Monday, March 05, 2018

Blind Item #17 - Oscars

This recent A list athlete was being an a-hole to just about everyone he came into contact with. I think this recent fame is going to his head.

73 comments:

Sara, Making It Work said...

Adam Rippon

Dena said...

Adam Rippon : (

Tricia13 said...

Red Gerard?

yepthatsme said...
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Lalalisa57 said...
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yepthatsme said...

What is a recent A list athlete?

Anonymous said...
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Ernie McCracken said...

Rippon, though not "recent A list" for his athletic prowess but his mouth (and subsequent courting by NBC)

T. W. said...

No one would be paying attention to Adam if he were still in the closet.

His interviews have gotten more bizarre over time. Either he is crazy or he is on something. Olympic athletes get tested so I'm gonna go with crazy.

Brayson87 said...

No way a male figure skater can have an inflated ego unless he was a waving a...oh I see.

Speech_teacher said...

+1 rippon. His "tuxedo" was ridiculous.

Casting Girl said...

Ho Hum. Seems I can no longer become attached to any celeb. Adore Rippon and he was def the BEST DRESSED last night. Maybe it's a phase.

T. W. said...

I see what you did there @Ernie McCracken.

Guesser said...

Rippon,the overrated Figure Skater. He got all the attention at the Olympics, while I'm betting most here can't name the two USA figure skaters who made Olympic history.

T. W. said...

NBC should replace Tara Lipinski & Johnny Weir. Adam can carry a conversation with himself. The man is looney toons but at least he is entertaining.

Do Tell said...

Adam Rippon has been offputting in every interview he's given and every appearance I've seen him in, IMO. He really comes off as obnoxious and very full of himself.

T. W. said...

@Guesser - Mirai Nigasu & Vincent Zhou.

I agree with you and celebs in the closet should take note. The media paid no attention to him until he came out. A few years ago he was The Quad King and I think he has a lutz jump named after him. Now they call Nathan Chen the quad king and he has to eat humble pie after a disastrous Olympic performance.

Good4Gone said...

No one thinks this is Kobe Bryant? He used to be A-list but recently retired.

Newbomb said...

OJ

TraciLyn said...

Rippon is a low class buffoon.

Sara, Making It Work said...

@Guesser
Mirai was actually in attendance as Adam's date.

I assume you meant Yuzuru Hanyu for the other, since he did back to back golds, and the only Japanese male to even get one. Unless for whatever reason you're only talking about Americans.

I know my skaters, and don't think Adam is overrated at all. He's brilliant, and very talented, just old school in that he's not a jumper.
That said, this blind is obviously him with his harness tux.

Sansa said...

@ T. W. I don't recall Adam ever being known as the Quad king and I follow figure skating very obsessively. He was never all the consistent with his quads, and ended up taking them out more often than not. Maybe you're thinking of Tim Goebal from a while back? He was called the quad king forever.

Newbomb said...

Wouldn't he have said "closeted" if it was Rippon?

Sansa said...

@Sara, Guesser was referring to Mirai and Vincent, (first to land a quad lutz at the olympics) I'm assuming.

Dallas Alice said...

If Rippon is closeted, I’m a supermodel. (Newsflash: I ain’t)

ladybugmo1 said...

I think they should team Johnny and Adam. The snark would be off the charts. I bet the two of them would be way more entertaining than anything happening on the ice.

T. W. said...

@Good4Gone - the blind says the male athlete recently made the A list and is acting like the "A" standa for asshole. Kobe has been A list forever. Adam made the A list last year or earlier this year depending upon whom you ask.

americanpanda said...

Johnny would never share the spotlight with Rippon, although I'd love to see those two passive aggressively shade each other.
Johnny is awesome, Rippons schtick is boring to me now

T. W. said...

@ladybugmo1 - That will work too. Tara does not come across as likeable. Rumor has it no one liked her when she toured professionally. She is also "two-faced" in her commentary, just like Sandra Bezic.

At least Tanith Belbin & Johnny Weir call a spade a spade. They also explain the technical aspects of the sport in a way the average viewer can understand.

Guesser said...

@everyone, even more than I meant, good job. I actually was including Chen and his five quads,but I loved Hanyu,and my issue is the media ignoring these athletes in favor of Rippon, they barely got a mention in the early coverage, I almost didn't watch. I couldn't care less if he is out or not,he is supposed to be the first out USA athlete. Did anyone anywhere think Johnny Weir was straight? After Bruce became Caitlyn are we supposed to be shocked by a gay figure skater?

T. W. said...

@Sara, making it work - Guesser specifically asked about the other Americans because Adam Rippon and Nathan Chen have been hyped by the media.

The ShibSibs took bronze in ice dance but the media ignores them.

Vincent Zhou is the first man to land a quad lutz. Media ignores him.

Mirai Nigasu is the first American female to land a triple axel at the Olympic Games. Media ignores that. I argue she is the first female of any nationality because Mao Asada has been given credit despite underrotating her 3axels.

T. W. said...

@Sansa - I am not thinking of Tim. Adam came after him but he was known for doing quads when others were not. Now most men are doing them. I hope they have insurance to pay for those total knee and hip replacements.

T. W. said...

@Newbomb - Adam has been out for years and tells anyone with ears. Sally Fields tried to hook him up with her son on social media.

Nonya Bidness said...

I call bullshit. This is so vague - how was he being an asshole? What exactly are the accusations?

ARip is charming in every interview I've seen with him, I would need receipts to believe there is anything to this.

Newbomb said...

My "closeted" comment was a joke.

T. W. said...

@Guesser - I hear you. If someone's sexuality is the most interesting thing about them then they are not interesting.

The media loved Nathan Chen until he botched his team skate. At least Johnny Weir blamed nerves and did not cut him down throughout the games. Tara Lipinski turned faster than a Red Coat. She showed her true colors.

I cut Adam some slack. Elite level gymnasts and figure skaters are rarely socialized with their peers and people of the opposite gender. Plus I think Adam is crazy. If he doesn't have a mental break down soon or matures in a reasonable amount of time then he is a jerk.

Sara, Making It Work said...

But the crazy thing is, as gay as figure skating is, Adam is the first male skater to be openly gay, so he got to take all the shit that Johnny Weir, Brian Boitano, Rudy Galindo (who I assumed was out at the time but I guess not), and all the others who came out after their careers (or never came out at all) didn't get. So he deserves some amount of respect for that. If the media chose to focus on that instead of the other athletes and the actual sport, that's on the media. They could have ignored him, or not asked about Pence, etc.

Anyway, I wonder if at some point they'll add a singles ice dancing, so the more graceful/ less athletic types can have a shot again.

Truthseeker said...

I can not stand Adam and his ego. I have to admit though I actually loved the jacket he wore, i like that edgy look, I would buy it for my husband to wear with jeans! The cumber-band was wrong, he should have left it at home, and the pants with the stripe on the leg is not fashion forward, they could have been done SO much better with a tad bit of edgy leather on the pockets. The shoes were horrendous and no socks was a horrible idea. You would think he would have better fashion sense.

Count Jerkula said...

Nick Foles

T. W. said...

@Sara, making it work - Rudy Galindo was never in the closet. His book Ice Breaker is very good. I never liked Kristi Yamaguchi and I liked her even less after I read the book. Rudy has a lot of tea to spill on a lot of people but he was to much of a gentleman to do it.

Truthseeker said...

That being said, figure skating for me lost its luster after 2004. It used to be exciting, you would see things you do not see anymore, the simple but very difficult spirals, especially when they would switch edges just does not happen anymore, and my favorite skater of all time, Elvis Stojko who brought something new each time he skated. Brian Bointano and Scott Hamilton were amazing to watch. Michelle Kwan and Kristy as well. I used to love watching, i would not miss a competition on air, and man i remember being SO excited to go to Stars On Ice back after the Olympics where Elvis and Tara were both there, Tara was good, not great, but she brought edge.
Its just boring anymore

Guesser said...

@Sara,Rudy was always out,but wasn't in the Olympics. Johnny Weir got all the abuse,not much of the praise. He was even insulted by the media. Single ice dancing or artistic skating might work, Adam had zero chance at a medal without quad jumps.

Morgana said...

Adam Rippon, the walking skeleton?

Gator said...

Rippon is arrogant and tries to make everything all about him.

Sign Name Below said...

@T.W. Tara not Tanith

Johnny does not like Adam, whereas Tara and Johnny are truly great friends. There blowups are just as entertaining as you would imagine.

I'll post more about Adam below

Sign Name Below said...

Their*

Sign Name Below said...

I know Adam and you can add me to the column of people who worry for him. When I knew him - saw him daily - he was fragile and very insecure. This new, in-your-face Adam strikes me as a pose or overcompensating, like trying too hard to say that he's okay. I will also say that Adam has problems with long-term relationships, and I am not referring to romance. He simply has had a lot of chamgeover in his professional and personal life.

FYI - whoever mentioned Brian Boitano, by far the most dynamic and charismatic non-Russian male skater in the past 3 decades, and truly a wonderful human being

Unknown said...

Rippon was called the quad king? He didn’t do any quads at the Olympics, which of course will not get you very far in men’s Olympic FS these days. Nathan Chen broke the record for most quads landed ever in a program - six. I think they do name the quad lutz after him. Very ballsy guy, esp because all the other men claim they can land the quad lutz, but none dared try in the Olympics. Hardest quad besides a quad axel, which will be next! That will be insanely interesting to see.

Unknown said...

Tara seems like a super high maintenance “mean girl”. She tries too hard to emulate Johnny’s “fabulousness” and it’s so not cute. Bad look on her. Makes her look like a desperate hag

Unknown said...

I had the HUGEST crush on Elvis Stojko! That Dragon program! 🐉 😍

Sign Name Below said...

Little Miss Tara was a nightmare child. Winning the gold at 16 just made it infinitely worse. However, FWIW, she has actually aged into a decent human being. Far from perfect. Her schtick with Johnny is the real deal, unless they have had a permanent blowup, they genuinely like each other.

Johnny Weir wears his flamboyance well, and he is a very gentle, kind man. He does a topnotch job of finding supportive things to say about even the worst performances. He is basically the complete opposite of new Adam Rippon. He never tries hard to make it about himself or his sexuality, and he is genuine.

T. W. said...

@Julia H - Hi! Adam was doing quads ages ago. I think he is 26 or 28 years old. He can still do them but he is not consistent & the wear and tear on his body is not worth it. He has a team bronze medal but people will talk about him instead of Shoma Uno and Javier Hernandez. Those men earned individual silver and bronze respectively.

T. W. said...

@Julia H - I do not know why other skaters do not like her, I just know that they don't. There is something about her I don't like but I do agree she and Johnny like each other and work well together.

@ Sign Your Name Here - Tara was 15 when she won the gold. Rules were changed because of it, you have to be at least 16 by the time of competition in order to compete at the Olympic Games.

Tanith Belbin does commentary along with Terry what's his name. She does not work with Johnny. That was not a typo when I said she and Johnny call a spade a spade.

Johnny has had to eat humble pie in the past and I think that is why he is not so mean when he comments. He can back up his snarkier comments so he earns my respect for that.

I won't lie, I would love to see Tonya and Nancy do commentary together, even if it only for one Olympic cycle. Brian Boitano can sit in the middle. Hardly anyone watched this year and NBC has no one but itself to blame.

mapstothestars said...

Closeted or not? No matter.

T. W. said...

@Truthseeker - I agree with you on figure skating being boring. Funny thing is, if you go on YouTube and watch some of the old crowd their technical skills were not the greatest. You would have to know what to look for to notice most of it.

The costumes are outrageous too. They might as well have all Olympic athletes perform nude. Don't get me started on women's beach volleyball. I can't even watch women's gymnastics, those poor girls might as well be naked.

Jayne Townsley said...

Rippon got attention because he took the political angle with Pence.

Same as Vonn.

I miss the days when actors acted, musicians played music, athletes focused on their sports, singers stuck to singing, and let the pundits worry about politics.

T. W. said...

@Sign Your Name Below - I love Brian and his boitanos. Adam has nice boitanos too!

If you still know Adam please let him know he had a fan in me when he was still training with Orser. Tell him we know he is gay, we don't care, now go set the world on fire by doing what God created him to do. And eat something!!

Jayne Townsley said...
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plot said...

I love Adam. I thought his free skate was amazing. Hanyu took my breath away, though.

@Truthseeker. I agree with you about skating in general. The whole thing is dominated by jumps and the simple skills are lost (which is why I liked Adam's skate so much.) I miss spirals, too, and the step sequences that showed some amazing choreography.

This is why Ice Dancing is becoming more popular, I think, because it remains innovative. It doesn't hurt to have Virtue and Moir practically make love on the ice, but the skills were also there, the power movements and the coordination. It's something more than big jumps.

beebopcowboy said...

adam rippon has become very obnoxious, very fast. he really doesnt help out all the normal gay dudes by being this way. they already have enough crap to deal with society.

Unknown said...

Shoma Uno was BREATHTAKING to watch - I liked his skating better than the gold medalist. Fernandez was great too. People talk about Rippon because he’s the outspoken LGBTQ hero, and everyone wants to be heard being politically correct. He IS a beautiful skater, but true skating fans are going to be more in awe of those who are equally beautiful skaters but also technical powerhouse with the quads. It’s sad for him that because he’s 28 it makes it riskier on his body.

xyzxyz33 said...

Adam Rippon was cute and fun for the first 5 minutes.
After that, he became more and more obnoxious and unbearable.
Insecurity at it's worst... and it's likely he's on something...
nobody can be that happy and obnoxious regularly without some pharmaceutical help.

Adam's buddy Mirai Nagasu choked so bad during the long program.
She was terrible.

I really enjoyed one of the most underrated skaters, Bradie Tennell.
She seems very sweet, very shy.
She's had a lot of hardships.
She overcame a broken back and
had some serious financial difficulties where
she was forced to create
a GoFundMe Campaign for some expenses at the Olympics.

She needs a better PR Mouthpiece. I doubt she has one at all.
She could likely get some endorsements/commercials with the right messaging.
Would help her with her financial difficulties and medical bills.

She's the anti-Adam Rippon.
A talented skater with humility.

Jennacheryl said...

I think I am bad at this because I instantly thought Kobe.

T. W. said...

@Julia H - Hi again! Shoma had the gold medal within reach. Yuzuru has always been ho-hum for me. Adam is lovely to watch with the right choreography and he has one of the best lay back spins in the business.

Professional tours still exist but they are few and far between. I hope these people have something to fall back on. I have no idea what happened to Yuko Kavaguti but at least Smirnov enjoys coaching kids. He looks so happy.

T. W. said...

@xyzxyz33 - the go fund me page was not for her expenses. It was to raise $20,000 so her brothers could fly to South Korea. United Airlines ended up footing the bill.

T. W. said...

Apparently Adam is straighter than Mirai's lies - http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/03/02/267580436/winners-and-losers-from-olympic-winter-games

Freckles said...

I immediately thought this was Kobe. I would LOVE for Tonya and Johnny Weir to announce the next Olympics

Kno Won said...

I thought he put on a decent performance.
Seems like networks did, too.

Kno Won said...

That stunt was just stupid.
He must still be in the “HEY I’M GAY” phase, as if that’s literally his entire personality.

Nobody @ me, I don’t care.
“HEY I’M GAY” has been overdone since 1985.

Kno Won said...

That’s right, bitch!
Fly Eagles Fly

TerriB said...

So this is what coming in 20th at the Olympics gets you?

orangesoda said...

He's been an obnoxious ass from the start.

plot said...

@Kno Won Uno

Not overdone enough, apparently, since over half our politicians can't get with the program.

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