Dear Ashley Wagner

[yendi]

It's entirely possible that there's something fishy, or at least unfair given the ludicrous way in which the sport is judged, about your placement at Sochi.

But:

1. If that's truly the case, there are appropriate words, like "being ripped off," "cheated," etc. The one you used is a fucking racial slur.

2. Might I remind you that you're only at the fucking Olympics because the US committee, for reasons not made available personally to me, decided to take you instead of Mirai Nagasu, who completely fucking outskated you at the US Championships? Past performance, in this case, appears to have indeed been an indicator of future results.

Palate Cleanser:

Here's Jason Brown (my single favorite skater to watch from the entire games) dancing to U Can't Touch This:

Comments

[ron_newman]

When I was her age (and for some time afterwards), I didn't know that word was a racial slur. She just needs to get older and learn more.

[yendi]

You and I are also from previous generations, and were exposed to that language a lot more; I do expect a little more from folks growing up today (not least because their parents should know better; I certainly did when raising my daughter).

[yendi]

(That said, if she's not called on it, she'll never learn.)

[fjm.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, most Americans do not realise it is a racial slur. It took a three year campaign to stop a senior member of IAFA publicly warning people about "gypsy cab drivers" (of course, he meant rogue drivers of an entire range of ethnicities).

A very nice man, who is genuinely horrified about racism, he kept insisting "but it has nothing to do with gypsies".

He did eventually get the point, but it was an astonishingly hard slog.

[ron_newman]

Which IAFA? (Google finds several organizations with that abbreviation)

My impression is that, for better or worse, 'gypsy cab' is the generally-understood term for any unlicensed taxi service (common in the outer boroughs of NYC, for instance)

[fjm.livejournal.com]

IAFA.org

"My impression is that, for better or worse, 'gypsy cab' is the generally-understood term for any unlicensed taxi service "

Exactly. And as unacceptable as any other racial derogation.

[yendi]

This. It's literally an example of using "gypsy" to mean "illegal," and it's taken on face value in so many places (even more so than using the shortened form to mean "rip off.")

[ron_newman]

But there's also the term gypsy brewer, which means one who doesn't have his/her own brewery but uses other people's breweries to make beer. it's a self-description, not an insulting term (and it doesn't mean "illegal".) Seems to me like the word 'gypsy' has become largely detached from its origins.

[rosefox]

The last time I called someone on it, I was informed that the OED says it's not a racial slur because it's "something to do with the theater".

Unfortunately I was not in a position to explain that when my part-Romani husband says it's a slur, I listen to him.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

In the end I invited a certain Romany descended writer to the conference (he knew what I was doing) and pointed out how offended he would be. This finally got the point over. As did the fact that this was also the year that there was a car bomb in Belfast the day before the convention and we arrived to find posters everywhere for "Special St Patrick Day's Cocktail, the Irish Car Bomb."

[yendi]

Wait, what? Beyond the fact that dictionaries don't always note that words are slurs, the OED says no such thing.

[rosefox]

I don't have access to it, so I have no idea what the OED says. But yeah.

[yendi]

Access to the OED is one of the best perks of working in academia (although I do own the 1971 Compact Edition, if I ever get back into good enough shape to lift it).

[jmfunnyface.livejournal.com]

I don't think I learned it was a slur until maybe 2 years ago (and through ONTD on LiveJournal when another celebrity used it).

I'd always seen it spelled jipped and never would have made the connection on my own.

[aelscha.livejournal.com]

Amazing palate cleanser. It's hip-hop! On skates! I love it!

(I'm not paying enough attention to have noticed Ms. Wagner being rude...)

[yendi]

*nod* The palate cleanser is much more enjoyable and worth watching than Wagner's behavior.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, that video was amazing!! I didn't think that was a song you could ice-dance to, but that was awesome. :D

[yendi]

That was my reaction, too! I so prefer skaters like Brown and Misha Ge, who are clearly both having fun and trying to entertain the crowd, than the ones who do routines that are technically "good," but which have no soul.

[storme]

This games seems to have been full of really entertaining ice routines -- every time I see any skating event it's always so much fun to watch.

[yendi]

*nod* It's pretty much the one part of the Games I know I'll like.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Gee, if she doesn't do that well at the Worlds next month, will she think that one is rigged also?

*sigh*

Sometimes it's really nice to follow Olympic coverage in a country where we are thrilled when our competitors make the finals and where winning a bronze is so celebrated, you'd think it was a gold. It's also great to listen to commentators who don't just focus on the Americans and can say complimentary things about competitors from various countries, as both Sue Barker and Robin Cousins did with the ice skating.

You know, I didn't even know that there were trials in the Olympics until I saw the 2000 Summer Games here in England. NBC tends to ignore them, despite the fact that Olympic records can be broken at trials.

Rant over.

[yendi]

*nod*

Although, in fairness, the US figure skating announcers do a great job no matter who they're covering, probably because they actually understand the competition. That said, I haven't watched any non-figure skating on US TV, and the electronic coverage is fascinating (ESPN insists on listing the medal count by total, so the US is on top, instead of by Gold, which is generally the Olympic way of counting, since winning ten events is more significant than coming in third in twelve events).

But yeah, the only trials I remember seeing in previous games were occasional Speed Skating ones, and I'd suspect that the (previous) US success there was a factor.

[lovingboth]

Historically, the judging at the figure skating / ice dance has often been done on the basis of whose turn it is to win rather than any actual relative artistic merit. If the favoured contestant(s) didn't fall over, they won. I'm trying to remember who was the ice dancing pair who particularly suffered from this.

What's interesting this time is that - even with the new judging system introduced after one particularly outrageous example - some of the favoured contestants have fallen over and still won.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

There were allegations made about Torvill and Dean's Bolero along this line, but when you compare them to their Russian competitors there really is a clear difference. The Russians, Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin were technically brilliant, and there were feeling that their scores were held back to "make room" for Torvill and Dean (and had been in other competitions). But even now the difference is stark. T&D have a line and flow that no one else at the time had.

[lovingboth]

Going last certainly was a big advantage.

If you look at many career records, they go minor - bronze - silver - gold - retire. It's too common a pattern to be a coincidence.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Two points there: a programme this morning mentioned that the real issue about the perfect 6.0s for aesthetics in 1984 was that the Russian judge placed T&D above the Russian pair, a first at that time.


The second point about the pattern tho is that you see it in athletics as well where there is no points to argue about. Outside of the team games, people tend to retire at the top of their game.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Was it an ice dancing pair in Salt Lake City?

The medals are a distraction. I keep thinking of former US favourite Debi Thomas, who's now an orthopeodic surgeon. She 'only' won a bronze.

[lovingboth]

It's more noticeable in the Worlds and Europeans, which also have the advantage of being annual. I may also be thinking of Pairs rather than Ice Dance - it was a French or Canadian duo whose scores kept getting a lot of boos...

[silme.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that was Salt Lake City -- Jamie Sale and David Pellitier.

It might be better if the judging were more transparent, but I'm not holding my breath.