A MATTER OF CHARACTER
I like Kimmie Meissner. I like Emily Hughes and Evan Lysacek and the Chinese Pair teams, too.
But, I got to ask, where are the characters?
Sure, Sasha Cohen and Johnny Weir can blurt the outrageous comment at a press conference. But where is the skating to back it all up?
Where is Katarina Witt, Debi Thomas, Nicole Bobek, Surya Bonaly, Elvis Stojko, Phillipe Candeloro, Maria Butyrskaya, Christopher Bowman, Calla and Rocky, Grishuk and Platov?
Where are the skaters with personality both on and off the ice?
Heck, even Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski, neither one the most compelling conversationalist in the world (though much better one on one than in interviews), had something. A spark, a light... some character.
People talk about the continuing decline in figure skating's television's rating. It's been blamed on everything from cable to judging to pre-pubescent jumping beans. But isn't it possible that the answer to the lack of interest isn't on the ice, but off it? To paraphrase Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the skating is still big... it's the skaters who got small.
I don't know. Is it just me?
But, I got to ask, where are the characters?
Sure, Sasha Cohen and Johnny Weir can blurt the outrageous comment at a press conference. But where is the skating to back it all up?
Where is Katarina Witt, Debi Thomas, Nicole Bobek, Surya Bonaly, Elvis Stojko, Phillipe Candeloro, Maria Butyrskaya, Christopher Bowman, Calla and Rocky, Grishuk and Platov?
Where are the skaters with personality both on and off the ice?
Heck, even Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski, neither one the most compelling conversationalist in the world (though much better one on one than in interviews), had something. A spark, a light... some character.
People talk about the continuing decline in figure skating's television's rating. It's been blamed on everything from cable to judging to pre-pubescent jumping beans. But isn't it possible that the answer to the lack of interest isn't on the ice, but off it? To paraphrase Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the skating is still big... it's the skaters who got small.
I don't know. Is it just me?
6 Comments:
At October 06, 2006 1:34 PM, Anonymous said…
Well, I think more photos of the people you write about would help. Right in the posts.
At October 06, 2006 3:17 PM, Anonymous said…
Sometimes the "character" takes away from the skating. Thankfully not everyone is like Barbara Fusar-Poli!
I like to watch the skaters without thinking "What a jerk that person is."
At October 06, 2006 3:19 PM, Anonymous said…
On the other hand, some people are very colorless: Totmianana & Marinin were colorless for a lot of years. Even now they aren't too exciting to watch.
At October 06, 2006 7:19 PM, Anonymous said…
Skating just hasn't been the same for a while for me -- I don't get as much enjoyment out of it as I used to. I couldn't figure out exactly why til I read this.
At October 08, 2006 6:38 AM, Anonymous said…
Well, maybe a little outrageous behavior from some of the well-known ones would help. Maybe Sasha should get drunk and drive into a tree like Oksana, or perhaps pose for Playboy like Katarina. Or, is that not the direction of this conversation?
At October 21, 2006 2:06 AM, Ilia's Lucky said…
Blame the new system.
Blame Tonya.
Blame God for killing Sergei Grinkov.
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