like both of Gilles/Poirier's programs (and skating) this season than some, but I was a fan of Crone/Poirier and damn if they don't seem to be trying to remake Piper in Vanessa's image. The carriage, the hands, some of the deliberation in the Psycho program, the focus on keeping the upper body still and the arms clear (the intention of the arms and hands clear and specific) - less wasted motion. The choreography works very well with the music, the performances (the acting parts) are engaging, and I enjoy watching it (as well as the short) but it crossed my mind that it is a VERY deliberate program. IOW, a bit slow when they're not stroking. When they come together in hold, the program builds clear beats before and clear beats after, and I think those beats disguise that they're not yet where they can flow in and out a la Paul/Islam, easily changing hand holds, easily working multi-directionally. The beat they need to establish control is built into the program's tone/rhythm.

      So we've got a bug re-packaged as a feature here, as we sometimes find. I think they're slower because they're trying to show more control, be less frantic, and actually skate their program, but to do so, they've taken the concept of skating one move at a time (you know that mantra skaters and other athletes use) to quite an extreme.

      So while I enjoy the program and find them improved as a team - and find the improvement based on using the partner he dumped as a model for his current partner - I do wonder if the package is now being judged in ice dance, and not the skating, and that prevents me from waxing enthusiastic about anybody's program as a program, because to me that muddies the issue.

      The conversation on the web this weekend would suggest even some people inside the sport judge this way, and furthermore, there aren't even proper standards to judge the package apart from decisions made (music, style) before the program is even skated.

      BS's short dance skate was a freak show. It wouldn't be if the scoring hadn't worked as it did, with W&P dropped down to the low sixties and BS gifted levels and GOE, but the gap between the teams in the scoring highlighted the gap between the teams in the skating, to the detriment of the sport. There's a lot of freakish stuff going on in BS's technique - and the freak show parts paired with how they're scored seems to demonstrate that ice dance is about extracting discrete components from the whole, slapping a score on them, and completely ignoring how the skaters are getting from A to B. (I won't even talk about where these discrete components vary wildly in actual difficulty and execution and yet often pull the same base value and GOE, because apparently there's no real defined technique established for some of these components, as there is in pairs and singles).

      oc

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    2. P.S. - to be clear, when I say I hold back from waxing enthusiastic about programs, I'm not referencing your comparisons of Gilles/Poirier and Paul/Islam's skating, which is what your videos are illustrating. I just mean I hold back on discussing programs the way some fans discuss them, as if the skating is just the type of package it comes in, instead of the exact opposite.

      oc

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    3. And p.p.s., there's something wrong with a system that has given a team like P/I so few opportunities on the international scene. As Scott Moir has said, the best way to train for skating is to skate. And I believe the best way to prepare for competition is to compete. There has to be a way to get those skaters out there even if they have a disappointing event. Skate Canada bent over backwards for Gilles/Poirier, above and beyond, not just in promoting Gilles/Poirier but in giving them opportunity (not just assignments, but also that gala performance ridiculousness at TEB last season - a complete set up that G&P then feigned was "due to the reception our programs received.")

      A Federation ought to value depth in their talent ranks. You're not going to get many teams like P/I to throw away. I can only imagine what it must have been like for them to see their Federation throw every resource at Gilles/Poirier, to use all of its promotional heft (ha ha, I know, that means Debbi Wilkes, basically, and Barb's tweets), and its connections (TEB gala) to create opportunities for a team that was P/I's peer. If your own Fed is showing such blatant favoritism - treating you as a threat to their favorite instead of one of their own athletes - with what kind of confidence can you approach your Nationals, for instance?

      I think G/P got more publicity the entire time Paul was off ice injured than P/I got all last season and possibly this (even though this season has improved somewhat in terms of their Federation recognizing that they exist).

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    4. Gilles' family must have some powerful connections/influence and/or rolling in dough to have this much attention on them.

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    5. They have something, because Piper also has spent quite a lot of time thanking various labels for the swag. Considering her world ranking, it's not her skating getting her these opportunities, so who has put her in line to receive these perks? Despite her best efforts she's not Tanith Belbin, nor is she some high profile glamorpuss getting the Anna Kournikova/Maria Sharparova treatment either - an athlete in a high profile sport who isn't a top seed but with the looks to grab commercial attention. She's an obscure ice dancer and she's not in the Belbin/Kournikova/Sharparova league, if it comes to that.

      But she's getting swag, or presenting as if she does.

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  8. who would you rank 1, 2, 3 in ice dancing? after VM who should be 2/3rd based on skating skills, strength etc? that's really what i meant by mentioning WP.

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    1. Not sure what is meant by "strength" but in terms of skating skills I'd rank the Shibutanis directly behind V/M.

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  9. meaning who SHOULD be gold, silver, bronze, based on what you've all seen?

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