"We have to enjoy the process, and we have to take these moments now while we're still competing, and just look around and think: Lucky us. Lucky us that we get to be here, everyone is fussing over us, we're getting our hair and makeup done," says Virtue, looking stunning in a strapless wedding gown.Jesus Christ, Tessa. Shut up. What are you - the fucking devil? This is horrible!
"It's really special and it's nice to share with friends and family and have some good photos to look back on."
If she weren't lying, which she is. If she meant it, she would be some type of monster demon, so what a relief she's merely obtuse.
A monster is someone who'd actually mean what she just said. Meaning, this is a couple who don't admit their own child's existence in public, a couple whose nieces are held up in the front row at Worlds so the camera can't miss them. This is a couple who have been photographed hundreds of thousands of times - hundreds of photo shoots, countless publications.
Who are saying now that photo shoots and splashing the images immediately onto the web is such a special experience that despite being plagued/annoyed/aggravated/amused by never-resting skatefan "dreamers" who want them to be together, it's totally worth it for the still-resolutely-pretending-to-be-platonic Scott and Tessa to dress up like a bride and groom for Today's Bride and flood the web with the photos before they've left the studio. Why wait for it to hit the newstand! Check it out now.
(Even though their motives will be misconstrued which makes Scott so pre-emptively mad. But in the end, the lure of the make-up brush and white balance setting, the bounce board and the lens filter is a siren call impossible to resist. Right? That's all it is, you cute little fake bride and groom, you.)
And then after the pampering - the product! It's so nice to share with family and friends and have still more published-in-public-shared-on-the-web photos to look back on. Can never have too many. It's a perk and time is running out. Photoshoots aren't going to be as special after they've retired, apparently. Making them public concurrent with when they were taken also seems to be key.
It's their right, of course. This is their experience, their career. It's not their child's. Why should the kid want to look back on something published current with when it took place, just because mom and dad, cousins, fake girlfriends, paternal grandparents, etc., all have it? Just because the child's mother is telling the world how special it is, what a great experience it all still is, even after mommy's done it a thousand times and the child not even once. Be sure, mom, to stress that with less than 10 months left, time's running out to enjoy this.
The child has never shared the experience and never will. Yep - expurgated from the record of every last month, week, day, hour and minute. Why pretend the child isn't missing anything much? Screw that. Get it on the record, mommy, that this is so much fun, so lucky, so special, so the kid will know they DID miss a lot. Rub it in.
The reason Tessa can say this stuff that sounds absolutely hair-raising to anybody who knows Scott and Tessa's little one is a public non-person and excluded from all this special public stuff is that Tessa is lying.
She and Scott don't give a fuck about being pampered, fussed over, hair and make-up done for Today's Bride. They're not going to be scrolling through these shots years from now going "Remember when my platonic partner and I posed like bride and groom for that bridal magazine? SO glad we did that. I bet Tanith and Ben wish they'd had the opportunity so they could be looking back, all nostalgic."*
That wouldn't be weird in the least.
And since they're not actually platonic, and ARE married, they have real wedding photos.
Besides those, there are already enough nice photos to look back on to stock a Scott and Tessa library - many released to the public, a billion more not.
They did this to create buzz, to throw down against the Meryl and Charlie chemistry press and get some spotlight back. They've got nobody at Skatebuzz or Above the Crowd who gives a shit or can write for shit, who can counter program icenetwork, and the situation there is actually likely worse than that - to wit: Skate Canada doesn't want to support Virtue Moir vis a vis Davis White. Skate Canada thinks it would go against Piper and Paul's best interest (Piper met the prime minister recently, did you know? Finishing 18th at Worlds comes with plenty of perks).
Scott and Tessa are in bridal drag, obviously, for exactly the reason Scott claims they didn't do it.
And of course Scott 'almost didn't want to do it' because he knew damn well everyone would know why they were doing it, and for some reason people knowing shit on their own pisses them both off, and he thinks saying things like that lends credibility instead of doing what it does do, which is make his nose grow twice its size.
It's basically once again they're so busy lying to cover their real agenda, that they take no care with their lies, don't get the meaning of context, and, as ever, what comes out of their lying mouths en route to hiding the truth unfortunately usually ends up correlating hideously, hypocritically and inadvertently with other things that are true.
*You know what's funny is obviously platonic partners who crawl into bride and groom clothes would be goofing off a lot, being silly, making fun, rolling eyes. Or, if the pretend groom was Charlie White, protectively crossing his hands in front of his crotch or his arms across his torso. They wouldn't be staring soulfully at the camera, not a mouth twitch in sight. It would have a bit of theatre going on, not the aura of being absolutely earnest.
P.S. I re-realized that Scott's Q&A response about how he'd trade places with his brother is not only an ill-conceived answer that turned around and stabbed his own child in the heart, but it's part of his profile in the SOI show program. So it's not some on-line interview that will disappear into the ether. It's a statement he's making about himself in the official SOI bio for that season - it's an actual souvenir. As the blog has said, for all their lying, you couldn't force Scott Moir at gunpoint to be cavalier about Tessa. I've never read anything from him where he's even trying to double speak or misdirect in terms of how he feels about her or her importance in his life, and these are two people who lie in public all the time that they're platonic and involved with other people.
I don't know how something like what he said can be said without pausing to consider his child as an individual who is not him, who is not Tessa, who is not "Virtue and Moir". Their child isn't Virtue and Moir, but a separate human being.
By the time the kid becomes aware that the reason they're not in any public material from back in the day, the reasons Virtue and Moir lied will no longer have relevance to the kid. The career will be over. The two of them will be older. Whatever was compelling about their motives won't exist anymore. And maybe I'm wrong, but I think "We pretended you didn't exist because we loved you so much" might be a tough sell. "We pretended you didn't exist because it was too much trouble to untangle the yarn of lies" "Because the Olympics were near and we didn't want to distract with that can of worms" and "We were already stretched thin - we couldn't handle "Hey, we're together" AND "btw - we have a child AND everything else." Not to mention: "Keeping you hidden kept a lot of our friends/family out of our hair."
Especially since the people they were protecting were themselves, not the child. The child is a collateral decision. They made the decision to become parents in the middle of their Olympic-eligible careers, in the first cycle of the new quadrennial, but didn't want to deal with that decision, not in public. So a human being gets swept under the rug. As I said in the comments section, the kid isn't ignored, unloved, unacknowledged in daily life - far from it. But is in public. Scott and Tessa might very well be exhausted by being so much in public most of their career - locally and more widely. But that's not their kid's reality and never would be. For the child, it ends up being exclusion, not protection.
Is there something wrong with Tessa? No, like legitimately wrong with her? What kind of thoughts possibly go through her pretty little head?
ReplyDeleteWhat thoughts go through Scott's head when he writes that he'd trade places with a brother because then he'd have a beautiful daughter?
DeleteYes, I know that was misdirection. But despite all the misdirection he's used about his true relationship with Tessa, he's never ever said he thinks somebody else is super lucky because their partner is so gorgeous. He's a guy with two fake girlfriends who never EVER goes on about their beauty or how great they are or how lucky he is, EVER. He always talks about how he's lucky to have Tessa, that Tessa is beautiful and so talented.
But when it comes to his child, he jumps in and says he'd trade with his brother because his brother has a BEAUTIFUL daughter.
It shouldn't, IMO, be possible for him to say, no matter what the agenda. In fact, I can't imagine Charlie or Danny saying such a thing about someone else's daughter.
It wasn't necessary. It's not like their child is a mainstream internet topic of discussion. It's talked about here, a couple of places on twitter, and otherwise is used as a joke on the web. There's no wildfire rumor for Scott to put out, but he said that anyway.
Despite all the lies, and all the photos Scott has been consistently faithful to Tessa in never betraying his actual feelings for her. He owns them, he just pretends they don't mean what they mean. How is it possible for him to say that about his brother's child? Trading places with him!
Do you know for sure Tessa and Scott have a daughter, and not a son?
DeleteWhere is the child? Show a picture. Your words are lies. They are not married. They just have fun. And you know what? They look happy. Yes, Scott is not in love Tessa.So what? They are wonderful skaters.
ReplyDeleteThey're married.
DeleteWhat do you mean where is the child? With them. Of course, for fans who think Tessa and Scott actually live at an arena or in a television studio, they struggle to figure out how the little one can be stashed in a sports duffel all this time and never taken out.
I love LOVE how what so many fans really want is a picture.
Here's how it works - *I* know what the truth is here. As to others, but as it's my blog, *I* need to know what it is, and I do. You don't.
The blog is two and a half years old and it's got going to be taken down because it's true. The bottom line is this is what fans like you hate. A) the blog has information you don't; B) won't share How the blog has this information.
That's what really drives some people mad.
OT of this particular post but...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theskatinglesson.com/sandra-bezic-interview-part-4/
listen to the part at 16:10-16:50
It obviously never occurs to these people that when some of us are faced with a "maybe I don't know anything about this", we decide to LEARN, instead of expecting the world to accomdate our lack of understanding. It seems abundantly obvious Sandra is actually talking about herself here.
*accommodate
DeleteBut didn't you know? Titles are won by applause-meter. That's why D/W should win everything under the sun...
DeleteHow come football and other sports don't see their sport as inaccessible to the casual fan? How come they don't dumb down the rules because only 'superfans' can get gymnastics, basketball, etc.
DeleteHer remarks simply show that the sport has contempt for their audience and assumes the casual fan is stupider than the casual fan of other sports, and it lets people like Sandra off the hook from thoroughly understanding CoP enough to explain as the program goes along.
You are insane. You honestly need to get a life and stop spending all of your time worrying about what Scott and Tessa do in their private life.
ReplyDeleteThey are NOT married and they certainly do NOT have a child. This blog is slander, and I hope that it gets taken down.
They're married and they have a child.
DeleteCurious ... what will you say after they retire and marry other people, and have children with them? More of the "sham"??? Or will you try to save face and make up a "divorce"?
Delete7:06, you just don't get it. Tessa and Scott won't be marrying other people and having children with them because they're already married to each other and have a child together already. It is the plain and simple truth of the matter: V/M are married and they have a child.
DeleteOnce again, all of you claiming that the blog is slander and you hope it gets taken down should stop and think for a moment. The fact that after 2+ years this blog is still up and going strong should tell you something. It's not slander when one is telling the truth.
No exit plan? You disappoint me.
DeleteYou're right - I don't get it. Perhaps that's because the blogger and its alter egos refuse to provide even a single shred of evidence, the slightest bit of proof - declaring to the uninformed, disbelieving naysayers they don't have to provide proof. We are all just supposed to believe, just like we believe in Santa Claus. Tom Cruise is still trying to convince us Xenu bombed the earth 75 million years ago, but I guess I just don't get it.
The blogger throws words around like truth and facts, but refuses/fails to provide any. Instead, we're supposed to take the existence of this blog as "proof" this story - which, by the way, makes no sense ESPECIALLY considering the fabulous PR they could be getting if it were true. Take a poll - the majority of their fans, both casual and dedicated, WANT them to be married (hence this blog!!). But they are not, and not even dating, so they are trying to appease the masses with make-believe wedding photos (look how beautiful we are as a couple, even if it's not real! Don't you wish we were??).
The reason I think they leave this blog alone is because it keeps people talking about them. I agree with what someone said, I think people are getting sick and tired of this game they are playing (are we or aren't we a couple). They play it because they aren't. If they were, they would be milking it for everything it's worth, GUARANTEED. The opportunity to flaunt the brave parents, so in love, going for their last gold medal before retiring? You are telling me they would not be using that? PLEASE.
In the meantime, by all means, keep writing. I enjoy it, even the fiction. In fact, why not write a book? Just change the names, and you've got another Fifty Shades on your hands.
"They play it because they aren't. If they were, they would be milking it for everything it's worth, GUARANTEED. The opportunity to flaunt the brave parents, so in love, going for their last gold medal before retiring? You are telling me they would not be using that? PLEASE."
DeleteGeez. No they wouldn't. I hate when people try to use this line of reasoning. Did you ever stop to think that some people--including and ESPECIALLY V/M-- don't want to market their personal lives or use it for their advantage. I don't know what's so hard to understand about that.
For the record, there are a number of us who do know the truth of the situation. For various reasons, none of us can or are going to post whatever smoking gun you want (no one ever specifies what would make them happy exactly when it comes to proof). FWIW, there's plenty of proof out there in public if you just get your eyes open and pay attention.
If they didn't want to "market their personal lives" they would not be posing for fake wedding photos. At all. They did it for PR. And it's working beautifully - as they knew it would.
DeleteAnd you truly want everyone to believe you're not posting "proof" for "various reasons" - the biggest being, of course, there is none. Because if you were afraid of getting sued, you would not have this blog. If you didn't want to hurt them or their families (or supposed child) you would not have this blog. I could go on, but I won't bother. Enjoy yourself while it lasts.
P.S. - you know what I think really enrages fans - the fact that Scott and Tessa lied and the fans believed them. It's fan vanity and ego. Fans protecting themselves.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise if I were some of these enraged fans maybe I'd ask myself why I believe Tessa had an affair with David Pelletier even though it was basically denied. So they have no problem believing she lied there. They have no problem ignoring what Tessa and Scott say about Marina, their programs, and their relationship with Davis White - believing instead it's all ugly, political and manipulative, and nothing they say about it is actually true.
They basically have no problem dismissing anything they say - from Tessa's health to their future plans.
The blog is telling the truth - they're married and have a child.
This is one of two things - I'm like the Pelletier/Tessa fantasist who wants everyone to believe that happened. Is she viciously ripped apart? She's not. Whether people believe it or not, they're like oh well, more churn for the gossip pages/web.
People can make up shit they claim to have seen between rumored couples in public.
But no, Tessa and Scott actually being a real couple and lying about it is apparently tantamount to calling them terrorists or baby eaters.
Maybe the fans who are so pissed about this should ask themselves why this pushes their buttons when they have no problem believing Tessa and Scott lie about other things.
The answer has more to do with fans than the blog.
P.S. - in addition, knowing what I know for a fact has revealed to me how many regulars on figure skating boards, in their anger over the blog, and prior to the blog, are huge, shit stirring liars. A huge amount of "regulars" make shit up. They invent things they've seen. They invent things that happen. They make up lies. People who are in good standing on different forums make shit up.
DeleteI just think a lot of these people are furious because at least for some of them, the blog seems to inhibit their ability to stir the shit. They know what I know, but don't know how I know it, or what else I know, or what proof I have, so it's a little harder to come out with the Big Lie without knowing what information someone has to the contrary.
I'm glad Tessa and Scott finally are getting some real publicity again ( fake girls on social networks don't count ). Even if a bridal magazine is the silliest thing they could have thought of it still is a step into the right direction if they want a shot at gold in Sotchi. With the Meryl/Charlie PR going crazy they need to do something, no matter how stupid it is. Their interviews suck as usual but that really shouldn't be a surprise by now anymore. I don't see many fans paying too much attention to what they say anymore. People admire their skating but they lost their credit as " Canada's sweethearts " long ago and even loyal fans are sick of their games.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in the small blessings department, they are trying to counterprogram a bit, even if their method is beside the point.
DeleteAnd of all people Rosie DiManno went out and challenged Meryl and Charlie's GOE. If she could trouble herself to read a little bit about what good technique is, versus, bad, what is actually difficult, and what isn't she could see the former in VM, the latter in DW, and really call it out - and the ISU out. She could also call out a couple of Meryl and Charlie's levels - in lifts most especially, but also that two set twizzle pass.
She's the only one shameless enough, and not invested in going along to get along. And there's a lot there for her to call out.
In all seriousness, what is the proof of your claims that V/M are married with a child? Is there paperwork that you've seen (i.e. marriage/birth certificates)? Is it the word of insiders that have told you? I went back to the beginning of this blog, and other than some photographs (one in particular looked photoshopped, the others could be harmless), I can't see the basis for your claims. Please enlighten us.
ReplyDeleteI'm the one who needs the proof; it's my blog. You don't. I have no stake whatsoever in any individual person believing what I've said. Plenty of people have demanded my "proof" and not gotten it. Somehow, I've survived.
DeleteIn all seriousness, I WAS serious in my other comments on this. The basis of this blog is I know for a fact that Scott and Tessa are married and have a child together (in that order). You just don't know HOW I know, and apparently you believe it's the blog's job to tell you how I know. It's not.
I can assure you, it's not going to be shared. I'll try to stagger on if this means you or others of a similar mindset - who are basically fishing for the dirt - end up not believing the blog. I don't know where some people got the notion this would be crushing to me, but it's not.
oc
First of all no one was demanding anything. I was just wondering how you ones what you think you know. So if you're not trying to convince people than what is the purpose of this blog.
DeleteThe purpose of this blog is to chronicle/archive what they're doing. In public. Because they lie in public.
DeleteThat's it, primarily.
It's no surprise that skating fans and others have come in to participate, and, like most blogs that last a while, this one has evolved but not according to a particular plan. One guideline I've used for the blog is if something doesn't sit right in my gut - say so.
It's an odd philosophy, IMO, for a blog that's actually grounded in fact, as this one is, but I think my instinct here was never to pretend I'm stupider than I am, and never give the benefit of the doubt where it's not earned. There's been times when something smelled funny and that's all it was. And my decision was to say so, rather than wait. And almost every time, the decision to say so has been on the money.
The other guideline is don't force it. There have been times when things have been quiet. Rather than force a topic, just wait. Something will happen.
And Jesus, has that worked out like clockwork.
But when it started, even if it got 3 views a day, my perspective was fuck it.
It was also an outlet for snark. Some of the stuff they did was so asinine in view of what the truth was, that it begged to have its chops busted. And after awhile, I just wanted to say - look people, you're not as swift as you think you are and you look like tools. Plenty of knowledgeable fans chewed this stuff over in private. After a point I thought - seriously, what's going on here. Where was it ever agreed that *I* - or any other fan - had to pretend to be stupider and less informed than I am?
You may remember it started with facebook. I was one of the eighty gazillion fans they let in with no screening, and proceeded to work me over, lie their faces off, set us up, bait and switch, the whole nine yards. And I thought - they don't know shit about me. I'm just another stooge. Is there a reason I have to shut up, just because they were kind enough to include me among those to whom they were lying? Because they ARE lying and basically humiliating a lot of people. I decided - really, no. I never lied. I made a friend request, that's it.
They just went so OTT with it, got so offensive, I thought fuck that.
At the same time, we all know the forums hate 'controversy', are very controlling, are completely political, and have more stake in personal fan politics and one upmanship than in actual discussion. It was pointless to go into various fan forums and give the moderators agita by raising these issues in someone else's venue.
So, if I wanted to have a place like this, I had to create it. Part of my view goes to power dynamics. Apparently Scott and Tessa (and whomever else participates) are allowed to lie and manipulate (and they are allowed to lie and manipulate) - but oddly, nobody, not even those who know better, are permitted to push back.
And there's not a reason on this earth not to push back.
I love this blog, I hope that's okay. I do actually love Tessa and Scott too, even though I believe they lie their heads off most of the time. I decided long ago not to get too worked up about that. Also, I believe they are together, though I have no actual proof to support that other than having eyes and ears so that I can point out the contradictions in their statements.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, even without any pictures/legal documents/etc. suggesting that they are married and with a child, I hope they are. I don't even care about being lied to on multiple occasions, I can settle for the idea that in spite of their crazy, fucked up ways, they are happy.
I find the blog thoroughly entertaining for quite a few reasons. First, it states that they are married and in love, which fits into my belief system and also correlates with my childishly romantic wishes. Second, the blog continuously defends these two whenever they are treated in an unfair way. And three, I find the blogger's subtly sarcastic style highly sophisticated and funny, and her/his line of reasoning is usually very well structured.
Other than that, the banner alone would make to blog worth revisiting.
The only thing that keeps me from believing they have a child is that it must be known among intimate circles and there's no way USFSA and icenetwork wouldn't be using that bomb against them somehow, like, an entry on how Tessa's stretched ligaments prevent her from being the same skater who did Mahler.
ReplyDeleteReally? You think icenetwork, the official web outlet of the USFSA, would expose Tessa and Scott? Announce they're liars?
DeleteDo you know who all the other USFSA skaters are dating, married to, etc.? Do you think the USFSA, or the international skating community, which crosses boundaries all the time - coaching, choreography, a helping hand when needed, favor trading - would just burn bridges that way? For real?
4:01
DeleteIf the intimate circles know about a child, then they also know about VM being a real couple in spite of protestations to the contrary and in spite of social media SO's, right?
So following your reasoning, why haven't they tried to incriminate them already with a "liars" bomb? Or something along the lines of their chemistry is because they're a couple and not really because they're good performers, or it's not fair they have that advantage (whereas DW are "great" without needing that true-life connection), etc.?
I'm not seeing how the USFSA's media decisions mean anything one way or another regarding VM's off-ice status.
Being a couple and lying about it is one thing. Lots of skaters lie about being couples, not being couples, whatever, for various reasons. Lying about a marriage would be weird, but ok, they're not hurting anybody.
DeleteHaving a baby and hiding it is a whole other thing. Pregnancy and childbirth come with physical changes that could affect the woman's skating. Raising a child comes with added stress and responsibility. Hiding that child from the world by way of denying its existence is bizarre, maybe even evil. (That's different than acknowledging the child, but not telling its name or doing photo ops).
There are so many different ways that could be spun. The posters at Goldenskate already like to say Tessa is fat and hasn't skated the same since her injury. Adding these other factors would make it even richer: ever since having a baby, her body hasn't been the same. Ever since having a baby, Tessa and Scott's sleepless nights have caused them to be so exhausted they can't concentrate. How they have lost the spark they had as newlyweds. How it is disgusting to do a piece like Carmen because it could embarrass the child. How Scott hating the WTT makes him a bad role model. Having and hiding a human being also carries with it a moral culpability that makes it more powerful than constantly posting about how Tessa's injury keeps them from skating well, and adding patronizing little barbs about how they hope the poor thing recovers and can hobble through to Sochi (so she can lose to DW).
Ok, so that's the fandom doing those things, not USFS itself.
But it's really hard to believe that someone, somewhere, in support of USA and DW (not necessarily even DW themselves), wouldn't use that information to hurt VM.
It's not hard to believe at all. What do you mean someone, somewhere? They either expose them or they don't. There's no half life there.
DeleteAnd for what? To blatantly use it to trash Tessa? Gordeeva won a second gold when her child was younger than Scott and Tessa's is now.
The USFSA would be shooting itself in the foot. Besides, what it's doing now is working just fine, wouldn't you say?
"And for what? To blatantly use it to trash Tessa? Gordeeva won a second gold when her child was younger than Scott and Tessa's is now."
DeleteIn the other place that has allowed some discussion about Tessa and pregnancy (FF), I've seen Katia used as an example for whether it's possible to quickly get in shape after a baby, but I don't think I saw any comments on the fact that Katia did in fact win another Olympic medal after having a baby. Female athletes get pregnant and continue in their sport all the time. I've never understood why this is even a point of debate.
I guess it's true someone could attempt to trash Tessa in this regard, saying she can't possibly skate anymore at the highest level. But just let anyone try. It would be oh so easy to debunk any such statements and make them look totally foolish.
Navka also won her OGM after having her daughter.
DeleteI don't know where some people get a very Victorian idea of pregnancy. There's lots about pregnancy that actually facilitates high performance, and in some cases athletes have abused this fact (gotten pregnant, then had an abortion).
DeleteAll over the web are stories of women who not only trained during pregnancy, but rebounded very quickly and returned to competition afterwards. Obviously, in addition to being a high performance athlete, the woman needs to be among those fortuante enough to not have pregnancy complications. But high level athletic performance during a pregnancy doesn't create pregnancy complications, and returning to training afterwards doesn't compromise the mother physically.
Lol, I love Tessa going on about feeling lucky and loving getting her hair and makeup done. As if it were the first time and not a normal thing in her non-normal life. So maybe she's trying to sound like she's identifying with "normal" people, for whom this would be a once in a lifetime treat. The problem is, us "normal" people are not stupid and we know these photo shoots and all the accompanying details are normal for her.
ReplyDeleteI really do love Tessa and Scott but I get tired of their patronizing comments. If they stuck to talking about skating they would sound more intelligent.
Agreed she came across OTT disingenuous. It's similar to when she claimed that the Ilderton parade made her look around to see where the actual famous person was, as if she hasn't experienced for years that she and Scott are Ilderton's claim to fame, to an almost suffocating degree. But nope, Tessa's official version is she and Scott were a pair of ordinary "kids" in a parade down Main Street for which they also happened to fly in Scott's fake girlfriend and install her in the front seat of the lead buggy next to mama, so as to keep 'skating fans' at bay. Tessa knows not what this fame stuff is about.
DeleteBut for real nothing beats when the Queen of England and her consort came to Toronto and Tessa and Scott found an email invite. L'il old US? What did we do to deserve such an honor! wondered Tessa.
Laying it on a little thick, Tessa. The offensive part is you have to figure they lay it on thick in ratio to how stupid they think we are and what's required until we get the point. As heavily as they pile it on, we have a right to be offended.
Yes, they do patronize the shit out of people. A lot Canadian skating does that. Sandra Bezic's interview (linked in the comments section) does the same damned if you do, damned if you don't dissing of fans. If you know your scoring, you're a super fan (watch out. overinvested, entitled, no-life-having, set up for mockery in Ice, Sweat and Tears). If you're a casual fan you're of course stupider than casual fans of every other sport and need the rules and regulations dumbed down, mashed up and misrepresented because otherwise you won't get it.
Tessa's a product of her sport, I guess, and a product of her sport in Canada, which makes it worse.
I think Tessa & Scott have become the most hated people in figure skating. Self-Inflicted though.
ReplyDeleteThey better learn Russian because you know Meryl has had her n8se in Russian for dummies for a while. I just can't get over the difference in PR strategies. Clearly D/W are winning in this category. By the way. Scott stop playing with Tessa's hair and the fans. It's getting old. You don't see Charlie doing that to his friend Meryl.
DeleteBy February, it will be revealed that Meryl is the long lost Romanov sister who turned down a spot in the Bolshoi to skate with Charlie (Baryshnikov) White.
Delete"By February, it will be revealed that Meryl is the long lost Romanov sister who turned down a spot in the Bolshoi to skate with Charlie (Baryshnikov) White."
DeleteOMG! BWAH HAH HAH! LOVE! You literally made me laugh out loud with that. I'm wiping spit off of my screen.
A lot of it is plain and simple the US Media versus Canadian media. A functional Fed versus an every man and woman for themselves Fed. The USFSA whatever its flaws, is basically doing its job. Skate Canada is not. There's nobody minding the store, and the directors are scrambling to find some dry ground for themselves, some staging area from which to shore up power and security.
DeleteWe all know the US Media crushes Canadian media. We all know the US Media got Sale & Pelletier the second gold - it was Bezic and Hamilton on a national television network in the US that got the rest of the US media going. It's the USFSA reaching out to the US entertainment comple to promote Meryl and Charlie.
Scott and Tessa are on their own. Skate Canada is hitching its wagon to Gilles & Poirier - maybe it hopes the Gilles family will feed them when times get tough. Skate Canada is there to promote Debbi; it's not a platform to make the case for skaters.
As is self-evident, skating is a small world. Skaters graduate from competition and go to coaching. Change nationalities. Coach skaters from other countries. Competitors who vie for medals during the season do shows together in the off season.
ReplyDeleteI think I can safely flat out say, no question, that Scott and Tessa are perpetuating, somewhat pathetically at this stage, the most egregious overblown hoax in sports.
Here's a question. Do you know who Meryl Davis is dating (it sure as hell isn't Fedor). Do you think nobody knows - nobody at Canton, nobody at the USFSA - if she's seeing anybody or not?
We know there was a fan that insisted she was with Igor. Do we know who Alex Shibutani's dating? Since she never WAS with Scott, do we know what really went down with Bryce and Jessica in the on and off of their long partnership?
What about Jeff? Did nobody know he was gay til he came out in the hockey article?
There's nobody on icenetwork going - wow, Chan dumped Christy Krall for a choreographer because he's dating the choreographer's daughter - can we talk about that on the official web page?
How about Tanith commenting on competitions when she's dating Charlie? How about when Tanith "Dated" Evan and "dated" Fedor - who was she actually dating?
There's nobody in a position to burn bridges with this stuff. As long as I've known about Virtue Moir I only started this blog when they started treating the sham as their personal entertainment - meanspirited sport with which to mock and belittle fans.
There's nobody else in skating who's ever done that so blatantly.
"There's nobody else in skating who's ever done that so blatantly."
DeleteIf Moirville had just not gotten involved it would be nothing more than the regular stuff done by other athletes/celebrities. The blog has mentioned before, and I agree, how easy it is to maintain a status quo that reveals nothing, or even suggests separate SO's, with no egregious behavior involved at all. Just the continual refusal to talk about certain personal things, 1-2 harmless social media photos implying SO's (but only the suggestion - nothing more) and everyone would respect that and not question it even if they privately wondered what was really the truth.
But when you think how the mother herself of one of these skaters kept certain parts of her facebook account open to the public, with posts and photos with cute captions, all of it blatantly aimed at mocking the fans - and that's just one itsy bitsy tip of the iceberg of outrageously appalling behavior that Moirville, and Scott's fake gf's, have engaged in on social media since the year before the Vancouver Olympics. I've often felt it's that community involvement that first led them off the rails. By this point, they don't seem to have any guiding compass as to what's right or wrong. They have so crossed the lines of decency, with the backing of family, friends, their sports' federation and their hometown media - they now have tunnel-vision in this area. Do they even know anymore what a lie is? What's offensive? Who knows. It doesn't look like it.
And meanwhile the USFSA and their media keep churning out pro-DW articles, like they should. And VM and Skate Canada have a lovefest on a bridal photo shoot and talk about how important it is for the public to know they are not a couple but they're just having so much fun dressing up as bride and groom. And oh yeah, we will work hard to fix our little things the judges said to fix, and we hope we win in Sochi.
Good grief.
Compulsorydanceblog HaHa, listen how she bitch slaps Scott with the Tessa poll at the end of the Q&A. SCOTT invited Her. Obviously someone , if not Him are watching the blogs. IE Scott saying about a lot of people saying that they should drop Marina as their coach...Hopefully they will get a clue and change their PR strategy and listen to and respect the fans
ReplyDeleteDidn't Tessa & Scott befriend Sidney Crosby @ the 2010 games? If I were in charge of their PR I would take full advantage of that. D/W have other althletes ( Tanith ) total shitshow, tweetingon their behalf...
ReplyDeleteAs long as they don't cast Crosby as Tessa's boyfriend. I seriously doubt he'd either be interested or be given the green light to do that. I think they need help from within figure skating, but couldn't hurt to remind people of their connection to Mike Babcock.
DeleteWhy don't Tessa and Cassandra have a beach vacation together a la Meryl and Tanith?? V/M obviously like us fans hoping they'll be together, but I wonder if they know and like how incredibly love- trianglish the shams come across as. Normal platonic partners are friends with the girlfriend. Maybe not always to the point of taking vacations together, but still.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing, I was never privy to Cassandra's tweets, but from what I've heard it sounds like she thought Scott was away at war or something. Hold on, don't they live just across the border from each other? Don't V/M sprint to the safety of Ilderton every weekend to escape the stifling skating world of Canton? At least Jessica had the excuse that they legitimately didn't (theoretically wouldn't) see each other very often.
I have read Cassandra's tweets and that's exactly what she sounds like. Scott is either involved in the most bizarre and juvenile relationship ever or he is not dating that girl in any way, shape or form.
DeleteTessa doesn't exist in Cassandra's world. It's all about Scott, her fabulous star.
Poor Cassandra is suffering from many of the same afflictions that Jessica did. I guess that comes with dating Scott Moir.
@ 8:05 - Lol. Yeah, Jessica and Cassandra's fabulous, bestest BF ever. The one who says Tessa is a part of him, that he tells her everything, that his girlfriend must love her like he does, that she understands him better than the girldriend.
DeleteWouldn't any smart, secure woman want that kind of boyfriend? I know I'm just dying for a relationship where it's all about how special the other woman is. (*rolleyes*)
She speaks mainly in hashtags, so the appropriate description for Scott is #cutestboyfriend
DeleteThis stuff is done according to what Scott/Tessa want, and it's interesting, therefore, how it's pitched. We have to be CLUBBED OVER THE HEAD. There's no actual real relationship dynamic. It's all idiot-speak and we're the idiots. What fucking 23 year old would act like her bf across the border is far far FAR away on a mission. And what kind of bitch would never allude to his partner?
DeleteThey both came across like that, although Jessica was better, it must be said. She had to be - Tessa was her teammate and at times she was asked directly. But the Hilborns obviously are instructed to emphasize Scott and Cass, which is moronic. The reality is Scott's entire life and stardom is in partnership with another person. Who the hell doesn't mention the partner?
And exactly, because they have no idea how platonic partners, friends actually behave, the "gf" avoiding any mention of the skating partner, the constant pissing on Scott like he's her property and the public needs to know, comes across as completely triangleish.
I think Tessa only worked herself up to pose with Jessica/be seen with Jessica at the end of the sham because Jessica was on her way out and this was Tessa's way of saying NO TRIANGLE EVER HAPPENED. THERE WAS NO CHEATING.
It's like they're screwing us over/lying in the present, but also try to have an eye on the future and pre-empt any wondering that happens in hindsight. And they screw up both.
Scott is 25. Cassandra's going to be 24. This is not how people in relationships act. Their friends would destroy them and mock them.
But here's the thing. What else can she say? It's just like Jessica. They don't do anything together. They don't know each other like that or even that well. They don't have shared experiences and dynamics that they can bat back and cross across social media. Her only message is he's my boyfriend and I miss him. Which at their age is TMI, actually, because adults are a little more circumspect about how they're suffering without the physical presence of their SO.
So, stupid and gross. About on par.
Want to know how Cassandra handled Scott's obviously devastating loss in the short dance at Worlds? Surely she had some supportive words and talked about how great he and Tessa were and how they'd pick it up in the free dance!?
DeleteNope.
From a tweet to a friend: "yay !! Haha oh no I heard I made the big screen ! The four of us need to do dinner !"
Aww, Cass. How sweet!
Anon 10:29. In real life, Scott's friends seem very supportive of him and Tessa. Which highlights the fakeness and immaturity of Cass's tweets.
DeleteI wonder if "making the big screen" is one of the agreed-upon perks. Yay for her.
If Cassandra thinks making the big screen will bring in special benefits she only needs to see how magnificently it worked out for Jessica. Any media perks afforded Jessica happened due to Skate Canada making it happen for her and not because anyone was interested in following up with Scott's designated gf parked with the Moirs. On the contrary, Jessica is generally mocked and pitied for taking on this special role. Good luck to Cass.
DeleteDear lord to how Cassandra responded to the short dance.
DeleteAs to the comparison with Jessica, I suspect Cassandra believes she can only benefit from the comparison. I.e., she believes she HAS the goods, and just needs to bring them to the attention of the right people. That's what I suspect. She thinks someone will be all "Who's that girl - that tall one with the fabulous hair!" Due to Scott, more people will see her facebook and twitter, and who knows, among them might be somebody who think she's marketable.
I think that's the idea. It's not like she's got a whole lot else to do.
Cassandra's job is to highlight that she's the girlfriend. But unfortunately, by reacting to the short dance as she did, the wrong things are highlighted. It comes off incredibly fake. Or that Scott has gotten himself another girlfriend to hate. Or that, as with his prior gf, his disinterest in this one is in direct ratio to her desperation, but he made some devil's bargain years ago and has to sacrifice himself to a relationship that repulses him, which basically means show up and pose and allow her to use his name in ways that make people cringe in embarrassment. He's sort of a martyr, is Scott.
I still find it so interesting, the calibre of people in the figure skating world who put themselves forward for this stuff. Cassandra's mother isn't Moir. She, from what can be discovered, wasn't incubated in an ice rink. Yet she obviously feels this is a great opportunity for her daughter. Maybe the folks living in and around London ought to start marrying outside the community a bit more often. I think the gene pool could benefit from some diversification.
Ahahah, this might be true for all small towns, but there are several hamlets dotted all the way from Ilderton to Lake Huron, and intermarrying does happen. My grandparents are second cousins :S Thankfully my mom is from elsewhere.
DeleteIs Cass getting paid? Jess got Skate Canada perks, so what does Cass get?
DeleteI think Cassandra gets people looking at her photos. Here's what you can see in her social media presence:
DeleteLike a lot of girls, she loves posting auto filtered photos of herself.
She appears to have had "professional" photo shoots done, all heavily filtered and photoshopped. Yet she's not a performer or an athlete or a public figure.
She's 23 - 24 in July - and lives at home.
She's not in school and doesn't appear to be on a particular career track.
She appears to harbor kind of vague ideas of being a star or special or being discovered.
She knows all the girls and all the guys who have been part of Scott's group of "Medway" buddies and the Fanshawe crowd for years. Scott's life keeps evolving, for some of these people their lives have been set in stone for some time.
If you think you're special, either your looks or something else, and you think these special qualities should be able to take you .. somewhere ... then you might believe that exposure is all you need and your special qualities will reach the right people and you'll be on your way.
According to her tweets, at least the version of them that I was privy to, she's a homeowner. Go figure. She also appears to have some sort of career as a dental hygienist but would like you to believe that she's also free to hop between various Ontario cities, usually to attend events with her man.
DeleteLol, what kinds of events? Photos?
DeleteNationals, of course. That tweet came complete with a ridiculous little "<3 spm" because that's how all 23 year olds talk about their boyfriends.
DeleteThey went to a concert in Oshawa in February, which is where that pic of her kissing his cheek and her current FB profile pic apparently came from.
She also apparently attended the hockey game in Ottawa but didn't bother to tweet a pic until the next day and it was just a pic of the ice and the back of Tessa's head. Guess it would have been too inappropriate to throw her arm around her bf and snap a cutesy pic of the two of them there.
And finally, she said she was in Toronto to watch her fabulous star.
Anon 11:44
DeleteThis is the part of these games I don't get. Why go so far as to bring in the gf to various events? Really? To hover in the background while the real-life couple of Scott and Tessa go about these public moments of their lives?
No wonder she thinks she might be noticed if she's actually hanging around like this.
Was that twitter public profile pic that was up for just a day or two from the Toronto SOI days? Would she be at something like that bridal photo shoot?
Who knows whether any of these things actually happened. No one saw her at Nationals, except for that one fan who has miraculous sightings of all kinds of personal things. I was there and I was looking for her and didn't see her, so...
DeleteThe pic taken at the hockey game could have easily been provided by someone else also attending that game. Jeffrey Buttle, for example.
I don't know where that short-lived Twitter pic was from. It certainly got everyone's attention though.
"According to her tweets, at least the version of them that I was privy to, she's a homeowner."
DeleteI've seen quite a few pictures of her brother Connor and various others in the same living room where the first photos of Scott/Cassandra were taken (or I should say, the first ones shared with the public at large) - the ones with the fireplace in the background and a sofa facing the fireplace. However, I'm sure I saw some comments that allude to this place as the family home, not just Cassandra's and/or her brother. And the tweets from Mom telling her to take out the trash? None of it sounds like she lives apart from her family.
"knows whether any of these things actually happened. No one saw her at Nationals, except for that one fan who has miraculous sightings of all kinds of personal things. I was there and I was looking for her and didn't see her, so..."
DeleteAnd you aren't the only person who attended Nationals who has specifically said they were on the lookout for Cassandra and never saw her.
omg, yes, that fan you're alluding to that sees all sorts of things...every year she gives "reports" from Skate Canada and/or Nationals and she is certainly extremely privileged, the way she miraculously sees personal things no one else ever does. And coincidentally, these sightings just so happen to "confirm" whatever current public gossip is going around about VM and who they're dating. LOL
I vote for most of those things not actually happening and someone else providing pseudo photo-evidence for Cass to post on her tweet feed. The rink and the back of Tessa's head? Yeah right.
DeleteGotta admit it's ingenious.
Oc, what do you think about Misha's post on fsu with Tessa's comment about her favorite gift from Scott? Tessa's doorbell rang, but Scott wasn't there (!!! Just to make that clear), but a bucket of rice was. It was the best gift ever.
ReplyDeleteActually I think that's something that could happened, it could have been their doorbell and just the way he made a point. I found the story very touching.
DeleteAbout the rice story -
DeleteAren't Tessa and Scott's stories generally true in the basic facts? It's all the little surrounding details where they improvise, change, embellish (many times the details change completely when they retell in other interviews- lol).
So I would assume Scott really did this. That's all. There's nothing to gain trying to read between the lines (they must live separately! He rang the doorbell!). That's where they deliberately create false impressions. Besides, can't a husband or wife ring the bell of their house to surprise their honey with a gift?
Scott did really do it - a pic of the bucket of rice turned up on flickr last year. We just didn't know the story behind it until now.
Delete1:10, Yes -- but the story as Tessa told it is not "proof" of couple/non-couple.
DeleteTessa didn't say Scott wasn't there. He simply wasn't at the door. :)
Deletehow do these pictures of their intimate lives just "turn up" when they are "not" on social media or the internet for that matter?
Deleteanyone wanna post that pic of the bucket of rice that apparently surfaced on flickr?
Now that Tessa has publicly mentioned this bucket of rice story it will become part of future interviews and future story-telling. Someone should keep track of all the embellished particulars that will surface. It's practically guaranteed the story will not only grow and grow but many of the fine points will contradict each other in the retellings.
DeleteVM are just so predictable in some areas. Lol
Look, I know we can't put anything past V/M, but it didn't seem like they knew the questions beforehand. Why can't we just assume this was a genuine answer??
DeleteOf course it was genuine. Scott gave her a bucket of rice and the meaning behind it makes it a really touching gift. Some people are trying to read too much into the whole "my doorbell rang" part. It has no relevance to whether they are or are not a couple.
DeleteIf Tessa and Scott are lying, I think by this point, they're both so adept at it that it's just second nature to word things so that they're ambiguous.
Anon 8:18
DeleteI don't think the questioning is so much if it was genuine (sure, it happened, Tessa was very touched, Scott's a sweetheart). It's the way VM spin the details in order to *make sure* it's understood they are *not* together.
They are always on message re this specific item and no matter the story, they will work that in...or attempt to "fix" if they think they might have inadvertantly gotten off message.
@7:11
DeleteI swear, nothing sinister going on with bucket of rice or that photo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marniemcbean/8148811446/in/set-72157629902736227
It's on Marnie McBean's flickr in a set called "photo support for my book"
The fan who met them, Iggie, asked other fans to send her questions. She had a list of them in a book and V/M got to pick from that list what they wanted to answer. This rice bucket thing wasn't premediated in the least.
I'm not suggesting it was pre-meditated, only another way for Tessa to state that Scott was not there. She didn't say "our" doorbell, and if Scott lives there did he run outside, ring the doorbell, then run back inside? Then there was a body pillow, so you think they might admit they sleep in the same place, but no, it was for the car.
DeleteI'm 7:11 - i was not implying at all anything sinister going on in any way.
DeleteWhat i was stating pretty flat out - is how does a picture LIKE THIS ONE, get out into the fucking world IN THE FIRST PLACE when they are SUPER BUBBLE PEOPLE...
@ 5:09
DeleteI wondered the same thing.
Guess it must be like the pictures that get out of Scott and/or Tessa with an alledged SO. It's hilarious how VM and Co are adept at making sure not a single stray picture of Tessa and Scott's private lives gets out, but shucks, pictures with a gf/bf just sort of happen to get leaked. I'm sure it's completely innocent, VM have no control over this.
Lol
Marnie McBean is someone that they have mentioned in the past as being a mentor. They seem to be a fan of her book. The flickr album is "photo support for my book." I'm guessing she got that picture of the bucket of rice because V/M sent it to her because she's their mentor...
DeleteWhen/where did they mention Marnie McBean in the past?
DeleteJust google Virtue Moir Marnie McBean. Their working with her has been mentioned in articles and interviews going back to at least the 09-10 season.
Delete5:07 and 5:09, not sure if you're the same person. Yes, I do think someone could ring the doorbell and run around to the back as part of the surprise. And most people use body pillows in places other than their bed, cars and planes etc depending on their size. The picture is obviously from Marnie McBean, it doesn't make any sense that she would risk her professional reputation playing VM's games. I concede they well may manipulate the story going forward, and it is totally understandable why we all jump to negative conclusions about them, I just think it's a shame that this might have been COMPLETELY genuine and we're already painting it as sham material (if not in the question's answer, in the appearance of the photo and assumptions of future use).
DeleteI'm 7:11 and 5:09 *i am not 5:07*
DeleteI'm not painting anything as a sham, the story and photo can be and probably are 100% genuine. I dont know how to continue to state what my "beef" really is over and over in ways y'all might get, but wont because y'all are only taking what you want from what i am saying... so i am giving that up.
I'll just share this pic from McBeans flickr that says "they sent me" the photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marniemcbean/6960153934/in/photostream/
12:30
DeleteYou really don't read the comments, do you?
No one painted this vignette as sham material. Everyone believes it's genuine. What's sham material are the specific details around the main story that are said in such a way as to be intentionally ambiguous. You don't think Tessa was 100% aware that the telling gives the impression Scott does not live with her? Please. It's almost become a game. Let's see how much can be shared but still keep our status quo intact. Let's tease the fans then turn around and splash photos of Scott and fake gf all over social media.
I'm sure they feel they are being completely genuine all the time (the fabrications are *necessary*, after all). I get you feel sorry they aren't taken at complete face value. You can hardly blame the fans when their history shows they are genuine liars.
5:31, wth? I don't think you read MY comment. How is "I concede they well may manipulate the story going forward, and it is totally understandable why we all jump to negative conclusions about them" at all blaming fans for second guessing? I didn't think some details that people were saying made sense, and I was explaining why. Some seemed especially obsessed on the doorbell thing. I still think that it's completely plausible that it happened like that, in which case the only thing she changed was "my" doorbell. It's not the same thing as her making up an alternative delivery method for the rice just to trick us. Truth is we don't know. And one more thing, I wasn't for a second feeling sorry for THEM, I was feeling sorry that we as fans couldn't just enjoy a nice story without hashing through it all with such negativity. I'm completely negative-d out with them, I'm not going to force any more of it unnecessarily (at this point, IMO) on myself. But as I very clearly said in my last comment, it IS understandable why fans are doing so.
DeleteIf you guys need a laugh, picture Meryl and Charlie attempting Jeff's Gotye choreography hahaha.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/KI8CHkJv1KA
It looks like next year they are postponing the US SOI tour until after the Olympics like in 2010. So what to do? Fire Jeff and bring back Bezic? Cast other skaters in the lead role? Who, Katia? A Russian the year of an Olympics? Ashley Wagner? I like her and she's trying, bless her, but she can't anchor a performance like that. Gracie Gold (roll eyes)? A retired American skater? When the US won a medal? So maybe we WILL get to see the two teams perform the same program in the end :D
Really? Seriously? As much as I enjoyed reading this blogger’s analysis on the skating techniques and abilities between V/M and D/W, this whole piece (as well as other earlier posts relating to personal lives of skaters, I might add) reeks of malicious slander. OK…Call me naïve or whatever, am I to believe that this blogger is related to either Moir or Virtue? And somehow, have some insider knowledge to what really is going on?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don’t. (Neither do I profess to being related to any of them)
Ok. About this photo shoot…what is it really about? Is it because they had this modelling contract, they wish to do…but they also equate it to “not being a couple/dating”…and that particular statement that irks you? (Because as is, you already decided that they are liars and married, right?) For my point of view, it just means more money for them…to spend for Sochi and competitions 2013-14. Sponsorships so far are far and in between for skaters in Canada. Neither Skate Canada will help any skaters with their expenses. Am I correct?
Now, taking into account to what some posters’ noted about 2011-12 season, going on and on about how she was absent due to surgery (which some don’t believe, I see), then, got “fat” and therefore, concluded as she was pregnant and secretly married (in this case, to Scott). And now hiding about said child from the public?! So, now some disgruntled “fans” are up at arms with this bit. Calling them liars, having hidden agendas, etc. Even worse, wishing them ill and losing Sochi 2014?!
Didn’t it occur to anyone that the pieces are merely gossip…pure speculation...worse, defamation of a person’s character and name?? If the shoe was on the other foot,….
You can counter me back and in the future, show me proofs that they got married (secretly) and had a child. I still say “I don’t care”. It’s their life…their business… Maybe, their intention is to make you all focus on their skating, not obsessed about their relationship (whatever it may be).
You can accuse me of having blinders on or whatever, that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. However, at this moment, all I see is that what is written or talked about is PURE SPECULATION. (There is no need to get angry/bitter/frustrated/whatever negative adjective associated to these skaters or their lives).
p.s. if you do continue on writing insightful articles pertaining to skating, I am all ears.
"Call me naïve or whatever, am I to believe that this blogger is related to either Moir or Virtue? And somehow, have some insider knowledge to what really is going on?"
DeleteI have no idea how the blogger knows what he/she knows. But it doesn't make sense to assume they have to be related to Virtue or Moir. Think of all the people who know you in your day to day life. Think of all the people that they know. And think of all the people VM know professionally who have a reason to keep their mouth shut. Think of all the people those people know. I don't think VM are keeping their life together secret from their real world. The fact of the matter is the vast majority of these people have better things to do than go tell a bunch of internet fans what the real story is. I'm not putting down internet fans, we're all interested in figure skating, and so online discussion is a valid hobby. But we're greatly overrating our importance if we assume these literally hundreds if not thousands of people care to let us know. Somehow one of those voices decided enough was enough, and I'm glad he/she did.
"Didn’t it occur to anyone that the pieces are merely gossip…pure speculation...worse, defamation of a person’s character and name?? If the shoe was on the other foot,…"
I think the evidence here fits together so completely undeniably well, that I'm completely convinced. BUT, because I don't know myself on a firsthand basis, I concede there is a very very small chance that I'm wrong. But do you do the same thing? How do you KNOW beyond a doubt that it is pure speculation? The blogger has made it very clear that the truth as laid out here is in reality 100% batshit crazy, that V/M would bother doing this. The fact that it is insane doesn't automatically mean 100% that it isn't TRUE. I believe that is why the blogger is chronicling the first place, the weirdness. So to say "oh it's so unbelievable" misses the point. Have you actually read through the posts carefully? With the point of view that it COULD be true, hypothetically. Not blindly believing, just considering, that's all.
"You can counter me back and in the future, show me proofs that they got married (secretly) and had a child. I still say “I don’t care”. It’s their life…their business… Maybe, their intention is to make you all focus on their skating, not obsessed about their relationship (whatever it may be)."
This makes absolutely no sense. To get us to focus on the skating, they decide to do a f***** bridal shoot? Are you serious?? No one has a problem that they want to hide their relationship(although once a kid is in the picture, that's a bit more ?? ethically). But still, let's say it's OK for them to keep their personal life completely to themselves Fine. But they go out of their way, out of their bubble, to do things that draw our attention to their relationship, encourage us to second guess whether they are really platonic. And that's what so many of us find ridiculous and offensive.
Seriously,you need to get some help.
DeleteI knew that V/M fans can be obsessed but this is even more than a mere obsession.It's sick!
I've seen people around the net speculating about skaters' relationships,sometimes having fun with it all,but this is pathetic.
The only problem with the photoshoot is that they're trying to raise their game and gather their fan base by feeding them with what they really want.A wedding.And on the other hand it's also insanely funny and I have to take my hat off to them.You want us to get married,here you are.
But a baby? A wedding?It's not even laughable anymore and you should really get some help.
This reminds me of a fan of another ice dancing couple who had them making out at her face and still thought they're not together and no, this wasn't V/M.
Where is Skate Canada seriously?
10:38 - the premise of this blog - that Virtue and Moir are married, have been together as a couple since before most fans knew who they were, and had a child after the Vancouver Olympics, is fact. It is not speculation, rumor or gossip. The reality that I am not sharing how I know this is a fact makes it no less of a fact.
DeleteThere is speculation on the blog that stems from knowing the truth of their status, and therefore being aware of the gap between what they say and what's really going on. But where there's speculation, it is acknowledged speculation.
Since you don't believe it is true, but also don't care if it is, I'm not sure what's bothering you.
And again, of all the rumors and stories about Virtue and Moir, it is the blog that gets the speeches, the grandstanding, and the "malicious slander."
What is malicious about saying they're married with a child? They're hiding no crime. They truly love each other, are together and have a family.
Really, instead of directing outrage at the blog, I think a lot of fans might question themselves about what exactly about the blog pisses them off so badly, makes them think the blog should be sued.
What?
Do you think people who say Tessa broke up Sale & Pelletier should be sued? She denies it, right. The people who repeatedly say she's sleeping with him and if she has a child - should they be sued?
What about the people who take what has been put out there about Scott and Jessica by the sham itself and amped up huge stories about Scott and Jessica carrying on in front of Bryce, Scott and Bryce coming to blows, and various other things Scott has supposedly done to destablize a teammate and their skating partnership prior to the Olympics?
What about all the nasty shit said about Scott on ontd_skating?
Nobody cares! Only saying they are married with a child makes people very very upset.
And that says a whole lot more about them than it does me.
People are very upset they might have been fooled, so they're directing their anger at the blog. Otherwise, if they truly believed the blog is lying, they wouldn't care. The blog would have mold growing on it by now.
Another reason there is no need for anger is because if you truly believe the blog is lying, Scott and Tessa's eligible career will, according to what they've said, be over after Sochi. After that, surely they will go their separate ways a la Tanith and Ben, appear in public with their actual significant others in a real, non-social media way, and one of them will get engaged or married or at least move in with a SO who is not the other. And then the blog will clearly have hoodwinked the people that bought into what this blog had said. And it will die on the vine. The blog's been up for two and a half years. There's less than a year to go before people like yourself will have the satisfaction of knowing the blog was pulling the wool over people's eyes this whole time.
There's a reason why some people are uncomfortable with the blog and want it to shut up, and it's not because they think it's lying. Or they wouldn't be more upset about the idea of Scott and Tessa lying about THIS and take other things in stride. They're perfectly happy to think Scott and Tessa are lying about homewrecking, their careers, their friendship with each other, every word they've said in public, soup to nuts. But these fans are very upset that anyone says Tessa and Scott lied about their relationship status.
Naivete, by the way, isn't an incurable condition. It's a choice.
12:58 I'm no shrink but you sound anxious.
DeleteVirtue Moir's career is done after 2014. As I said above, at that point I'll be exposed as a liar and a fantastist, and people like yourself can relax and hope I've gotten the help I require. In any event, nobody will be visiting the blog anymore because they'll know it was a fraud.
You've waited two and a half years. Surely another 10-11 months isn't "too far" or "too long" to wait for this all to proven the joke you believe it is.
Unfortunately I don't think there's any guarantee they'll ever come out now, do you? Twice (pregnancy and firing JD) we thought they'd have to come clean and they didn't.
DeleteAs a fan of the blog, I really don't understand how people can like the D/W commentary, but still think the other topic is as crazy as ever. I'm not saying it never happens, but it's rare for someone to be so insightful and articulate about one topic, but then be aggressively promoting a 100% tinfoil hat thing on the other. Also, how this blog has supported V/M's skating shows that this blog is not motivated by a one-dimensional hatred of V/M. I tend to agree that fan power politics is the only answer.
"Naivete, by the way, isn't an incurable condition. It's a choice."
I love this, I might put it on my wall. A good reminder :)
"Somehow one of those voices decided enough was enough, and I'm glad he/she did."
Delete^^This.
When I first read the blog I felt vindicated knowing that what my mind/eyes had been telling me for years was not crazy after all. It was a relief to let go of the mental gymnastics.
There's plenty of real speculation on the skating forums, posters who give complete little accounts explaining why Tessa and Scott do this or that - based on nothing but their own fertile little imaginations. No one calls them sick. I ignore and skip over those posts, as I'm sure many others do also. If anyone takes the time to read through the blog, it's evident the blogger's opinions are based on what Scott and Tessa have in fact said and done throughout their careers. And on the facts of Skate Canada's actions. No pretend stuff around here. But for those who think it's crazy, well you can ignore and skip over and laugh about it, the same way people do with the ridiculous speculations on the VM threads out there.
"There's plenty of real speculation on the skating forums, posters who give complete little accounts explaining why Tessa and Scott do this or that - based on nothing but their own fertile little imaginations."
DeleteYEP. I find most of these fans don't tackle the evidence here and how we're interpeting it wrong. Instead it's "well, they can't be married because THIS is how their relationship actually is".
"Twice (pregnancy and firing JD) we thought they'd have to come clean and they didn't."
DeleteI agree, I also thought these things would mean they would have to come clean. Although I've come to expect VM and their world around them will do everything possible to maintain the public narratives, I have to admit to being positively shocked they went and hooked up Scott with a new fake GF - and following in the exact same footsteps left by Jessica Dube! I've never been more disgusted with their antics than now. Ok- so they have "reasons" for denying each other in public. But they can stop with the slimy stuff, they're bona fide grown ups now (supposedly). Lots of adults manage a real life without any SO's, I wonder why they feel the fake public personas *must* have a GF (or BF). And why must it be on the most immature level possible?
Well, I, too, was what the fuck is wrong with these people? When they went and hooked Scott up with a new fake girlfriend.
DeleteMy speculation on that point is - they expected to carry through with Jessica through Sochi but when she ditched Bryce it became less sustainable. They carried through one more year because God knows, these people play games and they didn't want the cause-effect to be that obvious. I don't think it's much of a coincidence that with Bryce out of the picture suddenly Alma and Kate showed to escort Jessica in her walkabout at Virtue Moir's Grand Pix Finals practice, suddenly Tessa showed in photos with Jessica and apparently in one autograph session. They didn't have Bryce to babysit, and Jessica was on her way out and I suppose that, with an eye towards a number of years from now, they didn't want people speculating that there had actually been something going on. Amping up Tessa's and the Virtues participation was like a valedictory statement on that.
Quite some months ago the blog speculated that they got a new girlfriend because without a sham with which to occupy themselves - without, iow, make work (because God knows they've always made a whole lot more out of the sham than required - and that's an understatement) - the Ilderton community and their adjuncts in London and other parts of Ontario would crawl up Scott and Tessa's ass for real and never move out. That their tiny small town that revolves around them is what really distinguishes Scott and Tessa's circumstances from any other famous skater's. While it's spun as this idealized, near-Utopian background, we all know that is not how it plays out in real life when you come from a small town loaded with family, your family is the most prominant family in town, you're the town's biggest claim to faim, and everybody thinks you're their business. Add in that for many of your former school mates you're their primary status credential, and you better not start acting like you're better than them (which would = act unavailable).
I don't know if even IMG can manage family politics. Especially if family/friends see their interests as indistinguishable from Scott and Tessa's and also have a boundary issue or ten and a mind your own business problem.
We all know they crank it up whenever Scott and Tessa compete in Ontario and whenever they're on training break (and presumably, when not traveling, they're at 'home' in Canada). So IMO it's reasonable to suspect fans serve as the pretext and scapegoat for the sham but are not really the main problem or the reason it persists, although we will be blamed.
Before Scott and Tessa (apparently) distanced themselves from Debbi Wilkes, this kind of crap was how the Director or Whatever You Want To Pretend She's Doing This Week spent most of her time. I would love to hope that she only gets an honorarium/stipend/per diem for basically doing nothing with the position but self-promotion but I imagine she actually is salaried, just like a mobster's nephew who is on the payroll and never shows up.
Re post-Sochi my guess is, since this crew has a Skakel/Kennedy-esque mania for competing/winning/being right, since they think they're special (not just Scott and Tessa - Ilderton thinks its ground zero for knowing better than anyone or anyplace else), they will hold off rather than validate the blog and others who have called them out. Later they'll bury the reveal somewhere as they did when they dropped that "Funny Face" photo of Jessica being "photographed" by Scott in Paris a year after the blog said we were being set up and that's exactly what they planned to do.
DeleteBut I don't think they plan on having only one child, or having children ten years apart. I HOPE they are not so disgusting as to have a pre-schooler while continuing to pretend in public the child doesn't exist, and onward to kindergarten. I don't see how you fake date even in social media when those are your circumstances.
But if they keep it up after their olympic career is done, they'll have invalidated any reason they could ever claim for why they shammed in the first place. They will be as good as admitting that they're in an internet war with their critics and are willing to sacrifice just about anything - including aspects of their child's life and dignity - to maintain what they think is the upper hand - for the sake of having the upper hand - pure petty spite, IOW, and no other constructive reason.
That would be pretty gross. I think at heart they're immature weasels who'd rather cut off their right hand than admit what they've done, just because they were called out ahead of their own schedule. They lack guts and maturity and they lacked context. I hope they get some.
After Sochi a lot of people will be out of the game or the game will have changed. There will be people transitioning out of the so called skating community and it's possible not all of them will continue to play ball. Sometimes the person who makes noise is the last person you expect.
6:10 - sometimes I wonder if some fans get so angry at the blog because it means all their theories were futile. There's a patronizing aspect to a lot of the fan theories - fans position themselves as much more insightful about Virtue and Moir's relationship than Virtue and Moir are themselves, fans have publicly blown rainbows up each other's hind ends in response to each other's brilliant sensitivity about Virtue and Moir and the dynamics between them and the various significant others. There's a self-aware vibe to it - obviously, when you're talking about stuff like this on public boards.
DeleteYou're going to feel foolish if you've been going on like this for three years and all along the couple you're dissecting is actually married with a small child, miles ahead of you, knowing far more about themselves than you imagined. Many of these fans have patted themselves on the back and flattered themselves a whole lot on this topic.
As I've said before, their anger about this blog goes to simple vanity for many fans. It's an insult to their egos. Think of the miles of fan fiction where Jessica is some type of obstacle or, for the fans who think they're extra-sophisticated, an actual enabler of Tessa and Scott's extraordinarily intimate but eternally platonic bond.
Meantime the whole thing is a sham. They've been publicly patronizing Virtue and Moir for years and the idea that they're the ones who are being spun is uncomfortable.
I've been thinking about the fan anger issue. Another possible culprit that has crossed my mind is that some are angry over the idea that they didn't get to watch Tessa and Scott's relationship play out in real time.
DeleteThere was a comment on FSU last night with someone asking if anyone else ever imagined/pictured Tessa and Scott's life as a romcom or movie. WTF.
A lot of the fans of a certain type bemoan the fact that they think Tessa and Scott aren't together. They profess that they want to see them get married and have children. When presented with the fact that Virtue and Moir have in fact already done these things--that the reality is that they're married with a child-- these fans absolutely meltdown over it. Sure, they lying is upsetting, but it doesn't entirely explain why these fans react the way they do.
@9:40 AM - I think so too. It feels less insulting to them to pretend a wedding/child never happened, than to pretend it happened while they were left out in the cold. I agree that the charade continues so Moirville has something to do, but Tessa and Scott don't escape culpability, especially now that they are in their mid-20s. It would be one thing to get caught up in the Jessica snowball; it's another to start the charade over with Cassandra.
DeleteI'll say one of the things that is annoying to me, but I can certainly put up with it, are people who are flat out ignorant, aggressive in their ignorance, unaware they are ignorant, and march into the blog with a list of things they believe would have to be true in order for the blog to know what the blog knows. And every single thing on that list is idiotic and ignorant, starting with the idea that I'd have to be related to them and ending with the idea that Virtue and Moir have to scurry around in invisibility cloaks because nobody but them and a very tiny group of people know they're married with a baby.
ReplyDeleteAll of Skate Canada knows. Their coaches know. The commentators know - Kurt Browning, Tracy Wilson, P.J. Kwong, Brenda Irving, many photographers (such as Myra Klarman). Many fans. All of the families and friends of the fake girlfriends know. Scott's school friends know. Tessa's old friends know. Most if not all of their current competitors know. Friends of the Moirs, friends of the Virtues, friends of other skaters know.
If you don't know how such a thing can be kept secret than you're naive about a whole lot more than figure skating. How do you think the entertainment complex works? Do you really believe that a lot of sports stories and gossip stories are only known at the time they're reported?
http://www.forterietimes.ca/2013/04/12/londons-budweiser-gardens
ReplyDeleteI am so sick of reading articles like this!!!! My favourite part is when he thinks the medals were awarded the night of the SD.
No, scratch that. It's the part about the cowboy music.
DeleteAddendum to my comments about when the blog was started - quite a few people believed Virtue and Moir were going to come clean during the pregnancy, including, I believe, Virtue and Moir themselves. Plans changed, obviously.
ReplyDeleteI knew about their status and when they pulled that "Tessa's shins is taking us out of the GP series" stunt I remember thinking holy SHIT. Because that completely confounded what, I believe, they'd led others to believe about their intentions. I don't mean they pulled the rug out from under people, but people knew they were together, knew they planned a family, and it didn't seem conceievable, no pun intended, to keep that under the rug. At the same time, a pregnancy is a pregnancy and maybe their intention was to safely ride out all of their major life events - their engagement, their wedding, their baby - and only when it was all history, accomplished out of the public eye - would they reveal themselves. That makes sense. If you can have a private pregnancy, why not have it? When it's all well behind you, said and done, you can choose what to tell people, how much, and how, when it's all safely behind you.
It then became clear that not only had they determined to bull through to Sochi, lying all the while and hiding their child, but it might be time to roll up their sleeves, amp up the sham and get more offensive, and meaner with it. The games Scott pulled on his fan page when he had it. Nasty shit - and I don't think he even recognized it as nasty, which is troublesome. Somebody like Dylan Moscovitz has the "that's too nasty" sensor built in. Virtue Moir have become so warped with this their sensitivity chips have malfunctioned completely.
I agree with people who believe if Scott and Tessa want to keep their private life private that's their business. However, there's a difference between private and secret, and I suppose if they want to keep everything secret that's also their business. But they don't want it to be their business. They want to gaslight fans. They want to reach out and get fans worked up and then slap them down, after making fun of them for getting worked up. They complain about fans but then go out of their way to incite the fan behavior of which they complain. Fans are a whipping post to them. Why they NEED one is a question that the blog has talked about at times, and IMO, as I've repeated, it goes back to their community.
"I don't know if even IMG can manage family politics. Especially if family/friends see their interests as indistinguishable from Scott and Tessa's and also have a boundary issue or ten and a mind your own business problem."
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense this would be the reason for the lack of competent management and PR. Who would take them on with these secrets, plus this family/community? The whole family got involved in the gaslighting. Is it any wonder Tessa and Scott lost the sensitivity chip.
It can be argued that the gaslighting was created as an occupation for the family/community. It's a pattern of activity they can follow. It's not a coincidence that the closer to home Virtue and Moir are during the season, the more intense the sham becomes. You'd think it would be the reverse as their status is better known in their own communities than anywhere else in Canada.
DeleteIf you look at it as Scott and Tessa are competing in Ontario and their mailbox and the mailbox of their family is full of requests for their time and attention, and so are their phones, in complete disregard of the fact that the logistics of a competition put you on a very tight schedule not just in real time, but in terms of where your focus needs to be, then it makes sense that everybody is redirected towards an occupation that has to do with Scott and Tessa, but doesn't require a lot of their actual in-person time. Playing up the need to sham is also a good excuse for Scott and Tessa's lack of availability at home.
Basically, IMO, their little one is a casualty of the immaturity of a lot of people many years older.
DeleteI'm not a child, but I'm thinking, if my parents decided to "protect me" by having my dad kiss other women in a zillion photos all over the web, by having another woman publicly fawn over how fabulous he is, how much they love him, how beautiful he makes them feel, how he's their boyfriend, and this stuff sticks around forever, I'd say thanks but no thanks. Plus there would always be that weird inkling of why the hell did he need to do so MUCH of it. I wouldn't think it really had a hell of a lot to do with me. Why did I need "protecting" when I was younger than five? I'm not going to remember any of it.
Scott and Jessica have more public photo shoots than Tanith and Charlie. I don't think Tanith and Charlie have publicized ANY photo shoots.
Other thoughts - it takes a lot of courage to compete. There are people who have plenty of ability, but basically they choke when it's time to execute. It's a protective mechanism. If they don't outright choke, they skate not to fail, rather than throwing down.
Scott and Tessa never do that. Even when a mistake happens on the ice it doesn't affect their commitment to the rest of the program. They can be skating in front of family, friends, an enormous crowd, on national television, have all kinds of histrionic things said by the network commentators that up the pressure, and it doesn't matter.
I also think they both honestly don't care what the public thinks. I think they could say to the public - probably via many buffers - yeah, we did this (lied) we stand by it - and not worry or care.
I also think they'd have no problem spelling out how it is to Skate Canada.
Where they lack emotional courage is vis a vis their community/family. When I say "Moirville" of course it's not including every family member, every Moir, and everybody in the community, but it's a fair enough amount, obviously, to be a situation. They have allowed themselves, possibly, to be trapped. If they distance themselves from where they came from - and it's the community that gets to define what "distance" is - then they're "better than" and "too big for their britches". We all know how much it's prized when somebody from the home town makes it big and "hasn't changed a bit."
Why shouldn't they change? That's a conceit to pacify the people at home.
Scott and Tessa are in a career that is extremely time-consuming. In addition, they're in a married relationship and they have a child. But they appear to lack the courage to stand up for themselves. Standing up for themselves is not properly the way to put it, but I don't think they owe forever and ever, but I think Ilderton is going to assume they feel that way, and never go out of its way to let them know differently. I don't think anybody in that town would enjoy "belonging" to something other than themselves and those they love in the way Scott and Tessa are expected to demonstrate.
P.S. - also, of course they appreciate the support and the love. It would be nice if there weren't so many strings attached.
Deletei just want to throw out that Adele did not mention her son in her Oscar acceptance speech or any speech this year. Does that put her in the same horrible parents category as T&S? It's just as bad, if not worse.
ReplyDeleteI personally think accepting an Oscar should include a mention of one's family, but is that the same thing as a complete denial of the existance of one's child? Also denial of being a married couple as the parents of that child? To the point of pretending to be single and available?
ReplyDeleteIdk, there's plenty of Ick in what VM have done, compared to not mentioning an acknowledged child in a speech.
touche
Delete