John Blanchette: Lysacek, Weir rivalry adds spice

Think Tiger and Phil.

OK, think Tiger and Phil if you can imagine Tiger posing for a fashion mag topless, in stiletto heels with a Gucci minidress wrapped around his waist, and if you can picture Phil not in need of a mansiere.

Also, it would help if neither of them had won a tournament with Vijay in the field.

Other than that, the Tiger/Phil dynamic certainly seems analogous to what’s budding between Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek – or Lysacek and Weir if you prefer to go by the standings out of the men’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Or perhaps it’s more Agassi/Sampras. No? What about Bowe/Holyfield? Or Whiplash/Do-Right? Or any mostly-JV-but-entertaining rivalry of our vague recollection?

Something is going on between these two, anyway, and do these championships ever need it. The ladies are leftovers from long-gone Michelle Kwan and no-show Sasha Cohen, the ice dancing was decided when the entries were mailed and American pairs skating hasn’t been relevant since, well, forever.

Of course, the men have won exactly one medal in the last four Olympics, too. But we have come to count on Weir to at least keep things interesting and now the three-time defending champion has company. Lysacek not only outscored Weir in Thursday’s short program – just by a skosh, .85 of a point – but also took the lead in veiled remarks open to between-the-lines interpretation.

“I think I’m ready to represent United States figure skating, especially the men’s field, at every level,” said Lysacek, a rather odd assertion in that he’s already twice been a bronze medalist at the World Championships. “I can show people what they want to see from U.S. figure skating and what direction we’re heading and what an amazing sport we are.

“If I was given the chance to represent what all that means, I wouldn’t take it lightly. I would with my complete heart and soul try to be the best athlete and representative I could be.”

Suggesting, then, that Weir has lacked in this area?

“I didn’t say that,” Lysacek said icily.

Well, he certainly said something.

It does seem that Weir and his style aren’t Lysacek’s cup of cognac, but that’s hardly exclusive to the 21-year-old challenger. Weir is relentlessly flamboyant – the high-heeled pose in BlackBook and skating his story-of-Jesus free program to “Child of Nazareth” being only the latest examples. He was recently – and bizarrely – savaged on television by skater-turned-commentator Mark Lund for somehow being both too gay and not gay enough, though Weir has never discussed his sexual persuasion.

Lund concluded that Lysacek has a “masculinity on ice that I think we need to see in male figure skating” – because, golly, we just don’t get enough testosterone in athletics.

Weir also took a good pounding for his performance at the Turin Olympics, when he wilted in the free skate and then blamed it rather lamely on missing his bus. Lysacek bombed in the short program at Turin, but roared back in the free and thus was painted as downright heroic by comparison.

“Having the background in other sports growing up – basketball, baseball, soccer – gave me insight to look at skating and treat my career like a real sport,” Lysacek said, “and not treat it like some people who think if you mess up the short program the event is totally over. That’s not good sportsmanship. You fight to the end.”

Still, Weir is the three-time champion here, until Lysacek can wrest it away from him.

And Weir seems to enjoy mentioning that status, whether it’s to remind his rival or remind himself that he needs to be a competitor and not solely an artist, which you often get the impression he’d prefer.

“A lot of people are counting me out of this championship,” Weir said. “I’m going to keep fighting and to be in second place at a national championship, even though I’ve won three, it’s an honor to be thought of as one of the best skaters in the country.

“And it ain’t over until the fat lady sings.”

That may have been the only disappointing part of Thursday’s skate, that the inventive Weir couldn’t come up with a less spent metaphor.

Lysacek was just short of brilliant – or maybe it just seemed that way in the wake of his recent struggles with the short program. If the fist pumping and victory lap afterward were a bit much, it was still a welcome show of emotion and it was mostly a reaction to the response he received from an enthusiastic Spokane Arena crowd.

And Weir heard it all.

“If Evan hadn’t skated before me and skated so well, I probably wouldn’t have skated to the level I was pushed,” he said. “So for me, it’s very healthy to have a rivalry – as long as more than not I’m at the top of the rivalry.”

And he insisted its nothing nasty.

“At competitions, we’re not friends,” Weir said. “I have my objective and he has his – which is healthy. I wouldn’t want a friend sitting next to me in the locker room talking about “American Idol” and curling each others’ hair. When we’re away from competition and there isn’t all the stress and hype around us, we’re pretty cool together. I texted him to wish him a happy Orthodox Christmas and he keeps in touch that way, too.”

But they don’t go shopping together. That was obvious at their preskate press conferences, when Lysacek showed up in high-top Nikes – and Weir in silver loafers.

“What he does is his own business,” Lysacek said, “and it’s very different from how I conduct myself. But I think our sport promotes individuality and that’s the amazing thing about it. We’re free to be whoever we are.”

Doesn’t have to be Tiger and Phil. Could actually be something interesting.