GreatLakesGal Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 5 hours ago, SparkleSalad said: I was so hoping from the title that Adam would explain to all those Twitter dopes why the scoring wasn’t scandalous. Adam seems to have mastered the art of avoiding difficult questions during interviews by giving non-answers. And yes, it would have been good for the sport if he had stepped up and given an honest answer to her question. I almost never watch American television anymore, cable or broadcast. Which is why having to watch figure skating on NBC is such a horrific experience for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xen Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 26 minutes ago, GreatLakesGal said: Adam seems to have mastered the art of avoiding difficult questions during interviews by giving non-answers. And yes, it would have been good for the sport if he had stepped up and given an honest answer to her question. I almost never watch American television anymore, cable or broadcast. Which is why having to watch figure skating on NBC is such a horrific experience for me. It's such a BS question, and there wasn't really any other way for Adam to answer it. If he says yeah, it's not fair, then it hurts Nate who happens to be a teammate.If he says no, it's a-okay, then that hurts him going forward. After Olys is still worlds. And the question has already been answered in a Times article? Anyways, at least he played it off as a joke which can be interpreted both ways. And why are the starter questions less focused on his skating and more about politics? "A Star is born"- really, where were you news people for the past couple seasons? My brain hurts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sombreuil Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I'm amazed athletes agree to be interviewed at times- it must be like tiptoeing through a minefield, with the vultures hovering and ready to pounce at the slightest ambiguity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuzuangel Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Classy USFS/NBC, making a mountain out of an event organization technicality! just kidding though, congrats to Vincent, he skated well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Quite an insightful interview with Rafael Arutyunian about Nathan and the rest https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/vaytskekhovskayas-interview-with-arutyunian.103449/ it rather puzzled me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beki Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Yes, it’s very dramatic and blunt. It seems like Raf is protecting his own reputation, since many people are directly blaming him for Nathan’s bad strategy. I think I believe him, because the mistakes were so obvious to all of us. As a coach, could he really be that foolish? If those family dynamics are true, I don’t know why people think Nathan will go to Brian. He won’t put up with the interference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axelnojutsu Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 The more I hear about and from Raf the stronger I dislike him Quote I think Nathan realized I forgave even though he didn't apologize. A skater shouldn't need to beg for forgiveness from his coach for a bad skate Also, the way he frames it being completely sure Nathan is gonna bomb hours before he even touched the ice can't have helped build up his confidence, can it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuzuangel Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 2 hours ago, Fay said: Quite an insightful interview with Rafael Arutyunian about Nathan and the rest https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/vaytskekhovskayas-interview-with-arutyunian.103449/ it rather puzzled me. Omg. This is terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neenah Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 2 hours ago, axelnojutsu said: The more I hear about and from Raf the stronger I dislike him A skater shouldn't need to beg for forgiveness from his coach for a bad skate Also, the way he frames it being completely sure Nathan is gonna bomb hours before he even touched the ice can't have helped build up his confidence, can it? I think he meant that Nathan apologized for not listening to him when he advised against the 4Lz and not about the bad skate, at least that is how I understood it. I thought there was something weird going on the whole season and the involvement of Nathan's family does kind of explain it. There was a apparent lack of direction or a clear plan and Raf was acting more like a cheerleader than a coach. I do think he is responsible and trying to push all the blame on the parents is not the way to go but I understand that it must be difficult to work with someone who is being pulled into different directions. Also, if the family was making the decisions then Nathan was basically following the media and not an expert's advice I hope they get things sorted out and learn from their mistakes, it would be a shame if something like that stopped his development or even worst, got him hurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuzuangel Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 16 minutes ago, Neenah said: I think he meant that Nathan apologized for not listening to him when he advised against the 4Lz and not about the bad skate, at least that is how I understood it. I thought there was something weird going on the whole season and the involvement of Nathan's family does kind of explain it. There was a apparent lack of direction or a clear plan and Raf was acting more like a cheerleader than a coach. I do think he is responsible and trying to push all the blame on the parents is not the way to go but I understand that it must be difficult to work with someone who is being pulled into different directions. Also, if the family was making the decisions then Nathan was basically following the media and not an expert's advice I hope they get things sorted out and learn from their mistakes, it would be a shame if something like that stopped his development or even worst, got him hurt I suppose I can see it...like "The media says you can do a 4Lz and a 4F! So do it!" Nathan: "okay..." I mean, I guess it's part of his identity now that that's what he was painted as (a quadster who can do the hardest quads in his sleep). And I wonder if his family thought downgrading his layout would lead them to lose face or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarist Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 With all that's being said, I kind of feel bad for Nathan. And also not because 18 is old enough to make your own decisions. Then again, my experience since I came to the US has taught me that several kids with tiger parents are afraid to stand up to them for fear of bringing shame to the family or even being disowned. I don't know Nathan's situation, but for the same reason I can't just say it would've been easy for him to just ignore them and go with Raf's advice. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes... That said, while I understand Raf is not in an easy situation, that interview did not make me like him any more. It does seem like he's trying to save face while pushing the blame on everyone but himself. Class act, Raf, class act... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xen Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 6 hours ago, Fay said: Quite an insightful interview with Rafael Arutyunian about Nathan and the rest https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/vaytskekhovskayas-interview-with-arutyunian.103449/ it rather puzzled me. Is this the same lady whom some have stated to be a bit of a rumor mill? And quite often the people she interviews come off worse than they are? If so, then I'd take everything with a grain of salt. However, while I'm not sure if the layout plan was due to Chen's family, the ever-changing layout does not sound like something that a coach would endorse (Adam and Ashley did not have this). Plan A, B and C sure, but a layout that changes on the fly is not something a sane coach would recommend. And from the interview, I'm glad that Raf is somewhat sane. However this shows that he's not sure how to deal with headstrong teenagers, or headstrong feds if the fed was the real impetus behind the decisions Nathan made. It seems this article also confirms that Nathan had injuries that he hid for a long time, reminds me of that tweet we had here. In which case, all the more surprising he didn't confirm a layout at all. I think his most successful layout was the US Nats one, it's a pity he didn't stick to it. And to a degree, I think the media finally did get into his head- all those mentions of 4Lz and 4F, even if he didn't want it to be part of his identity, it became his identity, so out of pride he had to do it, even if he fails. Somewhat like Mao's 3A. You don't need a family to push you, or a coach, just a teenager alone will do it. And I while I think TCC is an environment that would calm him down, I'm not sure if TCC would take him, or if he'd ever consider TCC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinForPooh Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Oddly enough, what I noticed first was Raf saying the SP is too packed. Too packed?! It got emptier with every competition. Also not on board with all his complaining about how Nathan listened to his family. First, we don't know if that's really true and how much influence his family had over his layouts. Asian Americans are not all one template. Second, Raf knew what he was getting into and he went along with it. If he'd got the glory, he wouldn't have given that interview, he would've basked in it. He didn't, and suddenly everybody else is to blame. If Adam had done badly, would it have been all praise and sunshine for Adam?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sombreuil Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 The bit about the virus...... being selfish if Nathan is ill, and his absence from the ex practices suggests that he might be, I hope they will let him out of performing at the exhibition- the last thing the sport needs is for anyone else to keel over with a virus during the run up to the WC and you've got a lot of big names in that ex group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altie Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I must say I quite like Raf's frankness in this interview... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now