Which beloved or highly regarded skaters do you personally NOT love or highly regard??

[olympic]

I don't intend this thread to be a hate-fest or to encourage the bashing of a skater.

I am just interested in knowing whom you see as universally loved or held in high esteem in our sport by so many fans, but who makes you shrug your shoulders, take a fridge break, or go meh when they skate. All stated rationally and matter-of-fact

For me -

Virtue / Moir: I don't 'get' them, meaning I never felt emotion watching them skate or paused what I was doing to take them in visually. It does not mean I don't respect their accomplishments, understand their technical wizardry, and I don't disagree with 2010 as an example (I have my doubts about 2018).

You?

 

[ChelleC]

It's the same for me Virtue and Moir.

Also:

Plushenko
Miki Ando

 

[Ka3sha]

Davis/White
Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuna Kim

Definitely not on Meh/fridge level, but something just didn’t click with me

 

[Yazmeen]

Virtue/Moir
Oksana Baiul
Grishuk/Platov

 

[escaflowne9282]

Davis and White- I . I'm not disputing anything ,but just cannot for the life of me figure out what people saw in them. I get their technical proficiency,but to me they had issues with rhythm and musicality. I also found that they would get very sloppy when their music would speed up.

Yuna Kim- she had it all nice jumps, nice edges , good technique and flow, but she was just so meh. I remember a bunch of us calling her Yu-Blah for a while.

Medvedeva - or should I say Meh-dvedeva. Her Anna Karenina was ok but everything else . In comparison to Eteri's follow up students, throwing quads,3axels ,and 3lz/3R s at 3:30 in Olympic long programs,I find her even more

I never got into Plushenko beyond 2004 or so, but I also feel like at a certain point he wasn't very highly regarded . There seemed to be so much vitriol toward him for coming back in 2010, when it seemed as though he was trying to help Russian skating save face for what had been a very disappointing quad.

 

[Wyliefan]

All stated rationally and matter-of-fact

Best of luck with that.

 

[olympic]

It's the same for me Virtue and Moir.

Also:

Plushenko
Miki Ando

Not a fan of the jump clinic programs, eh

Virtue/Moir
Oksana Baiul
Grishuk/Platov

I should go back and add Baiul. She was an entertainer and just so watchable in that regard, but the program layout, choreography, and technical commitment to her programs were IMO lacking, and I felt the press just shoved her down everyone's throat. The media attention was overblown in relation to the actual skating.

 

[miffy]

From current skaters I think Satoko Miyahara. I think she is often overmarked for her jumps and I feel some people accept this despite acknowledging the under-rotations etc.

Past skaters: Patrick Chan, Davis/White, Delobel/Schoenfelder, Denkova/Staviski, Shen/Zhao. All were obviously very talented, I just never warmed to them.

 

[Lemonade20]

I admit I’m not a fan of certain skaters that people go crazy for like Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, and Alissa Czisny. They are overrated and pretty much just ice princesses. Pretty to look at, but no substance.

 

[olympic]

From current skaters I think Satoko Miyahara. I think she is often overmarked for her jumps and I feel some people accept this despite acknowledging the under-rotations etc.

Past skaters: Patrick Chan, Davis/White, Delobel/Schoenfelder, Denkova/Staviski, Shen/Zhao. All were obviously very talented, I just never warmed to them.

Patrick Chan. One thing that got to me was the 5 yr. old behavior after the LP at 2016 Worlds, complaining about the ice. He was one step away from a temper tantrum. I could also see the huge marks for the performances w/ mistakes would turn off FS fans.

 

[Desperado]

Paul Wylie. Todd Eldridge. Evan Lysacek.

Same guy, different time.

 

[skategal]

Davis/White
Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuna Kim

Definitely not on Meh/fridge level, but something just didn’t click with me

Two of those are the same for me too.

1. Davis/White
2. Yuzu Hanyu

And I would add Alexei Urmanov to the list

I don't dislike anyone of them as people but just think they are super-overrated as skaters.

 

[bardtoob]

Paul Wylie. Todd Eldridge. Evan Lysacek.

Same guy, different time.

No, no . . . you couldn't get rid of Todd Eldredge. He competed against Wylie at 1988 US Nationals and was on the 1992 Olympic Team with him, and Lysacek started competing at Senior Nationals in 2001 and so competed against Todd Eldredge that year and at 2002 US Nationals. Admittedly, Todd was probably the best option for the World team some of those years in between.

 

[Elisheba]

Michelle Kwan When I first started watching skating she was the all that but she seemed to be skating the same thing over and over with Tosca, Aranjuez,Sheherezade, Bolero, and, well, I never “got” her.

 

[Bigbird]

S/K ice dance. I think the judges holding them up makes it even worse.

 

[skipaway]

Slutskaya
Plushenko
Chan

 

[casken]

Every dance team out of the Shpilband/Zueva school minus Silverstein/Pekarek.
Bourne/Kraatz post 1995
Drobiazko/Vanagas
Torvil/Dean (minus the 83 season, which they were legit amazing)
Scott Hamilton
Kurt Browning
Kristi Yamaguchi
Shen/Zhao post 1998

This list goes on and on, tbh.

 

[Yazmeen]

I should go back and add Baiul. She was an entertainer and just so watchable in that regard, but the program layout, choreography, and technical commitment to her programs were IMO lacking, and I felt the press just shoved her down everyone's throat. The media attention was overblown in relation to the actual skating.

For me it was those damned two-footed jumps. I saw Bauil live several times and pretty much in EVERY performance, triples were landed on both feet but she whisked what should have been her free foot off the ice very quickly. And she got away with it because judges would look at her face and her hands/arms instead of watching what her feet were doing.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

For me it was those damned two-footed jumps. I saw Bauil live several times and pretty much in EVERY performance, triples were landed on both feet but she whisked what should have been her free foot off the ice very quickly. And she got away with it because judges would look at her face and her hands/arms instead of watching what her feet were doing.

I know she skated to "Hot Honey Rag" from "Chicago", but can't remember if she ever skated to "Razzle Dazzle" - that would have fit what you described perfectly IMHO.

 

[made_in_canada]

Plushenko. His personality carried him and I found his personality really obnoxious and he tended to remind me of people in my life I'd rather not be reminded of. I admit that part of my dislike is not the most objective. I was happy to use him as a fridge/bathroom break. If I'm going to watch crossovers I'd rather watch ice dancers do crossovers

Stojko. He was much too content to do the same thing over and over. I felt like he never lived up to his potential and was boring.

Katarina Witt. I was pretty young when she was still skating (which might have been part of the issue) but I did not get her at all.

Davis and White I liked as people and could appreciate technically but I found them quite forgettable. Except for their Bollywood program.

A lot of skaters mentioned I was pretty meh about until I saw them skate live. That's certainly true for Yu Na Kim, Hanyu, Miyahara, Virtue & Moir, and probably others.

 

[tony]

Honestly try to be objective about most skaters but I never, ever understood Zagorska/Siudek being among the top pairs in the world from 1997-2003 or so. They did improve late in their careers, but that World bronze is right up there amongst most baffling for me, when I thought they really should've been fighting to be in the top 10 most of the time.

I also thought Brandon Mroz and Ryan Bradley were pushed a little too hard considering the level of their skating.

Recently, in dance, Kalizsek/Spodyriev being an almost top 10 team is a real baffler.

I never really was blown away by Yu-Na Kim in her first Olympic cycle aside from a program here or there, but it was a pretty dark age in ladies skating in general so I can't fault her results.

 

[happycamper2554]

P/C are sore losers who blame everyone else when things go wrong. Both when it was V/M and S/K. It also annoys me that they basically are restricted by the rules as artists. No one is forcing you to compete.

 

[tony]

P/C are sore losers who blame everyone else when things go wrong. Both when it was V/M and S/K. It also annoys me that they basically are restricted by the rules as artists. No one is forcing you to compete.

Who exactly were they blaming?

 

[happycamper2554]

Who exactly were they blaming?

The judges, cizeron reposted some conspiracy about judges being told not to give out 10s for components at euros

 

[tony]

The judges, cizeron reposted some conspiracy about judges being told not to give out 10s for components at euros

So this is Euros, and you're basing all of this, and including V/M, on a re-posted story/Tweet? Reaching.

 

[happycamper2554]

So this is Euros, and you're basing all of this, and including V/M, on a re-posted story/Tweet? Reaching.

I dont feel that they handled either loss with grace. i think the podium snafu was also intentional. I also dont think v/m handled sochi with grace.

 

[gk_891]

Bourne & Kraatz
Usova & Zhulin
Krylova & Ovsiannikov

 

[Vagabond]

Nobunari Oda
Evgeni Plushenko
Elvis Stojko
Johnny Weir
Miki Ando
Oksana Baiul
Katarina Witt
Asley Wagner
Irina Rodnina & Partners
A very large number of top Ice Dance couples
?‍

 

[screech]

Yuzuru Hanyu. I can appreciate what he does, but I find him highly overmarked and overrated, especially having seen him live (and on the same ice as Patrick Chan)

Papadakis/Cizeron. Again, I can appreciate what they do, however I wish they would do something different (of their own free will). When they do step outside their own little box, it can be enjoyable (see the original iteration of Fame) but they rarely do so without complaint.

Stephane Lambiel. I never really got all the love for him

Michelle Kwan. She never did it for me, at all.

Duhamel/Radford. To me they never looked like a team. I also dislike her attitude of blaming all the criticism on her body. None of my complaint have to do with her body, instead it is with the fact that they had absolutely no connection with each other on the ice (she came across as a singles skater who happens to have someone else on the ice with her), and her just overly smiling throughout performances, even if it was supposed to be non-smiley emotional.

 

[skateboy]

Yuna Kim
Virtue/Moir
Sui/Han (yeah, I know!)
Mikhail Kolyada
Yuzuru Hanyu
Rosalynn Sumners