Brian Williams is the latest “news” person to show us that news people are in the business of making brands/celebrities of themselves, nothing else. After his mis-remembrances flared into controversy, other media notables waded into the fray, some to make the points that “He’s a nice guy” and “everybody lies, so what’s the big deal.” We're supposed to suck it up, come on, remember that.
Back in the 1930s, William Randolph Hearst was quoted as observing: “The public is even more fond of entertainment than it is of information.”
Well, duh. I don't know if that's actually true, but it's certainly an evergreen rationale.
I snoozed through the 4CCs. Not even this:
perked me up. How much fun can it be when even KMT know she's fucked up? Look at her face. She can't even be bothered to be apprehensive.
I enjoyed this:
OC, Nice to see you back!
ReplyDeleteTSN and Canadian Curling are on the record making sh** up on behalf of Scott Moir and Kaitlyn Lawes. Who cares. Everybody lies. That will be the excuse? What about Team Jennifer Jones and all their SO's who are also on board. Ooops, what's a little white lie, right?
IF the ISU gets caught having given gold medals to DW for no reason at all except behind the scenes deals and money-trading, what's their excuse? Not that it isn't an open secret that VM outskated DW and everyone else in Sochi. It's just that everyone turns a blind eye and pretends nothing was out of order in ice dance. The ladies' competition, however - well, a Russian won the gold. Surely that one deserves some scrutiny.
I'm sorry to be such blogging dilettante in 2015 so far. Some of the 4CCs procrastination was down to my Ilushechkina/Moscovitch fandom. After Canadians, and as wonderful as it was that they got silver, I started fretting that possibly Lubov was too emotional a personality to be a hard core, top level competitor (meaning, I feared her emotions might unsettle her skating when it's crunch time). I didn't really want to see if I was correct. Turns out I worried needlessly - she seems to have a handle on her jumps, and I was even glad they all weren't perfect, because that reassures me that they're really there, and a great jump isn't just a random, fortuitious bit of timing.
DeleteDuhamel Radford are experiencing the Davis White effect of getting stratospheric pc's for mediocre skating skills.
As said in the post above, Paul/Islam's od was a real up side - I don't think I've ever seen Alex Paul skate with that much authority before, and all the way through. I guess the lesson is that I shouldn't be fearful that some of my more erratic favorite skaters are too fragile to invest my rooting interest.
Welcome back, OC!
ReplyDeleteThis was shared in the comments section on the previous post. http://www.mediafire.com/watch/cd093pvyba13i78/Scott_Kaitlyn_curling.mpg
Jesus Christ. Who was the commentator who said not only gold at the Olympics but love at the Olympics?
DeleteVic Rauter. He's pretty much the Rod Black of curling. Just a host type, not an expert on the sport.
DeleteThanks. At first I thought "Rod Black" because he had the same "listening to the sound of my own resonant, dramatic voice" thing going on, but it was curling, so I had no clue. I'll look Vic up.
DeleteIt took forever for me to realize the twisted mentality of VM. They think they are Ross/Rachel from friends Will/Alicia from good wife, or Sam/Diane from cheers. they believe if the world finds out the boring truth, that they're a couple of small town kids who fell in love young and have been together forever, their appeal is over. they believe the sham works for them not against them. and in so doing theyve distracted themselves from the message that their skating is the message, and their contribution to sport.
ReplyDeleteWho knows what their rationale is at this point. There's no rationale, there's only going all in and taking as much as the media with them as will climb aboard, and that appears to be most of Canada's media. I just looked at the media fire link and it's disgusting. It doesn't matter that Scott and Tessa are liars, what matters is a broadcast journalist who certainly must know Scott and Tessa are married to each other, and parents together, just put across that he and Kaitlyn Lawes found love at the Olympics.
DeleteIt doesn't matter what the lie is, what matters is the public is treated like garbage while everyone goes about promoting Scott and Tessa's lies. It's treating the public like a garbage dump that matters.
They can't discuss their contribution to the sport because it's corrupt. Scott and Tessa aren't doing or certainly aren't saying anything to change that. If they talked about their contribution to the sport it would just spotlight what happened in Sochi. You can't discuss what they did for ice dance and also justify Davis White.
Delete"and in so doing they've distracted themselves from the message that their skating is the message, and their contribution to sport."
ReplyDeleteIt's a great loss to the sport that the best ice dancers in the world do not have any kind of message about skating, specifically ice dance. They're too caught up in that "branding" bullshit.
Is that on them--Tessa and Scott made that decision? Or is it their manager/pr person who thinks this is what's best for them? Their particular take on "branding" wouldn't be so shallow if they also had the ice dance and skating message and if they also had more visibility as charity spokespeople--or some such altruistic messages. Instead, it's all about them and their "sincerity" or "chemistry" or whatever it is they speech about. Excuse me while I barf.
As I just said above, ice dance has taken skating off the table. While Scott and Tessa certainly should have talked more about the skating from day one, these days there's no way to discuss ice dance and skating.
DeleteThey're not that young anymore. He's 27, she's 25, 26 in a couple of months. They're married. They're raising a family. They were young in the way you meant when this started. Now they're not, not that kind of young.
I think what's most obnoxious is the upping of the ante. Jessica Dube was splattered all over facebook but she wasn't mainstreamed. Scott and Tessa did the reality show, that reality show is being syndicated internationally, and each time it is the W network promotes it as a documentary, and now instead of just showing Scott in the stands, the broadcast journalist calling a curling event tells the public Scott and Kaitlyn found love at the Olympics. Now it's in the mainstream, in what passes as the legit media. I think everyone was cautious about being in legit media originally, but then it turns out it works exactly the way skating works - as long as the media ignores the public's reaction, there's no problem with mainstreaming.
Forget them. Forget whether they're young, and twisted, and stupid, and up their own ass. Where the fuck does the media, even the peurile sports/entertainment media industry, get off shitting on the public this way? Lies are lies. I don't care if it's a lie about two dumb ass ice dancers. Obviously those most concerned think the lie is terribly important or they wouldn't put it out there so aggressively. One of the tells here is the hostility right under the surface if any fan or member of the public questions what's going on. They KNOW, they just think they're entitled to do it.
The one thing that makes me curious is if the entire topic of media lies will ever impact the media lying to the public in the interests of kissing Scott and Tessa's ass. Every time the media helps Scott and Tessa lie, they're co-signing that the public is less than they are and deserves nothing better. Social media has only exacerbated this. Jian Ghomeshi's story, for a short time brought to the forefront how media personalities operate. Brian Williams is a network anchor who made shit up about his personal and professional history in order to appear more glamorous. As I said in the blog, with him, twitter had a great time mocking his self-inflation, but some of the articles on his situation seemed to struggle about the lying part. Much of the tone was - come on, you guys know we think the public is dirt, you know news and everything else is bullshit, and don't pretend you don't know.
I just like how naked it is. There used to be a little bit of sanctimony and pretense that there was a respectful relationship between the media - or some aspects of the media - and the public. Now the disrespect is flaunted.
The more people in the media Scott and Tessa get helping them lie, the better, because then none of these people want to be around when the lie comes out, and most of these people want long careers. Ergo, it won't come out until 99% of the people who have assisted their lies - and look what that encompasses, from the W network to TSN to practically the entire public relations "community" in Canada, to Rosie DiManno, a whole bunch of skaters, a whole bunch of curlers, and countless others. They don't want to be around when it comes out, so it won't come out until they're no longer around. Basically Scott and Tessa want a whole lot of company in the hole they've dug into, and they've got it.
DeleteThe media can always claim they were mislead, this isn't going to impact their careers in any way.
DeleteI honestly, and as it turns out, foolishly, believed that the whole Ghomeshi mess would force them to take a good, hard look at what they are doing with this ridiculous sham, but they continue to go big or go home. Are they that arrogant that they believe it will never happen to them? That they will never end up crossing over from entertainment news to mainstream news?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree but should have known better. I also saw several articles that mentioned that Tessa had been "linked" with that scumbag, along with several other Canadians. Sarah Polley being one. It is beyond belief that they would rather be publicly linked to Ghomeshi than just be honest about their status, especially since anyone with eyes can see they are together and have been for years.
DeleteIn this bizarro world of Ghomeshi - when he interviewed Jennifer Jones alone at the Olympic games - Jones mentioned that one of the athletes she admired was Tessa Virtue. Its like a ridiculous game of six degress of separation. Then you have someone like Denny Morrison - the speedskater who tweeted at the games that Tessa Virtue was his favourite Olympian. Morrison was actually at the boards when VM did their individual skates in Sochi. Tessa is on twitter and he doesn't follow her and vice-versa. Yet he follows WP, Joannie Rochette, Mitch Islam, Alexandra Paul, Paige Lawrence etc.
ReplyDeleteAs to VM's management - I truly believe that Tessa holds all the cards. She definitely looks at her fans' accounts and plays off it. I don't think she can get enough compliments from both fans and family.
With regards to Sochi - the ISU was ready to give IK silver had VM not skated cleanly - which is ridiculous to begin with. Also ridiculous - that VMs fans will not have the opportunity to see VM skate in the US. All because of DW and IMG. Yet they get to see Chan and Rochette. Actually - I think VM will get invited to shows everywhere but the US.
ReplyDelete1:12
DeleteThat's probably why VM are truly grateful for the silver? They probably knew silver was originally destined for I/K but VM skated in such a way so as to make it impossible for the ISU to deny them silver. It was already known they had no chance for the gold, no matter if DW skated on their butts.
Finally gotten around to watching this season's free skates. I love the shibs and peaver/poje. both teams tried tessa scott's first straight line lift from seasons. but i noticed that tessa is the ONLY female skater that places herself up on her partner's leg. all the other men hoist the women up there and keep them there. tessa is the only female ice dancer who is equal to her male ice dance partner in lifts. it's amazing how I had to watch a gazilion videos to figure that out. Shouldnt VM be telling me?
ReplyDeleteVM are embedded with the organization that robbed them of gold. I think they're over the gold thing and are busy being celebrities. VM can't talk about skating without opening the Sochi can of worms.
DeleteI do like how many fans can just go to youtube and after awhile know what's going on on the ice. And we all know there are no secret, magic angles the judges see that show something completely different. That's just more lies. No secret angle turns Charlie White's off-kilter twizzle into a stable, in synch twizzle, no secret angle unclutches Davis White from each other in their lifts, no secret angle gives Meryl Davis clean feet and deep, extended glide. Skating is observable. And still everybody who writes about it hides behind "I'm not a technical expert" in order to enable corruption.
I've seen lifts that evoke Tessa and Scott's straight line, but none where the male is traveling forward while the female is also facing the direction of travel. That's what made that move so fiendish - facing the same direction. The imitators are angled counter to each other when they do it.
^Correction, not simply facing the same direction, but forward, which is absolutely perilous.
Deleteoc
Also what sets VM's lift apart is Scott's change of position from spread eagle to one leg.
DeleteP/I got a PB after eons without one and yet were not appropriately awarded at this competition as far as placement goes. Their score was below what several terrible teams have been awarded this season. For my money they should be in the top 5 at least on the SB list and yet are 14th. Therefore I have a hard time wrapping my head around your last paragraph, OC. Aside from the fact that I don't relate to the premise in the first place - although I can sympathize a little with the sentiment, I would find good teams being treated fairly the far more palatable outcome - this seems like an especially odd example to use when P/I have rarely been fairly treated and this competition wasn't even fair to them (they would have received a medal if it had been.)
ReplyDeleteI just mean how they skated, not how they scored. I should have been clearer about separating the two. For example, Ilushechkina Moscovitch wound up sixth, and prior to the 4CCs I'd have liked to have seen them a couple of places higher, but as it turns out, they skated well, and Lubov in particular hit her jumps, the toe and the salchow, so I was happy. I'm not really that type of fan - an, "I just want everybody to do their best!" type fan, but as I can't do anything about the ISU, it's either quit watching or being interested in figure skating, or cobbling together some way to enjoy at least parts of it. It's a work in progress for me.
DeleteI was happy with how Alexandra Paul, in particular, skated. To expand on my last paragraph, placements and scoring are a no win for me in ice dance. If all of a sudden the scores were fair, I think I'd have to choke down some residual skating-based rage about how come they're fair NOW, when Sochi was flat out criminal. IOW, I'd feel resentment, or feel that fairness had nothing to do with actually being fair, that it was just expedient to score on merit "This" season and could change at any time.
OTOH, I still find myself absolutely pissed about results, so essentially I'm between a rock and a hard place. I resent "fair" scoring (not that we've seen much of it), and I resent unfair scoring. The whole thing is hard to choke down. For the 4CCs, my solution was to watch after the competition was over, kind of tip toe in.
I just wanted to throw in here that I was very entertained by the Goldenskate commentary on Kirsten Moore Towers and Michael Marinaro. Even her stalwart partisans are defensive in a different way these days: "Whose to say Mervin Tran didn't reject HER?!" Fans who were enthusiasts or at least maintained that "all they need is time" are now WTF? My favorite was the one who said "They can improve, but he needs to learn skating technique, figure out how to lift, and stop throwing her tilted!"
DeleteThat sure sums it up.
This is totally me projecting, but I suspect Kirsten chose Marinaro for his personality. His resume was decent enough, although if I were her I'd have looked a whole lot harder at his skating versus his resume. The fact that she chose him sort of throws her own pairs inexperience into the spotlight - she skated junior about nine months, then started with Dylan. I wonder how much she really knows, how insightful she is about technical stuff. Marinaro appears to be a terrific all around athlete, enthusiastic and fun. However, that enthusiastic, fun thing is biting Kirsten in the ass when after yet ANOTHER program where a lift fails and she lands on her ass in a throw, not to mention he tilts forward landing his jump, he's all "Isn't that crazy?" as if he has no idea how that silly lift mistake happened. However it happened, he's not worried about it. He's so so smiley, and she's so so strained. He never looks upset or down about a disappointing skate, nor does he appear to perceive any tension in Kirsten, even when she's radiating stress. It's like the very things she may have chose him for - his "Hey bro!" personality is now the thing that's undermining them as a team.
Ah, ok, fair enough.
DeleteP/I have really taken a step forward this season. I'm not sure what to make of the first FD in retrospect, but Alex is bolder, Mitch is more graceful and both seem have more power and confidence. They should have been close to W/P at Nats IMO.
"He's so so smiley, and she's so so strained. He never looks upset or down about a disappointing skate, nor does he appear to perceive any tension in Kirsten, even when she's radiating stress"
OMG, nailed it. I especially loved how he grinned as she thudded down on her throw, watch it on the slow mo haha. Interesting theory.
Have you watched any of Castelli/Tran? It doesn't look like their short from Nats has been posted on youtube, but it was very nice.
I haven't seen their short. I like them BUT before I feel a real interest she needs to get her elements. I've been drawn to pairs before where the shared basic stroking is really nice, and then wait forever for the elements to kick in. I don't mean mediocre elements, which can always be refined. But reliably getting them, at all, period. They're still rocky.
DeleteI think one of the things that irked people about Kirsten's move to dump Dylan DID go to the skating. It came across as if she took the skating for granted, which is the last thing she should ever be taking for granted, and just needed to switch out Dylan for a young, perky early twentysomething and the whole young thing would dazzle the judges and close he gap between her and Duhamel Radford. The pure obliviousness, IMO, got under people's skin. For her to take for granted that she could more or less maintain where she'd been with Dylan, and the young guy would take them the extra distance, when she was the weak link in MTM V1. She did a lot to address some of her weaknesses, obviously, but not enough, not enough to compete with what Duhamel was doing to address HER weaknesses, and this season, with the new partner, the skating is so sloppy. I don't know why they don't fix some of the transitions and some of the places in the steps where they seem to get in each other's way. The Wirtz camp certainly doesn't seem terribly analytical.
DeleteHey Scott and Tessa - this is how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MPsbn_u9vyY Or not - once you've confirmed you're together it quickly becomes old news. You don't need to go spilling all the details if you don't want to. People just won't care - get over yourselves.
ReplyDeleteThey've just gotten more up their own asses as whatever humanity/humility they once possessed has plasticized in their little celebrity bubble. I remember when Tessa dismissed the idea of ever becoming a celebrity - she claimed she and Scott have no interest. They're each essentially reality "stars" now, with their figure skating/ice dance accomplishments carrying no more weight than "bag designer" or "her own line of speciality cupcakes."
DeleteVT aren't hiding children though. Their story is fairly typical. They didn't confirm they were dating til they were engaged. But everyone already knew they were dating. In other words, their story conforms to the public narrative, and it makes people feel smart like "oh, I knew it!"
DeletePeople also knew she was seriously dating her old partner, who is now the coach, so it was important for VT to distance themselves from that time period. Because they didn't confirm their relationship right away, we have no idea whether she cheated on her ex with Trankov or whether they had broken up long before VT got romantically involved. And that's as it should be, I don't really care about those details. It's reminiscent of Sale & Pelletier announcing their divorce but saying they had actually been separated for longer... it covered the time periods that they were alleged to have been cheating. And again, it confirmed the public's narrative, which was that SP's marriage was on the rocks and that there was tension between them during skating and commentary gigs (not to mention rumors of both cheating, which we know in the case of David/Tessa weren't true). That made it easy to accept.
I just don't think it would be that easy for VM to say they're together all of a sudden. Do they pretend it's new like they don't already have two kids? Or do they admit that they've been married for a while, have kids, and had to do the rest to protect them? Makes them look like weirdos either way. I can kind of see where they feel they have to continue to sham, but they don't have to shove it down our throats and make idiots of themselves the way that they do.
"I can kind of see where they feel they have to continue to sham, but they don't have to shove it down our throats and make idiots of themselves the way that they do."
DeleteFor a long time I tried to excuse VM's sham. It was their business, after all. Or so I told myself. But the dual factors of shoving down our throats and knowing there are now children involved is what finally turned me off completely. They have made it our business instead of keeping things at the level of some little "private" side thing in order to hide their real status.
In addition, the media involvement adds another layer to their shoving-down-our throats. I agree with OC's comment from above:
"Where the fuck does the media, even the peurile sports/entertainment media industry, get off shitting on the public this way? Lies are lies. I don't care if it's a lie about two dumb ass ice dancers."
That's what I'd like to know. Where the f*** does the media get off? When will the Canadian public realize they're being treated like crap? That some of their beloved Olympians mocked them to their face?
So DW are going to perform at the opening ceremonies at Worlds in China..interesting. Let's see if VT get the same invite. In a way you would think that DW would be satisfied with winning gold etc but they seem to get even greedier. And I have no idea how people can like them including Charlie White. Dude you and your families bought this quad. But I have to hand it to them - they are still selling themselves as a team whereas Tessa's interview from StrongFitMagazine reads like she can't get away from skating soon enough and that she was a prisoner of some sort.
ReplyDelete2:01
DeleteDW simply happen to have an excellent PR team and as they should, they are taking advantage of every opportunity their team can get. Why not? If VM had that kind of management team they would also be a lot more visible and perhaps skating in important opening/closing ceremonies.
This is also on the ISU. They don't have to agree to DW skating in an opening ceremony for Worlds. It's the ISU who decided DW should be declared the best in the world and now they have to keep saying that in various ways. It's called ass-covering.
Having said all that, there is definitely some PR/corrupt dynamic working for DW to make sure no one anywhere is ever allowed to say anything negative about DW. Specifically about Meryl. That is unprecedented and IMO points to bribery and extortion somewhere. It's not about DW's personal greed so much as it is about their family, management team, PR team, ISU ptb, etc.
Tessa said she can't imagine not being in the competitive sphere again and that watching the next Olympics from home would be heartbreaking. How does that sound at all like you're describing? Also, her instagram post about wishing she could stay at AOI. Yup, total prisoner. She's finally candid about some of the difficulties of the sport. You can't blame her for being bitter toward the competitive aspect of skating after how the isu treated them the past quad. She's done nothing but talk about how she loves creating the show programs and getting to do creative stuff in skating without the rules.
DeleteMeryl has the deal with Vera Bradley and she's doing a charity skating event in April solo. So no, they aren't always branded as a team. Even dw stans forget he exists most of the time.
and the vm thread on fsu is to dumb to realized this. talking about the corruption in the isu is apparently not allowed there but talking about curling is even though it has nothing to do about skating or vm.
Delete"talking about the corruption in the isu is apparently not allowed there but talking about curling is"
DeletePlaying right into VM and SC strategies? None of them want to talk about VM's skating. But curling. Wow, Did you see Scott at that curling competition?
It appears that is what they're aiming for and that is what they got.
How can you blame the fans when Tessa and Scott avoid the issue of ice dancing and instead participate in big publicity stunts involving anything but skating. Scott with a curler GF at a big curling competition, and with Alma and Cara!! Wearing the team colors, it must be real. Tessa featured in an exercise magazine. Nice, but * so fun* not to have to think about skating anymore. You would hardly know they just participated in AOI. Skating is not the focus of their PR, apparently.
DW have hustle, got to give them that. And they hustle to market themselves as skaters (the height of irony), as dancers, and as personalities, separately and apart. Can't really find fault in the strategy, except that the underlying premise (their talent as ice dancers and OGM) is fake and bought.
DeleteI'm very curious about the engagement 2:30 PM mentioned. I wonder if she'll just appear solo or actually skate? Without someone to drag her around? Will it be possible? Will she do her wobbly Notre Dame de Paris spiral and their fans will oooh and ahhh over it?
It's funny because remember when VM were at AOI in China last summer and blowing smoke up everyone's asses about how they would love to be at Beijing Worlds, in some capacity or other. And now you just know when Worlds comes around, all they'll be doing is tweeting crap about their latest vacation, while DW will actually be *skating* there (well, not skating, but whatever it is they do). And that really nicely sums up both of their post-Olympic careers.
VM have a talk in Waterloo on March 25 so I don't know if the WC opening ceremonies would even fit into their schedule. If DW hustled and got the gig, I doubt they would be invited anyway. Can't have them skating on the ice together. What if VM were invited originally but DW hustled to replace them. We don't know.
DeleteDid you listen to the newest radio interview? Tessa talked about Art on Ice for some time.
Here's the skating event Meryl is doing http://www.figureskatinginharlem.org/index.php/news-and-events/2015-events/skating-with-the-stars-gala looks like she'll actually be "dancing" with her dwts partner instead of trying to skate by herself.
"Tessa's interview from StrongFitMagazine reads like she can't get away from skating soon enough and that she was a prisoner of some sort."
DeleteWhat? She talks about the Olympics being heartbreaking if they're aren't there. The interview talks about how they put the breaks on competing for the moment. In the radio interview she just did she was basically gushing about the ability to skate at AOI. They both looked so happy from all the pics and videos I saw. I don't understand what some people are seeing. I don't get the feeling either one of them are done with skating.
Interesting...prior to Scott's shenanigans with KL...OC had a header with KL and people were calling OC all kinds of names because what does KL have to do with SM? Blah blah blah...anyway, I digress.....I remember a few commenters being particularly vocal this way because KL was in a serious long term relationship with DJ whoever. So reading this article from the other day was interesting because I seem to remember OC mentioning that just because KL had a boyfriend that wasn't a reason for her to sham.... this could be something or it could be nothing. I found the title VERY much something though....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.edmontonjournal.com/touch/story.html?id=8059740
Oops meant to say that OC mentioned that having a boyfriend wasn't a reason **not** to participate in the sham
Delete5:59 - I'm sure I read parts of that article during Sochi. I remember reading about Lawes and another female curler attending some other competition to watch their boyfriends.
DeleteIt could be lazy journalism, using something already on file. Or perhaps it's a calculated "mistake?" It's not like Lawes hasn't been broadcasting her "relationship" with Scott Moir since right after Sochi. It's weird timing for this to be published precisely when Moir was at Lawes' competition with the TV cameras on him, presenting him to the curling world as Lawes' boyfriend.
It's the exact same article as two years ago. The Brier wasn't in Edmonton this year. I have no idea why it has the recent date.... but it's not a recent article.
DeleteThat article is old. Kaitlyn and DJ Kidby broke up forever ago. Kidby wasn't even at the brier this year. Adam Casey (who is now a PEI skip and was there this year) is listed to be playing second for Gushie of NL. I noticed this a while ago and I think since several other articles have had changed dates that their site just malfunctioned.
DeleteOn another note, I have close family friends that know Scott's mom personally. She went to school with Alma or something like that. Anyways, I saw them a while ago and asked her what she thought of Scott and Kaitlyn dating as she is a fan of skating and curling. No joke she looked at me like I had six heads. She didn't say Scott was married to Tessa, but she didn't say Scott and Kaitlyn weren't dating. Her actions just made it seem like there was some kind of sham going on. This really confused me. I'm not sure if she doesn't know because she hasn't seen them for a while or if it's because Scott and Tessa are actually married and she is told to not say. Make of this what you want, but this confused me greatly since I had began to believe that Scott was actually dating kaitlyn.
Your family friends probably just haven't spoken with Alma lately and gotten the update because Scott is definitely, 100% dating Kaitlyn. I don't know whether he and Tessa were together and have ended their relationship but I do know that as of right now, Scott and Kaitlyn are involved in a very serious relationship. From what I've heard, he has, for all intents and purposes, moved to Winnipeg. He still has a house in Ilderton but he hasn't been there for months, except for a day or two here and there and he was home when his grandfather passed away.
DeleteLOL, except he's spotted frequently in London/Ontario. Ya'll gotta try harder in the age of social media where everything's checkable.
DeleteWhen has Scott been seen lately in London? I don't recall anyone seeing him there in the last several months.
DeleteHow did they train for the shows if they were on opposite ends of the country for months? And has Tessa also moved to Winnipeg? Because she hasn't been spotted in London either, except for one official event. They've been mostly away from home for the last few months because of various engagements, and I guess that's enough to start rumours.
DeleteI love how no matter who Scott's supposed GF is, it's invariably a "very serious" relationship. The same was said about Jessica and Cassandra. Looking back, could anything be more fake than those two? However, *this time* we're supposed to believe it's real? Please. Give me a freaking break.
Delete8:47
DeleteScott, who loves skating with Tessa, moved away? Yeah right. Try harder. This is not believable.
Anon at 2:24 pm - this is anon at 2:01pm. Totally agree with your post. I think this is one way the ISU is saying to VM - we don't want you back. And who knows perhaps the ISU may even blacklist Scott Moir as a potential coach. Perhaps I am over-reaching - but think about it - why would Krylova totally sell-out VM?
ReplyDeleteSaw this on tumbler:
ReplyDeletehttp://chelsanitys.tumblr.com/post/112506345333/thanks-for-all-your-inside-info-on-v-m-ive-only
Another tumbler fan with all the inside scoop. Except for the fact it's a bunch of bull.
This person claims fans on FF didn't know Scott was dating Jessica Dube because they kept their relationship private. BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh, and the blog was created by shippers. (*rolleyes*)
They claim to have been around from the beginning, yet curiously, it is very obvious they have never read the first threads of FF (Scott&Jessica was a hot topic of discussion) nor have they read the blog (created, according to blogger, because VM's social media antics were OTT -- NOT PRIVATE -- and mocking the fans with lies). I've never seen shipping around here. Where do they get that from? Everything this tumbler is saying is false. This is what VM fans want to read? Creative stories about VM and the blog that cater to what they want to believe.
Heh, oops, did someone slip up? Guy in this video just flat out says Tessa and Scott are married. Someone should tell him that's not the party line...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piXWbNC6JEM
He talks about it around 0:54.
DeleteWow weird-
DeleteI know, right? He could've just said they were a couple or dating or whatever, but to be so adamant about them being married... Looks like he's based out of Toronto, wonder what he knows...
DeleteIs that a recent video?
DeleteAnyone know anything about him - is he generally perceived as credible?
Here's his vid about VM, look at the comments. He doesn't seem like an ice dance expert and he talks about the show even though he obviously doesn't know what it's about. http://youtu.be/c8DMFr0K0bI
DeleteLol, did you see the other videos on that channel? Credible, fact based journalism doesn't seem to be a priority.
DeleteOh I wish I hadn't watched that. World records in ice dance are so hard to break! Right.
DeleteHere is the guy's twitter https://twitter.com/mccruddenm He's from Toronto. I agree that he is just some entertainment reporter who doesn't know ice dance, but given that location, you'd expect him to be more accurate on VM than DW, and he got Charlie's fiancee's name and the fact that she's a skater right. Could be that he's clued in to VM's status, but didn't know it wasn't supposed to be reported.
"Could be that he's clued in to VM's status, but didn't know it wasn't supposed to be reported." More than likely. If you 'misunderstood' just from observing them, would you not just say they were a couple? To use the word "married" tells me he know the truth but didn't know the public weren't meant to.
DeleteThe majority of people in the fanforum group were against the sham and tried to shut down conversation of it.
DeleteYeah, that was the flag for me too, the fact the he called them the married couple and also got the details right about Charlie and Tanith. It makes sense to me that being in Toronto media but an outsider to the sport, he would hear about/know VM's status but not know it was supposed to be kind of an open secret.
Delete1:36 - I thought the same. Calling them a married couple was strange if he just thinks they're a couple as an outside observer.
Delete"Misunderstood" is code for "I wasn't supposed to say that."
What a bunch of weasels the Canadian media. It's an exclusive club, no one dares go against the established secrets. The Ghomeshi scandal caused such public soul searching you would think they would realize ANY enabling of ANY lie is a problem.
Here is this guy, not mainstream legit media, and he feels he has to backtrack to appease someone's lies. No one has the balls to say VM are a married couple and let the chips fall where they may. So much fear of making someone mad. It's ridiculous and corrupt.
Hmm, yeah, he backtracks in the comments and says he may have been confused. Don't know who the host is or whether he's credible. He seems to be just a random entertainment reporter, not someone who knows much about ice dance or VM.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 8:46 pm - I agree that VM had a great experience at AOI and that they truly love to skate and perform. Unfortunately in terms of PR, that message doesn't come across as consistently as it should. We all know that they have pushed the boundaries of ice dance and are the real deal. Do they need time to re-assess everything - absolutely. Will it be an uphill battle - yes politically starting from within Skate Canada. Then finding the right skating environment etc - which is not as obvious as the popular answer of Dubreuil/Lauzon. Is it possible to re-invent yourself within the skating community and is it worth it - considering how corrupt the ISU is - all valid questions.
ReplyDeleteIn the end - they don't owe us anything as athletes - they can walk away with their heads high as they have accomplished their goals. Personally - I still think they have a lot to offer in terms of competitive skating even if they don't win. But it has to be on their own terms. You do it because you love it period. Is there more to life than sport - definitely. But I think there are a handful of athletes that just love what they do and could have walked away from their sport a long time ago. For instance in tennis Roger Federer, the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova could have walked away.Yes endorsement money is there but that doesn't drive you day in and day out.
I have a question toward all the commenters here. If OC is the only one with quote-unquote "proof" and (I presume?) she hasn't shared it with anyone here, what makes you believe the things she's saying on this blog? Your own sources? You think it's the only reasonable conclusion to draw from the evidence that's been laid out in front of you?
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've wondered also. I do believe they are a couple, and most likely married or as good as, but I came to this belief after carefully reading this blog and the comments, and after considering my own observations of VM, especially their questionable behaviour on social media, in regards to sig. others, and in reaction to the comments here. I don't always agree with everything written here and I do think OC has an agenda when it comes to VM so I try to read objectively in order to make my own mind up about this topic.
DeleteI would also like to know if most others are like me and believe VM are married because of limited observations and what is written here. I don't know anyone who really knows or is connected enough to know. How many of those who come here and "know" VM are married really have inside connections who know the truth. I don't need your "proof" or for you to rat out your sources, I, like the poster above, am also curious how many people are totally basing their believes about VM on just what this blog says alone.
I don't have first hand proof myself, but there are two people apart from this blog who I know personally and trust who have confirmed certain things themselves. However, prior to having that, I believed the overall story presented here by OC because to me it fits the publicly available evidence the best. I don't think accepting V/M's story at face value makes things less problematic.
DeleteA couple of people here have mentioned having their own sources from time to time. I think 11:45's approach is a very reasonable one for someone who isn't in the know. It definitely doesn't have to begin an end with what OC says. AFAIK, the confirmed facts which have also been reported by OC are that they are married, they had a child about 4 years ago, and that child is female. I have not heard of the marriage's location and date confirmed by anyone else but OC, but I find it credible based on facebook stuff from around the time. The rest - the motivations behind the sham, the extent of Scott's family and Skate Canada's involvement, the manner in which the sham is conducted, opinions on skating and coaching, rationale behind different stunts they pulled - I don't take as gospel. OC has a great sense of observation and argues her points very well, but those aren't facts (at least, to my knowledge, she has not even represented them to be such), so I take them under advisement but I don't let those things guide everything I believe about VM. I don't know how much is stuff she knows and how much is speculation and filling in the blanks. For example, all the posts about Jessica signing on in part so that someone would pay for her family to attend competitions and for her to go on vacations - I have no idea if all that is true, so I take that as just informed speculation and giving a plausible scenario why she would have been involved.
DeleteAnon at 11:21 am - this is anon 5:35 am. Do I believe everything that the blogger has stated - no. However, I am interested in how a talented ice dance team from Canada basically got screwed over not only by the ISU but their own skating federation, the Canadian media. I also am interested in knowing how much the Canadian Olympic Committee was in the know and basically said it is what it is. I mean VM just didn't get a snowball in the face, if you look at the last quad - it was an avalanche. I think there are very few fans that actually followed the team since 2008-2009 or after the 2010 Olympics that are currently on tumblr. The amount of corruption to get DW to the top and keep them there is mind blowing. Canada doesn't have a ridiculous amount of amateur athletes that are marketable and have had as much success as VM. So why was there no pushback from the COC, Skate Canada, the media. To me as an outsider, not everything adds up. Then you look at VMs PR over the years and you say - jesus. The nail in the coffin - the reality show. So that's my interest - the corruption of the sport and how blatant it was/is with DW.
ReplyDeleteAs for people who say - well don't blame DW personally - they did what they did to win. Well I guess for those folks - the end justifies the means. There is gamesmanship. Its not obvious with DW but I don't think they are the nicest of people. I am not saying that VM are saints - far from it but to me DW represents everything that is "the old boys" club mentality. Its about the $$$ and who you know rather than the actual talent and what you are.
I never bought that DW were the nicest of people. Whenever they deviated from their usual robotic PR-trained answers, they revealed who they truly are: a couple of privileged, out-of-touch, corrupt individuals whose families, money and connections bought them their gold. From saying that gay rights in Sochi were just a matter of semantics; saying that them growing up in the mean streets of Detroit really toughened them up (yeah, I'm sure these people in poverty living in a destitute city can really relate); to saying that they thought Meryl's "ethnically ambiguous" looks was an advantage when skating "ethnic" programs. WTF?!
Deletewell said 1259, exactly right
DeleteGreat points 1:57. The second they didn't have scripted talking points, they came off like jerks.
DeleteI agree about the old boys club mentality too. I mean, his father is in the oil industry! I also got a creepy vibe from "the moms" always being there. Felt like it was more than just mothers cheering for their kids. There are people who have the ability to let you know just through mannerisms "we have money and we're more important than you" and I felt their presence was significant. They even got written up in the USFS Sochi media guide! Would be nice to hear some anecdotes from people who attended the same competitions as the mom.
Agreed 1:57 - those comments make me even more ill than watching their awful skating and wondering how it is possible they were gifted the gold in Sochi. What a joke.
DeleteIt's just sickening - nobody *ever* calls them out on their shitty, problematic comments. Or how they just reek of entitlement. But people in stupid skating forums still give Scott grief over some minor comments he made years ago, like the 2011 piss-off situation (which was a joke, he was laughing when he said it) or when he said he hated WTT in 2012. Those don't even come close to the disgusting stuff D/W has said.
Delete6:17 - I get bad vibes from "the moms" too. They seem bitchy and ruthlesss, I certainly wouldn't want to run into them. I'm sure there are tons of stories about them that haven't been told...
DeleteAnon 11:37, you are not writing the truth. I was there when Moir made the comment. He was dead serious, not laughing in the least. One of the appealing things about Moir is that he gave real answers and showed real emotion. When he hated something, he said it. When he was angry, he showed it.
Delete2:46
DeleteIt's too bad this was used against Scott, as if it "proved" he didn't deserve to win, or it "proved" DW deserved to win.
Not a single skating journalist took the trouble to analyze the *skating* happening on the ice, to question whether Moir had a legitimate emotion, based on what was going on with the skating/scoring.
Like it's been pointed out so many times - even on VM's bad days, they should still be at least 10 points ahead of DW's best days.
All the crap that was being pulled, equating DW to VM and giving out the narrative DW had surpassed VM - it's a travesty.
Tessa keeps ruining words for me. First it was her excessive use of ' balance ' and now she won't stop saying ' authentic ' and ' competent ' ( when she herself has neither of those qualities ).
ReplyDeleteInstead of shopping for shoes she should grt a thesaurus. And get Scott one too so he can stop using ' unique '.
Tessa is not competent? In what way?
DeleteAll public figures have scripted words and phrases they use in all interviews. *Shrug*
For me the problem isn't that Tessa and Scott are scripted, almost anyone in the public eye is scripted. It's because they're lying and hiding behind their favorite words. They use those words to promote fake personas. If I knew they were not lying, the scripted parts wouldn't be a problem.
BTW, Tessa is an extremely accomplished and competent young woman. She really doesn't let the public in on her real self. She's hiding behind the airhead pop-culture fashionista, with the occasional thoughtful quote thrown in. All of it comes across as a faux intellect, based on womens' magazine "wisdom" or pinterest wall of quotes. Bah. So fake, and not her real self.
It remains a mystery why they would rather promote these superficial personas instead of the real, competent and intelligent Tessa and Scott.
Tessa is a competent ice dancer but in every other field she fails miserably. When it comes to the business side of skating, which Tessa claims to love so much, she is as incompetent as one could possibly be. She doesn't understand PR or marketing one bit.
DeleteI am not convinced that Tessa's public persona is too different from the real Tessa. A truly intelligent and competent wouldn't engage in so much bullshit and would handle their career better.
Tessa is an intelligent person when it comes to skating and training but what has she done off ice that leads you to believe that the real Tessa is intellivent and competent ?
Just because social media Tessa is fake doesn't mean the real Tessa is any better.
3:24
DeleteI do think that Tessa is probably a very competent person. Anyone who balances an elite athletic career with motherhood, marriage, school and "business" (such as it is) has to be competent.
Maybe you will be proven right that the real Tessa is not that far from the fake Tessa we see on social media, who knows. Right now, I think Tessa and Scott are so stupidly and obstinately committed to their lies, it colors everything. They filter themselves through their fake lens, how do we know anything about the real people? Their competence, so far, is wasted on the train of sham, carefully monitoring every single public word and action for a specific (false) narrative.
Tessa (and Scott) can't change business models until she decides to stop the bullshitting. Until then, I agree she appears to be incompetent but until the real Tessa shows up, I'll reserve judgment on this particular point.
Anon at 3:24 pm - I would agree with you that the public persona via twitter and instagram that Tessa is putting out there is manipulated to target a certain demographic and to market herself. I also tend to agree that perhaps the real Tessa is not all that different from the image portrayed on social media. Is she a go-getter and does she make a great first impression. No doubt. Does she want to be a mainstream celebrity? I don't doubt it. The problem is she doesn't have a platform like a Canadian version of So you think you can dance or the Battle of the Blades to further showcase her talent.
DeleteReinventing yourself is no easy task but as I've said before just because your not in the public eye doesn't make you less successful. And it can take a while to see where your path will lead - so let's see where this goes. But overall - I would have to agree that in terms of PR - I think its more miss than hit but I also think part of it is to gage how popular she is without Scott.
Seguin and Bilodeau won silver at Junior Worlds! They would have got gold if the Chinese pair didn't compete, but they managed to stay pretty close to them anyway.
ReplyDeleteHere's a video of their *flawless* free and their short was clean as well. They've been clean all season, how amazing is that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP4p15ktq5E
I really am rooting for this team. There's just something so pleasant about their skating and they have a great connection with each other. They're a true pair team and I definitely prefer them to MT/M2. I just hope they can continue to improve and kick ass on the senior circuit next season!
Anon at 7:41 pm - I agree that Sequin/Bilodeau are the real deal.
DeleteThey did a lovely job, but her flexibility leaves a lot to be desired
DeleteAgreed, they have a lot to work on and have been very generously scored this year.
DeleteOn a separate topic in terms of PR - can I just say that Curling Canada in general has taken full advantage of TSN losing NHL hockey broadcasting rights and in both major curling events in Calgary - this week at the Brier and earlier in the season with the women - they have had Olympians in the crowd, taking pictures, giving them lessons etc. what a way to legitimize the sport.
ReplyDeleteShould curling be an olympic sport? In my opinion, no. But then again the winter olympics are so desperate for events - that it gets a pass. If curling is an olympic sport - billiards,darts and bowling should qualify as well. But I digress - other Canadian sport federations including Skate Canada should take a hard look of why they don't bother with ie skate days/camps. And no Stars on Ice doesn't count as outreach. Women hockey players are frankly the best at setting up camps and growing the sport. TSN - the curling network, lol.
Honestly, I think you're ignorant of how physical a game curling is. It takes more stamina and strength than something like bowling. I'm not really a fan, but I don't doubt for a minute that curlers are elite athletes.
DeleteHi anon at 2:54 pm - anon at 9:09 am here. I am not saying that curling is easy - its a skill. Is the stone heavy - yes - but not ridiculously heavy. Does it take skill to slide/throw with proper technique - yes. Yes you sweep. Respect for curlers - yes. Elite athletes in terms of physical atributes - not in my books. And no I am not ignorant - in my previous life - I exercise tested triathletes and professional and amateur hockey players. And yes I've actually curled at least 20 times in my lifetime. Do elite curlers take care of themselves in terms of weight training - yes but they are not pushing physical boundaries. Again its just my personal opinion.
DeleteI agree that curling does not make one an elite athlete. It's a joke to compare it to sports that take actual skill and physical fitness, but unfortunately the same could be said for ice dance in its current state of judging bias. JMO and I'm sure others will come screaming to say otherwise, but this whole thing with KL is likely in part to the fact that no one actually gives two shits about curling and who these girls are (fake) dating.
DeleteYour ignorant to believe other wise. The canadian Olympic committee believes that in one or two winter olympic cycles that curlers will have the best all around fitness of any competing athlete. Curling requires physical strength in the core, arms, shoulders, back, upper and lower leg. It also requires mental strangth, flexibility, cardio, ability to rapidly drop heart rate to a resting heart rate (applies to front end players), muscle control and memory. This is pretty much all of the physical components I can think of off the top of my head. Athletes like Joanne Courtney of Rachel Homans team prove just how strong you need to be in order to sweep with over 75% of your body weight on the broom. She is said to be strong enough to be an olympic swimmer (as a teen she was a high performing swimmer or something like that and did quite well for herself. She says it in an interview or something). Basically your 100% wrong about curlers not being elite athletes
DeleteMeanwhile, Nathalie Pechalat is dating an Academy Award winning actor. All the talk about curling on FSU and here is so fucking boring. And it's basically playing right into Skate Canada and the Curling federation's hands.
DeleteCurling can't be *that* demanding. Many of the top curlers in Sochi were out of shape, above the age of 40 and one woman was pregnant. That wouldn't be possible in any other sport.
DeleteFor those who still believe this sort of thing isn't possible:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2982538/No-baggy-maternity-wear-lingerie-model-EIGHT-MONTHS-pregnant-d-never-know-super-toned-abs.html
11:40 -- Amazing pictures.
ReplyDeleteI've been around here a long time and I believe Tessa has been pregnant twice now, in plain sight. The people who like to make fun of that possibility don't want to be bothered with facts -- photos of Tessa, anecdotes like your link, many many other anecdotes and statements by athletes and health professionals verifying the possibilities --
Oh no, they prefer to name call and sanctimoniously call me -- us -- deluded.
As many others in here have pointed out, what is out there in the public domain about Tessa and Scott, since they were young teenagers, is very problematic if you want to take them at face value. I believe the basic facts of this blog because my own eyes and common sense tell me it's true, and it puts things into rational perspective. Any other narratives are continually contradictory. bizarre, and unfailingly follow a trajectory of soap-opera or fan-fiction and not real life as normal people in the normal world experience life. Tessa and Scott are real-life people, not Disney characters, and that alone gives the lie to all their PR narratives.
You've got to hand it to Mrs Moir; she's a world class bullshitter:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/tessavirtue/status/577566468801449984
What's with the agressive tone?
DeleteI don't think my tone was aggressive - just sick of the crap they peddle. Do you really, truly believe that someone who knows so much about VM would miss Tessa sitting right next to her? And Tessa snarking at what she was saying when the woman was only regurgitating everything that Tessa and Scott themselves have put out through social media? That is not classy behaviour by any standards.
DeleteI took that comment to mean that the commenter was questioning Tessa's aggressive tone and not yours.
DeleteOh, sorry!
DeleteNo worries, I'm not the original commenter, so who knows what was meant, that was just how I interpreted it. But I agree that the story sounds completely fabricated - how is it possible that this supposed random person knows about V/M to that degree, but didn't recognize Tessa beside her, even after she said hi? And the conversation just conveniently happened to hit the main areas of fan gossip? These two are so brilliant and otherworldly talented, but utterly frustrating at the same time...I have long since stopped trying to make sense of their antics.
Delete"And the conversation just conveniently happened to hit the main areas of fan gossip?"
Delete^^THIS.
I wasn't sure if Tessa's description of the account meant the woman had recognized her eventually or not. Either way, like you said, it's just a little too convenient the woman's conversation hit those main areas of gossip.
Tessa is such a lucky person. She heard someone talking about VM and mentioning the very same topics they like to keep alive in their public narratives. Go figure.
Sorry, I'm 4:50 and meant Tessa's agressive tone. I agree that the story is either completely made up or at least embellished. In any case it makes Tessa look mean to her fans, which I wouldn't think is good PR but then when has their PR ever made sense?
Delete12:49
DeleteAll the twitter fans loved it. They got to feel they were part of Tessa's world, they shared a sort of secret with her, got to commiserate about those terrible gossips who talk about stuff they know nothing about. They got to pat Tessa on the back, so to speak, and tell her how wonderful she is.
From Tessa's perspective, it must look like great PR.
I think it's terrible, myself. It does make her look mean toward the public. But what do I know. VM are so super smart about their branding and their agent-who-makes-only-*sincere*-deals-for-VM and their honesty and all that. They must think this kind of image is good for their *brand* (whatever that is).
I shouldn't be surprised, but these tweets, for me, are an exact example of VM's nutso attitude about their fans. Tessa's tweets today, whether she fabricated the incident or not, point out that she and Scott and their retirement are topics even randoms around her discuss at length ( VM are SO important! And those fans! So intrusive! Virtue and Moir can't sneeze without the deep, abiding interest of the Canadian public!) but that the public don't know the first thing about them. It's very like her "who says I didn't say anything to him?" on Scott's bday back in September. The woman she supposedly overheard talking was, more or less, parroting the shit VM have been sending down the old PR pipeline, but HA HA, STUPID FAN, YOU BELIEVED THAT CRAP? You don't know the first thing about us, and if you buy the lies we constantly peddle, you're dumb. But wait! You're losing interest? All of this is just coy enough to suggest that Scott and I might not retire!
ReplyDeleteIt's exactly what OC has been saying for a while now: their "brand" or whatever they think they have, is straight up fucking with the fans. It seems to get more and more ugly to me the longer they keep it up. I used to think that "HA HA, GOTCHA!" tone seemed to spring from Moirville more than it did from Scott and Tessa themselves, but if Tessa's the one writing her tweets…maybe she gets off on that stuff just as much.
give me a break. If you don't like it don't follow her. I am not happy with how they chose to carry on the sham but not everything they do is a contrived 'the fans are so stupid' agenda. This nitpicking and picking apart every single tweet is getting old.
DeleteI thought it was quite interesting that she singled out the comeback and said chances are slim, who knew. To me that indicates there is a pretty good chance we'll see them back.
To me it means 10000% they're never coming back. If there was any hope, that tweet killed it. They just wanted to get hopes up and dash them again.
DeleteAnd if they did come back, at this point I think I would root for DW over them (and no one hates DW more than I do).
6:19 nailed it, and I'm not usually one of those "they hate their fans, why do they always bait fans" people. I try to see the good in VM and assume they have their reasons for shamming, but this set of posts is making it awfully hard to give the benefit of the doubt.
Okay, not everything they do is a finger to the fans. Then they should not engage in these juvenile demonstrations of mocking fans. Tessa laughing at that poor woman on public twitter is not pretty, in spite of the fans' adulation of everything she does.
DeleteAnother thing, and forgive me for nitpicking, but since when is anything Tessa or Scott says about returning believable? You've got years of history of them putting out misleading statements. It's beyond ridiculous to think anything in her tweets is an indication of real intentions. You fall for it, that's on you.
when exactly was she laughing at the fan? were you there to see it?
DeleteWhy isn't it believable? not everything they've said throughout their career is a lie. How exactly do you know what are her or their intentions? You have no idea what their intentions are about coming back. Sorry I'm not so jaded to think that everything they do is a fuck you to fans.
Again I ask why follow them, why care what they do if you're so turned off by it and can't believe their behavior? You certainly pay a lot of attention to someone you think is nutso.
Oh for goodness sake if you want to believe that Tessa Virtue shits roses and can do no wrong go right ahead. And if you want to believe this story about some lady going on and on about VM's lives (she apparently covered her bases from their dating lives, to school, to their possible return to competition) without once noticing the person she's talking about is next her, then when she does notice she doesn't even recognize her as the person she was talking about? Ok then. If you believe that story I have a bridge to sell you.
Delete8:39. I didn't need to be there to see whether or not Tessa was laughing at that person. Tessa decided to take it to a very public social media account. Don't tell me she had NO IDEA that person would become the joke of the fandom that loves to respond to Tessa's tweets.
DeleteI'm sure Tessa thought it was hilarious. That's why she tweets about it. It would be a lot funnier if misinformed gossip about Tessa and Scott was not based on Tessa and Scott's own lies.
"Again I ask why follow them, why care what they do if you're so turned off by it and can't believe their behavior? You certainly pay a lot of attention to someone you think is nutso. "
DeleteTwo reasons. Unfortunately, they are the most talented ice dancers in recent memory and so to ignore them completely is to ignore their careers and that's not an easy choice to make if you like their skating. Second, it's impossible to escape their shit completely if you follow skating at all because of the way news circulates.
"... then when she does notice she doesn't even recognize her as the person she was talking about? Ok then. If you believe that story I have a bridge to sell you."
DeleteSince when does "nonplussed" mean "not recognize"? I think you better check your dictionary before going into the bridge selling business.
6:19
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think you are right.
Tessa and Scott are indeed sweet and nice to all the fans who meet them in person. However, this other side of them must also be them. Yes, they're getting uglier in these social media personas. I feel sorry for the airport woman. Tessa made fun of her for believing the very shit VM put out there.
I'm with you anon 7.25...
DeleteAnd sorry anon 8.39, I used to think like you until recently ago...but yes Tessa was laughing not only at that woman but right in front of all of us if you didn't notice...
Tessa...this is not classy...at all! Who do you think you are? You are not a diva...despite your adoring fans.
Go Take a lesson from Meryl and Charlie on this front...
I'm actually inclined to believing Tessa made the whole thing up. She had the dual agenda of showing passive aggressive irritation at fans' speculations and also informing her followers that she's traveling again. Alone. Without Scott.
DeleteWhere does she get off mocking fans' speculations when VM themselves work so hard at fostering precisely the kinds of assumptions she says she overheard.
As to the traveling piece. Yeah, Tessa, we know. Your life revolves around your own personal (alone) life and your own personal (alone) business affairs. Skating and Scott are distant seconds. Message received. What's coming up next. An allusion to the boyfriend? We all know there's an agenda to your information that you're traveling. You've already used the excuses of reading material while you travel, a conversation with a sweet elderly gentleman (that way we're informed you DID NOT sit next to Scott - check, message received), now an overheard conversation. Can't wait to see what ruse you come up with next.
Oh, I'm so sorry for speculating (based on your own social media activity).
I'm calling it.
DeleteTessa's latest twitter activity is a set-up for the next installment of sham. One... two...
i think they're gtg ready to "come out of the closet" by next year. They will both be single "at the same time" come up with some nonsense and when they return to competition next year- which they will bc davis white have really frozen them out of the $$ opptnys- they will come out as a couple. idk about whether they have kids. but theyre together. and if they're not, will be for the sake of career.
Delete"when they return to competition next year- which they will bc davis white have really frozen them out of the $$ opptnys- "
DeleteWould be the first and only good thing Davis White would ever have done for the sport of ice dance.
Tessa should watch it. Its one thing to claim you don't know what you're doing to the media with your partner to back you up. But its a whole different thing to go on a Twitter rant. That's just dumb on her part and it reeks of desperation. We all know you guys aren't coming back and if by some "miracle" they decide to come back they will truly put the nail in the coffin that is their careers.
Deleteif by some "miracle" they decide to come back they will truly put the nail in the coffin that is their careers.""
Delete??? I'm not following.
I thought the nail in their career coffin is their PR/hoax on the public. Their skating is the one thing where there's beauty and honesty in their public lives.
4:14: I just mean that they haven't suffered from total public ostracization at the hands of their hoax, YET; mainly because a large sum of the population believes in their platonic story. And as much as I love their skating and their talent, if they were to come back they would be facing an uphill battle. First, they need an elite coach who will actually pay attention to them and there aren't any of those in NA at the moment who are looking for more students. Second, they would have to come back better than ever to erase all the shit talking/ burned bridges of the past which I don't think they can do because of their lack of a training environment and age/ responsibilities. To come back and not even win a World medal would just be embarrassing and something that would hurt their reputation even further. Maybe i'm being too cynical here but if T/S want to come back they don't have the luxury of bsing around like they are now. They would have to work harder than ever, something I think they are not interested in doing.
DeleteJust finished listening to the 570News (talk radio station from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario) interview with VM. Broadcaster interviewed T & S on the phone, SEPARATELY. Like, T first (from wherever she's suppose to be - we know she was at the airport) and then S (from wherever he's suppose to be - perhaps he's really moved to Manitoba!), and had to include in the introduction to S that VM are currently in completely different cities - isn't that weird/cute/can you comment on how you aren't together all the time now? (That's my own sarcasm added in there, in case you couldn't tell).
ReplyDeleteWTF? We know that on-air phone interviews can occur simultaneously, even from different locations, so why go to this ridiculous extra effort to interview them individually - one from one's location, the other from the other's location - and then also include the fact that they aren't together in your interview. It's very desperate.
It makes me crazy that this stuff still irks me.
How much time do they spend monitoring fan reactions so that they can toss shit like this out there? Sometimes I think it's impossible that their social media output is a direct response to fan narrative because how can it be that they have enough time to read through tumblr, fsu, dubemoir and run their "business"... sometimes I think it must just be coincidence, or that I'm dealing with a bad case of confirmation bias. But coincidences don't occur with such amazing regularity.
I guess if I can spend 20 min throughout the day monitoring figures skating gossip, so can VM, or someone doing this for VM.
While I'm on this rant...
So the whole AOI tour - the recent one where they were totally all over each other all the time and tumblr almost blew up - what goes on in their minds? Are they really like, oh yeah this is good stuff - this is going to make the fans freak, we better plan our next moves right away to distract from our on-ice make out session and make sure they buy the sham. What I'm getting at is, are those performances part of the sham in that they aid in the fan agitation, like planned in order to contribute to fan agitation? Or is it that VM are so narcissistic that they must have their cake and eat it too - they get to perform these (and they were pretty great to watch) programs full out because they are "just acting", and then they are "forced" to throw sham out there because the fans are going to "misinterpret" their material?
Hoping that was clear... might be having a hard time expressing myself through the current rage.
9:37 -- I also picked up on the great emphasis about separate cities. VM have been interviewed like this before and it was simultaneous. Different locations is not a hindrance to interviewing them together. Heck, they could be on different phones in the same house, it works the same way.
DeleteIt does sound desperate to get this point across.
It's been noted since the early forum days at FF (right after Vancouver) that VM and Co. react to whatever the fans are talking about. These days it's also noted they continue to react, including to posts that fans think are on private/locked accounts.
These days it's also noted they continue to react, including to posts that fans think are on private/locked accounts.
DeleteWhich, quite frankly, is a getting a bit weird and creepy, being one of the locked accounts that I feel is somehow being watched.
I'm quite interested to hear about how/why (you feel) your account is being watched... if you'd like to share...
DeleteIt's either weird coincidences or there's someone watching a handful of locked fan accounts but when something is discussed, there seems to be a direct response from Tessa. I don't believe what this blog says, that Tessa and Scott are married and have children, so I have no idea why anyone would care enough to monitor accounts but I think they do.
DeleteI don't have a twitter account, but would be curious to hear more about this, as well, if you feel comfortable with sharing since it's been stated a few times on this blog that people feel like they're being watched.
DeleteOften I had the feeling that my private account was observed...until I blocked a couple of famous skating related connections ;)
DeleteObviusly someone is watching...Scott and Tessa often use the same exact words of fans on twitter
Weird...I mean, I guess all public figures monitor social media to some extent, but why be so focused on a small subset of fans? With a lot of things V/M do, I don't really understand what the purpose is or who it's directed toward. I know a huge part of their "brand" is selling their relationship/connection, but how long is this going to go on for? It's just going to look more and more ridiculous the older they get.
DeleteNow they're selling their "never together in the same city..." brand :)
DeleteReally don't know what they think...if they think...but yes they look more and more...unique
I know, what a stupid way to set up that radio interview like they couldn't do a conference call like other normal guests. Guess they really wanted to drive home the point that they live completely separate lives and never see each other anymore. Don't these two ever get tired of playing these games?! Evidently not.
DeleteOne thing that has always puzzled me - if V/M go to the trouble of monitoring and reacting to social media, why has their PR/marketing not improved? Especially Tessa, who always professes to love the business side of their careers. Even their tumblr fans widely acknowledge that they had especially shitty PR this previous quad; that the reality show was a bad idea, was fake/scripted and badly executed. Wouldn't they want to fix this impression? How did they end up with such poor management?
DeleteIt appears they mainly care about impressions related to the sham, for whatever reason.
DeleteIKR, 8:08. At the moment they should be keeping their programs practiced for the upcoming SOI tour. A good PR that focuses on VM as skaters would talk about that, show a clip of the ongoing training, etc.
DeleteInstead, it's not only a focus on the supposed dating relationships, there's also the suggestion the skating is less important. Their public appearances and social media imply a casual and indifferent approach to keeping in shape. I don't think that's their reality at all, but that's the message.
It's all kinds of backwards. Since when is an elite athlete's PR all about relationships? Why does it matter that Scott Moir be seen around curlers and at curling events? Who the hell cares. They act like he's Brad Pitt and the reflected glory of his importance will somehow benefit KL and curling. (*vomit*)
Part of me wonders if they're downplaying the skating/training so they can surprise everyone with a comeback. Then again they've always done this so maybe they simply don't want the fans to develop weird ideas, like the fact VM might spend some time together outside of public appearances.
DeleteIt's weird because back in 2010 their PR was all about their platonic passion and how they were the closest best friends to ever exist. But then the more OC pushed back against the sham, the more they downplayed even their friendship and, with the reality show, made it look like they couldn't even get along. They let a fan on the internet dictate their PR strategy and that's just unbelievably stupid.
The theory that Scott brings a spotlight to curling has been floated, but I'm really not sure that skating is bigger than curling in Canada. Globally yes, but ... if TV coverage is anything to go by, curling is much more popular. I think it's more likely that Kaitlyn specifically wanted to sham. Perhaps being the only member of Team Jones without a life partner was causing her to be stalked or something.
DeleteI was thinking not so much that skating was more or less popular than curling, but that there could be more overlap. Each sport represents an untapped audience for the other that could combine. It made me cringe to see curling chat in the VM thread at FSU because it seemed like it was working. Maybe if Scott forges a connection to another winter sport, he could eventually become a Terry Gannon or Rod Black that does color commentary on sports other than his own. I certainly prefer the thought that he's in Japan with some sort of business in mind rather than flying to a foreign country JUST to sham.
DeleteCould Tessa be with him? Is her sister still living in Australia? I know they have used shows in Japan as a chance to visit with her sister in the past.
She had a boyfriend in Sochi or at least leading up to Sochi. He's a curler but obviously not as high profile as Scott. This situation makes Team Jones look bad seeing as, so far, the talk about their relationship happens during curling events, not skating ones. Maybe Team Jones assumes they'll be retired before any of this comes out.
Delete12:49 - what blows my mind about that idiotic strategy is that the show was their countdown to Sochi and *that's* how they chose to present themselves to Canada and the world? That their skills had deteriorated, they lost their connection, couldn't stand each other and couldn't wait to be done with skating. Unbelievable. And that's setting aside the mind-boggling decision to film a reality show during the Olympic year when all the odds were stacked against them. Hope it was worth it, guys...really hope it was worth it.
DeleteIt's pretty obvious Scott regrets doing it, and I believe him when he says he had to be talked into doing it. Not sure about Tessa.
DeleteIs he stopping in japan on way to beijing?
DeleteFilming the reality show didnt affect their skating- the skated outstanding programs at both GPF and the Olympics and should have won gold at both. The show also didnt affect their medals. T&S were never going to win gold- the gold at both GPF and the Olympics were M&C's before the season began. If anything, I believe the show was given to Scott and Tessa as a pre-consolation prize for losing the gold- which may have meant more for Tessa than Scott. Though the plot was crap, the production values of the show were too good to have been negotiated by the idiots who run v&m's PR. I think M&C's team with NBC and other connections had something to do with it.
DeleteThat's true, those medals were lost long before the show was filmed and their skating wasn't affected. But I was more speaking to the impression the show left on fans and detractors alike - neither Tessa nor Scott came across very well, so I'm not sure how it could've been used a consolation prize? Because Tessa wants to get more into the media? The show was also produced by the W Network, which is a pretty small women's channel in Canada, nothing like the power that NBC has.
Delete9:09.
DeleteIt's a mystery to me both why they wanted to do this show and why anyone thought it was a "help" to their image. As discussed so many places, the show is a scripted pile of crap and both Scott and Tessa are portrayed in the worse possible light. Not even giving Scott Moir a "hot and heavy" relationship did anything to improve his image as presented on that show.
When it's brought up, they continue to firmly maintain that it showcases their skating. No, it does not do that.
They say it gives a behind the scenes look at the journey to Sochi. No it does not. Besides most of the skating-related scenes being false they completely left out the real preparation, such as choosing music and costumes. A costume-fitting scene was focused on showing Scott's bare chest. Please. Documentary my ass.
The viewer never knew how they chose the costumes. The process of choosing, the concepts, the designing of the concepts - zilch. They also did not document the process of choosing the music or creating the choreography. Pretending to have to practice touching each other is not choreography. It's bullshit. The token seconds talking about Scott and velour pants that would be a danger to the girls does not constitute "journey to Sochi." Just more bullshit.
I agree the production values were very good. Still, why in the world did Tessa and Scott agree to do it? It's not at all what they announced it would be nor what they insist on saying it is. Is it the money? Their current incompetent moron agent sure isn't getting them any major endorsements.
Maybe the reason for switching up girlfriends so quickly and this time also giving Tessa a real-live boyfriend (no more pathetic single Tessa mooning over Scott) is they plan a sequel? I hope not but these people never fail to come through in all the lowest common denominator expectations.
What I don't get is the incredible amount of energy it must have taken to practice for the Olympics, participate in competitions leading up to the Games, learn a bunch of stupid scripts, make sure to move things around so that it doesn't appear that they live together and are raising a child, raise said child, and fulfill the various sponsorship obligations they had during their Olympic year. That's craziness. They must be the most talented people in the world to pull that amount of stuff off in one year.
Delete@5:47
DeleteDon't forget the huge families on both sides who can lend a hand. They can also probably afford nanny care, if they want. When there's the means, it's possible to have family and children and be involved in a great number of endeavors. Many many people/families in the world manage to pull it off.
I do not think they went to the trouble of moving a lot around to appear not to be together. The W Network had to know the truth, they filmed around it. Tessa and Scott didn't have to pretend for them so that particular energy-waster wasn't a concern.
No matter how much you outsource childcare to nannies or families, you are still a parent and parenting a kid at that age can be a grind. I have a child just a few months older than Tessa and Scott's alleged first child, and work full time and have a nanny. There are still all the night wakings to deal with, colds/ear infections, and just plain time needed to parent, and it's tiring. Trying to be the best in the world at your job at the same time in a competition seen worldwide is not something many many people/families in world do, and very very few could manage to pull it off. Let's be real.
Delete1:52 - If I may answer for 6:54? I don't think 6:54 is saying they're "pulling it off" except in the sense of keeping it hidden from the general public. In their real lives, who knows what kind of parents they are or the quality of their relationships with family and children.
Delete"Though the plot was crap, the production values of the show were too good to have been negotiated by the idiots who run v&m's PR. "
Delete"I agree the production values were very good."
??? I thought the quality matched the script.
Scott's been spotted in Japan cheering on KLawes at World's...
ReplyDelete7:33
DeleteAs it's been said here before. It makes no difference what Tessa or Scott or any supposed SO or their family members say or imply. A lie is a lie. None of their strategies unmarries Scott from Tessa, and no, they did not separate or divorce. Scott and KL are not dating. Therefore, Scott went all the way to Japan only to promote his hoax or he is using the opportunity to hoax while he is there on other business.
VM and all their sham friends are the fools. Not the fans.
I'm fairly new here, so I guess I'm just trying to wrap my head around it all. The sightings appear to have come from random curling fans with no connection to Scott. Would he really go all the way to Japan to promote the sham and just hope he would get spotted?
Delete"Would he really go all the way to Japan to promote the sham and just hope he would get spotted?"
DeleteHe has a history of going out of his way to promote sham. IMO he also combines these occasions with other business/skating appointments. But essentially, yes, for some reason the people who run this hoax are big believers in the big publicity stunts.
He traveled to the Dominican with Jessica Dube (*and* her two siblings although only one photo album showed them and it was quickly deleted or made private) only for the purpose of creating honeymoon-type photo albums. Those photos were banked for months before they were released to the public at the moment the 2009-2010 season began. Then they were used over and over when it was important to reemphasize that Scott was dating Jessica. There were other similar beach scenarios with JD, albeit surrounded by family and friends. The poor dears. Never got to be alone, even on the romantic getaways.
He also was seen with Cassandra at various locations and photos were duly shared on public social media sites.
Why would it be any different with KL. I'm absolutely positive they already have photos saved up from some exotic location (never alone, though), waiting for the appropriate time of release. Right now, being seen on TV/in public is very important. It seals the deal as *real.*
It's idiotic, but that's what they do.
Thanks for filling me in. This whole thing just seems so bizarre. I know things like this are typical in Hollywood, where reality is almost never the way things truly are, but Tessa and Scott are athletes in a really niche sport - it's not like they're Brad and Angelina. Strange that they would go to such lengths and for such a long time, but I guess it would explain their terrible and inconsistent PR over the years. It seems like they got some really bad advice when they were younger and have now dug themselves into a hole they can't get out of.
ReplyDeleteOops, meant to say where reality is almost never the way things are presented to the public.
DeleteAre there any curling fans around here who visit curling message boards? Would you fill us in on any gossip re. Scott and Kaitlyn Lawes? Or reports of them around the arena/off-ice? What is observed about their interactions, acting couple-y, etc?
DeleteI don't think you win a prize Mar 17 8.30am - but you called it:
ReplyDeletehttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAv2gQ6UQAAnT_b.jpg:large
Dave Lease claims he spoke to a technical caller who told him that I/K's Swan Lake was basically a shitty program but then went on to say " Who cares ? It was electrifying, that's all that matters ! ".
ReplyDeleteLease is hardly a trustworthy source but sadly it sounds too true.
4:59
DeleteThat's most likely part of the "training" of judges and technical callers. The USFSA is a main organizer in facilitating the training workshops. We've seen the stupid on boards like FSU, where people claiming to be judges say things that make it clear they're being taught to give points for things like "electrifying" and "emotional." Apparently, they have also specifically been told DW are the standard, which of course is BS.
The ISU and complicit federations went to the grass roots level of the workshops for judges in order to change the essential meaning of skilled, beautiful ice dance. The rulebook be damned. Add in the backroom deals in assigning placements and whatever they did to make coaches, commenters and skating media afraid to speak out against the chosen champions, you have the worse corruption I've ever seen in ice dance.
I've been following this sport for several decades. I've never seen this level of corruption. I think the USFSA is the worst. They sanctimoniously accuse Russia of cheating and yet they colluded since before Vancouver to get DW to the top. The quality of their skating was not a factor. What mattered was getting a gold for the US and subsequently having American headliners for business reasons (money).
In all this, VM have been continually undermined and robbed of their true achievements and standing.
Chock/Bates won the short dance. I think I'm going to puke.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to see PI so close to GP - even though they should be miles ahead. Depressing to see the same shenanigans are continuing this season.
Not only did Chock/Bates win the short dance, they earned a score of 74.47. Virtue/Moir never earned that at a world championship.
DeleteI hate that CB are in first so far...WTH?!
DeleteAs someone with limited access to Worlds, I'd love to see a post/recap about it. Perhaps everyone is too depressed...
ReplyDeleteWatched CBC's coverage of the short dance last night. Even Carol Lane and Kurt Browning were shocked at Chock/Bates' ridiculous score.
DeleteThe commentary was atrocious, as was the Eurosport coverage. All program feels and excitement, nothing to do what the blades are doing. It is very depressing.
Talk about depressing, the lack of PCS and GOE for H/D great Paso. SMH.
DeleteThe entire SD was terrible on the whole, but IMO, the most terrible and heartbreaking thing of the night was H/D being buried in 11th. Zach bobbled on the second twizzle, but he was back in unison with Madi for the third set. The only numbers hurt by that mistake should have been a reduction in the level and GOE for that twizzle. There was no effect on the rest of the program and the rest of the program was fabulous. Their GOE's on their other elements were criminal as was their PCS, which was seriously lowballed. In a fair world, they would be in the top 5 even with the error and even in this world, there's no reason for them not to be in the top 10. They're less than a point out of 10th, but their FD draw is terrible, so it's unlikely they'll get the score they need to move up to even 10th. I don't like that CB are head of WP, but it's not an impossible gap for WP to make up. Even if they don't, they'll still be a top team next season. It's not fair that the Shibs are in 6th, but they'll be back next year. This happening to HD effectively kills any chance they had of making future world teams and the Olympic team in 2018. They have no support from USFS and I think this with the outcome of nationals makes the writing on the wall crystal clear that the goal of their fed for them this year was to dump them. HD were robbed of a GPF spot by GP. HD should have been second at SC. They should have won TEB. Even if the PC hype was too much to overcome in their home country, HD should have easily outscored GP. That GP topped them twice screams lack of political support for HD. So, they should have come into nationals 2nd at SC, 1st (or no lower than 2nd) at TEB, and GPF participants. They did score very well at Golden Spin, but so did GF from Italy and there is no video of it to see how the skating actually was.
DeleteAt nationals, HD's SD score was about 6-7 points lower than what it should have been. They and Shibs should have been neck-and-neck going into the FD. Their FD was shaky, but a shaky HD is still better than CB and you also have to wonder if being lowballed in the SD contributed to the shaky FD. Then, they did get the worlds assignment, but not the 4CC assignment to go with it. They needed the additional competitive mileage, exposure, and points going into worlds. Now, here we are. And, all of this, follows two season where they were screwed out of late season assignments, Worlds in 2013 and Sochi in 2014. There was the hip injury last season, but they still skated well enough to earn a spot on the team. They were such good sports about both incidents too, at least publicly talking blessings in disguise. I think they thought that once DW was out of the picture, they'd get treated a bit more fairly. Instead, USFS decides that they're expendable and to use this season to bury them. I'm not entirely sure they weren't sent to worlds this season specifically to be buried for narrative purposes next season. This team is so talented, already so good, and has so much potential. It's a shame they're not going to be fully able to develop themselves because they're not going to have opportunities to compete in the big events.
Hubbell/Donohue are in the top 3 in terms of skating skills in this event, IMO, and it's ridiculous how little credit they get for what should be the most important skill in ice dance. I love how they've got the same SS score as the Italian team, for example. In what universe is that even close to OK? I don't think the FD is a good vehicle for them in terms of interpretation but what does that have to do with skating skills, transitions and the like? So frustrating and I'm not even a fan of this team, they do nothing for me in terms of *feels*.
DeleteI feel like P/C becoming world champs over C/B is a case of which one's the lesser of two evils. I don't like the French winning, but C/B on top of the podium would have been even more unbearable. Emperor's New Judging System indeed, as that one skating fan once posted.
DeleteSorry for W/P. Maybe Skate Canada has used up its politik for D/R.
On another note, I cannot believe how utterly deluded some P/C fans are in claiming that this team will surpass/has surpassed V/M. Even Fabian Bourzat has been trumpeting this bullshit, but I can understand why--he's French.
P/C don't exhibit the skills V/M have in basic skating (amplitude, speed, depth of edges), unison, lifts etc. Definitely not extensions/posture. They are big on Eurotrash 'feels' though, and it seems to be what's in this season. Fabian, for all that he's talking up P/C, was a far better ice dance team together with Nathalie.
DeleteEveryone else has always been threatened (and to this day, are threatened) by how good V/M were. So much that they have to talk down V/M and overhype other skaters. They're gonna keep doing it, because to do so otherwise would acknowledge what a fucked up thing the judging in '12-'13 and '13-'14 seasons were.
Rough skate by Lubov and Dylan today, but even the Eurosport guys see the amazing potential in these two.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great season, you two! You were the highlight of this miserable season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk8vC8Si7lU
On a completely shallow note, I find Cizeron's body proportions distracting, with his narrow shoulders and long neck. That costume for the FD was not a good look, IMO.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, very little change in the GOE and PCS from the SD to the FD. P/C had the highest PCS and GOE in the SD, same thing in the FD. C/B and W/P almost tied in PCS and GOE in the SD, same thing in the FD.
ReplyDeleteYou knew after the short dance W/P had zero chance of winning because the judging rarely changes from the short to the long unless there's a huge difference in performance or some major errors. Now WP are considered interchangeable with C/B with P/C a cut above and there's a very good chance that'll be the case for the next year as well. Once a team is passed by another it's difficult to get back on top, that's the way ice dance politics work.
So, please someone tell me if I'm wrong, PC's FD received a higher technical score than VM's Carmen ever did? I know there's been a ridiculous amount of over-scoring this season, but come on!
DeleteI don't really want VM to come back to competition. I can't stand to see them go through it all again...
Ice Dance is a travesty right now-DAMN IT! So much potential wasted. It's so disheartning for fans and skaters��
DeleteP/C are excellent perfomers and somehow that magically puts them almost on par with V/M technically. I think if VM had competed here at their usual level they would have squeaked through a win but it would have been very close. P/C are the next Olympic champions unless they skate so poorly that the judges can't justify a win. I have never seen such a huge score increase over the course of a season. You can't compete with that kind of momentum, it's D/W's improvement narrative from the last quad times a hundred. If VM are OK with second or lower I would LOVE to see them back, if not then it's probably not worth it.
DeleteThis whole season was a farce from beginning to end. I can't even with the podium placements.
DeleteAnd with P/I finishing 14th, Hub/Du finishing 10th, and the Shibs finishing 5th, their fates are sealed next season. I don't expect P/I or Hub/Du to make the World teams next season. Repulsive.
http://www.lequipe.fr/Patinage-artistique/Actualites/Virtue-moir-papadakis-et-cizeron-ont-un-tel-potentiel/546370#xtor=RSS-1
DeleteNot sure I agree with Tessa that P/C have great transitions and skating skills, the rest of their comments are all about feels. Scott says some of the media think they have a secret plan to come back and are hiding things but it's totally not true. Huh? Where in the media has anyone said something like that? Maybe in private conversations but still, it's a weird thing to say.
11:12
DeleteCanada still has 3 spots so why shouldn't P/I make the team? Unless P/O make some major improvements in the off season I don't see P/I loosing that spot. Besides, P/I can still make something of themselves if they get the right programs.
H/D are gone though and the judges were making that clear. H/B will take that third spot for sure.
I don't believe P/O necessarily need to make improvements when P/C are training mates and they were already being propped up to an excessive degree in the fall season. .
Deletehttp://www.thestar.com/sports/skating/2015/03/26/its-the-relationship-not-the-romance-thats-importance-for-pairs-and-ice-dancers.html
ReplyDeleteGet other people to lie for you so you don't have to do it yourselves and can remain clean, the sham 2014-15 edition.
Anon at 11:38 am - thank you for bringing that article over. I get the impression that VM were tapped to get their opinion of PC probably before the beginning of the compeition - just in case PC won - to kind of solidify the win. As for Scott's quote - it doesn't surprise me - I think he knows that VM are done competitively but it's Tessa who is going to drag out whether they come back or not a la Joannie Rochette. Personally, I think Tessa still wants the media attention. And to be honest - I wouldn't even be surprised if L'equipe got the quotes or did the interview before the start of worlds.
ReplyDeleteThe interview was done before worlds and is very much trying to link the two teams, finding similarities between them.
DeleteW/P were lovely even with that tiny bobble. I ended up watching C/B and was totally disgusted even before the score came up. It's like V/M and D/W all over again. I know W/P aren't as strong as Tessa and Scott but it is unreal that pile of steaming crap was placed ahead of them. I turned off the live feed afterwards because I couldn't take anymore. I don't like the French team but would far rather see them in first over C/B. Out of sync twiddle, ugly half-baked spin positions, hauling her up like a sack of shit, terrible over the top facial expressions - the slow-mo replay highlighted it all and yet somehow, they are placed second with that unbelievably inflated score. I think I might be done with ice dance for good.
ReplyDeleteMy heart broke for W/P when I saw the looks on their faces after the score came up for C/B. Almost as sad as P/I when they saw their score. Piper's mugging was out of control - 6th place?! Good lord. Barf all around.
Sorry but W/P are weak competitors. First, their SD was not good enough. Then they skate EXTRA safe in the free and Kaitlyn makes a mistake on her lift as well! Did they really think that they could walk into Worlds and just win because they won the GPF and 4CC? Maybe its their coaches, but I suspect its just their average skating skills and inability to keep their nerves in check, but W/P let themselves down. And yes I am writing this knowing that the whole thing was fixed but still what W/P put out there was not worthy of a gold medal. This was just a bad year for ID, though if someone had to win I'm okay with P/C because they at least killed their free and skated with no abandon. I really hope that H/B can kick C/B out of first place next season because if i have to see C/B on the W podium again I don't think I can take it.
DeleteI'm guessing you mean P/C skated *with* abandon? It doesn't matter who skates safe and who goes all out if there is a difference in the basic level of skating. Kaitlyn doesn't have superlative skating skills, but she doesn't have average ones either. The quality of what they do is much better than P/C's, and the difference in the difficulty of the content is perhaps even larger. P/C's FD is not difficult. The transitions are embarassing.
DeleteAlso, if it comes down to who skated clean, none of the medalists did. P/C were noticeably off in places. So IMO P/C didn't rise to the occasion even discounting that the technique isn't there for them, particularly her, yet.
Yeah no one skated clean that's why this event sucked. I was just saying as the veterans the onus was on W/P to take this event, and the judges would have given it to them had they done their part, but they didn't. But you have to admit that it was P/C performance that gave them the edge over C/B when it came down to it. P/C are placeholders themselves in a way because I don't think the judges wanted to give them the win that fast. Again, just a lame event to cap off a shitty season.
DeleteAnyway, just like a last time, I suspect a "rivalry" to come up next season to legitimize this whole farce. The judges seem to prefer the young ones so maybe H/B will be thrust to the top, or hey maybe even the world juniors Y/M!
God, these worlds were just so disheartening and when I think of how much further great teams like the Shibs, P/I and H/D will get pushed down the ranks next season, it makes me want to stop supporting this sport.
Well, this Olympic quad is off to a revolting start. The ice dance standings were fucked up from top to bottom. P/C's skating is junior at best, and they pulled a higher score in their FD than Carmen did at Worlds. I can barely control my rage.
ReplyDeleteThis quad will be a continuation of the fuckery of last quad, and all in the name of justifying D/W's undeserved OGM (and all their other medals and titles, period). Fuck you, D/W, and everybody that was complicit in the stone cold corruption that is/has completely destroyed ice dance.
On a different note, well done, Javier Fernandez! Brian Orser has proved once again he has the Midas touch.
None of the ice dance teams showed V/M's mastery. None. The scoring was a travesty, but I'm not really surprised. If you commit to Emperor's Clothes type of judging, I suppose you commit all the way, lest you invalidate past (unfair) results.
DeleteP/C are sloppy skaters (compared to V/M, W/P, P/I, Shibs); there was little of crisp and clean skating to be had. They have promise, but awarding them a world title when just last year they were down in 13th place is ludicrous. French fed must have been working overtime, also taking advantage of the mess of Russian ice dance right now. I watched their FD and could only think, did I watch the same program as those FSU posters? Did they not see the two-foot skating, or were they blinded by their 'feels'? The only silver lining here is that they c*ckblocked C/B.
I also really cannot understand how these fans find Cizeron attractive, he looks like he's related to Benedict Cumberbatch... To each his/her own, I guess.
Makes me wonder how things will play out next year when Worlds is in Boston. I honestly hope that H/B climb the ranks quickly (I have no hope for the Shibs being judged correctly anymore). I do not want to see Chock and Bates on top of the podium.
IMO a lot of the posters who are hyping up P/C's 'greatness' hate V/M's persona/personalities/skating style/packaging, Marina, or a combination of both. They're too deluded/blinded or simply can't/won't acknowledge how fantastic V/M's skating is.
Delete7:34, absolutely right "Fuck you, D/W, and everybody that was complicit in the stone cold corruption that is/has completely destroyed ice dance."
ReplyDeleteI've been watching for 30+ years. what's happening now is the END of a terrific sport. there's really no coming back from this nonsense.
Sometimes when I see how V/M are sort of disassociating themselves from skating (well, Tessa in particular, with the fashion shoots, etc), it makes sense to me. The ice dance they love (like Carmen) has been shit on by the ISU. If V/M were to skate at the opening of Worlds, what would they show? A style of skating that is completely disfavored by the ISU? They tried -- they created a marvelous program completely within the rules of the ISU, yet also within dance, and got fucked. The ISU chose to reward a team that skated the same program every year!!! Why would they want to return to a bizarro world like this? Better to stay in show skating, coaching (perhaps developmental skating?) or just dump skating altogether and try something new.
ReplyDeleteV/M were never planning on returning. All of this disassociative behavior proves that point. And if they were to come back they wouldn't even make the podium with the way that this judging is going...
Deletei mean, the twizzles for all three medalists were not even on VM's junior level
ReplyDelete