Nathan Chen had visions of being one of the major headliners for the 2018 Olympics for the United States. If you read his Twitter profile, he tags all of his sponsors, and it’s a stacked list from Bridgestone to Coca-Cola. Chen collapsed on Thursday night with one of the more disappointing moments in recent American Olympic history. He’s currently 13th with no chance to medal. NBC Sports analyst Johnny Weir called it ‘The worst short program I’ve seen in my life.’ This ignited Twitter who has a loyal group of Chen fans. They claimed his age left him out of the realm of criticism, which, we all know is absolutely bullshit.

Analysts of any sport are allow to criticize the people on the ice, field or pitch. That’s part of their job. Weir is no nonsense type of analyst where he lays it all out there. Sure, it’s harsh, but at the same time, he’s doing his job. If NBC towed the line and said ‘Well Chen had so much pressure and tried his best’ that would seem to be a fraudulent way to handle the situation. You cannot get mad at Weir for doing his job. The same goes for Lipinski. She didn’t get as much heat, but she received the wrath of Chen fans. Face it, your guy fucked up in 2018, and it’s going to make for an awesome Olympic redemption story in 2022.

NBC Sports analyst Scott Hamilton did reach out on Twitter with some words of encouragement, and that’s cool he did that. Hamilton is one of the best male figure skaters of all-time. Weir, while a firecracker, is not. Those words coming from Hamilton post-skate are great and worthwhile just like the criticism of Chen on Thursday night.

I pray that we do not get an apology from Weir on tonight’s broadcast because he owes American and the Twitter mob nothing.

Charlie.