Olympics

[bystander]

Uh Simone..... you literally stopped. You willfully made the decision to not continue even though you had no injury. You quit. It doesn't matter what your reason was. We call it choking. Sorry. You're still a wonderful person but you choked.

Bill Buckner - mentally ill
Roberto Duran - mentally ill
Chuck Knoblock - mentally ill
Jim Ryan - mentally ill
Greg Norman - mentally ill
Florida State kickers (wide right) - mentally ill
Dennis Eckersley giving up HR to Kirk Gibson - mentally ill
Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas - mentally ill
Tony Romo botching snap - mentally ill

Why do Liberals cover for her when all the "deplorables" didn't cover for those mentioned in my list? That's why I think it's political and Liberal.

 

[horninchicago]

Bill Buckner - mentally ill
Roberto Duran - mentally ill
Chuck Knoblock - mentally ill
Jim Ryan - mentally ill
Greg Norman - mentally ill
Florida State kickers (wide right) - mentally ill
Dennis Eckersley giving up HR to Kirk Gibson - mentally ill
Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas - mentally ill
Tony Romo botching snap - mentally ill

So, when I lived in the Twin Cities in 1991, I was a Bennigan's manager. In walks Knoblach one night, probably drunk. Going on about having to wait for a table at Applebee's and F them, etc. Now, why a young, rich ball player didn't eat at better restaurants, well...

So, I would say that, and being an Aggie, he probably is mentally ill.

 

[bystander]

Quitting is the word. Mind and body not in sync is Liberal rationalization for failure. It's almost like saying the devil made me do it. It is cover for not having what it takes in a given situation. She was the GOAT. Not anymore. She should have competed and accepted her new place just like Ledecky did, who kept fighting and won a gold medal.

I saw online some hysterical Liberal saying, "YOU COULD LITERALLY DIE IN GYMNASTICS."

That's it then. It's ridiculous. How many have died? Why do these families obsessively send their girls to training every day?

 

[Run Pincher]

So, when I lived in the Twin Cities in 1991, I was a Bennigan's manager. In walks Knoblach one night, probably drunk. Going on about having to wait for a table at Applebee's and F them, etc. Now, why a young, rich ball player didn't eat at better restaurants, well...

So, I would say that, and being an Aggie, he probably is mentally ill.

Bennigan's is like Gibson's in collij stayshun.

 

[2003TexasGrad]

Bill Buckner - mentally ill
Roberto Duran - mentally ill
Chuck Knoblock - mentally ill
Jim Ryan - mentally ill
Greg Norman - mentally ill
Florida State kickers (wide right) - mentally ill
Dennis Eckersley giving up HR to Kirk Gibson - mentally ill
Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas - mentally ill
Tony Romo botching snap - mentally ill

Why do Liberals cover for her when all the "deplorables" didn't cover for those mentioned in my list? That's why I think it's political and Liberal.

The entire Houston Oilers organization: mentally ill.

 

[bystander]

The entire Houston Oilers organization: mentally ill.

I have a good friend at work who's a Houstonian by birth and loyalty and believe me, he knows their failures all too well.

 

[bystander]

Lilly King rips 'bulls—' American habit of not celebrating Olympic silver and bronze medals

More Liberalism... they hate American exceptionalism and the expectation that we are a super power. That is the standard.

Response:

 

[2003TexasGrad]

I must be from a different world. When has anyone bitched at athletes not winning gold when they did their best but just got beat?

 

[bystander]

I must be from a different world. When has anyone bitched at athletes not winning gold when they did their best but just got beat?

It's an old standard. In the big picture, obviously, just qualifying for the Olympics is a huge feat. My Father did but did not win a medal. And we all took great pride in this. But I'm talking about the standard of competing against Russia and China. The Soviet bloc back in the day looked at athletics as validation of their system; as did we of ours. And America has always wanted winners.

Why do we not accept 8-5 or 9-4 records from the Longhorns? Isn't that good enough. In the end, the demand for excellence is part of achieving it.

 

[2003TexasGrad]

It's an old standard. In the big picture, obviously, just qualifying for the Olympics is a huge feat. My Father did but did not win a medal. And we all took great pride in this. But I'm talking about the standard of competing against Russia and China. The Soviet bloc back in the day looked at athletics as validation of their system; as did we of ours. And America has always wanted winners.

Why do we not accept 8-5 or 9-4 records from the Longhorns? Isn't that good enough. In the end, the demand for excellence is part of achieving it.

Yes but what is she bitching about exactly? Are people saying mean things on twitter?

 

[bystander]

Yes but what is she bitching about exactly? Are people saying mean things on twitter?

I'm not totally sure about that, but I'm not surprised that people are downplaying it due to what I said. It's just a thing. We want first place. We don't like settling, joyously, for anything less. She thinks that's BS. Well, who received all the glory in the past? Michael Phelps. Mark Spitz. Simone Biles. Carl Lewis. Jessie Owens. Bruce Jenner. The Dream Team. Eric Heiden.

Dominating gold medalists.

All others are not that.

 

[2003TexasGrad]

Lilly King rips 'bulls—' American habit of not celebrating Olympic silver and bronze medals

Wasaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. I read the article. Im sorry Lilly that you dominated so damn much that people are shocked you were finally beaten. Guess what. You still stood on the podium with the flag being raised. Everyone wants to be a victim now. Sorry we all expected you to win.

 

[Run Pincher]

I'm not totally sure about that, but I'm not surprised that people are downplaying it due to what I said. It's just a thing. We want first place. We don't like settling, joyously, for anything less. She thinks that's BS. Well, who received all the glory in the past? Michael Phelps. Mark Spitz. Simone Biles. Carl Lewis. Jessie Owens. Bruce Jenner. The Dream Team. Eric Heiden.

Dominating gold medalists.

All others are not that.

The below article isn't about Allison Felix, but it mentions her accomplishments. I think she should be on your list. I think she's awesome.

But I don't care to watch a mixed gender relay team in the Olympics.

US 4x400 mixed-gender relay reinstated after DQ in debut of event at Tokyo Olympics (msn.com)

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

I'm disappointed to report that the soccer team beat the Netherlands in penalty kicks to advance to the final four. They would have to lose the next two games to not medal at all. Disappointing to say the least.

 

[mchammer]

I'm disappointed to report that the soccer team beat the Netherlands in penalty kicks to advance to the final four. They would have to lose the next two games to not medal at all. Disappointing to say the least.

Or wanting them to win the gold medal while the men don’t and getting paid less while doing so. But that would be spiteful.

 

[2003TexasGrad]

I'm disappointed to report that the soccer team beat the Netherlands in penalty kicks to advance to the final four. They would have to lose the next two games to not medal at all. Disappointing to say the least.

I too was rooting for the Netherlands. Close but no cigar. Next country up.

And the women still agreed to their contract while rejecting the men's contract and still made more than the men. Boohoo.

 

[bystander]

The below article isn't about Allison Felix, but it mentions her accomplishments. I think she should be on your list. I think she's awesome.

But I don't care to watch a mixed gender relay team in the Olympics.

US 4x400 mixed-gender relay reinstated after DQ in debut of event at Tokyo Olympics (msn.com)

I remember Allison. I always liked her look and her skills! I know there are plenty of great athletes that I left off... hell, what about real old school:

Jim Thorpe

 

[Seattle Husker]

I'm disappointed to report that the soccer team beat the Netherlands in penalty kicks to advance to the final four. They would have to lose the next two games to not medal at all. Disappointing to say the least.

Put's the conservatives claims that the left "hates America" in context when conservatives openly root for the US to lose because the women want equal pay.

 

[bystander]

Put's the conservatives claims that the left "hates America" in context when conservatives openly root for the US to lose because the women want equal pay.

No, we don't want haters to win. We are on the side of the union. They are full of hate.

Nice try but no cigar.

 

[Seattle Husker]

No, we don't want haters to win. We are on the side of the union. They are full of hate.

Nice try but no cigar.

They represent USA on the world stage. It's all mental gymnastics after that to convince yourself you aren't rooting against USA.

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

Chuck Knoblock - mentally ill

He did attend aggy, so let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Seattle Husker]

FWIW- The US Men's soccer team filed an amicus brief supporting the Women's appeal today.

The United States National Soccer Team Players Association, which the labor organization for the men’s team, filed an amicus brief on Friday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the filing, the association said U.S. Soccer has “persistently treated the women as second class throughout the 35-year history of the Women’s National Team.”

“The Federation has tried to portray the women as too demanding and claimed that players in other nations have it worse,” the brief read.

“But the Federation’s long-standing—and ongoing—disparate treatment of the U.S. Women’s National Team players is not absolved merely because the Federation has put some money into women’s soccer or because other nations lag behind,” it continued.

 

[Hollandtx]

Not all the women want to kneel, or make a big deal of this at the Olympics.
It's like going out to eat with your family at a restaurant and having a big argument, or having it in the privacy of your own kitchen.
The purple haired freak, Megan Rapinoe,who I have disliked for many years, long before she became the >gag< face of the team has gotten them all riled up over the past few years, and I believe one of the reasons they are playing so poorly is there are fractures in the locker room over the when, how, of requesting more money and equal treatment.
Do I think they all want fair pay? Yes. But, I know they don't all want to kneel because there were several who stood instead during the qualifying games.
There will be some UT football players who will refuse to sing, "The Eyes of Texas", and hopefully most will.

Politics have invaded most sports, and I hate it, but that is where we are,
Or, you could watch swimming and see some very wonderful moments, where winners stand with their hands on their chests during the National Anthem with tears in their eyes. I have a feeling it will be uglier in track and field.
But if the women's soccer team wins, and it most likely won't, I can promise you, several of the players will act extremely patriotically.

 

[Statalyzer]

It's all mental gymnastics after that to convince yourself you aren't rooting against USA.

That's fair. People cheering against them, if they want to bother getting online and defending their choice, should accept the implications of that choice rather than dodging them.

when conservatives openly root for the US to lose because the women want equal pay.

That part is highly disingenuous. You know, or at least really should know, that "They want equal pay" is a grossly unfair summary of their reasons for cheering against them.

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

Put's the conservatives claims that the left "hates America" in context when conservatives openly root for the US to lose because the women want equal pay.

I'm rooting against America hating slime balls (note that not everyone on the team classifies as that, just the majority and one particular dick_head). "America" is not out there competing and I would barely even classify them as Americans considering their stances. They are just wearing our uniforms.

 

[Statalyzer]

I can attest to that as a Youth football coach ~5-10 years ago. There are some kids that refused to admit they were hurt, specifically when their "bell was rung". One kids in particular, a super fast inner city kid, would have tears in his eyes after not backing down from the baddest dude on the team for fear that it represented weakness. I loved that kid but wish he would have felt more comfortable to be honest with me after helmet to helmet contact. Instead, our staff had to guess.

Yep - we've got the "don't drink water in practice you *****, tough it out" mentality still holding sway over a lot of people now.

Kerri Strugg is revered for her performance in the 80's Olympics in which she badly injured her ankle in the vault and returned for a 2nd vault to land on 1 leg. After Biles pulled out she applauded her. Dominique Moceanua (sp?) performed on a broken leg when she was 14. She claimed she never had the option of a personal choice to compete or not. As adults, shouldn't the individual be able make a decision on whether they are healthy enough or not to compete? It certainly shouldn't be a couch spectator that makes that decision.

People also forget that Team USA would have won gold even without Kerri's vault, and that she had to retire from gymnastics afterward thanks to exacerbating the injury. Bela Karolyi should be spoken of along with Mike Shanahan sending RG3 back into the game and ruining his career.

It's funny how the same people who will criticize overbearing sports parents for pushing kids too far and taking it too seriously can so easily become just like those parents - for kids they aren't even the parents of.

Being brave doesn't mean being reckless. If she's not mentally capable of competing, she shouldn't be trying. It's too big of a risk for something that simply isn't that consequential.

Even more than that, if she's not mentally capable of competing, then subbing out to let a teammate sub in is a rare step of choosing team over ego. Not only is that not a "sign of the times", it's the opposite.

Team USA was, after Simone's sub-par vault, on pace to win no medal at all. If her self-assessment of her odds of futures high score was accurate (and nobody yet has given me any reason to suspect otherwise), then letting Chiles and McCallum perform instead is what let Team USA get Silver rather than nothing.

It's akin to an ace pitcher falling behind 4-0 after two innings while throwing wild pitches all over the place, getting subbed out early in favor of some capable relievers who solidified things the rest of the way but the team still lost 4-3. And if that starting pitcher said to the manger "I'm rattled out there and I'm trying to shake it off but it's not working. Put _____ in the game instead, that's our best chance to win" - wouldn't that be an unusually humble and team-first thing to do?

If she'd have nailed that vault, she'd have kept going

Right, that's the point. And if the starting pitcher had thrown 6 strikeouts in 2 innings, the best thing for the team is to not make a switch.

I also reject the parallel to the military. Someone who has joined the military knows the expectation is that he put his life on the line to fulfill his duty. Furthermore, he's doing so for a very important reason - to protect his nation, its freedoms, and its people. None of that applies to an Olympic athlete.

Yeah, the parallels there are just awful, and for even more reasons than the ones you mentioned. War isn't a tightly-regulated competition set up for an even playing field. Having more men and material to throw into the fray than your opponent is great. Gymnastics don't work that way at all, you can't just stack all the athletes you want on the team and then pick the best scores out of dozens.

So to make the analogy work better, let's take a fighter pilot for the "mid-air" similarity.. You have 4 aces in your squadron but only 3 working planes, so only 3 of the pilots can fly on a given mission. You set up a rotation for which one flies which mission. One day, your best pilot nearly crashes on takeoff, nearly crashes into his wingman, and can't even hold formation. He tells you he's completely losing his sense of alignment in the air.

Wouldn't sending your other 3 pilots up and subbing in the other dude who's sitting out just be common sense? The fact that the Allies actually did this sort of thing - tried to rotate guys in and out to give them a break, and even recalled them back stateside after a while - while the Japanese and Germans didn't care about mental fatigue and just threw their pilots into endless missions until they got shot down - was a big advantage for us.

Or let's say you're a squadron commander and Chuck Yeager says he can't focus on flying to the point where he's a danger to himself and others and he'd be holding his squadron back. Don't you take him seriously?

 

[mchammer]

Yep - we've got the "don't drink water in practice you *****, tough it out" mentality still holding sway over a lot of people now.



People also forget that Team USA would have won gold even without Kerri's vault, and that she had to retire from gymnastics afterward thanks to exacerbating the injury. Bela Karolyi should be spoken of along with Mike Shanahan sending RG3 back into the game and ruining his career.

It's funny how the same people who will criticize overbearing sports parents for pushing kids too far and taking it too seriously can so easily become just like those parents - for kids they aren't even the parents of.



Even more than that, if she's not mentally capable of competing, then subbing out to let a teammate sub in is a rare step of choosing team over ego. Not only is that not a "sign of the times", it's the opposite.

Team USA was, after Simone's sub-par vault, on pace to win no medal at all. If her self-assessment of her odds of futures high score was accurate (and nobody yet has given me any reason to suspect otherwise), then letting Chiles and McCallum perform instead is what let Team USA get Silver rather than nothing.

It's akin to an ace pitcher falling behind 4-0 after two innings while throwing wild pitches all over the place, getting subbed out early in favor of some capable relievers who solidified things the rest of the way but the team still lost 4-3. And if that starting pitcher said to the manger "I'm rattled out there and I'm trying to shake it off but it's not working. Put _____ in the game instead, that's our best chance to win" - wouldn't that be an unusually humble and team-first thing to do?



Right, that's the point. And if the starting pitcher had thrown 6 strikeouts in 2 innings, the best thing for the team is to not make a switch.



Yeah, the parallels there are just awful, and for even more reasons than the ones you mentioned. War isn't a tightly-regulated competition set up for an even playing field. Having more men and material to throw into the fray than your opponent is great. Gymnastics don't work that way at all, you can't just stack all the athletes you want on the team and then pick the best scores out of dozens.

So to make the analogy work better, let's take a fighter pilot for the "mid-air" similarity.. You have 4 aces in your squadron but only 3 working planes, so only 3 of the pilots can fly on a given mission. You set up a rotation for which one flies which mission. One day, your best pilot nearly crashes on takeoff, nearly crashes into his wingman, and can't even hold formation. He tells you he's completely losing his sense of alignment in the air.

Wouldn't sending your other 3 pilots up and subbing in the other dude who's sitting out just be common sense? The fact that the Allies actually did this sort of thing - tried to rotate guys in and out to give them a break, and even recalled them back stateside after a while - while the Japanese and Germans didn't care about mental fatigue and just threw their pilots into endless missions until they got shot down - was a big advantage for us.

Or let's say you're a squadron commander and Chuck Yeager says he can't focus on flying to the point where he's a danger to himself and others and he'd be holding his squadron back. Don't you take him seriously?

Nice try. But what happens after your wingman has already taken off on the mission and wants to return home mid-mission leaving everyone else in the lurch?

 

[Statalyzer]

Since nobody got left in the lurch, I'm not sure what the relevance of that question is. The team didn't get hurt by what she did, the team got better. She didn't sub out mid-mission (that would be more like if she were running down the mat towards the vault and then stopped and said never mind). And she didn't leave her team short a person like is happening in your scenario - so now it's circled quickly back to the difference between a war where you can cram bigger numbers in, and a regulated sporting event where exactly N gymnasts get to go and that's it.

But I'll bite anyway - if Chuck Yeager radios into base mid-mission saying he's so mentally out of focus and he can't even keep formation because he's losing his sense of up and down and right and left while he's in the air, and says that his presence is actually a detriment to the formation, don't you at least consider trusting him?

For yet another analogy, consider Elgin Baylor on the 1972 Lakers. After 9 games, he felt like his skills had declined to the point where he was holding back a title team from greatness. So he retired and they reeled off 33 straight wins and won the title. Is Elgin Baylor a quitter?

 

[2003TexasGrad]

People also forget that Team USA would have won gold even without Kerri's vault, and that she had to retire from gymnastics afterward thanks to exacerbating the injury.

Even more than that, if she's not mentally capable of competing, then subbing out to let a teammate sub in is a rare step of choosing team over ego.

Team USA was, after Simone's sub-par vault, on pace to win no medal at all. If her self-assessment of her odds of futures high score was accurate (and nobody yet has given me any reason to suspect otherwise), then letting Chiles and McCallum perform instead is what let Team USA get Silver rather than nothing.

It's akin to an ace pitcher falling behind 4-0 after two innings while throwing wild pitches all over the place, getting subbed out early in favor of some capable relievers who solidified things the rest of the way but the team still lost 4-3. And if that starting pitcher said to the manger "I'm rattled out there and I'm trying to shake it off but it's not working. Put _____ in the game instead, that's our best chance to win" - wouldn't that be an unusually humble and team-first thing to do?

Right, that's the point. And if the starting pitcher had thrown 6 strikeouts in 2 innings, the best thing for the team is to not make a switch.

So to make the analogy work better, let's take a fighter pilot for the "mid-air" similarity.. You have 4 aces in your squadron but only 3 working planes, so only 3 of the pilots can fly on a given mission. You set up a rotation for which one flies which mission. One day, your best pilot nearly crashes on takeoff, nearly crashes into his wingman, and can't even hold formation. He tells you he's completely losing his sense of alignment in the air.

Or let's say you're a squadron commander and Chuck Yeager says he can't focus on flying to the point where he's a danger to himself and others and he'd be holding his squadron back. Don't you take him seriously?

At the time everyone thought Strug had to earn points in order for the US to win. The gold medal was not a certainty when she made her attempt.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but Kerri at least was physically hurt. Biles was suffering a bruised ego because she had an off prelims and she was off to having an off finals.

Biles checking out is not the same as pulling a starter on an off night. Team USA couldn't replace her for the rest of the finals. There was no bullpen. Her three remaining teammates couldn't bring on someone else to take her place.

Using the jet fighter analogy, it only makes sense if Biles was dealing with some kind of rapid onset vertigo or some other debilitating condition. The fact is that she wasn't suffering from anything of the sort. She was simply having a bad Olympics. She wasn't having mental health issues as has been widely claimed.

Pro athletes have bad days. It happens. You still have to compete however, especially when you are the captain and your team looks up to you. You modify your routine. You simplify it. You compete so your team can still earn points. When you go down to 3 from 4 you are hurting your team. Your ego needs to take a back seat. The "I could die" argument is a joke. You're the world champion.

This is what Biles said after the fact:

“I know that this Olympic Games, I wanted it to be for myself,” Biles said afterward, tearing up. “I came here, and I felt like I was still doing it for other people. So that just hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people.”

That is very telling. It's selfish. What she loves has been taken away from her to please others? How pray tell? And this was before anyone criticized her. She got into her own head and convinced herself the world was out to get her. Why she thought that beats me. She's been the darling of America leading up to the Olympics.

She quit. She lacked the mental fortitude to finish. Why not just admit that? She's still one of the most decorated gymnasts of all time. I'm not gonna give her a cookie and say how brave she is though. She gave up. Fine. It is what it is. Just don't make excuses for her.

 

[mchammer]

Did any of y’all see the first night of competition? I watched it. Biles was off from the get go. Bad body language and finished her poor routines with a shrug and a smirking laugh. Very odd behavior in my opinion - almost disrespectful. Again, I wonder if she would have acted that way if the hall was filled with spectators.