John McEnroe? More like Zach Thomas...

Alright, one more figure Skating post then I'm done, promise...

What is it about Johnny Weir? He hasn't scored a podium place in either the World Championships or The Olympics and yet everybody knows he is one of the worlds best Male Skaters.

If you go to a Figure Skating event and ask people who they are most looking forward to seeing, chances are a lot of them will say 'Johnny Weir'. And the announcers would probably agree with them. When Johnny takes to the ice there is an electric charge in the air, the crowd want to watch his performance, whether it be a winning one or not.

I've heard so many cliches used to describe Johnny over the last few years, 'Marches to the beat of his own Drum', 'Doesn't care what others think of him' and the old announcers favorite: 'He is the John McEnroe of figure Skating'. John McEnroe? Nope, I just don't see it. Yes, he is an individual skater who won't always go for the conventional approach to a competition, but there's a very good reason for that. Just like there's a reason you won't see him push for the win at the expense of a good program.

That reason is this: Johnny believes in the performance, the heart and soul of Figure Skating. He's got the weapons to win a World Championship; He can do the Quad jumps and he can do the spins that other skaters can't even work out, but he doesn't always choose to use them. Why? Because the Performance comes first.

And thats why the people love to watch him out on the ice. Nobody has the flair or the creativity that Johnny has. When he skates, you can see how into it he is, how much he lives for his sport.

What does this mean? Well sadly for his fans (like me, in case you hadn't already guessed), we may never get to see him on the podium of either of the two major champs but at the same time, we'll still love to watch him. No matter what he does, Johnny will always give you a great performance. That's what he believes in and it shows.