Evan Lysacek News and Update - Determination to Win

[Athena]

A little more update from Hersh with Evan's own statement

In text messages to me early Saturday morning, Lysacek declined comment on details of the issues between him and USFS but said they had not affected his training.

"I am in the best shape of my life," he said. "I'll continue to train with the hope an agreement can be reached by the U.S. Championships."

I don't know what's included in the athlete contract with USFS, but I think the issue is a LOT more complicated than Hersh's speculation.

If it's all about money, why would Evan decline all the tour/show opportunities in the past five months (FOI was an exception because it's for charity), detach himself from the whole world, quietly train himself to death on a daily basis, and kept re-injuring himself? He's doing all of these for NOTHING?!!

As the reigning Olympic champion, he can easily cash in his victory for another 2.5 years from skating shows and public appearances, and he can earn a lot MORE from skating shows than competition (look at Ryan Bradley, Joannie Rochette, Miki Ando, Sasha Cohen, Jeffery Buttle ...). But how many Disson shows he's in this year? ZERO!! That's his choice, simply because he loves training and competing.

And now, after all the hardwork and sacrifices, when he's in the best form of his life, and his favorite GP event is finally hold on his home turf, he all of a sudden quit just because some damn money issue? Knowing how competitive Evan is, it just doesn't make any sense to me.

Whatever the contract issue is, I hope it'll be resolved ASAP. The LAST thing he wants to do is to let a stupid contract ruin his career and path to his ultimate goal.

In addition, whoever is/are his current agent(s), they're NOT doing ANYTHING good for their client. I didn't see any positive impact from them this year on Evan's career development.

[Athena]

SOI cast list is out, pretty much the same as last year plus Ryan Bradley, but no Evan and Sasha (yet), kinda strange. I guess this means Evan is still serious about Nationals.

No SOI, no Disson shows, no touring outside US, no competition. I'm not sure what's next for Evan, but this doesn't look good at all. He's living a high maintenance life style, hiring the most expensive coach, choreographer, custome designer in the world, training at elite level is never cheap. And he'll probably pay fine to ISU for withdrawing from GP for no medical reason. If, like Hersh and most people speculated, the dispute is all about money, what did he gain? Nothing. How much did he lose? A lot.

Unless his agent has other big plan to back it up, I don't get the point.

[Jaana]

Maybe he should listen to Frank C and not his agent?

[SkateFan66]

Maybe he should listen to Frank C and not his agent?

None of us are privy to what Frank or CAA has advised Evan to do.

[kwanfan1818]

SOI cast list is out, pretty much the same as last year plus Ryan Bradley, but no Evan and Sasha (yet), kinda strange. I guess this means Evan is still serious about Nationals.

I'm less surprised about Cohen, who has phoned in almost every SOI performance I've seen her in after her first year.

No SOI, no Disson shows, no touring outside US, no competition. I'm not sure what's next for Evan, but this doesn't look good at all. He's living a high maintenance life style, hiring the most expensive coach, choreographer, custome designer in the world, training at elite level is never cheap.

His past SOI or DWTS earnings should cover a year of elite training, and he does have endorsement money to cover a few expensive toys. I hardly see how a splurge on an expensive hotel -- for how many days? -- will bankrupt him.

And he'll probably pay fine to ISU for withdrawing from GP for no medical reason.

There are two monetary penalties/restrictions listed in the GP announcement:

1. Seeded skaters who withdraw for other than medical reasons or bereavement from an event or GPF (3.4)
2. Seeded skaters who choose three events and withdraw from any for any reason

In addition to monetary penalties, any seeded skater/team that withdraws from GP events before the start of GP cannot appear in other shows, events, competitions.

Lysacek is not a seeded skater: he didn't place 1-6 at last year's Worlds. These provisions don't apply to him.

There's also a reference to Paragraph 136.6 of the ISU regulations:

6. Members with Skaters who place within the first ten places at any ISU Championships and who continue in the following season to participate in Skating competitions and/or exhibitions as eligible Skaters, shall have the obligation, when entering or authorizing the participation of such Skaters in Skating competitions and/or exhibitions, to give first priority to participation of such Skaters in those ISU Events which are the subject of ISU television and commercial contracts as notified to Members. Members who fail to comply with the above obligation, and Skaters who refuse to participate in such ISU Events, without medical or other justified reasons, shall be subject to sanctions under the relevant Rules.

It's written to be a sanction of the Federation that gives permission for a skater to appear in other competitions and shows, and the money deducted from any prize money earned by skaters from that Federation or payment made by the Federation. (I assume dues.)

There's no time limit listed in Paragraph 136. If it means any skater who every appeared in the top 10 of any ISU championship, then the paragraph could apply to Lysacek.

However, "other justified reasons" could put the onus on USFS. If USFS offers contracts to its skaters to appear in events, and those contracts are usually issued before the initial GP assignments, then Lysacek could be perfectly justified in refusing to compete in GP, since he allegedly wasn't offered a contract before the draw, and his consent was provisional.

Also, USFS has little incentive to back down from Skate America: they've already gotten their mileage out of advertising him. By making a deal of this now, he's saying they can't do the same for US Nationals.

[Athena]

Thanks kwanfan1818 for the education on ISU regulation, since the contract has never been signed, I don't think Evan should get the penalty.

Find a little more information regarding what's included in athlete contract from CBC's SA preview.

As is the case with many of the figure skating federations around the world, the skaters are required to sign an athlete contract outlining things like financial support, obligations and responsibilities on both sides. In the case of the United States Figure Skating Association and Lysacek, they were not able to come to a mutual agreement, and as a result Lysacek will not compete in California or at the Trophee Eric Bompard Grand Prix in France.

Evan didn't receive any financial support from USFS, so the dispute could be related to obligation or resposibilities on either or both sides.

[Athena]

I totally missed the Skate America broadcasting, was there any Evan mention?

[skatemommy]

^ plenty. Check out the GSD forum thread about Evan not competing at SKam.

[Athena]

^ plenty. Check out the GSD forum thread about Evan not competing at SKam.

Thanks, I just quickly read through it but didn't find much useful information. There's a comment about Tracy's speculation from CBC's broadcasting, plus a bit of Frank and Andrea's conversation from NBC's broadcasting, is that all?

Glad to hear he's in great shape, he could easily win SA had he competed here. What a shame! Hope he'll at Nationals (IF they can get the damn contract signed in time!!!)

[Athena]

A nice Frank Carroll interview: "You can't worry about numbers, you have to skate"

Evan mention:

Tell me about Evan. I heard he was still very busy and not able to practice every day.
I haven't seen him for a long time. He's been doing a lot of appearances; he's been skating in Los Angeles because he has things to do there, so he has to live in LA. I talked to him on the phone recently and he wants to come to Palm Springs for 6-7 weeks shortly. But since he's injured I don't know, he had a bad fall and hurt himself. I plan to call him as soon as I get back and find out what the doctor said about it, whether he's going be able to skate in Skate America or not. (According to recent news Evan will not be competing in the 2011 ISU Grand Prix Series following some financial issues between him and the US federation - ed.)

Does he have programs ready?
Oh, yes, he's ready. He did a perfect long program for me in August. It had quad toe-triple toe, two triple Axels, wonderful combinations - perfect! He did it all the way through.

Who choreographed for him?
Lori Nichol. She is a very good friend.

Question: Why some Evan fans would rather wasting your time and effort to argue with a few hard core anti-Evan ids in other threads than posting in his own thread?

[Athena]

An interesting analysis of the dispute, which finally showed some meaningful data and facts.

The bottom line: Lysacek, U.S. Skating both losing in dispute between them

Kwan, the most decorated U.S. figure skater in history, earned $6.3 million from 1997 through 2005 (best year: $899,000 on the 1998 tax filing).

Cohen made from $315,000 to $473,000 from 2002 through 2005; Weiss pulled in $505,000 in 2003, Hughes $518,000 in 2002, Goebel $353,000 in 2002, Lipinski $433,000 in 1997.

In the two most recent USFS tax filings, through June 30, 2010, no skater is listed among independent contractors earning more than $50,000 a year (the IRS lowered the reporting level).

(World champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White will show up on the 2011 filing because they made $128,500 in prize money during that period.)

In 2008, the USFS independent auditor's report said the net television revenue for the 07-08 fiscal year (the transition year to the NBC deal) was $231,000. The numbers for 2009 and 2010, listed as "broadcasting and licensing," were $1.8 million and $2.4 million, respectively, with 90 percent of that coming from broadcasting.

The federation confirmed it pays neither prize money nor appearance money for the U.S. Championships.

[Athena]

SOI announced cast list for 2012 tour, http://www.starsonice.com/?content=skaters, NO Evan. Does this mean he'll eventually compete at Nationals? Since USFSA pays neither prize money nor appearance fee for US Championships, the 'contract' discussion should be very simple: IN or OUT.

Evan has set himself to 'mute' mode since May, other than the couple of articles from Phil Hersh and short quotes from Frank Carroll, we heard nothing from Evan himself. We don't know what's going on with him, how's the training going and what's his plan for the future. We can't see him in either competitions or shows. As an Evan fan, I truly hate this stituation.

I just hope that after the long waiting, and his 6 months of intensive training, we're not doing all these for nothing.

[Jaana]

It is a possibility that he will participate at Nationals, because otherwise he surely would tour with SOI, wouldn´t he? And they definetely would need him there as the US reigning Olympic champion.

[Sylvia]

From the Hersh article linked above:

As a reigning Olympic medalist, Lysacek has a bye into January's U.S. Championships. According to [USFS' Director of Communications, Barb] Reichert, he must let the federation know 60 days before the event if he intends to compete.

The 3 U.S. Sectional Championships (final qualification competition for 2012 Nationals, January 22-29) take place this coming week, and so the deadline for Lysacek will likely be by the week of November 21st.

ETA: Remember that SOI is IMG-owned and Lysacek is no longer being represented by IMG -- I wonder if this could be a reason he's not included in the initial cast list? Guess we'll have to wait and see if he will do some guest spots on the tour (Ilia Kulik is not with IMG and he's participated in SOI full-time and as a guest over the years ).

[SkateFan66]

The deadline for Evan to notify USFSA if he plans to compete at nationals is November 23rd.

[Sylvia]

The deadline for Evan to notify USFSA if he plans to compete at nationals is November 23rd.

Thanks for the info.

[aftershocks]

Unless Evan has something exciting to bring, I wish he would forego trying to come back this year, and let the focus be on the men who have been competing all season.

[Elkmaria]

I'll be excited if Evan comes back. No matter how deep the men's field already is, one more top class skater is always a good addition to the roster And if he comes back in good shape, I think he has a good shot at the US Nationals podium even without taking into account the inflated scores he's bound to receive as OGM. Making the podium at Worlds will be a much more challenging task though. Anyway, one more strong competitor will make the competition even more exciting.
That said, by now I have grave doubts about his comeback. At the beginning of the season, I thought the chances were 50/50. Now I think it's 30/70. I hope I'm wrong

[SkateFan66]

Unless Evan has something exciting to bring, I wish he would forego trying to come back this year, and let the focus be on the men who have been competing all season.

Well, what I have seen so far this season, many of the US men have been less than stellar. Many have put up scores that will not be competitive at worlds. During the SOI tour last year, Evan skated extremely well and his performance level was much better that during his Olympic season. It would be interesting to see how Evan does in competition given his better presentation skills. According to Frank Carroll, Evan is in great shape and skating great. If Frank is correct, then Evan gives team USA a better chance of earning back the third world spot for 2013.

[olympic]

The deadline for Evan to notify USFSA if he plans to compete at nationals is November 23rd.

Thanks, that is just before Thanksgiving! Since he is fighting with the USFSA, I would think that the chances of him competing at Nats or even coming back are pretty slim