Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Congratulations, Johnny: USFSA's Figure Skater of the Year!

Johnny Weir,
USFSA Readers' Choice Figure Skater of the Year,
at the end of his Fallen Angel
free skate program
in the 2010 Olympics.


I love irony.

I love that the God of my heart loves irony too.

I love that despite the USFSA's desperately determined efforts to ignore, bury, and distance themselves from Johnny Weir--their own three-time National Champion and two-time Olympian; despite the fact that his picture does not even appear with those of other skaters at the top of the USFSA website (yes, I realize that those are all 2010 medalists but he's more popular than all of them combined and his photo there would draw more visitors to explore the site--it's called "marketing savvy," USFSA); despite the fact that they pushed his name down to the third spot on the pulldown menu for "Figure Skater of the Year" (yes, I also realize the names were in order of the skaters' places at Nationals, but it makes me happy to be continuously annoyed with the USFSA so please don't interrupt me with additional facts when my rant is gathering steam); despite the fact that they completely left him out of the voting for "Greatest Skater Ever" even though he has singlehandedly drawn thousands of new fans to figure skating at a time when the sport's popularity has been declining; especially despite the cruelly myopic and truly indefensible judging of his soaring Olympic performances and the complete absence of USFSA support at his post-Olympic press conference; despite it all--

He won USFSA Readers' Choice Figure Skater of the Year! (again!)

YES!!!!!

[insert standing ovation here accompanied by creative hand gestures enthusiastically directed at the USFSA. Although even if they squint, their eyesight is obviously too poor to be able to discern what we're doing. Plus their stone faces make squinting difficult.]

I guess this is one competition even the USFSA couldn't f*ck up find a way to skew in someone else's favor.

Because this one wasn't up to them.

This one was decided by the people, who don't need a "Code of Points" or "GOE" or other incomprehensible numbers to be able to instinctively identify unequalled beauty, artistry, athleticism, and grace on the ice; who know bias, backroom deals, and appalling unfairness when they see it; who found themselves completely transported by Johnny's Olympic performances; who fell in love with him while following his struggles and triumphs as he allowed BGJW cameras to unsparingly chronicle his journey leading up to and including the 2010 Olympics; and who seized this chance to show the USFSA what everyone else in the world--or at least anyone who has eyes and a heart--can see:

Johnny Weir is a true champion.

And he's also the son of a very wise woman, who, when asked by the incomparable Viacheslav Romanov, "What destiny for Johnny?" answered, "To be a figure skater for the people ... more so than a figure skater for judges."

Absolutely. Patti Weir FTW.

So big, big congratulations, Johnny! We fans are so thrilled and so proud! And though Figure Skater of the Year doesn't even begin to cover it, it's a wonderful honor, and you have earned every inch of that trophy.

As well as a place in the hearts of people everywhere, who love you not only for what you do so brilliantly on the ice, but also for who you are.



In honor of Johnny's win, we're pleased to announce two new additions to our JWe-TV programming lineup! Join us each week for exciting episodes of:

Program Justice!: Watch all Johnny’s competition programs following 2006 … only this time they’re scored by an impartial panel of robot judges. Although these automatons lack the ability to feel any human emotion whatsoever, EVEN THEIR SOULLESS MICROPROCESSORS are keen enough to sense that he has been grossly underscored. All scores are corrected, and then we hop in a time machine to hurry back and rewrite history correctly! (Note: No robots were harmed in the making of this program, though one model EL6.485 was mysteriously found ripped limb-from-hard-drive behind a Chuck-E-Cheese's in Jersey City [motto: "Stay classy!"]. No suspects have been identified, but no one evan knows what those are anyway … )

The Johnny Awards: Just endless--and endlessly satisfying--replays of Johnny receiving medals, awards, honors, additional medals, crowns of roses, trophies, and yet more medals, all accompanied by cheering crowds and standing ovations. Future episodes include footage of him accepting his Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, Video Music Award, Pulitzer, the Nobel Peace Prize, and of course the gold medal at Sochi in 2014 ... :)

[la la la I haz a happy la la la la la]


Please check out Johnny's new entry
on the Sundance Channel's SUNFiltered blog!
At last the world knows why they're called "Dingles"!

Hey! You can purchase a T-shirt to wear
in Sun Valley or Lake Placid
in honor of our Ride for Life project!
We exceeded our $7,500 donation goal,
so now we're aiming for $10,000!
We're less than $2,000 away,
and we have until July 31 to get there!
Shirts are $20 each including shipping,
and $10 of that goes directly toward AIDS/LifeCycle!
Everything you need to know about ordering is here!

Very special thanks to Facebook fans
Nicole Davis and Jessica Lane
for Program Justice!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

18 comments:

germansoulmate said...

*very wide smile her* I´m so happy for our boy.
He deserves it so much.

Annie said...

You are my news reel... THANK YOU for letting us know and for reminding us to keep voting. I couldn't be more pleased with this. I am sure it will mean a lot to him and his family.

Ann

aaaack said...

Please post a version of this blog at www.dailykos.com. I think this would be very cheering, uplifting news for many many people. News organizations also monitor dailykos. This news has implications beyond the skating community. The people have just spoken.

bsontwit said...

Johnny Weir is more than figure skater of the year - hes the best figure skater of all time! So glad he won this, so glad I could help by voting and voting and voting...lol

Johnnys skating has brought happiness to my life for years and I am so glad there was a way we could give him something back that he truly deserved. love you Johnny-the person and the figure skater!

aaaack said...

Thanks also to you for your many reminders to keep voting for this and that and every other thing.

Anonymous said...

Yay, Johnny! Yay, fans!

I love this award primarily because Johnny deserves it, but also because it's so "in your face, USFSA!"

USFSA's lack of support for Johnny, not just this year, but for many years--and their obvious disrespect and blatant attempts to distance themselves from him--"Let's sorta hide him from the public, and hope no one notices"--has been both appalling and short-sighted. They should be promoting him, enthusiastically.

Oh, and "no one evan knows what those are anyway." Either that's a clever pun or a wonderful Freudian slip. Works either way.

--Nancy K.

Lisa said...

Beautifully written, Binky! You couldn't be more on point when you say Johnny's big personality and artistry draws more and more people to the sport. I never paid attention to male figure skating one way or the other until the 2010 Olympics, and now I find myself paying attention. I am sure I'm not alone.

Wendy S said...

Totally sat at my desk and cried when I heard this afternoon -- courtesy of the "misfitmimes new blog post alert" in my email inbox.

I am so happy for you, Johnny!!

I'm just still kind of speechless over this. I wanted it so much for him, but there were many popular skaters in the running...

Someone hug me!

germansoulmate said...

"..and you have earned every inch of that trophy.

As well as a place in the hearts of people everywhere, who love you not only for what you do so brilliantly on the ice, but also for who you are."

This...so much.

akiko said...

Standing ovation for Johnny and you.
Thank you, Misfit!!!

Lauren / Ren said...

YES!! YES!! YES!! Oh Johnny Sweet Heart I'm so happy for you!! ♥

Hugs for Wendy!! :D

Anonymous said...

This award speaks volumes! Congratulations to Johnny and the fans who have shown him how much he is treasured.

TK

Li Mann said...

Echoing my sentiments exactly Binky! And might I add:

RARA-AH UHAAH
ROMA-ROMA-MA,
GA-GA-OOH LA-LA,
WON A BIG TRO-OPHYYYY!
(sing to Bad Romance melody of course, shaking hips and gleefully bouncing around the room with monster hands aloft...)

PumaJ said...

Beautiful writing as usual, dearest MM:-)

My heart is absolutely singing for Johnny. We the people know the truth when we see it and the truth is that Johnny is the best. End of story:-)

WheresMyKoppy said...

MM, like I said on FB, one of the things I like best about Johnny winning this award is that it was one vote per email. This means that he got a LOT of votes from a LOT of different people. This wasn't something we could fool around with and spam vote on and have fun with. I did my part passing the link around and encouraging people to vote for Johnny, but I didn't and couldn't make anyone vote for Johnny. I did get a few emails back from people telling me they had voted for Johnny because they felt he deserved. It says a lot for Johnny that so many people feel this way.

And as far as the USFSA, sorry for your short sightedness in relation to Johnny Weir and your lack of support of him. I'd like to hope you've learned your lesson after this, but considering you haven't before this, I kind of doubt it!

Anonymous said...

I love that you know the diff b/w the god of your heart and the public god. salome.

Anonymous said...

"insert standing ovation here accompanied by creative hand gestures enthusiastically directed at the USFSA."

hell, YEAH!! i'm throwing in a few dozen hand gestures of my own!

sooooo glad he won this - he completely and absolutely deserves it!

UniversallySuckyFatheadedSloringAsshats = perfect! and also #notallowedinWeirlandiacausetheybringthevibedown see also #suckinessthattheyshouldbereallyembarrassedby and #OMGitsnotcontagiousisit?

♥♥

Robin aka Princess Johnny-Love

noviarium said...

WE MADE IT!!!

(hour long standing ovation as much for Johnny Weir as for his militant, loyal, diverse, very much global, and all kinds of wonderful fans]

I can't say anything anymore. Crying now, with joy.

Congratulations, Johnny! A well-deserved award!