... I do often wonder if Dave even actually likes figure skating though. No one is really good enough for him. He doesn't contrast skaters areas of opportunity with their strength. He crucifies them. He doesn’t seem to understand that following an athlete MEANS watching them go through bad times.
I agree with you, particularly on the bolded part. Dave Lease crucifies skaters if he doesn't like them, or he picks them apart at random sometimes, just because. However, I think Lease is passionate about figure skating and gymnastics. He just appears to have some personality quirks and traits that tend toward enjoying lampooning people and being overly harsh in his commentary & often unnecessarily nasty against those he's commenting on who have done nothing to deserve such harsh and often pointless critiques. Lease has no filters about it, e.g., his vendetta against the Shibs; his comments in the recent broadcast, which some might feel are mild, regarding Bradie Tennell's looks not being packaged in the same way as Gracie looking like Grace Kelly in Sochi, and referencing Tennell looking like a 'Mormon' in the way she wears her hair, etc. Jonathan Beyer seemed to try and counter with how consistent and precise Bradie is, but as usual, Jonathan ended up falling prey to succumbing to most of what Lease had to say throughout the broadcast.
It's one thing to make the Bradie/Gracie comparison, but it strayed too far IMO. And honestly, it's really apropos to nothing. My opinion is that Bradie doesn't need to look like anyone but herself, and neither did Gracie. I wanted to see and get to know more of who Gracie is, and maybe that was part of her struggles: needing to find out who she is and to express her true self confidently on the ice. Bradie enjoys skating to Disney tunes, and so did Tara. What matters for a skater is feeling motivated by what they're skating to and believing in themselves. Lease can tend toward too much OTT presumptuous, 'in-the-know' wink-wink gossip, which seems more like his way of pumping up his own ego. It is sad, because Lease does have some interesting viewpoints. It's just that he's like the boy who cried wolf way too often, and threw a temper tantrum to boot, just to get attention.
TSL does offer some interesting commentary, information and viewpoints mixed in with the crass rambling. Mainly, it's the name-dropping, leaking confidential information and being overly cheeky and/or unnecessarily nasty in some of his critiques that's off-putting about Lease (but again these are probably reasons why some TSL followers love him, with the excuse being that figure skating is a cutthroat world). In a number of instances, Lease goes too far in ways that aren't constructive. I know that many find it funny and gallows-humor scintillating, like the enticement of watching a peep show. But Lease too often crosses a line. Some of the things Lease used to say about Weav/Po for example (and that's when Jenny was still on the show) were just terrible. And then Lease showed up at a comp, passed Andrew Poje backstage, greeted him and expected Andrew to smile and nod. NOT! That's the disconnect: Lease wants to be the bad boy
and he wants people to love him. Even Jonathan acting as if he's never once made unnecessarily personal comments about skaters is disingenuous at worst, or else the snarking becomes contagious and Jonathan unconsciously follows Lease's lead.
Well I don't think gossip is inherently mean, unless it's mean gossip. I don't know anyone who doesn't gossip about stuff. So it's nice to know figure skating related gossip from people who have more knowledge of FS than myself, which doesn't take much anyway. I don't watch TSL for FS technical knowledge but for entertainment and I have a dark sense of humor. Haven't been watching it for long but so far haven't heard anything that people should get upset about- are there really any skaters that actually feel they've been discussed too meanly about, unlike in "real journalists" columns, which are often critical too, or do people just suppose they have? Or do performers only want to hear praise and nothing negative?
Yes, quite a few skaters feel that way, I'm sure. There's a difference between being critical about athletic performance and commenting meanly about skaters' personalities, looks, struggles, personal lives, fs politics that impacts skaters, etc. Recent comments about Ash Cain's boyfriend, ummm, maybe some found it harmless and funny. I just think it's too close to crossing a line and in some cases crosses the line to where they're mixing everything and the kitchen sink into skating commentary. Lease would maybe do better if he tamed his ego, practiced more discipline (or if he had time to edit the broadcasts). But yeah, editing and personal discipline aren't my strong suits either. We all live and learn. Or, we don't.
Everything TSL has to say is not gospel, but they tend to act as if it is. Lease may actually have an entertaining shtick that could work much better in a more disciplined format, but he needs a savvy manager or handler to guide and control his excesses. And Jonathan Beyer is not that person. This is my take and my impressions. Everyone can decide to watch or not, or watch and do their own filtering.
). 
). 
... That is so cruel ... 
... So mean ... 
