Fans are really getting out of hand

[canbelto]

People realize it's just skating right? I mean they DO realize that skaters don't lock four kids up in the basement just to troll their fans? RIGHT?

 

[MacMadame]

I don't know what people realize but I do think that there have been some very out-of-control fans in the past and I actually think fans, in general, are better now than in, say, Yuna's days.

 

[kittyjake5]

Mariah Bell was crucified on social media, death threats etc., for the mishap at the her rink with
another skater. Pretty scary stuff.

 

[MacMadame]

Mariah Bell was crucified on social media, death threats etc., for the mishap at the her rink with
another skater. Pretty scary stuff.

It was actually at a competition. So they had video to obsess over. Even though the video clearly showed it was entirely the other skater's fault.

 

[misskarne]

It was actually at a competition. So they had video to obsess over. Even though the video clearly showed it was entirely the other skater's fault.

But if you point that out, you're victim-blaming, see. .

 

[DreamSkates]

I really hope that Hanyu will be able to live a normal life post-skating. Harassment and abuse are unacceptable, but the over-the-top adoration by some of the Fanyus is pretty scary as well.

Not likely. He is already worshipped as the greatest skater. And when walking through airports has to have a troop of body guards.

 

[Brenda_Bottems]

I am relieved and thankful our American skaters do not have to contend with immature, rabid and outrageous fanbases like those in Asia and Australia.

-BB

 

[anonymoose_au]

in Asia and Australia

Hey, what did we do?!

 

[VGThuy]

But if you point that out, you're victim-blaming, see. .

And that was truly the last time I dealt with skating twitter. Even with video evidence, they lived in their own reality outside of logic and what's in plain sight. It's incredible what people will refuse to see when they don't want to admit they're wrong and are so married to the reality they created in their head. To them, Lim was a poor innocent infantile girl who needed protecting from big bully "RACIST Mariah Bell". Nothing was going to budge them from that, even point out the agency's lies and showing what's in the video itself.

 

[Lemonade20]

Were Yuna's fans worse than Hanyu's? I know Hanyu is possibly one of the best ever in history, but his fans are scary

 

[skateboy]

Were Yuna's fans worse than Hanyu's? I know Hanyu is possibly one of the best ever in history, but his fans are scary

Bad as Fanyus can be, I would say that -- yes -- Yunabots were even worse. Many of them posted death wishes against Sotnikova after the Olympics, and this went on for years. And Mao Asada was given her share of grief. It may still be going on, I haven't checked recently.

And woe to any technical specialist who dared give Yuna an edge call or a UR call. It signified the death of figure skating!

 

[canbelto]

Bad as Fanyus can be, I would say that -- yes -- Yunabots were even worse. Many of them posted death wishes against Sotnikova after the Olympics, and this went on for years. And Mao Asada was given her share of grief. It may still be going on, I haven't checked recently.

And woe to any technical specialist who dared give Yuna an edge call or a UR call. It signified the death of figure skating!

The Yunabots and Fanyus are nuts but they're more bread-and-butter fanatics. A bit like Beyonce's Beyhive. For CREEPIEST fanbase I think the Sergei widows still win. Just because of the weird fantasy that they were going to die, go to heaven, and become Sergei's spiritual wives because Katia had remarried ... or something. And this really wonderful board that had amazing videos of Katia and G&G had to be shut down because of the widows.

 

[mjb52]

wut

 

[mjb52]

Sorry, that is the only logical response to the Sergei widow story.

 

[canbelto]

Sorry, that is the only logical response to the Sergei widow story.

You obviously don't remember Donna and Renee and some of the other Sergei widows.

 

[VGThuy]

At least the ice dance wars were entertaining, no matter how dirty it got. There’s nothing fun about Fanyus.

 

[misskarne]

Bad as Fanyus can be, I would say that -- yes -- Yunabots were even worse. Many of them posted death wishes against Sotnikova after the Olympics, and this went on for years.

And still goes on. Any time Sotnikova is brought up, they get back on their train of screaming death threats at her, calling her horrendous names, and really just proving that they're awful people.

That said, the Fanyus are getting close. Some of the post-GPF 2019 stuff was really awful. Getting into it with a Fanyu who insisted that slashing the judges' faces with a knife would be a perfectly acceptable response and refused to see otherwise was terrifying - especially since the judges don't have the same level of protection as the skaters, are not anonymous, and have their faces put up on the big screen for all to see before each event.

 

[MacMadame]

There’s nothing fun about Fanyus.

I find their massive Pooh obsession amusing.

 

[mjb52]

You obviously don't remember Donna and Renee and some of the other Sergei widows.

I was around for a lot of skating stuff but I definitely missed that whole episode! I've heard about it, but not all the details. It's just really weird, even by skating standards. Like, even beyond secret babies. I think it may be the weirdest skating thing I've ever heard of. If it was a troll, it might be slightly funny, just in the sheer absurdity of it all, but it sounds like they were completely serious?

 

[canbelto]

I was around for a lot of skating stuff but I definitely missed that whole episode! I've heard about it, but not all the details. It's just really weird, even by skating standards. Like, even beyond secret babies. I think it may be the weirdest skating thing I've ever heard of. If it was a troll, it might be slightly funny, just in the sheer absurdity of it all, but it sounds like they were completely serious?

They were completely serious. Sergei was the most perfect man God created and there was debate about whether Katia was a Christian because by remarrying she couldn't reunite with Sergei in heaven. Also, they read in My Sergei that she had considered an abortion. So they fashioned themselves Sergei's "spiritual wives" and spent so much time making Sergei angel figurines and scrap books what not and sending them to Katia. They found her address and skating rink and everything.

The most vocal Sergei widow was a woman named Donna. She shared her story online about how her father died in a heart attack in a manner similar to Sergei's and she never "moved on" from her father's death so how dare Katia "move on"?

To get a flavor read the comments under this YT video. Then multiply it in intensity x 1000 and add a weird bit of afterlife fantasy, and you've got the Sergei widows.

Ilia Kulik and Ekaterina Gordeeva

Kulik and Gordeeva rehearsing Casi un Bolero together. At the beginning Scott Hamilton talks about Ekaterina's performance in Celebration of a Life. This i...

www.youtube.com

 

[Karen-W]

Holy cow. I've been around the online skating fandom since the mid-90s and this is the first I've heard of the Sergei widows. That is shit that proves the old saying "truth is stranger than fiction" entirely true. Mind blown, lol.

 

[Lemonade20]

The Yunabots and Fanyus are nuts but they're more bread-and-butter fanatics. A bit like Beyonce's Beyhive. For CREEPIEST fanbase I think the Sergei widows still win. Just because of the weird fantasy that they were going to die, go to heaven, and become Sergei's spiritual wives because Katia had remarried ... or something. And this really wonderful board that had amazing videos of Katia and G&G had to be shut down because of the widows.

Ohhh that's right!! I forgot about them! Definitely among the strangest fans ever. Sergei died 25 years ago and there are still Sergei widows around. No wonder why she had to keep her new marriage to David very hush hush

 

[paskatefan]

I find their massive Pooh obsession amusing.

Confession: I threw some Pooh stickers (in an envelope in a plastic bag) on the ice after Yuzu's short program @ 2016 Worlds & a small Beanie Baby Pooh after his free skate there. I had another small plush Pooh for him for Montreal Worlds that ended up not taking place last year. I watching the "Poohvalanche" showers whenever he competes! That said, I am not a "Yuzu" bot, but I do like him a lot (as I do Nathan), and I want both of them to skate well in every competition.

 

[sadya]

The Sergei Grinkov fans, o dear, the memories. Warning, long read ahead:

I remember the old days of the yahoogroups. Living in the Netherlands, the only skating on tv we saw was on Eurosport. After skaters turned pro, I knew nothing about their next endeavours, until I found some magazines where I could read about their pro careers and imagine what the programs probably looked like. Sometimes a few skated at the Oberstdorf Gala, so you'd see their pro skating that year. Remember the people selling videotapes online? Living in The Netherlands, I ordered a different video player especially to be able to play the video tapes I bought online from people in the US. Now at least I could watch some of the performances.

The online skating boards and yahoogroups about skating were new for me and I enjoyed finally reading more about skating. I found a yahoogroup who liked G&G. I think it was 2000/2001 probably. I joined. The group was close and shared lots of personal information. The owner was a person named Donna, though I'm not sure if that is the same Donna previously mentioned who apparently wanted to be a Sergei widow (how does that work? is it like nuns marrying Jesus or is it like a sect?) They were quite strict about allowing people in the group. even though I didn't notice that when I joined.

One of the members claimed to regularly go to the rink where Gordeeva skated or perhaps she knew someone who was there often, can't exactly remember. She said Gordeeva wasn't a very nice person, even yelled, etc. The others claimed she never really mourned her loss. This group wasn't dreaming of being with Grinkov after death (as far as I know), most of them had their own life partners whom they loved very much. They did say that Gordeeva was still talking about being a widow in public while in private life moving on. From what I understood and remember, I think that was what bothered them te most, that and according to them Gordeeva not properly mourning Grinkov and moving on too fast for their taste.

I felt at the time that perhaps the people behind her public image wanted Gordeeva to have the mourning widow image and maybe that's why most interviews for the next few years were mostly about that. In her book she talked about wanting to move on and enjoy life, letting Grinkov rest and build a new life with her daughter. Maybe the pr people thought she'd sell more products with the image they gave her, even after she really was moving on. It's better to stay quiet about your personal life than telling fans untrue stories imho, if that is what was really happening behind the scenes: I don't know. Besides, just because someone is famous, it doesn't mean that that person owes the public every personal detail. If she really was holding up an image in front of fans which was the opposite of what her personal life was, that was unfair imho, both to herself and to her fans.

Anyway, I was a stupidly naive 22/23 year old who had had a much too sheltered life (at home a very different culture than that from the Dutch even). I believed everything this yahoogroup told me. I couldn't imagine that they would accuse Gordeeva of not mourning and not really caring and holding up a false image, if that weren't true (I know, ironic and stupid of me in hindsight, considering the many crazy fans in de past decades since then). I was disappointed, but still not completely sure if they weren't wrong either about Gordeeva. I began having my doubts about what they were telling me, after a while.

We became friends, it was nice talking to them. At the same time, it was also strange talking to them and then I wondered if they really were friends and if they were even sane. Or healthy for me to spend time with, thinking about what I was going through (too much was happening in my personal life, to the point of breaking me).

You see, I also admired the skating of Kulik, and when I said nice things about his work, they didn't like it. I remember only one other (also new) member agreeing with me about Kulik. They didn't like him being with Gordeeva, I had doubts myself about this, because after what she went through, I felt she and her daughter needed someone more mature. And I also wondered if she was the right person for him. They had such different life experiences. Then I reminded myself: we know nothing about their personal life and we could all be wrong.

But the ladies in the group claimed that they knew people who had seen Gordeeva en Kulik not having a healthy and good relationship and they were bad for each other. Sometimes though, it was okay to say nice things about Kulik. And even Gordeeva. One of the worst things they claimed was: Gordeeva made sure to become pregnant, so Kulik would stay with her. They were absolutely sure about this.

When she was signing books, some of the same members who were always saying nasty things about Gordeeva, actually went to the book signing and met her. They loved meeting Gordeeva. But why say such nasty and sometimes even hateful things about her then? Were they schizophrenic, I wondered.

One of them had written a piece about Grinkov not having a car, but Kulik having a car and how that wasn't nice. I was disappointed, did Kulik make sure Grinkov didn't have a car? What was going on I wondered. You know what was going on? Nothing to make a fuss about: Grinkov didn't have that car, because at the time he didn't want to, nobody stopped him from buying one. And Kulik had that car because he did want one. Nothing more. Why make a problem out of this, why write a piece about that and almost make it seem like something nasty was behind one person having that car and the other person not having one?

Things like these were happening all the time in the group. Once I didn't read the messages for months, in those months the group broke up. Now there were 2 groups, I was in both of them, since I didn't argue with them and wasn't interested in picking sides. I hate arguments. Apparently they had an argument over a misunderstanding. One side kept trying and hoping I'd tell the other side that it had been a misunderstanding and share the evidence, the other side wanted to hear nothing about that topic. In the end, I was tired of all of them. I had just wanted to have fun skating conversations. That's how it all began, with just an innocent wish.Even though I had liked talking to people outside of my family and even from different parts in the world, this was increasingly nasty business. So I told the other side what they didn't want to hear, they were angry at me for still mentioning it and I was out of that group. One problem solved. From the other group I slowly distanced myself.

I think I must have been in this group (and groups) for a year or 2. In the end I regretted having shared personal things, I tried to unshare them ("remember what I told you about my personal life? not true, please forget that and I'm sorry, bye"), which didn't work. Better than unsharing was never having shared at all. I learnt a lot from that experience. When people are überfans, I'm extra carfeul with them. And I'm also extra careful about believing what I read about famous people.

The scandals of famous people teach us that yes, many of them give us a different image of their personality or life on purpose, to make money from us after lying to us. Then there are the famous people who have no choice but to give the public a different image from the reality (like having a contract which doesn't allow anything else for example, or being abused and wanting to keep that a secret, etc.). And of course many other famous people really are what they tell us, but have false stories circulating about them.

We can't always know what is true. And perhaps we shouldn't.

 

[canbelto]

Holy hell @sadya that's incredible. I didn't even know about the car jealousy thing.

 

[canbelto]

One other thing: there was a particularly vicious woman who claimed that she lived in the same town as Katia and kids in her school had gone to Katia's home as classmates of Daria and that Katia was "not a good role model for kids." This caused some debate among the Sergei widows whether to contact CPS.

 

[Lemonade20]

The Sergei Grinkov fans, o dear, the memories. Warning, long read ahead:

I remember the old days of the yahoogroups. Living in the Netherlands, the only skating on tv we saw was on Eurosport. After skaters turned pro, I knew nothing about their next endeavours, until I found some magazines where I could read about their pro careers and imagine what the programs probably looked like. Sometimes a few skated at the Oberstdorf Gala, so you'd see their pro skating that year. Remember the people selling videotapes online? Living in The Netherlands, I ordered a different video player especially to be able to play the video tapes I bought online from people in the US. Now at least I could watch some of the performances.

The online skating boards and yahoogroups about skating were new for me and I enjoyed finally reading more about skating. I found a yahoogroup who liked G&G. I think it was 2000/2001 probably. I joined. The group was close and shared lots of personal information. The owner was a person named Donna, though I'm not sure if that is the same Donna previously mentioned who apparently wanted to be a Sergei widow (how does that work? is it like nuns marrying Jesus or is it like a sect?) They were quite strict about allowing people in the group. even though I didn't notice that when I joined.

One of the members claimed to regularly go to the rink where Gordeeva skated or perhaps she knew someone who was there often, can't exactly remember. She said Gordeeva wasn't a very nice person, even yelled, etc. The others claimed she never really mourned her loss. This group wasn't dreaming of being with Grinkov after death (as far as I know), most of them had their own life partners whom they loved very much. They did say that Gordeeva was still talking about being a widow in public while in private life moving on. From what I understood and remember, I think that was what bothered them te most, that and according to them Gordeeva not properly mourning Grinkov and moving on too fast for their taste.

I felt at the time that perhaps the people behind her public image wanted Gordeeva to have the mourning widow image and maybe that's why most interviews for the next few years were mostly about that. In her book she talked about wanting to move on and enjoy life, letting Grinkov rest and build a new life with her daughter. Maybe the pr people thought she'd sell more products with the image they gave her, even after she really was moving on. It's better to stay quiet about your personal life than telling fans untrue stories imho, if that is what was really happening behind the scenes: I don't know. Besides, just because someone is famous, it doesn't mean that that person owes the public every personal detail. If she really was holding up an image in front of fans which was the opposite of what her personal life was, that was unfair imho, both to herself and to her fans.

Anyway, I was a stupidly naive 22/23 year old who had had a much too sheltered life (at home a very different culture than that from the Dutch even). I believed everything this yahoogroup told me. I couldn't imagine that they would accuse Gordeeva of not mourning and not really caring and holding up a false image, if that weren't true (I know, ironic and stupid of me in hindsight, considering the many crazy fans in de past decades since then). I was disappointed, but still not completely sure if they weren't wrong either about Gordeeva. I began having my doubts about what they were telling me, after a while.

We became friends, it was nice talking to them. At the same time, it was also strange talking to them and then I wondered if they really were friends and if they were even sane. Or healthy for me to spend time with, thinking about what I was going through (too much was happening in my personal life, to the point of breaking me).

You see, I also admired the skating of Kulik, and when I said nice things about his work, they didn't like it. I remember only one other (also new) member agreeing with me about Kulik. They didn't like him being with Gordeeva, I had doubts myself about this, because after what she went through, I felt she and her daughter needed someone more mature. And I also wondered if she was the right person for him. They had such different life experiences. Then I reminded myself: we know nothing about their personal life and we could all be wrong.

But the ladies in the group claimed that they knew people who had seen Gordeeva en Kulik not having a healthy and good relationship and they were bad for each other. Sometimes though, it was okay to say nice things about Kulik. And even Gordeeva. One of the worst things they claimed was: Gordeeva made sure to become pregnant, so Kulik would stay with her. They were absolutely sure about this.

When she was signing books, some of the same members who were always saying nasty things about Gordeeva, actually went to the book signing and met her. They loved meeting Gordeeva. But why say such nasty and sometimes even hateful things about her then? Were they schizophrenic, I wondered.

One of them had written a piece about Grinkov not having a car, but Kulik having a car and how that wasn't nice. I was disappointed, did Kulik make sure Grinkov didn't have a car? What was going on I wondered. You know what was going on? Nothing to make a fuss about: Grinkov didn't have that car, because at the time he didn't want to, nobody stopped him from buying one. And Kulik had that car because he did want one. Nothing more. Why make a problem out of this, why write a piece about that and almost make it seem like something nasty was behind one person having that car and the other person not having one?

Things like these were happening all the time in the group. Once I didn't read the messages for months, in those months the group broke up. Now there were 2 groups, I was in both of them, since I didn't argue with them and wasn't interested in picking sides. I hate arguments. Apparently they had an argument over a misunderstanding. One side kept trying and hoping I'd tell the other side that it had been a misunderstanding and share the evidence, the other side wanted to hear nothing about that topic. In the end, I was tired of all of them. I had just wanted to have fun skating conversations. That's how it all began, with just an innocent wish.Even though I had liked talking to people outside of my family and even from different parts in the world, this was increasingly nasty business. So I told the other side what they didn't want to hear, they were angry at me for still mentioning it and I was out of that group. One problem solved. From the other group I slowly distanced myself.

I think I must have been in this group (and groups) for a year or 2. In the end I regretted having shared personal things, I tried to unshare them ("remember what I told you about my personal life? not true, please forget that and I'm sorry, bye"), which didn't work. Better than unsharing was never having shared at all. I learnt a lot from that experience. When people are überfans, I'm extra carfeul with them. And I'm also extra careful about believing what I read about famous people.

The scandals of famous people teach us that yes, many of them give us a different image of their personality or life on purpose, to make money from us after lying to us. Then there are the famous people who have no choice but to give the public a different image from the reality (like having a contract which doesn't allow anything else for example, or being abused and wanting to keep that a secret, etc.). And of course many other famous people really are what they tell us, but have false stories circulating about them.

We can't always know what is true. And perhaps we shouldn't.

I understand why Gordeeva would want to move on, but it didn't sound like her fans accepted that. I know of another skater who divorced quietly but still lets the world know he's happily married just to avoid all of this drama. It irritates that he has to put up a public persona to protect the reality of where he is at now.

 

[Lemonade20]

One other thing: there was a particularly vicious woman who claimed that she lived in the same town as Katia and kids in her school had gone to Katia's home as classmates of Daria and that Katia was "not a good role model for kids." This caused some debate among the Sergei widows whether to contact CPS.

wow

 

[MacMadame]

I watching the "Poohvalanche" showers whenever he competes!

Me too.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

One other thing: there was a particularly vicious woman who claimed that she lived in the same town as Katia and kids in her school had gone to Katia's home as classmates of Daria and that Katia was "not a good role model for kids." This caused some debate among the Sergei widows whether to contact CPS.

The dreaded, demented, demonic anjule?