coach wrote:
This sport is too difficult, lose focus on the beam or bars and you could get paralyzed.
Okay, that is true. But it's always been true. No other gymnast quit like this in the past.
coach wrote:
This sport is too difficult, lose focus on the beam or bars and you could get paralyzed.
Okay, that is true. But it's always been true. No other gymnast quit like this in the past.
Bound4Glory wrote:
vaccinated wrote:
Michael Jordan took a *season* off to deal with mental issues.
That's stretching it. His stated reason was that he lost his desire to compete: he just didn't care anymore. Hardly a mental health issue.
The real reason was that he was caught up in a gambling scandal and the NBA Commisioner forced him to sit out.
I don't think you can drag Michael Jordan into this. That guy was a rock.
His reasons were as much about mental health as those of Biles. His father had been murdered. He was in deep to bookies.
There's mental health in the everyday ordinary sense of having a hard time with things, which is what Jordan, Biles, and a whole lot of others have suffered. Then there's mental health in the sense of clinical depression or worse, which is an entirely different thing (for a sports example, see Lamar Odom). What gets me are the Biles, Osakas, etc. asking for the first to be treated as if it were the second. It seems disrespectful to those with real mental health issues.
That doesn't mean that others weren't suffering and are still dealing with the lasting consequences of not taking a step back. Up until recently, the average age of US gymnasts was much younger - those athletes may not have felt as empowered to make a decision like Simone has this week.
Not exactly the same, but Bjorn Borg abruptly retiring at age 26 comes to mind. He lost the 1981 U.S.Open to McEnroe, and immediately left the stadium and went straight to the airport, skipping the awards ceremony and post-match press conference. Just completely lost the will to play from then on. McEnroe pleaded with him to reconsider, and he wouldn’t do it.
Michael Phelps didn't really help Biles today. When asked about his mental health issues, he said that he thrived on the pressure of competition. It was after he was done when he struggled with identity and depression.
Anybody saying this isn't an illness or injury related has never truly competed at anything. Did Molly Huddle quit? Jager quit? Good lord people are stupid.
Ray wrote:
Anybody saying this isn't an illness or injury related has never truly competed at anything. Did Molly Huddle quit? Jager quit? Good lord people are stupid.
It's a mental illness that Biles has, that's why people are having trouble with it. It doesn't make the stupid, just ignorant of sick a mentally ill person is.
If Biles was having genuine issues with mental health, she would not have been willing or able to grin and chat through that ludicrous press conference afterwards.
I don't see it as a mental illness. The pressure got to her and let's face it, to do those incredible moves at her age requires shutting down any doubts, and how many years can you do that? She started to think about what she was doing and so knew that she was in danger. But who knows? Maybe a couple days off and she can get back to normal.
Changing directions slightly, can Biles be relied on or trusted again? If she somehow overcomes this issue and she wants to compete can she be trusted to follow through? Does anybody defending her want her to lead the team again ?
I know enough about human nature to realize that 90 percent of you will choose a side, argue that side, and ignore the other side. I hate that. But if that's the way things are, here's a better argument for the pro-Simone side.
In all other sports, athletes have sub-par days. But they don't take themselves out of competition because they don't have to. The head coach does that. There's a long list of elite quarterbacks, running backs, pitchers, etc, who were taken out of a big game after a few turnovers, or home runs, or whatever. It happens all the time.
For whatever reason, the gymnastic coach at the Olympics won't do that. He's basically a
figure head (it's true). So, Simone had to make that decision herself.
And on that matter, I wish Simone would just say this: for whatever reason I was having an off-day, a sub-par Olympics, and I thought the team would be better without me. That's it. It's simple to understand and it's true. No need to invoke mental health.
Bound4Glory wrote:
I know enough about human nature to realize that 90 percent of you will choose a side, argue that side, and ignore the other side. I hate that. But if that's the way things are, here's a better argument for the pro-Simone side.
In all other sports, athletes have sub-par days. But they don't take themselves out of competition because they don't have to. The head coach does that. There's a long list of elite quarterbacks, running backs, pitchers, etc, who were taken out of a big game after a few turnovers, or home runs, or whatever. It happens all the time.
For whatever reason, the gymnastic coach at the Olympics won't do that. He's basically a
figure head (it's true). So, Simone had to make that decision herself.
So called "GOATS" don't get benched by their coaches...and they don't quit. Ride or die trying!!!
Side Show Moe wrote:
Changing directions slightly, can Biles be relied on or trusted again? If she somehow overcomes this issue and she wants to compete can she be trusted to follow through? Does anybody defending her want her to lead the team again ?
If a board-certified psychiatrist says she is recovered and can be trusted again, I don't see why the US couldn't have her on the team again.
I'm frankly stunned at the pass the Biles is getting from the media. If Michael Phelps or Matt Centrowitz or Lindsey Vonn had said they couldn't compete mid-way through their Olympic competitions because they had mental problems they would have been crucified by the media.
Biles posts a picture of herself with the rest of the team and their silver medals like she did something special. It's a sad state of affairs in the world of sport that this is being looked at in a positive way.
Maybe I'm being to harsh but this isn't a high school meet. It's the Olympics. What she did is completely selfish.
Now she drops out of all around individual finals beause of mental health. I hope the USOC tells here she's not in the individual events either - go see a shrink instead.
If you didn't think you were mentally prepared for something you've been doing your whole life, then don't enter the trials and let someone who wants to be there compete.
You watch - pro sports people are already saying they need load management in basketball because it's too much for them - great - you need a night off - you don't get paid then that night.
This crap is going to start working its way down to college and HS sports. Maybe it's something with the younger generation that don't want to do an honest days work.
Trollin wrote:
So called "GOATS" don't get benched by their coaches...and they don't quit. Ride or die trying!!!
Tom Brady was benched. Peyton Manning was benched. Drew Brees was benched. And those were only the first three I searched for. It happens all the time. It's big news when it happens in the big game, but it still happens.
Which superbowl were they benched in? Please list the years for each of them.
RuningManJumpSuit wrote:
I'm frankly stunned at the pass the Biles is getting from the media.
I'm not all that surprised. If you're a top star for a long time, and a good person, a likeable person, the media bends over backwards to support you.
After years or years of fawning over Simone, it would be tough for Tim Daggett or Nastia Liukin to do an instantaneous 180 and lambast her for dropping out. I can't fault them for it.
RuningManJumpSuit wrote:
I'm frankly stunned at the pass the Biles is getting from the media. If Michael Phelps or Matt Centrowitz or Lindsey Vonn had said they couldn't compete mid-way through their Olympic competitions because they had mental problems they would have been crucified by the media.
Biles posts a picture of herself with the rest of the team and their silver medals like she did something special. It's a sad state of affairs in the world of sport that this is being looked at in a positive way.
Maybe I'm being to harsh but this isn't a high school meet. It's the Olympics. What she did is completely selfish.
Exactly. This is the pinnacle of sport.
Just saw a commercial with her as the feature and it was about “daring to dream.” Dream? The trickle down on this if allowed will be incredible. There will be kids bailing on everything they think is tough because of this nonsense.