Evan Lysacek: "Men's skating has X Games appeal"

[MacMadame]

I want some of what Evan is smoking!

Skating is not an extreme sport and you aren't going to get more people interested in figure skating by pretending it's death defying when it's not.

[leafygreens]

If aerial skiiers wore glittery outfits, would it no longer be extreme?

[Rex]

I could see it if they did in the same format as those jumping competitions they used to do. I actually found those interesting and wish they still did them. The skaters seemed to have a lot of fun with it.

It was called Top Jump, IIRC...I think. It never caught on as a comp. For a couple of years maybe?

[Sylvia]

Re-posting this from the U.S. Men's thread:

Here is another topic. Who is the biggest threat to upset Lysacek for the Olympic Gold next? I am not sure if it is Chan or Takahashi or Hanyu. It is obviously Evan's to lose but who has the best chance to beat him with a clean skate if he makes 2 or 3 uncharacteristic mistakes, or perhaps taking into account who of those others is most likely to skate cleanly.

[Skittl1321]

To 'upset' Lysacek for the Gold? I don't think it is his to loose at all. I think all three you named are more likely to get it than Evan. First, Evan would need to actually show up for a competition, and then he'd need to show a great improvement in skills from the last time he was out on the ice.

[danceronice]

What about that performance someone linked to involving...it was kind of theatrical, involved backflips, headstands, etc? I mean, does 'extreme' HAVE to mean 'stuff once done illegally in construction sites and the kind of antics that annoy serious downhillers at ski resorts' to be valid? Some people like doing tricks that are cool but illegal in FIGURE skating and to focus on how much bigger they can jump. Not something that belongs in USFS competition, maybe, but if there's interest, why not?

(I realize some posters would object to an end to world poverty and disease if Evan Lysacek said he was for it, but setting aside that he makes some people rabid...)

[MacMadame]

Headstands are extreme? Well okay. We had those acrobats who were with Champions on Ice for a couple of years and I don't think teenage boys responded to their programs by saying "that looks rad, dude. I'm going to go home and try it!"

A backflip comes off as more of an extreme sports type of move or a headbanger in pairs.

I just think Evan is barking up the wrong tree. I think figure skating is an awesome sport (obviously -- I've been a fan for almost 50 years and even did it myself for a decade) and I think it deserves respect. But that doesn't make it an extreme sport that belongs at the X-games.