Tuesday, January 25, 2011

USFSFU

From Johnny's website.


Well. I hardly know where to begin.

So yesterday we had a lot of picspam to roll around in/on to help ease our minds after the bizarre Case of the Disappearing Johnny-Love Posts and Photos from the USFS Facebook Page, in which we posted many polite requests to USFS asking them to invite Johnny to skate in the exhibition this coming Sunday after he receives his Readers' Choice Award because they're bending the rules to invite Evan to skate so why not Johnny because he's Skater of the Year FOR A REASON blah blah blah, and in which our requests were met with stony silence, then deletion, then a complete lockdown of the USFS page forbidding anyone to post.

And I noted that apparently the USFS PR team had trained under Stalin after flunking out of PR 101.

So then I was quite surprised yesterday afternoon when I was Facebooking from my phone and saw that my friend Bea had posted, "Have you noticed that all Johnny posts on USFS FB are on the wall again? Or is it just me?"

And no, it wasn't just her.

Suddenly all the posts and photos--or nearly all, as some fans said they still couldn't find theirs--really were back on the USFS wall.

Yay us!

Here is the actualfax conversation that ensued with my two teenagers:

Me [cracking up]: Oh my God. So they didn't delete everything--they must have just changed their settings so that only USFS posts would show, and only USFS could post. And now they've changed it all back. So we've gone from training under Stalin to graduating from Lolwut University ...

Son: ... having studied under Professor Bipolar and earning a degree in WTFery ...

Me [crying with laughter]: OMG. Can you believe these people?

Daughter: Yes. And that's the sad part.

Yes, it is.

But not the saddest part.

So OK then. The posts and photos are back, and they're lovely,
and a few more have been added, which also are lovely, and so
that was going to be the extent of today's blog: Chortling at the ridiculousness of it all, and wistfully nurturing a tiny tiny seed of renewed hope because hey, at least anybody who visits their page can see our reasoned, polite pleas and some really beautiful photos and maybe even quietly join in ...

So that was happy.

And THEN I happened to check out Johnny's website in the wee hours of this morning because I live a strange life, and I saw the new graphic above. How exciting!

And so I dutifully clicked for details and landed on this page which says:

"During the men’s free skate competition, Johnny will be presented with the Readers’ Choice Skater of the Year Award (Michelle Kwan Trophy) in a ceremony scheduled for 3:30 pm on Sunday, January 30."

Wait WHAT?

WTF 3:30 pm on Sunday?? "During the men's free skate" ... ???

HELLO THEY ALWAYS DO IT AT THE EXHIBITION WHICH STARTS AT 7:15 PM.

So I checked his Events page and yep, it's been updated to say the same thing.

So THEN I checked the NC2011 schedule AGAIN and guess what's going on at 3:30 pm on Sunday?

Well, that is indeed smackdab in the middle of the men's free skate competition--just about the time they bring out the Zamboni to resurface the ice for the second half.

OMFG.

So that's USFS's final answer.

And here's the saddest part: I think this was their intent from the start--which is why he's never been listed on their official exhibition schedule all this time.

Not only did they never intend to invite him--or even entertain the thought--to SKATE in the exhibition, they decided to remove all doubt and not even give him his AWARD at the exhibition. Thus allowing the "Smuckers Skating Spectacular" to truly be "The Evan Show." Because apparently Smuckers (oh look! There he is again!) now owns the USFS as well as "Stars on Ice."

And maybe that's the saddest part of all--that a sport can be sold to a title sponsor, who can then briskly call all the shots for their willing hostage. Yes, I know the federation has been nothing but asshats to Johnny since before Smucker's started underwriting the exhibition. But the combination of USFS and Smucker's seems absolutely toxic, for both Johnny and the sport as a whole--IMO, and just speaking as an outsider who doesn't give a rat's ass that "this is how we've always done things," except it isn't, and BTW the minute any organization starts saying sh*t like that, they've moved way past "out of touch," completely overshot "irrelevant," and are now mired in a tar pit--that one last sticky step before extinction.

So: Johnny gets to accept his award over the loud hum of the Zamboni exactly 30 minutes BEFORE NBC begins its live coverage of the men's free skate, which starts at 4 pm EST / 3 pm CST.

So no presentation at the exhibition. No TV coverage. No nothing.

Dunno if he gets to make a speech or not--but judging by last time (page 228 in the book), I'm not betting on it.

I don't evan know what to say.

But I bet I'll think of something.



Johnny tweeted recently:
"Buy my single,'Dirty Love' via iTunes.
Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold
takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!"
THE WORLD NEEDS THIS VIDEO
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
You know what to do.
Please buy the song from Johnny's website,
or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!



Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!



Designer T. Rains and Johnny have teamed up to raise money and awareness for The Trevor Project! This organization is "determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources." Proceeds from the "Army of One" t-shirt sales will go to The Trevor Project foundation. Order yours today! Your support is greatly appreciated!
For more information, please visit www.thetrevorproject.org.



Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnny
perfect for any/every room in the house!
Prints of artist Peter Jurik's "Showtime!"
are available for purchase from his website.
More info here!

Please remember to
register to receive
the JW Art Project's email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the Artbook when you sign up!

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

7 comments:

germansoulmate said...

Can´t write right now (wait, I just do it). But that´s not the point.

I´m angry. I´m really angry right now. How blatantly a**holery can they get. Are there any limits at all? I guess not.

I will restrain my boiling self right now to continue to rant, not in quiet, but loudly in my store...my poor customers. They won´t know what has hit them.

Maggie St. said...

Well, there goes any support I would have given to the USFS.

Beyond angry. Beyond disappointed. Unfortunately, not surprised.

Anonymous said...

I can NOT believe this crap! I really can NOT! So now they are altering their own rules or traditions...WTF????

The only thing that makes me feel at all better is that Johnny IS the better skater, I just saw Evan skate last weekend and ahem....well, lets just say Johnny Weir can currently kick his ass skating any day.

I will be there, I will be cheering...Loudly I might add, for Johnny, when he gets his award...and they can NOT take that away.♥♥♥

Beth

WheresMyKoppy said...

Good job MM!

Sigh. I'm not sure if I'm really ready to believe they did this on purpose just because it was Johnny (either Smuckers or the USFSA)... But I don't know! The problem is, most people will never know the difference, and won't have a clue about any of the behind the scenes manuevering. And if anyone were to tell them it would likely make Johnny look bad and like he has whiny, bitter fans who hold a grudge. Which we are not and never have been.

This sort of BS is the biggest reason I'm not sure I ever want Johnny Weir to go back to competing on an eligible level.

The USFSA needs a corporate sponsor, and in this case that happens to be Smuckers. With the economy in the state it is now they can't afford to lose them because they might not be able to find another. Hence their association with both Smuckers and Stars On Ice. We can't really know who is dictating the policies we are seeing, and we can't honestly know if they are truly aiming all this directly at Johnny Weir. However, it certainly does look suspicious.

Debora Walsh said...

Thanks for posting a blog MM that was actually disturbing enough to me, to make my bronchitis actually feel better by comparison!

I find myself agreeing with WheresMyKoppy, and I feel like I wouldn't believe any excuse or reason thay came up with to justify it anyway.

I'm ecstatic that Johnny won the award and he will be there to accept it. Whether they lay down the red carpet or try to sweep him under it...

He is the winner.
He is the better skater.
He is the bigger star.
He is the bigger man.
And despite the efforts of so many people to promote another image, HE HAS BECOME THE FACE OF MODERN FIGURE SKATING!
And this is exactly what THEY were afraid of all along...Bravo Johnnny!

I wouldn't care if they handed him the trophy in a broom closet, he won it! And I hope there are enough Johnny fans to record the ceremony no matter how spartan, just so we can continue to view it, judge it and make sure we can post it ad infinitum.

I look forward to you "thinking of something" cuz it's always gewd!

FuzzerWuzzer said...

Thanks for this post. As a fan of Johnny since 2001, I am THRILLED to know the rest of the world is seeing what I did at little competitions. Now J belongs to ALL of us, kinda like Santa Claus and snowflakes--I'm sorry, I have to gush!--and this is typical of the US-SFW(that's what I call them, and I'm a skater, too.) I actually let my membership lapse because I was on the fence about how they treat certain skaters. I used to skate at a very "Evan" rink, meaning they loved him UGH, so I roll my eyes at all the b.s. Meeting Johnny in 2004 was life-changing for me and he's got a good soul. Why the good ones have to suffer? I dunno. But this is typical. Unless Tonya and Nancy come back to battle it out (Big Teeth vs. Big Ass?) this is the state of skating today. there were plenty of gay skaters during the helm of Scott Hamilton's reign, I guess SOI took the power away from him? They don't have Sandra Bezic around anymore, so I'm sure the show sucks. If it doesn't have Johnny? I'm not going. But yes, this crappo zamboni thing is to try and put J in his place. HA! As if they ever could! Canada did the same thing to Toller Cranston and he turned out to be a legend! Thanks for the great blog. It keeps me happy!

aaaack said...

The USFS behaves so cheesy. I'm so embarrassed for them. What antics will they come up with next? Reminds me of this cat photo: http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/c3901efc-3398-4abe-a08a-05a37bbda6d0.jpg

(And I'm having a ball reading my way backwards through missed blogs.)