I know I’ve been gone for a while, but trust me I’m back–with the same bitch and the same bite.

It's not uncommon to see a gay man exhibit blatant homophobia, especially one who so desperately needs attention, but even so I was shocked and appalled by the video of former figure skater and out television personality and commentator Mark Lund ripping 3-time National Champion Johnny Weir a new one. So now, I will do the same to him.

A recent special aired on which Mark Lund, Nancy Kerrigan (yes, go on and roll your eyes–I did too), and Lou Tilley weighed in on the upcoming U.S. Figure Skating National Championship, and decided to compare young up and comers Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir. Throughout the program, Lund repeatedly and vehemently criticizes Johnny for being flamboyantly gay–except without really saying those exact words.

Here is the video of the infamous appearance:

I just can't get over just how overly out he is without saying he's out". Uhh, are we forgetting Mr. Z-List Has-Been that you weren't out at Johnny's age either? "I just don't think he's representative of the community I want to be a part of". What the hell are you even talking about? The gay community wouldn't want to have a member of it be a three time U.S. champion and one of the most celebrated male figure skaters since Brian Boitano? Not to mention the fact that Johnny has never actually said he's gay anyway, insisting that his private life stay his private life. He never asked to be a poster boy for anyone.

But anyone with two ears and a brain can figure out Lund is obviously referring to Johnny's femininity, which he clearly disapproves of. Later in the program he says “Lysacek has a classical elegance and masculinity on the ice that I think we need to see in male figure skating. I’m sorry. I don’t need to see a prima ballerina on the ice.” What do you mean? Are you forgetting the dozens of effeminate male figure skaters that came before Johnny that were largely successful and beloved by fans of the sport?

As sure as I stand, Lund is surely dealing with a ridiculous amount of self-hatred. "Well let's see, maybe if I criticize everything that seems gay about Johnny Weir, and praise everything that seems straight about Evan Lysacek, the straighties will love me more and forget my eyebrows look like they were done by Zsa Zsa Gabor." Watching the program, it's sickening. He spouts out everything he possibly can to scathingly attack Johnny–as a skater and as a person.

In reference to Evan Lysacek he says "He has a classical elegance and masculinity on the ice that I think we need to see in male figure skating". Okay, we get it. You like Evan because he's masculine, and you hate Johnny because he doesn't live up to your oh-so-rigid standards of how a man should move on the ice. I'm really not sure what Evan Lysacek this man has met, or maybe they have some kind of relationship we don't know about going on behind the scenes, but Evan is hardly the king of masculinity. On one message board someone asked if Evan had grown a beard. Someone then posted a picture of Evan's rumored girlfriend.

"You cannot, I'm sorry–compare yourself to the lord savior as a figure skater" he says, in reference to a program Johnny is doing that is loosely based on Jesus Christ. First off, he's not comparing himself to Jesus. That's like saying Jim Caviezel is comparing himself to Jesus because he played him in that horrible film The Passion of the Christ. It's figure skating, it's entertainment. And if anyone knows a figure skater's program tells a story, it's Johnny Weir, who is known for gliding across the ice like "liquid gold" (a term that figure skating legend Dick Button used to describe how magnificent Johnny's skating was) and fully submitting yourself to the program as both an athlete and an artist. What's even funnier, is that his beloved Evan was skating to Jesus music RIGHT in the footage they were showing as they continued to blast Johnny like he had murdered their mothers.

Yet another has been, Nancy Kerrigan goes on to say "I think that Evan has a more classic style", which really means he's less gay, and "it can relate to more people, where Johnny is a little more out there and it's hard for people at home to relate." Right, America so relates to Evan Lysacek, and is so turned off by Weir, yet at the 2005 Marshall's U.S. Figure Skating Showcase, where the winner is based off of votes from viewers at home, Johnny came in first. And at this year's Marshall's Johnny came in second only to Sasha Cohen. Where was their beloved Evan Lysacek you ask? Oops, he didn't even make it past the first round. So much for relatability.

How does Kerrigan have her own show? Does anyone even care what she has to say, or how much bigger her nostrils have gotten this year? Like Michael Jensen said over at After Elton.com, "Where's Tonya Harding and her tire iron when you need her?"  This isn't the first time Ms. Kerrigan has opened up her mouth a little too wide.  She was rebuked back in 1994 for complaining and cursing at a Disney parade while her mic was on, unbeknownst to her. 

Apparently not the sweetheart we thought she was.  Let's not dwell on the fact that the outfit she's wearing in the video is something I swear I wore to a play rehearsal in third grade.  The style died out in the early nineties along with her talent and career.

Johnny has continued to be one of the most talked about and popular skaters in figure skating, and is known for his devoted and visible legion of fans called "Johnny's Angels". If anything he brings more people and attention to a sport that often gets overlooked, and is deemed boring by many.

His effeminate quality is in a way what makes him such an incredible skater. He has this elegance, this class, fluidity and grace on the ice that I've never seen from a male skater before. His artistry is unrivaled, and his landings are flawless.  Somehow he's managed to be at the top of the sport, even though he didn't even begin skating until the age of 12.  To posess the kind of talent that the does, and not have started skating early in his childhood like most skaters–it's mindblowing.  He's a prodigy. 

Who cares about what he says off the ice?  Who cares about how gay you think his costumes are.

The end of the video is what pissed me off the most, especially coming from people who seem to be trying to pass themselves off as legitimate commentators (which is funny seeing as how everything up until this point has been them attacking Johnny based on things that have nothing to do with his performance on the ice). 

Lou Tilley has the nerve to say "We can all agree, no matter what community we represent, that the swan thing was a bad idea".  Excuse me?  Hold on, give me a second to wipe up the coffee I just spit all over my damn keyboard. 

Johnny's signature "The Swan" program was the first thing I'd ever seen him skate, and to date the most beautiful program from a male skater I have seen in my life.  It literally brought me to tears.  30 seconds of his Swan program owns half the skaters today's lives.  Johnny's had some flat programs over the years, some pretty self-indulgent.  But how you can criticize "The Swan" is just beyond me and proof enough that these people either have no idea what they're talking about or are just purposely trying to ruffle up some feathers in the name of their excuse for a show that no one had even heard of before yesterday.

Maybe Lund was attempting to scrape up some semblance of celebrity by going on this tirade against a beloved figure skater.  Maybe he thinks it makes him look cool and hip to be criticizing popular skaters.  Funny thing is, his plan seems to have backfired.  Not only are Johnny Weir's fans out for his blood, but the gay community is bending him over and spanking him with a wet paddle like he were a red-headed stepchild.  Some of the comments have been both hilarious and downright brutal.

"He went from zero (I had never heard of the ass until today) to my shit list in record time (the time it took to view the video)."

"Obviously Mr Lund scored an 12.5 on “straight acting.com” & he prefers his skaters in black leather a la Rob Halford, rather than in Freddy Mercury spandex"

"As for Johnny, he is only 21, and at a time in his life where he’s still figuring out what he believes and who he is. Mark Lund wasn’t able to come out at this age so it’s hypocritical of him to insist that Johnny do it."

"What the hell is wrong with Lund? Why is it always the Queen with the low self-esteem bringing everyone down specially their own. I can believe Lund of all people talks about how on-masculine he is. Maybe Lund is just jealous that Johnny does all those girly things on the ice that he never had the gutts to do in his own carrier, and Johnny more then succeeds at it.

Good luck in that little pool of misery that you live in. I don’t put up with homophobia( or in his case Feminiphobia) from straight people and I most certainly won’t put up with it from gay ones."

Looks like Mr. Lund is clearly headed for rock bottom, and I can't wait to rejoice as Johnny wins his 4th national title and Mark gets cast on the next season of The Surreal Life (he has nothing better to do, as he was fired from International Figure Skating magazine).  What can you do to stop this sad soul from doing this again?  Contact him either at info@marklundtv.com or through his Wikipedia page (which by the way, he edits himself) and give him a piece of your mind. Good luck to Johnny and Evan (who are both fine skaters) at this year's Nationals.

OMG OMG OMG. Sorry, I’m calm now. It’s just…these are two of my most favorite people in the fucking world. And my head is exploding. Marry me Johnny.

Source: Falls-Church News Press

In what could evolve into the biggest scandal hitting the figure skating world since the infamous results-fixing by the French judge in the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, the U.S. skating world is now abuzz with leaked reports that broke into the New York Daily News last week concerning efforts by leading officials to “push aside” reigning and three-time U.S. men’s champion Johnny Weir.

After winning his third straight U.S. title in St. Louis in January, the flamboyant and outspoken Weir became a major “item” at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy, in February for his brassy remarks and focus on fashion, which only heightened the anger of his critics when he fell from second to fifth in his competition and failed to bring home a medal.

Now, leaked accounts of a secret and subtle but concerted effort by U.S. skating officials to downplay his role and elevate that of one of his competitors, Evan Lysacek, surfaced when a web site and pamphlet promoting next January’s U.S. championships in January 2007 in Spokane, Washington, failed to display a single image or mention of Weir, despite his reigning championship status.

The reports were first mentioned on a popular on-line blog, Deadspin, which entitled a piece “The Johnny Weir Blackball” (www.deadspin.com/sports/olympics/the-johnny-weir-blackball-167122.php), on Friday, April 14, and raced like a prairie fire through the Internet, being picked up by the Daily News the very next day. By Monday, a small thumb-nail image of Weir had been pasted onto the home page of the web site and officials of the U.S. Figure Skating Association in Colorado Springs, Colorado, were in a highly-defensive mode, denying all.

Still, observers note that there have been more than a few indicators in recent months that could suggest Weir is being “blackballed.” Suffering from dwindling general interest and attendance at major events, the U.S. figure skating brass, they suggest, may be trying to “straighten up” the sport’s image, finding Weir too “out there“ and prone to criticism for his articulate, public expressions of a proud individuality and, among other things, public questions about his sexuality. This is despite the fact that Weir has won thousands of new fans with his fresh “pop star”-like image, as well as the quality of his skating, and could have something to do with political pressures, as well, especially given Weir’s “the establishment can’t handle me” remarks at the Olympics.

But as for image, officials of the sport have more to be concerned for its already-shaky one, tainted by just such allegations of subjective influence over what is supposed to be an objective competition, a problem that reached a breaking point in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Since then, the sport has undergone an overhaul of its “scoring system” to address just such concerns, with the results far less than satisfactory to many followers of the sport. The new system now subjects every move of a skater to rigid point accumulation criteria.

Weir has complained of the new system, saying such things as, “It gives you points for being able to chew on your shoes,“ and it hurt him in Turino, because concern for artistic expression became so subordinated to a preoccupation with racking up points.

For example, one avid and knowledgeable fan noted in a letter to the News-Press following the Turino Olympics, “I watched every minute of the skating competitions and without a doubt Johnny Weir was the most emotional and creative skater. It was horrible watching (Evgeni) Plushenko (the eventual gold medal winner-ed.) in his free skate moving from jump to jump with no emotion, no creativity, just working for the big points on each jump. Maybe this new point system isn’t all that great.”

Responding to reports of the Weir “blackball” effort, observers go back to December, when U.S. organizers of the sport revamped the Campbell’s Challenge event in Boston to remove all “objectivity” and make the event into a version of “American Idol.” Instead of strict judging, the skaters were rated by a three-person panel that included some of the most deeply embedded insiders in the top levels of the sport’s establishment.

Following the opening and decisive round, these three “judges” all subjectively chose someone besides Weir, the two-time defending U.S. champ at the time, with two favoring Lysacek. But their efforts to influence the public perception was frustrated when viewers voting from home by text messaging and telephone calls still favored Weir, overwhelmingly.

For this next December, it has already been announced, there will be no public voting component to the Campbell’s event.

At the U.S. championships in January, Weir skated to his highest point total ever in the short program, and did a solid job in the free skate. But observers noted that the final outcome was far closer than might have seemed appropriate. It took a very long time for the final tabulations to be announced, and alleged hopes by some top brass that Weir might be deposed simply didn’t turn up in the final numbers, although it was very close.

Finally, at the Olympics in February, many have questioned the sudden nose dive in Weir’s results from second place after the short program all the way to fifth following the free skate. Weir’s was not a flawless free skate, they note, but neither were those of the other skaters, all except perhaps Plushenko.

But there is a mood in the Internet world now that is incensed at the very notion of powerful, vested self-interest establishment types trying to screw over those who don’t like to play by their rules, even if they have the talent to be the best. The very American notion of fair play and respect for individuality runs very deep in this land, and every bit as much for fans of figure skating.

Therefore, there is no mistaking the rumblings of an on-line organized boycott of U.S. figure skating events in the coming season short of credible assurances that the leaked reports are either not true, or that steps have been taken to correct the problem they exposed.

If they think Johnny Weir is too “out there,” figure skating officials should perhaps take a closer look at just who constitutes such a huge portion of their paying fans.

The amateur pop singers of “American Idol” hit another ratings high note on Tuesday as Fox television’s talent-contest sensation scored its biggest audience yet for a performance episode of the show.

A whopping 33.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the remaining 11 finalists sing for a shot at a recording contract and instant fame during the two-hour broadcast, Nielsen Media Research reported on Wednesday.

That tally was nearly 2 million viewers higher than the combined Tuesday night average posted by all five competing networks. And it surpassed last week’s record audience for a performance episode on “American Idol,” now in its fifth season.

The premiere show this season, featuring auditions by would-be contestants, drew a slightly bigger audience (35.5 million viewers). And the second-season finale in May 2003, when Ruben Studdard was crowned the winner, stands as the most watched of any “American Idol” episode (38.1 million viewers).

“Idol,” airing on two or three nights a week this year, has grown into a gargantuan hit for Fox and dominated U.S. television in prime time, overshadowing the hottest series of rival networks and even big-event broadcasts like the Grammy Awards and Winter Olympics.

The new CBS commando drama “The Unit” managed a solid showing against the “Idol” in its third week on Tuesday, averaging 15.2 million viewers to rank as the night’s second most watched show in prime time. NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” was third with 13.6 million viewers.

In the season to date, Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC is No. 1 in the ratings for viewers aged 18 to 49, the group most prized by advertisers. CBS and Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd., are tied for second place, trailed by NBC, which is owned by General Electric Co.

Disenchanted with the sport and hampered by back spasms for the first time in his career, Johnny Weir almost missed last night’s men’s qualifying skate.

“I was going to pull out this morning and then I was going to pull out after practice … It has just been a rough week,” said the flamboyant American.

“I don’t really like to stand up — to walk or to skate — but it’s what I signed up for.

“I’m not going to promise anything but I’m going to try.”

Admittedly stressed out and tired following what turned into a tumultuous Olympic experience, the 21-year-old Pennsylvanian said he had little desire to continue skating after leaving Turin with a fifth-place finish.

“I was really disappointed with the Olympics, how it went and then sort of the media circus I created over there and all the bad things that happened after with the fans and the media,” said Weir, speaking for the first time since the Games where he made headlines for his pricey shopping spree, colourful quotes and general openness.

“I was really disenchanted with it and was like, ‘Oh I don’t need to go to the worlds.’ ”

Changing his mind after getting some advice on a couple touring gigs, he said he’s learned some lessons about dealing with the media after reading one report that called him one of the biggest disappointments of the Games.

“I was really disappointed to have so much anger directed at me after the Olympic Games because I never thought I did anything that bad,” said Weir, who received plenty of hate mail from fans after his long program meltdown bumped him out of the medals.

“I didn’t think I disappointed my country that much with a top-five finish at the Olympics.

“I didn’t think I presented myself any differently than who I am and that’s how I’ve always thought I should be with media and fans because what’s the point of living life if you’re not going to live it your way and for yourself?”

So, is he here to prove his critics wrong?

“No, I know how good I am,” smiled the three-time American champ.

“Coming back from a disappointment will be satisfying but not necessarily proving anything to myself.

“It’s been a quick turnaround and I’ve learned to take things with a grain of salt and not worry too much about what you guys write about me and also not think too much about what I’m saying.

“I don’t want to lose what kind of candid responses that I give because then I’ll sound just like any other skater.

“That’s not my objective.”

And what is his objective?

“To make myself happy,” he said after a routine he called “nothing special.”

“That’s it. Very simple.”

TORINO — About 2,000 fans who paid 20 euros (about $24 U.S.) each to watch figure skating practice Wednesday morning got a triple-jumping, one-teenager show from the USA’s Kimmie Meissner.

Because she was fifth in the short program Tuesday, Meissner was scheduled to be in the same practice session with five others who will make up the last group in Thursday night’s free skate. None of the others took part in the 40-minute session that began at 10:30. All the leaders except the USA’s Sasha Cohen did an afternoon practice, but there were no spectators then.

That morning session, starting at 10:30 local time, put Meissner in the spotlight. As the music for each skater was about to be played for their long program run-through, the public address announced they were absent: “Shizuka Arakawa, representing Japan, is not at this practice. We will play all music for timing purposes.”

The fans, who’d watched earlier practice groups, would have been looking at empty ice during the final group had not Meissner skated. It was not totally surprising she was alone. Tuesday night she skated second in a 29-skater field. The other leaders went late, including Cohen, who was last. Along with news conferences, it was after 12:30 a.m. when Cohen left the building.

But beyond how early she finished the night before, Meissner has an opposite attitude to NBA star Allen Iverson (”We’re talking about practice!”).

“I don’t know if it’s because she’s young, (but) she has a real mentality that she likes to repeat her jumps, she likes a lot of practice,” said her coach, Pam Gregory.

In the afternoon, Meissner even said if there had been a third practice she would have done that.

At one point in the morning session Meissner landed three triple-triple jump combinations in a row. She skated a run-through of her long program to the music of Queen of Sheba. When she was done, she bowed and waved to the crowd, which had applauded her throughout.

Said Gregory: “She likes a lot of exercise, and she feels good. If she’s sitting around too much, she feels lethargic. I think it’s made her very consistent, which has helped her move forward so quickly.”

Last night at the Women’s Short Program Sasha Cohen saved the best for last. And boy, was it good.

With U.S. flags waving and chants of “USA! USA!” rocking the arena, the U.S. champion dazzled the judges with a sassy, sensational short program and slipped past world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia by a slim .03 points.

Cohen’s spectacular spirals and crisp footwork had the crowd clapping to the beat of “Dark Eyes,” a Russian folk tune. She even flashed some attitude as she concluded a solid evening of skating that will wrap up with Thursday night’s free skate.
She got the marks she felt she deserved — and the United States has yet another women’s gold in sight.

Americans have won three of the last four Olympic titles, and if Cohen, a two-time world silver medalist, is this dynamic in the finale, she could add another title.

That would break Russia’s stranglehold on figure skating golds at these games. No country has swept all four events, and the Russians already own three — pairs, men’s and dance.

Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa and Fumie Suguri were third and fourth, and American Kimmie Meissner was fifth.

Emily Hughes, added to the U.S. team nine days ago when Michelle Kwan withdrew with a groin injury, wasn’t intimidated in her first major international event. The 17-year-old sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah Hughes – who was in the audience — was in seventh place

Christine Brennan - USA Today

TORINO — Over the years in figure skating, competitors have come up with some pretty amazing excuses for a bad performance:

My dress fell apart. I forgot my program. My skate lace broke.

To them, we can now add this gem: They changed the bus schedule.

Johnny Weir was America’s best hope for an Olympic medal in men’s figure skating Thursday night, until he tried to catch a bus from the athletes’ village to the Palavela. It was then that he realized, to his horror, that the bus schedule had changed; buses that were leaving every 10 minutes now were departing only every half hour, he said. Weir eventually jumped into a volunteer’s car for the ride to the arena, but arrived 20 minutes later than he had planned and, as he said, never “really caught up to myself. … I didn’t feel my inner peace tonight.”

No inner peace, no Olympic medal. Skating tentatively, throwing in jumps here and there with no rhyme or reason, looking completely out of synch, Weir squandered a golden opportunity for a silver medal and fell right off the medal podium, dropping like a rock to fifth place.

He was so bad that he didn’t even finish as the top American in the competition. That title went to Evan Lysacek, whose evening was as inspiring as Weir’s was disheartening. Lysacek, who skated a full hour before Weir, jumped from 10th place in the short program to fourth overall by landing eight clean triple jumps after spending the previous 48 hours getting “violently ill,” he said, with IVs in both arms.

Lysacek still felt so sick that even the lurching of his bus on his way to the arena (we should point out that he made his bus) made him feel queasy. He said he first got sick an hour after his poor performance in Tuesday’s short program, then spent most of Wednesday on his back, receiving fluids. He was still throwing up and dizzy Thursday morning, hours before he was to skate. His veins, he said, kept “collapsing,” so new holes had to be poked into his arms. When he took the ice Thursday night, he said he had four holes in each arm.

“It was not really my ideal Olympic dream, sitting on a doctor’s table thinking there’s no way I’m going to be able to get through this competition,” Lysacek said. “If I can take something from this, it’s just a sense of pride in going out and finishing a job I started.”

If only Weir had had such will, such drive, such fighting spirit. Lysacek was the one who had every reason to come unglued in his long program, not Weir. But it was Weir who caved, while Lysacek soared.

Peggy Fleming once praised her sport for its ability to shine a light into a skater’s soul, to show exactly what a competitor was made of. On an evening like this, Fleming’s words could not have rung more true.

Why Weir let the bus mix-up ruin what could have been the night of his life, we may never know. One wonders if he was simply looking for excuses after letting an Olympic medal slip from his grasp, especially after his closest pursuer for second place, Switzerland’s Stephane Lambiel, fell twice in his long program.

The notion that Weir was searching for something to blame gained credence when his coach, Priscilla Hill, said over the phone after the event that the bus snafu “was more of an inconvenience than anything.”

As she elaborated in a U.S. Figure Skating news release : “He may have been a little rushed but not out of the ordinary, and he warmed up well. As his coach, I feel it was a great deal of pressure he’s never dealt with before. … Personally, I don’t think the schedule had anything to do with it.”

Eight years ago at the Nagano Olympics, Michelle Kwan had to get out of a car stuck in traffic and run several blocks in the rain to the arena in time to prepare for her long program. She skated a bit cautiously, but without a mistake, and won the silver medal.

What Weir should blame instead is his lack of desire to even try a quadruple jump in his short or long program. Gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko landed one in each program here. Lambiel tried two in his long program, falling on his second late in his program. Bronze medalist Jeff Buttle also tried one Thursday, but fell.

The American men, Weir, Lysacek and Matt Savoie, left the Olympic Games without trying even one, basically giving the medals away.

Lysacek can be forgiven for his omission Thursday night, for it will be his story that is retold in the years to come, while Weir tries to forget his.

The reality is, to win a medal, Weir just needed to be Lysacek, if only for one night.

Okay, I’m sorry. I know I keep talking about Johnny Weir and it’s probably a little annoying. But I can’t help it–he’s fabulous. He’s got pop, he’s got personality, hot costumes, a diva attitude and amazing talent to top it all off. It doesn’t hurt that one day he dreams of skating to Christina Aguilera’s “Walk Away”.

Here is video of his performance of “The Swan”, his BEAUTIFUL short program at last night’s Men’s Figure Skating Event at the Olympics. Unfortunately, Yevgeny Plushenko apparently turned out an amazing program last night, and scored roughly ten points higher than Johnny. This shit had better not happen on the Free Skate or bitches’ll get killed.

Also, here’ s a little profile they showed of Johnny before he performed. As you can see he’s quite the character.

And heeere’s video of Johnny’s interview with Matt Lauer that aired on the Today Show this morning. Enjoy!

Don’t worry, I’ve got more Johnny clips to come. Just be patient.

By the way…doesn’t Johnny look damn sexy in that picture at the top? I thought so too.

TURIN, Italy Feb 12, 2006 (AP)— Michelle Kwan dropped out of the Olympics on Sunday morning, one day after she cut short a practice because of a recurring groin injury.

The U.S. figure skater said Saturday she didn’t want to drop out, but would have to “listen to my body.” She missed last month’s U.S. nationals with a groin injury, and needed a medical bye onto the Turin team.

This was to be the last chance at the elusive Olympic gold for Kwan, 25, the face of figure skating for the past decade. Though she won five world championships and nine U.S. titles, she always came up short at the Olympics, winning a silver medal in 1998 and a bronze in 2002.

The U.S. Olympic Committee submitted a request to replace Kwan with Emily Hughes, the third-place finisher at last month’s nationals. An answer is expected later this week, and Hughes was expected to travel to Turin on Sunday.