Pluschenko's open letter for supoprt (whine here now)

[Carolla5501]

I needed a laugh this morning and this gave it to me. Plushy... aren't you a little old for a two year old temper tantrum????

This is funny! Poor Plushy no one loves him

[Beefcake]

Plushy Power!

Let the venom spewing begin in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . !!!

"Venom spewing"? Nice try, but there's no shi*t to stir here.

Plushy's pathetic, desperate, simpering letter -- well, pretty much his entire personae post-Vancouver to wit -- is only garnering laughter and light pity from us. I'm loving it.

[immoimeme]

Never thought I would say it to Plush but here it is: Shut up and skate!

[PDilemma]

And so much contradiction. "I should have won gold. The judges were not fair. But when I said so in Vancouver I was being emotional so please ignore that. But remember that I should have won".

[VALuvsMKwan]

Is the occupation of publicist known in Russia? I'm serious, BTW.

[calica]

And so much contradiction. "I should have won gold. The judges were not fair. But when I said so in Vancouver I was being emotional so please ignore that. But remember that I should have won".

There are no contradictions, simply he cannot conceal his arrogance.
He tries hard ... but he cann´t

[Kasey]

He doesn't try enough. Oh well, more humor for those who find him a pathetic man-child.

[Sarahjev]

Sorry but that translation is not accurate and biased against Plush.
Besides, what's so wrong about what he's saying?

In a nutshell: "coming back was not easy, I was angry and hurt at the "defeat", said things that federation and people didn't like, please let's forget about that, I'm looking at the future and want to keep skating, please support me"

What's so "offensive" and "idiot" about that?

[skatingfan5]

Sorry but that translation is not accurate and biased against Plush.
Besides, what's so wrong about what he's saying?

In a nutshell: "coming back was not easy, I was angry and hurt at the "defeat", said things that federation and people didn't like, please let's forget about that, I'm looking at the future and want to keep skating, please support me"

What's so "offensive" and "idiot" about that?

Since I don't read Russian, I have to rely on translations that are provided. Could you please do an "accurate and unbiased" one so I can judge more accurately how offensive/idiotic Plushenko's statements were? If he didn't say something like "I think I didn't lose the Olympics either. No one can convinse me otherwise" or blame the judges, what did he actually say in his letter about his Torino results and the judging? I'd really like to know (and have never had reason to doubt TAHbKA's translations before).

[Sarahjev]

Since I don't read Russian, I have to rely on translations that are provided. Could you please do an "accurate and unbiased" one so I can judge more accurately how offensive/idiotic Plushenko's statements were? If he didn't say something like "I think I didn't lose the Olympics either. No one can convinse me otherwise" or blame the judges, what did he actually say in his letter about his Torino results and the judging? I'd really like to know (and have never had reason to doubt TAHbKA's translations before).

Well, I don't really know the OP and their previous translations, but based in his/her comments, TAHbKA seems to not like Plu very much, so, maybe was not very interested in the nuances of the letter.

I'm going to mention some of those little things that can really take something out of context:

First, the overall tone of this translation seems to reinforce the "Oh Plush is being all arrogant, telling people that he's the winner no matter what and he doesn't repent of anything", but it's quite the contrary, first of all, he's thanking all the people, his team and fans that has supported him, (correction: he never mentioned fans) he's saying that he KNOWS he didn't act as "elegantly" as people would expect him to, but he's also asking for comprehension because physical and emotional pain was overwhelming for him at that moment.

Regarding the "I still think I should have won" bit, it's true, sorry, it's how he feels, if people don't like it, he's taking the risk of the criticism that affirmation would carry. IMO he's just being honest about it, he could go and put a facade to be forgiven but he's not being that fake. If people want to hate on him for that, well there's nothing else to say.

And about the "judges were evil and I blame them of all my problems" and so, it's not accurate, he said "I felt all kind of things at that time, but now that I've calmed down, I'm not blaming anymore, I want to forget all that, I said a lot of things that offended many people, I'm asking for comprehension because I was a mess of emotions and pain, I even thought people around me (probably his federation, he never say "my relatives") was not being supportive enough"

Also, almost at the beginning the translation says: "I skated only for me", the correct one is "I skated NOT only for me, but for my country....."

In short: he's addressing his federation, saying that he's serious about keep competing, that he's concentrating in training, keeping his weight and so. Remember some time ago Russian Fed asked him for a "strong commitment" to help him with reinstatement, so, this letter is a declaration of intentions.

[skaterdelight]

Thanks for the re-translation. That sounds more consistent with the Plush of many years.

[UMBS Go Blue]

Here's a relevant Wikipedia page on narcissistic personality disorder and an edited snippet.

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder [1].

The narcissist is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige.[2] Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.

The etiology of this disorder is unknown, according to Groopman and Cooper. However, they list the following factors identified by various researchers as possibilities.[4]

* An oversensitive temperament at birth is the main symptomatic chronic form
* Overindulgence and overvaluation by parents fans and entourage
* Valued by parents fans and entourage as a means to regulate their own self-esteem
* Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback
* Unpredictable or unreliable caregiving from parents
* Severe emotional abuse in childhood
* Being praised for perceived exceptional looks or talents by adults
* Excessive praise for good behaviors or excessive criticism for poor behaviors in childhood

[caseyedwards]

I would say that it is definitely not a relevent wikipedia page!

[UMBS Go Blue]

Here's one for you then.

Denial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. [1]

[Squibble]

Besides, what's so wrong about what he's saying?

In a nutshell: "coming back was not easy, I was angry and hurt at the "defeat", said things that federation and people didn't like, please let's forget about that, I'm looking at the future and want to keep skating, please support me"

What's so "offensive" and "idiot" about that?

Regarding the "I still think I should have won" bit, it's true, sorry, it's how he feels, if people don't like it, he's taking the risk of the criticism that affirmation would carry. IMO he's just being honest about it, he could go and put a facade to be forgiven but he's not being that fake. If people want to hate on him for that, well there's nothing else to say.

In sports, as in life generally, if you want people to forget about ill-considered things you said, you have to start speaking graciously and to acknowledge your shortcomings as well as your previous mistakes. As long as Plushenko keeps saying that he should have won, he will be consigning himself to the scrap heap of poor losers. And he needs to clean up his act quickly, or no one will pay attention. Just look at how Linda Fratianne, Surya Bonaly, and Nancy Kerrigan are still treated with contempt on this forum, three decades after the fact in Fratianne's case.

[professordeb]

Has anyone volunteered to provide Plushy with some cheese for his whine?
Just wondering ...

[Rock2]

Hey let's give him credit. The guy is a fierce competitor and just wants to compete for his country and win (not win a medal...WIN). I give him tons of kudos for his passion for the sport and his passion to fight his aging and aching body. I hope this all ends in a place where he's satisfied.

I'm going to pick on one little nuance in his letter. He seems to blame the judges the most for the fact that he didn't get his deserved gold medal. In fact though, shouldn't he be blaming the ISU? The judges gave him credit for everything he deserved. He points to the quads as his reason for winning...nothing PCS related. So forget PCS. He got points for what he did on the technical side. So where did the judges screw up? I'll tell ya. Nowhere.

So really his complaint is that the system itself doesn't work hard enough for those who do quads. That's an ISU issue, not a judging issue.

Dude if you really want to be 'real' have the cahoneys to call out who you really should be calling out as the conspirators against your success -- the ISU! And then see how that works out for ya....

(and PS I'm still waiting for your proposed solution to the judging system. I mean specifics. So far...2-3 years of nothing but . Turn the page. Please.)

[merrywidow]

Is he saying he should have won the gold because he was in terrible pain at the time? A reward for skating a program lacking in all necessary components? I feel sorry for him because I blame his coach & choreographer for allowing him to believe that landing quads was all that he needed.

[Kasey]

Has there been a world/Olympic medalist who has NOT skated with pain at some point? Sorry, the "I deserve it because I hurt more" crap doesn't work.

[Oreo]

Oh, for God's sake. If, in the amount of time he spent writing this letter, he had studied the rule book, maybe he would have won. And if he had spent some time on some real choreography instead of that silly hip wiggling and posing he did in the long program, maybe he would have won.