Giving America its first figure skating gold medal since Brian Boitano, Evan Lysacek beat Russian Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko. And Johnny Weir, four years after failing to medal in Turino, again goes home empty handed. He finished in fifth sixth — and was, if you believe the peanut gallery and your own eyes, robbed by the judges. “Fallen Angel,” indeed.
mark
After watching popstar on ice, i LOVE johnny and find Lycasek to be a total jerk. Hello… look at that slicked back Newsom hair. Not to be trusted!
Kevin
Patrick Chan, the actual 5th-place finisher, might disagree…
Oh Boy
JOHNNY WAS ROBBED!
Johnny gave the most beautiful performance and clearly deserved the bronze. The skaters ahead of him except the top two all fell or messed up jumps. The audience booed and they were right too!
Whatever – Johnny you are the best entertainer of them all!
Justen
And Sylar on Ice takes the gold.
Devon
I just don’t get the love for that attention whoring douchenozzle.
Devon
Oh and Lysacek fills out the uniform so much better…
Wry Bred
Johnny WAS robbed. He skated a beautiful program and definitely deserved the bronze. Those judges can be such Philistines.
Chris
He skated his ass off and was amazing…Lysacek skated fairly cleanly but without any discernible artistry…unless you call throwing your head back on the downbeat ad nauseum artistry
Cookie Kurtz
Johnny Weir, was cleared robbed of a medal tonight. He delivered an movingly artistic and technically stellar performance. He is golden to the true fans of men’s figure skating. A role model for integrity and dedication to his craft. Johnny Weir is an Olympian and that is the true prize.
AlwaysGay
Johnny skated so beautifully. I was mesmerized. He clearly was robbed of a bronze medal.
justin
Johnny came in 6th place. And yes, he was ROBBED. In both the short program and long program, after the scores were read for Johnny’s performance the audience booed. The judges clearly have something against him. So do the idiotic commentators who kept saying things like “well as controversial as he is, he still has talent”… “oh, Johnny’s always good for a laugh” as if he’s a clown or something.
Also, NBC didn’t do personal stories on Weir like they did for Lysacek or Plushenko…
He handled his underscoring with such class and grace as well. When he heard the audience booing, he made sitting motions with his hands. Class act.
Lukas P.
I don’t get it! The scoring system for the Icy Dancers makes no sense to me. It’s very subjective, sure, ok, I got that — BUT what’s more important in racking up the top score? Artistry? Technical difficulty? Execution? Musicality? Thigh size?
Don’t try to explain it to me, others have tried and it doesn’t work. I’m great with statistics, but this isn’t mulitivariate factor analysis or trend projection, so i’m lost.
And pissed off.
Not a big fan of Weir’s personality, but his skating program –ya know the thing that matters– was brilliant. Lysacek looked kind of awkward to me, like the music in his head wasn’t the same as the tune he was skating to. Big mismatch.
Lysacek is a local Chicagoland guy, methinks, so I didn’t dare vocalize that sentiment too loudly in public, but Weir was robbed.
ger
I love Johnny Weir, and while his jumps were great, his steps that linked those jumps were rather slow and quite simple. He has beautiful lines, but needs more intensity in his footwork. I’m just thrilled Plushenko didn’t win.
Rad
How many of you who think Johnny should’ve won think that because you think that he is gay?
I’m not going to pretend to understand how the scoring works, but Lysacek just seemed to skate better. The jumps were more powerful, the footwork was far more complicated, and he was incredibly graceful.
Do I think that Johnny should’ve gotten bronze – yes. But I think that Evan skated better. Both tonight AND Tuesday. Remember kiddies, Johnny was already in 6th going into tonight.
Tim
Was Weir robbed by homophobic judges? Vote here… http://tinyurl.com/y9wq35p
Daniel
They should give random people in the audience paintball guns and a hundred paintballs… THEN iceskating would interesting and fun to watch.
Daniel
Look at his costume… he has long snakes and one of them is pointed towards his mouth… nope, no gay metaphor about that.
SenorShinyBuns
@Daniel: Metaphor. All i’m gonna say.
LAMusing
Last night Lysachek gave the performance of the night – brilliant, strong, and darned near perfect. Johnny’s was fine, but I wasn’t surprised by his 6th place placing in the short program (mainly because enough of the others skated really well)
Tonight Johnny gave the performance of the night – fluid, beautiful, emotional but not over-the-top, darned near perfect. The judges ROBBED him in the scoring. Evan skated beautifully too – I’d say it was the second best of the night. The Russian kind of sucked I thought tonight – odd, disjointed, sloppy.
Given their placement going in – Evan well earned the gold, but Johnny should have moved up to 3rd or 4th EASILY.
SouLKid
I dont care for Evan but i thought he was great, like in the short program. No doubt he deserved the no.1 spot. However, i think Johnny deserved a higher ranking. Overall 3rd or 4th. The audience obviously love him and i thought he handled the whole thing with so much class.
returned
dont wanna take away from thid dude..but they do hate us….they hate us for being gay and ill always be paranoid about it…..fuck..
magnum
@mark: Much like Gaga, Weir is known for his passionate performance and often unorthodox costuming — he designed his own glitzy outfit, which incorporates bits of broken glass.
I guess people just want to digg deeper about his personal life, huh? More details: http://bit.ly/johnny-weir-coveted-details
tazz602
I don’t know what you all were watching, but Evan absolutely deserved and earned that gold medal. His routine was not only amazing and technically on spot, he also went the extra effort for the extra points. Johnny’s routine long routine was good but not as good and was not technically as good. Keep in mind that Johnny was already behind going into this, he was sixth in the short program and had a lot to overcome to medal.
BUT – I do agree that the announcers danced around Johnny’s sexual identity with every euphemism in the book and that was not pleasant to listen to.
terrwill
Unfortunatly for Johnny qWeir his being so outspoken cost him points. As stated before there has been a huge push by the US Figure Skating ASSociation to distance it from qWeir. They refused to acknowledge his presence on the website. They wanted a “more masculine image” for figure skating (huh?) and there was a huge push for Lyinsack to be the new (kinda homley) face of US skating…….Did it reflect the judges? Am fairly certain it did………
scott ny'er
@tazz602: He didn’t do a quad. So, as much as I don’t like Plushenko, he should’ve won. And the flailing of Evan’s arms, it’s just distracting. I think men’s skating is sad nowadays. Winner with no quads and programs that don’t go with the music. IMHO.
Weir was in 6th, and with clean performances by other skaters, he couldn’t move up much, if at all. I’m not surprised.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
@No. 24 Terrwill
Well, another good one, “qWeir”, thanks.
When I was young and stupid, I was stupid. Someone like qWeir scared me; “I’m not like that, all girly, and all” I told myself. That is one thing for a naive individual coming to terms with their own sexuality. For US Figure Skating, it is outrageous self-loathing internal homophobia and bigotry that the association responsible for supporting US figure skaters, fails to fully support the individual rights of self expression. Its no wonder that the international judges pushed aside Johnny’s superior performances over the 4th and 5th placers during both performances and the 3rd placer in the more important final performance. Certainly it was razor edge close whether Johnny deserved the bronze. But it is the reprehensible conduct by USFSA that truly cost Johnny and the US a legitimate claim for a medal. Asshats.
Lysacek clearly achieved the best performance of the night. Compared with Plushenko, Lysacek’s jumps ALL were performed with great confidence with solid landings; Plushenko had several weak landings with minor missteps. Lysacek’s spin moves were stronger, faster, and tightly performed than Plushenko’s spins. And according to the sportscasters, all skating pros, Lysacek’s free style performance had superior footwork than Plushenko’s. Certainly close, but Lyle deserved the gold.
Per whether or not Lysacek is gay; I thought we always complained with, “What difference does it matter whether he’s gay or not?” when one’s sexuality is irrelevant to what it is they are doing — as in, does it matter whether a soldier is gay so long as he upholds his duty?
Anyway
When do we get a Lysacek spread in Morning Goods? Personally, I’d like to see him wearing nothing but that gold medal.
Helen Lawson
@LAMusing: I wasnt surprise Johnny finished where he did either. Was the performance artistically pleasing yes. However, the technical difficulty of what he executed was not that great. I was watching while on the phone with a friend in Toronto and the CTV commentators were saying the same thing that the NBC commentators were – visually a stunning performance. However, he lacked the components to set his skate apart from the others to really get into the medal standings. Also, he was in 6th going into the final skate and would have had to pull off a MAJOR performance to get on the podium. He would have had to beat Evan to get bronze basically.
Cam
To those saying WEir was robbed, remember, he went into the competition around 8 points behind the 3rd place skater, additionally while his jumps were nice, he ditched his quadruple toe loop and his transition and steps between his jumps were not as technically brilliant as the other American or even the Swiss Skater who came in 4th. He needed that Quad to make up for the other skaters detailed transitions and he didn’t do it. Only he and his coach know why. His artistry was beautiful, but there is no way the technical aspects of his program should have closed an 8 point gap with the other skaters.
Joe
@Cam
While he may have ditched his quad, one of his combinations in the second half of the preformance equaled the points awarded for a quad. This is because during the second half of the preformance, after the 2 minute, 15 second mark, any jumps are awarded a 10% bonus. So in a single combination that Weir did, it made up for the lack of the quad. I do think he was robbed as well. He was underscored in both programs and its obvious. Keep in mind as well that the jumps make up 50% of the scoring and the rest of the skating and spins make up for the other 50%. His preformance was not flawless by any means, but I do think that he deserved better than what he was awarded. But HE knows he did better than what the judges awarded him, and he showed it when he motioned the crowd to stop booing. Thats all that matters, and leaving the Olympics with a sense of accomplisment is worth more than leaving the Olympics with a medal in my opinion. Way to go Johnny!
Jenze
Lysacek was TOPS however Johnny Weir should have gotten the bronze. He’s fantastic and no comparison to the skaters that ranked higher. UNFAIR – judges were biased.
Jenze
Cam
No. 30 · Joe said..
@Cam
While he may have ditched his quad, one of his combinations in the second half of the preformance equaled the points awarded for a quad. This is because during the second half of the preformance, after the 2 minute, 15 second mark, any jumps are awarded a 10% bonus. So in a single combination that Weir did, it made up for the lack of the quad. I do think he was robbed as well.
__________________________
Yes, but in the origional performance, he would have had the quad AND that combination which would have given him an additional 5.8 points if he landed it. And the combination you’re talking about was worth ALMOST as much as a quad, not equal. Additionally, every single transition and change that the other skaters (the Swiss and the Japanese guy) did added points. Weir didn’t do the same number AND ditched his quad. Lysacek’s routine was designed to constantly score points with transitions constantly happening during every movement, Weir’s was not.
ROBinNYC
I don’t know if he should have had the bronze. But he should NOT have ended up sixth, after lackluster Lambiel and crazy-eyed Candian, who was more than a bit shakey…and Phantom of the Opera? Bitch, please!
Helen Lawson
@Cam: Thank you Cam for being realistic about the competition. Johnny would have needed a far better skate than what he did last night to get close to the podium. My friend in Toronto that I was on the phone with thought that Johnny was telling the crowd to stop booing because HE knew that he deserved the marks he got.
Alex Sarmiento
I don’t mind that Evan won the gold, even though he is not my cup of tea. The USFSA has been pimping him as the “Great Hetero Hope” of figure skating for a number of years. At least that Russian bitch Yevgeniy Plyushchenko lost for the first time in years. He can jump his ass off, but he lacks the artistic refinement and depth that many Soviet and Russian solo skaters had and still have. Who does he think he is: Benny Ninja from ANTM? I felt bad for Nobunari Oda’s wardrobe malfunction; of all the free programs that I’ve seen this season, his was my favorite, and all things considered, he skated well. Still, three Japanese men in the top 8 (while a lot of attention was on the women) is nothing to sniff at. I didn’t see all of Johnny Weir’s performance, but I did love the crown of roses that he rocked in the kiss and cry. Of course, my favorite moment of the night was the promo for the ice dance contest with “Bad Romance” by Lady GaGa.
zenflo
Weir probably deserved to move up a notch.
Blowing a big old gay kiss at the end, however, has yet to be included as a technical element and cannot be scored — oh, the unfairness of it all!
Perhaps if he had skated his routine while wearing the Princess Rose Crown? Alas, the world will never know.
Fourth place? Most likely. But if you are prone to convulsions over subjective scoring, I fear that figure skating will continue to vex you.
romeo
I think most of the skating judges are Russians and Ukrainians, aren’t they? Outside of Iran and Uganda, that’s the most anti-gay bunch there is. Johnny should have gotten the bronze — if for no other reason, he stayed on his feet through the whole program. Maybe we should just tune out men’s skating from now on and leave it to women viewers. (Straight guys are never going to get into it. LOL)
Cam
No. 37 · romeo
I think most of the skating judges are Russians and Ukrainians, aren’t they? Outside of Iran and Uganda, that’s the most anti-gay bunch there is. Johnny should have gotten the bronze
_____________________
If they were going to use their bias to influence their scores I would assume they would have given the Russian an extra point to hand him the gold medal rather than bothering to put somebody in 5th place rather than 4th.
romeo
Cam, Lysacek was pretty obvious. If anybody knows about villagers with pitchforks, it’s the Russians. If anything, they overscored their guy to soften the blow as much as they dared. LOL
Helen Lawson
@romeo: There is never more than one judge per country judging an event. Therefore there can’t be 3 Ukranians and 6 Russians.
Johnny should NOT have gotten the bronze. His skate did not have enough high scoring elements nor was choreographed with the necessary complexity to overcome an 8+ point deficit. Yes, he skated well and elegantly. But under the scoring, it was not enough. And I think he knows it as well.
Cam
No. 39 · romeo said…
Cam, Lysacek was pretty obvious. If anybody knows about villagers with pitchforks, it’s the Russians.
________________
Lysacek is American, I was talking about Plushenko, the Russian who got the Silver.
romeo
So was I, Cam. I think you misunderstood me.
zenflo
Cam, the judges were all Mormons, if it pleases you.
romeo
@Helen: I guess the only way to know for sure is to find out the nationalities of the judges. Betcha it’s Russian, Ukranian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Hungarian, Rumanian and American. You know, all the homophobic countries that have ice skating rinks.
In any case, the skating division’s desire to “cleanse” the sport of less masculine elements says it all. The games are politicized.
Mr. Dawson
Ahhhhhh, skating. Nothing brings on a debate like men in tights and glitter.
This reminded me of the old cold war days with Plushenko playing the evil Russian to our red, white and blue (blew) boys.
For those who know the sport a quad in itself does not define who is the best skater. That is why there are two scores. If it is just a jumping sport then it wouldn’t be ice skating. And does anyone remember the original quad king———U.S. skater Timothy Gobbles. What did the quad do for him in terms of being a world champion? He never won a world championship. (Remember in the old days there use to be barrel jumping contest)
I for one was so happy the evil Russian didn’t win. Can’t you show some class? Even in losing you had to AGAIN be a poor sport. This is a subjective sport, remember. And Evgeni acted like he should be the winner just by coming out of retirement. Everyone was saying he was a shoe in to win. He has always talked bad about his competitors. Why he has been given a past just made him ruder by the minute.
But trash talk has taken over sports for years, and those with such short memory forgot the Johnny boy has been trashing Evan for years.
But it is a sport with two sets of values. Physical and graceful. If you are smart you do what it best to maintain high levels of points. It is not all about jumping and there are G.O.E values to the scores if you do something great.
This sport does have it’s drama. That is what draws us to it. But Evan showed the most class. In yesterdays interview he refused to get involved in the war of worlds and stated “My thought process was just basically mind your own business.”
I am happy for Evan. Johnny is just Johnny. A boy in a man’s body. But all is good in the world. The evil Russian lost. Isn’t karma a bitch?!
Josh AZ
I don’t think the Judges were fair to Johnny. Maybe he didn’t deserve a medal, but he did a great job. Perhaps he was punished simply for being himself.
Carlyloo
From what I can gather Johnny beat Takahashi on the technical score. He was downgraded on the other score that is the old “artistic” score and the more subjective one. That is why he was robbed. He got placed below a guy who gell multiple times.
Cam
No. 43 · zenflo
Cam, the judges were all Mormons, if it pleases you.
__________________________
No, because if they were instead of medals each of the skaters would have been given a casserole and a years supply of dried goods to store in their basement.
Bianca
Johnny was out of this world fantastic, yesterday. The greatest skate of his life.
ROBBED!!!
P
I don’t think Johnny was robbed of a medal (though I did think he was going to get a bronze after the short, based on Stephane and Daisuke’s inconsistence) but he was definitely underscored.
But I’m over that. Johnny’s over it.
The better thing to talk about is the HETERO VS HOMO title. Come on, now.
BobaLou
Please don’t tell me that anyone thinks that Evan Lysacek is heterosexual. What do you need to see. . .a smoking dick in his mouth? He’s gayer than Fire Island on Judy Garland’s birthday.
Lukas P.
@BobaLou: I’ll forgive you for the tired simile, but where did you get your scoop from? The ice dancing guys are practically seen as “gay until proven otherwise” but I haven’t heard anything but wishful thinking about Mr Lysacek from friends who track such things. Spill the Beans, BobaLou. Thanks.
fredo777
A load of rubbish. I don’t know what the judges were watching, but Plushenko’s scoring was so obviously biased. Like him or hate him, I think he skated a great routine. Not to mention Johnny’s notable underscoring. Wish I hadn’t bothered to watch.
BobaLou
Hey, Lukas P. try http://auntjoyceicecreamstand.blogspot.com/ and http://www.formspring.me/DaveBave Both are written by someone who seems to know quite a lot about the figure skating world. Evidently, according to both sites, Evan’s quite the homo whore.
Lukas P.
@BobaLou: Thanks!
He’s a local guy, (Naperville, just near Chicago) and the locals love him. I try very hard to be objective about sports figures whether they’re str8, gay, local, domestic, foreign, etc. but you have to admit [actually, you don’t, it’s an expression] that Mr Plushenko has no grace or manners, Mr Weir has passion and class even in defeat, and that Mr Lysacek is just plain *hot* even if the music playing in his head isn’t what he’s actually skating to!
scott ny'er
@Lukas P.: even if the music playing in his head isn’t what he’s actually skating to!
========
LOL. So true and funny.
Mr. Lysacek subscribes to the wave your arms in the air like you just don’t care ice skating technique.
romeo
Just read that Johnny’s dumping skating and going in to fashion. He’s already kind of a brand, so it’s probably a good choice. Hope he realizes he’s going to be jumping from one buncha bitches into another buncha bitches. LOL
merkin
I’m not enough of a figure skating fan to know where Johnny should’ve placed, but personally I thought he was better than some of the guys who ranked above him.
Anyone curious about how the US and international skating organizations operate, though, should definitely see “Pop Star on Ice.” They’re basically a bunch of self-loathing flamers who try to pretend everyone doesn’t think skating is incredibly gay. And there’s some unwritten code about not being out–or even close to out–while twirling around in Liberace-grade costumes. Lyinsack has talent but I find his need to remind everyone how “masculine” he is rather grating. Johnny Weir would hardly be considered controversial in the music world, or even the basketball world. But somehow figure skating is supposed to be for 12-year-old Mormon girls.
Sexy Rexy
@Lukas P.: I gave up watching ice dance two years ago; I love Belbin and Agosto and hate to see them get fisted by the int’l judges. And I guess I don’t know enough about the discipline either.
Re: Johnny. They give medals not just for your skating, but for other things too. Johnny has shot his mouth off in the press so much that it has alienated lots of people in the skating world, including judges. That said, I enjoyed his performance and I am even happy Evan’s skinny ass won – anything is better than that homely ex-Commie Plushenko getting another gold medal.
romeo
When I lived in Europe, I knew Russians that were a lot of fun, in and out of bed, but they were all REALLY happy to be out of Russia. Plushenko seems like the old school, “I’m not happy unless I’m making everybody fucking miserable,” brand of Russian.
Dasher
In an alleged sport that is supposed to be for straight guys only (if you think they’re all straight, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you), Johnny Weir was so flamboyant, he was a huge embarrasment to the phony baloney skating association that’s trying to be one thing when anyone with a brain knows it’s another.
Add Weir’s being politically incorrect and a few other things, and there was probably no way he could win no matter how well he skated.
But his main offense was being flamingly gay in a sport that’s trying to pretend it’s straight.
victoria
@magnum
” Much like Gaga, Weir is known for his passionate performance and often unorthodox costuming — he designed his own glitzy outfit, which incorporates bits of broken glass.
I guess people just want to digg deeper about his personal life, huh? More details: http://bit.ly/johnny-weir-coveted-details
”
Why compare him to GAGA?
OS2Guy
Did you see what I saw when Evan Lysacek took to the Olympic podium to collect his Gold Medal? On his left hand he was wearing a wedding ring. He wasn’t wearing that wedding ring just minutes before, when he performed his routine. Is Evan Lysachek married? Note here: It has been noted that he has been traveling with a male roommate (another Canadian champion skater who is just a few years older then he is) to all of his competitions and they have shared the same room. They have also performed a skating dance routine as a couple and a portion can be seen on YouTube.
People has claimed he is dating a Gusto’s female partner but then People claims he is 21 years old – way off! If you were watching when he was backstage and found out he was winner, he didn’t hang around too long but went down a long hallway and pulled back a set of curtains. There waiting, and you only get a quick glimpse, is the Canadian skater. Now when Evan is next seen on the podium he is sporting a second gold ring on his left ring finger. It is a gold wedding band. It was not there during his actual performance so he put it on during that backstage time. AND, he doesn’t have it on before going into that curtained area but he does have it on when he comes out to claim his medal.
For a “before” and “after” set of photos go here: http://www.os2guy.com/Evan.html
OS2Guy
One other thing – is Evan Lysacek straight? I, for one, am simply not convinced. He is intelligent and has been in the business for quite sometime thus he knows how to conduct himself in an interview – what not to say etc. If you watch him he judges his words carefully. BUT – if the guy was truly straight he would have never gone to Vera Wang, known for her shoulder feathers, to design a skating costume. A ‘real man’ would have turned to Hugo Boss, Tommy Hillfigger or even Tom Ford rather then a female designer known for designing wedding dresses and other female attire. Vera does not design men’s clothes.
He is devoted to his mother and sister. Where’s his Dad? He has one but his Dad didn’t attend the biggest moment of his life – the ice skating Olympics? That would be more understandable if a straight Dad had difficultly accepting his gay son – the ice skating son who turned down the opportunity to play hockey and turned to his father’s mother (his Grandmother) to support his ice skating dream. His coach is famously gay.
If Evan Lysacek isn’t gay then he should be because he is fooling himself and will never be really happy until he accepts himself for what he is.
On the straight side, he does have a dorkiness about him that we often see in straight men.
My last comment – and it has nothing to do with Lysacek but with Men’s Olympic Ice Dancing. Someday we are going to see two men or two women dancing together as a couple. May take another decade or two but it is inevitable. I can’t wait to see two guys synchronized together, tossing each other in great skating moves, performing quads in sync and ending their performance in each other’s arms while the announcer tells us they have been married for three years, have two kids and live in a loft in Manhattan. When that happens the world will be right at last. 🙂
OS2Guy
@romeo: Are you kidding? It seems like a perfect match. “Fashions by Johnny Weir” has a good ring to it and he is now poised enough to handle the transition well, even if he himself cannot design squat, he can hire enough talented people to create his own look and slap his now well-known name on it. You gotta give the guy a lot of credit and applause for being “out there” instead of hiding his gayness like the majority of the ice skating world does. The world has got to get over that crap.
BTW, did anyone see Ewan McGregor’s put down of Matt Lauer and George Stephanopoulos over kissing Jim Carrey? Most excellent and he really put both straight men in their place, almost mocked them for their homophobic attitudes and those of the smirking cameramen by saying, “Well that’s just two men kissing, and it’s, uh, in this age, in 2010 it’s extraordinary that it’s still an object of humor.”
We need to see more straight guys shut down like that. Being homophobic is their problem and they seriously need to deal with it. Gay people are not going away and we’re not going to put up with their crap any more.
GetReal
The title of this post (“Hetero v. Homo”) is inaccurate. In order to be correct, the title should be “Hetero v. Flaming Queen Who is Gayer than Liberace Impersonating Lady GaGa but Refuses to Acknowledge It”. Sorry, but until Johnny public comes out and acknowledges the obvious, playing the “gay card” to generate support for him will not work with me.
OS2Guy
@BobaLou: Thank GOD someone else has some sincere gaydar. I’ll confess that it gets harder and harder every day to try and figure out if a guy is gay or not but Evan has just too many gay-parts, words, looks, statements, and life-style to believe he is straight. The man is a pole smoker. I kid you not.
scott ny'er
@OS2Guy: That makes me love Ewan so much more. He’s awesome. Matt and George can suck it.
fredo777
I don’t understand why we need to speculate about Lysacek’s sexuality at all. Did he somehow diss gays or otherwise pose a threat to our community? If not, I think we should just stick to the skating. And costumes, of course. ; }
Btw, I’m not one for apologies, but I will admit that my initial reaction to the outcome of his competition (Plushenko + Johnny’s scoring, etc.) was a bit harsh. Still, I don’t think it was exactly reasonable that those two were scored as they were. Just sayin’.
pk
@OS2Guy: Are you saying he is gay just because he is devoted to his mother and sisters? Most men are devoted to their mother and sisters so that’s no proof. Also, do you know for sure his Dad didn’t go to the Olympics? Even if he didn’t, no proof Evan is gay. I don’t care if he is gay or not, but if you’re trying to prove he’s gay those premises are a big leap.
Supreme Bitch
@romeo: If it’s true that all of the judges came from former communist bloc countries then Lysacek would not have won gold.
OS2Guy
@pk: I’m simply saying all the signs are there. Vera Wang costumes, only Mom and sister at his side, grandmother pushed ice skating versus father who wanted hockey, travels to every competition with former Canadian male ice skater and they share the same room, YouTube video of Evan and same Canadian ice skater actually ice dancing together in each other’s arms while no other male ice skating couple participates.
If that was your resume, trust me, people would believe you were gay.
And once again he gave an interview with Button/Hamilton – all three on a sofa – and he is wearing two rings, one on his right ring finger that looks to be a high school/college ring and a gold wedding band on his left ring finger. Not one reporter or TV anchor has commented. If Apollo Ono suddenly wore a gold wedding band on his left ring finger do you seriously believe the press would avoid asking him about it? No one in the press, thus far, has asked Evan about his sexual/private life. “Are you dating anyone Evan? Do you look forward to marriage and children one day Evan? At 25 years old, what do you do for sex?”
Apparently you DO care if he is gay or you wouldn’t be so quick to come to his defense. It shouldn’t matter that he is gay or straight but the guy should not be afraid to admit it, if he is gay. But even Johnny Weir, the most notorious (non) gay man on the tour has avoided, ignored and refused comment on his sexuality. Why? Answer: He obviously fears admitting his sexual preference because a majority will discriminate against him. He could be the greatest ice skater on earth but being openly gay would bar him from achieving the gold. Johnny’s gayness should have absolutely no effect on being judged fairly as the best skater but he knows – as does Evan and the majority of gay celebrities/actors/sportsmen – that doing so will make their value seen as less then a non-gay man.
You say you don’t care if he is gay or not but your statement is suspect – why would you even make such a statement if his sexual preference meant nothing to you?
OS2Guy
@fredo777: We speculate about his gayness for several reasons. First, this is a gay web site and it is natural to wonder about the sexuality of our sports heroes. Second, male ice skaters are predominately gay so why wouldn’t we wonder about Evan’s sexual status – especially when there is little to no information about his sexual life? The guy is 25 years old and dances on ice wearing Vera Wang designs. Hello?
Just because we speculate doesn’t mean he has dissed the gay community but if he is gay and he has tried to hide that fact rather then help the gay community by admitting it so we can all be more proud of him then we already are – then he is hurting the gay community. Johnny Weir is a wuss, too afraid to publicly say “Hey, I’m gay. Live with it. I do every day.”
But Johnny didn’t win Gold, Evan did and it seems to many of us in the gay community that Evan is trying to have it both ways.
There is NOTHING wrong with being gay and the more who admit that, be they gay or straight, the better off we all are. Brad Pitt, Ewan McGregor, and a whole host of straight men are entirely secure with their sexuality and they openly support and applaud gay and lesbian women.
If Evan is/were gay and he openly admitted it you can be sure his likeness would not appear on a Wheaties box (loss of endorsement money) but if he were brave enough to say I’m gay he would receive the endorsement of every gay guy in the world. That should far outweigh any amount of money that General Mills (makers of Wheaties) might offer him for staying “in the closet”.
BTW – the French Sports Newspaper L’Equipe Features a Shirtless Photo of Gay Welsh Rugby Star Gareth Thomas promoting his coming out on the February cover. This is a major event in the world of French sports because L’Equipe was, at one time, a very homophobic anti-gay publication. The American Gay community would be overjoyed with pride if Sports Illustrated ran a cover photo of Evan Lysacek, gold medal in hand, claiming “Lysacek: America’s Gay Olympic Champion!”
Ross
@Helen Lawson: absolutely correct. johnny skated a program that would have worked better under the old system (now almost seven years ago). it was not so much the judges who kept him back, but the technical specialists. remember, judges DO NOT call elements or classify skating levels. that’s done by a panel of technical specialists. johnny has never been able to get level 4s and that ultimately holds him down. the skaters above him, however, do.
Mike Ryan
OS2guy – you crack me up! I support everything you say though some of your conclusions are suspect. What cracks me up are your ending quips such as:
“…while the announcer tells us [two gay skaters] have been married for three years, have two kids and live in a loft in Manhattan. When that happens the world will be right at last.”
The world would be perfect for me if I heard that!
“The man is a pole smoker. I kid you not.” Took me a moment to figure out what you were saying then it hit me: pole smoker! ROFL!!!
And this one:
Cover of Sports Illustrated: “Lysacek: America’s Gay Olympic Champion!”
That would be awesome. Thanks Dude.
Jai
A ‘real man’ would have turned to Hugo Boss, Tommy Hillfigger or even Tom Ford rather then a female designer known for designing wedding dresses and other female attire. Vera does not design men’s clothes.
Yeah, because only straight men are ‘real’ men. Seriously, you’re a fucking jackass.
pk
@OS2Guy: The wedding band and Canadian companion are more compelling evidence. What I was objecting to is the “loves Mom, Dad’s not there, must be gay” thesis, which is a false generalization. There are quite a few straight guys who love their Mom and get less emotional support from their Dad for whatever reason. And BTW, Evan’s Dad WAS there in the stands with the two sisters, watching Evan skate for gold.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35017294/vp/35477312/#35477312
OS2Guy
@Jai: Actually Jai it has nothing to do with whether he is gay or straight – it has to do with perception. If he didn’t want to be perceived as gay he would have gone out of his way to make sure he chose a designer known for designing clothes for the male marketplace. Designers in every category pitch their services/talents to the skaters from pair dancers to female skaters. So it isn’t as if they don’t have a choice to select from. Just because he is wearing Vera Wang alone does not make him gay but it certainly adds to the perception of gayness. As a gay man I’m sure you would have no problem wearing feathers and fur on your shoulders (example: Johnny Weir) but I defy you to find a heterosexual man who would do the same.
As for the name calling, really there is no reason for it. If you are unhappy with any opinion or comment then express your own in an intelligent and reasonable way. By doing so you will be seen by others as bright and well-spoken.
OS2Guy
@pk: You’re right PK and I stand corrected about his father not being in attendance. His father was there and it is good to see the entire family supporting Evan. And the coin flips again because there are many gay men who are loved and supported by their fathers. Are most fathers comfortable with having a son play a sport dominated and considered by most of the world as a “gay” sport? No, not the majority.
BTAIM, the fact that his father joined with the rest of the family to see his son compete in the Olympics still leaves uswondering about his sexual preference. Eventually we’ll find out as time is the deciding factor. But for now, my opinion leans to being gay.
BTW, I see where he gets the “dorkiness” (slowness of speech) from. His father has that same oral cadence (and yes, I know they were all very tired but we know that Evan talks the same way all the time, when he is up and fresh and when he is down and physically tired).
Thanks for taking the time to search out and post the video link. Very well done. I never tire of watching him and to see the entire family together was revealing. It would have been nice to have some closeups of his hands as he kept them clasped together throughout the interview. I could not see if he had removed the wedding band from his left hand or kept it on. (It would be interesting to know if he kept it on during his parents presence.)
scott ny'er
@OS2Guy: ok. where’s the video for that? All I could find was Evan and Buttle doing a throw axel. That might be a fun thing, not a gay thing. I also found Weir and Galindo doing a triple throw axel and Weir and Lambiel doing a triple throw axel. That doesn’t mean Galindo, Weir and Lambiel are gay, does it? Wait. Galindo is gay. But the verdict is still out on the other 2.
pk
@OS2Guy: You’re welcome,OS2Guy, and thank you for the kind words. I also enjoy watching Evan skate, and I am really glad his whole family was able to share his golden moment. As for the rest, as you said, only time will tell.
DL888
NY Magazine article this year about Evan and Johnny(Google it). Evan wears one ring given to him by his fans, and another ring given to him by Tanith Belbin. I have followed skating for years…Evan has worn that gold band, on his right hand, since he was a Junior skater. Speculate all you want, just be tolerant of how any person chooses to live their life; we are not in their shoes. Skating is very expensive…it is almost impossible to compete at the elite level without sponsors……