Knock the Performance Not the Man
By Dan H.
2/17/06
Maybe we can blame reality television, but its seems like the media would rather an athlete be a story off the field than on it.
Bode Miller is the best example. His notoriety skyrocketed prior to the Games with his “hard to ski while wasted” comments. Leading up to Torino, the media hyped up Bode like there was no tomorrow, almost praising his nonconformity and, somewhat ironically, his dislike of fame.
But this focus doesn’t come without its risk. Since Bode failed to make the podium in downhill and DQed on his first of two slalom runs in the combined, we’ve heard repeatedly that Bode went out the night before (not late, but he went out) and missed the inspection run on the day of his downhill event. Suddenly the media questioned whether the same characteristics that were once endearing and entertaining, were now selfish and unbecoming to an Olympian. Now, in all fairness, there were some that were equally supportive and equally questioning before and after the start of the Games (including other contributors to this web site), but the overall tone in the popular media certainly changed.
Exhibit B (and the impetus behind this article): Johnny Weir. Like Bode, Weir has made some unconventional comments regarding his sport, including describing a past costume as “care bear on acid” or another skater’s program as “more like a vodka shot, let's snort coke kind of thing." Like Bode, it’s hard to argue Weir doesn’t have raw talent, after all he’s the first male figure skater since Brian Boitano to win three consecutive national titles. This, in addition to his “flamboyant” attitude made him a focus of coverage before, during, and after the short program. Up to this point, however, Weir’s eccentricities were described as Weir “just being himself”. Weir skates into second after the short program. The “free-spirit” has our support.
Then comes the free-skate. Weir takes out the quad jump, is shaky on a few others, and misses one altogether. The announcers note Weir “looks tired”. Weir drops from silver to 5th place overall. Possible explanation?
"I missed the bus. They changed the schedule," Weir said. "It was every 10 minutes. Today it was every half-hour. I was late getting here and never caught up. I never felt comfortable in this building. I didn't feel my inner peace, I didn't feel my aura. Inside I was black."
Blaming it on a bus does sound strange, but as someone who gets very nervous if he’s not at the airport at least an hour before takeoff, I can see losing energy if your bus doesn’t show to take you to the Olympics. I’m not saying we should all feel sorry for Weir or that he should be awarded a sympathy medal. Nonetheless, I was surprised by Jim Caple’s article on espn.com (http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter06/figure/columns/story?id=2333288), which rips on Weir for his performance and excuse, using his eccentricities to suggest that Weir is less of a man, or at least, less of an athlete than others like Brett Favre or Curt Schilling.
Caple notes that the rink was a half-hour walk from the Athletes Village and sarcastically says that that half-hour loss was very important because “he had to put on his uniform and go to the bathroom twice.” First of all, if I had to skate four and a half minutes doing half the spins and jumps that figure skaters do to compete, I would be mad as hell if I had to walk a half-hour beforehand (and I happily walk forty-five minutes to work each day). And in terms of mental preparedness, I haven’t heard a single Olympian say prep time is not important. We’ve already questioned whether a few days is enough time for Emily Hughes to compete at her best.
Second, Caple uses Schilling as an example because Weir’s favorite baseball team is the Red Sox (which he says is surprising, I’m guessing because the BoSox are a man’s team). Caple goes on to say that “Curt Schilling would have shaken off the bus problem and skated out there with bloody sequins.” Maybe Curt would have, who knows? Although lets not forget that baseball players are especially notorious for their superstitions (hello, the curse of Bambino?). So had Curt felt “black” that day, would he have performed his best? Plus, it’s a little bit harder to notice when a pitcher is “off” than someone dancing on ice and spinning triple rotations through the air for four-and-a-half straight minutes in a truly world competition that only takes place once every four years. Am I knocking Schilling? No. But the analogy by Caple is absolutely horrible.
Finally, I can understand calling the excuse lame. After all, Weir’s teammate, Evan Lysacek, came down with the flu after the short program and had two IVs stuck in his body the day before his free skate, and he performed a personal best. But I do not understand how it is relevant that Weir’s favorite male singer is Justin Timberlake, or that he named his red glove Camille, or that the Chicago Tribune ran a poll asking fans if they care if Weir is gay. Did any of this affect his performance? Absolutely not. Is Weir a bit eccentric? I think so (but then again I also think Jeffrey Buttle smiles too much). But does it matter? No.
Weir is an athlete, hands down, and his fifth place performance did our country proud. Caple’s article is merely an ESPN “Page 2” attempt to stir the pot and cause controversy where none exists (don’t even get me started on the Page 2 Weis-Notre Dame racism piece). But you know what irritates me even more, is that it works. I read Caple’s article and it even led me to now write two articles in a week. The damn media wins again.
