Hughes' Eligibility and SOI?

[SkatingFanofMK]

What's with Phil Hersch and Amy Rosewater reporting that Sarah Hughes may sign with SOI and lose Olympic elibigiblity? Alexei hasn't lost his eligiblity and he's skating with SOI this season and indicated at the Worlds last week that he intends to compete in Germany next year. What's the difference?

[Norlite]

The difference is the Federation they belong to.

Jennifer Robinson is doing SOI as well. Skate Canada sanctions it.

USFSA does not, or at least, skaters must receive a special sanction.

[Artemis]

Part of the reason Skate Canada sanctions eligible skaters in CSOI is that the Canadian tour doesn't conflict with the competitive season at all. IMO, for the main US tour of SOI, skating federations are quite right to not automatically let skaters "have it both ways" (i.e., making the bucks on tour and then coming in at the end of the season to compete at nationals and worlds).

However IMO if Sarah wanted to do a season with SOI and skip all eligible competition next year, there's no reason why she shouldn't be allowed to reinstate the following year. I also believe that that's what Kyoko & John's plans were ... until the drug-testing fiasco scuppered them.

[Lee]

All depends on the federation. Yagudin was, until the injury, quite prepared to do some of the GP stuff and then SOI.

I think it's a shame the USFSA *won't* grant sanctions for their skaters to do SOI if they can work it into their schedules. I don't expect skaters to get byes to Worlds or anything like that, but if the skater can tour, do their own Nationals and Worlds, I think that should be up to the skater to figure out. It's all part of that autonomy thing -- the ability of the skater to make decisions for him/herself.

[skatingvision]

COI pays the USFSA to be a sanctioned event, SOI doesn't.

[Inside Edge]

I'm confused. What is going on with Sarah and COI & SOI. I thought that Sarah's big decision was school vs. competitive skating. SOI would not allow her to do either. I don't know why she would even consider it. She should learn from Tara's mistake. The other skaters on SOI are older & in a different stage of life. She won't fit in or have any fun.

Why did Sarah not do the entire COI tour last year? I thought she left early to train - - obviously that was not the case. Why would she not do COI this year. The tour is short & over by June 1. Since she is already accepted at Harvard, school should not be a concern. I feel that Sarah has only a limited opportunity to make the big bucks. Her poor performance at this year's world's has only made the situation worse - - I just don't think that Sarah has the staying power as far as the audience is concerned. Yes, she has the gold medal but she does not appear to have a loyal following. Some skaters have this appeal & some don't & it has nothing to do whith having a gold medal.

Don't get me wrong, as a person I like Sarah. I think she has a bright future ahead of her (outside of skating). It just saddens me that she will never reach her full potential as a skater. She has lost all incentive to do so. I wanted Michelle to win in 2002. Then I wanted to see Sarah improve & have a transformation into a great skater.

[skatingfan3]

Just because SOI is pursuing Sarah doesn't mean Sarah will go with it. I think her big decision now is which college she'll be attending in the fall. Yes, IF she signs with SOI, she has to put college off for a year.

The bigger problem she has now is the summer tour with COI. Now John Hughes said there was never signed contract and Tom Collins said there was a verbal commitment. Collins is not talking and has hired a lawyer.

BTW, Sarah never did a complete tour with COI because there's always school. She always committed to certain dates and last summer the Olympic tour, she appeared in little over 1/3 of the stops.

Deborah

P.S. Sarah was seen in a couple of SOI stops last month, sitting in on-ice seats.

[LAVENDER]

Sarah has now been taken off of the Champions on Ice site. It was there yesterday.

[Carola5501]

My fav of all this is that last year Tom Collins knew that Sarah and Sasha weren't doing the full tour, yet promoted as if they were. He has done the same thing this year and I have assumed all along that Sarah would do weekends only. Tom has damaged her standing with fans by promising something he knew they were not going to get. Now he appears to have advertised her without a contract. I believe it. My feeling is that Tom just assumes you will do his tour since he has arranged it so you have no other options if you want to remain in the USFSAs good graces.

[turtlehead]

The advertisements in my local newspaper for COI always say in the fine print that the skaters are subject to change.

[CMc]

I'm kind of relieved in a way that she's not going to be working for this guy anymore, but at the same time it just seems rather harsh, as if she's being thrown out into the cold or something.

The details of this story seem rather vague to me, but I guess Sarah feels a bit indifferent about her skating right now, and if she needed to not do the shows, it's understandable why she'd want to pull out.
I don't like the sound of the way Collins appears to be doing business, but the commercials were featuring Sarah and the cast, and they were clearly telling us to come to the 25th anniversary shows this year, so it does seem rather odd that Sarah's father is saying there never was any commitment on Sarah's part.
That probably doesn't make the Hughes' case very cut and dry, but I would think that Collins may not have been totally honest with her either.

It was nice that Sarah was able to just do the early leg of the tour the first couple of years (2000-01) and then drop out to finish school. Then when she became the Olympic Champion, Collins obviously decided she should be the star by placing her last after Michelle. Even last year she managed to do fewer shows than other cast members. Maybe he decided to put more pressure on her to make more appearances this year, and she wasn't comfortable with that.
He really doesn't appear to be all warm and fuzzy all the time, does he?? :evil:


In any event, I hope this doesn't turn into a courtroom bloodbath.
Sarah's too nice a person to have to deal with this crap. I hope it gets settled somehow even though Sarah being in the show isn't going to be part of it.

[BABYSKATES]

There is most likely no absolute fault here. There are lots of reasons and scenarios under which Tom Collins could have been expecting Sarah to perform. There was very likely a verbal agreement made between Sarah's parents (she's a minor, can't agree to diddly) and Tom Collins. Most agreements start out as verbal agreements and then the contracts are drawn up. The problem is that Sarah is a different kid now. She hasn't said she is feeling indifferent about skating. Her long program at '03 Worlds didn't seem like she was indifferent, just different. Growing up changes lots of things - mind and body.

Sarah has been with COI for a few years already. She was with this show prior to winning Olympic gold. This has been a difficult year for Sarah. I don't know of another world class skater who goes to school full time like a normal kid. Sarah is acting like a normal, reasonable high school senior. It's reasonable for her to want to spend her last months of high school at school, not on tour. She has the rest of her life to tour but high school is going to end soon.

If I were Sarah's parents, I would fight for her right to do things her way. I wouldn't want my child to live with a heartful of regret. I would rather fight Tom Collins. Verbal contracts are hard to prove.

I hope this ends quietly and out of the public eye. Neither party deserves to be trashed. Tom is trying to run a business. The Hughes are trying to run a life.

Anyway, the cast of COI looks wonderful. I wish Sarah the best but the show will go on and I think it will be fabulous.

[CMc]

BABYSKATES--I agree with most of your post, but I still have to question Collins' way of doing business. True, Sarah's in the TV ad verbally telling us to come to the 25th anniversary shows, but if that wasn't put formally in writing it should have been, and since the Hughes feel they've got him here on this technicality, I still have to side with them. Not to mention people have said Collins is infamous for "strong-arming" other skaters to do tour dates in the past, and has also used questionable advertising for them (i.e. Todd Eldredge last season).

As for COI, I was going to wait until buying the tickets at the venue instead of through Ticketmaster so I could avoid paying for the surcharge. I'm glad this news broke before I could buy them. I think I was divinely intervened. 8O
Also eerie that the show is being chacked from TV this year. I already don't miss it.

[cem]

Team Hughes got out of the COI deal thru a techincality but it now limits Sarah chances to skate if she decides to go directly to college. Tom Collins does not bring back skaters that are shown to be disloyal. SOI is not santioned by the USFSA plus the most important thing is that the tour takes place throughout the fall, spring, and winter when Sarah would be in classes. Worlds might be the last time we see Hughes skate for a LONG time.

[Pupiczech]

I' ve been known to be wrong before. Here I go again. It seems to me that in the ads for COI last year Todd Eldredge appeared in them, even after it was announced that he would be with SOI and NOT COI. These ads appeared in the Detroit market, and Todd is a local favorite. In fact, both SOI and COI had Todd in their ads.

and turtlehead is ABSOLUTELY correct. The print ads and Ticketmaster all say "Cast subject to change".

We go specifically to COI to see Elvis and are sad when he doesn't appear, but we know going in that "Cast subject to change"

[CMc]

Originally posted by cem
Tom Collins does not bring back skaters that are shown to be disloyal.

And in what way is Sarah being disloyal? She was quite loyal to him last year when she did a good half of that tour when previously she normally only did a quarter of it, even though it appears it was more than she truly wanted to. I would say if these contracts covered more than one tour at a time, I could see why Collins would be using Sarah in his advertisements, but apparently they don't--It's one contract, one tour. If she couldn't do this year's tour for whatever reasons and it was never formally put in a written contract by Mr. Collins when he started using her image in the advertisements, who's the bad guy here? You tell me.

Personally, I don't think Sarah really needs COI or Tom Collins and I doubt she'd even come crying back to him anyway if she needed to skate again.

[proam]

Originally posted by cem
Team Hughes got out of the COI deal thru a techincality but it now limits Sarah chances to skate if she decides to go directly to college. Tom Collins does not bring back skaters that are shown to be disloyal. SOI is not santioned by the USFSA plus the most important thing is that the tour takes place throughout the fall, spring, and winter when Sarah would be in classes. Worlds might be the last time we see Hughes skate for a LONG time.

Just because USFSA is in bed with Tom Collins doesn’t mean he owns the skaters. Sarah didn’t want to skate this tour, so she didn’t. He couldn’t make her skate because he didn’t have a legal leg to stand on; he was just blustering to see if the Hughes’ would give in.

I’m still trying to figure out how disloyal comes in the picture. :roll: Can we say Tom Collins is disloyal for releasing a skater no longer a draw or could we just call it business?
The word “disloyal” doesn’t belong in this discussion, that is not the right word it use for a skater not signing a contract.

As for not taking back a “disloyal” skater, of course he would if it served his purpose and his purpose is the bottom line.

Believe me Tom Collins needs Sarah more than Sarah needs Tom Collins, in this case Sarah has the upper hand because Sarah doesn’t seem to seek the limelight as much as other skater, so Collins doesn’t have bargaining power.

Good luck Sarah on whatever you choose-your life your choice. :bow:

[coco]

As of 4/5, Sarah is still in tv ads for COI. That to me is just wrong. I don't know what they can do, since their promo involves a group shot with all the stars standing together saying something (why I can't remember, I have no idea). Legally, I don't know why they are allowed to do this, although I understand it may have something to do w/not having any other ads, and not being required to spend money on new ones since they relied on Hughes being in the tour. But they are also still showing isolated shots of her and saying she'll be there. That's bad for her, since people who aren't obsessed like all of us fellow netters don't know the story.

[CMc]

Actually coco, they are running an re-edited version of the commercial here now. I saw it this morning, and it's sad and kind of funny at the same time because it looks like they digitally erased Sarah from the group shot at the end when they're all talking in unison.

Btw what they're saying is "Come see the 25th Anniversary Champions On Ice".

[CMc]

And I noticed when it was on again this morning you can still hear Sarah's voice, too! 8O

[meraed]

I don't think the whole issue with Tom Collins is as cut and dry as people think. Remember Kim Bassinger and her opting out of that Boxing for Helena movie? She had a verbal agreement and the producers took her to court and won. The verbal agreement held up in court. Also, it would make sense not to give the contracts out untill after worlds becouse the results are importent to his new adds. You know, like who's world gold medalist and stuff. I hop it all works out for Sarah. Nobody needs this hanging over their head.