One Place Johnny Weir May NOT be this Spring: Stars On Ice....??

I suppose this first bit will be a lot weirder if Stars on Ice happens to be advertising in that little space you see alongside the text as you read this…

These days it seems that Johnny Weir is in the news as much, if not more, than any other figure skating medalist from Vancouver. Admittedly, he has not instigated as much of this press as one might think…and assuming the contents of this article are true (I say that only because it’s a pretty serious accusation, and in my moments of naiveté I’m hoping it’s all a Big Misunderstanding), he’s certainly not to blame:

GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has learned from a source that wishes to remain anonymous that sponsors of the Stars on Ice Tour, which include Smuckers and IMG Entertainment, have refused to allow 3-time US National Champion and 2-time Olympian Johnny Weir to participate because they claim that he is “not family friendly.”

To say that Weir is “not family friendly” would be a clear jab at his perceived sexual orientation.

This raises so many more questions for me than it answers, but I’ll wait to see how this unfolds before asking them.

Jr. Worlds Update: The medals for Ice Dance were as follows:

GOLD-- Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV (Russia)
SILVER-- Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM (Canada)
BRONZE-- Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN (Russia)

With this kind of finish, it would seem that both the once and future (or I guess that’s “present”) kings of ice dance are keeping pace nicely. Among the U.S. teams: Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI finished 4th, Rachel TIBBETTS / Collin BRUBAKER stayed in 7th, and Piper GILLES / Zachary DONOHUE ended the event in 9th.

And a tight battle between Russia and Japan has emerged after the Ladies’ SP …Anna OVCHAROVA currently leads Kanako MURAKAMI by less than a point, with another Russian (Polina AGAFONOVA) about 2 ½ points back from there. If you’re wondering about the absence of U.S. ladies from that mix, remember that our original Top Contender (Ashley Wagner) withdrew from the event a couple weeks ago…

But her replacement, Kiri BAGA, is currently in 5th… Agnes ZAWADZKI (1st in Junior Nationals this year) is in 8th… and Christina GAO (5th in Senior Nationals this year) is 9th. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

Of those last three names the one I was least familiar with was Zawadzki’s, so I looked her up on You Tube… and am posting her only video (for now) as the Clip of the Day, which was taken from last summer’s DuPage Open. The girl’s got some flair, for sure… and I don’t think that’s just because she and Alena Leonova apparently enjoy the same Broadway shows :-)