USFSA gives Tara the heave-ho
ann...@my-dejanews.com
Frankly, My Dear: The U.S. Figure Skating Association decided to let Tara
Lipinski out of the final three years of her four-year contract rather than
have a legal battle with the reigning Olympic champion.
Under the contract, Lipinski would have made $975,000 over the next three
years for skating in a number of designated USFSA events. One was to have
been an open event last weekend in Florida.
Last week the USFSA sent Lipinski a letter terminating her contract.
"There was nothing to be gained by forcing someone to do something
they didn't want to do," USFSA Executive Director John LeFevre said.
Lipinski, who has given up her Olympic eligibility, did not want to
compete in the Florida event, contested under Olympic-style rules. So far, she
has pointedly avoided any confontation, under any set of rules, with Olympic
silver medalist Michelle Kwan.
In figure skating circles, Lipinski's attitude has led to a lot of
clucking, in more than one sense of the word.
Lipinski, 16, will skate this season on the Stars On Ice tour. She
plans to compete only in a couple events developed by her agent, Mike Burg."
I've reprinted the segment in its entirety, but you can read it here after
the luge news:
http://chicagotribune.com/version1/article/0,1575,SAV-9810090391,00.html
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Louis Epstein
: From today's Phil Hersh Chi Tribune article:
:
: Frankly, My Dear: The U.S. Figure Skating Association decided to let Tara
: Lipinski out of the final three years of her four-year contract rather than
: have a legal battle with the reigning Olympic champion.
:
: Under the contract, Lipinski would have made $975,000 over the next three
: years for skating in a number of designated USFSA events. One was to have
: been an open event last weekend in Florida.
:
: Last week the USFSA sent Lipinski a letter terminating her contract.
:
: "There was nothing to be gained by forcing someone to do something
: they didn't want to do," USFSA Executive Director John LeFevre said.
I wonder how effectively the USFSA can divert attention from Lipinski
to the people she's afraid to compete with.
hypatia
> So far, she
> has pointedly avoided any confontation, under any set of rules, with Olympic
> silver medalist Michelle Kwan.
And so far her only pro contest has been against a two-time Olympic gold-medal
winner who is twice her age, another Olympian 10 years older who never reached her
potential, and another Olympic gold-medal winner who is about 6 years older and
struggling with alcoholism. How could Tara NOT win?
hypatia
shrk...@earthlink.net
It doesn't look like the USFSA will have to do much at all. Her agent seems
to be doing all the work for them.
Michelle
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Jennifer Lyon
hyp...@gte.net wrote:
>And so far her only pro contest has been against a two-time Olympic gold-
medal
>winner who is twice her age, another Olympian 10 years older who never
reached >her
>potential, and another Olympic gold-medal winner who is about 6 years
older and
>struggling with alcoholism. How could Tara NOT win?
If the marks had been based on true artistry....
Leonard Ray
: I wonder how effectively the USFSA can divert attention from Lipinski
: to the people she's afraid to compete with.
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if *Burg* really didn't want her in
pro-ams. And, really, this raises an interesting question about pro-ams
from an agent's perspective: people become pro presumably because they
don't want to train as hard, or at least that's one reason. So, almost by
definition, they're not as competitive as they would be during their
eligible career. So, from an agent's perspective, what's the incentive to
have a newly retired Olympic medalists compete in these things?
Kate, who would have liked to see her fulfill the contract
wechsl...@my-dejanews.com
innocent."