They both missed the bus (WARNING: more Olympic yammering)
During the men's final freeskate yesterday in Torino, all eyes were on two medal contenders, both Olympic rookies: The American Johnny Weir, and the Canadian Emanuel Sandhu.
Everyone knew they were skating for silver at best; the Russian had already secured the gold on Tuesday during the short program. Hey, he's a cool guy, and an awesome skater. He deserved to be the top banana. But anyway...
As a fellow Canadian, I've followed Sandhu's career for several years. To call the guy a diva is an understatement. His skating is terribly inconsistent. When he's on, he's so on, but when he's not, then you can bet your ass that it's someone else's fault.
He sucked during his short program, and then vacuumed (because sucking is just not strong enough a word) during the freeskate. He was interviewed after his performance on Thursday, and blamed it all... the whole thing... the entire mess... on 1998.
That's right. 1998. The year that he was denied a spot on the Canadian Olympic team because the Canadian powers that be felt he simply wasn't ready. Somehow, that decision caused him to:
1. Back out of his quads and triple jumps while in the air
2. Fall
3. Back out of jumps again
4. Fall again
5. and again
6. Trip over himself
7. Ignore the audience (and judges) and pout during his skate
Wow. Those Canadian Olympic committee people have some incredible powers. Holy shit, do NOT get on their bad side!
I was so uncomfortable watching that interview. I would have preferred that he come straight out and say "I fucked up. I know I did. I gotta work on my attitude. It gets in my way."
His skating skills are just fine. Really, they're more than fine. The guy's a natural. But he could use some serious work with a sports psychologist. Then again, he's probably a sports shrink's worst nightmare... the athlete who thinks he's doing everything right; it's just that the whole world is conspiring to make him lose. If only they'd stop doing that.
As for the American kid, Johnny Weir, everything I heard him say during interviews indicated he's got the true makings of a champion. He never once blamed anyone else on his poor performance on Thursday. Well, he did mention something about the bus schedule being changed without his knowledge, causing him to get to the arena late, causing him to be flustered and uncentered, causing him to miss jumps and try to re-choreograph his routine while on the ice.
Now that could sound like an excuse, but what he said next was the sign of a champion: I've got to train better; I've got to be ready to perform under any circumstances.
Atta boy.
Tim Dahlberg's commentary on msnbc.com describes the kid as a self-centered diva who got in his own way. I think he's wrong. Weir's flamboyant, yes. But I see signs of maturity there that will take the boy far. One day, he'll own that rink. He's got the right attitude for it.
Before I go, I must give a "Wooooo-hoooo!!!" to Canada's Jeff Buttle for bringing home the bronze!!!!!
Everyone knew they were skating for silver at best; the Russian had already secured the gold on Tuesday during the short program. Hey, he's a cool guy, and an awesome skater. He deserved to be the top banana. But anyway...
As a fellow Canadian, I've followed Sandhu's career for several years. To call the guy a diva is an understatement. His skating is terribly inconsistent. When he's on, he's so on, but when he's not, then you can bet your ass that it's someone else's fault.
He sucked during his short program, and then vacuumed (because sucking is just not strong enough a word) during the freeskate. He was interviewed after his performance on Thursday, and blamed it all... the whole thing... the entire mess... on 1998.
That's right. 1998. The year that he was denied a spot on the Canadian Olympic team because the Canadian powers that be felt he simply wasn't ready. Somehow, that decision caused him to:
1. Back out of his quads and triple jumps while in the air
2. Fall
3. Back out of jumps again
4. Fall again
5. and again
6. Trip over himself
7. Ignore the audience (and judges) and pout during his skate
Wow. Those Canadian Olympic committee people have some incredible powers. Holy shit, do NOT get on their bad side!
I was so uncomfortable watching that interview. I would have preferred that he come straight out and say "I fucked up. I know I did. I gotta work on my attitude. It gets in my way."
His skating skills are just fine. Really, they're more than fine. The guy's a natural. But he could use some serious work with a sports psychologist. Then again, he's probably a sports shrink's worst nightmare... the athlete who thinks he's doing everything right; it's just that the whole world is conspiring to make him lose. If only they'd stop doing that.
As for the American kid, Johnny Weir, everything I heard him say during interviews indicated he's got the true makings of a champion. He never once blamed anyone else on his poor performance on Thursday. Well, he did mention something about the bus schedule being changed without his knowledge, causing him to get to the arena late, causing him to be flustered and uncentered, causing him to miss jumps and try to re-choreograph his routine while on the ice.
Now that could sound like an excuse, but what he said next was the sign of a champion: I've got to train better; I've got to be ready to perform under any circumstances.
Atta boy.
Tim Dahlberg's commentary on msnbc.com describes the kid as a self-centered diva who got in his own way. I think he's wrong. Weir's flamboyant, yes. But I see signs of maturity there that will take the boy far. One day, he'll own that rink. He's got the right attitude for it.
Before I go, I must give a "Wooooo-hoooo!!!" to Canada's Jeff Buttle for bringing home the bronze!!!!!
posted by Berry at 8:19 AM
1 Comments:
ok, i know you are stoked, the canadian women winning the gold in hockey, they were great! congrats!
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