2014-2015 GPF Pairs Short Program 12/11 | Page 17 | Golden Skate

2014-2015 GPF Pairs Short Program 12/11

salchowx4

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2014
I'm sorry, but how is this bullying? Are you saying that a commentator isn't allowed to comment on a pair's weaknesses? Just because you happen to disagree with his assessment doesn't mean it's bullying

Yep.
 

wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
You know, there's a huge difference between saying "there is a joke about so-and-so" vs. saying "so-and-so is a joke." Huge difference.

And you know for sure he meant the former, instead of the latter because...

The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?
 

peg

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
And you know for sure he meant the former, instead of the latter because...

The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?

And yet, your are certain he meant it in the worst possible way, huh? Seems to me that if you are aware of the possibility of misunderstanding, it might occur to you that there is a possibility that he is being misunderstood :scratch:

So much drama over such a trivial thing. :drama:
 

wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Perhaps English isn't your first language, but I can assure you that saying "there is a joke about someone" is extremely different from saying that the person (or team) in question IS a joke. A joke is about a very specific quality or foible of that person. We all have things that are laughable.

I think you are being intentionally insulting, which is unnecessary and uncalled for. The difference between the two are not in question, thank you very much. Meanwhile, still waiting for you to show us via your fluent Russian the exact verbatim of Trankov' comment that demonstrate he meant it as "joke about so and so" as opposed to "so and so is a joke".
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
I am not aware of any top 10 skater or team in the world, whether current or retired, who can honestly say everyone in skating universally like how the said skater/team skate. For that matter, I am not aware of any such top 10 skater who can state that he/she/they have never been criticized for being overmarked. If you can think of any, please let me know. Stating that he know he has doubters, as everyone else surely has as well, isn't the same as someone else making fun of another competitor being "the joke among other professional skaters".

I agree. But apparently Eric felt the need to say that. I honestly haven't heard skaters at that level complain about that. Yes, they complain about the judges, but they do not say "skating people think we do not deserve those marks, and they don't like our style". I think not even Stojko said something like that, and he was criticised for his style. So, I really do think that must be true. But this is not the point here.

As I said I didn't like that comment. He could've very well make the same criticism and speak for himself only. That's his job there, I suppose. To express his own opinion, impressions. Not sharing "anecdotes", or talk among skaters.

In other words, he is trash talking. Even last year, he is known to make controversial statements about other skaters but also joke about himself. Perhaps he honestly think he is funny but don't blame others if they don't share his "joke".

As I said he has a big mouth. I love him as a skater, and he has my respect for all the sacrifices he has made, but I don't like his attitude.
 
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wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
And yet, your are certain he meant it in the worst possible way, huh? Seems to me that if you are aware of the possibility of misunderstanding, it might occur to you that there is a possibility that he is being misunderstood :scratch:

So much drama over such a trivial thing. :drama:

Given his track record of making controversial remarks in the past, I have a hard time giving him the benefits of the doubt yet again. In any event, many people here are clearly offended by his comments, are you going to question their English comprehension skill as well?

For me, I think he is being deliberately vague so that it can be read both ways. As to why he is doing that, I'll leave that up to each person to form their own opinion. Any self-respecting and intelligent professional commentator would play it safe unless their goal is to stir to pot. The fact his comment is being interpreted as such doesn't appear to be accidental.
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?

I agree with this completely.

Meanwhile, still waiting for you to show us via your fluent Russian the exact verbatim of Trankov' comment that demonstrate he meant it as "joke about so and so" as opposed to "so and so is a joke".

I don't know russian, but honestly from what was reported here I don't think he was saying they are a joke.
He said there is a joke about them that they're two solo skaters who skate as pair.
I'm not sure why he even used the word joke tbh. Maybe he said, meant, there is a saying about them?
Maybe Snow could help here, because he heard him.
 

peg

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
I think you are being intentionally insulting, which is unnecessary and uncalled for. The difference between the two are not in question, thank you very much. Meanwhile, still waiting for you to show us via your fluent Russian the exact verbatim of Trankov' comment that demonstrate he meant it as "joke about so and so" as opposed to "so and so is a joke".
And I'm getting the sense that you interpret the most innocuous comments as insults. Being aware that there are people from various countries on this board, I was actually giving you the benefit of the doubt, thinking there might be some reason for your confusion. My mistake. I'll remember not to give you the benefit of the doubt in the future. You simply want to spew venom and assume the most nefarious motives for what people say. I'm not interested in that game.
 

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
I don't know russian, but honestly from what was reported here I don't think he was saying they are a joke.
He said there is a joke about them that they're two solo skaters who skate as pair.
I'm not sure why he even used the word joke tbh. Maybe he said, meant, there is a saying about them?
Maybe Snow could help here, because he heard him.
Of course he didn't mean any harm by his words. He praised them a lot for their difficult elements, he just said that they don't skate as pair most of the time, and when they do, they're mostly doing hand in hand holds or simple dance holds. He said it during warm up, when Eric and Megan warmed up on different sides of the rink while other pairs did their pair's elements, and then after their performance. And they (skaters) are sometimes kidding about that. That's what he said. I don't know the difference between the words 'joke' and 'funny saying'. He used the words 'мы шутим', which may be translated 'we're joking' or 'we're kidding'.

I think you all are trying to read more into this than Trankov meant himself. :drama:
 
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Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
And you know for sure he meant the former, instead of the latter because...

The bottom line is Trankov should know better. Misunderstanding can happen in the best of time even when both the sender and recipient speak the same language, let alone when they are not. In this day and age, a Russian TV isn't limited to the Russian audience and remarks made in one's own language will easily get translated into other languages and broadcasted all over the world. As such, a professional commentator needs to be mindful and careful. To me, Trankov is being unprofessional because he is. He can make those sorts of comments off camera, among people who knew him well, but in front of camera, one ought to think twice even three times before they speak, especially in the capacity as a commentator. Johnny Weir as a skater and Johnny Weir as a commentator clearly don't have the same persona, with good reasons. Maybe Trankov needs to learn how to be one?

You're wrong. He didn't call them a joke. Stop this.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
I think the "problem" (if that is a problem) is that Eric is very much a classical pair skater. He does have beautiful lines and movements, while Meagan looks more an athletic. It's like they have two different styles of skating.

IMO, the "problem" is that D/R are attempting huge difficulty of singles skaters, so they come across as technicians more than artists. I mean SBS 3Z and 3S when S/K are still doing 3T and 2A? :rolleye:

Perhaps the reason Trankov's calling them single skaters is because they're doing difficulty at the level of singles' skaters. Sure, Radford could skate with someone who better matches his lines and interpretation but they sure as hell wouldn't be able to land a triple lutz with the reliability of Duhamel. V/T themselves couldn't execute higher than an SBS 3S and a throw 3L.

I wonder if Trankov criticizes S/K's junior level SBS jumps the way he criticizes D/R for looking like two solo skaters. As for simple transitions... maybe he needs to look at their SP again where they do a freaking dance lift as a transition... And maybe he needs to look at how many transitions were in his own programs.
 

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
IMO, the "problem" is that D/R are attempting huge difficulty of singles skaters, so they come across as technicians more than artists. I mean SBS 3Z and 3S when S/K are still doing 3T and 2A? :rolleye:

Perhaps the reason Trankov's calling them single skaters is because they're doing difficulty at the level of singles' skaters. Sure, Radford could skate with someone who better matches his lines and interpretation but they sure as hell wouldn't be able to land a triple lutz with the reliability of Duhamel. V/T themselves couldn't execute higher than an SBS 3S and a throw 3L.

I wonder if Trankov criticizes S/K's junior level SBS jumps the way he criticizes D/R for looking like two solo skaters. As for simple transitions... maybe he needs to look at their SP again where they do a freaking dance lift as a transition... And maybe he needs to look at how many transitions were in his own programs.

Yes, he does. Same with their lift. And also he said their twist is not as good as what Chinese pairs and Russian juniors do. Happy now?
 
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Ilvskating

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
D/R has the jumping skills that are more than on par with single skaters. So many girls can't do a proper 3Lutz being a single skater. Technically superior does not lead to the conclusion that they skate like two single skaters. They don't. They skate as a very good pair despite of the height difference. They won fair and square. S/K are consistent, fast. But that's about it. To me they are by no means more like a pair than D/R. I like both pair but not a fan of any of them.

Talking about V/T, one of the things I don't like is she always take a long in the middle of the LPs, almost e very one, without any movement of the feet. And yes, they don't have that many transitions, in fact, much less than P/T or D/R or K/S.
 

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
D/R has the jumping skills that are more than on par with single skaters. So many girls can't do a proper 3Lutz being a single skater. Technically superior does not lead to the conclusion that they skate like two single skaters. They don't. They skate as a very good pair despite of the height difference. They won fair and square. S/K are consistent, fast. But that's about it. To me they are by no means more like a pair than D/R. I like both pair but not a fan of any of them.

Talking about V/T, one of the things I don't like is she always take a long in the middle of the LPs, almost e very one, without any movement of the feet. And yes, they don't have that many transitions, in fact, much less than P/T or D/R or K/S.

That's not the point. The point was that they're not skating like a pair. No matter what both of them can do technically. Even their throw looks like half-jump to me (Trankov also mentioned it). You're free to disagree of course, just like anyone else :confused2:
 

peg

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
I don't know the difference between the words 'joke' and 'funny saying'. He used the words 'мы шутим', which may be translated 'we're joking' or 'we're kidding'.

Thanks. I wasn't able to find the video with Trankov commentating. And yes, 'мы шутим' would probably best be translated as "we joke"
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
How can D/R not skate as a Pair while performing the big difficult Pairs tricks? OK, leaving aside the SBS jumps, does Eric throw a phantom partner around? Or lift an invisible weightless Lady over his head with fancy entries and exits? Or drag an imaginary object in circles in a Death Spiral? And does Meagan perform those triple and quad jumps over those distances on her own, and twist turn herself three times at over 7 feet in the air, and somehow float and travel over 8 feet in the air in fancy positions, and make circumferences on ice while being horizontal inches above it on her own? Do they do the combination spins as SBS?

They are able to do the spectacular Pairs elements because of their partnership, as a Pair. And they do some of them better than anybody else in the world.
 

Richie

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
just now reading all the remarks of last week's sp and lp's and maybe an interesting point to mention but when I went to the venue that Thursdayevning around 7 PM Alexander Smirnov came out from the athletes entrance to have a short walk outside which opportunity I took to get a pic with him. he looked very relaxed and took his time. I then mentioned where is Yuko and he said she is still in the hotelroom. when I saw them on the ice 2 hours later from the stands it looked as if Yuko was ill as her face was pretty pale so maybe that explanes their not so good sp that evening.:think:
 
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