August 26, 2010

Thank You


... fellow bloggers for all of the coverage on the Kim-Orser saga unfolding in front of us: Required Elements, lifeskate , State of the Skate,Axels, Loops, and Spins and even a bit of on-the-ice perspective from Tony Wheeler's Figure Skating Blog, and I'm sorry if I've left someone out.

I know some may want this to go away, but I want more info to spill out. Why in the world haven't David or Tracy spoken out on this? Tracy, weren't you at that meeting? David, you were the only coach who was listening to Yu-Na. Either one of you could put an end to this.

That's puzzling to me. Why their silence?

I don't know, but that means we get to keep speculating, so here goes ...

If you know me, you know I'm biased. I'm Team Brian, although I have no ill will toward Yu-Na Kim. I am sad this has turned bitter. All of the soap-opera aspects could stayed out of the public eye, because skaters and coaches change all the time.

I think Required Elements is doing a great job trying to get to the bottom of this. She posts in her part of her update today:

For Kim's part, there was an interview with one of her representatives before the latest Orser-oriented article. She stated:

A. We (Brian, Yuna's mom, and Yuna) have already known one and another why Yuna has parted with him. We don't feel any need to inform the reason to the outside. Yuna's mom, Yuna, and Brian, all the people, have well understood this reason.

Q. He feels Yuna also does not know why. Is that true?

A. That's only a matter of Brian's feeling. Yuna already knows the reason why this relationship has ended. We always asked Yuna first.


This is the smoking gun, to me. Those are my italics on the last sentence. Suddenly, the "we" in "we always asked Yuna first" takes Yuna out of the we. It sounds like a decision was made and then they went to Yu-Na to ask her. She can't be in on the decision if someone asked her.

I know that there could differing interpretations between the translation of two languages (I've had to deal with Babelfish spanish translating my daughter's school documents and sometimes it's a mess) but I think it's telling and it backs up what Brian said about Yuna not knowing at first.

That would explain why the backtrack of Yu-Na's tweet, makeing it look like Yu-Na was making decisions for herself. Puting DECIDED in all caps for emphasis. But accusing Brian of lying? I didn't like that. That's harsh and maybe that's why the tweet was quickly deleted.

Anyone else want to weigh in on this? Since I have only three followers, hey mom, what do you think?

Anyways, thanks again to the bloggers!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That "we asked her first" is a direct translation of a Korean expression. That roughly translates as "Yuna's opinion was most important."

Besides, if Orser was indeed distorting the truth, a possibility, I totally understand her reaction. Put yourself in her shoes before you say anything. Imagine all of a sudden all the media in the world is accusing your mother for something she didn't do but simply because someone is pointing a pinger at her, wouldn't you feel desperate and want to do something in your power quickly to make it stop? and you are 19.

Ice Charades said...

Thank you "Anonymous" for the Korean translation. I wondered if my reading was not right.

But you can't be certain that Yu-Na's mom, as you say, didn't do anything. She may have or she may not have. Only the people at that meeting know for sure.

Anonymous said...

My point exactly. We don't know what happened. Despite all the headlines in the media, all that is out there is Brian's story, and it would be naive not to think that his version of the story has been carefully constructed by him and his PR before he broke the news to the media. I would not take anything he says at face value, especially when no one, including Tracy and David, comes forward to back up what he says, and Yuna's side hasn't talked much. Some witnesses at their club said the relationship between Yuna and Brian was visibly broken already in early May, but that's all we have from the 3rd person perspective. Not talking is the best they can do at this point because the longer this mess continues the more damage Yuna will suffer just for being in the middle of this bad publicity.

Bottom line is, we don't know what caused the fallout and in fact it has nothing to do with us. It is their private matter. Both are obviously hurt, and I just hope they go separate ways and be successful.

Baffled said...

Two comments:

I'm curious if anyone else has considered the possibility of the Korean gov stepping in and ending the coach/skater relationship and Mom was just the mouthpiece for them? Is this even a possibility?

Charades, even if you only have three official followers that are many more of us that actually read your posts ;-)

Silver Blades

Elizabeth said...

In a way, I'm glad that Tracy and David haven't stepped in with commentary as it would probably add fuel to the fire. On the other hand, it does add to further speculation. I can understand the use of "We" having some different meanings in translation. Still, I agree that there is something up with Team Yuna making some management decisions over the direction of her career and then presenting those decisions to get her on board.

My biggest question is why Team Yuna didn't announce there was a change. They announced she was skipping the Grand Prix, but aiming for Worlds. Why not simply make another announcement later Yuna is exploring other options in her coaching staff to recharge for the next year? Because the change came out from Orser's side and not Yuna's originally, this leads me to believe there are some other people making decisions regarding Yuna and then getting her on board.

Ice Charades said...

Thanks everyone for posting! I went off the grid for the weekend, so I'm just catching up now.

I can't believe I have more readers than just my mom - how cool!

I too am baffled by all of this. But I agree with Aaron over at Axels, Loops, and Spins, that there is plenty that Brian isn't saying.

I'll tell you again, I'm biased, and that's because me and the rest of the chorus of a certain show witnessed Brian's behavior where any other A-list champion skater may have thrown a hissy fit and Brian's actions were classy and admirable.

I really hope the Korean government isn't involved. That is a lot of weight to carry on your shoulders, but it wouldn't be the first time an athlete has to look beyond their personal interest.

So has this controversy died down? Are people ready to move on?