This made me so sick. Even if Eric’s wording could’ve been better, he is still a very competent person worthy of the Athletes Commission. And he even deleted the tweets in question afterwards.
Skating fans have been really out of control lately on social media.
The reactions to things are irrational and out of proportion. There’s also been a social media hate campaign against Nathan and, to a lesser extent, Vincent for being allegedly overscored at Worlds (among other sins). Some fans who are angry about the American men’s medals and the Mariah/Eunsoo incident at Worlds are taking it a step further into general anti-Americanism. Or maybe anti-North Americanism, adding in this attack on Eric—the petition explicitly accuses him of pro-North American bias.
It’s all
Ugh, I agree so much with this. When I joined the fandom a few years ago, it was a happy and enjoyable place to be. But ever since Coughlin’s death and the Mariah/Eunsoo situation, it’s become an ugly place to be. I muted and unfollowed so many people over it. It sucks to lose friends over it, but I’m not going to change where I stand on these things.
What’s frustrating is that some (not all) of the people think they are doing the right thing, but taking it too far. It’s fair and correct to hold Coughlin accountable for his crimes. It’s not fair to stop supporting any skater who mourned his death. It’s okay to consider that Mariah
might have attacked Eunsoo; it’s not okay to blatantly say she did until there’s been a proper investigation, and it’s not reasonable to expect the entire skating world to condemn Mariah based on suspicions.
I have personal reasons for disliking Vincent, and I do find him overscored in comparison to Nathan and Yuzuru, but he deserved his bronze medal fair and square.
Nathan 100% deserves his world title. I think Yuzuru is the better all-around skater, but he made a big mistake in the short program and Nathan didn’t. A champion like Yuzuru will both win and lose in his career, and it’s okay.
Really, targeting Eric, Ashley, and Joe seems like misguided anger. They were simply sharing their opinions, and whether we agree with them or not is our own business. I didn’t agree with 100% of what they said, but I don’t think it makes them bad people, and I’m not going to hate them forever because of it.
Figure skaters are real people - often very young people who have not had a typical life. They will say things and do things that we don’t like. If we cancel every skater for the slightest things, we are choosing to love only perfect people, and they don’t exist. I think many people love the Japanese skaters because they are “unproblematic”, but that’s because many of them don’t have Twitter accounts to tweet their opinions, or people love some of the Russian ladies because they are seemingly too young and innocent to cause a fuss.
Personally, I like skaters who are honest, who make mistakes, and who share their opinions. For me, they seem more personable, even if I don’t agree with everything they believe.
I think people are just trying to make a drama in the coming off-season...
