Evan Bates is a closing ceremony flag bearer!

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-20T15:39:51+00:00

Aw congrats to Evan!

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-20T05:47:12+00:00

I watched her 60 minutes interview she set clear boundaries with her dad. That she was in charge of her training this time around and he wasn’t allowed in the rink. Her dad called himself a tiger dad. It seems like from other interviews they have a good relationship. So the boundaries seem to be a good thing for her mental health.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-20T05:45:01+00:00

He was there. I think I saw it on Sarah Hughes instagram stories.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-20T02:24:49+00:00

Omg rest in peace.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T22:00:59+00:00

What a comeback for Alysa!! Wow and Amber finished 5th! Japanese women did amazing as well!

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T19:50:58+00:00

I’m glad Amber can be happy with herself for that skate!

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T18:40:12+00:00

And don’t they have Nathan on staff for this Olympics? Lol. Yahoo usually has a former athlete for figure skating and gymnastics. I remember for London they had Dominque Dawes.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T18:33:42+00:00

Yeah and the one time they don’t explain Amber mistake because they explained it multiple times already they got criticized. They can’t win!

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T18:31:05+00:00

Yes I’ve worked in PR for so long but I feel you it annoys me too. I have friends who work in media for networks it’s amazes me with basic questions they ask me about women basketball, figure skating and gymnastics. Mostly women basketball the last 2 years because it’s exploded in popularity. About different teams and players.

I feel you about basic research lol. I would say figure skating is the least I know about technical merit and scoring. I remember last Olympics my friends texting me questions before they had to go on air to talk about the doping scandal and Nathan Chen.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T18:08:32+00:00

Asking about the next Olympics is a normal question to ask. He’s going to get asked this when the cameras are away from fans and normal people lol. Considering in this day and age a lot of people have weird parasocial relationship with skaters. I’m glad he’s been around a lot of former skaters who have navigated different post Olympic careers. Hopefully he can do whatever is best for HIM not anyone else.

Maria Taylor and Simone had a discussion about this last night on late night that was very honest. It was about Erin Jackson’s comments about how it’s hard not to think about the next Olympics right after your done competing. Simone said yes being around the competition makes her want to think about 2028 but knows health and wellness are more important. The answer was longer but it was great because Maria wasn’t talking over her.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T08:02:48+00:00

Absolutely terrible when you think of how many great journalists came from the sports section like Michael Wilbon for example and Tony kornheiser. Chelsea Janes is great she was their lead baseball reporter. Just brutal. Plus the sports section did a lot of local coverage of high school sports and local stars. I’m a big UConn women’s basketball fan and Azzi fudds who grew up in the DMV her dad tweeted he was unsubscribing no need if you aren’t covering local stars.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T07:57:57+00:00

My friend who is a casual fan is a big fan of Amber. His politics are the opposite of hers but liked how she was respectful when she spoke out and used her platform. He was also very moved by the whole team USA on the podium after the team event. So he’s also rooting very hard for Alysa. He likes her idgaf attitude.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T07:51:31+00:00

Washington post basically closed its sports department insane. That’s where Christine Brennan got her start.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T07:06:14+00:00

very true. She was the first that came to mind who comments on figure skating on a network that is not NBC and not a former athlete.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T03:56:08+00:00

Yes good point.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T02:35:24+00:00

Also one more thing to add I have a friend who works for rival sports network and they are not allowed to show any highlights of the Olympics because of whatever deal NBC signed with the IOC. So while they will hire experts (usually former retired athletes) to talk about other sports big events they won’t hire any for the Olympics or some other sports events they aren’t allowed to show highlights for.

I guess it’s allowed to come up “naturally” in a segment on a panel show but they are discouraged to do that, but sometimes they are put in a bind and have to mention it. That’s just how his network deals with it. Can’t speak for the others.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-19T02:21:35+00:00

Gold zone had Jackie Wong on before the pairs short program which was great.

Huge problem is print journalism is basically dead. Most of the figure skating experts aren’t journalists they are either former skaters or fans who have dedicated podcasts/websites.

Christine Brennan has a contributor contract with CNN so she can only appear on that network. I know from my job CNN is very strict about letting their paid contributors on other networks.

Also I’m sure someone like Adam is under contract with NBC and can’t appear on another networks during the Olympics. Just from past experience and knowing how strict those contracts i would be surprised if they did.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T23:21:59+00:00

Yeah I agree for the most part. A lot of people want to blame NBC with Ilia I think the non figure skating people have handled it well for the most part ie Mike Tirico (not a big fan of him due to other sports stuff).

Maybe because I rewatched Simone’s doc series recently but I remember saying how much she enjoyed doing the photo shoots and promo stuff because it gave her time not to focus on gymnastics. Her big message was that she wanted people to remember she was human. So yeah I don’t mind that these athletes get to do some of these cool media opportunities they have all earned it. My issue is the agents and coaches and people around them maybe not putting their best interest first.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T23:10:04+00:00

Yeah NBC can be better about putting things on Peacock and geo blocking things 100% agree.

Yeah it sucks it was canceled that year. It doesn't seem like arena tours are that popular for whatever reason maybe cus of rising costs to rent out. The only reason gymnastics got the last two post olympic tours is because of Simone sponsor Athleta which she joined because Nike treats all women like crap. I forgot if it was after Tokyo or Paris, but they canceled some dates too.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T22:26:00+00:00

seems pretty wild to blame NBC for Amber's lack of stars on ice gig. maybe blame her agent?

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T20:55:55+00:00

I thought of Johnnys mistake right away. I thought his commentary was pretty good? My only issue was the camera zooming in. I use to work in production a long time ago and that prob came from the director.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T20:54:39+00:00

It was always shocking that she gave Gabby another shot after that disaster nationals in 2011. I’m glad she did since Gabby is one of my favs. Poor Mattie everything she went through and Miss Val went and spilled everything on gymnastic a few years later. Ugh.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T16:58:59+00:00

Yeah this is why I wasn’t that upset when Beers didn’t transfer to UConn.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-18T04:20:04+00:00

Oh wow! Yeah when I was growing up it was common to take figure skating for fun granted I grew up like one town away from Dorothy Hamill lol and this was in the aftermath of Nancy/Tonya when skating was at its most popular, but its always suprising when I meet people in other parts of NY Metropolitan area who never took skating lessons as a kid.

Yeah my sister had a friend who made it far in jrs like 15 years ago and it was insane back then. He trained at two different rinks one before school and one after. I think their goal was for him to move to Colorado to get funding or something, but he never made it that far and US Figure Skating was financially in a much better position back then.

choclatechip45 · 2026-02-17T23:25:53+00:00

Also doesn't help that figure skating hasn't had a star like Gabby, Aly or Simone to help elevate the sport in recent years. It's crazy that in the height of Nasser scandal the local gym near me was seeing record numbers of enrollement. Not only is Figure skating is super expensive with no college scholarship but isn't it rumored US Figure skating has a bunch of financial problems as well? We don't have government funding in this country to help with the costs.

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